Crypto update Fed rate unchanged, Mexican strike, Binance and SEC to negotiate asset freeze, $3 profit by arbitrage bot, and more news.

Read about cryptoasset and blockchain-related news that are not making headlines on major news channels on a daily basis. __________

Economic news

The US Federal Reserve has decided to maintain its current interest rate of 5-5.25%. Prior to the announcement, CME’s FedWatch Tool had estimated a 97% probability of the rate remaining unchanged.
Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a slight increase in trading hours before the Federal Reserve’s interest rate announcement. Three hours before the announcement, the BTC price was slightly above $26,000, with a 24-hour increase of only 0.1%. The price slightly decreased immediately after the announcement.

Binance has withdrawn its application to be a registered crypto service provider in Cyprus according to the website of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). The exchange stated that it now wants to focus on complying with the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework.
Binance.US and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have been ordered by a judge to negotiate restrictions on operations as the regulator’s lawsuit against the exchange progresses. Binance.US stated that freezing the company’s assets would effectively end its business operations before a court hearing on Tuesday.

The payments app Strike, which focuses on Bitcoin, has launched its “Send Globally” feature for Mexico and now supports remittance payments to the country. Payments can be made with US dollars via Bitcoin’s Lightning Network and can be paid out to the recipient’s bank account in Mexican pesos, according to a press release from Strike.

An arbitrage bot has minted and burned $200 million worth of DAI stablecoins to generate a mere $3, according to blockchain data provider Arkham Intelligence on Twitter. The operation was carried out as a flashloan, which allows up to 500 million DAI to be borrowed and repaid within the same block on MakerDAO.

Connext, a blockchain interoperability protocol, has raised $7.5 million, bringing its total valuation to $250 million, according to a Twitter announcement. The funding round was participated in by Polychain Capital, NGC Ventures, Polygon Ventures, IOSG Ventures, Fenbushi Capital, KXVC, a_capital, No Limit Holdings, Factor, and Dokia Capital.
Mnemonic, a web3 data provider focused on artificial intelligence (AI), has raised $6 million in a funding round led by Salesforce Ventures, according to an announcement. Salesforce plans to use Mnemonic’s technology in its customer relationship management (CRM) product for web3 businesses. The funding round was also joined by Polygon Ventures, Orange DAO, FIN Capital, and FJ Labs.

Blockchain Australia, an industry association, is taking a stand against restrictions imposed on the crypto industry in Australia and has announced that it will address the issue directly. “We want to cultivate a shared sense of urgency and collaboration to protect those at risk of scams without losing the benefits of a growing digital currency industry,” the announcement said.

Binance,Bitcoin,DeFi,Federal Reserve,SEC,Strike