Cryptocurrencies are mostly trading higher today ahead of the much-awaited address by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell at Jackson Hole in Wyoming. Investors eagerly await Powell’s comments that might hint at the Fed’s next interest rate hike.

In the last 24 hours, bitcoin (BTC) gained nearly 2%, and ether (ETH) advanced by 3%.

Altcoins were also in the green, with Ethereum Classic (ETC) up by 10% on the day, Shiba Inu (SHIB) also up by 10%, and Cosmo’s ATOM up by 9%.

Stablecoins were also winners in this atmosphere, with USDT, USDC, and BUSD increasing their market share in the last week by 0.77%, 0.50%, and 0.32%, respectively. Stock futures were also up in anticipation of Jerome Powell’s comments.

Mastercard is working with Binance to let people use their crypto holdings in over 90 million shops that accept Mastercard payments.

The announcement was made in a LinkedIn post by Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach: “We can unlock the full potential of blockchain technology when we make it easier to access + easier to use.”One way we do that is by bringing crypto to everyday purchases. To make that a reality, we’re working with Binance to let people use their crypto to make purchases at 90m+ stores that accept Mastercard.”

Miebach said that the firm is launching these efforts in Argentina and plans to expand further from there.

In other news,

• Polygon Founder Launches $50 Million Early-Stage Web3 Fund. Read More
• Blockchain explorer SolanaFM raises $4.5 million, plans to expand to Aptos. Read More
• Crypto ATM Company Bitcoin Depot Bags SPAC Deal Worth $885 Million. Read More
• FTX CEO Calls Alameda VC Merger Report a 'Big Misrepresentation'. Read More

According to a report, Samsung’s investment arm is eyeing the launch of its own cryptocurrency platform in South Korea.

Samsung Securities is one of seven domestic brokerages looking to start operating a crypto exchange in the first half of next year. Talks with local authorities over securing licensing are said to be in advanced stages.

Its previous attempts to launch an exchange stalled last year when the business reportedly could not hire the right professionals to run it. However, the company appears determined to keep up with developments in the space.

Tellingly, the report also stated that Samsung Securities is conducting a study on how best to enter the blockchain industry.

In other news,

• Switzerland’s SIX Digital Exchange Launches Ethereum Staking for Institutions. Read More
• Coinbase Launches Voter Registration Tool Ahead of November Elections. Read More
• Binance Announces Support for Ethereum Hard Fork Ahead of the POS Upgrade. Read More

The Japanese government has announced that it shall be evaluating the crypto tax rules which are applicable for corporations in the fiscal year of 2023. The Financial Services Agency and the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) will be carrying out the assessment of how these digital asset corporations will employ digital assets to propel the growth of startups.

The 2023 financial year tax reform request has targeted solving key issues that the advocacy groups have stated to be roadblocks for crypto adoption in Japan. The two eminent crypto advocacy groups in Japan, The Japan Crypto-Asset Business Association and the Japan Crypto-Asset Exchange Association (JVCEA) had released this request calling to lower the tax rates for individual investors on crypto earnings.

This proposal has been primarily meant to address the need to better individual tax filing and the overall importance of digital assets in the Web3 industry of Japan. This has been a part of the proposal after the advocacy groups compared Japan’s digital asset taxation system with that of other nations.

In other news,

• SEC delays decision on VanEck's latest bitcoin ETF application. Read More
• Amendments to US commercial code differentiate crypto and ‘electronic money’. Read More
• Afghan police close down cryptocurrency exchanges to enforce central bank ban. Read More
• Revolut Gets Approval to Offer Crypto Services Throughout Europe. Read More
• SEC Chairman Says Crypto Should Be Treated Same as Other Capital Markets. Read More

Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX launched Okto, a decentralized finance (DeFi) mobile app. It’s aimed at easing the transition of crypto consumers to DeFi, according to co-founder Neeraj Khandelwal.

"For crypto to succeed (in India), consumers will have to migrate to Web3 and DeFi setup, and at the moment, it's very complex to access DeFi," said Khandelwal. "First of all you have to deal with seed phrases and private keys, and that's very difficult for a common man to understand. Keeping it safe is another nightmare. And moving assets from one chain to another for a layman is very complex and prone to so many risks."

Okto will aim to help users "securely navigate DeFi and access thousands of tokens from multiple DEXs across chains with its in-built wallet," and "swap crypto anytime, anywhere and maximize their yields with access to the best liquidity pools in DeFi."

In other news,

• DeFi Land is Going Mobile. Read More
• Synthetix looks to turn off the SNX money printer. Read More
• Compound's Upgraded DeFi Lending Platform Targets Security, Scalability. Read More
• Tron Keeps Pulling Ahead Of BNB Chain For DeFi TVL, Osmosis and Arbitrum Move Up. Read More