IMF prefers to regulate crypto than banning; Ukraine raised $70 million worth of crypto donations in the war against Russia; Justin Sun staked 150,000 ETH on Lido Finance.
IMF prefers to regulate crypto than banning
G20 finance ministers meeting was held in Bengaluru, India recently. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva also attended the G20 meeting. Georgieva explained the IMF’s attitude towards cryptocurrencies and the picture she wants to see in the regulations at the meeting.
IMF managing director underlined that they are in favor of regulating the cryptocurrency market.
In an interview with Bloomberg on Feb. 27, the IMF managing director responded to a question regarding his recent comments on a complete ban on cryptocurrencies. Georgieva said there is still a lot of confusion about the classification of digital assets.
“Our initial goal is to differentiate between government-backed central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and publicly traded crypto assets and stablecoins.”
Underlining that fully supported stablecoins create a very good space for the economy, Georgieva added that unsupported crypto assets cannot be described as speculative, high-risk and almost money.
Additionally, the IMF official referred to a recent article recommending Global Regulatory Standards, saying that cryptocurrencies cannot be legal tender because they are not supported.
Ukraine raised $70 million worth of crypto donations in the war against Russia
Ukraine has raised over $70 million in crypto donations since Russia invaded Ukraine. In addition to digital assets worth $70 million, military equipment and humanitarian aid were provided to the country.
According to data received by blockchain analytics company Chainanalysis, most aid was sent in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
According to the statements, ETH donors provided $28.9 million, while BTC and Tether (USDT) donors provided $22.8 and $11.6 million, respectively.
Alex Bornyakov, Ukraine’s deputy minister of digital, said in an interview with Yahoo Finance recently that 80 percent of the $70 million aid to Ukraine comes in just the first few months.
Alex Bornyakov made the following statements on the subject:
“If we had tried to collect donations using traditional methods, it would have taken days. The purchase of vital products took place thanks to cryptocurrencies. Surprisingly, suppliers were accepting cryptocurrencies. I personally did not expect that.”
Bornyakov also described the Crypto Fund Aid For Ukraine as an absolute success, adding that he was surprised not only by the amount of donations received, but also by his digital ministry’s ease of access to these funds for Ukraine’s defense.
Alona Shevchenko, co-founder of the Ukraine DAO, also told Yahoo Finance that cryptocurrencies provide a solution when restrictions are placed on the Ukrainian central banking system, adding:
“The Central Bank has restricted foreign currency transfers to and from Ukraine to stop the depreciation of the hryvnia. Thanks to cryptos, we were able to meet some urgent needs of our soldiers, there was no other way back then.”
Justin Sun staked 150,000 ETH on Lido Finance
Tron founder Justin Sun staked 150,000 Ether on Lido Finance.
According to data from Lookonchain, Justin Sun has committed 150,000 Ether for a stETH swap on Lido Finance, a linked wallet address. This transaction by Justin Sun has been one of the biggest entries on Lido Finance.
Crypto bot Whale Alert, which publishes extensive crypto data on Twitter, also noted that large amounts of Ether were traded by Justin Sun. According to the bot’s data, Sun processed three separate transactions of 50,000 Ether each.
Lido Finance is a protocol that allows users to deposit any amount of Ether and earn passive income. Investors receive the same amount of stETH (the staked Eth token) for the asset they stake.
However, Lido Finance has announced that it has stopped withdrawals until the Shanghai fork, which is scheduled for next month.