Amid the ongoing manhunt for Terraform Labs co-founder and CEO Do Kwon, South Korean authorities have spread out their investigations to target other Terra executives. Prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for co-founder Daniel Shin and seven other engineers and investors of the firm following suspicion of gaining illegal profits before the massive collapse of the Terra ecosystem. The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office in South Korea suspected that Shin possessed Terra (LUNA) tokens, which were pre-issued without the public knowledge of investors. In doing so, Shin allegedly bagged profits worth 140 billion won (roughly $105 million) by selling the pre-issued …

While Brazil has not made Bitcoin (BTC) legal tender as El Salvador did last year, the South-American nation has passed a law that legalizes crypto payments throughout the country. The Chamber of Deputies of Brazil, a federal legislative body, has passed a regulatory framework that legalizes the use of cryptocurrencies as a payment method within the country. While this makes significant progress for crypto within Brazil, the law still requires the signature of the president of Brazil for it to be enacted. The passing of the bill does not make any cryptocurrencies legal tender within the country. However, the bill …

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has been called to a Feb. 2 hearing by the Texan securities regulator as part of an investigation into whether he and FTX US have violated Texas securities laws. In a Notice of Hearing signed off by Texas State Securities Board’s (SSB’s) director of enforcement Joe Rotunda and served to Bankman Fried on Nov. 29, the regulator alleges that FTX US offered unregistered securities to Texans through its “EARN” accounts. The investigation was first announced on Oct. 14, before the dramatic collapse and bankruptcy of FTX’s global operations. The regulator announced at the time it …

Up to $40 billion a year (AU$60 billion), could be added to Australia's national GDP with the right regulatory framework and could lead to enormous cost savings for consumers and businesses according to a new report. The Nov. 29 Digital assets in Australia report was commissioned by the Tech Council of Australia (TCA), one of the country's technology industry advocacy groups, and written by technology consulting firm Accenture, which outlined a number of potential benefits the growth of the digital assets sector in Australia could deliver, stating: “Digital assets (DA) have the potential to transform our lives offering significant time …

Ron Wyden, chair for the United States Senate Finance Committee, has requested information from six crypto firms on consumer protection following FTX’s liquidity issues and bankruptcy. In separate letters dated on Nov. 28, Wyden targeted Binance, Coinbase, Bitfinex, Gemini, Kraken and KuCoin, requesting information on what protections the exchanges had in place if a failure like the one that happened at FTX occurred. The senator said that crypto users who had funds with FTX had “no such protections” like those at banks or registered brokers under the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or Securities Investor Protection Corporation. “As Congress considers much-needed …

On this week’s The Market Report show, Cointelegraph’s resident experts discuss the possibility of a $12,000–$14,000 Bitcoin (BTC) price and what that would mean for the rest of the crypto space. We start off this week’s show with the latest news in the markets: New BTC miner capitulation? 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week Bitcoin prepares to exit a grim November just above $16,000 — what could be on the menu for BTC’s price this week? We discuss the protests in China, the possibility of Bitcoin miners being on the verge of capitulation and other important things to …

The FTX contagion saga sees new revelations around its misconduct every other day, and the latest one solidifies the collusion between the failed crypto exchange and its sister company Alameda Research from the very beginning. FTX like many other crypto exchanges found it difficult to get a banking partner to process fiat transactions- as banks have been hesitant to tie up with crypto exchanges due to a lack of regulatory oversight. FTX overcame this problem by using its sister company’s banking accounts to process transactions for the crypto exchange. Former CEO of FTX Sam Bankman-Fried confirmed in a conversation with …

The state of New York became the first one in the United States to impose a moratorium on proof-of-work (PoW) mining, albeit only for two years. Last week, New York governor Kathy Hochul signed the moratorium into a bill, prohibiting any new mining operations that aren’t based on 100% renewable energy. The renewal of licenses would also be frozen. In eight months, the anti-mining bill made its way from the first passing through the state Assembly to the governor’s pen. The statewide development seems unlucky for New York City mayor Eric Adams, who is focused on making the city a …

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has introduced a draft concept for its central bank digital currency (CBDC) candidate digital hryvnia, or e-hryvnia. Ukraine’s central bank on Nov. 28 released a statement on the concept of e-hryvnia, which aims to perform all the functions of money by supplementing cash and non-cash forms of the hryvnia as its key purpose. The NBU said it has presented the e-hryvnia concept and continues developing the CBDC project with participants of the virtual assets market, payment firms and state bodies. According to the announcement, the central bank is currently considering and developing three possible …

Israel's chief economist has laid out a list of recommendations as to how policymakers should tackle digital asset laws in the country in order to safely drive up crypto adoption. In a 109-page report submitted to the Minister of Finance on Nov. 28, Shira Greenberg, Chief Economist at the Ministry of Finance, called for a more comprehensive regulatory framework that would bring trading platforms and crypto issuers in line and would expand the powers given to its financial regulators. Greenberg recommended Israel should improve investor certainty and protection by imposing stricter licensing requirements on trading platforms and issuers of cryptocurrencies, …

Crypto executives and politicians are becoming louder in their calls for crypto regulation as the aftermath of the FTX collapse continues to reverberate through the industry. In just the last 24 hours, the European Central Bank (ECB) president Christine Lagarde called regulation and supervision of crypto an “absolute necessity” for the European Union, while United States House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters announced that lawmakers will explore the collapse of FTX in a Dec. 13 inquiry. On Nov. 28, United States Senator and crypto supporter Cynthia Lummis described the collapse of FTX as a wake-up call for congress, according …

Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has announced it will be “resuming ordinary” cash payments, salaries and benefits to its remaining employees around the world. The announcement came from new FTX CEO John Ray III on Nov. 28, as the insolvency professional looks to help FTX and its approximated 101 affiliated companies (FTX Debtors) navigate their way through the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. "With the Court's approval of our First Day motions and the work being done on global cash management, I am pleased that the FTX group is resuming ordinary course cash payments of salaries and benefits to our remaining …