Crypto Weekly Issue 50! by Cryptoweekly

CRYPTO WEEKLY cryptoweeklymag.com $2 april 2023 | Volume 49 HIDDEN GEMS Page 46 Page 48 BEGINNERS GUIDE Page 50 VIDEO OF THE WEEK Page 34 THE UNBANKED REVOLUTION Page 38 FTX: THE UNTOLD STORY Page 42 RADICAL NFT USE CASES Page 10 MONEY LAUNDERING & BTC Page 12 BITCOIN TO 1 MILLION Page 20 DEFI & SANCTIONS WHAT THE FUTURE MAY BRING Page 28 IAN FREEMAN CRIMINAL OR HERO? DeFi & Financial Services Squidgrow | Poochain Elon VS Big Tech March

01 02 03 04 05 Fully Doxxed Team Amazing Community Super Fast Listings 125K Mag Subscribers Earn Rewards in USDT 2 Audits Passed BKEX listing first 2 weeks www.t.me/CMC_COIN_1 www.cmccoin.io CoinMarketCap/CoinGecko Within hours of applying www.cyptoweeklymag.com Get first 12 Months Free! Weekly & Monthly Rewards

cryptoweeklymag.com $2 April 2023 | Volume 50 CONTENTS Users' Data is Now Collected by Uniswap�� 7 Laws Should be Followed by Crypto Intermediaries: SEC Chair Gensler 7 Despite the Collapse of FTX, Centralized Crypto Exchanges will Remain Dominant 8 Employees at FTX Claimed Expenses Online and Managers Approved them Using Emojis 9 Wall Street Expert Roubini Calls Crypto 'Corrupt Gambling' 10 Cathie Wood Sees Bitcoin Soaring 6,000% to $1 Million�� 12 Bukele is all in with Bitcoin in El Salvador 14 Censorship Will Cause an Ethereum Fork 18 Sanctions and Decentralized Finance: What's Next? 20 Ethereum's Potential will Surpass Crypto Winter's Ability to Stop it 22 Is Binance Saving the Crypto Industry? �� 24 Ian Freeman: Bitcoin Pioneer to Scammer Supreme? 28 There is a Revolution Going On Among the Unbanked 34 Going Deep About How the FTX Catastrophe Happened 38 NFTs Have Astonishingly Radical Use Cases 42 Why Bitcoin Can't Be Used To Launder Money ��48 14 29 38

CEO Nathan Hill nathan@cryptoweeklymag.com

Editors Letter

ISSUE 48

CEO

Nathan

Hill

CEO Nathan Hill nathan@cryptoweeklymag.com

Publisher Colin Woolley colin@cryptoweeklymag.com

nathan@cryptoweeklymag.com

Welcome to Crypto Weekly

Publisher Colin Woolley colin@cryptoweeklymag.com

Editor Robert Stone editor@cryptoweeklymag.com

Editor

Sub-Editor

Robert Stone editor@cryptoweeklymag.com

George Smith

Editor Robert Stone editor@cryptoweeklymag.com

Another week has gone by, and this is our 48th issue of Crypto Weekly I am Rob Stone, the Editor and, along with the guys at CMC, hope to bring you another weekly read about significant happenings in the world of crypto.

Sub-Editor George Smith

Advertising Kryptochik kryptochik@cryptomag.finance

Design

Advertising Kryptochik kryptochik@cryptomag.finance

Dilin Divan dilin@cryptoweeklymag.com

Advertising Kryptochik kryptochik@cryptomag.finance

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Dilin Divan dilin@cryptoweeklymag.com

Writing and painting are organic forms of self-expression I resonate with Creatively, I identify as a sensualist, I love tactility in art It is an impressive experience for me I want to be surrounded by it and to make love to it Dry old crypto talk far beyond the interest of the normal reader becomes a soulnourishing transcendent epistle worthy of transcription by monks of the crypto revolution

nother week has gone by, and this is our 50th issue of Crypto Weekly� I am Rob Stone, the Editor and along with the guys at CMC hope to bring you another weekly read about significant happenings in the world of crypto

AAnother week has gone by, and this is our 48th issue of Crypto Weekly I am Rob Stone, the Editor and, along with the guys at CMC, hope to bring you another weekly read about significant happenings in the world of crypto.

