Daily Digest - 19 January 2023

Headlines

▌Report: SEC fines related to cryptocurrencies will reach $2.6 billion by 2022

Cornerstone Research stated in a report released on Wednesday that the US Securities and Exchange Commission issued 30 enforcement actions against 79 digital asset market participants in 2022. Of these, 56 were individuals and 23 were companies. That's a 50% increase over 2021 and the largest number of actions by the SEC since 2013. Since 2013, fines have totaled approximately $2.6 billion, including $242 million in settlements through December 2022. Among the 2022 enforcement actions, the most common violations were related to fraud and unregistered securities offerings.

Policy

▌Central African Republic explores integration of national cryptocurrency into national economy

The Central African Republic (CAR) has formed a working group to explore ways to integrate its national cryptocurrency, known as the Sango, into the national economy, Jinse Finance reported. CAR’s new cryptocurrency committee will work on drafting a law on the use of cryptocurrencies in the country. The working group will also present guidelines for the tokenization of assets in the country. The 15 members of the committee are drawn from several government departments, including mines and geology, rural development and urban planning.

Cryptocurrency

▌CFTC Commissioner: Crypto Lawyers Are Responsible for FTX and Other Disasters

US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero said that lawyers, accountants and other financial professionals should intervene long before the implosion of cryptocurrency companies such as FTX to prevent fatal mistakes within them. The way FTX operates is simply not possible with independent governance and gatekeepers in place. Keepers should seriously question the environment in which FTX was operating prior to the crash. She believes that the cryptocurrency industry should not wait for legislation. She also favors the establishment of an independent self-regulatory organization (SRO) to oversee the spot market for any digital commodity, suggesting that the SRO operate outside of the exchange.

▌Yuga Labs blacklisted Blur, SudoSwap and other marketplaces

Yuga Labs blacklisted addresses related to Blur, SudoSwap, LooksRare, and NFTX in today’s Sewer Pass mint. According to Simon Cousaert, director of data at Block Research, Pass includes code to block NFT transactions from Blur, SudoSwap, LooksRare, and NFTX wallets. LooksRare and Blur have an optional royalty system, and NFTX and SudoSwap also don't respect royalty payments. Sewer Pass netted $1.3 million in trading volume within an hour of its launch and amassed nearly $5 million worth of ETH four hours after launch.

▌Changpeng Zhao: People in the encryption industry should focus on the fundamentals of technology rather than funds in this field

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum on Wednesday that people in the encryption industry should pay attention to the fundamentals of encryption technology instead of being distracted by funds in this field. Changpeng Zhao reiterated his belief that the development of cryptocurrencies as a new default payment system must be gradual and the concepts behind the technology will not be erased.

▌Cryptocurrency lender Genesis may file for bankruptcy as early as this week

Genesis Global Capital, a cryptocurrency lender, plans to file for bankruptcy as early as this week. At present, the agency is conducting secret negotiations with creditors, saying that the company faces a liquidity gap and warning that if it cannot raise funds, it may need to file for bankruptcy. Previously, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigated Genesis for possible securities and accounting irregularities.