TOP STORIES OF THE WEEK
Visa Teases Ethereum Collab, Aims to ‘Actively Contribute’ to Crypto Development
DecryptGlobal payments giant Visa released a paper outlining how the firm could one day collaborate with the Ethereum network on non-custodial automatic payments. The paper, sparked by an internal hackathon, details how Ethereum users could—with support from Visa—schedule auto-payments sent from self-custodial crypto wallets. Such capability is not yet possible on the Ethereum mainnet, but would be enabled by a future Ethereum upgrade called “Account Abstraction” (AA), which would allow Ethereum user accounts to function like smart contracts and feature pre-scheduled execution functions. Given AA is not currently deployed, the paper leveraged Ethereum layer-2 network StarkNet that offers account abstraction. Overall, the report signaled Visa’s stronger, sustained interest in directly participating in crypto ecosystem development.
Avalanche upgrades to ‘Banff 5’ to introduce direct communication between subnets: Exclusive
The BlockAvalanche developers upgraded AvalancheGo — the software implementation of the Avalanche blockchain in the Go programming language — to “Banff 5.” The upgrade is critical for the Avalanche network as it introduces a communication protocol for Avalanche-based blockchains (called subnets) known as Avalanche Warp Messaging. The feature will allow subnets to share data and crypto assets with each other in an effort to make the Avalanche blockchain ecosystem more useful for developers. Prior to the upgrade, subnets couldn’t natively communicate and required complex bridges between them.
Ellison and Wang guilty pleas unsealed as Bankman-Fried granted bail
The Block
U.S. prosecutors released more details on the criminal charges that former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder and former CTO Gary Wang pled guilty to earlier this week. The amount of fraud both admitted to technically comes with the possibility of spending decades in prison, but neither is likely to serve close to the maximum sentencing after pleading guilty and cooperating with investigators. Conversely, Bankman-Fried (SBF) was extradited to the U.S. on Wednesday, and currently faces up to 115 years in prison. He appeared at federal court in New York on Thursday, where he was released on a $250m bond package — secured in part by his parents’ Palo Alto house — while he awaits trial, Reuters reported. He’ll have to surrender his passport and is required to be treated and evaluated for mental illness. He is next due in court on January 3rd.
Bitcoin miner Core Scientific files for bankruptcy, has over $1B in liabilities
CryptoSlate
Publicly traded crypto miner Core Scientific filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Dec. 21 at the Southern District of Texas bankruptcy court. According to court documents, the miner has liabilities between $1 billion- $10 billion, it has over 1,000 creditors, with the largest unsecured claim ($42.4m) owed to B. Riley Financial. Core Scientific is the largest Bitcoin miner by hashrate, going public during the 2021 SPAC boom and reaching a peak valuation of ~$4.3b before falling to a low of ~$20m. The stock has gained more than 100% from its lows, however, as it received an interim approval for a loan that would keep its mining and hosting operations afloat amidst the restructuring.
BITCOIN
HRF Bitcoin Development Fund grants $325K to Bitcoin developers
Bitcoin Development Company Layer 2 Labs Raises $3M to Bring Drivechains to Network
Crowdfunding gets leg up from Lightning Addresses on Bitcoin
$1.7M in Bitcoin tied to QuadrigaCX reawakens after years of dormancy
ETHEREUM
Is Ethereum’s Censorship Problem Taking a Turn?
