- Central African Republic Delays Crypto Coin Listing to 2023
The Central African Republic (CAR) won’t list its sango crypto coin until next year, according to an official statement.
The country is one of the first in the world to declare bitcoin (BTC) legal tender, but its most senior judges have rejected an attempt to allow crypto investors to buy citizenship via $60,000 worth of sango.
“We are going to postpone the listing of sango and the 5% release to Q1 [the first quarter of] 2023,” said the statement, posted by moderators in sango’s Telegram channel, cited “current market conditions” and seasonal factors such as the holiday season.
Investors had been promised that they would get back 5% of their stake at the moment of listing. Moderators declined to comment on whether the delay had been caused by central bankers or legal obstacles.
- Indian Government Updates Parliament on Cryptocurrency Bill and Investigations of Crypto Exchanges
The Indian government answered two sets of questions about cryptocurrency and its regulation Monday by various members of Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s parliament.
Parliament member Bhartruhari Mahtab asked the minister of finance to state “the current status of the cryptocurrency bill, which was due for being tabled during the winter session, 2021, of the Parliament” and “the timeframe within which the cryptocurrency bill would be tabled and subsequently be open for public inputs.”
Pankaj Chaudhary, minister of state in the Ministry of Finance, replied without providing a specific timeframe:
Crypto assets are by definition borderless and require international collaboration to prevent regulatory arbitrage. Therefore, any legislation on the subject can be effective only with significant international collaboration on evaluation of the risks and benefits and evolution of common taxonomy and standards.
- Bitcoin Wallet Maker Foundation Raises $7M to Expand Self-Custody Push
Amid growing interest in self-custody solutions, Bitcoin-centric startup Foundation Devices announced today that it has closed a $7 million seed funding round. The Boston-based company said that it will use the cash to continue developing its crypto “digital sovereignty” products, which include both hardware and software wallets.
Blockchain investment firm Polychain Capital led the round, with Greenfield Capital, Lightning Ventures, Unpopular Ventures, Warburg Serres, and Bolt also participating.
Foundation’s flagship product, Passport, is a Bitcoin hardware wallet that features “airgapped security” without external USB or wireless communications. Instead, it uses a camera and QR codes to communicate, and has a built-in color display. The firm also offers a mobile software wallet called Envoy. The company claims that it has sold “thousands” of the Passport wallets over the past 18 months.
https://decrypt.co/117607/bitcoin-wallet-foundation-raises-7m-seed-round
- Binance Finalizes Acquisition of Indonesian Crypto Trading Firm Tokocrypto
Binance has finalized its acquisition of Tokocrypto, according to a press release sent to CoinDesk Indonesia.
“Tokocrypto came from our brainchild more than four years ago. I am very proud to see every growth, slogan, and contribution the company has made to advance Indonesia’s digital economy,” Pang Xue Kai, CEO & Co-founder of Tokocrypto, said in a release.
“This decision was made after careful consideration. We decided that the best step for Tokocrypto going forward is to utilize Binance’s capabilities to build a further physical trading platform for crypto assets.”
Binance has always been a majority shareholder of the company, Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao confirmed in a tweet, but this move “[injects] more cash and increased our shareholding.”
Kai will be stepping down from his position as part of the acquisition but will remain on the board.
https://www.binance.com/en/news/flash/7330414
- $1.7M in Bitcoin tied to QuadrigaCX reawakens after years of dormancy
Five wallets tied to the defunct Canadian cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX previously thought to be inaccessible have just been spotted moving around $1.7 million worth of Bitcoin after years of dormancy.
Crypto researcher ZachXBT alerted the crypto community in a tweet on Dec. 19, highlighting the five wallets that transferred around 104 Bitcoin
BTC tickers down $16,819 on Dec. 17 to various wallets.
Blockchain records show the wallets had not sent BTC since at least April 2018.
