Bitcoin hit a new all-time high of $35,879.36 overnight (ET) before drifting back to trade around the $35,000 level and then surging back in the afternoon to approach the overnight high when I pushed the “publish” button.
ShapeShift Is Going Full DeFi to Lose KYC Rules
Decentralized non-custodial crypto trading platform ShapeShift will sunset its 6+ year business of trading directly with customers and route orders through decentralized finance (DeFi) applications to get rid of know-your-customer (KYC) requirements. These multiple decentralized exchanges (DEX) will include Uniswap, Balancer, Curve, Bancor, Kyber, 0x, mStable among about a dozen others. DEXs, which operate as trading systems on top of blockchains, such as Ethereum, have eaten into centralized exchange volumes over 2020. For example, Uniswap cites itself as the fifth-largest spot-trading crypto exchange.
Kyrgyzstan’s central bank opens up crypto draft laws to public discussion
The National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic has completed the drafting of two bills designed to recognize and regulate the country’s crypto sector. The first bill will require crypto exchanges to be licensed with the central bank, and contains reporting requirements aimed at reducing money laundering and terrorist financing risks. A separate bill introduces the concept of “virtual assets” into the Kyrgyz Republic’s civil code, identifying crypto-assets as an object of civil rights, and mandates the taxation of services provided by cryptocurrency exchanges.