It's also how I feel about Crypto Weekly & Crypto Magazine It's my chosen focus and means in the world of cities and people I always feel it necessary to take whatever I am doing as means and sustenance and make it a deeply immersive experience To treat it with the respect of a student to their master to the utmost degree in order to transcend normality and make it soulful nourishment I have got to get to the root of life to see and feel it clearly Yes, crypto is life Crypto is freedom from those who feed off of the people of Babylon like a fungus— extracting sustenance by the point of law and gun

We live in a world of increasing complexity, competition, and alienation but also a world of unfolding possibilities, fulfilling experiences, and human connections. Here as we publish new content, you will find news and rumblings of the wider cryptosphere, and you will find personal reflections, stories, and ideas that cut through the posturing, the commercializing, and the dehumanization we have all experienced My personal writing displays the vibrant energy of the creative unconscious, what has been called "a voice from the wilderness" as I have often lived and worked from the wilds over the last decade� Humanity is desperately in need of revising its own soul We all know this is true I only hope to contribute to the conversation

It has been another smashing week with crypto, and a lot has happened in the last week because the music never stops in the cryptosphere, and time keeps rolling on I hope you all enjoy what we have brought together for you this week Please let us know your thoughts, and if you would like to see something featured, please do get in touch

Welcome to Crypto Weekly Follow Us

editor@cryptoweeklymag.com

It has been another smashing week with crypto, and a lot has happened in the last week because the music never stops in the cryptosphere, and the time keeps rolling on I hope you all enjoy what we have brought together for you this week Please let us know your thoughts, and if you would like to see something featured, please do get in touch

editor@cryptoweeklymag.com

Robert Stone Editor cryptoweeklymag

Robert Stone

Editor

Robert Stone Editor

Follow Us cryptoweeklymag

Crypto Weekly Magazine is published by the Crypto Marketing Company 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, United Kingdom, WC2H 9JQ

CRYPTO WEEKLY

Editors Letter ISSUE 48 CRYPTO WEEKLY Crypto Weekly Magazine is published by the Crypto Marketing Company 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, United Kingdom, WC2H 9JQ

Crypto Weekly Magazine is published by the Crypto Marketing Company 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, United Kingdom, WC2H 9JQ

CRYPTO WEEKLY

ISSUE

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has done a lot despite 'fraud,' says Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin

Users' Data is Now Collected by Uniswap

Whilesuggesting FTX's collapse resulted from fraud, Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin cautioned critics to be more discerning Although Bankman-Fried's crypto empire continues to collapse amid federal probes into possible mismanagement of customer funds, Vitalik Buterin, who has been vocal about crypto adoption and blockchain technology, isn't ready to dismiss everything he's done

Major decentralized exchange Uniswap said today it collects some user data, such as the type of device used by traders or their browser, but no personal information As the DEX said in its Monday blog post, it was committed to transparency and collected certain off-chain and onchain data to improve user experiences

Data on the blockchain that is publicly available is known as on-chain data Smart contracts, transactions, wallet transfers,

Buterin tweeted, "Downgrading everything SBF believed in automatically is an error… We must figure out what contributed to the fraud and what didn't " This crash has been compared to the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy and Enron, Theranos, and Bernie Madoff fraud cases

and purchases fall into this category A wallet and its activities can be linked to offchain data, for example, the type of device and operating system of the user, which are external to a blockchain

“We want to protect user data and privacy first, but we also need to make decisions based on data that improve the user experience,” Uniswap Labs wrote in a blog post on Monday “That includes public onchain data and limited off-chain data like device type, browser version, etc Because Uniswap Labs does

Following a failure to secure a rescue, FTX and 130 affiliates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, and Bankman-Fried stepped down from his position as CEO as a result Buterin looked for a silver lining in the chaos that hit crypto markets earlier this year

not collect personal data, any vendors we work with do not have any personal data either ”According to Uniswap, it does not collect personal information such as names, addresses, emails, or IP addresses from its users In addition, it “does not share anyone's data with third parties for other purposes ” According to DEX's updated privacy policy, it collects certain data to improve its services, prevent illicit activity, and resolve security issues Regulators would also benefit from such data in order to “comply

His comments came after the Terra token had collapsed in May, which could be a good sign, he said at the time �

with applicable laws and regulations ”

The Uniswap app allows Ethereum-based tokens to be swapped by anyone In contrast to centralized exchanges like Coinbase, Uniswap does not require a sign-up process and tokens are not listed, so tokens can be traded without a thirdparty's prior authorization In the past day, more than $1 billion in tokens have been traded on Uniswap, according to CoinGecko

Laws Should be Followed by Crypto Intermediaries: SEC Chair Gensler

thinking " Among the recommendations he made were to "evaluate systems based on their steady state, and a more pessimistic view of how they will perform under extreme conditions, as well as whether they can wind down "

—Crypto Weekly

Despite the turmoil, he warned against expecting limitless growth in the cryptocurrency market and suggested returning to "principles-based

Buterin warns of DeFi risks.

Vitalik Buterin warned against DeFi (decentralized finance) and self-custody pitfalls, specifically bugs in smart contract codes, in a tweet from his verified Twitter account� In response to the loss of trust in centralized exchanges, which led to

Gary Gensler, chairman of the SEC said companies that facilitate transactions in cryptocurrency markets should comply with the law� "Right now, their business model is to offer interest returns in crypto and then trade against their customers," Gensler said "The runway is getting shorter" for crypto lenders to comply with SEC enforcement, according to the SEC chair Gensler said in the interview that the SEC should have more resources despite its balance of authority and authority "Crypto casinos" are what he called the crypto

record exchange outflows, Buterin wrote, "The DeFi and self-custody ethos did very well this week prevent smart contract exploits, Buterin advised developers to keep their code simple and perform audits and formal verification.

