Today in Crypto: Celsius Repays $900M to DeFi Platforms; S. Africa Central Bank Eyes Crypto Regs

Deputy Bank of England Governor Jon Cunliffe recently said in a speech that the volatility and losses in crypto necessitate regulation, per a publication from the Bank of England Tuesday (July 12).

Because of the collapse of various crypto assets and the loss of 70% of the value of bitcoin, Cunliffe said there should be continued work by regulators to figure out a solution. He said the regulation should be “constructed on the iron principle of ‘same risk, same regulatory outcome.’”

In other news, Catawba’s General Council has voted to establish a new digital special economic zone called the Green Earth Zone (GEZ), according to a press release.

The GEZ began around three years ago under the Catawba Corporations, the economic development arm of the Catawba Indian Nation.

According to Ronnie Beck, CEO of Catawba Corporations, special economic zones can help out with economic development, which will allow for more opportunities for the Catawba Nation.

Furthermore, while Celsius Network’s customer withdrawal freeze has been going on since June 12, the embattled crypto lender has still paid over $900 million during the same period to decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms so far, Bloomberg wrote Wednesday (July 13).

Celsius has paid back DeFi platforms Aave, Compound and Maker. The paydowns could see some discussion over how distressed crypto platforms should pay back creditors, whether actual people or platforms governed by computer code called smart contracts.

In more crypto news, South Africa plans to introduce regulation for crypto, per a statement from Kuben Naidoo, deputy governor of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), CoinDesk reported Wednesday.

Naidoo said the bank’s view has changed and that it views crypto as a financial asset now.

“There has been a lot of money that has flowed in, and there is a need to regulate it and bring it into the mainstream,” he said, per the report.

Finally, The Street reported Wednesday that inflation — moving faster than it has in the past four decades — could prove a crippling effect on cryptocurrency.

Edward Moya, senior market analyst for the Americas with Oanda, said more inflation could be trouble for crypto as more Federal Reserve tightening is on the horizon. With the risky elements of things like bitcoin, that could be trouble.

“Bitcoin needs risk appetite to stabilize and that won’t happen if financial markets continue to price in more tightening by the Fed,” Moya said.

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