1. OpenSea postpones SEA rollout: Ends rewards program and offers refunds to users in rounds 3 through 6.
OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer announced that due to the current challenging crypto market environment, the launch of OpenSea's token SEA, originally scheduled for March 30th, will be postponed. A new timeline will be determined by the OpenSea Foundation. The platform will also end its previous rewards program and offer a refund option to users who participated in rounds 3 through 6 of the rewards program; if a refund is chosen, the corresponding Treasures rewards will be removed.
2. The SEC plans to amend Brokers Rule 15c2-11 to exclude crypto assets and similar assets from its scope.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed amending Brokerage Rule 15c2-11, which primarily regulates the information disclosure and due diligence requirements for brokerages when publishing securities quotes in the OTC market. The SEC intends to explicitly limit its scope to equity securities, meaning that non-equity assets such as crypto assets will not be covered. The public comment period is 60 days.
3. Argentina orders nationwide lockdown of prediction market platform Polymarket
Argentina has ordered a nationwide ban on the cryptocurrency-based prediction market platform Polymarket. After determining that the platform operated as an unlicensed online gambling service, a Buenos Aires court instructed the telecommunications regulator ENACOM to restrict access through internet providers and ordered Google and Apple to remove the app from their app stores in Argentina. The case reportedly stemmed from a complaint filed by the Buenos Aires City Lottery Company (LOTBA). Argentina becomes the second Latin American country, after Colombia, to impose a comprehensive ban on Polymarket.
4. Vietnam plans to ban its citizens from trading cryptocurrencies on overseas platforms and will pilot a domestic compliant exchange as early as this month.
Vietnam is drafting new regulations to ban its citizens from trading on overseas cryptocurrency platforms such as Binance and OKX, and plans to launch a pilot program for a domestically compliant exchange as early as this month. According to a Ministry of Finance document, five companies, including subsidiaries of Techcombank, VPBank, and LPBank, as well as securities firm VIX Securities and conglomerate Sun Group, have passed the initial review. Chainalysis data shows that Vietnam ranks fourth globally in cryptocurrency market activity, with annual trading volume exceeding $200 billion.