"My biggest concern is if we have $10B in a ZK-rollup 2 years from now and it gets hacked due to circuit constraint bugs or the EVM wrapper," wrote Buterin, attaching "Hardening rollups with multiproofs "

intermediaries � According to Gensler, "Many entrepreneurs in this field have chosen - it's a choice - to skirt the law, regardless of whether they establish overseas operations or provide services to foreign actors. If they want to tap into U.S. markets, they must come into compliance." According to the SEC chair, recommendations on equity market structure will be considered next Wednesday by the agency

—Crypto Weekly

As crypto exchanges saw a record-high week of outflows of bitcoin following the FTX saga, industry leaders have begun advocating self-custody solutions �

—Crypto Weekly

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NEWS & UPDATES

Despite the Collapse of FTX, Centralized Crypto Exchanges will Remain Dominant

U.K. POLICE HAVE CRYPTO

“FTX's collapse has shaken users' confidence in CEXs, and DEXs have demonstrated resilience to the contagion in the market,” CryptoCompare's Hosam Mahmoud said in his report published on Nov 23 that DEXs are expected to be adopted more by market participants in the coming months

An official with the U K National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) has deployed crypto tactical advisers to investigate and secure digital assets associated with crimes At a hearing on Tuesday for the new Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency bill, Andrew Gould, staff officer for NPCC's cryptocurrency portfolio, said that "all forces and regional organized crime units have officers trained and equipped to do that "

The majority of global digital-asset trading volumes will continue to be controlled by centralized exchanges, JPMorgan said, disproving predictions by some crypto experts that decentralized platforms will take over after FTX collapsed

A note to clients by the bank's strategists led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou warns decentralized exchanges may limit institutional participation due to slower transaction speeds, asset pooling, and order-traceability features� In addition, the analysts noted that DEXs lack a limit order/stop loss feature, rely on price oracles sourced from centralized exchanges,

Law enforcement will be able to freeze crypto assets associated with criminal activity if the British government passes the bill Yet police

agencies have already increased their efforts to target criminals who use crypto for money laundering or terrorism financing According to Gould, "the government's additional 100 million pounds sterling helped the NPCC strengthen its crypto capabilities " Reports indicated that in 2018, police chiefs lobbied the government for funding to train and equip 250 crypto tactical advisors

are vulnerable to hacks and exploits, and require over-collateralization They pose systemic risks from automated liquidations as barriers against their mass adoption

Despite the lack of limit stop loss functionality, the team noted that assessing the risk/return trade-off in DeFi is more challenging due to the use of different tokens for assets borrowed or lent/collateral posted/ received interest payments� It is challenging to manage, govern, and audit DeFi protocols in a way that does not compromise security and centralization "

DefiLlama data shows that trade volumes on

According to Gould, the U K government has seized cryptocurrency assets worth hundreds of millions of pounds within the past year or so "The police force has procured

a number of investigative tools and a capacity for storing seized crypto," he explained� Police seized cryptocurrencies from Komainu during investigations in January to provide them with a more "robust" means of storing them� Despite this, Gould still believes crypto is too costly for the NPCC to keep up�

decentralized platforms had increased 68% to $97 22 billion this month, their highest level since May when Sam Bankman-Fried's centralized exchange FTX went bust This is seen as a sign of the loss of trust in centralized exchanges and the inception of a long-term shift toward the democratization of finance, according to many observers�

Our officers are struggling in the face of the growing complexity of crypto assets," Gould said, adding that their tools can't handle everyone An investigation is best conducted by using more than one tool

"That's very expensive

Although JPMorgan acknowledges an increase in DEX trading volume recently, there is no indication that it is part of a significant upward trend The bank's analyst team noted that although DEX's share of crypto trading activity has increased in recent weeks, that's more likely to reflect the collapse of crypto prices and the deleveraging/automatic liquidations that followed the collapse of FTX

—Crypto Weekly

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NEWS & UPDATES

—Crypto Weekly

Employees at FTX Claimed Expenses Online and Managers Approved them Using Emojis

FDIC CHIEF

SAYS STABLECOINS COULD

FUNDAMENTALLY ALTER THE BANKING

Raa/

FTX has filed for bankruptcy in the US, seeking court protection as it looks for a way to return money to users Jonathan

NurPhoto via Getty Images

FTX employees claimed expenses through chat messages, its new CEO said

Random managers would then approve the official claims by using personalized emojis, John Ray added

In his damning report, Ray said FTX failed to keep communication, hiring, and financial records.

