Meta is not ditching the metaverse
Mark Zuckerberg is still a believer in the metaverse, the Facebook founder said on Wednesday.
”A narrative has developed that we’re somehow moving away from focusing on the metaverse vision,” Zuckerberg said to analysts. “I just want to say upfront that is not accurate.”
Zuckerberg made the comments after his vision to transform his social media empire into a metaverse company — hence the rebranding of the parent company to Meta in 2021 — took a beating over the past year.
With stocks falling and losses mounting, company shareholders have questioned the strategy of pouring billions of dollars into an online world combining virtual and augmented reality, NFTs, and a still unrealised payments product referred to as Zuck Bucks.
The news comes as Meta’s Reality Labs unit had a $3.99 billion operating loss in the first quarter. It lost $13.72 billion last calendar year.
Hong Kong to release crypto licence guidelines
Hong Kong’s top financial markets regulator plans to release new guidelines for crypto firms in May. The new guidelines will be part of a new regime for virtual-asset exchanges.
The city’s Securities and Futures Commission’s CEO Julia Leung made the announcement at an event this week.
The regime is part of the Hong Kong government’s push to become a crypto hotbed. Last week, it reiterated the city’s commitment to introduce “appropriate” regulations for the industry.
NOW READ: London’s crypto hub status may slip to ‘not even number three’ after Brexit deal
Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund rushes to aid of Bitcoin developers in Wright fight
The Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund will help foot legal bills for core Bitcoin developers in the fight against self-proclaimed Bitcoin creator Craig Wright. The non-profit made the announcement on Monday.
Wright has initiated two cases against 13 Bitcoin developers who he says owe him fiduciary access to a “back door” in Bitcoin’s code, to be used for compensation for losses in a 2020 hack.
The BLDF — co-founded by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey — argues Wright and his company Tulip Trading undermine “fundamental principles of freedom” with the lawsuit.
Wright claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s anonymous creator, and has filed a series of lawsuits across the globe involving his rights to Bitcoin.
NOW READ: Wintermute hacker turns $160m heist into top liquidity position on Curve Finance
Rocket Pool enjoys surge after Atlas upgrade
Users flock to Rocket Pool after its Atlas upgrade that halved the collateral that minipool operators must provide, The Defiant reported.
The operators previously had to pay 16 ETH. That figure has now been slashed to eight.
Since April 17, the amount staked via Rocket Pool has jumped by 11% to 500,600 ETH.
The platform is the fifth-largest staking provider in the world, according to beaconcha.in. It is behind behind Lido and centralised exchanges Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken.
US lawmakers opt for Federal Reserve over SEC in raucous stablecoin bill draft
The US Securities and Exchange Commission attempts to position itself as the country’s top crypto regulators, but it seems lawmakers want to cut the agency out of a new stablecoin bill.
Instead of the SEC, US Democrats and Republicans alike agree that the Federal Reserve should regulate the new bill, if it ever gets passed into law, according to insiders on Capitol Hill.
The new bill was introduced earlier in April and is an updated version of a bill from 2022, which had bipartisan support.
NOW READ: Crypto readers are anxious as US and Europe regulations take shape
Former CFTC head says crypto regulation is a matter of ‘will’
A former Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair says crypto regulations will come whenever regulators want to make them.
Chris Giancarlo made the comments in speech on Wednesday. He referenced his CFTC work in 2017, when the agency approved futures contracts involving Bitcoin, and added that those contracts remain the only fully regulated such product to date.
Their success, he added, is “proof that regulators can engage successfully with crypto if they have the will to do so.”
Dubbed “Crypto Dad” by digital asset advocates, Giancarlo also criticised regulators for not including language related to privacy in recent discussions on stablecoins.
Privacy has, however, been a constant topic over the debate about central bank digital currencies, with Republicans in particular warning that digital dosh run by the Federal Reserve could seriously infringe on people’s privacy.
NOW READ: ‘Not a warm and fuzzy guy:’ Gary Gensler’s past sheds light on his firm stance on crypto
Grayscale looks to Q3 for Bitcoin ETF ruling
Grayscale will find out by the end of the third quarter if it will get the nod for its $17.5 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust to become an exchange-traded fund.
That is according to comments made by the crypto investing giant’s CEO Michael Sonnenshein on Wednesday.
The SEC rejected GBTC’s request to turn the trust into an ETF in 2022, which led to a lawsuit slated to end in September of this year.
Sonnenshein didn’t comment on whether or not the decision seems to be in Grayscale’s favour.
More web3 news from around the web...
Bitcoin tumbles as wild crypto market swing causes $310m losses from liquidations — CoinDesk
StanChart’s London-based crypto custody arm raises $36 million in new funds — Bloomberg
