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

Top news this week

Unsealed superseding indictment against Sam Bankman-Fried includes 12 criminal counts

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was indicted on four new criminal charges by a federal judge presiding over his case. According to an indictment, there are now 12 criminal charges against Bankman-Fried, including eight counts of fraud-related conspiracy, as well as four counts of wire fraud and securities fraud. In an attempt to possibly modify the terms of your bond, the attorneys at Bankman-Fried will hire a security expert to assist the federal judge overseeing your fraud case. The technical expert will help the judge navigate issues around encrypted messages, privacy-focused messaging apps, and VPNs.

Ethereum Shapella Update Gets New Date, Making Way for ETH Delisting

Ethereum Core Developer Tim Beiko announced that the Shapella blockchain upgrade is scheduled for February 28. The Shapella network update will go live on the Sepolia network in epoch 56832. Major changes to the consensus layer include full and partial retirements for state and block independent historical accumulators and validators, replacing the original singular historical roots. After the Sepolia hard fork, the next step would be the release of the Shanghai update on the Ethereum Goerli testnet, scheduled for March.

US Lawmaker Introduces Bill Aimed At Limiting Fed Authority Over Digital Dollar

United States Representative Tom Emmer has introduced legislation that could limit the issuance of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) by the Federal Reserve. According to Emmer, the state's CBDC Surveillance Act seeks to protect Americans' right to financial privacy. The bill would prohibit the Fed from issuing a digital dollar "directly to anyone," prevent the central bank from implementing CBDC-based monetary policy, and require transparency for projects involving a digital dollar.

Emojis count as financial advice and have legal consequences, judge rules

A United States district court judge ruled that emojis like the space rocket, stock chart and money bags signify "a financial return on investment." The decision is part of a recent court filing regarding Dapper Labs' motion to dismiss a complaint alleging that its NFT NBA Top Shot Moments violated security laws. In a tweet, the former head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement branch, Lisa Braganca, warned users about the potential legal consequences of using emojis that may indicate future earnings.

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 integrate technology from both companies, combining Ankr's blockchain infrastructure with Microsoft's cloud solutions. The Enterprise Node Deployment Service will offer low latency blockchain connections for Web3 projects. The service transmits transactions, implements smart contracts, and can read or write blockchain data.

Winners and losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) I sat down $23,245Ether (ETH) in $1,596 and XRP in $0.37. Total market capitalization is $1.06 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

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

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

For more information on cryptocurrency prices, be sure to read Cointelegraph Market Analysis.

most memorable quotes

"I think it's time Treasury, the feds, the CFTC, the SEC, we all got together on crypto."

maxine watersUS representative for California

"Where democracies have collapsed, I think it's very clearly related to fiat currency, and I think Bitcoin fixes this in some way."

alex gladsteindirector of strategy at the Human Rights Foundation

"Bitcoin mining can really drive innovation and investment in renewable energy in a truly meaningful way."

Jaime LevertonCabin 8 CEO

“By acting without authorization from Congress, [the SEC] continues to contribute to a chaotic regulatory environment, hurting the very investors it is meant to protect.”

Digital Chamber of Commerce

"The days of cryptocurrency companies like CoinEx acting like the rules don't apply to them are over."

leticia jamesNew York Attorney General

"Clinically, we've certainly seen an increase in people going into therapy reporting difficulties managing their cryptocurrency trading behavior."

Anastasia Hronisaustralian clinical psychologist

prediction of the week

Bitcoin Eyes 25% of World Wealth in New $10M BTC Price Prediction

Bitcoin may struggle with 'brutal' volatilitybut hodlers and critics alike should have no doubts about its long-term price trajectory, said fund manager and Bitcoin expert advisor Jesse Myers, as he revealed his own “outrageous” BTC price target.

Discussing Bitcoin's value proposition, he argues that Bitcoin's ability to appreciate over time means that it is almost destined to absorb value from other asset classes.

“My conservative estimates suggest an outrageous total potential for the price of Bitcoin: $10 million/Bitcoin, in today's dollars. To put it another way, I believe that the full potential of Bitcoin is to eat ~25% of the world's value... whereas today it constitutes only 0.05%. That's absurd. That means I think Bitcoin could grow 500-fold over the next few decades, in real (inflation-adjusted) terms,” Myers wrote.

FUD of the week

US Crypto Regulation Is Happening 'Behind Closed Doors': Blockchain Association CEO

Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith says Congress needs to take control of crypto legislation and ensure it is an "open process" by looking at the market holistically. Despite regulators working “very quickly,” legislation is moving forward “behind closed doors,” Smith noted, emphasizing the importance of industry participation in an “open process” that includes Congress.

US regulatory crackdown leads to $32M digital asset outflows

Institutional crypto fund manager CoinShares reported that digital asset investment products saw outflows totaling $32 million last week, the biggest outflow of the year. The outflow comes in the wake of a massive crackdown on the digital asset industry by the US securities regulator targeting everything from staking services to stablecoins to cryptocurrency custody.

Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather File Motion to Dismiss Crypto Promotion Lawsuit

Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather and other celebrities are hoping to convince a judge to throw out another attempt to hold them accountable for allegedly promoting EthereumMax (EMAX) without proper disclosure. The US SEC recently issued a warning to celebrities who promote cryptocurrencies, reminding them that they are required by law to disclose how much they are paid and who pays them.

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Hong Kong Crypto Frenzy, DeFi Token Surges 550%, NBA China NFT - Asia Express

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