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Huobi Delists USDD Stablecoin PairsHuobi Global, the Seychelles-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange, has made the decision to delist ten trading pairs, primarily involving tokens used in transactions with the USDD stablecoin issued by the TRON DAO Reserve.That’s according to an announcement published to Huobi’s website on Monday. These tokens are supported by TRON founder Justin Sun, who also acts as an advisor to Huobi. The delisting, effective from June 29, will impact several tokens, including the Cardano blockchain token ADA, Solana’s SOL, ApeCoin’s native token APE, MATIC from Polygon, FIL from Filecoin, and ETC from Ethereum Classic.Photo by Napendra Singh on UnsplashUnregistered securitiesAll of these tokens were offered on the Houbi platform in pairs with USDD. Additionally, trading pairs involving ARPA, GAS, QTUM, and ZKS with Bitcoin will also be removed from the platform. Huobi stated that these changes are aimed at providing users with an improved trading experience.Originating from China, Huobi has played a significant role in spot and derivatives trading for digital assets. The decision to delist these tokens follows their classification as unregistered securities in recent lawsuits by the US Securities and Exchange Commission against Binance and Coinbase. Prior to Huobi, Robinhood and eToro had already removed some of these tokens from their platforms.Stablecoins are designed to maintain a stable value by pegging them to less volatile assets like the US dollar. They achieve this by holding equivalent reserves of cash and cash-equivalent assets as collateral. Stablecoins are widely used by traders for transferring funds between exchanges and as a hedge against price volatility. This makes them some of the most heavily-traded tokens in the crypto space.USDD stabilityUSDD, the stablecoin at the center of this delisting, currently ranks as the eighth largest stablecoin by market capitalization, with approximately $750 million. Huobi is the primary exchange for buying and trading USDD, according to CoinGecko, a crypto market data provider. USDD is backed by various digital assets such as Bitcoin, Ether, and TRX, and it is issued by the TRON DAO Reserve. The TRON DAO Reserve operates as a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), utilizing blockchain technology to automate voting and transaction processes.USDD is an algorithmic stablecoin, with the assets held in backing the coin over-collateralized to a level of 170%. Despite this, the stablecoin has had issues in maintaining its US dollar peg from time to time. The issue has been that the token is partly backed by the TRX token, the native token of the TRON ecosystem. If TRX backing is discounted, the stablecoin is only 49% backed.Reports indicate that Sun acquired a controlling stake in Huobi through a Hong Kong-based asset manager, reportedly paying around $1 billion in November. However, Sun hasn’t provided any details of any such ownership stake.Huobi’s decision to delist these trading pairs reflects the evolving regulatory landscape and the need for exchanges to ensure compliance with securities regulations. By removing tokens that have faced legal scrutiny, Huobi aims to maintain a robust and compliant trading environment for its users.

OSL Group, a Hong Kong-based publicly listed digital asset exchange platform, has raised $300 million to finance further expansion of the business.Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashLargest publicly disclosed crypto equity raise in AsiaIn a press release published on July 25, the company claimed that it has completed the largest publicly disclosed equity raise to date within Asia’s digital asset sector. It suggested the funding signaled market confidence in the digital asset business model that the firm is pursuing.  OSL intends to allocate the funding across three primary areas. Acquisition opportunities are one core area the company plans to home in on. It says that it will continue its “aggressive global expansion drive” through a combination of licensing, partnerships and acquisitions.  As part of its global expansion strategy, last month the company acquired a 90% stake in Evergreen Crest Holdings, an Indonesian crypto exchange operator. In February, it rebranded CoinBest, a Japanese crypto exchange, as OSL Japan after acquiring it late last year. Stablecoin initiativesOSL plans to pursue new global business initiatives, including initiatives related to stablecoins and payments. It stated that it will accelerate its “build-out of global business and payment networks, integrating fiat currencies, stablecoins, and major digital assets.” The company feels that investment in infrastructure of this nature will facilitate its institutional and enterprise clients, giving them access to “secure, efficient, and seamless cross-border payment solutions.” The third core area it will allocate funding to is working capital. OSL believes that enhancing the strength and depth of its working capital will give the firm a competitive advantage over its rivals in terms of reach, coverage, scale and volume. The company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Ian Wong, commented on this latest development, stating: "This US$300 million equity raise marks a major milestone in our journey and reflects strong conviction in OSL's digital asset strategy and execution.” OSL is already well established as a key player in the digital assets space in Hong Kong. Founded in 2003 as BC Technology Group, it later rebranded and in 2018 the company expanded its services to cater to the digital assets sector. In 2023, OSL, alongside rival HashKey, became the first digital assets companies in the Chinese autonomous territory to be licensed by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). Supporting spot crypto ETF issuersOSL supports asset management firms that have listed Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX), through its staking and digital asset custody infrastructure. In April, the company was approved by the SFC to offer Ethereum staking services. In July 2024, the company claimed that 88% of spot digital asset ETF trading in Hong Kong had been carried out by firms that it has partnerships with. The timing of the announcement of this latest development is interesting, given that one of the focuses for the funds raised is to develop stablecoin-related business, against a backdrop of Hong Kong’s new Stablecoins Ordinance coming into effect in less than a week from now.Bloomberg reported last week that around fifty companies have expressed interest in obtaining stablecoin licensing in the city, with the local regulator and central banking institution, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), likely to issue ten licenses. 

