Nigeria released new rules for digital assets, offering more clarity on trading in cryptocurrencies in Africa’s most populous nation.

The Securities and Exchange Commission published “rules on issuance, offering platforms and custody of digital assets” for virtual technologies, it said on its website. It classifies the assets as securities regulated by the SEC. 

The rules may help boost trading by giving more clarity on the sector in a country that already ranks as among the biggest markets for digital assets. Nigeria accounts for the largest volume of cryptocurrency transactions outside the U.S., according to Paxful, a Bitcoin marketplace.

Last year, the central bank ordered commercial lenders to stop transactions or operations in cryptocurrencies, citing a threat to the financial system. The SEC said at the time it would seek to protect investors and make the market more transparent.

The regulations “could act as the precursor for a surprise move from the central bank to reverse its approach, providing critical foundations for mass crypto adoption across the country,” Owen Odia, country manager for Nigeria at cryptocurrency exchange Luno, said by email.

The new rules cover the issuance of digital assets as securities, the registration of platforms and digital asset custodians, exchanges and virtual assets service providers.

 Few hours after the Terra Blockchain came back up, Terra’s Founder, Dokwon proposed a revival plan to resolve Terra’s ownership. Terra’s founder stated that protecting Terra’s ecosystem was the first step to resettling its ownership.

A Call to Action 

While different community and validator groups have been discussing how to make Terra’s blockchain valuable again, Dokwon relayed his prospect concerning feasible measures that can be applied, for Terra’s recovery after the UST de-pegging event.

Dokwon noted that there is still several billion dollars worth of UST, and Luna’s ravage to recoup from. He admitted that the severe liquidation of Luna will not save capitulation, even if the peg was restored. 

Moreover, Terra’s ecosystem is not strong enough to build up the market cap of both stablecoins, and the trust of many users has been crushed. Hence, the most practical action, for him,  would be to provide a sustainable structure to preserve the developer ecosystem and its community, which would be to reform the chain. 

Achieving redistribution in Terra’s network

Summarily, validators should reprogram the network ownership to $1 billion, which would be distributed among the affected parties. 

• For recipients who held Luna prior to the de-pegging, $400 million should be allocated (40%) to them. Dokwon believes that retaining the network’s fair ownership in the hands of its strongest believers and builders is crucial, and so, the new chain deserves to be community-owned.

• The same amount (40%) should also be dispensed to UST holders who were pro-rata at the time of the new network upgrade, while $100 million (10%) should be given to Luna holders who held on till the final moment of the chain halt. 

• In a similar fashion, the Community Pool should be allotted $100 million (10%), in order to fund future developments. Then, all Luna apart from the third tranche should be staked at the network genesis rate.

Lastly, he suggested that incentives should be reasonably provided for security, since the fees will no longer suffice for security without the swap fees.

With this system in place, Terra might just be able to successfully redistribute its value in its ecosystem, strengthen its value simultaneously, and slowly contribute to the pursuit of a decentralised economy.

 DIGITAL CURRENCY : Biden signs cryptocurrency executive order, hoping to advance a digital dollar and other innovations

The Biden administration is tackling cryptocurrency and blockchain with a new executive order meant to promote future innovation in the industry while minimizing the financial risks to Americans and the global financial system.

The order, which President Joe Biden is expected to sign Wednesday, will hasten the research and possible creation of the Federal Reserve's own digital currency, pushes for greater support for innovation in blockchain technology and works to ensure the new systems won't increase inequality or financial swings.

Agencies like the Commerce, State and Treasury departments, as well as the Federal Reserve, have been working with or researching cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies for years.

The latest executive order, developed in conversations with major industry players, is bringing in the entire administration to the effort.

The administration's executive order is the most significant intervention the federal government has taken into cryptocurrency and blockchain technology so far.

The order instructs federal agencies to collaborate on digital assets in six areas: consumer and investor protection; financial stability; illicit finance; U.S. leadership in the global financial system and economic competitiveness; financial inclusion; and responsible innovation.

Per the order, the Treasury Department will come up with recommendations for consumer financial health and protection. It will also further research the future of payment systems, like cryptocurrency.

Other departments will determine the risks and benefits of cryptocurrency and blockchain, with reports to be delivered to Biden over the next six months.

The Commerce Department is tasked with ensuring that the U.S. financial system and the dollar remain central to global finance by understanding how to leverage digital assets in that goal.

