Category: Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is digital money that works online. It lets people send and receive payments directly without banks. It runs on secure networks called blockchains, making it fast and global.

Russia Cracks Down on Crypto Miners – Registration Now Mandatory

Brief Summary: Russia is subjecting crypto miners to the requirement of registering their installations until November 1, 2025, in relation to increased government control. The financial watchdog Rosfinmonitoring will monitor mining activities using a centralized database. Mining without registration will be prohibited, and reporting to taxes will be more strictly regulated.

It was until November 1, 2025, when the regulation of crypto mining in Russia finally went all-in and became illegal, without registration. Rosfinmonitoring introduces a database that follows the operation of every mining rig so that every operation is on the government’s radar.This comes months after an earlier ban issued in six regions over concerns of power shortages, including parts of occupied Ukraine. This ban is supposed to be in order for the next 6 years, till the month of March, to make sure that the mining activities get streamlined in a proper way.

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With that in mind, Russia’s Federal Taxation Service, FNS, has set up an online platform where miners will be forced to report proceeds using a qualified electronic signature. Taxes are fixed, too. Miners that earn up to 2.4 million rubles, which is about $23,976, will face a tax rate of 13%, while owners with higher revenues will pay 15% taxes.. Reports on income should now be filed on a monthly basis, and it is impossible to dodge taxes any longer.

What Russia is trying to say with this law is that miners can’t continue acting in the shadow anymore. A miner has either to play according to the law or face some serious legal repercussions.

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Binance Pay Teams Up with xMoney to Bring Crypto Payments to 20K+ European Businesses

Wrap-up: Crypto payments finally catch a big break in Europe. This cooperation between Binance Pay and xMoney will give users the power to splash crypto on everything-from bespoke shopping, travel, even to public services by more than 20,000 different enterprises across diverse industries-make crypto seamless, cheaper, and mainstream.

It basically means that users of Binance Pay can spend their crypto on everything, from high-end brands to online stores, even government services in places such as Lugano and Liechtenstein. Over the last year, xMoney has been scaling up its merchant network, meaning that more and more businesses could receive digital currencies without the usually painful process fraught with high commissions and slow speeds.

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For Jonathan Lim, Global Head of Binance Pay, this will be a game-changer, with crypto payments growing bigger in everyday life. The CEO of xMoney, Greg Siourounis, on his part, said the move bridges traditional finance with blockchain to make crypto payments further approachable-and trusted.

Numbers say it all: from 8,900 two years ago, to more than 12,000 in just last year, the explosive growth of the Binance Pay merchant network will now be over 32,000 companies across the globe. The increased crypto adoption translates into easier-to-use digital assets for everyday spending thanks to such partnerships and ultimately proves that crypto is for living, not just investing.

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Kraken to Drop USDT & 4 More Stablecoins in Europe—Here’s Why

Summary: Kraken is officially pulling the plug on Tether (USDT) and four other stablecoins in Europe, thanks to strict new crypto rules under MiCA. The delisting will happen in phases, with a final deadline of March 31 of this year. Users in the EEA region (which includes Germany, France, and Spain) will have time to swap their assets before they get automatically converted into a compliant alternative.

Kraken isn’t just dropping USDT—it’s also saying goodbye to PayPal USD (PYUSD), Euro Tether (EURT), TrueUSD (TUSD), and TerraClassicUSD (UST). The exchange says it’s all about staying on the right side of European regulations, which are cracking down hard on stablecoins. To help users adjust, Kraken has laid out a clear timeline: margin trading will switch to “reduce-only” mode on February 13, meaning no new positions can be opened. By the end of February, users will only be able to sell, and forced liquidations for margin positions will hit during March.

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By the end of March, spot trading will be fully shut down, and after March 31, any leftover stablecoin balances will be auto-converted into a compliant alternative. Kraken is making it clear—this move only affects users in the EEA. Meanwhile, other big exchanges like Coinbase and Crypto.com are making similar moves, signaling a major shift in how stablecoins will operate in Europe.

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Japan’s Banks Are Adopting Ripple Tech, But Will They Actually Use XRP?

Summary: Japan’s SBI Remit and SBI Shinsei Bank collaborate in upgrading cross-border payments, leaving some elbow room in the process that could be curbed with the help of Ripple’s technology. Even though they have used RippleNet for faster settlement, the million-dollar question is now whether they are integrating XRP or future Stablecoin RLUSD from Ripple.

