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RIYADH: Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency internationally, traded higher on Monday, rising by 0.70 percent to $21,504.27 as of 8:30 a.m. Riyadh time.
Ethereum, the second most traded cryptocurrency, was priced at $1,432.34 rising by 5.41 percent, according to data from Coindesk.
Regulated digital currencies have benefits, say central bank chiefs
As long as the companies can be properly regulated, consumer-focused digital tokens issued by private companies could be better than central bank-issued tokens, the Australian central bank governor said on Sunday, Reuters reported.
“If these tokens are going to be used widely by the community they are going to need to be backed by the state, or regulated just as we regulate bank deposits,” said Philip Lowe.
“I tend to think that the private solution is going to be better — if we can get the regulatory arrangements right — because the private sector is better than the central bank at innovating and designing features for these tokens, and there are also likely to be very significant costs for the central bank setting up a digital token system,” he said.
Around the world, many central banks are developing digital currencies, either retail tokens for use directly by consumers or wholesale tokens for use by banks.
This is a response to the development of stablecoins such as Tether and USDC, which are commonly used for payment and as a store of value.
Decentralized finance projects, part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, could also be mitigated by greater scrutiny of such tokens, according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief who spoke at the G20 finance officials meeting in Indonesia.
HKMA CEO Eddie Yue said more scrutiny of stablecoins could also help reduce risks from DeFi, which aims to replace financial intermediaries with computer code.
Celsius’ clients await news on their funds
After Celsius filed for bankruptcy in May, customers are anxiously waiting to find out about their money and whether they will ever get it back, according to Reuters.
In June, Celsius froze withdrawals citing extreme market conditions, triggering a $300 billion selloff in digital assets and severing the savings of legions of retail investors.
When Celsius Network filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New York this week, it revealed a $1.2 billion hole in its balance sheet.
Reuters spoke with six lawyers specializing in bankruptcy, restructuring, and cryptocurrency to determine what will happen to customers’ money.
Lawyers say the Chapter 11 process will be slow due to limited bankruptcy precedents, multiple lawsuits against Celsius, and the high complexity of any restructuring.
Daniel Gwen at Ropes & Grey law firm in New York said that “this could last for years.”
“It’s highly likely there’s going to be a lot of litigation,” he added.
NFT marketplace OpenSea cuts 20 percent of jobs
OpenSea, a New York-based marketplace for non-fungible tokens, has cut 20 percent of its workforce amid a prolonged slump in digital asset markets, Reuters reported.
As Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies rose in popularity in 2021, the company’s sales grew.
Due to rising inflation, central bank rate hikes, and recession fears, the nascent NFT market has slumped in recent months.
CEO Devin Finzer said: “The reality is that we have entered an unprecedented combination of a crypto winter and broad macroeconomic instability, and we need to prepare the company for the possibility of a prolonged downturn.”
In June, OpenSea’s NFT sales volume fell to $700 million, down from $2.6 billion in May and well below the peak of nearly $5 billion in January.
Digital files such as images and texts are represented by NFTs, which are blockchain-based assets.
As a result of the job cuts, Finzer said the company would be able to maintain growth at current volumes for the next five years.
US crypto exchange Coinbase wins regulatory nod in Italy
Major US crypto exchange Coinbase has won approval from Italian regulators to continue to serve customers in Italy, it said in a blog on Monday.
Coinbase said it had met requirements from the Organismo Agenti e Mediatori, known as OAM, which oversees financial agents and credit brokers in Italy and implements anti-money laundering controls.
Financial watchdogs across the world are grappling with how to regulate the crypto market, which remains subject to patchy rules, according to Reuters.
Consumer protection, threats to financial stability and illicit usage of digital coins are among the top issues on regulators’ agendas.
Under groundbreaking new rules agreed this month by the EU, crypto companies will need a license and customer safeguards to issue and sell digital tokens in the bloc.
The OAM says on its website it can collect and share with anti-mafia and anti-terrorism investigators in Italy data provided by crypto firms on their clients and operations.
Coinbase rival Binance, the world’s largest exchange, said in May it had registered with the OAM.
