Bitcoin (BTC) price and the wider crypto market corrected at the start of this week, giving back a small portion of the gains accrued in January, but it’s safe to say that the more experienced traders expected some sort of technical correction. What was unexpected was the SEC’s Feb. 9 enforcement against Kraken exchange and the regulator’s announcement that staking-as-service programs are unregulated securities. The crypto market sold-off on the news and given Kraken’s decision to close up 100% of its staking services, traders are concerned that Coinbase will eventually be forced to do the same. The real question is, …

The Ethereum Foundation team announced another milestone on the road to the Shanghai upgrade, with the Shapella fork on the Zhejiang testnet moving into the final pre-launch sequence, according to a blog post on Feb 10. The Shapella transition includes "many features," and "most importantly to stakers and the consensus-layer, is the enabling of withdrawals," notes the post, adding that: "Full withdrawals will be available for exited validators, whereas partial withdrawals will be available for active validator balances in excess of 32 ETH." As per the announcement, validators to participate in withdrawals must have a 0x01 execution-layer withdrawal credential. "If …

The joint provisional liquidators of FTX Digital Markets — the firm’s subsidiary in the Bahamas — has released a report on the company’s physical assets in the island nation. According to affidavit filed by a PricewaterhouseCoopers partner with the Bahamas’ supreme court on Feb. 8, FTX’s joint provisional liquidators, or JPLs, said the company had purchased 52 properties in the Bahamas, including units “in the name of individual employees or relatives of SBF, despite FTX Digital providing the funding”. These properties, which included housing for FTX employees and commercial office space, were worth roughly $255 million and purchased by an …

The parts that make up the cryptocurrency ecosystem are not all equal, United States Federal Reserve Board governor Christopher Waller told a conference audience on Feb. 10. He had clear preferences among the three elements of the ecosystem that he identified. Waller was hosted by the Global Interdependence Center at its “Digital Money, Decentralized Finance, and the Puzzle of Crypto” conference. He considered crypto assets, blockchain technology and trading technology, such as smart contracts and tokenization, separately. Waller focused on the broader applications of crypto technology. Research on applications of distributed ledger technology to “a wide range of data management …

Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of essential decentralized finance (DeFi) insights — a newsletter crafted to bring you significant developments over the last week. In the aftermath of a deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake in southeastern Turkey, the Web3 community has come together to raise awareness and aid for disaster victims. Stablecoins could prove to be a critical factor in larger DeFi adoption, says Aave founder Stani Kulechov. According to the Aave executive, building the “payment layer,” which involves stablecoins, can potentially hook regular people into the space, eventually introducing them into DeFi. On the other hand, S&P Global Ratings …

Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Journal reported that financial services company Cantor Fitzgerald is helping Tether oversee a $39 billion bond portfolio comprised of United States Treasury securities. The report indicated that some firms on Wall Street are willing to support crypto service providers despite ongoing regularity concerns facing the industry. Founded in 1945, Cantor Fitzgerald specializes in investment banking services, including institutional equity and fixed-income sales. The company claims to employ over 12,000 people. Beyond helping to “manage” a portion of Tether’s portfolio, Cantor Fitzgerald’s specific involvement with the stablecoin issuer wasn’t spelled out in the Journal’s …

JPMorgan Chase and consultants Oliver Wyman took a look at blockchain technology in commercial banking in a report released Feb. 9. Stablecoin and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) have dominated in this sphere so far, but the authors pointed out the advantages offered by deposit coins for stability and reliability. Deposit tokens are issued on a blockchain by a depository institution to represent a deposit claim. This contrasts to stablecoins, commonly issued by a non-bank private entity, and CBDCs. This difference in issuer is a key advantage: “Given that deposit tokens are commercial bank money embodied in a new technical …

Remember when Sam Bankman-Fried admitted to being a significant donor to the Democratic and Republican parties? Well, the recipients of the tainted money have been formally requested to return the funds to FTX’s creditors. So far, we know of three prominent Democratic groups — the DNC, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee — that have returned SBF-linked donations in December 2022. Will the rest follow? As FTX seeks clawbacks, the Digital Currency Group and its bankrupt subsidiary, Genesis Global Trading, have agreed to a restructuring plan. The good news is that Genesis account holders will …

Reactions were predictable depending on where you stand on crypto in general. Crypto advocates railed against regulators who are slowly asphyxiating this burgeoning industry, while skeptics celebrated crypto’s impending demise. The advocates have it right. Antagonistic regulators will force crypto into friendlier jurisdictions, which will reap the economic benefits. The skeptics have it right, too. This event, and much of those from last year, is killing crypto. Their apparent glee is misplaced, though. This is a good thing. Emboldened by the slew of blow-ups of crypto businesses in 2022, the SEC and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission have begun to …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is ramping up pressure on the crypto sector. On Feb. 9, the SEC reached a $30 million settlement with Kraken over the centralized staking program offered to its users. The news of the crackdown sent Bitcoin (BTC) price to a 3-week low as investors became fearful of the regulatory enforcement. On the news, Ether's (ETH) price also corrected, cementing the token’s worst-performing day of 2023. While the overall crypto market was down after the SEC announcement, bright spots arose with decentralized liquid staking tokens Lido (LDO) and Rocketpool (RPL) and Frax (FXS) …

The DAO that governs privacy-focused blockchain Secret Network (SCRT) has voted to restructure its Secret Foundation as a non-profit with a “transparent operation,” according to the proposal’s official page. Congrats to the #SecretNetwork community! The Secret Foundation has been restructured as an NPO, with a community-elected board & amendments requested by the founder. #blockchain #cryptocurrency — Krypton AI (@KryptonAi) February 10, 2023 The proposal stated that the new foundation “will be registered as an NPO [non-profit organization] and provide an annual account of its activities, including key performance indicators (KPIs), budgets, and goals.” The foundation will be run by a …

Two members of the United States House Financial Services Committee are calling on Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler “regarding the timing of the charges filed against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried” based on his scheduled appearance at a hearing. In a Feb. 10 notice, committee chair Patrick McHenry and Representative Bill Huizenga, who chairs the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, said the timing of Bankman-Fried’s charges and arrest in the Bahamas raised “serious questions about the SEC’s process and cooperation with the Department of Justice”. The two lawmakers called on Gensler to provide records and communications from the SEC’s Division …