Bitcoin expert becomes economic advisor to El Salvador; Nansen lays off 30 percent of its staff; Binance disables privacy-based cryptos
The author of The Bitcoin Standard, an explanatory book on Bitcoin (BTC), Dr. Saifedean Ammous has been appointed as the economic advisor to the National Bitcoin Office of El Salvador.
On May 30, the Office announced that Austrian economist Ammous had joined the team as an advisor on various economic policy-related issues.
Dr. Ammous’s now-famous book The Bitcoin Standard was first published in April 2018. The book covers many topics, analyzes the transition to inflationary assets and fiat currencies, traces the history of money, and aims to show how civilizations have changed with monetary systems.
In a tweet about his new position, Ammous stated that he was excited to work in the official office in the first country to adopt the Bitcoin standard:
Dr. Ammous traveled to El Salvador to teach local people codes and concepts. Ammous taught students at CUBO+, the Bitcoin and Lightning Network developers program.
Ammous also met with President Nayib Bukele and shared his thoughts on the remarkable benefits of the policy of economic freedom.
Dr. He stated that Ammous does not charge any fees for this role and is only interested in supporting President Bukele’s Bitcoin policy.
Nansen lays off 30 percent of its staff
Blockchain analytics platform Nansen announced that 30 percent of its employees have been fired. Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik announced on Twitter the other day that the company had to lay off some of its rapidly growing team.
Alex Svanevik, CEO of blockchain analysis platform Nansen, stated that there are two important reasons for the company’s loss of personnel. The company CEO said that the first of these was the rapid growth of Nansen in the years it was founded.
Svanevik also cited his uncertainty in the crypto market as the second reason for the layoffs. Despite efforts to diversify revenue streams through corporate clients, Nansen’s cost base remained relatively high compared to the company’s current location. Nansen CEO also stated that although the company has long-term plans, it focuses on sustainability as a priority.
Although layoffs have slowed somewhat in recent months, mass layoffs continue to plague the crypto industry. As it is known, last January, Coinbase announced that 20 percent of its employees had terminated their employment contracts. Coinbase’s rationale for laying off 950 employees was also its battle to cut costs amid the ongoing crypto winter.
Binance disables privacy-based cryptos
Bad news for investors in Europe from Binance. Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, is preparing to disable privacy-based crypto assets in France, Italy, Poland and Spain. Many privacy-based tokens, including Monero (XMR), Zcash (ZEC), and Dash (DASH), will be removed from trading in various European countries by Binance.
As of May 31, Binance users residing in some European countries were informed by an email that the exchange would no longer allow trading of privacy-based cryptos. Binance, on the other hand, cited the regulations in the country as the reason.
For users of Binance living in the aforementioned countries, this restriction will take effect from June 26. After the information text sent by the exchange, value losses occurred in privacy-based crypto assets.
However, crypto companies continue to take action within the framework of different rules that continue to be applied in the market day by day. With this restriction made in European countries, Binance joined Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) in acting against the trading of privacy-based tokens.
As it is known, privacy-based tokens appear before investors as a crypto money category that offers privacy and anonymity. However, these cryptoassets have come under criticism for a potential risk of use for illegal activities such as money laundering.
