1-800-123-FED...
Jerome.
Jerome?
Yeah.
Hi, it's.
It's Joel again.
Yeah.
Listen, I saw you just change your rules, and I wanted to ask about my application again
for my...
Jerome..?
Jerome?.
All right.
So it might be a little bit longer before the Fed gives me a master account, it seems
fingers still crossed on that one.
But Jerome Powell has opened the door for other, more reputable lenders.
Is that good news for investors like you and me, though?
We're going to try and figure that out and talk to some people who know a little bit
more about that shortly.
There is some good news too for crypto in Singapore.
One company there is managing to make things work, even as others like Eqonex are struggling.
Plus Tencent is getting out of NFTs.
Huh.
So they haven't watched my NFT series then.
Join thousands of NFT traders who already start their day on CryptoSlam.
So new rules from the Fed for crypto banks and how they can get into the central banking
system potentially a very big deal.
The US Federal Reserve's final guidance now details how to get access to its master accounts.
Those accounts are needed to exchange money directly with the Fed and by extension the
broader global banking system.
Vice chair Lael Brainard said this will provide consistency and transparency for applications
for these accounts and that will help create a safe, inclusive and innovative payment system.
So how important is this move towards acceptance of crypto banks?
Well, David Roche from Independent Strategy has told Forkast the move will make the crypto
and DeFi sectors play by the same rules as traditional banks.
If they're doing the same thing.
He also added that will bring digital currencies more in line with CBDCs, but will also increase
costs.
Let's get another opinion from Andrew Sullivan of Asian Markets Swns.com.
Andrew, a pleasure to talk to you as always.
I don't know whether it's fair to characterize this move from the Fed as overdue.
I know some people will say that is literally the case, though.
Can you give us an idea of how big a deal this move really is?
As you mentioned, some people feel it's overdue.
Some people feel that the Fed is trying to it's almost like it's almost like a land grab
before between the different agencies in the US as to who's going to really be in control
of this.
You've already seen the CFC kind of put their hand up to try and regulate part of it.
To be fair, Powell has always been pretty much anti these sort of currencies, but he's
really been sort of backed into a corner because of what China has actually managed to achieve
already and the threat that that could pose longer term to the dominance of the US dollar.
Effectively, if people go down cryptocurrencies and the Fed haven't got anything, then they're
going to be behind the curve.
Can you also explain to us, Andrew, a little bit about the significance of this master
account, what the implications would be for lending, both in terms of traditional financial
institutions, banks in particular, but also crypto as well?
It depends how much how much involvement the central bank really wants to have.
Typically, it is the high street banks that lend people money.
The Fed may print it, but actually it's the Goldman Sachs, the JP Morgans.
Those are the guys that really distribute that money into the general economy.
It's not a central bank per se.
With crypto, though, they could do that.
They could look it directly at your account and say, Yes, you need the money.
We can put it into your account or they can say, No, you've got enough wealth, we don't
need to.
But that means that they take on a huge responsibility as to monitoring all those accounts.
In China's case, the central bank wants to do it because they want to control where the
money goes.
They want to know what people are doing with the money and they want to be able to target
it.
The Fed is probably at the other end of that range insomuch as it doesn't want to be seen
to be quite so authoritarian about other people's money.
So are you saying, Andrew, that the Fed's much more concerned, not necessarily about
its own economy and the implications on crypto lending, but rather about getting behind the
curve on where China stands?
I don't think the Fed really wants to get involved in crypto per se.
It kind of wants to be able to say, okay, we've got a digital currency, so we understand
how it works.
And as a, as, as the, as the financial system for the US goes, we can implement a digital
US dollar and that helps us to compete with China.
So I think what you're they're trying to do is get a, get an overlay for a banking system
that uses crypto type currencies with whether that's a central bank currency or Bitcoin
or Etherium or whatever, so that we can have a template there for how they should be regulated
and the stopgaps behind that they what they're allowed to do and what they're not allowed
to do.
But it's also, I think, saying that, you know, we're not in a position to really regulate
crypto.
All right.
Thanks so much for that, Andrew.
Andrew Sullivan talking to us there.
Now, exchanges and lenders have been hit hard by the crypto winter, but while some have
fallen by the wayside, one seems to have sense an opportunity.
Slumping trade volumes, of course, saw Equinix earlier this week decide to close its crypto
exchange.
