BTC addresses with non-zero holdings hit an all time high while Paxos categorically disagrees with SEC’s Wells Notice

Published Feb 14, 2023
By Qredo Team

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Stablecoin issuer, Paxos Trust Co., has acknowledged receipt of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Wells Notice, stating that Binance USD (BUSD) is not an unregistered security. Following action against Kraken, the SEC continued its crackdown on the industry as it zeroed in on Paxos this week. The SEC plans to sue the stablecoin issuer for violation of investor protection laws in relation to its BUSD, alleging that it is an unregistered security. Upon receiving this Wells Notice on Monday, Paxos said it would stop minting new BUSD tokens at the direction of the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). 

The launch of Ordinals, Bitcoin non-fungible tokens (NFT), has resulted in a surge in the number of non-zero Bitcoin addresses to a new all-time high of 44 million, according to crypto analytics platform Glassnode. The Bitcoin network is now being used for purposes other than peer-to-peer monetary transactions for the first time in 14 years. 

As regulatory scrutiny continues to increase, crypto custody service Bakkt has announced that it will be discontinuing its consumer app. Bakkt plans to use its acquired crypto trading infrastructure firm, Apex Crypto, to capitalize on its business-to-business proposition. Apex Crypto provides security and liquidity for crypto products, and their platform reportedly has over 30 signed fintech partners and serves over 5 million customers.

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