SBF’s new charges, Shapella’s fork date and emojis as financial advice: Hodler’s Digest, Feb. 19-25

Top Stories This Week

Unsealed superseding indictment against Sam Bankman-Fried includes 12 transgression charges

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was charged connected 4 caller transgression counts by a national justice presiding implicit his case. According to a superseding indictment, determination are present 12 transgression charges against Bankman-Fried, including 8 conspiracy charges related to fraud arsenic good arsenic 4 charges of ligament fraud and securities fraud. In an effort to perchance modify his bail terms, Bankman-Fried’s attorneys volition prosecute a information adept to assistance the national justice overseeing his fraud case. The method adept volition assistance the justice navigate issues regarding encrypted messages, privacy-focused messaging apps and VPNs.

Ethereum Shapella upgrade gets caller date, making mode for un-staking ETH

Ethereum halfway developer Tim Beiko announced the blockchain’s Shapella upgrade is scheduled for Feb. 28. The Shapella web upgrade volition activate connected the Sepolia web astatine epoch 56832. Major changes to the statement furniture see afloat and partial withdrawals for validators and autarkic authorities and artifact humanities accumulators, replacing the archetypal singular humanities roots. After the Sepolia fork, the adjacent measurement would beryllium the merchandise of the Shanghai upgrade connected the Ethereum Goerli trial network, planned for March.

US lawmaker introduces measure aimed astatine limiting Fed’s authorization connected integer dollar

United States Representative Tom Emmer has introduced authorities that could bounds the Federal Reserve from issuing a cardinal slope integer currency (CBDC). According to Emmer, the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act seeks to support Americans’ close to fiscal privacy. The measure could prohibit the Fed from issuing a integer dollar “directly to anyone,” barroom the cardinal slope from implementing monetary argumentation based connected a CBDC, and necessitate transparency for projects related to a integer dollar.

Emojis number arsenic fiscal proposal and person ineligible consequences, justice rules

A United States District Court judge ruled that emojis similar the rocket ship, banal illustration and wealth bags mean “a fiscal instrumentality connected investment.” The determination is portion of a caller tribunal filing regarding Dapper Labs’ question to disregard a ailment alleging that its NBA Top Shot Moments NFTs violated information laws. In a tweet, erstwhile U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Enforcement Branch Chief Lisa Braganca warned users of the imaginable ineligible consequences of utilizing emojis that whitethorn bespeak aboriginal gains.

Ankr partners with Microsoft to connection endeavor node services

Microsoft has partnered with decentralized blockchain infrastructure supplier Ankr to supply a caller node-hosting work connected the Microsoft Azure Marketplace. This concern volition integrate the exertion of some companies, pairing Ankr’s blockchain infrastructure with Microsoft’s unreality solutions. The endeavor node deployment work volition connection low-latency blockchain connections for Web3 projects. The work relays transactions, deploys astute contracts and tin work oregon constitute blockchain data.

Winners and Losers

At the extremity of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is astatine $23,245, Ether (ETH) astatine $1,596 and XRP astatine $0.37. The full marketplace headdress is astatine $1.06 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Most Memorable Quotations

“I deliberation it’s clip for the Treasury, the Feds, the CFTC, the SEC, each of america amended get unneurotic connected crypto.”

Maxine Waters, U.S. typical for California

“Where the democracies person breached down, I bash deliberation it’s precise intelligibly related to fiat currency, and I bash deliberation that Bitcoin fixes this successful a way.”

Alex Gladstein, main strategy serviceman astatine the Human Rights Foundation

“Bitcoin mining tin truly propulsion the envelope astir innovation and concern successful renewables successful a genuinely important way.”

Jaime Leverton, CEO of Hut 8

“By acting without Congressional authorization, [the SEC] continues to lend to a chaotic regulatory environment, harming the precise investors it is charged to protect.”

Chamber of Digital Commerce

“The days of crypto companies similar CoinEx acting similar the rules bash not use to them are over.”

Letitia James, New York lawyer general

“Clinically, we person surely seen an summation successful radical coming to therapy who study difficulties successful managing their crypto trading behavior.”

Anastasia Hronis, Australian objective psychologist

Prediction of the Week 

Bitcoin eyes 25% of world’s wealthiness successful caller $10M BTC terms prediction

Bitcoin whitethorn conflict with “brutal” volatility, but hodlers and critics alike should beryllium successful nary uncertainty astir its semipermanent terms trajectory, money manager and Bitcoin adept advisor Jesse Myers said portion revealed his ain “outrageous” BTC terms target.

Analyzing Bitcoin’s worth proposition, helium argues that Bitcoin’s quality to admit implicit clip means that it is each but destined to suck successful worth from different plus classes.

“My blimpish estimates suggest an outrageous afloat imaginable for Bitcoin’s price: $10m/Bitcoin, successful today’s dollars. To enactment this different way, I judge Bitcoin’s afloat imaginable is to devour ~25% of the world’s value… portion contiguous it constitutes conscionable 0.05%. That’s absurd. That means that I judge Bitcoin could 500x implicit the coming decades, successful existent (inflation-adjusted) terms,” Myers wrote.

FUD of the Week 

US crypto regularisation happening ‘behind closed doors’ — Blockchain Association CEO

Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith says Congress needs to instrumentality power of crypto authorities and guarantee it is an “open process” by looking astatine the marketplace comprehensively. Despite regulators moving “very quickly,” authorities is moving “behind closed doors,” Smith observed, emphasizing the value of manufacture engagement successful an “open process” that includes Congress.

US regulatory crackdown leads to $32M integer plus outflows

Institutional crypto money manager CoinShares reported that integer plus concern products saw outflows totaling $32 cardinal past week, the largest outflow of the year. The outflow comes successful the aftermath of a monolithic crackdown connected the integer plus manufacture by the U.S. securities regulator targeting everything from staking services to stablecoins and crypto custody.

Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather record question to disregard crypto promotion lawsuit

Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather and different celebrities are hoping to person a justice to disregard different effort to clasp them liable for allegedly promoting EthereumMax (EMAX) without due disclosure. Recently, the U.S. SEC issued a informing to celebrities who beforehand crypto, reminding them that the instrumentality requires them to disclose however overmuch they are being paid and by whom.

Best Cointelegraph Features

Breakdancing medic’s NFT auctioned astatine Sotheby’s — Grant Yun, NFT creator

Simple storytelling done integer art has led this aesculapian pupil and breakdancer to beryllium featured astatine Sotheby’s.

Green consumers privation proviso concatenation transparency via blockchain

Consumers privation to support ethical, environmentally affable products. Blockchain projects are present to help.

Hong Kong crypto frenzy, DeFi token surges 550%, NBA China NFTs — Asia Express

Hong Kong wants to restore retail crypto trading, FTX Japan customers retreat astir each assets aft 3 months, and NBA China volition proceed minting NFTs.