Friday October 6, 2023
◾ The European Securities and Markets Authority released its second consultation request on crypto market rules. (ESMA)
◾ Hong Kong’s Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury said that retail investors are not yet permitted to trade stablecoins. (Cointelegraph)
◾ The US says the EU’s proposed AI-regulations would favor large tech companies. (Bloomberg)
◾ Witness number 3 was VC and FTX investor Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang who said SBF was "very resistant" to investors' requests for board seats. He added that Paradigm had concerns about FTX’s lack of a formal corporate governance structure and its relationship with Alameda Research fearing "reputational damage" if Alameda was given preferential trading treatment. (Pitchbook)
◾ FTX co-foudner and former CTO Gary Wang testified SBF told him to give Alameda special trading privileges on FTX. (Reuters)
◾ Employees at FTX’s derivatives exchange LedgerX previously identified flaws in FTX’s code base that provided Alameda with special treatment. (WSJ)
◾ The Department of Justice plans to seize two of SBF’s luxury jets: a Bombardier Global 5000 BD700-1A11 and an Embraer Legacy EMB-135BJ. (Bloomberg)
Government & NGO Actions
◾ Canada’s Securities Administrator issued interim terms and conditions for crypto asset trading platforms and the issuers of fiat-backed stablecoins. (Securities-Administrators)
◾ Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Representative Yvette Clarke (D-NY) asked Meta (META) and X (formerly Twitter) to explain what rules are being imposed to tackle the emergence of AI-generated political ads on the platforms. (APNews)
◾ Singapore police confirmed the arrest the arrest of Three Arrows Capital co-founder Su Zhu. (Reuters)
Public Company Releases
◾ Bitdeer Technologies (BTDR) self-mined 482 bitcoin with a self-mining hashrate of 7.2 EH/s in September. (GlobeNewsWire)
◾ Iris Energy (IREN) generated 390 bitcoin (5.5 EH/s) in September. (GlobeNewsWire)
◾ Hive Digital (HIVE) produced 269 bitcoin (3.98 EH/s) in September. (NewsFile)
Restructuring, Losses and Legal News
◾ Crypto wallet supplier Ledger is cutting 12% of its staff. (Bloomberg)
AI Announcements
◾ Open Ai is exploring making its own AI chips. (Reuters)
◾ Walmart (WMT) is launching a new AI-backed shopping assistant and search bar feature. (TechCrunch)
Protocols, Applications & Business News
◾ Kraken is looking to expand into Europe through the acquisition of Dutch crypto broker BCM. (Kraken)
◾ Volcano Energy and Luxor Technology launched El Salvador's first bitcoin mining pool powered by renewable geothermal energy. (BitcoinMagazine)
◾ A Canadian citizen had $240,000 returned by a hacker to his bank, but the court ruled he may not access it until it is determined who was responsible for the theft. (CBC)
Metaverse & Gaming Briefings & Activations
◾ Mythical Games launched its third blockchain-backed title AAA mobile racing game Nitro Nation World Tour. (BusinessWire)
Market Data
◾ Crypto investments in Q3 marked the lowest quarterly levels since the fourth quarter of 2020. (Messari)
◾ In 2022, $7 billion in crypto was laundered through cross-chain services. (Elliptic)