ALTCOINS
Ren to mint 180 million tokens to fund transition to new version
ApeCoin DAO Set to Cut Ties with Administrator Over Fees
Aave DAO Votes to Integrate Chainlink Proof of Reserves to Tighten Network Security
Waves Blockchain Founder Asks Exchanges to Delist WAVES Token Derivative Trading
DeFi Project Popsicle’s ICE Token Triples as Controversial Wonderland Founder Returns
Uniswap DAO Community Members Vote in Favor of New Governance Process
Polygon’s zkEVM launched its second testnet, the last step before mainnet goes live
Tornado Cash developer seeks $240K salary to resurrect protocol
Mask Network acquires Mastodon server Pawoo.net
Dogecoin continues slide as Musk confirms Twitter CEO resignation
Uniswap to allow users to buy cryptocurrency using debit and credit cards
Aptos-based Mojito Market suspends operation because of FTX crash
BitDAO mulls $100 million token buyback for next year
Sushi DAO votes to send all fees to treasury but it was a fight between whales
How Balancer DAO Achieved Peace With a Clever Whale Named Humpy
Ren Protocol’s imminent shutdown likely, $15 million still at risk
Argentina fan token dumps 50% despite World Cup win
Tornado Cash Passes First Governance Proposal Since Sanctions
Raydium is attacked, loses $2M
MITH token plummets 20% as CZ responds to Mithril’s request for return of 200k BNB deposit
STABLECOINS
US Senator Toomey introduces stablecoin bill as congressional session wraps up
Stablecoin settlements can surpass all major card networks in 2023: Data
Waves Blockchain Founder Sasha Ivanov Promises USDN Revival Plan, New Stablecoin
BUSD balance on exchanges down $6B over 30 days
Argentina’s province to issue US dollar-pegged stablecoin
TrueUSD’s Offshore Chinese Yuan-Pegged TCNH Stablecoin Launches on Tron
CRYPTO ECOSYSTEM
Crypto has the highest ‘talent density’ since the internet’s early days, says GSR CEO
Real World Assets Poised to Be DeFi Growth Engine: Coinbase
MetaMask Swap Expands To Arbitrum and Optimism
Crypto Firm Orthogonal Trading Said to Be in Provisional Liquidation After Maple Defaults
Immunefi says it has facilitated $66M in bug bounties since inception
Crypto market maker Auros misses $7.5 million Maple Finance loan repayment
Hidden Road’s UK entity receives digital asset firm registration
Celsius amasses 30 potential bidders for its assets, withdrawal motion approved
3Commas denies accusations of leaking API data resulting in $14.8M in ‘unauthorized trades’
Wintermute sees revenue plunge but CEO remains optimistic: Forbes
Bankrupt Crypto Lender BlockFi Looks to Restart Certain Customer Withdrawals
Auros bankruptcy protection filings show funds tied up on FTX
Silvergate shares slide after lawsuit accuses the bank of playing an ‘integral’ role in FTX fraud
CME Group, CF Benchmarks launch new DeFi reference rates for Aave, Curve and Synthetix
Crypto Options Market Has Become More ‘Interdealer’ Since FTX’s Blowup: Paradigm
Digital Currency Group tokens red across board, sparking market speculation
Class action lawsuit claims Silvergate played role in FTX fraud
MINING
Europe’s Last Bitcoin Mining Refuge Is No Longer Viable
CleanSpark mined 3,750 BTC in FY’22, BTC reserves down 40% since January
Core Scientific eyes sale of up to 1 gigawatt worth of facilities amid bankruptcy: Exclusive
BTC Miner Northern Data Forecasts $204m in Revenue Despite Industry Crisis
British Columbia Imposes 18-Month Moratorium on New Crypto Mining Operations
Bitcoin Miner Greenidge Says Continued Viability in ‘Substantial Doubt’
Bitcoin Miner Greenidge Reaches Debt Restructuring Deal With NYDIG as Bankruptcy Looms
Bitfarms nets $3.6 million gain from de la Pointe property sale
EXCHANGES
Binance addresses 7 instances of recent FUD via Chinese blog post
FTX attempts to maintain ownership of Robinhood shares in court
Peter Thiel-Backed Crypto Exchange Bullish Calls Off SPAC Deal
Kraken pushes ‘Pro’ product for advanced traders
Binance Joins Executive Committee of U.S. Blockchain Industry Lobby Group – Here’s Why it Matters
FTX creditors seek priority payout for $1.6B locked in custody wallets
Coinbase secures VASP registration in Ireland
DEX aggregator OpenOcean enables cross-chain swaps across major networks
Jump Crypto releases research on Proof of Solvency vulnerabilities
SEC filing declares FTT a security in FTX case development
Over 90% of FTX’s Blockfolio Acquisition Was Made Using FTT Tokens: Report
FTX, Alameda execs plead guilty to fraud charges: Community responds
Australian Crypto Exchange Swyftx, Share Trading Platform Superhero Abandon Merger Plan
EY ‘Did Not Initiate’ Transfers of $1.7M in Bitcoin Linked to Defunct QuadrigaCX
Genesis, DCG Creditors Propose Plan to Resolve Liquidity Issues, Gemini Says
FTX Has Over $1B in Cash, Creditor Meeting Told
Coinbase’s Slump to All-Time Low Sends Market Cap Below Dogecoin
