DeFI News by Thebittimes.Com

In what would be a major development for the country and the industry, Russia has seen its Finance Ministry call for it to create its very own crypto stablecoin. Indeed, the nation has discussed the idea after digital wallets linked to the country were blocked from holding Tether’s USDT stablecoin last month. Over the last several weeks, geopolitical tensions have increased amid the United States’ Liberation Day tariff plan. The move has sparked a brewing trade war, as the US dollar has continued to weaken in the process. Now, Russia is among a host of nations looking to create their own alternative currencies to the greenback. JUST IN: Russian Finance Ministry calls to create its own crypto stablecoin. — Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) April 16, 2025 Also Read: China and Russia Begin Settling Trade Transactions Using Bitcoin Russia Eyes Creation of Its Own Stablecoin In Major Crypto Shift Over the last several years, the BRICS economic alliance has sought to lessen internation...

1. South Korea: Over 30% of Population Now Engaged in Cryptocurrency Investments link According to data from the Bank of Korea, as of the end of November, the total number of cryptocurrency investors in South Korea surpassed 15.59 million for the first time, accounting for over 30% of the country’s population. The total asset size reached 102.6 trillion won (approximately $79 billion), with the daily trading volume nearing the total of the domestic stock market. Fueled by expectations of crypto-friendly policies following Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president, Bitcoin prices surged nearly 35% in November, significantly boosting investment activity in South Korea’s crypto market. Among the five major exchanges, the average cryptocurrency holdings per investor reached 6.58 million won (approximately $5,070), with 610,000 new investors added in November alone. Additionally, the volume of deposits not yet invested in the market increased to 8.8 trillion won (approximately $6 billion). ...

1. Russian President Putin Signs Law Officially Legalizing Cryptocurrency Mining link Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill officially legalizing cryptocurrency mining. The law introduces new concepts such as digital currency mining, mining pools, mining pool infrastructure operators, address identifiers, and individuals organizing mining pool activities. Mining is considered part of circulation rather than the issuance of digital currencies. Only registered Russian legal entities and individual entrepreneurs are authorized to engage in mining, while individuals who do not exceed government-set energy consumption limits can mine without registration. Additionally, foreign digital financial assets can be traded on Russian blockchain platforms, and the Russian Central Bank has the authority to prohibit individual issuances if financial stability is threatened. The law will take effect ten days after its official publication. Putin described this as a promising economic secto...

BRICS member Russia confirmed on Sunday that Kremlin is working towards building a new payment system without incorporating the U.S. dollar. Russia aims to build a new payment mechanism to settle cross-border transactions with BRICS and other developing countries bypassing the US dollar. The decision to build a new payment system comes after the U.S. pressed sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine. Also Read: BRICS Expansion a Threat To SWIFT Payment System & US Dollar If Russia succeeds in building a new payment system asking BRICS and other countries to pay in local currencies, the U.S. dollar will be the hardest hit currency. Read here to know how many sectors in the U.S. will be affected if BRICS ditches the dollar for trade. BRICS: Russia Confirms Building a New Payment System With No U.S. Dollar Mechanism Source: thenewsguru.com Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Russia is advancing towards building a new payment mechanism without the U.S. dollar...

As narratives about corruption in Ukraine evolve, the Ministry of Digital Transformation hopes blockchain could solve that problem. While Ukraine still ranked the second most corrupt country in Europe, after Russia, it is now exploring new ways to battle corruption for fear of losing support from the West. The head of the virtual assets expert group at the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Yulia Parkhomenko, spoke at the panel discussion held by the Center for Strategic & International Studies. She said the ministry sees new possibilities in blockchain technology in making the Ukrainian government more transparent. She particularly noted that blockchain can “reliably protect” state ledgers from unauthorized access, increase their transparency, and “reduce corruption in state entities that oversee them.” “Alongside experts, we are exploring international experience of using blockchain on a state level and develop our own strateg...

Russia’s Finance Ministry official hopes that liquidity from the crypto market will help the local business to overcome sanctions pressure. Digital financial asset s (DFAs), a tokenized form of traditional financial instruments issued by Russian-only companies, appear to have failed to attract significant capital from local investors despite the Bank of Russia’s efforts to position these asset s as a better alternative to crypto . According to Russian finance ministry official Ivan Chebeskov, it is still too early to say that DFAs have raised many investments, even though the first issuance of DFAs was conducted in June 2022. As reported by the Russian state news agency TASS, the ministry is now betting on bringing investors from the crypto market, given this industry allocated enough liquidity to support Russia’s economy. “In our opinion, large investments in the digital financial asset s market will occur when we are able to combine what we call the cry...

Cracks are emerging in BRICS as India is showing discomfort with paying the Chinese Yuan to procure oil from Russia. The Indian government is upset over letting state-run refiners like the Indian Oil Company (ICO) settle payments in the Chinese Yuan. India’s unwillingness to pay the Chinese Yuan for Russian oil imports has held up payments for seven cargoes reported Reuters. However, the tussle over payments has not disrupted the oil flow and deliveries, officials with knowledge of the matter said. Also Read: US Military Stocks Experience a $100 Billion Wipe Out in 2023 Two finance ministry officials told the news outlet that India is uncomfortable with using the Chinese Yuan for oil payments. They said on the condition of anonymity that payments for seven cargoes are pending with Russia since September. The development comes at a time when BRICS is looking to end reliance on the US dollar. However, India is unhappy with the idea of putting the Chinese Yuan forward for g...

Hong Kong-based OTCs say the region has become a safe harbor not only for crypto multimillionaires but for ordinary people, too. As the ongoing international conflict between Russia and Ukraine keeps unfolding, many citizens of both countries turned to Hong Kong, seeking safety for their money in crypto. Chainalysis, a New York-based blockchain forensic firm, citing Hong Kong-based over-the-counter (OTC) firms, revealed that “many Russians and Ukrainians are coming to Hong Kong to get their money to safety using crypto .” In a commentary to Chainalysis, Merton Lam, founder of one of the largest crypto OTCs in Hong Kong called CryptoHK, said that for high net worth individuals crypto has become a “part of their investment portfolio.” “They mostly want Bitcoin and Ether, though some have shown interest in smaller altcoins recently, which is interesting.” Merton Lam Merton did not go into details but noted that “ordinary people” al...

Ether leads the way in donations with $28.9 million received so far, while BTC and USDT donors have chipped in $22.8 million and $11.59 million respectively. Ukraine has received over $70 million in the form of cryptocurrencies since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, providing the nation with military equipment and humanitarian assistance. The figures came from a Feb. 24 report by Blockchain data platform Chainalysis, which found the majority of the funds to have come in the form of Ether (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC). ETH donors led the way with $28.9 million given, while donors of BTC and Tether (USDT) chipped in $22.8 million and $11.59 million respectively. Cryptocurrencies donated to Ukraine wallets provided by the Ukrainian government. Source: Chainalysis. Donations have also come in the form of nonfungible tokens (NFTs), such as UkraineDAO’s auction of a Ukrainian flag NFT which sold for $6.1 million. Around 80% of the total $70 million donated came in the first few months...