Daily Digest - 9 February 2023

Headlines

▌FTX bankruptcy judge allows company to subpoena founder SBF and other insiders

U.S. Judge John Dorsey ordered FTX’s new leadership and its official creditor committee to subpoena the company’s founders and former executives, including SBF. The families of Gary Wang, Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh, Constance Wang and SBF, including mother Barbara Fried, father Joseph Bankman and brother Gabriel Bankman-Fried, can also be subpoenaed, the order said. FTX is seeking information about who may have received the funds sent by the company, which may include misappropriated client funds. Judge Dorsey of Delaware Bankruptcy Court signed the order on Wednesday, noting that FTX may make further demands. The judge also signed a second order allowing FTX to subpoena third parties for information that may be related to the exchange hack from the date of the bankruptcy filing.

Policies

▌The European Union and the German Banking Association jointly launched the Tokenise Europe 2025 initiative

Tokenise Europe 2025 aims to promote the adoption of Tokenization, make the EU a leader in this field, and protect its sovereignty. It was co-founded by the European Commission and the Association of German Banks, with support from consultancy Roland Berger. To date, 20 companies have joined the association, with Germany, Spain and Liechtenstein leading the way. Four global banks were involved — BBVA, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank and Santander — as well as a handful of large industrial companies such as Daimler Trucks, Renault and Repsol. In addition to the German Banking Association, Italian and Liechtenstein counterparts, as well as payments companies Iberpay and Worldline, are also involved.

Cryptocurrency

▌a16z crypto appoints Eddy Lazzarin as the new chief technology officer

a16z crypto said on Wednesday that it appointed Eddy Lazzarin as chief technology officer, responsible for overseeing the research and security teams of the venture capital fund. Chris Dixon, founder and managing partner of a16z crypto, wrote in a blog post that it takes truly special intelligence to stand out among the technical experts in this field, and we are lucky to have such people on our team. Lazzarin, who previously served as the company's head of engineering, will continue to lead the engineering and data science teams. According to its website, a16z crypto invests in crypto and web3 startups and has raised more than $7.6 billion.

▌Coinbase CEO said he heard rumors that the US SEC wants to ban cryptocurrency staking

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong tweeted on Wednesday, “We have heard rumors that the SEC wants to ban staking of cryptocurrencies for retail customers in the U.S. I hope this is not the case, because I believe that if allowed, it would be a dire path for America if that happened."

▌Bitcoin ATM operator Coin Cloud files for bankruptcy, the largest creditor is Genesis

According to a document submitted to the Nevada District Bankruptcy Court on February 7, Bitcoin ATM operator Coin Cloud has assets of 50 million to 100 million US dollars and liabilities of 100 million to 500 million US dollars; the company has 10,000 creditors, the largest creditor is Genesis Global Trading, with an unsecured loan size of US$100 million. It is understood that Coin Cloud operates more than 4,000 Bitcoin ATMs in the United States and Brazil.