SBI Remit has, for the last decade, been right at the forefront of Japan’s remittance space, especially where foreign residents seek to send money back home. They have used Ripple’s blockchain already, enabling smoother and less expensive transfers. The most recent deal with SBI Shinsei Bank could see them expand even further-a potential development that might extend Ripple’s ecosystem into more traditional banking services.

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Another key angle would be that SBI Shinsei Bank participates in Project Agorá, dedicated to the exploration of CBDCs and blockchain-based cross-border payments. This directly fits into the plans of Ripple to extend its technology to the mainstream financial world, making XRP or RLUSD one of the most prospective live use cases.

Japan is still catching up when it comes to fintech and banking collaborations, but this move sets a precedent. SBI Remit and SBI Shinsei Bank are paving the way for Ripple-powered solutions in Japan’s financial sector, and if they go all in on XRP or RLUSD, it could be a game-changer for crypto-backed remittances.

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Crypto Tax Crackdown: India Slaps 70% Penalty on Unreported Gains

Overview: The Indian government has begun clamping down on crypto traders by imposing an unbelievable 70% tax penalty for unreported crypto gains. Under the new stringent rule, which is included under Section 158B of the Income Tax Act, comes the 2025 Union Budget aimed at tightening reins over the explosively growing crypto market.Investors who have failed to disclose their gains might well face severe fines, as the government looks back four years for undeclared gains. Crypto, for example, is now classified as a Virtual Digital Asset, or VDA, thereby making it akin to cash, gold, and jewelry for tax purposes in India.

Crypto exchanges and financial platforms are required to report transactions, making it tough to fly under the radar. Last year, the government unearthed $97 million in unpaid Goods and Services Tax from crypto exchanges, putting all major scrutiny on platforms like Binance and Bybit-forcing Bybit to shut down operations in India altogether. It’s not alone in this.

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The U.S. IRS, too, is raising its crypto tax game, imposing more stringent reporting requirements starting in 2025. Some crypto groups even sue the IRS on grounds of unconstitutionality of the new regulations. As governments around the world increase their stranglehold on digital assets, crypto traders will have to keep their wits about them-and be compliant-unless they want to pay the price.

Gang Token Drama: Allegations, Mockery, and a Market Crash

Crypto influencer MrPunk.eth launched $GANG, cashed out $10M, and mocked investors. Allegations of a pump-and-dump scam fuel controversy.



The $GANG token, launched by crypto influencer MrPunk.eth, quickly went from soaring to crashing 98%. It all started with MrPunk.eth using his massive social media reach to hype the coin. However, after a brief surge, the token plummeted, and accusations started flying.

The famous crypto investigator @freakyfawi accused MrPunk.eth of selling $1.3 million in $GANG tokens within two minutes of tweeting about it, cashing out a total of $10 million weeks later. Of course, immediate rumors of a classic “pump and dump” surfaced, with prices suddenly spiking only to fall just as quickly and leaving most investors with extraordinary losses.

GoFundMeme, the company behind $GANG, took to its defense, stating that MrPunk.eth had used special features to avoid snipers and that the team wasn’t involved in buying tokens. Yet some users weren’t buying it, accusing GoFundMeme of being in on the scam.

Meanwhile, MrPunk.eth snubbed his followers’ concerns, even to the point of making fun of those who lost money by calling them “broke losers.” As the drama unfolds, @freakyfawi unveiled MrPunk.eth’s real identity as Rajinder Pathani. In any case, it was either market manipulation or a rug pull; the crypto community was abuzz with debate.

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Is XRP Heading for a Price Correction in February?

XRP dipped below $3, historically struggling in February. Traders hope Ripple’s U.S. crypto reserve move boosts demand and flips the trend.



XRP just slipped below $3, dropping over 4% in the past 24 hours. While that might not seem huge, history says February isn’t usually kind to XRP. Since 2014, February has averaged a -3% return, making it one of the coin’s weaker months.

Looking at the stats, XRP has only had four good Februarys—2016, 2019, 2022, and 2024. The biggest gain was in 2022, with a 26.3% jump, but most of the time, losses have been more common, including a brutal 33.4% crash in 2014.

