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| Take a look at the hits from today's Inside Cryptocurrency newsletter: - The top U.S. securities regulator's subpoena against PayPal over its dollar-pegged stablecoin,
- Key highlights from the closing arguments in the ongoing trial against the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX's former CEO,
- Marathon Digital's pilot project to mine crypto using methane gas, and more.
Enjoy your reading! Doğa
p/dogayurduneri | |
| 1 | | Digital payments company PayPal has been recently served a subpoena by the enforcement division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar (USD), PayPal USD (PYUSD). The subpoena requested the company to provide documents related to the project. More: - The filing pointed out that PayPal is actively cooperating with the agency for the probe.
- The move came nearly three months after the firm officially launched PYUSD, becoming the first major financial services company to introduce its own stablecoin.
- The Ethereum-based token is issued by Paxos Trust Co.
- The stablecoin is also backed by USD deposits, short-term U.S. Treasuries, and similar cash equivalents.
Zoom Out: - A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to another reference asset, usually a fiat currency.
- Customers generally use these assets to trade with different cryptocurrencies without converting their funds back into fiat currencies.
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| 2 | | 
What the numbers say: Business intelligence firm MicroStrategy, the largest corporate Bitcoin (BTC) holder, has recently released its financial results for Q3. The report revealed the number of Bitcoins held by the company as of the end of last quarter. The firm pointed out that its Bitcoin reserves stood at 158,400 in the third three-month period of the year, with a 3% increase compared to the previous quarter. The figure also represents a 21% surge from 130,000 Bitcoins held by the company in the same period last year. Relevance: On the other hand, MicroStrategy, co-founded by crypto advocate Michael Saylor, began its Bitcoin purchases in 2020. However, the firm boosted its Bitcoin reserves especially this year, making consecutive investments in the token despite the sudden ups and downs in the popular cryptocurrency's price. Meanwhile, the token has increased its value by more than 110% since the beginning of the year. Brands that should care: MicroStrategy is currently the largest publicly traded company by Bitcoin holdings. In the top three, the firm is followed by crypto mining company Marathon Digital and Elon Musk-led electric vehicle (EV) giant Tesla, respectively. | | | |
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| 3 | | U.S. prosecution and defense attorneys have presented their closing arguments in the ongoing trial against the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX's former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). In their arguments, federal prosecutors claimed that SBF told a story and lied to jurors in court. More: - In response, SBF's lawyer, Mark Cohen, stated that the government made up a Hollywood tale about FTX, and any good movie needs a villain.
- The prosecution also pointed out that there is no dispute that billions of dollars of FTX customer funds were gone, and the defendant organized a pyramid of deceit built on lies and false promises.
- Prosecutors recalled former FTX and Alameda Research employees quitting when they learned about the missing customer funds and testifying that they did not know customer deposits were being misused until it was too late.
- The lawyers for the government further underlined that SBF was the only person who was involved in, controlled, and had access to both FTX and Alameda Research.
- Previous testimonies from key witnesses of the prosecution, including the former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX's former chief technology officer Gary Wang, similarly pointed out that all big decisions about the two companies were made by SBF, and he was the ultimate decision-maker.
- In his latest testimony, SBF himself also admitted that he was behind important investment and spending decisions at Alameda Research.
- On the other hand, SBF's attorneys reminded that all of those witnesses made plea deals with the government, which could reduce their sentences significantly in exchange for their cooperation.
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 SBF used customer funds in FTX to compensate for losses at the sister company Alameda Research.
- The 31-year-old former CEO is currently being tried on seven charges, including money laundering and misappropriation of customer funds, to which he pleaded not guilty, facing a statutory maximum of 110 years in prison.
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| 4 | | Crypto mining firm Marathon Digital has launched a pilot project in the U.S. state of Utah to mine Bitcoin (BTC) using methane gas generated from landfill waste to produce the electricity needed for mining operations. The firm has partnered with Nodal Power, a renewable energy asset developer and operator, for the project. More: - As part of the tests, the company captures methane gas emitted from landfills, converts it into electricity, and uses the generated power to offer energy to Bitcoin miners.
- The firm plans to expand the operation if the pilot meets its expectations.
- The project aims to generate electricity, representing the major cost for a crypto miner, from an alternative source while reducing greenhouse gas emissions to make the crypto mining operations more environmentally friendly.
- Marathon Digital CEO Fred Thiel said they could help convert this harmful gas into a productive source of clean and renewable energy as crypto miners.
Zoom Out: - The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) says methane gas is 80 times more harmful than carbon dioxide, causing greenhouse gas emissions for 20 years after it is released into the atmosphere.
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| 5 | | The Swiss National Bank (SNB), the central bank of Switzerland, has announced that it would start piloting a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC), or a digital Swiss franc, for financial institutions. The project will be conducted in partnership with six giant commercial banks, including the investment bank UBS. More: - In addition to UBS, Zuercher Kantonalbank, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, Basler Kantonalbank, Commerzbank, and Hypothekarbank Lenzburg will also take part in the pilot.
- The pilot will start in December.
- The SNB expects the pilot phase to continue until June 2024.
- SNB Chairman Thomas Jordan said they would make it possible to securely and efficiently settle transactions with tokenized assets on a regulated platform using a real wholesale CBDC for the first time with this project.
Zoom Out: - The SNB first announced its plans for a pilot program for its wholesale CBDC in June this year.
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| 6 | | During his latest appearance on the "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast, Elon Musk revealed his view toward NFTs, publicly mocking the popular asset class. In the podcast, the worldwide-known CEO said the funny thing about NFTs is that they are not even on the blockchain. More: - The famous businessman also defined NFTs as the URL to a JPEG.
- Musk also underlined that the NFT firms should at least encode the JPEG in the blockchain since if the company housing the image goes bankrupt, the holder would not have the image anymore.
- However, Musk's comments faced a backlash from the crypto community since they are not valid for all NFT projects.
- Some projects currently store their NFTs on-chain, such as CryptoPunks and Moonbirds.
Zoom Out: - In December 2021, Musk again mocked NFTs by posting a meme on X, known as Twitter at the time.
- The meme depicted a patient lying on a therapist's couch, implying that NFTs are a sign of mental illness.
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- OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's crypto project, Worldcoin, has announced that its mobile app has reached 4 million downloads and 1 million active users since its launch.
- The U.S.-based digital payments company PayPal has been registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the U.K.'s financial market regulator, to offer its crypto services in a regulated way, nearly three months after it halted crypto purchases in the country.
- Crypto custody infrastructure provider Qredo has decided to reduce its headcount by 50% due to its tight financial situation.
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INSIDE CRYPTOCURRENCY LEADERBOARD (ALL-TIME) |
 | 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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