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| 1 | | A Montenegrin Basic Court in the capital Podgorica has again approved the bail terms of Do Kwon, the co-founder of the collapsed Terra ecosystem, nearly 10 days after the High Court canceled the agreement following the local prosecutors' appeals. The decision will apply to both Kwon and Han Chang-Joon, the chief financial officer of Terraform Labs. More: - The approval will see Kwon and Chang-Joon released from prison, each on $436,000 bail, and put under house arrest in Montenegro pending trial.
- The bail payments will be made separately for two former Terra executives by their wives, and they will not be able to leave the country.
- Montenegrin police will closely monitor Kwon and Chang-Joon, and the bail will be canceled in the event of any violation.
- The pair were arrested at the Podgorica Airport in Montenegro in March while trying to fly to Dubai carrying falsified traveling documents.
- In April, they became the subject of an indictment proposal submitted by the local prosecutors with the charges of forging personal documents, which was later denied by the lawyers for two former executives.
- The court said verifying the authenticity of travel documents and identity cards allegedly issued by Belgian authorities would take more time.
Zoom Out: - Meanwhile, both the U.S. and Kwon's native South Korea seek the Terra founder's extradition, though they do not have a direct extradition treaty with Montenegro.
- The multibillion-dollar Terra ecosystem collapsed last year after its native token Luna's price plummeted nearly to zero in May 2022 and lost all its value against the U.S. dollar (USD), triggering a prolonged crypto winter.
- The collapse caused over $60B to be wiped off the crypto market.
- The 31-year-old Kwon faces many lawsuits and investigations in several countries, including South Korea and the U.S., with allegations such as tax fraud, deceiving investors, racket collecting, and building a Ponzi scheme.
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What the numbers say: A recent survey conducted by the Cato Institute has shown that most Americans are still skeptical about a potential central bank digital currency (CBDC) or the digital dollar. In the poll, only 16% of Americans said they support the idea of a CBDC. On the other hand, 34% reported opposition to a digital dollar's adoption, while a significant 49% stated that they had not formed an opinion regarding the issue yet. Cato Institute underlined that only 28% of the survey respondents were familiar with CBDCs. Details: The survey has also pointed out that the support rate increases as far as the age group gets younger. Generation Z has become the age group with the most support for a CBDC. Views on a digital dollar also vary across political groups. Republicans reported the highest opposition rate at 53%, while Democrats are equally split on the issue. The poll results also indicated that most Independents have no opinion about a CBDC. Relevance: U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order in 2022 for the federal government to explore the potential use cases and risks of a CBDC. The move has ignited debates from many lawmakers in the U.S. Most recently, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis officially banned the use of a CBDC issued by the Federal Reserve (Fed), the central banking system of the U.S., as money in the state. While proposing the law, DeSantis cited the risks of hindering innovation and promoting government surveillance. In March, Sen. Ted Cruz from Texas also introduced a bill to prevent the Fed from developing a CBDC, citing the risk that these digital assets could be used as a direct surveillance tool by the government and violate the privacy rights of American citizens. Brands that should care: Crypto firms with higher lobbying expenses, such as Coinbase, the Blockchain Association, Robinhood, and Binance.US, are expected to intensify their lobbying efforts even more as crypto and tokenized assets have become crucial material for politicians and election campaigns in the U.S. Another survey from crypto exchange Bitget also revealed that Gen Z cares about crypto regulations while voting for political candidates, whereas the rival crypto exchange Coinbase's poll indicated that the crypto is a bipartisan issue. | | | |
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| 3 | | The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has decided to return $550,000 in donations received from the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX. The donation was made by FTX's U.S. entity, West Realm Shires Services, in March and May 2022. More: - The museum will repay the amount within one month of the court approval in full and without a need for further legal process.
- The move came nearly two months after the FTX's attorney, Andy Dietderich, said the firm was assessing the possibility of relaunching the exchange with its stakeholders, adding that the company recovered over $7.3B of crypto assets in cash and liquid.
- At the time, Deitderich also underlined that a possible restart would require significant capital.
- Since then, the bankrupt firm has filed many legal motions to recover funds from several entities, including the bankrupt crypto lender Genesis.
Zoom Out: - FTX, previously the third-largest crypto exchange, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2022, with all the 130 entities under the roof of FTX Group.
- The downfall followed the claims that former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) used customer funds in FTX to compensate for losses at Alameda Research.
- SBF currently faces trial on 13 charges, including bank fraud, money laundering, and bribery, to which he pleaded not guilty.