Considering the profound impact stablecoins could have on the established banking system, U S regulators must ensure the digital tokens fit in without disrupting it, according to Martin Gruenberg (chairman of the FDIC). Gruenberg's agency will significantly impact how stablecoins are regulated in the United States Recent sanctions against firms that misrepresent how FDIC deposit insurance backstops the FDIC has also imposed their operations

Gruenberg said that U S banks have increasingly offered crypto services, including custody of customers' digital assets, which is why his agency has remained cautious about accepting regulated lenders to participate

Employees of crypto exchange FTX would file expense claims through chat messages, and random managers would approve the claims by responding with emojis, the firm's new CEO said in court filings. New CEO John Ray said FTX employees submitted payment requests to a "disparate group of supervisors," who would approve expenses "by responding with personalized emojis,"

stablecoins, which will work with the Federal Reserve's future realtime payments system, FedNow Besides being used for trading volatile cryptocurrencies, stablecoins are necessary to create a digital currency issued by a central bank in the U S

FTX's Thursday bankruptcy filing shows "The Debtors did not have the type of disbursement controls that I believe are appropriate for a business enterprise," Ray said� Ray, a lawyer who also oversaw the bankruptcy of energy giant Enron, was called in to lead FTX's restructuring The exchange filed for bankruptcy on November 11� "Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here," Ray said�

He blasted FTX executives and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, saying they also failed to keep records of their communications

"A stablecoin for payments could fundamentally alter the banking landscape," Gruenberg said A new form of shadow banking could be created with payment stablecoins, "possibly resulting in forms of credit disintermediation that may harm the viability of many U S banks "

people were nominated last month to join the board, and the next chairman is reportedly on the way Aside from his roles at the Financial Stability Oversight Council, Gruenberg is involved in cross-agency crypto oversight efforts� However, he has been openly skeptical of the usefulness of crypto�

when they made decisions, a litany of other mismanagement allegations

"One of the most pervasive failures of the FTX com business in particular is the absence of lasting records of decision-making," Ray said, per the filing. "Mr. BankmanFried often communicated by using applications that were set to auto-delete after a short period of time " He added that BankmanFried would encourage employees to use the same chat software

According to him, the industry has primarily focused on trading, and so far, we have not seen many benefits� "It remains to be seen if there is any potential there "

To deal with stablecoins, he said Congress should pass new legislation

Ray said FTX "never had board meetings" and that the exchange used employees' personal names to purchase real estate in the Bahamas with corporate funds He also

said FTX did not keep proper records of who it hired "Repeated attempts to locate certain presumed employees to confirm their status have been unsuccessful to date," he said, implying that some of these workers may have never existed Ray slammed Bankman-Fried in particular, saying that the exchange's cofounder "continues to make erratic and misleading public statements " He highlighted a Vox report that alleged Bankman-Fried sent a DM to reporter Kelsey Piper saying "fuck regulators," and that "they make everything worse�"

because "our authority is clearly limited, particularly when it comes to protecting consumers as well as provisioning of wallets and similar services by non-bank entities "

As Gruenberg sees it, stablecoins would be sufficiently safe if they were offered through bank subsidiaries, fully backed by short-term treasury bonds, and placed on regulated "permissioned ledger systems "

"Knowing all parties involved in payment stablecoin activitiesincluding nodes and validators - is crucial to ensuring compliance with anti-money laundering regulations, preventing terrorism financing, and deterring sanction evasion "

—Crypto Weekly

Bankman-Fried stepped down on November 11, the same day that FTX filed for bankruptcy His trading firm, Alameda Research, and around 130 affiliated companies have started bankruptcy proceedings� Before FTX's blow-up, rival crypto exchange Binance was set to acquire the firm. But it backed out, citing findings during the due diligence process and concerns of federal probes into FTX FTX and BankmanFried did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment

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NEWS & UPDATES

Wall Street Expert Roubini Calls Crypto 'Corrupt Gambling'

Cryptocurrencies Recognized as Financial Instruments by U.K. Lawmakers

Cryptocurrency exchanges are not in the good books of Nouriel Roubini In the wake of FTX's collapse, Binance and other crypto players arew touting the "proof of reserves''

TheU K Parliament just approved the regulation of crypto assets as financial instruments and products Parliament's lower house, the House of Commons, held a lineby-line reading of the draft Financial Services and Markets Bill, which outlines the U K 's postBrexit economic strategy regarding financial services and markets

idea Starting with Bitcoin, Binance launched its proof of reserve system several weeks ago Binance wrote on its website, "Following our recent announcement outlining our commitment to transparency We are launching a Proof of Reserves (PoR) system, our next step to provide transparency on user funds " Initially, this feature will be available with Bitcoin, but other tokens and networks will be added shortly thereafter�

As part of the debate about the bill, legislators considered several proposed amendments, including one proposed by Andrew Griffith from the People's Party that would include crypto assets within regulatory oversight It was already outlined in the draft bill that a number of measures would be included to extend current regulations on stablecoins, which are essentially cryptocurrencies linked to other assets such as the U S dollar or gold

similarly to other financial assets, without preference it brings them within the sphere of regulation for the first time. I favor the efforts to give legal recognition to digital assets in a broader

