OTC’s Weekly Retrospect 16/01–20/01/2023

Each week we bring you a round-up of the most important Bitcoin and virtual asset-related stories making waves in the cryptosphere.­­­­

Major news stories this week;

1. Dubai Free Zone Now Home to More Than 500 Crypto Startups
2. Genesis Files for Bankruptcy as it Seeks Protection From its Creditors
3. The UAE issues a new Cabinet Resolution on the regulation of Virtual Assets
4. New FTX boss John Ray could bring back bankrupt crypto firm
5. 1inch launches proprietary hardware wallet as self-custody trend grows

Story Summaries;

1. Dubai says it has now attracted more than 500 crypto companies to the wealthy Middle Eastern city’s budding digital asset ecosystem. The Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) said Monday it registered around 3,000 new businesses last year, representing a 23% jump from 2021. Of those, 343 were digital asset startups joining DMCC’s “Crypto Center”.
2. After months of struggling, crypto lending and trading firm Genesis has filed for bankruptcy — but it’s not the end of its troubles. It will start a process of marketing and sale to monetise Genesis Global Holdco, it said, and it will start repaying the creditors. If there is no sale or capital raised, creditors will receive ownership interests in a reorganised Genesis Global Holdco.
3. The UAE Government issued Cabinet Resolution №111 of 2022 on the regulation of Virtual Assets and Service Providers. The main aim of the VA Resolution is to protect consumers, enhance the UAE regulatory framework applicable to the virtual asset sector, to regulate virtual asset activities and related service providers, and to ensure that virtual asset service providers (VASPs) are within the scope of the UAE AML legislation.
4. Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX’s new chief executive, John Ray, is looking into the possibility of reviving the platform. He told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that he has set up a taskforce to explore restarting FTX.com to “recover more value” for people who lost money. A year ago FTX was valued at $32bn (£26bn), but it filed for bankruptcy protection in November.
5. 1inch Network is the latest cryptocurrency platform to move into the hardware wallet industry amid the rise of self-custody. 1inch officially introduced the 1inch Hardware Wallet, a proprietary hardware wallet developed by an independent team working within the 1inch Network. In order to provide maximum security, the 1inch Hardware Wallet is “fully air-gapped,” meaning that it has no direct connection to the internet and does not require any wired connection.

And that’s all for this weeks news! Wishing you a great weekend ahead!