SBF’s new charges, Shapella’s fork date, emojis as financial advice

This Week’s Top Stories

Unsealed superseding indictment against Sam Bankman-Fried including 12 criminal charges

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was indicted on four new criminal charges by the federal judge presiding over the case. According to the superseded indictment, there are now 12 criminal charges against Bankman-Fried, including eight counts of conspiracy to commit fraud as well as four counts of wire fraud and securities fraud. In an effort to change bail requirements, Bankman-Fried’s attorneys will hire security experts to help federal judges overseeing fraud cases. Technical experts will help judges address issues around encrypted messages, privacy-focused messaging apps and VPNs.

Shapella’s Ethereum upgrade gets a new date, making way for un-staking ETH

Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko announced that the Shapella blockchain upgrade is scheduled for February 28. The Shapella network upgrade will be activated on the Sepolia network in era 56832. The main changes in the consensus layer include the complete and partial withdrawal of validators and independent states and historical blocks. accumulators, change the color of the original single history. After the Sepolia fork, the next step is the release of the Shanghai upgrade on the Goerli Ethereum test network, which is planned for March.

US lawmakers introduced a bill to limit the Fed’s authority over the digital dollar

United States Representative Tom Emmer has introduced legislation that could restrict the Federal Reserve from issuing central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). According to Emmer, the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act seeks to protect Americans’ right to financial privacy. The bill could prohibit the Fed from issuing digital dollars “directly to anyone,” prevent central banks from implementing CBDC-based monetary policy, and require transparency for projects related to digital dollars.

Emojis count as financial advice and have legal consequences, the judge ruled

A United States District Court judge has ruled that emojis like rocket ships, stock charts and money bags mean “financial investment.” The decision is part of a new court filing on Dapper Labs’ motion to dismiss a complaint alleging that the NBA’s Top Shot Moments NFTs violate securities laws. In a tweet, the former Chief of the Enforcement Branch of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Lisa Braganca warned users about the potential legal consequences of using emojis that could indicate future profits.

Ankr partners with Microsoft to offer enterprise node services

Microsoft has partnered with decentralized blockchain infrastructure provider Ankr to provide a novel node-hosting service on the Microsoft Azure Marketplace. This partnership will combine the two companies’ technologies, combining Ankr’s blockchain infrastructure with Microsoft’s cloud solutions. The company’s node deployment service will offer low-latency blockchain connections for Web3 projects. The service transmits transactions, distributes smart contracts and can read or write blockchain data.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) that’s it $23,245Ether (ETH) at $1,596 and XRP at $0.37. The total market capitalization is at $1.06 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the 100 largest cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week were Stacks (STX) at 122.16%, Conflux (CFX) at 95.19% and Ankr (Anchor) at 38.31%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week were Fantom (FTM) at -16.07%, dYdX (DYDX) at -13.26% and Loopring (LRC) at -14.41%.

For more information on crypto prices, be sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotes

“I think it’s time for the Treasury, the Feds, the CFTC, the SEC, we all better get together on crypto.”

Maxine WatersUS representative for California

“Where democracy has been broken, I think it has to do with fiat currency, and I think Bitcoin is fixing this in a way.”

Alex Gladsteinhead of strategy at the Human Rights Foundation

“Bitcoin mining can really drive innovation and investment in renewable energy in a significant way.”

Jaime LevertonCEO of Hut 8

“By acting without the authority of Congress, [the SEC] continues to contribute to a chaotic regulatory environment, harming the very investors it is supposed to protect.

Digital Chamber of Commerce

“The days of crypto companies like CoinEx acting like the rules don’t apply to them are over.”

Letitia JamesAttorney General of New York

“Clinically, we’ve definitely seen an increase in people coming to therapy reporting difficulty managing their crypto trading behavior.”

Anastasia HronisAustralian clinical psychologist

Sunday Predictions

Bitcoin eyes 25% of the world’s wealth in the new $10M BTC price prediction

Bitcoin can struggle with “brutal” volatility, but hodlers and critics have no doubt about its long-term price trajectory, fund manager and Bitcoin expert advisor Jesse Myers said when he revealed himself “surprising” BTC price target.

Analyzing Bitcoin’s value proposition, he says Bitcoin’s ability to appreciate over time means it is all but destined to siphon value from other asset classes.

“My conservative estimate suggests the full potential for the price of Bitcoin: $10m/Bitcoin, in today’s dollars. In other words, I believe that the full potential of Bitcoin is to eat up ~25% of the world’s value… while it is currently only 0.05%. common sense. That means I believe Bitcoin could 500x over the next decade, in real (inflationary) terms,” ​​Myers wrote.

FUD from Sunday

US crypto regulation is happening ‘behind closed doors’ – Blockchain Association CEO

Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith said Congress should take control of crypto legislation and ensure it’s an “open process” with a comprehensive view of the market. Although regulators are working “very quickly,” legislation is moving “behind closed doors,” Smith observed, stressing the importance of industry involvement in an “open process” that includes Congress.

US regulatory actions lead to $32M in digital asset flows

Institutional crypto fund manager CoinShares reported that its digital asset investment products saw a total outflow of $32 million last week, the largest outflow this year. The outflow comes after a crackdown on the digital asset industry by US securities regulators targeting everything from staking services to stablecoins and crypto custody.

Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather file motion to dismiss crypto promotion lawsuit

Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather and other celebrities are hoping to convince a judge to drop another attempt to hold them accountable for allegedly promoting EthereumMax (EMAX) without proper disclosure. Recently, the US SEC issued a warning to celebrities who promote crypto, warning that the law requires them to disclose how much they were paid and by whom.

Cointelegraph’s best features

Breakdancing medical NFT auctioned at Sotheby’s — Grant Yun, creator of NFT

A simple story through digital art led this medical student and breakdancer to be featured at Sotheby’s.

Green consumers want supply chain transparency through blockchain

Consumers want to support ethical and environmentally friendly products. The Blockchain Project is here to help.

Hong Kong crypto craze, DeFi tokens up 550%, NBA China NFTs – Asia Express

Hong Kong wants to restore retail crypto trading, Japan’s FTX customers canceled almost all their assets after three months, and China’s NBA will continue printing NFTs.