The C-Suite Report: Week 8 2023

Hello everyone ??,

I hope you're doing well. This week, we're gearing up for the release of the C Suite Report. We've decided to split the newsletter into three sections to give you a better understanding of what's going on in the world.

Section 1: What's Moving the Markets ???

This section will discuss how politics and international crises affect worldwide economies. We'll delve into what's happening worldwide and how it could impact your investments.

• Gold prices fell for the third consecutive week due to a stronger US dollar and rising bond yields following hawkish comments from US Federal Reserve officials.
• Oil prices also ended the week significantly lower due to concerns that future US interest rate hikes may weigh on demand and mounting signs of ample crude and fuel supply.
• Germany and France reinforced their support for the government in Kyiv, stating that the war in Ukraine is going to be long.
• US President Joe Biden plans to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping to end the dispute caused by the US's downing of a Chinese balloon earlier this month, which has roiled relations between the two countries. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, met on Saturday, discussing various issues, including China's surveillance activities and its alliance with Moscow.
• China will lay out its position on resolving the Ukraine conflict in a document that will underscore that warring countries' territorial integrity must not be violated. China's top diplomat underscored that "nuclear wars must not be fought" and called on world powers to make efforts to stop the war in Ukraine.
• Check the post data information in this newsletter to find more!

Section 2: Highlights of the Week ??

This section will give you the rundown of the week's most meaningful events. From technology to finance to politics, we'll cover everything you need to know in a concise, easy-to-read format.

Regulation - Is the path getting cleared? ???????

Wyoming lawmakers pass a bill to prevent forced disclosure of private keys.

Wyoming lawmakers have passed a bill prohibiting courts from forcing individuals to disclose their digital asset private keys, with a minor exception for cases where a public key is unavailable. The incoming law includes any private keys associated with digital assets or digital identity, and if approved by Governor Mark Gordon, will come into effect on July 1. However, the law doesn't prevent one from being compelled to disclose information about the digital asset, digital identity, or other interests. It won't bar one from being compelled to produce or disclose a digital asset, digital identity, or other interest or right to which a private key could provide access. The private keys legislation comes under Chapter 29 — Digital Assets, a subset of Title 34 — Property, Conveyances, and Security Transactions. (source: Cointelegraph)

Crypto-assets: a new standard for banks.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has approved a new standard for the prudential treatment of bank crypto asset exposures. The standard classifies crypto assets into two groups for determining capital requirements. Group 1 includes traditional tokenised assets and stablecoins with effective stabilisation mechanisms. Group 2 covers other crypto assets, which can be further divided between those that allow for risk mitigation and those that do not. The new standard will take effect from 1 January 2025. In a separate development, the EU Parliament has approved regulations that require banks to provide capital to offset risks related to crypto asset exposures. Until 30 December 2024, banks will be required to apply a 1250% risk weighting to all crypto asset exposures. The ECB has published a supervisory bulletin stating that the Basel standard should be considered in commercial and capital planning, as the standard is expected to be adopted by banks. The ECB also argues that not all crypto assets are the same, and therefore not all require the same level of capital, suggesting that banks should take a risk-based approach to capital requirements for crypto assets. (source: ECB) and Alfredo Mu?oz García

April, the month of CBDC Pilots? ????

CBDC Pilot Phase by April in Russia

The Bank of Russia's digital ruble, its central bank digital currency (CBDC), is ready for its pilot phase, according to Olga Skorobogatova, the bank's deputy governor. The digital currency will be launched for peer-to-peer transfers and retail purchases. It will initially be available to a limited number of customers from the 13 banks that have signaled their readiness. The central bank will pilot the CBDC with selected clients and decide how to expand the project after the pilot phase. The Bank of Russia first proposed the CBDC in October 2020 to reduce the Russian economy's dependence on the US dollar and mitigate the impact of foreign sanctions since its invasion of Ukraine. The pilot was initially planned for 2021, but concerns were raised about the burden of infrastructure implementation and the possible centralization of the banking system. The Bank of Russia later promised to modify the concept to avoid such issues. (source: Cointelegraph)

Japan Announces Launch of New CBDC Pilot This April

The Bank of Japan has announced that it will launch a new pilot program for its central bank digital currency (CBDC) in April. This digital version of the yen, like other CBDCs, is different from cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin as it is backed by a government and run on a private blockchain controlled by a central bank. The bank will use the pilot to test the CBDC's technical feasibility and learn how private businesses use digital currencies. The trial will also explore the challenges of connecting the CBDC network with existing financial networks and determine the appropriate data models and architecture for facilitating offline payments. Japan joins other major economies like the UK and Australia that are pushing ahead with CBDC plans. According to the Bank of America research, about 114 central banks, representing 58% of all countries, are now exploring CBDCs. (source: Decrypt.co)

Investigations, FUD ?? & Current Fraud Cases ??

