Daily Digest - 18th October 2022

Headlines

▌MasterCard Will Help Financial Institutions Offer Cryptocurrency Transactions

Mastercard has launched a program to help financial institutions provide cryptocurrency trading services, and by acting as a bridge between Paxos and financial institutions, the program will enable financial institutions to provide cryptocurrency transactions to their users to enhance users’ understanding of crypto. Mastercard said the program will follow crypto compliance rules, authenticate transactions, and provide anti-money laundering and identity monitoring services.

Policies

▌French Finance Minister: Will Explore the Tax Treatment of Cryptocurrencies Next Year

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in an interview on Monday that France wants to become the world’s leading blockchain center, so France will review its crypto tax rules next year, explore the tax treatment of cryptocurrencies, and existing stock specifications are not simply copied. Le Maire also expressed concern about the energy consumption generated by the crypto industry and the potential for blockchain technology to squeeze the euro.

Cryptocurrency

▌Bloomberg: CFTC and SEC are Investigating Three Arrows Capital

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are currently investigating Three Arrows Capital in depth to determine whether the company violated the rules and has it misled investors with regards to the listing and was not registered with either regulator. Both agencies declined to comment, but their scrutiny could lead to fines and other penalties for companies and individuals. It was previously reported that the Singapore-based Three Arrows filed for bankruptcy in July, saying its business “collapsed after violent volatility in the cryptocurrency market.” Three Arrows co-founders Su Zhu and Kyle Davies are still missing, leading to the bankruptcy case. The liquidators and their lawyers could not be traced, and the liquidators applied to the court to serve the subpoenas through their email addresses, Twitter accounts, and their lawyers' email addresses.

▌Three Arrows Liquidators Seek to Subpoena Co-Founders Zhu and Davies by Alternate Means

The liquidators of Three Arrows Capital's bankruptcy are seeking authorization to serve subpoenas by other means against the firm's co-founders Su Zhu and Kyle Davies, according to a court document filed last Friday. With the whereabouts of the duo unknown, the liquidators and their lawyers were unable to track them, requiring the court to be able to serve subpoenas by email addresses, Twitter accounts, and lawyers' email addresses. The Singapore-based Three Arrows Capital filed for bankruptcy protection in July, citing "extreme fluctuations" in the cryptocurrency markets.

▌Aptos Labs Announces the Launch of Its Blockchain Mainnet

Aptos Labs blockchain launched its Mainnet, Aptos Autumn, on Monday. The blockchain is written with Move, the Rust-based programming language favored by Mysten Labs' Sui blockchain, another upcoming network. The Aptos blockchain is designed to be upgradeable and will continuously evolve to support current and emerging Web3 use cases. While Aptos Labs has announced the launch of its network, its ecosystem is far from complete. As previously reported, the Aptos project has attracted industry attention after receiving a $200 million financing led by a16z. Earlier in July, Aptos completed a $150 million Series A financing led by FTX Ventures and Jump Crypto, with participation from Binance Labs. The second funding round set the company's valuation at $2 billion, four times higher than the company’s previous valuation just six months earlier.

▌Walmart CTO: Cryptocurrency Will Become an Important Part of How Customers Transact

Suresh Kumar, Global Chief Technology Officer of retail giant Walmart, said he envisions a future where digital assets will be used both in Walmart’s online stores and in the virtual world, and cryptocurrencies will become an important part of how customers transact. “We want to make sure that we make it as friction free for customers so that they are able to drive value out of it," he said. Walmart has already integrated the use of blockchain technology at the core of crypto assets, with the development of a system that allows the retailer to track the origins of the produce and products they sell. The company is also exploring the technology’s use as a way to automate logistics transactions between suppliers and carriers.