A lot is happening in the crypto industry and sometimes it can be a lot to take in all of it. The past week has also seen several interesting news items, which may be important to be aware of. So in this post, we've listed for you the 5 most important news items from week 7 of 2022.

Russia puts crypto in the category of currencies

The government and central bank in Russia have agreed on how cryptocurrencies should be regulated. A law is now being drafted that will treat crypto as a currency rather than a financial asset. However, it is not yet clear exactly what positive impact this development will have, other than that Russia seems to be embracing blockchain technology more than before. In January, the "Bank of Russia" still wanted to ban crypto nationwide.

US Seizes $3.6 Billion in Bitcoin (BTC)

Last Tuesday, a married couple in New York was arrested on charges of laundering $3.6 billion worth of Bitcoin, stolen in a hack of the trading platform Bitfinex in 2016. The suspects Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan stole 119,754 Bitcoins in 2016 that they tried unsuccessfully to hide with mixer software and quick moves. Trading platform Bitfinex says it is seeking to reclaim the proceeds of the stolen Bitcoins in separate proceedings against the couple.

Bitcoin price shoots up

The past few months have looked bleak for Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market. Bitcoin even reached a low of €29,850 recently, but the past week was a green one. On February 4, BTC shot up by about 10% and continued those gains in the following days. On February 8, the number one cryptocurrency even touched the €40,000 mark again, up 33% from its low.

Apple enables Bitcoin payments to be received with a new iPhone-feature

Apple this week introduced "Tap to Pay," a new payment feature. Retailers can use this feature to accept contactless payments via their cell phone instead of a PIN device. This should make it possible to receive Bitcoin payments with your iPhone.

Apple Pay allows you to link various credit and debit cards to your iPhone, allowing you to pay with your mobile. However, receiving crypto with your iPhone was not yet possible, but with the new feature, Tap to Pay, this will now be possible. However, the feature is not necessarily created for crypto payments.