Others, though, like BitMex and Hodlnaut, have asked for protection against creditors
while they work on restructuring.
However, Singapore based Coinhako says it's planning to expand, and that is despite the
company saying the cost of compliance in the Lion City is on the rise, Forkast's Pradipta
Mukherjee has more details for us.
Coinhako was founded in 2014 and has traditionally kept its focus to the local market in Singapore.
But that is set to change.
Hako Technology, which operates the exchange, told Forkast it's looking to expand over the
next 6 to 12 months.
We are actually looking to see how we can expand beyond the Singapore market.
So we have always been I mean we have traditionally been very focused on the Singapore market
because we are Singaporean entrepreneurs, the founders of Singaporeans.
It's a Singapore and Singapore and growing business.
Right.
Having I think done quite well in the Singapore market, we are now looking to capitalize on
that foundation to expand into the region.
Cheong says there are a few ways the company is thinking of achieving this goal.
Some kind of acquisitions is is definitely on the table, if not because we have the tech,
the operational and the regulatory experience dealing with a key regulator like EMS in Singapore.
We do have the expertise to go into the different markets to set up our own shop as well.
So so that's where we're talking to a few approaches right now, either going in ourselves,
partnering or someone or an acquisition.
Over 80% of Coinhako's current clients are retail traders.
However, the company also plans to tap into institutional traders like family offices
and traditional financial institutions.
Because of our background and expertise serving the mass market already, we can take some
of that learning experience to now tailor a solution that we think will work for for
these for these clients.
Cheong says.
The company's experience in dealing with a stringent regulator like the Monetary Authority
of Singapore or MAS, gives it the confidence to tackle regulatory practices in other Asian
countries as well.
The march has repeatedly warned the general public against crypto trading and last month
it said it would further strengthen regulation to cover issues like consumer protection.
Coinhako is one of the few exchanges to hold a major payment institution license in Singapore.
Cheong says that while the cost of compliance has gone up, both regulation and compliance
are important as they give investors confidence.
If we look at how the regulatory landscape is changing, the regulators are increasingly
focused now, having put in place at least a framework to regulate CFD and AML risks.
So now look at consumer protection and I think that's where the puck is moving and platforms
like ourselves to ensure that there are certain standards in place to ensure users understand
the risk of engaging in crypto assets or digital assets in general and educating users as well.
As for concerns over the crypto winter.
Cheong says that as Coinhako has been around since 2014, it has already experienced the
ups and downs of the market and learned how to handle them.
Because of our experience, we have sufficient, I guess, provisions for a time like this where
a bear market hits the crypto industry.
So I think it's important that any player that's coming to the market or still in the
market recognizes that the crypto bear market there, they are going to be bear markets in
the crypto space just like any industry.
And to have sufficient provisions for that.
I am Pradipta Mukherjee, Forkast.
Compliance is also a concern for Huobi.
Only months after launching in New Zealand, the Seychelles based crypto exchange is stopping
crypto derivatives trading services in the country.
As of August the 23rd, Huobi said the decision was made to adhere to local compliance policies.
The exchange only began operating in New Zealand in June after announcing it was registered
with the country's financial services provider.
Huobi is banned from providing any services in 11 jurisdictions, including the United
States, Canada and Japan.
Now Tencent's NFT marketplace is no longer a marketplace.
Huanhe says no more NFTs will be issued and that buyers can get a refund on any NFT items
that they bought there.
The app will remain, though.
Customers, however, will only be able to display, download and share NFTs that they already
own.
The platform only went live in August last year and had experienced some fairly slow
sales levels since June.
Authorities in China, meanwhile, have consistently been warning about speculation over NFTs and
while he was one of the few platforms that never allowed secondary sales.
And finally, a reminder that Forkast next crypto rising livestream event is just over
a week away.
It happens at 9:00 PM Eastern; August 25th, 9:00 AM Hong Kong time.
August 26th.
That is when some of crypto.
Most influential figures across Asia will be sitting down with Forkast Editor in Chief
Angie Lau and Sean Lee from the Crypto Council for Innovation.
They'll be discussing navigating the new regulatory landscape.
You don't want to miss out.
Sign up at Forkast.News and make sure to join us on the day.
That's it from us for today though like and subscribe to this video for more content like
it and let us know your thoughts on what's happening in the comments.