Newsfeed

The state-owned scientific research institute China Academy for Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) published 2022 White Paper on Blockchain on 29 December, featuring four types of blockchain technology with high application potential. The White Paper also reveals that there are currently more than 1,400 blockchain firms based in China and there are around 48 post-secondary institutions across China offering degrees and certificates related to blockchain engineering. China and US are now occupying more than half of the total market share regarding global blockchain firms.

FTX’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to enter a plea on two counts of wire fraud and six counts of conspiracy on 3 January 2023 before US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan federal court, who is assigned to replace the original judge due to the conflict of interest. The FTX’s founder is accused of misappropriating clients’ deposits to finance Alameda Research, purchase real estate and make political contributions. He denied any criminal liability before he was arrested on 12 December. He was released on a $250 million bond and is living with his parents in California.

FTX customers started a class action lawsuit against the firm and its former executives in the US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware on 27 December 2022. The plaintiffs want to act on behalf of over 1 million FTX customers both in the US and abroad to seek a declaration that funds held in FTX US accounts for US customers and in FTX Trading accounts for non-US customers or other traceable customer assets do not belong to FTX in the hope of defeating other secured or general unsecured creditors of the firm to recover the assets. The proposed class also want a declaration by the court that the traceable assets held at Alameda are not its property. Alternatively, they demand the court to recognize that they have a priority right to repayment over other creditors.

China’s official wallet app for its central bank digital currency has reportedly launched a new feature to allow users to send the digital yuan-filled red packets to each other. Similar to the feature of other Chinese mobile payment apps such as Alipay and WeChat Pay, the red packet can be sent to only one person or a group of people who would receive a random portion of money from the pool. While the digital yuan is still under trial in some designated cities of China, the latest report reveals that about 261 million people have already set up a digital wallet.

The Financial Services Agency (FSA) of Japan will reportedly lift the ban on the domestic distribution of foreign stablecoins next year, which will allow the local exchange to handle stablecoin trading provided that there is upper limit of remittance and assets preservation by deposits. The FSA said that removal of such restriction will require more regulations on Anti-Money Laundering controls. None of the local crypto exchanges registered with the FSA is currently handling trading in stablecoin as of 30 November 2022.

15 investors have commenced legal action against Binance France and Binance Holdings Limited in France on 14 December, accusing the companies of misleading commercial practices and fraudulent concealment. The investors alleged that Binance had begun advertising and distributing crypto services before getting the license from the country’s financial market regulator. They also complained that they have lost over 2.4 million euros as a result of the TerraUSD (UST) collapse, while Binance was advertising the token as United States dollar-backed. Binance France denied any promotional communications conducted in the country during the alleged period.

Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison has confessed that she and FTX’s founder Bankman-Fried have approved the materially misleading financial statements for Alameda lenders in the plea hearing held in the Southern District of New York. According to the court’s transcript, the former Alameda’s CEO said she had knowledge of FTX’s arrangement to allow Alameda to have unlimited borrowing facility without being required to post collateral, without having to pay interest on negative balances and without being subject to margin calls or FTX.com’s liquidation protocols. She also added that she understood such arrangement was used to misappropriate clients’ funds to finance loans to Alameda. According to the plea deal, she will be spared of all major charges.

Decentralized exchange Uniswap has announced a new partnership with fintech company Moonpay on 20 December to enable its users to buy cryptocurrency on its web app by debit cards, credit cards and bank transfers. The bank transfer option is available within most U.S. states, Brazil, the United Kingdom and the Single Euro Payments Area. The exchange said it would initially support DAI, ETH, MATIC, USDC, USDT, WBTC, and WETH, though their availability depend on the users’ region. The crypto can be sent to any wallet on Ethereum mainnet, Polygon, Optimism, and Arbitrum.

The FTX’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried has reportedly agreed to waive his right to contest the extradition in the hearing in the Bahamas Supreme Court scheduled on 21 December. He is expected to be extradited to the US and charged with eight counts of financial crimes. The FTX’s founder is alleged to commit conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers and lenders, securities fraud, commodities fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the US and violate the campaign finance law.

The South Korean court has reportedly ordered to freeze 120 billion won ($92 million) in assets of former and incumbent CEOs of Kernel Labs, which is a blockchain consultancy firm affiliated with Terraform Labs. The firm’s CEO Kim Hyun-joong is alleged to have the largest portion of the illegal proceeds from Terra and the estimated amount is at least 79 billion won ($61 million). It has come after the seizure of 140 billion won ($108 million) from Terra co-founder Shin Hyun-Seong in November.

Three democratic committees, the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) have reportedly promised to return over $1 million of the FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s political donations to the victims of the company’s misappropriation of clients’ funds on 16 December. The decision has come after the FTX founder was being charged with eight counts of financial crimes.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has reportedly considered withdrawing the application to contest extradition to the US in the Bahamas’ court. He is alleged to commit conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers and lenders, securities fraud, commodities fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States and violate the campaign finance law. His bail application was denied on 13 December and he is currently detained in Fox Hill Prison, which is the only prison in the Bahamas. It is believed that the FTX founder could be sentenced to up to 115 years in prison if he is convicted.