Daily Digest - 10th April 2023

Headlines

▌The community hopes that the Arbitrum Foundation will return 700 million ARB to the DAO Treasury

A new proposal by the Arbitrum community now requires the Arbitrum Foundation to return 700 million ARB tokens after strong community opposition. Voting closes April 14. According to the proposal, the foundation can only proceed with its budgetary program after the tokens are returned. One community member said it was a symbolic gesture to show that the governance holders ultimately control the DAO, not the Arbitrum service provider or foundation.

Policies

▌Financial Secretary of Hong Kong: The government will adopt a strategy of "proper regulation" and "promotion of development" for Web3

The Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Chen Maobo, published the director's essay "Developing Web3-Standing, Innovation and Steady Advancement" on the website of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.

The essay points out that the "Financial Budget" proposed three major directions to promote Hong Kong's high-quality development, and that the application of the digital economy and Web3 has great potential for development.

In this week alone, at least four large-scale seminars or carnivals related to Web3, digital economy, financial technology, etc. were held in Hong Kong, and some of them are expected to have more than 10,000 physical participants.

Chen Maobo said that in the past period of time, the virtual asset market fluctuated greatly, and some virtual asset exchanges closed down, which made some people doubt the prospects of Web3, but this is the best time to promote the development of Web3.

The government will adopt a strategy of both "proper regulation" and "promoting development", including introducing a licensing system for virtual asset service providers in June this year, and is also studying regulation such as stablecoins to ensure the sustainability and responsibility of the virtual asset industry develop.

▌Russian Prosecutor General Requires Crypto Exchanges to Share User Data

According to Igor Krasnov, head of the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office, encryption service providers should be required to register in Russia, and exchanges have the obligation to share user information with Russian security agencies.

He also believes that simply granting cryptocurrency property status under Russian law is not enough to combat the legalisation of criminal proceeds.

Krasnov urged that it be regulated to address the challenges of using it for illicit purposes. Igor Krasnov also called for the inclusion of cryptocurrencies in Russia’s criminal law, including the recognition that cryptocurrencies can be objects of crime and embezzlement, and the establishment of state procedures for the seizure, storage and confiscation of cryptocurrencies.

The State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, is still considering a bill on cryptocurrency mining.

Last month, it was reported that lawmakers were considering criminal liability for miners for evading taxes and failing to report digital assets to the government.

▌Federal Reserve: Has not yet decided to issue CBDC

The Federal Reserve issued an article saying that FedNow is not a CBDC, and the digital FedNow has nothing to do with digital currency.

FedNow is a payment service provided by the Federal Reserve for banks and credit unions to transfer funds using DRY. It's the same as other payment services from the Federal Reserve, such as Fedwire and FedACH.

Federal services are now neither a form of currency nor a step toward eliminating any form of payment, including cash.

The FedNow service, an instant payment service provided by the Federal Reserve, will launch in July 2023. FedNow will be available to U.S. depository institutions, such as banks and credit unions, enabling individuals and businesses to make instant payments through their depository institutions.

Instant Pay on Account allows individuals and businesses to send and receive payments in seconds at any time of the day, on any day of the year, so that the recipient of the payment has almost immediate access to funds.

The Federal Reserve has not yet decided to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC), preferably in the form of a specific mandate, if not with explicit support from Congress and the executive branch.

Cryptocurrency

▌FTX Trading and its affiliated debtors announce the release of their first report

FTX Trading Ltd and its affiliated debtors have announced the release of the first report, which identified and discussed the control failures of the former management team of FTX Group in key areas, including management and governance, finance and accounting, digital asset management, information Security and cybersecurity.

Ray III, CEO and Chief Restructuring Officer of FTX Debtors, said: "We are releasing this first report in the spirit of the transparency we have committed to since the beginning of the Chapter 11 process.