The Digital Assets Report 105
Summary
- A virulent debate is animating the Bitcoin community, the Ordinals NFT project Bitcoin-based has filled up an entire block to mine one NFT approximatively 4 Mb, for 209$ fees including 63 transactions. Some Bitcoin developers wants to limit the use of the Bitcoin Blockchain by implementing a patch.
- Alameda Research (FTX Trading arm) is suing Voyager Digital for $445.8 million, seeking to recover loan repayments it made after Voyager filed for bankruptcy protection in July.
- U.S. Department of Justice reportedly investigates Silvergate bank role in the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange.
- Venture capital (VC) in crypto startups amounted to $548 million last month, drop from $6 billion in January 2022, number of transactions shrank to 62 from 166 mainly for smaller, early-stage companies.
- A seven-member committee to represent unsecured creditors of crypto lender Genesis Global has been formed. Digital Currency Group, the holding has reportedly sold a quarter of its shares in Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust after Genesis’ bankruptcy.
- Ethereum develpers are testing ETH withdrawals ahead of Shanghai upgrade which will unleash the full staking feature. The upgrade plan in March will allow users to withdraw their ETH locked in ETH2.0 contract. Currently 16.5 million of ETH are staked, representing roughly 14 %.
- The Bank of England continues to show its desire for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) aka digital pound, releasing a consultation paper this week. UK bank CEOs are blocking customers’ access to digital assets due to concerns over fraud and volatility, asking more regulations.
- The collapsed hedge fund’s founder Kyle Davies was accused of neglecting his duties.
Business
What Was Inside Bitcoin’s Biggest Block?
In support of bitcoin NFT project Ordinals, Luxor Mining and crypto developer Udi Wertheimer mined the largest-ever bitcoin block.
Casey Wagner
DCG Is Selling Holdings in Several Grayscale Trusts: Financial Times
Grayscale operates the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which has $10 billion-plus in assets under management.
Amitoj Singh
FTX-linked Alameda Research sues Voyager Digital for over $445M
Alameda Research is suing Voyager Digital for $445.8 million.
Russia’s Largest Private Bank Launches Digital Asset Platform – Finance Bitcoin News
Alfa-Bank, one of the major Russian banking institutions, has established its own platform for digital financial assets.
Lubomir Tassev
Crypto Winter Led to 91% Plunge in VC and Other Investments for January
A CoinDesk analysis shows crypto startups only raised $548 million last month. The FTX failure’s full impact on industry fundraising likely remains to be seen.
Brandy Betz
Devs Test ETH Withdrawals Ahead of Shanghai Upgrade - The Defiant
In a move that paves the way for activating staked Ether withdrawals, Ethereum’s devs executed the Shapella fork on Wednesday.
Samuel Haig
DeFi securitization of real-world assets poses credit risks, opportunities: S&P
S&P Global Ratings spells out the risks and opportunities of DeFi securitizations.
Sam Bourgi
With 11,000 NFTs Minted to Bitcoin, Are Bitcoin Maxis Coming Around? - Decrypt
The Ordinals project continues to divide the Bitcoin community, but thousands of inscriptions have already appeared on the blockchain.
Jason Nelson
Markets
Crypto Charts 98
Bitcoin Last time we said for a push towards the $25′900 but noted that: ’divergence in the MACD, the downwards sloping green arrow, adds weight to a larger correction lower is imminent so look to reduce longs at the target level and look to rebuy on the subsequent wave 2
Regulations
Dubai releases crypto regulations for virtual asset service providers
VARA issued its “Full Market Product Regulations,” which include four compulsory rulebooks and activity-specific rulebooks that lay down the rules for operating VASPs.
Ezra Reguerra
UK Banks Blocking Crypto Access Given Fraud, Volatility, Lawmakers Told
Finance CEOs welcomed new crypto regulations but were wary about the risks of a central bank digital currency
Jack Schickler
Bank of Italy selectively encouraging DLT, preparing for MiCA, governor says
Italian central bank Governor Ignazio Visco said in a speech that distributed ledger technology can contribute to financial stability, but he’s no fan of “crypto-assets with no intrinsic value.”
Derek Andersen
SEC to up scrutiny of firms offering or giving advice about crypto
The SEC said its 2023 examination priorities will ensure crypto brokers and advisers operate with “respective standards of care.”
Ciaran Lyons
Three Arrows’ Founder Refused to Comply With Subpoena, Stonewalling Probe, Court Told
The collapsed hedge fund’s founder Kyle Davies was accused of neglecting his duties as he “shamelessly” promotes his new crypto project.
Jack Schickler
Opinions
Innovation or attack? Sorting out the “NFT Big Block” on the Bitcoin Network
Written By：Liu Changyong On February 1, 2023, Bitcoin Network mined the largest block in the history of nearly 4M, containing a nearly 4M largest transaction in the history, and the transaction fee is 0. The big transaction was sent out by indie developer @udiWertheimer’s “Taproot Wizard”, an NFT pr…
WuBlockchain
Here’s why crypto markets need more regulation and supervision
How to regulate crypto? Following high-profile collapses, here are the IMF’s 5 recommendations for reducing risk and raising standards for cryptocurrency.
Podcast / Reading
Bitcoin vs. Ethereum | CoinGecko
Learn about Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two giants in the crypto space, with a combined dominance of >50% of the total crypto markets.
Joel Agbo