Your Weekly Crypto Updates #7 ??

?? Terra CEO Do Kwon Hiding in Serbia

According to a South Korean publication, Do Kwon, the CEO of Terraform Labs, wanted on charges of fraud, is now living in Serbia. Currently, won, who remains active on Twitter, has previously denied reports that he is on the run. The Justice Ministry in Seoul is now seeking the Serbian government’s help investigating the claims.

?? Dogecoin Now Has a Larger Market Cap Than Coinbase

The Japanese guard-dog-themed meme coin?Dogecoin?(DOGE) was created in 2013 as a joke in a few hours. Programmer-turned-comedian Billy Markus, a.k.a Shibetoshi Nakamoto, left the project ages ago, but his creation ironically overturned the largest American crypto platform, Coinbase.

At the time of this publication,?Coinbase Global?Inc. (COIN) has a market value of $35.17 per share with a total market cap of $7.98bn. On the other hand, the top dog meme coin Dogecoin (DOGE) has a total market cap of $10.24bn, surpassing the leading American crypto exchange by more than $2bn already.

?? Mazars Suspends Activity with Crypto Exchanges

Global accounting firm Mazars has suspended all work with its crypto clients, including Binance, KuCoin, and Crypto.com. Mazars Group said in a statement that it had paused its activity relating to the provision of Proof of Reserves Reports for entities in the cryptocurrency sector due to concerns regarding how the public understands these reports.

?? Senate Banking Chairman Says SEC Should Ban Crypto

United States Banking Committee chairman Sherrod Brown has suggested that the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) should perhaps consider a ban on cryptocurrencies.

Brown’s?comments?were made during a Dec. 18 appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” although the senator quickly added that a ban would be difficult to enforce:

“We want them to do what they need to do at the same time, maybe banning it, although banning it is very difficult because it would go offshore, and who knows how that would work.”

?? Leading Wallet MetaMask Partners with PayPal

Leading self-custody wallet MetaMask has teamed up with payment giant PayPal to allow certain U.S. citizens to purchase Ether directly from the application. The collaboration will enable clients to dive into the Web3 ecosystem, while the move marks a deeper foray for PayPal into the field of cryptocurrencies.

?? Visa Is Exploring Options To Allow Auto Payments Via Ethereum Wallets

Crypto-users may one day be able to automatically pay their electricity and telephone bills through their self-custodial crypto wallets, according to payments giant Visa.

In a Dec. 20 blog post, Visa’s crypto thought leadership team?proposed?a solution allowing providers to automatically “pull” funds from users’ Ethereum-powered crypto wallets without requiring the user to sign off on every transaction manually.

Auto-payments for recurring bills are commonplace in the traditional banking world, allowing users to permit certain service providers to draw from their chosen bank accounts to pay off bills — such as a Netflix subscription or a monthly telephone bill.

?? $4B OneCoin Scam Co-founder Pleads Guilty

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Friday that “Cryptoqueen” Ruja Ignatova associate and OneCoin co-founder Karl Sebastian Greenwood has?pleaded guilty?to federal charges of wire fraud and money laundering in connection to the OneCoin scam.

“As a founder and leader of OneCoin, Karl Sebastian Greenwood operated one of the largest international fraud schemes ever perpetrated,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “Greenwood and his co-conspirators, including fugitive Ruja Ignatova, conned unsuspecting victims out of billions of dollars, claiming that OneCoin would be the ‘Bitcoin killer.’ OneCoins were entirely worthless.”

?? Leading Investment Analysts Expect Crypto Rise

Most large banks and investment managers expect the crypto market to pick up in 2023 following a year that saw bitcoin sink around 75% from its all-time high. According to a report from Reuters, the likes of Van Eck, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs have all made optimistic predictions for prices in the coming year.

?? Brazil’s President Signs Crypto Regulations Into Law

Jair Bolsonaro, the president of Brazil, set to leave office on Dec. 31, has signed a bill aimed at legalizing the use of crypto as a payment method within the country.

In a Dec. 22 publication of the official journal of the federal government of Brazil, Bolsonaro’s office?said?the president had signed bill 14.478 into law following approval from the country’s Chamber of Deputies. The legislative body?sent the bill to the president’s desk?on Nov. 29 as the final step in recognizing crypto payments.

Sam Bankman-Fried - The Disastrous Collapse of FTX ??

?? Sam Bankman-Fried Signed Legal Documents To Be Extradited To the U.S.

Sam Bankman-Fried is due in a Bahamas court on Wednesday morning as he moves closer to being extradited to the US to face charges that he defrauded investors and customers at FTX, his $32bn cryptocurrency exchange.

Bankman-Fried signed legal documents in Nassau on Tuesday, paving the way for his move to US custody, said a person familiar with the matter. Reuters reported that he is to appear in a Bahamas magistrates’ court at about 11 am local time Wednesday morning. His lawyers told the news agency he would agree to extradition, enabling a swift departure from the Caribbean nation.

?? Two Executives in Sam Bankman-Fried’s Crypto Empire Plead Guilty to Fraud

Former Alameda Research Chief Executive Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang have pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges, according to an?announcement?late Wednesday evening by Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney of the Southern District of New York.

Ellison pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud, two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, commodities fraud, securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Wang pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud.

Both have agreed to cooperate with the Department of Justice investigation into Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX Trading Ltd.

?? Sam Bankman-Fried Has Been Released on $250 Million Bail

Sam Bankman-Fried?has officially been released on $250 million bail following a hearing taking place today.

The FTX founder was extradited to the United States this week following an eight-day stay in The Bahamas Fox Hill correctional facility.

According?to the release agreement filed on Dec. 22, no cash was required to be deposited with the court, but the bond conditions see to it that Bankman-Fried’s parent’s five-bedroom home in Palo Alto will be used as collateral for the $250 million bond.

Some of the crypto community on Twitter were initially confused by the $250 million no-upfront-cost bail conditions, questioning how Sam Bankman-Fried was able to post the $250 million bail figure after?he previously claimed?he had less than $100,000 in his bank account.

That's all for this week's?Your Weekly Crypto Updates???

As always, please Do Your Own Research (DYOR), and I will see you again next week.

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