Crypto Market Overview April 8th | Dex-Trade

Ukrainian Charitable Crypto-Fund Issued Payment Cards for War Victims

The charitable organization Unchain Fund, which recently received $2.5 million in ETH from Vitalik Buterin, together with MasterCard announced the issuance of debit cards that will allow Ukrainian citizens who have suffered from the criminal actions of russian troops to access funds and humanitarian assistance. It’s reported that 2,000 cards have been issued so far. Each of them represents “virtual debit card that will distribute funds donated to the initiative directly to Ukrainian mothers impacted by the war. For people receiving help, it will look like an ordinary virtual MasterCard.” The Fund announced fundraising for the issuance of another 1,000 means of payment, although about 12,000 applications have already been received by the initiators of the project. The cards are issued in partnership with Unex Bank. The payment instrument can be used both to pay for goods in stores and to withdraw cash. We also know that verified cardholders will receive an allowance of just over $27 per person, per week. The charitable organization noted that financial assistance will be prioritized for single mothers with newborn children and women with at least one child under 6 years old, living in regions where active hostilities are taking place.

 

EU Banned Services With Valuable Crypto-Assets in RF

As part of the fifth package of sanctions against the Russian Federation, whose troops committed a number of large-scale crimes against humanity on the territory of Ukraine, the European Union imposed a ban on "providing high-value crypto-asset services to RF." According to a press release, the new crypto-ban from the EU will help close potential loopholes in previous sanctions, which could be used by especially enterprising Russians to bypass them. By the way, among other financial restrictions, the new package also includes "full transaction ban and asset freeze on four Russian banks, which are now totally cut off from the markets." In addition, a ban on providing financial advice to wealthy russians has been introduced to make it more difficult for them to keep their savings in the EU. But if the new sanctions block the possibility of circumventing sanctions for the state bodies of the RF, then some organizations in the country are still compensating for their losses with the help of crypto. We are talking about ransomware and other dirty software that is actively used by phishers throughout the country.

We remind you that now extremely dangerous to open emails, sms and messages in instant messengers from unknown sources. We recommend marking them as spam and blacklisting them.

 

Bitcoin Becomes a Legal Tender in Honduras Special Economic Zone

In the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of Honduras, which is designated Prospera ZEDE and is located on Roatan in the Western Caribbean, BTC and other cryptocurrencies will function as de facto legal money. The economic zone was opened by the government of Honduras in 2020 to attract investment. SEZ initially enjoyed administrative, financial and budgetary autonomy. But now “Prospera’s flexible regulatory framework enables crypto-innovation and the use of Bitcoin by residents, businesses, and governments.” In addition, local governments, international companies and municipalities on the island of Roatan will be able to issue Bitcoin bonds. The purpose of this initiative is to attract foreign direct investment and stimulate economic progress. At the same time Honduras is not so optimistic of crypto. The country's Central Bank said it could not vouch for cryptocurrency transactions. And back in March, politicians in Honduras said that “Any transaction carried out with this type of virtual asset falls under the person’s responsibility and risk.”