Vanuatu, a nation with a population of around 325,000, has become one of the latest countries to embrace cryptocurrency regulations and licensing. Its parliament recently passed the Virtual Assets Service Provider Act, enabling agencies to issue licenses for crypto-related activities including exchanges, custody services, and NFT marketplaces. This development allows banks to offer crypto-related services after obtaining necessary regulatory permits.
The act paves the way for the creation of a dedicated sandbox environment in Vanuatu.
This experimental ecosystem will allow companies to test operations under controlled regulatory conditions, potentially leading to permanent license issuance or extensions. The Sandbox is expected to be set up by the Commissioner of the Futures Services Commission, with the aim of allowing businesses to operate within a designated testing environment.
Vanuatu also has no taxes on cryptocurrency gains and trading, and it’s anticipated that citizenship fees will be levied for Bitcoin transactions. 2023 has seen a surge in interest towards crypto from developing nations, as they recognize its potential for financial inclusion and economic growth. South Africa currently holds the top spot when it comes to recognizing crypto as an investment product. Meanwhile, Asia takes the lead on adoption levels, with India leading the way for two consecutive years.
As of now, the cryptocurrency market cap has surged by 2.61%, reaching $2.72 trillion. Trading volume is up significantly, growing 24.54% to reach $77.09 billion. The crypto fear and greed index currently sits at 24, indicating a prevailing sense of trepidation within the market.
Bitcoin has gained 2.49%, but remains below its moving averages (20-day, 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day). Ethereum is up by 2.81% and is still trading below $2,000 at $1,878. The past seven days have seen Ethereum’s price drop by 9.55%.
Notable intraday winners include Curve DAO, EOS, Berachain, Hyperliquid, Sonic, Sui, and Render. On the flip side, DeXe, Jupiter, Story, Four, Kucoin, Celestia, and PancakeSwap experienced losses.
Memecoins’ capitalization currently stands at $48.09 billion with a trading volume of $5.11 billion, marking a 40% decline in monthly volume. Dogecoin holds the top market share at 4.58%, while Official Trump has a 1.34% market cap.