Once Canada’s largest crypto exchange, QuadrigaCX declared bankruptcy in April 2019 following the December 2018 death of its founder and CEO, Gerald Cotten, who was solely responsible for the private keys of the exchange’s wallets.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/1-7m-of-bitcoin-tied-to-quadrigacx-reawakens-after-years-of-dormancy
- Bitcoin Addresses Tied to Defunct Canadian Crypto Exchange QuadrigaCX Wake Up
More than 100 bitcoins tied to the defunct Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX were transferred out of cold wallets thought to be beyond anyone’s control over the weekend, after sitting dormant for more than three years. The company’s bankruptcy trustee, Ernst and Young, did not initiate the transfers, CoinDesk has learned.
QuadrigaCX went bankrupt in 2019 after the apparent death of founder and CEO Gerald Cotten. At the time of its collapse, Quadriga was believed to have owed thousands of customers nearly $200 million in various cryptocurrencies – a staggering failure for what was once Canada’s largest crypto exchange.
EY, which is acting as the trustee for Quadriga’s estate, announced in February 2019 that it lost control of about 100 BTC after mistakenly sending the coins to Quadriga-operated cold wallets that the Big Four financial services firm said it couldn’t access. At the time, the bitcoin was worth around $355,000 (C$470,000).
- Elon Musk Promises to Step Down as Head of Twitter — Edward Snowden Throws His Name in the Hat for CEO
U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown has suggested that U.S. federal agencies, such as the Securities Elon Musk set up a poll on Twitter over the weekend asking his 122.3 million followers whether he should step down as head of the social media platform. The billionaire added that he will abide by the results of the poll, which ended with 57.5% of over 17.5 million respondents wanting him to step down.
Elon Musk Promises to Step Down as Head of Twitter — Edward Snowden Throws His Name in the Hat for CEO
Responding to a comment about him having a new CEO picked out already and that he will retire to being chairman of the Twitter board, Musk clarified: “No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor.” In another tweet, the Tesla chief explained:
The question is not finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive.
- Dogecoin Down 11% After Twitter Poll Says Elon Musk Should Leave CEO Post
The price of Dogecoin dropped more than 10% today and is currently trading at $0.07 following Elon Musk’s latest Twitter Poll asking if he should step down as the head of the social media platform.
The crypto market and broader tech industry have taken a pounding recently due to fears of a recession and the collapse of several prominent companies, including FTX.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, the S&P 500, NASDAQ, and Dow Jones Industrial Average were all down one to two percent today as well. All three major indexes fell for a fourth straight day to six-week lows, according to Yahoo! Finance.
https://decrypt.co/117631/dogecoin-down-11-after-twitter-poll-says-elon-musk-should-leave-ceo-post
- Shiba Inu (SHIB) Is One Of The Most Watched Crypto On Binance
Shiba Inu (SHIB) was among the most closely followed cryptocurrencies on the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world based on reported trade volume, according to data given by Binance.
One of the top cryptocurrencies in the world by market value is the well-known cryptocurrency that was inspired by memes and launched in August 2020. Shiba Inu owners saw tremendous profits in 2021, which turned out to be a great year.
As more people bought SHIB coins in order to achieve quick gains, interest in SHIB had skyrocketed. The meme coin’s price reached its all-time high in October of last year at $0.00008616, making some of its purchasers millionaires.
Many people invested in it as a result of its rapid growth in the expectation that prices would soon continue to rise further. Those aspirations, however, were swiftly dashed when the SHIB price fell precipitously in 2022 as a result of the Federal Reserve’s aggressive policy stance.
https://www.binance.com/en/news/flash/7329862
- South Korean court freezes $92M in assets related to Terra tokens
More than six months after the collapse of the Terra ecosystem, South Korean authorities continue to investigate and freeze the funds of persons involved in Terra.
After seizing 140 billion won ($108 million) from Terra co-founder Shin Hyun-Seong in November, the Seoul Southern District Court has recently ruled to confiscate more assets related to Terra.
The South Korean court has ordered to freeze of 120 billion won ($92 million) in assets of former and incumbent CEOs of Terraform Labs’ affiliate firm Kernel Labs, The Korea Economic Daily reported on Dec. 20.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-korean-court-freezes-92m-in-assets-related-to-terra-tokens
