Thursday May 4, 2023
◾ The SEC omitted a previously defined definition of “digital assets” from a final reporting requirement issued to agency-registered investment advisers and private funds. (Coindesk)
◾ A former OpenSea product manager was convicted of fraud and money laundering for using inside knowledge of which assets would be featured on its home page to trade NFTs. (Reuters)
◾ Iran’s Central Bank is setting up a platform to make it easier for local businesses to transfer cryptocurrencies for cross-border settlement. (News.bitcoin)
Government & NGO Actions
◾ Nigeria approved a national blockchain policy “to create a blockchain-powered economy that supports secure transactions, data sharing, and value exchange between people, businesses, and Government, thereby enhancing innovation, trust, growth, and prosperity for all.” (Twitter)
◾ The UK’s House of Lords voted to ease advertisement approvals for crypto firms allowing registered entities to approve their own ads. (Coindesk)
◾ The Federal Trade Commission intends to enforce AI companies with existing laws. (Reuters)
◾ The UK Competition and Markets Authority announced the start of a review process to create an “early understanding” of the opportunities, risks and developments for AI foundation models. (Gov.uk)
◾ The US’ National Bureau of Economic Research warned that crypto traders are avoiding $16 billion in annual taxes by wash trading. (Bloomberg)
◾ Europol announced the seizure of dark web marketplace “Monopoly Market” and €50 million in cash, digital currencies, and drugs. (Europa.eu)
Public Company Releases
◾ Coinbase (COIN) will stop issuing new loans on the Coinbase Borrow platform today. (Bloomberg)
◾ Metal credit card issuer CompoSecure (CMPO) reported first quarter sales of $95 million with $10 million IN net income, but failed to provide detailed figures on its Arculus crypto wallet. (Compsecure)
◾ Cleanspark (CLSK) mined 524 bitcoin (6.7 EH/s), selling 407 in April. (Cleanspark)
◾ Riot Blockchain produced 639 bitcoin (10.5 EH/s) and sold 94% last month. (Globenewswire)
◾ Hive Blockchain (HIVE) produced and sold 273 bitcoin (3.38 EH/s) in April. (Hiveblockchain)
◾ Argo Blockchain (ARBK) mined 144 bitcoin (2.5 EH/s) selling its production to end April with 83 BTC. (Accesswire)
◾ Bit Digital (BTBT) earned 86 bitcoin in April. (Cision)
◾ Broker-dealer INX Digital (INXD) launched a pilot for an enterprise-level wallet management solution for regulated security tokens with crypto custodian BitGo. (Cision)
Restructuring, Losses and Legal News
◾ FTX filed paperwork to claw back up to $3.9 billion of cash and crypto from bankrupt digital asset lender Genesis Global Capital and its affiliated companies. (Bloomberg)
◾ Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky responded to claims by New York’s Attorney General calling the charges “baseless” and suggesting they demonstrate the AG’s “fundamental misunderstanding of Celsius’s business, and Mashinsky’s role therein.” (Coindesk)
AI Announcements
◾ Microsoft (MSFT) is expanding its AI-powered Bing browser from a text-only feature to include image and video centric responses. (Reuters)
◾ Meta (META) warned that chatbot malware is developing, calling the “ChatGPT…the new crypto” for bad actors. (Reuters)
Protocols, Applications & Business News
◾ Crypto trading platform Enclave Markets is launching a spot trading platform. (Forbes)
Market Data
◾Bitcoin’s difficulty is expected to decline for the first time in 5 period. and only the third time in 2023, this morning, sliding 1.2%. (Btc.com)