"Our assessment of the risks and potential benefits of digital assets must include an understanding of how our financial system does and does not meet the current needs of consumers in a manner that is equitable, inclusive and efficient," said a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Current American payment systems are in many ways "antiquated" and can leave consumers with "options that are slow, costly or altogether inaccessible", particularly for international transactions, the official said.

Yet many economists studying the space have expressed concern about the volatility of some cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens and other digital assets, as well as the threat that new financial technologies may allow for illicit conduct.

The administration denies that the rollout of the executive order is affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Senior officials are also confident that cryptocurrencies can't serve as an effective workaround for sanctions the U.S. and its allies have imposed on Russian elites and financial intuitions, especially the Russian Central Bank.

Russian banks and citizens have been rushing to transfer their assets into cryptocurrency as the ruble tumbles in value under severe Western sanctions meant to curtail the Kremlin's war machine.

Countries around the world are taking divergent views on cryptocurrency and other so-called "Web3" technologies based on blockchain. The European Parliament will vote on March 14 whether to pass a comprehensive cryptocurrency bill that would add regulations across the continent but not ban the technology.

 Goldman Sachs Issued A Surprise Crypto Price Warning After Huge Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, Solana, Cardano And XRP Crash

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices have somewhat stabilized this week after a steep sell-off that wiped over $1 trillion from the combined crypto market, with ethereum, BNB, solana, cardano and XRP tanking and sparking fears of a new crypto winter.

The bitcoin price dropped from a peak of almost $70,000 per bitcoin late last year to around $30,000 this month before rebounding slightly—even as some bullish investors bet the bitcoin price will eventually hit staggering highs.

Now, Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs has warned increased crypto adoption may not translate into higher prices and could even damage the narrative that bitcoin, ethereum and other coins diversify a portfolio.

"Mainstream adoption can be a double-edged sword," Goldman Sachs strategists wrote this week in a note first reported by Bloomberg. "While it can raise valuations, it will also likely raise correlations with other financial market variables, reducing the diversification benefit of holding the asset class."

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency adoption has soared over the last year, rising along with the price of most major cryptocurrencies, including ethereum, BNB, solana, cardano and XRP—with some recording eye-watering triple-digit percentage increases.

Wall Street legends, financial giants, high-profile companies and even one country have bought bitcoin, with the expectation the bitcoin price will continue to climb.

Meanwhile, the use of crypto technology to recreate traditional financial services, known as decentralized finance (DeFi), and collectible non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that are both largely built on ethereum's blockchain have soared in popularity as investors pour cash into them.

However, Goldman rival JPMorgan has warned ethereum's high transaction fees and network congestion risk handing NFT market share to rival blockchain solana—something that could be a "problem for ethereum's valuation." Bank of America has said solana could become the "Visa of the digital asset ecosystem."

Elsewhere, the world's biggest technology companies, led by Facebook's newly branded parent company Meta and now including Apple and Microsoft, are forging into the virtual reality-based metaverse—with some predicting bitcoin, crypto, DeFi and NFTs could have a part to play.

The metaverse could provide a "secular tailwind" for some crypto-assets but they won't be "immune to macroeconomic forces" such as the Federal Reserve raising interest rates and shrinking its huge balance sheet, Goldman analysts warned.

“Over time, further development of blockchain technology, including applications in the metaverse, may provide a secular tailwind to valuations for certain digital assets,” the strategists wrote. "But these assets will not be immune to macroeconomic forces, including central bank monetary tightening."

The latest crypto crash, reducing the combined value of the crypto market from around $3 trillion to just over $1.5 trillion, was sparked by fears the Fed could soon hike rates. Global stock markets have also sunk as investors face up to the reality of a return to pre-epidemic monetary policy.

Many long-term bitcoin and crypto investors aren't worried, however, with Cathie Wood's Ark Invest this month predicting the bitcoin price could exceed $1 million by 2030—with ethereum's market capitalization potentially topping $20 trillion.

 Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) will accept meme-based cryptocurrency dogecoin as payment for its merchandise such as the "Giga Texas" belt buckle and mini models of electric vehicles, Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said in a tweet on Friday.

The move, which sent dogecoin prices 14% higher, comes a month after Musk said Tesla would test out the digital token as a payment option.

Musk, a vocal proponent of cryptocurrencies, has heavily influenced prices of dogecoin and bitcoin, and at one point had said the company would accept bitcoin for purchasing its cars before axing plans.

Tesla's merchandise, which also include the recently launched "Cyberwhistle" and "Cyberquad for Kids", are a hit with its fans, and usually sell out within a few hours of listing.