Zhao – who resides in the UAE – comparing him to FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried�

regulation in a way that aligns with its broader approach to financial services regulation

he said After the collapse of FTX, a shadow has been cast over the entire crypto space

As Roubini tweeted the following day, "crypto is corrupt gambling in which the house front runs the retail suckers that get rekt� Globally, 100 million suckers have been rekt by a group of crypto mobsters… Proof of Reserves (PoR) is a gimmick crypto exchanges/lending platforms use to make their customers believe their funds are safe The exchange custody assets are on its balance sheet, and customer assets are not safe in bankruptcy These are banks, not exchanges," he tweeted earlier in the week

His tweet on Saturday read, "Exchanges are doing socalled proofs of reserves to show their customers that they have funds " Proof of reserves is meaningless, folks It is because exchanges borrow from each other to show crypto that millions of dollars get transferred 'accidentally '"

"This amendment essentially involves treating crypto assets

sense." Griffith, the finance and city minister, said before lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the amendment

Roubini: "He's a walking time bomb� He should be expelled from this country He's been banned in the U K , he's under investigation for money laundering by the U S justice department and he's here on this stage�"

'Totally corrupt' cryptocurrency industry

When Roubini spoke at Abu Dhabi Finance Week on Nov� 16, he called the cryptocurrency industry "totally corrupt " According to Roubini, Emiratis should expel Binance exchange founder Changpeng "C Z "

The crypto industry, which is currently celebrating the announcement that Rishi Sunak has been appointed as the country's new Prime

In the crypto provision, which uses the definition of "crypto asset" in new clause 14, Griffith said it clarifies that crypto assets may fall into the scope of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, which governs regulated financial activities Crypto promotions may

Proof of reserves systems, C�Z� suggested earlier this month, could reform the crypto industry and restore investor confidence, preventing mistakes like those that contributed to FTX's demise In the next few months, we'll be focusing on learning from our mistakes,"

The Treasury will consult with industry and stakeholders before implementing the powers to ensure the framework reflects the unique benefits and risks associated with crypto activity Despite this, the rules remain a long way from becoming law As soon as the House of Lords approves the amendments, the bill will be sent to King Charles III for his royal approval�

Wall Street sees Roubini as somewhat pessimistic In 2007, he accurately predicted the financial crisis that followed the collapse of the U S housing market He has recently published The Age of Megathreats, which outlines ten global economic problems� According to him, the U S will be hit hard by a recession in 2023 that will also ravage financial markets "I don't think it will be a short recession," he said "It's going to be severe, long, and ugly " —Crypto Weekly

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Weekly

—Crypto

NEWS & UPDATES

Cathie Wood Sees Bitcoin Soaring 6,000% to $1 Million

Being a crypto investor today probably doesn't feel good

The price of Bitcoin has declined by 65% year-todate However, one expert remains bullish: Ark Invest's Cathie Wood Some say this is not a crypto winter, but rather a crypto extinction In a Bloomberg interview, she said she still believes bitcoin will reach $1 million per coin by 2030 "Sometimes you have to go through crises to see the survivors," she said

U.K. POLICE HAVE CRYPTO EXPERTS STATIONED NATIONWIDE

In spite of the ongoing crypto crisis, Wood believes Bitcoin will come out of it "smelling like a rose " In the beginning, they'll probably start with Bitcoin and Ether once they do the research and see what's going on Her $1 million price target implies a 5,998% upside compared to Bitcoin's current price of around $16,400� Her words are backed up by her actions, as usual Check out how this super investor is betting on cryptocurrencies

An official with the U K National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) has deployed crypto tactical advisers to investigate and secure digital assets associated with crimes

At a hearing on Tuesday for the new Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency bill, Andrew Gould, staff officer for NPCC's cryptocurrency portfolio, said that "all forces and regional organized crime units have officers trained and equipped to do that "

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust

There have been a number of bitcoin funds launched over the last few years due to the rise of Bitcoin A good example of this is Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Bitcoin holdings, less fees

Law enforcement will be able to freeze crypto assets associated with criminal activity if the British government passes the bill Yet police

pounds sterling helped the NPCC strengthen its crypto capabilities " Reports indicated that in 2018, police chiefs lobbied the government for funding to train and equip 250 crypto tactical advisors

and expenses, should be reflected in GBTC shares. Year-to-date, GBTC shares have fallen 75% because the fund's shares have traded at a substantial premium or discount to that value

more "robust" means of storing them� Despite this, Gould still believes crypto is too costly for the NPCC to keep up�

it trades at a steep discount to its underlying asset� Wood was intrigued by that discount GBTC shares worth approximately $1�5 million were purchased by Ark Investment Management on Monday�

According to Gould, the U K government has seized cryptocurrency assets worth hundreds of millions of pounds within the past year or so "The police force has procured

Crypto exchange FTX's bankruptcy has sent shock waves throughout the crypto space, which has caused investors to offload GBTC shares Since GTBC trades at a steep discount to Bitcoin, the underlying asset,

Coinbase Global (COIN)

Transaction fees are typically associated with buying Bitcoin from an exchange if you've done it before Transaction fees quickly

just got offered 200,000 pounds to move to the private sector We can't compete with that at the moment� That's probably the biggest risk we face in this area," Gould said The NPCC has not responded to a request for comment at present time Some police officers in the U�K� earn salaries ranging from anywhere between 28,000 to 100,000 pounds a year

grew as more people bought cryptocurrencies� Coinbase found its opportunity there With each cryptocurrency transaction on its exchange, it earns a transaction fee

The number of monthly transacting users on Coinbase reached 8 5 million in Q3� Subscriptions and services contributed $211 million to its revenue of $366 million Considering the downturn in cryptocurrency, it's no surprise that Coinbase

—Crypto Weekly

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NEWS & UPDATES

Cstablecoins could have on the established banking system, U must ensure the digital tokens fit in without disrupting it, according to Martin Gruenberg (chairman of the FDIC).

Gruenberg's agency will significantly impact how stablecoins are regulated in the United States Recent sanctions against firms that misrepresent how FDIC deposit insurance backstops the FDIC has also imposed their operations

shares have also suffered a painful 82% loss in 2022 But the company remains in Wood’s portfolio Over 5 9 million shares of Coinbase are held by Ark Invest's flagship fund Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK)

CHIEF SAYS STABLECOINS

were offered through bank

In addition to owning 6 26 million shares of Block,

Wood's Ark Innovation ETF also owns shares in Square, a company that specializes in digital payments At ARKK, Block is currently the fifth most valuable holding with a valuation of $392 7 million Due to the company's seller business, management changed the name last December However,

usefulness of crypto�

According to him, the industry has primarily focused on trading, and so far, we have not seen many benefits� "It remains to be seen if there is any potential there "

investors were not cheered by the move Over 60% of shares have fallen in 2022�

Despite not being a market favorite right now, the company continues to deliver some very impressive results The total revenue for Q3 increased 17% year over year to $4 52

To deal with stablecoins, he said Congress should pass new legislation

billion A year ago, gross profit was $1.57 billion, up 38%� The company is also a play on cryptocurrency: for the quarter, Block generated $1�76 billion of bitcoin revenue and earned $37 million of Bitcoin gross profit.

—Crypto Weekly

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Bukele is all in with Bitcoin in El Salvador

ACouncil (NPCC) has deployed crypto tactical advisers to investigate and secure digital assets associated with crimes

Law enforcement will be able to freeze crypto assets associated with criminal activity if the British government passes the bill Yet police

According to Gould, the U K government has seized cryptocurrency assets worth hundreds of millions of pounds within the past year or so "The police force has procured

adding that their tools can't handle everyone

An investigation is best conducted by using more than one tool Gould said, "That's very expensive ”

police officers in the U�K� earn salaries ranging from anywhere between 28,000 to 100,000 pounds a year

Questions are raised about what the future holds for digital currencies. One of them, Bitcoin, has fallen to a two-year low recently. However, one of the cryptocurrencies' most prominent supporters is doubling down on the project. In mid-November, an exciting crypto exchange FTX, collapsed, compounding the cryptocurrency crisis.

—Crypto Weekly

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NEWS & UPDATES

including custody of customers' digital assets, which is why his agency has remained cautious about accepting regulated lenders to participate

The El Salvadoran government says it will purchase one Bitcoin daily from now on, following the crypto slide Last year, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender, establishing the country as the first worldwide.

El Salvador's Congress passed a bill on Nov 22 that would allow Bukele's administration to issue $1 billion in "volcano bonds," government debt that pays 6 5% interest annually to bondholders, to buy even more cryptocurrency and build a cryptocurrency city along the coast

without new creditors if it cannot service that debt

FDIC

According to Bukele's purchase announcements, he spent $107 million on Bitcoin and $200 million on administration and infrastructure, or nearly 4% of the developing country's budget in 2023 His expenditures, however, have not been disclosed The country's Bitcoin holdings are estimated to be worth less than $40 million

reelection campaign� For Bukele, Bitcoin is an integral part of both the narrative he is pushing at home and the narrative he is creating for El Salvador as an innovative, rejuvenated country His approach is not that of a classical strongman but a provocative young visionary opposing Western financial elites

CHIEF SAYS STABLECOINS COULD FUNDAMENTALLY ALTER THE BANKING SYSTEM.