BitOasis Obtains First Early-Stage Broker Dealer License in DubaiBitOasis, a leading platform within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for the purchase, sale and trading of cryptocurrency, has become the first crypto company to be awarded a broker-dealer license by the Dubai regulator.Photo by ZQ Lee on UnsplashMinimum viable productIn a blog post published to the company’s website on Monday, BitOasis outlined that it has received a minimum viable product (MVP) Operational License from the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) of Dubai. An MVP incorporates the minimum features necessary to satisfy early adopter clients.It’s a means through which a basic offering can be brought onto the market, feedback can be solicited and the product offering can be improved upon on that basis. From the regulator’s perspective, by offering an MVP licensing programme, it too can adjust regulation as products are further developed.BitOasis CEO and Co-Founder Ola Doudin took to Twitter to welcome the news, outlining that the award of the license is “an important milestone for @bitoasis , the Emirate of Dubai and the growing UAE crypto ecosystem.”The license award now allows BitOasis to provide broker-dealer services in respect of virtual assets under VARAs regulatory oversight, to qualified institutional and retail investors, while basing operations out of Dubai.Serving GCC and MENA regionsBitOasis was founded in 2016 by Doudin alongside Daniel Robenek. It’s focusing its efforts on servicing the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) area (which covers six Arab countries, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates), together with the broader MENA region. BitOasis has also obtained “in-principle” approval from the regulator in Bahrain.The platform offers clients the ability to trade in excess of sixty cryptocurrencies in trading pairs with fiat currencies such as the US dollar (USD), the United Arab Emirates dirham (AED), the Saudi rial (SAR) and the Turkish lira (TL). In developing the business, BitOasis has undergone six funding rounds to date, including two initial seed rounds, together with Series A and Series B-level funding. Its backers include companies such as Banvest, Pantera Capital, Digital Currency Group, Wamda Capital and Global Founders Capital.Strategic partnershipsThe company stated that it intends to leverage the license to “launch strategic partnerships in Dubai and across the United Arab Emirates.” Additionally, the licensing will enable the company to launch new virtual asset products “with a continued focus on driving accessibility, consumer protection and utility across the virtual asset ecosystem.”VARAs CEO Henson Orser welcomed BitOasis to the Dubai regulator’s MVP programme phase and outlined that “the VARA ecosystem aims to strike a balance between value creation, risk mitigation, and enhanced investment opportunities with consumer protection at its core.”Dubai and the United Arab Emirates more broadly, have been moving at pace more recently in an effort to develop a regional hub for the virtual assets industry. Last month it emerged that the UAE had begun accepting licensing applications from crypto companies and only a number of weeks later, Dubai’s VARA has already awarded its first license.A number of weeks ago, crypto exchange Bybit announced that it was basing its operations out of Dubai. VARA is licensing crypto companies on a stage by stage basis. In response to a number of high profile crypto firm failures in other jurisdictions in 2022, the Dubai regulator outlined in April that it was stepping up its level of scrutiny of crypto businesses.