Today in Crypto: SALT, Cion Digital Offer Crypto-Backed Lending to Auto Dealers; Coinbase Negotiates to Buy BtcTurk

Crypto-based lender SALT announced Thursday (April 21) that it is formed a strategic partnership with Ciion Digital to make loans available to more than 5,000 automobile dealerships in the United States.

“The announcement marks the launch of SALT’s Embedded Crypto Lending Service, which will enable financial service providers and fintech platforms to rapidly deploy crypto financing solutions,” a news release from SALT and Cion Digital said.

Cion, which developed a Blockchain Orchestration Platform, will be SALT’s first partner. Cion recently announced it collaboration with CarNow and its network of nearly 5,000 dealers.

Meanwhile, Coinbase may join the ranks of cryptocurrency exchanges expanding in Turkey, MergerMarket reported in a paywalled article summarized by Bloomberg.

In a deal that is in the due diligence phase, according to the summary, Coinbase could end up paying $3.2 billion for Turkish crypto exchange BtcTurk. The article said the owners of the exchanges have signed a term sheet.

Elsewhere, officials from Sweden and the European Union have recently discussed whether measures should be taken to curb the energy used to power computers that do the proof-of-work calculations that enable Bitcoin and some other cryptocurrencies, the German news website Netzpolitik reported in an article based on recently released documents. Banning proof-of-work was discussed.

A Google translation of the post states, in part: “Warnings that crypto could become a driver of climate change are causing concern among officials in Berlin and Brussels. Behind closed doors, leading officials of the EU Commission and the German federal government are even considering a ban on bitcoin mining and trading in the cryptocurrency. … There could also be support for this at the political level.”

See also: Congressional Democrats Ask EPA to Review Crypto’s Environmental Impact

Binance announced Thursday (April 21) that the crypto exchange is curtailing services in Russia due to a sanctions directive from the European Union.

A Binance website post issued as part of its work to comply with the sanctions said Binance asked account-holders to confirm their addresses through a portal.

Depending on their addresses and account sizes, customers face no impact at all or some combination of bans on withdrawing funds, bans on trading funds or orders to close funds.

Also in crypto news, citizens in the Bahamas may soon be able to pay their taxes with the country’s official, central bank digital currency, Sand Dollars, if ambitions laid out in a new government whitepaper are realized.

“Enabling access to digital assets for Bahamians in B$ and encouraging greater use of Sand Dollars is a priority for the Government,” the document said. “We will work with the SCB, the Central Bank of The Bahamas, and the private sector on ways to enable Bahamians to access digital assets with B$, and for Bahamians to pay taxes using Sand Dollars.”

Bitcoin shares appear to be continuing their recovery, Coindesk reported.

Bitcoin is up 4% this week and its recent decline, and seems to be maintaining a support level of $40,000, with resistance beginning at about $42,400. Coindesk noted that “buyers could remain active toward the $46,700 resistance level.”

Elsewhere, Federal authorities Wednesday (April 20) charged a New York man with defrauding customers who thought they were paying him to invest in crypto-mining operations or for computers powerful enough to do crypto-mining.

Chester “Chet” J. Stojanovich is charged with wire fraud.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said in a prepared statement: “A great deal of excitement and ‘buzz’ has been generated in recent years about the ‘new world’ of cryptocurrency mining. But new financial frontiers can also generate fresh opportunities for old-fashioned fraud. Here, Chet Stojanovich is charged with using those time-worn fraud techniques on a new frontier.”