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| Take a look at the hits from today's Inside Cryptocurrency briefing: - A U.S. judge's denial of a request from the former FTX CEO's lawyers to postpone his sentencing hearing to mid-May,
- A new bill signed by the Russian President to add digital ruble provisions to the country's tax code,
- The Cardano Foundation's partnership with Brazilian oil giant Petrobras, and more.
Enjoy your reading! Doğa
p/dogayurduneri | |
| 1 | | U.S. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan has denied the request of the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX's former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), to postpone his sentencing hearing on March 28 by four to six weeks. The request also asked Judge Kaplan to delay SBF's presentencing interview, which will recommend a sentence to the court, on Dec. 21. More: - Last month, SBF was found guilty of all seven criminal charges related to the exchange's collapse, including money laundering and misappropriation of customer funds, after a month-long trial process.
- At the time, Judge Kaplan set a sentencing date for March 28 and asked for a second trial for other charges, which were not included in the original indictment, on March 11.
- The U.S. government has yet to disclose whether it plans to proceed with the additional charges and has time until Feb. 1 to reveal its decision on the issue.
- In their request, SBF's legal team said the defense needs more time to prepare for the presentencing interview, and a possible second trial could impact their preparation.
- However, Judge Kaplan stated that the defendant already had more than six weeks to prepare for the interview, underlining that the defense did not object to the sentencing date when it was first set.
- Kaplan also pointed out that SBF could file a new postponement request if the government decides to proceed with a second trial on the additional charges.
- The five additional charges SBF faces include bribery and bank fraud.
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.
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| 2 | | 
What the numbers say: The Solana blockchain network's native token, SOL, has recently overtaken Ripple's (XRP) spot among the top ten cryptocurrencies, becoming the fifth-largest digital asset by market cap. The token's market cap surpassed $36B compared to Ripple's $33.3B. Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), and Binance Coin (BNB) maintained their spots in the top four ahead of SOL. Meanwhile, SOL was followed by XRP, USD Coin (USDC), Cardano (ADA), Avalanche (AVAX), and Dogecoin (DOGE) on the ranking, respectively. Relevance: The rise in SOL's market cap was mainly triggered by the overall success of the Solana blockchain in 2023. The network has become one of the most successful blockchains this year, achieving an exit from the downward trend created by last year's prolonged crypto winter. As a result of this success, SOL outperformed many cryptocurrencies in 2023, gaining more than 600% in value since the beginning of the year. SOL's outperformance also positively impacted other altcoins like ADA and AVAX, causing investor confidence in the altcoin market and an increase in prices. Brands that should care: Besides, the Solana network hit the headlines with partnerships with major brands, including Google Cloud, Shopify, and Visa, several times this year after it improved its network with essential upgrades. | | | |
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| 3 | | The collapsed crypto-mining company Core Scientific has announced that it expects to exit bankruptcy by the end of January. The U.S.-based company said it reached an in-principle settlement agreement with all key stakeholders worldwide. More: - Core Scientific CEO Adam Sullivan stated that the global settlement would remove the most significant obstacles to their emergence from bankruptcy proceedings.
- The agreement must first be approved by the judge in a court hearing on Jan. 10.
- Besides, the bankrupt company pointed out that it plans to file a motion to modify several other dates, including the deadlines to vote or file an objection.
Zoom Out: - Core Scientific filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2022, citing a decline in Bitcoin's price, rising energy costs, and its exposure to the collapse of the crypto lender Celsius Network.
- Before its bankruptcy, the company was one of the largest Bitcoin (BTC) miners.
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| 4 | | Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently signed a bill adding provisions related to the country's central bank digital currency (CBDC), or the digital ruble, to the tax code into law. The move has added the definition of a digital ruble account and rules for the taxation of digital ruble transactions to the country's tax code. More: - The amended law will allow Russian authorities to seize digital rubles if the taxpayers do not have enough funds in their bank accounts to pay their liabilities.
- It will also authorize authorities to suspend transactions on digital ruble accounts and force operators to provide documents related to the CBDC transactions.
- The amendment came five months after Putin officially signed the digital ruble bill into law, establishing a legal framework for the country's CBDC ecosystem.
- At the time, Putin's sign also authorized the Bank of Russia (BoR), the nation's central bank, to launch the first CBDC pilot in the country with real consumers in August.
- The central bank has been working on the digital ruble project since 2020.
Zoom Out: - On the other hand, payments with digital assets, including crypto, for goods and services have been forbidden across Russia since July 2022.
- However, the country has accelerated its efforts related to the CBDC this year to reduce its dependence on the dollar and circumvent financial sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) and the U.S. towards it following its invasion of Ukraine.
- The central bank expects the digital ruble to move to the mass rollout for all Russian citizens by 2027.
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| 5 | | The Bank of China's Shanghai branch has announced that it recently conducted the first-ever international transaction for precious metals purchased using the country's central bank digital currency (CBDC), or the digital yuan. The transaction was facilitated through the Shanghai Financial Exchange International Board. More: - As part of the transaction, the bank transferred around $14M of digital yuan in exchange for gold.
- China is currently piloting the digital yuan, also known as e-CNY, in 26 cities and 17 provinces.
- The country has offered many use cases for its CBDC, including payments for public transport, salaries to public sector employees, medical expenses, groceries, gas, and water, since its launch in 2019.
- Chinese oil and gas company PetroChina also recently became the first entity to settle an international crude oil transaction using e-CNY, purchasing 1 million barrels of crude oil.
Zoom Out: - Cryptocurrencies, any kind of crypto transactions, and all crypto mining activities have been forbidden in China since 2021.
- The Chinese Communist Party, the ruling political party of the country, pushes for CBDC adoption mainly because it is subject to the direct control of the state.
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| 6 | | The Cardano Foundation, the firm behind the Cardano blockchain network, has partnered with Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras, which is also the largest corporation in South America. As part of the partnership, the company will provide blockchain education and jointly explore blockchain technology's use cases in the energy sector. More: - The collaboration will see the Cardano Foundation offering workshops on blockchain to Petrobras' 45,000 employees.
- Cardano Academy's educational content will also be available to the staff.
- The training program will involve blockchain applications and interactive quizzes.
- As part of the program, the Cardano Foundation has already conducted two workshops in the metaverse, covering blockchain regulations in Brazil and the world.
- Participants will receive a certificate after completing the education.
- The first 500 participants will be eligible to receive unique NFTs that dynamically change to reflect their progress and milestones on the training as a digital tracker.
- The NFTs will be created in collaboration with the Petrobras Education Board.
Zoom Out: - The move came two years after the Cardano Foundation revealed its five-year objectives, including a strategy to strengthen its relationships with Fortune 500 companies containing Petrobras.
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| 7 | | Quick Hits: - Stocks come with voting rights that can yield an extra 5% each year. Get started on Shareholder Vote Exchange to start earning today.*
- A recent report has claimed that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's crypto project, Worldcoin, silently discontinued its verification procedure through biometric imaging devices in India, Brazil, and France just months after expanding its services to those markets.
- A court in the British Virgin Islands has frozen more than $1B of assets belonging to the co-founders of the bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC).
- Lee Bok-hyun, head of South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), has scheduled a meeting with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler to discuss crypto regulations.
- Scheduling meetings takes significant time and energy out of your day. That's why 20 million people automate scheduling with Calendly. Sign up free.*
*This is a sponsored post. | | | |
 | 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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