The new Crusade of the United States against cryptocurrency, how far Russia is far from the DPRK and an unexpected oil record

This material (information) has been produced and widespread by a foreign agent The Bell or applies to the activities of a foreign agent The Bell. 18+

American regulators begin a new offensive on the cryptocurrency market. Its goal is to create between the cryptot and the traditional financial system of the Chinese Wall, which will not allow cryptocurrency risks to spread to banks and cause a new large crisis. The main victim of this policy can be stablecoins - cryptocurrencies tied to the dollar and representing the main “bridge” between crypto and traditional finances.

What's happened

American regulators inflicted an indirect blow to the largest crypto -rope of Binance through a stablecoin associated with it (cryptocurrency, which is tied to physical currency - in this case to the dollar) Binance USD (BUSD). The Busd issuer is the independent and known crypto company Paxos Trust. Formally, neither she herself nor Busd is connected with Binance nothing but a license agreement to use the brand. But in fact, in January, about 40% of Binance turned on BUSD, FT notes . Busd is the third stablecin in the world for capitalization (about $ 16 billion) and a market share (about 12%) after Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC).

On Sunday, it became known that the US Securities Commission (SEC) warned Paxos that she was going to sue her for violating the rights of investors. And on Monday, the Department of Financial Services of New York imposed a direct ban on the issue of Busd. The regulators believe that Busd is not a digital asset, according to Paxos, but a securities, launched on the market without appropriate permission and trading inpaid regulation.

The main reason for the claims of the regulators to Busd is suspicion of incomplete security of released cryptocurrency with real assets. By the way, the competitor indicated it - the issuer of USDC. Paxos herself said that she would fulfill the requirements of the regulators, Busd is fully provided with real assets, and customers will be able to repay the tokens, exchanging them for dollars 1: 1, at least until February 2024.

A full -scale flight from the doomed now did not occur, but investors still take their money. Immediately after the ban, on Monday, Busd lost her parity to the dollar, dropping to 98 cents, and traded at a discount to Tether. The BUSD conversion to USDT immediately increased sharply - investors urgently searched for a way out, and Tether is also traded on Binance. Binance BNB’s own exchange token fell by 10%, and in general, within an hour after the first message about the problems of BUSD, customers withdrew $ 500 million from Binance.

Why is it important

Bloomberg, who spoke with a dozen of the former and current regulators, industry insiders and lobbyists, concludes that what is happening is part of the first FTX cryptocurrency for the regulators on the decentralized finance sector (Defi), which may result in his insulation from the banking system. The main task is to prevent such an increase in cryptocurrency projects and such a degree of integration into the traditional financial infrastructure so that cryptocurrency collapses become a threat of a large systemic crisis.

At the beginning of the year, three regulators - the Fed, the Office of Currency Control and the Federal Corporation for Deposit Insurance - issued a joint statement that warned American banks about the need to more carefully behave on crypto and preventing the spread of cryptocurrency risks in the main activities of banks. In private, regulators warn banks about liability for violations when working with cryptoclitants, especially not registered in the United States, Bloomberg sources say.

A characteristic example is one of the latest news of the same Binance, which last week stopped receiving and issuing deposits in dollars, because a long -time partner - Signature Bank stopped working with it. Her competitor, Crypto.com, has the same problems with Metropolitan Bank Holding. The Custodia Kristobanka has recently refused access to the interbank payment system.

“The regulators build walls between the cryptor, banks and the market of derivatives to exclude the systemic vulnerability in advance, which caused the 2008 financial crisis,” says Todd Baker, senior Richman Center, Senior Researcher, Todd Baker. The researcher himself believes that cryptotting is built according to the laws of gambling and should have regulation, which is fundamentally different from financial. The partner of the Castle Island Ventures blockchain investment, Nick Carter called what was happening "enclosing the criticism sector with its cut off from traditional finances."

What's next

The fear of the actions of the regulators contributed to the sale in cryptoactives and in the last two weeks became a factor in the fall of bitcoin, which began this year well. Better the rest of the stablecoins still look like Tether, and the Busd capitalization will almost certainly fall.

The significance of Busd as such is not so great. The main question is what will happen if the regulators come for the USDC and especially for Tether. It is possible that so stablecoins, having ceased to be a “bridge” between the world of cryptocurrencies and traditional money, will lose their main anti -crisis function - the possibility of decentralized withdrawal of funds, including from Russia. How to do this, said in detail The Bell.

The main American financial regulator SEC, headed by Gary Hensler, which has long been denied the industry in any special position, will not be guaranteed to change the position. He continues to believe that crypto acts are just unregistered securities, and well, if released without violations. From these positions, the SEC recently won the case against the Kraken crypto accounting, putting one of the main sources of income of crypto scribes.

INVESTMENTS

Inflation in the USA did not live up to expectations

Inflation in the United States slows down the seventh month in a row and, according to the results of January, amounted to 6.4% in annual calculus. Compared to December, prices were 0.5%, which has become the maximum indicator over the past three months. The cost of energy and housing made a significant contribution to inflation.

Monthly inflation coincided with the expectations of economists interviewed by Bloomberg. In the annual calculus, they expected a more significant slowdown, up to 6.2%. Despite the aggressive policy of the Fed, the price pressure is preserved, and this may push the regulator to raise the rate higher than previously expected, the agency notes.

About what is happening in the markets, which is recommended to their customers the largest investment banks and how to look at the markets through the eyes of a long -term investor, we write in the weekly mailing “Bell. Investments” (this is a paid product, but it is worth it).

INTERVIEW

How far Russia is far from North Korea

Due to the invasion of Ukraine, Russia was in complete international isolation. The transformation of Russia over time into North Korea is one of the most popular pessimistic scenarios. The DPRK itself almost a year after the start of the war officially supported Russia. Can the DPRK be called an ally of Russia? What do they write about the war in the North Korean press? Is the North Korean workers are true to Donbass? We talked about this with one of the leading world DPRK specialists Andrei Lankov, professor at the University of Kunmin in Seoul.

What else happened

The businessman and creator of the Kremlin media monitoring system Vladislav Klyushin was found guilty of the US in hacking the networks of large American companies and insider trade for tens of millions of dollars. Klyushin is the founder and owner of the IT company M13, which has been engaged in the monitoring of the media and social networks (Katyusha system) by order of Russian government agencies for several years. According to the American investigation, he was engaged in hacking with the aim of insider trading on the exchange along with Russian hackers who hacked the US Democratic servers in 2016.
The sanctions did not prevent Russian oil companies from breaking a drilling for drilling in 2022, having passed more than 28 thousand kilometers of new wells, writes Bloomberg. 85% of the market is occupied by domestic oilfieldings, foreign companies are involved in the most difficult cases - but two of the big four (SLB and Weatherford) did not leave Russia, and two more (Halliburton and Baker Hughes) sold business management, which preserved both staff and competencies.
The European Union brought Russia to the “black list” of jurisdictions that do not cooperate on tax issues. The reason was last year's law allowing companies to use internal offshores in Russia, as well as the cessation of the tax authorities in connection with the war in Ukraine. Countries that fall into the “black list” of the EU are threatened with reputation risks and an increased level of control of financial transactions, notes Reuters.