Cryptocurrency prices dropped sharply late Wednesday and into Thursday, with Bitcoin falling below $25,000 and Polygon’s MATIC and Cardano’s ADA extending 24-hour declines to as much as 9% and 8%, respectively. This comes following the Federal Reserve’s policy decision to suspend rate hikes for at least one meeting, but signal further monetary tightening before the end of the year. According to LMAX Digital’s morning note, “As per our technical insights in today’s update, any additional setbacks in the price of Bitcoin should be well supported ahead of $22K.”
The European Commission is set to propose a draft law on June 28 that would ban paying interest on or surcharges for using a digital euro. The proposed central bank digital currency (CBDC) would have to be available for cash-style offline payments from day one, and users wouldn’t be able to program it to limit onward use. The text viewed by journalists stated, “The digital euro shall be available for both online and offline digital euro payment transactions as of the first issuance of the digital euro.” The level of privacy for offline, face-to-face use should be “comparable” to withdrawing banknotes at an ATM.
OKX Middle East has received an MVP Preparatory license from the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). The exchange has already taken up residence in a new office in Dubai World Trade Center, and plans to expand the number of staff to 30, with a focus on local hires and senior management. Once the Minimal Viable Product (MVP) license becomes fully operational, OKX Middle East will provide spot, derivatives and fiat services, including U.S. dollar and United Arab Emirates dirham (AED) deposits, withdrawals and spot-pairs.