Welcome to another edition of Crypto NFT Today! If you enjoy cryptocurrency, NFTs, and riding emotional, and sometimes, sketchy rollercoasters, you’ve come to the right place. So put on some soothing music and let’s go!
Russia Delays CBDC Rollout
The Bank of Russia’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot rollout has been indefinitely delayed. Participating banks emphasized they’re ready to begin the testing phase, but the enabling laws have yet to be approved in the State Duma. The news agency TASS reports that the legislation my be passed sometime in May.
Executives have expressed enthusiasm for the project, with 13 banks ready to test CBDC retail payments.
“The use of smart contracts should reduce the operational load of banks and make the deals transparent, which not only will reduce the chances of the misuse of government and banks’ funds, but ultimately simplify the control over the existing contracts,” said Vitaly Kopsov, innovations director for Sinara Bank.
The consumer CBDC pilot was initially scheduled for 2024, but was moved up as Russia’s central bank sought alternatives after Western sanctions barred them from the SWIFT payments system.
CFTC Sues Binance CEO Alledging Unregistered Crypto Derivatives
On Monday, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed suit against Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao, accusing the company of offering unregistered cryptocurrency derivatives in the US.
The action was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois alleges Binance operated a trading operation in derivatives in its own BInance USD (BUSD), as well as Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC, and Tether (USDT).
The CTFC claims that Binance was offering illegal, off-exchange commodity
options, that if failed to register as a as a futures commissions merchant and failed to implement anti-money laundering and know your customer processes. The suit alleges that Binance directed its employees to hide the US location of the transactions by using VPNs.
“Binance’s reliance on a maze of corporate entities to operate the Binance platform is deliberate; it is designed to obscure the ownership, control, and location of the Binance platform,” the filing said.
Bitcoin shares fell by plunged about 3% on the news before rebounding, as traders moved in to buy the dip.
NFT Week in MIami Offers Impressive Speaker Lineup
Miami NFT Week has finalized its speaker lineup with marquee presentations from Francis X. Suarez, Mayor of Miami, Anthony Scaramucci, Founder and Co-managing Partner at SkyBridge Capital, and one of the most influential names in Web3, Anthony Pompliano – entrepreneur, technology investor, and host of The Pomp Podcast.
A press release touted Miami NFT Week as, “one of the largest Web3 gatherings
on the U.S. East Coast – featuring a global network of key industry founders, influencers and political leaders in the broader blockchain space – that builds bridges by way of blockchain and diverse communities.”
Other speakers will include:
● Co-founder of Ape-In Productions and singer-songwriter, Timbaland
● Entrepreneur, two-time NBA All-Star and investor, Baron Davis
● The Miami Ape Co-Founder, Laura Rodriguez
● Mastercard Senior Vice President, Stefany Bello
● Metablox and Octalysis Founder, Yu-kai Chou
● OneOf Co-Founder and CEO, Lin Dai
● Decentral Founder and Ethereum Co-Founder, Anthony Di Iorio
● Artisant Co-Founder, Leila Ismailova
● Web3 Advisor and Creator, Swan Sit
BitKeep Completes $8M Compensation For APK Hack, Promptly Rebrands
Bitkeep Wallet has rebranded itself Bitget Wallet after a $30 million investment from the crypto derivatives exchange just last week.
The move comes as Bitkeep announced it had fully compensated users who lost money in the 7.2.9 Android Package Kit (APK) hack. Hackers swapped malware on Bitkeeps update resulting in an estimated $8 million loss of users funds.
BitKeep said that 11,090 wallets who lost funds have now been fully reimbursed, but says its customer service channels remain open to process “irregular claims” and appeals.
“We are working with the BitKeep team to bring the most-used DeFi features, swap, NFT marketplace, and DApps, to the millions of users in the Bitget ecosystem,” said Gracy Chen, managing director at Bitget.
BitKeep CEO Kevin Como will step down and Karry Cheung, its former chief product officer will be the new CEO.