Gemini suffers 2 downtimes in 7 days
FTX Now Seeking ‘Prompt Return’ of Sam Bankman-Fried’s Political Donations
Gate.io closer to launching US services after receiving local licenses
Binance.US Agrees to Buy Voyager’s Assets for $1.02B
OKX and Gate.io resume withdrawals following cloud provider issues
Binance Finalizes Acquisition of Indonesian Crypto Trading Firm Tokocrypto
Gate.io experiences slowdown in deposits and withdrawals due to node maintenance
Bitvavo to prefund locked DCG assets worth $296.7M amid liquidity crisis
Crypto Exchange Zipmex to Seek Creditor Support for Recovery Process: Source
CAPITAL RAISES
Axelar launches $60M startup ecosystem program
Polychain Leads $7M Funding for Hardware Wallet Developer Foundation Devices
Dragonfly leads ‘crypto super app’ Utorg’s $5 million raise
INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
Tron’s Justin Sun Was Secret Top Client of Crypto Asset Manager Valkyrie
Blockchain VC funding surpasses 2021 total despite declining since May
Bitcoin, crypto prices higher, Grayscale’s GBTC discount to NAV narrows
Crypto investment firm CoinShares debuts trading on Nasdaq Stockholm
Grayscale Will Explore Returning Portion of Investor Capital if SEC Refuses Spot Bitcoin ETF
TRADFI / TECH
Twitter Adds Crypto, Stock Prices in Search Results
Meta loses virtual reality virtuoso John Carmack
CBDC
ECB publishes new digital euro report, rollout decision in fall 2023
China Adds More Cities to its Digital Yuan Pilot
Kazakhstan central bank recommends a phased CBDC rollout between 2023-25
REGULATORY / COUNTRIES
Gensler Vows to Intensify Crypto Crackdown
Marshall Islands legally recognizes DAOs as domestic limited liability companies
SEC Says Ellison, Wang ‘Knew or Were Reckless in Not Knowing’ About FTX Fraud
US Senator Toomey unveils permissive stablecoin bill prior to retirement
French Financial Regulators Blacklist Crypto Trading Websites
‘Don’t Regulate – Ban Crypto Before It Triggers Financial Crisis’, Indian Central Bank Head Says
California Regulator Orders Halt to MyConstant’s Crypto Lending Services
SEC Charges Thor Token Creators for $2.6m ICO
Gate Group in talks with Hong Kong authorities over crypto policy, regulation
UK includes crypto investments under the Investment Manager Exemption
UK advertising regulator bans Crypto.com, Turtle United NFT promotions
Alaska adds ‘virtual currency’ to its regulatory regime
Sango Coin listing postponed by Central African Republic
‘Financial Regulators Should Be Limited to Centralized Actors’: Coinbase CEO
Busan city drops global crypto exchanges from its digital exchange plans
Kazakhstan Tightens Regulation for Miners, Looks to Develop Broader Crypto Industry
Bank of Canada emphasizes need for stablecoin regulation as legislation is tabled
Nigeria Seeks to Legalize Crypto as Investment Capital
What’s in Senator Warren’s new Digital Assets Anti-Money Laundering Bill?
International banking regulatory body backtracks on stablecoins
New York State Financial Regulator Issues Guidance for Banks That Want To Engage With Crypto
Japan to Exempt Token Issuers From Corporate Tax on Unrealized Gains
DeFi Can Exacerbate Volatility Without Even Avoiding Middlemen, BIS Reports Say
ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, GOVERNANCE
SURVEYS, HACKS, MISC
Craig Wright Signals He’s Given Up Convincing Courts He Invented Bitcoin
Ransomware Payouts Declined in 2022: Crystal Blockchain
FTX creditor committee hires Paul Hastings LLP for bankruptcy proceedings: Report
Guggenheim’s Scott Minerd, Fickle Bitcoin Forecaster, Dies After Heart Attack
Third parties could return FTX funds directly to customers: Law firm
Android Trojan Targets 400 Crypto and Finance Apps
Ankr says ex-employee caused $5M exploit, vows to improve security
Report reveals 12% of BNB Chain and 8% of ETH tokens are scams
How to avoid getting hooked by crypto ‘ice phishing’ scammers: CertiK
SBF signs extradition papers, set to return to face charges in the US
Democrats Plan on Returning at Least $9.85M in FTX Donations
McCormack trial Judge – Craig Wright was ‘dishonest,’ alludes to victory for McCormack
Police body cam leaks suspect’s seed phrase during vehicle inspection
Alameda gave $400 million to startup based in SBF’s Bahamian condo community: CoinDesk
Sam Bankman-Fried agrees to US extradition ‘to put the customers right’: Report
Top 50 FTX creditors only account for $114M of unsecured claims out of billions lost
Elon Musk likely to resign as Twitter poll votes 57.5% in favor of him stepping down, DOGE falls 3%
$4B OneCoin scam co-founder pleads guilty, faces 60 years jail
Imprisoned Sam Bankman-Fried May Relent in Extradition Fight: Reports
Media Groups Win Right to Argue for Publication of FTX’s Million-Strong Creditor List
BNB Chain announces its first Asia-based hackathon