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| 4 | | U.K. lawmakers in the Crypto and Digital Assets All Parliamentary Group (APPG) have recently listed 53 recommendations for crypto regulations in the country. In the report, the members of Parliament said the U.K. should immediately regulate the crypto industry and appoint a dedicated government official to oversee the process. More: - APPG Chair Lisa Cameron has stated that the timing of the report is vital both to protect customers and make the U.K. a leader in this industry since the digital asset market is rapidly growing.
- The report also outlined the role and responsibilities of the proposed government official.
- In addition, the group evaluated the potential of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), which the government is already consulting on, and urged for a new comprehensive tax framework for crypto.
- Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has shown efforts to make the country a global crypto hub since his finance ministry.
- Sunak's government recently closed a consultation suggesting that crypto services should be regulated like traditional financial services.
- In its response to the consultation, CryptoUK, a lobby group affiliated with the APPG, said the U.K. should complete its national regulatory framework for the crypto industry within a year.
- On the other hand, the U.K. lawmakers at the Treasury Select Committee have recently argued that retail investing in unbacked cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), should be legally regulated like gambling.
Zoom Out: - Currently, all crypto companies must register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the country's financial regulator, to operate in the U.K.
- In April, while speaking at the City Week conference in London, the FCA's executive director, Sarah Pritchard, urged crypto companies to work together to create a framework for crypto regulations.
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| 5 | | The U.S.-headquartered financial services giant JPMorgan Chase & Co. has announced its plans to launch a blockchain-based platform to process interbank dollar transactions in India in partnership with six local banks. The project has started being piloted as of June 5 using JPMorgan's blockchain platform, Onyx. More: - The pilot will continue for the next few months to analyze the banks' experience.
- The partner banks include HDFC Bank Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Axis Bank Ltd., Yes Bank Ltd., IndusInd Bank Ltd., and JPMorgan's own banking unit at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City).
- The project aims to make the GIFT City in New Delhi an alternative trading center to Singapore and Dubai.
- The existing system does not allow transactions to be settled on Saturdays, Sundays, or public holidays and causes the settlements to take a few hours to complete.
- The new blockchain-based system will instantly process transactions on a 24/7 basis.
Zoom Out: - JPMorgan launched Onyx in 2020 as a blockchain platform for wholesale payment transactions.
- Some of the most well-known finance and tech firms, including Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Deloitte, and Cboe Global Markets, also recently announced their plans to launch a new blockchain network dubbed Canton to increase blockchain adoption in financial markets.
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| 6 | | Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, has hired former OKX executive Rachel Conlan as its vice president of global marketing. Conlan will oversee Binance's global and regional marketing teams and supervise the management and growth of the company's partnerships. More: - Conlan spent around a year at one of Binance's most powerful rivals, OKX, as the global head of brand and partnerships.
- During her time at OKX, Conlan led the popular crypto exchange's major partnerships, including those with Manchester City F.C., McLaren Racing, and the Tribeca Film Festival.
- Binance also has collaborations with many influential figures, such as Cristiano Ronaldo and The Weeknd.
- At Binance, the former OKX executive will also work on growing the platform's 128-million-person user base to 1 billion users and help the firm increase crypto adoption.
- Also, Colan will report to Yi He, Binance's co-founder and chief marketing officer (CMO).
Zoom Out: - The move comes at a time when Binance seeks to strengthen its team with experienced names from both the crypto market and the traditional financial industry, as it is under fire by regulators worldwide.
- Most recently, the exchange also appointed Richard Teng, who carried out senior positions in several institutions within the traditional financial industry, as the head of regional markets to oversee the operations outside the U.S.
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- Hackers have stolen $35M of cryptocurrencies by exploiting a centralized storage and wallet service, Atomic Wallet.
- Brazil's largest crypto exchange, Mercado Bitcoin, has obtained a payment services provider license from Brazil's central bank to operate as a payment institution in the country.
- Crypto exchange Binance has received the ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 certifications for information security and data privacy in France, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bahrain.
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INSIDE CRYPTOCURRENCY LEADERBOARD (7 DAYS) |
 | Staff Writer | | Doga is a tech and science editor who has been writing news for nearly 10 years. She worked for leading tech platforms and mainstrem media channels as an editor and presenter throughout his career. Then, she carried her know-how to more than one platform. She is a part-time cat lover and binge-watcher, and also fond of science, space, and emerging tech. She always has a story to tell. She is a bit addict to the laughter and -unfortunately- the '90s culture. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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