Weekly Wrap: EU Takes on Mining and Aave’s Stablecoin Progress

Here’s your crypto highlights of the week in less than 5 minutes.


Will the EU ban crypto mining?

In light of the current energy crisis in Europe and the efforts to mitigate it, the European Commission said that the European Union members must be prepared to block crypto mining. EU member countries account for almost 10% of proof-of-work crypto mining worldwide, and an action plan for “digitalising the energy system” published this Tuesday states that “care must be taken to use only the most energy efficient versions of the technology”. 

The action plan urges EU members to implement measures to “lower the electricity consumption of crypto-asset miners”, and put an end to tax breaks and other fiscal measures benefitting crypto miners currently in force in some member states, adding that “in case there is a need for load shedding in the electricity systems, the Member States must also be ready to stop crypto-assets mining”.


Ripple NFTs come closer than ever

It seems like the NFT war between major blockchains will see a new big player weighing in, as Ripple NFTs could go live within less than two weeks if the proposal to introduce NFTs to the XRP Ledger goes through. The XLS-20 proposal include amendments would enable the creation, minting, and auction facilities for Ripple NFTs on the XRP Ledger without smart contracts. If the Ripple NFTs go live soon, they might help XRP’s price recover some of its losses this week, as it lost more than 13% of its value in the last 7 days.


Aave releases stablecoin technical paper

Aave Companies, one of the contributors developing the Aave protocol, has released a development update on Aave’s upcoming GHO stablecoin, which included the technical paper and the results of its first security audit. Originally voted by the Aave community back in July, the new USD-pegged stablecoin would be minted by borrowing against assets locked as collateral on Aave. It’s not clear yet when GHO would go live, but AAVE’s price is already reacting positively with a price hike of more than 6.7% this week, breaking the $85 mark shortly on Wednesday.


BitOasis features in the middle east’s most innovative companies list

Fast Company Middle East has revealed its 2022 list for the most innovative companies in the region, and BitOasis was the only crypto company in the list, holding the 7th position. BitOasis earned this place for pioneering crypto transactions, introducing new features that help customers manage their crypto portfolios without complexity, and raising customers’ awareness of cryptocurrencies, enabling a more informed adoption of this new technology across the region.


South Africa classifies crypto assets as ‘financial products

South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority released a notice last Wednesday declaring crypto assets as financial products. Taking immediate effect, this classification will allow hundreds of traditional financial institutions to provide crypto products and services. According to a report released by Finder’s last August, four million South Africans own cryptocurrencies, with an adoption rate of 59.7% among business owners and CEOs.


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