Paraguay Senate approves cryptocurrency bill
The Senate of Paraguay has approved a bill that seeks to regulate cryptocurrencies and their operations in the country.
The bill states that crypto mining companies will have to submit an energy consumption plan to the national energy administration, which will be able to cut power to these companies if they don’t follow it.
The cryptocurrency companies will also be exempt from paying value-added taxes but will have to pay income taxes, according to Bitcoin.com.
(With inputs from Reuters)
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Al-Baha region has launched 28 environmental and water projects at a cost of more than SR572.7 million ($152.50 million).
Among them are seven projects to build dams and dig wells to secure drinking water, at a total cost of more than SR60 million, the Minister of Environment, Abdulrahman Al-Fadley, said, at an inauguration ceremony.
The National Water Company has also implemented 15 projects to provide water services to beneficiaries in the region, at a cost of SR272 million, in addition to six projects to develop and expand sewage networks, with a value of SR238 million.
These projects aim to meet the increasing demand for drinking water, sewage and other water services, Al-Fadley said.
The Ministry of Environment is also currently working on the implementation of 21 water and sanitation projects, at a cost of more than SR798 million.
There are also 13 projects for afforestation and protection of vegetation cover, and a further 188 projects planned with a value of SR6.6 billion.
RIYADH: Saudi Public Investment Fund-owned ACWA Power Co. has signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea’s POSCO Holdings to jointly explore the production of green hydrogen.
The agreement will involve the joint development of green hydrogen and its derivatives which include green ammonia, a press release stated.
The MoU also includes decarbonizing POSCO Group’s power generation, and its steel manufacturing processes, along with serving other Korean clients of POSCO Group, it added.
“The partnership with POSCO Holdings, a giant in their field, represents our firm commitment toward working with like-minded partners to support global decarbonization efforts, and the critical and timely achievement of net zero targets as per the timeframes set by the Paris Agreement,” said Paddy Padmanathan, vice chairman and CEO of ACWA Power.
This deal will also help to meet POSCO Group’s ambitious targets to produce 500,000 tons of hydrogen globally by 2030, the press release further noted.
Meanwhile, ACWA Power, in association with NEOM and Air Products, is developing a green hydrogen project in Saudi Arabia, which is expected to be completed in 2026. Once completed, the project will produce 1.2 million tons of green ammonia per year for the purposes of decarbonizing industries.
RIYADH: Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. has entered into a strategic partnership with French energy firm TotalEnergies to collaborate in areas of mutual interest including gas growth, carbon capture utilization and storage trading and product supply.
The agreement was signed in the presence of UAE President, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and French President, Emmanuel Macron, during the former’s visit to France.
It was signed by Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE’s minister of industry and advanced technology and ADNOC managing director and Group CEO, and Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies.
“We look forward to working with TotalEnergies to unlock the opportunities presented by the agreement across the energy value chain to enable more secure, affordable and sustainable energy for our countries and the world,” said Al Jaber.
Pouyanné added: “Our partnership across the entire energy value chain allows our two companies to join forces to contribute to the energy supply of global markets, while reducing carbon emissions from our operations.”
Saudi May crude oil exports fell by 332,000 barrels per day from the previous month to 7.05 million bpd, Joint Organisations Data Initiative, also known as JODI, said on its website on Tuesday.
Crude exports decreased by 4.5 percent from 7.382 million bpd in April.
The decrease is the biggest in the past 15 months.
Crude oil production grew by 97,000 bpd month-on-month to 10.538 million bpd in May. Production rose by 0.9 percent from 10.441 million bpd in April.
RIYADH: Iraq’s energy minister expects oil to trade at over $100 a barrel for the rest of the year, predicting its price will stay high for the next three to four years, according to Bloomberg.
In an interview, Ihsan Abdul Jabbar Ismail said this requires continued efforts of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries producers’ group to manage supply and demand.
“I would like OPEC to retain its tools to measure and control output and maintain the existing balance,” he said, adding that they will discuss that with their partners.
OPEC+ is scheduled to meet again on the Aug. 3.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February, oil has jumped over $100 a barrel, with Brent soaring to near $140 in March.
