Today in Crypto: Tesla Bitcoin Sales Spur Crypto Slump; Coinbase Petitions SEC for ‘Workable’ Crypto Framework

As the crypto market is cooling down, Finland has sold its hoard of confiscated bitcoin.

Over the summer, The Customs liquidated 1,889.1 bitcoins through two brokers. It raised $47.5 million, according to a Bloomberg report Thursday (July 21), which is less than the country thought it would raise.

The coins came from seizures related to drug busts and had been legally forfeited to the state through court rulings.

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s central bank said it plans to issue its digital currency for banks to use, and the bank is looking at how to make it exchangeable across borders.

Bank Indonesia has plans to release a conceptual design of the digital rupiah by the end of 2022, Governor Perry Warjiyo said Thursday.

“The principle of digital rupiah will be the same as paper money which is to be the only legal currency for digital transactions in Indonesia,” he said, per Bloomberg.

Furthermore, the CEO of SoftBank-backed Mercado Bitcoin recently said the exchange plans to enter the Mexican market this year.

Speaking to Reuters, Reinaldo Rabelo said that expansion would be “in the second half of the year.” Regulatory approval has not been granted yet, though the company said it is in the final stages.

The move into Mexico would happen through an acquisition, similar to how Mercado Bitcoin’s holding company 2TM entered Portugal earlier in the year.

In more crypto news, bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies slid in Thursday morning trading, Seeking Alpha reported.

This comes as speculators have been dealing with Tesla’s decision to sell almost $1 billion worth of bitcoin — 75% of what it had. In the last 24 hours, bitcoin fell 7.2%, hitting $22,400. It’s still elevated 9.5% over the last week, however.

Finally, Coinbase said in a company blog post Thursday that it has filed a petition to get the Securities and Exchange Commission to develop a “workable regulatory framework” for digital assets.

Coinbase wrote that there’s a need for an “updated rulebook to help guide safe and efficient practices.” The company also said that as securities laws have evolved, new rules are necessary to address other concerns.

Some issues listed in the post include a lack of regulation for those crypto assets that are securities, numerous steps and intermediaries impeding settling trades in real time, and making it difficult for investors to trade directly without a broker.

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