Daily Digest - 13 March 2023

Headlines

▌Fed announces new emergency program, SVB depositors will have access to all funds on Monday

The Federal Reserve announced a new emergency bank term financing plan, and depositors of SVB Silicon Valley Bank will be able to use all funds on Monday. The Fed said it was prepared to respond to any possible liquidity pressures. The new program will provide emergency loans for up to a year. Taxpayers will not bear any losses related to the SVB resolution.

Policies

▌Revised Russian Crypto Mining Act Proposes Imprisonment for Tax Evasion Miners, Up to 4 Years in Prison

Legislators of a bill aimed at regulating Russia’s growing crypto mining industry are now planning to resubmit it and consider amendments with severe consequences for miners who do not abide by the rules. According to amendments to the penal code drawn up by the ministry, if miners fail to report income worth more than 15 million rubles (nearly $200,000) twice within three years, they face up to two years in prison, a fine of up to 300,000 rubles, or even up to two years of forced labor. If the amount of unreported assets exceeds the fiat currency equivalent of 45 million rubles (nearly $600,000), the penalties are harsher, with up to four years in prison, a fine of up to two million rubles, and forced labor for up to four years.

Cryptocurrency

▌The head of the Russian Federal Financial Supervisory Service: Cryptocurrency trading volume in Russia is close to 13 billion US dollars

Yury Chikhanchin, head of the Russian Federal Financial Supervisory Service (Rosfinmonitoring), reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the current operation of the agency. The amount is close to 13 billion US dollars. Regulators are monitoring the activities of more than 25,000 participants in cryptocurrency exchanges. The service also identified about a dozen financial organizations that offered them assistance.

▌Crypto Platform Huobi Exchanged $100,000,000 USDC for DAI During Stablecoin Depegging Scare

Crypto exchange Huobi converted $100 million worth of USD Coin (USDC) to Dai (DAI) as uncertainty spread in the stablecoin market this weekend, on-chain data shows. According to blockchain tracking firm Lookonchain, Huobi made the large transaction early on Saturday morning. Lookonchain also spotted Tron (TRX) founder and crypto billionaire Justin Sun, who backs Huobi, taking out USDC from Ethereum-based lending platform Aave (AAVE) and trading it for DAI.

▌Mac Crypto Trojan Horse Discovered, Apple Chips A Rich Target

Minneapolis-based cybersecurity firm Jamf Threat Labs found a crypto-jacking program well hidden in pirated copies of Apple’s Final Cut Pro. Jamf warns Apple chip speed will make Macs increasingly popular targets for malware attacks. The Apple software cybersecurity company found that unauthorized copies of Apple video editing software are a Trojan Horse. Unbeknownst to any petty cyber thieves who pirated the Apple software, it was running XMRig to mine crypto using their computer.