Daily Digest - 24 November 2022

Headlines

▌U.S. Senator Asks Department of Justice to Investigate FTX Incident

U.S. Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Sheldon Whitehouse wrote to the Department of Justice on Wednesday, urging Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate fraudulent and illegal practices in the collapse of FTX, and demanded that the company’s former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and other executives to be held accountable "to the fullest extent of the law". The senators wrote that FTX's downfall was not only the result of sloppy business and management practices, but appeared to be the result of deliberate and fraudulent tactics employed by Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives for personal gain. In addition to having a knock-on effect on the broader cryptocurrency industry, Warren and Whitehouse expressed concern in the letter about the impact of FTX's implosion on retail investors, who they said FTX's huge advertising placements and celebrity endorsements brought created a "false sense of security and an illusion of legitimacy".

Policy

▌The Minister of Economy of El Salvador Submits a Bill to Launch the Issuance of Bitcoin Volcano Bonds

El Salvador’s Minister of Economy, Maria Luisa Hayem Brevé, submitted a digital asset issuance bill to the country’s Legislative Assembly, paving the way for the launch of its Bitcoin-backed “volcanic” bond. Last year, El Salvador said it planned to issue a $1 billion bond on the joint Bitcoin sidechain Liquid Network. The bond issuance was divided into $500 million allocated directly to Bitcoin and an equal amount of investment in building energy and Bitcoin mining infrastructure in the region.

Blockchain Application

▌Shen Bo: Continue to Support Decentralized Protocol Layer Entrepreneurship and Innovation Driven by Blockchain Technology

Shen Bo, the founder of Fenbushi Capital, said on social media that “my original intention remains the same, and I will continue to support decentralized protocol-level entrepreneurship and innovation driven by blockchain technology, as well as application-level entrepreneurship and regulation. As well as unswervingly participate in the creation of social value and contribute to the long-term health of the industry.” Fenbushi Capital Shen Bo said that his personal wallet ending in 894 had a total value of 42 million US dollars, including 38 million USDC, which was stolen in the early morning of November 10, New York time. The stolen assets are personal funds and have nothing to do with distributed related funds. The case has been reported locally, and the FBI and lawyers have been involved.

Cryptocurrency

▌Ethereum Shanghai Upgrade Will Open Pledged ETH Withdrawals, but the Upgrade Time May Be Later Than the Previous Roadmap

Ethereum core developers generally agree that opening up pledged ETH withdrawals has always been part of the "Shanghai upgrade" goal. But an exact date for withdrawals has yet to be set. Previously, according to the website of the Ethereum Foundation, after the merger, it is expected to implement the Shanghai upgrade, and the time to open pledged ETH withdrawals is 6 to 12 months. But last week, users noticed a language change: the foundation website no longer has a suggested timeline. Tim Beiko, lead protocol support at the Ethereum Foundation, stated that the original forecast was that "6 to 12 months is the 'historical average' time between upgrades on Ethereum. I don't understand why this upgrade is taking longer, but we are not in the process to talk about the mainnet deployment date. Also, there are no changes to the status of withdrawals, they are included in the next network upgrade.”

▌Sam Bankman-Fried Confirms He Will Speak at the NYTimes DealBook Summit Next Week

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried indicated Wednesday afternoon that he plans to speak during an upcoming New York Times summit. "I’ll be speaking with @andrewrsorkin at the @dealbook summit next Wednesday (11/30)," Bankman-Fried tweeted. The New York Times’ yearly DealBook Summit is slated to take place Nov. 30 in New York City, according to the newspaper’s press release announcing it.

▌OKX Announced the Official Launch of the Reserve Certificate Today. Users Can Compare Onchain OKX Assets With Total Assets in Merkle Tree

OKX has consistently committed to protecting the safety of users' funds. Transparency is critical to the healthy development of the entire cryptocurrency industry. In order to make it easier for users to understand the security of the platform and the transparency of their assets, OKX has launched Proof of Reserves (PoR) at 08:00 UTC on Nov 23. By making on-chain wallet holdings public, you can always verify that your funds are backed 1:1 by real assets. Proof of Reserve audits will be regularly published as well.

▌Japan to Experiment With the Issuance of a Digital Yen in 2023

The Japanese central bank will begin experiments with a proof-of-concept digital yen early next year, Nikkei reported. The Bank of Japan will work with several unnamed financial institutions to stress test a central bank digital currency. Tests will include how deposits and withdrawals can work, and also what happens when no internet access is available. A decision will be taken in 2026 on whether to formally adopt a digital yen.