Quote of the week: “Lately it’s probably been 70-80% of what we talk about…We are clearly in a situation where we need to stop, we need to gather the facts, we need to understand what’s happening […] to move policy ahead… We are getting to the point that maybe we are past the education stage and now it’s the action [stage]”… But it’s an interesting political question because it isn’t partisan issue.” – Summer Mersinger, United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Commissioner. Source: Cointelegraph
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FTX Update: The new team at FTX has put together a team of investigators, including former enforcement officials with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Future Trading Commission, and former prosecutors, and the company has retained cryptocurrency analytics firm Chainalysis to help it investigate the holdings of FTX. The United States Senate will hold its FTX hearing on December 1, where the CFTC chairman will testify. The United States House Financial Services Committee announced that it has plans to hold a hearing in December to investigate the sudden collapse of FTX. Sources: FXEmpire and Coindesk
Tornado Cash Developer will Remain in Jail Until February at the Very Least:
Tornado Cash Developer Alexey Pertsev has been held in detention since August after the United States Treasury used sanction powers against the Tornado protocol, which was accused of laundering billions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies. On Tuesday, Dutch public prosecutors announced the money-laundering charges for the first time and accused Pertsev of facilitating the processing of dirty money by writing the code of Tornado Cash. Pertsev has been ordered to stay in jail until at least February, as he poses a flight risk. Source: Coindesk
Genesis Hires Restructuring Advisor: Cryptocurrency lending company Genesis was severely impacted by the collapse of FTX but denies ‘imminent’ plans to file for bankruptcy should it fail to cover a $1 billion shortfall. This week, the company hired investment bank Moelis & Company to explore its restructuring options. Source:
Bank of Japan Will Trial Digital Yen: Japan has announced its decision to continue experimenting with a potential digital Yen and the Japanese central bank has started a collaboration with three megabanks and regional banks to conduct a central bank digital currency (CBDC) issuance pilot. Part of the pilot will consist of the Bank of Japan cooperating with major private banks and organizations to detect and solve any issues related to customer deposits and withdrawals on bank accounts. The central bank of Japan will continue the experiment for two years and make a decision on whether to issue a digital currency by 2026. Source: Cointelegraph
New York Limits Cryptocurrency Mining: This week, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a two-year cryptocurrency mining moratorium into law. The new law sets a two-year moratorium on new and renewed air permits for fossil fuel power plants used for proof-of-work cryptocurrency mining. A memo for the bill stated, “The law will prohibit Environmental Conservation Law permits from being issued for two years to proof-of-work cryptocurrency mining operations that are operated through electric generating facilities that use a carbon-based fuel.” Source: Marketwatch