US Investigation into Do Kwon and TerraUSD unveil new revelations.

The collapse of TerraUSD last May, a supposed stablecoin, wiped out over $40 billion of market value for investors who bought into creator Do Hyeong Kwon's idea of a perpetual money machine. The recent charge sheet filed by the US SEC is the first detailed look at what went wrong. Kwon and his team misled investors about the stability of TerraUSD, which was pitched as an algorithmic stablecoin that used complicated math to ensure a 1:1 peg against the US dollar. Kwon turned to Jump Trading, an unidentified third party, for help when the peg slipped off in May 2021. The SEC alleges that Terraform and Kwon made false and misleading statements about Chai's involvement, which was a complete fabrication, to drum up excitement in the power of the Terraform blockchain. Kwon has a secret stash of over 10,000 bitcoin, according to investigators. Bringing Kwon to trial might be difficult as his exact location is unknown. (source: the block)?

Former FTX Executive Nishad Singh Planning to Plead Guilty to Fraud: Bloomberg

Nishad Singh, the former director of engineering for the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, plans to plead guilty to fraud charges related to his alleged involvement in a scheme, Bloomberg reported. Singh's plea deal with the federal prosecutor's office in New York has not been finalized, and the outcome of the plea deal for Singh is not immediately clear. If he takes the plea deal, Singh will join the ranks of other members of Sam Bankman-Fried's inner circle, including former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, FTX co-founder, and former CTO, who are cooperating with prosecutors in their case against Bankman-Fried. The DOJ has not commented on the matter. Singh may also face charges from regulators, including the CFTC and SEC, for his role in the alleged scheme. According to the FTX bankruptcy estate's filings, Singh received a $543 million personal loan from Alameda Research. Singh is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. He and his girlfriend, Claire Watanabe, lived in the Bahamas penthouse with Bankman-Fried, Ellison, Wang, and Watanabe's goldendoodle dog. Singh advocated effective altruism, as were Bankman-Fried, Ellison, and Wang, and the four comprised the board of the FTX Foundation. (source: Coindesk)

CZ Denies Binance Is Considering Delisting Tokens From US Projects

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has denied reports that the crypto exchange is considering cutting ties with U.S. crypto projects. In a tweet, Zhao responded to a Bloomberg report claiming that Binance was thinking of ending relationships with U.S. business partners by writing "False". Bloomberg reported that Binance was thinking of scrapping tokens such as USD Coin, which is run from the U.S. by Circle and is Binance's primary competitor Coinbase. The report comes as U.S. regulators investigate Binance and the crypto industry. The SEC and the Justice Department are both investigating Binance over potential violations of U.S. anti-money-laundering laws. Binance US, a sister company of Binance, maintains that it is run independently, but recent reports have raised questions about its independence. (source: Decrypt.co)?

Section 3: AI News & The Fears Coming from It

AI is one of the most important technologies of the century. This section will cover the latest news about AI and its potential impact on society. We'll also discuss some people's fears about AI and how we can address them.

Microsoft and Google recently made announcements regarding their AI developments. Microsoft announced that OpenAI’s ChatGPT-like tech would be coming to Bing, and this pushed the Bing mobile app to the top of the App Store’s ranks. On the other hand, Google introduced its rival AI, Bard, but it received criticism for sharing an incorrect answer in a published demonstration of the technology. Despite investing in and developing AI technology for years, Google has seemed slow to move on AI, and it has faced backlash over AI ethics in the past. As a result, Google has been releasing smaller AI-powered feature drops over time, such as multisearch and AI-powered improvements to things like translation and Google Maps. In comparison, Microsoft has fully focused on AI as the next evolution of search, and it demoed its ChatGPT-like AI in Bing, which is also integrated with its Edge web browser. Microsoft cleverly introduced a waitlist for the AI-powered Bing, which required people to set Microsoft defaults on their PC and download the Bing app. As a result, the Bing app is now ranked in the top 10 on the U.S. App Store and is the No. 2 Productivity app behind Gmail. The big race in AI apps is still between Google and Microsoft (via OpenAI), but AI will soon find its way into several mobile apps through integrations. Consumers are eager to see AI put to use in apps, which could enliven the App Store, which has become stale over the years. (source: TechCrunch)?

Closing:

That's it for this week's newsletter. We hope you found it informative and insightful. Don't forget to check out the C Suite Report next Tuesday and let us know your thoughts on it. As always, if you have any feedback or suggestions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.

Post Data:

U.S. ECONOMIC DATA THIS WEEK (IMPORTANT ALERT)

Today (Tuesday): Services PMI. Manufacturing PMI. Manufacturing PMI. Existing home sales.

Tomorrow (Wednesday): FOMC Meeting Minutes.

Thursday: Prelim GDP q/q. Unemployment Claims.

Friday: PCE Inflation.