Gruenberg noted that the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FDIC) also inputs into the federal government's policy towards stablecoins, which will work with the Federal Reserve's future realtime payments system, FedNow Besides being used for trading volatile cryptocurrencies, stablecoins are necessary to create a digital currency issued by a central bank in the U S "A stablecoin for payments could fundamentally alter the banking landscape," Gruenberg said A new form of shadow banking could be created with payment stablecoins, "possibly resulting in forms of credit disintermediation that may harm the viability of many U S banks "

By most metrics, Bukele's policy has been a disaster, so it may not be easy to understand why he is so enthusiastic about it Due to Bukele's attempts to introduce the notoriously volatile cryptocurrency to Salvadorans, the country appears to be a much more risky investment destination In order to plug big gaps in its public finances, El Salvador needs a $1 3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Bukele's government has been hunting for other sources of cash, launching trade talks with China on Nov 9 However, few economists believe El Salvador's vice president's claim that China is willing to help with its $21 billion debt burden El Salvador could default early next year

Additionally, according to an in-person survey of 1,269 people published by the José Simeón Caas Central American University (UCA) in October, Salvadorans don't seem to be that into Bitcoin 77% of respondents want Bukele to stop buying Bitcoins with public funds Only 17% of respondents deemed the Bitcoin rollout a success, whereas 66% said it had been a failure

President Joe Biden has yet to name a permanent replacement for Gruenberg, who previously served as FDIC chairman Two people were nominated last month to join the board, and the next chairman is reportedly on the way Aside from his roles at the Financial Stability Oversight Council, Gruenberg is involved in cross-agency crypto oversight efforts� However, he has been openly skeptical of the usefulness of crypto�

According to him, the industry has primarily focused on trading, and so far, we have not seen many benefits� "It remains to be seen if there is any potential there "

To deal with stablecoins, he said Congress should pass new legislation

However, since taking office in 2019, Bukele's approval rating has remained above 85% despite his Bitcoin policy The President may be getting exactly what he wants with cryptocurrency Bitcoin has shifted media attention away from El Salvador's long-term problem with gang violence and Bukele's authoritarian measures to deal with it, including mass arrests, the ousting of judges opposing his agenda, and the launch of an unconstitutional

because "our authority is clearly limited, particularly when it comes to protecting consumers as well as provisioning of wallets and similar services by non-bank entities "

As a result, Tiziano Breda, Central America analyst at Crisis Group, believes Bukele has little reason to abandon Bitcoin despite mounting losses for his country According to Bukele, rebranding the country is his ultimate goal In addition, he is not willing to admit failure He will go through the consequences of this experiment until the very end "

Bitcoin Doesn't Matter to Salvadorans

—Crypto Weekly

As a result of Bukele's broadranging crackdown on gang violence, his approval ratings are sky-high� The number of alleged gang members arrested has exceeded 50,000, and the murder rate has plunged dramatically As a result, both gang members and innocent Salvadorans have been "eviscerated" in terms of their human rights, say watchdogs� Bukele has been able to dismiss civil society activists and critical media as puppets of establishment parties that have governed El Salvador

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for decades, Breda says, but civil society pushback has been relatively weak

Ricardo Castaneda, an economist at the Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies in San Salvador, says most Salvadorans dislike Bitcoin Still, they don't see it as a serious threat to economic security. While public finances have been under intense scrutiny, gasoline subsidies have protected consumers from the worst effects of global inflation. Remittances from the U S , contributing 28 9% to El Salvador's GDP, have kept up In contrast, Bukele maintains that Bitcoin offers El Salvador a longterm solution to its economic problems As most crypto enthusiasts believe, the price of Bitcoin will sooner or later increase and eventually deliver huge profits to the country

next year However, this risk remains with shrinking cash reserves and unsustainable levels of debt to service

Bukele may have to return to negotiations with the IMF if he can't sell his volcano bonds or find another way to plug the fiscal hole. Aside from removing Bitcoin from legal tender and tightening cryptocurrency regulation, the lender will likely condition the loan on Bukele withdrawing Bitcoin from legal tender and tightening cryptocurrency regulation

tailored to their needs

country's economy minister seeks to broaden the legal framework in the country so that all cryptocurrencies can be adopted

Doubling Down on Bitcoin

U.K. POLICE HAVE CRYPTO EXPERTS STATIONED NATIONWIDE

An official with the U K National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) has deployed crypto tactical advisers to investigate and secure digital assets associated with crimes

A Looming Credit Crunch

Despite a bear market, El Salvador is doubling down on cryptocurrency To facilitate operations with cryptocurrency, the first country to declare Bitcoin a legal currency is now drafting a Digital Asset Issuance Law

A distributed ledger is one of the most popular technologies to date This category only qualifies digital assets that use distributed ledgers or similar technologies like CBDCs, in addition to assets that cannot be traded or exchanged, assets with restricted transactions, assets regulated by foreign laws, and assets that are fiat currencies are excluded from the law's framework since they are fiat currencies governed by each country's financial guidelines.