But is this year different? Perhaps. With XRP already 3% down, most of its losses during the month of February in the past have been less than 10%. Therefore, even if it struggles this month, it may not fall that hard. Besides, the crypto market is looking strong, and U.S. regulators are warming up toward crypto.

The biggest game-changer? Ripple joining the U.S. crypto strategic reserve. If approved, demand would spike, thus driving XRP towards $4.
For now, XRP changes hands at $2.98, losing 3.69% with a volume of $4.46 billion. Traders now look to see whether this can finally mark an end to its losing streak in February.

Also Read: Pi Network Accelerates Migration Process in Preparation for Mainnet Launch

Pi Network Accelerates Migration Process in Preparation for Mainnet Launch

Pi Network is accelerating Mainnet migration, reaches 9M users, and is targeting more than 10M by Q1 2025. KYC deadline extended to Feb 28, 2025.



The Pi Network is going full steam into Mainnet migration, gearing up to reach over 10 million migrated users before the Open Network launch early this year, 2025. As of January 2024, over 9 million pioneers have jumped, while the team is pushing for another 2 million migrations by early this year.

For this to happen, Pi Network has increased the speed of migration, sometimes migrating as many as 200,000 users in one day. This will translate to quicker transitions by users and much smoother, seamless shifts to Mainnet. What’s the goal? A solid, inclusive ecosystem ready to thrive once the Open Network launches in Q1 this year.

On top of that, Pi Network has extended the Grace Period for KYC and Mainnet migration until February last day this year. This gives users extra time to verify their identity and complete the migration checklist.

If you’re a Pioneer, now’s the time to act. Get your KYC done, check off the Mainnet migration steps, and secure your Pi before the Open Network goes live. The clock’s ticking, but with the boosted migration speed, making the move has never been easier.

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Coinbase Bets Big on Solana & Hedera Futures – Here’s What’s Coming

Summary: Coinbase prepares to list the Solana, Hedera futures contracts in a big attempt at getting a chunk of crypto derivatives action. Watch for such contracts to hit the market as early as February 2025, pending regulatory approval, offering traders new ways of betting on SOL and HBAR.

It does, however, as Coinbase continues to attempt to ride the crypto wave-hot on the heels of big players like CME and VanEck also filing for Solana, XRP, and Litecoin ETFs. The exchange will introduce cash-settled futures with contract sizes of 100 SOL (~$24K) and 5,000 HBAR, which will give traders exposure to these assets without holding them directly. For smaller investors, “nano” Solana futures (5 SOL per contract) will also be available.

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Coinbase has been expanding its derivatives market under CFTC regulation, launching new products to meet growing demand. These contracts will settle on the final Friday of each month at 4 PM London time and will be cleared by Nodal Clear, LLC.

With crypto ETFs now available and changes in regulations perhaps looming, Coinbase is making a fairly bold bet that demand for futures trading will increase exponentially over the coming months. If that succeeds, it’s likely big days ahead for traders of Solana and Hedera.

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OM Goes Wild: MANTRA Pumps 50% After $1B Tokenization Deal

Summary: OM just went full send! MANTRA (OM) is up over 50% in the past week, smashing a new all-time high of $5.87. The hype comes after a major partnership with Dubai’s DAMAC Group, bringing real estate into the crypto world through tokenization.

MANTRA’s latest collab is a game-changer. By teaming up with DAMAC Group, one of Dubai’s top-tier real estate firms, they’re set to tokenize properties, making investing way more transparent and accessible. With the deal locked in, DAMAC will start dropping tokenized assets on MANTRA Chain this year, opening the doors for crypto investors to tap into luxury real estate like never before.

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The hype is already translating into numbers: at the time of writing, OM was chilling near $5.63, up 20% in just 24 hours, while its trading volume had blown up by as much as 160%. JP Mullin, the CEO at MANTRA, named the partnership a “massive win” for the RWA space while proving blockchain’s power in blowing up traditional finance.

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According to Statista, real estate is supposed to be the largest player in tokenized assets by 2030, and with companies like DAMAC jumping aboard, that trend is only getting stronger. To put this in perspective, the current total market cap of RWA-based crypto assets stands at 39.9 billion dollars, up 6.6% in just one day. Suffice it to say, the tokenization wave is barely off the shores.

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