Monday December 11, 2023
◾ EU lawmakers are expanding the role of the European Central Bank to include supervising bank-owned providers of crypto asset services. (Bloomberg)
◾ The Europe Union reached a preliminary agreement on AI regulations addressing governmental biometric surveillance and the oversight of AI systems including ChatGPT. (Reuters)
◾ An unsealed Department of Justice filing identifies the “exhaustive list” of Binance’s compliance and monitoring commitments to the DoJ. (X)
Government & NGO Actions
◾ South Korea's Financial Services Commission announced that, in contrast to digital currencies, holding NFTs and CBDCs on exchanges will not incur any interest charges. (News.nate)
◾ The Micronesian archipelago of Palau successfully completing the first phase of its CBDC trials. (Palaugov)
◾ The US, South Korea and Japan met to discuss North Korea’s use of cryptocurrency to generate revenue for its illicit WMD programs. (Whitehouse.gov)
◾ The SEC met with executives from Fidelity and the Cboe to discuss the Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust. (SEC.gov)
◾ The National Audit Office in the UK has criticized the Financial Conduct Authority for its sluggish response to evolving trends in the cryptocurrency market. (NAO.org.uk)
◾ Provisions creating an anti-money-laundering examination standard for crypto assets and requiring a report analyzing the use of privacy coins were removed from the National Defense Authorization Act. (CoinDesk)
Financial Notices & Public Company Releases
◾ Alphabet (GOOGL) admitted that a video showcasing the capabilities of its new Gemini AI model were edited to creatively demonstrate how the technology can work. (BBC.com)
◾ Cipher Mining (CIFR) announced the closing of its acquisition of its “Black Pearl” mining site. (CipherMining)
◾ Nvidia (NVDA) is opening a design center in Vietnam which may become a significant secondary location for the company. (Bloomberg)
Restructuring, Losses & Legal News
◾ The SEC aims to leverage Binance's plea deal with the Department of Justice to strengthen its legal action against the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. (Bloomberg)
◾ A Utah judge has given the SEC one more week to explain why it made "false or misleading" statements in its case against DEBT Box. (TheBlock)
AI Announcements
◾ Google’s AI note-taking app, NotebookLM, is now available to users in the US. (TheVerge)
◾ Elon Musk claims a report arguing Grok AI is libertarian and left leaning “does not seem accurate.” (X)
Protocols, Applications & Business News
◾ Crypto media website Decrypt is merging with decentralized media group Rug Radio to expand its coverage and reach. (Decrypt)
◾ Tether is initiating a new voluntary wallet-freezing policy designed to combat activity connected with Sanctioned persons on the OFAC Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. (Tether)
◾ VanEck proposed to use the ticker “HODL” for its spot bitcoin ETF. (SECfiling)
Market Data
◾ Bitcoin’s difficulty dropped 0.96% on Saturday, falling for the first time in 6 adjustment periods. (BTC.com)
Exchange, Custody & Product Updates
◾ Coinbase (COIN) is becoming a liquidity provider for Italian crypto wallet Conio. (FinanceFeeds)