Ukraine’s President Signs a Law Legalizing Cryptocurrencies

Amid the ongoing conflict with Russia, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky officially signed into a “virtual asset” law legalizing crypto assets in the country.

The signed law defines what crypto assets are. It places the National Bank of Ukraine and its National Securities and Stock Market Commission as crypto regulators. Plus, the rule sets out further regulations on who can offer cryptocurrencies and how they must be registered in Ukraine.

The officials have introduced an earlier version of the bill last September, but President Zelensky called for changes. The Ukrainian government first submitted a revised version of the draft law on February 17. With today’s signing, the law comes into force in European countries.

It’s worth noting that cryptocurrencies are not illegal in Ukraine so far. The Ukrainian announcement doesn’t say anything about making Bitcoin legal tender in the country. Thus, we can’t really compare this Ukraine’s move to El Salvador’s.

Deputy minister Alex Bornyakov tweeted that the new crypto law will play a key role in Ukraine’s defense process.

The National Securities and Stock Market Commission of Ukraine will work to develop a national cryptocurrency policy in the country. Moreover, they will work to issue licenses to authorized cryptocurrency traders.

Ukraine has received nearly $100 million in cryptocurrency donations as the country continues to battle the Russian invasion. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Polkadot, and even the memecoin Dogecoin have all received cryptocurrency donations.

Ukrainian Vice President Mykhailo Fedorov has been an outspoken supporter of cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency donations since February 26. He has been inviting bitcoin and Ethereum donations to the country’s official wallet addresses.

Dubai Grants Virtual Asset License To Crypto Exchange Binance

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has received a license to operate some of its operations in Dubai. Thus, it plans to do regional operations there, the company said on Wednesday.

The virtual asset license granted by Dubai’s recently established Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) comes after Gulf neighbor Bahrain granted Binance a crypto asset service provider license on Tuesday, the first of its kind from a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) country license.

Dubai has allowed Binance to offer limited exchange products and services to pre-qualified investors and professional financial service providers. All licensed VARA service providers will be gradually under observation to open up access to the retail market.

The crypto firm will also set up a blockchain technology center at the Dubai World Trade Center (DWTC).

Financial regulators worldwide have targeted Binance. Some of them ban the platform from certain activities, while others warn consumers that the platform does not have the license to operate in their jurisdictions.

As regional economic competition intensifies, the financial capital of the Gulf, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is pushing to develop a virtual asset sector and regulation to attract new forms of business.

One of seven emirates in the UAE, Dubai passed its first virtual asset law last week and established VARA as the regulator to oversee the industry.

Binance announced that it is partnering with DWTC to help build an international virtual asset ecosystem in Dubai. The world’s biggest exchange will also help shape virtual asset regulations.

Binance will be able to operate its regional operations from Dubai within a newly announced regulatory ecosystem. A comprehensive legal and international policy framework will govern this new system.

Bored Ape NFT Holders Get ApeCoin – “Dogecoin For NFTs”

Holders of Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs— including celebrity holders like Eminem, Steph Curry, Jimmy Fallon, and Mark Cuban — will receive a new token called ApeCoin (APE) coins as a further incentive to participate in the exclusive digital asset club.

The developer of the new token is the ApeCoin Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) and is clearly independent of Yuga Labs.

Owners of BAYC NFTs can claim approximately 10,000 ApeCoins each. However, they will distribute the upcoming 1 billion ApeCoin tokens among multiple different parties.

According to the ApeCoin DAO website, they will invest 62% of the total supply in the Ecosystem Fund, and award 14% to startup contributors.

Additionally, the creators of BAYC will hold 9.75% of the tokens. They will donate 8% of the tokens directly to the founder of Yuga Labs, with the remaining 6.25% going to the Jane Goodall Foundation. This is charity oriented to protect chimpanzee habitat.

Since launching last April, the Bored Ape Yacht Club has grown into one of the most famous NFT collectibles. It continues to add big names to its owner roster, including Paris Hilton. Last week, Yuga Labs acquired two other most significant NFT projects, CryptoPunks and Meebits, expanding its dominance in the emerging NFT market.

According to the official website, ApeCoin is available for purchase on major exchanges.

Yahoo And Crypto Wallet Blocto Join Forces To Launch NFT Store

Portto, the blockchain company founded Blocto, has announced a partnership with Yahoo Taiwan to launch the Yahoo Taiwan NFT store. It’s likely to start by the end of March. Yahoo Taiwan NFT Store enters the NFT world with the series “A-Hoo,” the official mascot of Yahoo Taiwan.

Portto CEO Hsuan Lee explained that Blocto has extensive experience in blockchain collaboration, having worked with big companies such as Vault by CNN, MotoGP Ignition, and Yahoo Taiwan.

The Yahoo Taiwan NFT Store will feature its first NFT collection and its official mascot, A-Hoo, whose image is already widely popular on Yahoo Taiwan-branded products.

The A-Hoo series will also be available on BloctoBay, Blocto’s NFT marketplace. Additionally, Yahoo Taiwan plans to partner with local brands and non-profits to co-publish NFT collections.

Chen Delin, vice president of e-commerce and regional products at Yahoo Taiwan, said Yahoo Taiwan is fully committed to improving user experience through technological innovation. He believes these advancements will come from developing immersive content and leveraging Yahoo’s cross-platform resources in the Taiwanese ecosystem.

By partnering with Crypto walletBlocto and leveraging Yahoo Taiwan’s media and e-commerce strengths to launch the Yahoo Taiwan NFT store, Yahoo is making Taiwanese NFTs accessible to everyone and creating a channel for local developers to expand their business into NFTs.

portto is a blockchain technology company whose goal is to make blockchain easy for everyone. It is the company behind Blocto, NFTs, and crypto-wallets. Yahoo is a global media and technology company with 900 million users worldwide.