Market Watch | Bitcoin | $13,627 | 7 day: +13.7% | | Ethereum | $406 | 7 day: +9.8% | | All crypto | $405b | 7 day: +11% | | Bitcoin dominance | 62.2% | 7 day: +1.6% | Prices as of 3 p.m. EDT
| |
BitMEX's lawyers have launched their defense. We have covered the indictment at Inside Cryptocurrency here, here, here, here, and here. Several BitMEX co-founders remain charged criminals at large. In today's edition of Inside Cryptocurrency Premium, we look into the legal defense of BitMEX against one of the largest indictments and lawsuits in cryptocurrency history. Several co-founders of BitMEX are still at large. Join Inside Cryptocurrency Premium for a free ($0!) 14-day trial subscription. We sincerely appreciate your support of independent research. FREE TRIAL  | | | |
China's central bank has drafted legislation that would prohibit competitive, yuan-pegged stablecoins. A note on terminology: China's fiat is known internationally by three interchangeable names: renminbi (RMB), Chinese yen (CNY), and yuan (¥). China's central bank digital currency (CBDC) is known as Digital Currency/Electronic Payment (DC/EP). - The People's Bank of China (PBoC) published a draft law that would ban any digital asset pegged to RMB except its own CBDC: DC/EP.
- The 20-page proposed draft published on Oct. 23 would ensure that China's state directly benefited from international liquidity derived from a digital yuan.
- Tether already operates a Chinese yen-pegged stablecoin, CNY Tether (CNYT).
- Article 19 of the draft makes it lawful to establish a CBDC (i.e. DC/EP) as legal tender. China's lawmakers aim for a wider release of DC/EP during the Beijing Winter Olympics of 2022.
- Section 3 of Article 22 cites that no individual or company will be allowed to develop, distribute, and sell digital tokens that could replace renminbi in circulation within the market. The proposal also hints at large fines and civil penalties levied on individuals who sell or distribute yuan-backed virtual currencies illegally.
- China's central bank is continuously progressing to make DC/EP a success. Deputy governor Fan Yi Fei said at the Sibos banking and financial conference on Oct. 5 that the PBoC processed 3.13 million transactions during DC/EP's pilot to date, totaling 1.1b yuan (worth about $162m).
- The PBoC issued approximately 10m yuan (roughly $1.5m) to hold a public lottery in Shenzhen, allowing 50,000 residents to receive the DC/EP digital tokens as a reward for participation. Despite the giveaway, Reuters reports show that PBoC received an underwhelming response from citizens who are more accustomed to Alipay and WeChat Pay.
Forbes 
| |
Bloomberg reviews the state of institutional cryptocurrency adoption. - Bloomberg noted bitcoin's rally to $13,000 caused by PayPal's recent acceptance. Paypal will allow cryptocurrency transactions for 346m users worldwide.
- After PayPal's announcement, bitcoin's market capitalization increased $20b within two days.
- Bloomberg clarifies that PayPal will not allow on-chain cryptocurrency transactions between two PayPal accounts, based on current information.
- The article also mentions that crypto-friendly institutional companies such as Fidelity Investments, which has crypto investment products, and public companies like MicroStrategy and Square Inc., have recently purchased bitcoin.
- Bloomberg quotes Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer at CoinShares, saying that PayPal's recent acceptance of bitcoin is good for public relations, yet it does not hold much value for institutional investors.
- The article cites Darrig Peller, a managing director at Wolfe Research, who says that PayPal's new endeavor aims to drive large-scale engagement and revenue by offering the same features as Robinhood and Square. Peller also cautions readers about bitcoin's volatility.
Bloomberg
| |
PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) has terminated services to Epik, a domain registrar connected to Masterbucks. Join us at Inside Cryptocurrency Premium to learn about this domain registrar's connection to white nationalism and cryptocurrencies. We offer a free ($0!) 14-day trial to Inside Cryptocurrency Premium. FREE TRIAL | | | |
U.S. authorities continue to prosecute an Ethereum developer who attended a conference in North Korea despite being denied permission by the U.S. State Department. - An ex-hacker and former Ethereum Foundation team member, Virgil Griffith, requested a New York federal judge to dismiss an indictment that was filed on Jan. 4.
- The indictment alleges that Griffith broke U.S. laws during his visit to North Korea by speaking on ways to counter U.S. sanctions using cryptocurrencies.
- Virgil attended the Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference in North Korea in April, and according to the prosecutors, he tried to help North Korea during that visit.
- In November, the Ethereum developer was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport.
- Griffith's motion to dismiss, submitted in the United States District Court Southern District of New York, mentions that the indictment filed against him is short, unclear, and lacks several amended specifics that do not provide any substantive facts. Prosecutors accuse Griffith of sharing technical information to assist North Korea's money laundering and legal evasions.
- The prosecutor's complaint against Griffith also cites a conversation regarding the transfer of cryptocurrencies between North and South Korea, which Griffith deemed an act of violation of U.S. sanctions.
Coindesk
| |
Galaxy Digital's Mike Novogratz continues advertising bitcoin. Novogratz appeared on CNBC and Bloomberg TV last week. - During an interview with Bloomberg TV and Radio, Novogratz focused on bitcoin's usage as a transactional currency within the next five years.
- Novogratz noted that substantially all of the world's major central banks are looking to design CBDCs, and China has already started testing its digital yuan, DC/EP.
- Novogratz promotes bitcoin as digital gold. Gold itself will also, according to Novogratz, continue its price rally.
- Bitcoin rallied beyond $13,000 on Oct. 21 immediately after PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) announced that it would allow its customers access to use cryptocurrencies.
- Novogratz believes that companies like E*Trade, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express will soon offer platforms where merchants can complete their transactions using stablecoins and cryptocurrencies.
- Novogratz concluded, "It's not if, it's when, and so every single company has to have a plan now."
Bloomberg
| |
 Agustin Carstens, BIS General Manager The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is planning for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) trial in collaboration with Switzerland's central bank. Join Inside Cryptocurrency Premium with a free trial to enjoy all of our content and support independent research. We appreciate your support! UNLOCK | | | |
QUICK HITS - At the Shanghai Bund Summit on Oct. 24, Alibaba Group co-founder and billionaire Jack Ma spoke on cryptocurrency regulations. Ma pointed out the shortcomings in global financial regulations and requested Chinese authorities for more accommodating regulations. Ma said China still requires more innovation to encourage a healthy cryptocurrency ecosystem.
- Cryptocurrency hardware wallet company Ledger encountered a security breach on Oct. 24. Several of the wallet provider's customers received phishing emails. The Ledger team has created an "internal task force" to investigate the phishing scam.
- An IT arm of Toyota is piloting a digital token that uses Toyota's brand name. Toyota's IT arm is partnering with DeCurrent, a crypto exchange to develop a digital currency pilot involving up to 2,500 employees.
- BlockFi holds over 5% of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTCQX:GBTC).
- Learn how to revamp your remote work strategy in this webinar: How to Build a Better Remote Work Experience With Less Software.*
*This is a sponsored post.
| |
 |  | Written and curated by wide-eyed bitcoin watcher since $1, Aaron Wise. Streaming headline junkie, Associated Press fanboy, eye-strained news terminal watcher, 2017 founder of Cryptocurrency Newsfeed. Temporarily based in Florida while awaiting the construction of cryptopia. |  | | Editor | Written and curated by Eduardo Garcia in New York. Eduardo is writing an illustrated book about climate change that will be published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