While Bukele's Bitcoin dream seems like it might come true, a dark cloud is still hanging over his head El Salvador must find $600 million in bonds to pay by January 2023 and another $1 billion by 2025 Using reserves from its central bank, the government plans to buy back some of that debt in the hope that that will inspire market confidence to allow the issuance of new bonds Analysts say such moves might prevent El Salvador from defaulting

As stated in a document available on the National Assembly of El Salvador's official website, the law will regulate all transfers of digital assets, aiming to "promote the efficient development of the digital asset market as well as safeguard the interests of buyers "

Law enforcement will be able to freeze crypto assets associated with criminal activity if the British government passes the bill Yet police

A unique feature of the law distinguishes crypto assets from other financial instruments and financial products, creating a regulatory framework

According to Gould, the U K government has seized cryptocurrency assets worth hundreds of millions of pounds within the past year or so "The police force has procured

A few hours after President Bukele introduced the famous Bitcoin Law to Congress in June 2021, most of the pro-government party had already approved it In light of this, the new law is likely to take effect in a similar hurry

El Salvador became the first nation to accept Bitcoin as a legal currency in September 2021 Using blockchain tech to design the world's first sovereign bond backed by Bitcoin, the country could raise $1 billion from the legislation submitted to the legislative assembly Congressional action on the bill may come at a time when Bitcoin and other digital coins suffer from the "crypto winter," and prices are significantly lower than the previous year

Bitcoin Backed Bonds

As President Nayib Bukele bucks international concerns about the country's exposure to Bitcoin's volatile price swings, El Salvador is also pushing forward with efforts to raise $1 billion in Bitcoin-backed bonds A 33page bill submitted by the

Furthermore, Gould explained that the police have difficulty retaining staff while competing with the hard-to-turndown salaries offered by the private sector� "One of my sergeants just got offered 200,000 pounds to move to the private sector We can't compete with that at the moment� That's probably the biggest risk we face in this area," Gould said The NPCC has not responded to a request for comment at present time Some police officers in the U�K� earn salaries ranging from anywhere between 28,000 to 100,000 pounds a year

Bukele, in November 2021, said El Salvador had partnered with blockchain startup Blockstream to launch a so-called Bitcoin bond called Volcano Bonds� A coastal "Bitcoin City" near Conchagua volcano would be built to attract investors using half of the funds raised - $500 million The other half would be used to buy more Bitcoin The collapse of FTX, once the world's thirdlargest crypto exchange, worsened the situation — —Crypto Weekly

—Crypto Weekly

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NEWS & UPDATES

OUR MISSION

Censorship Will Cause an Ethereum Fork

U.K. POLICE HAVE CRYPTO EXPERTS STATIONED NATIONWIDE

According to some developers, Ethereum may soon split into two It has increasingly come under the spotlight of governments and regulators eager to tame the second-largest blockchain network

Some of the core principles upon which Ethereum was founded are at odds with the U�S� government's vision for Ethereum, which involves regulating certain types of blockchain apps out of existence With big businesses and average users entering the Ethereum arena, ideas like censorship resistance and credible

Law enforcement will be able to freeze crypto assets associated with criminal activity if the British government passes the bill Yet police

neutrality may go out the window�Ethereum will likely have two versions of the chain in the end: one regulated and one unregulated

Despite its hard-to-define ideological bent, crypto was founded on a strong ideological foundation� In general, this ideology is based on censorship resistance and credible neutrality "In my experience, most Ethereum developers and the founder of the privacy-focused Gnosis blockchain agree that everyone on Ethereum is treated equally," Martin Koppelmann, a longtime

Ethereum developer "The platform treats you neutrally regardless of whether you run a Ponzi scheme or whatever when you have an app or asset to deploy Even at a geopolitical level, it's important to have one place where you don't have to worry about one party freezing another's accounts or assets

According to Gould, the U K government has seized cryptocurrency assets worth hundreds of millions of pounds within the past year or so "The police force has procured

The approach of Koppelmann contrasts with "the Facebooks and Twitters of the world," where suddenly if you make a mistake, "you're not allowed to do this anymore You're out " Koppelmann describes the hands-off

ethos of Ethereum as "censorship resistance," "credible neutrality," and "permissionless innovation "

Regulators Take Notice

It has become increasingly evident that large financial institutions, large companies, and countless retail investors are choosing Ethereum as their blockchain of choice� This has led to a greater level of regulation and a less tolerant view of Ethereum's founding principles

"Ethereum is by far the best we have, in a sense, but I'd still say that it is at

—Crypto Weekly

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UPDATES

least scratching on this promise or beginning to violate it," Koppelman warned One example of this oversight – which builders like Koppelmann have called an overreach – has been the U S Treasury's sanctions against Tornado Cash This cryptocurrency "mixer" program allows users to transfer and receive cryptocurrency without leaving a trail behind

Ethereum remains uncertain about what Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions mean The sanctions, however, have been interpreted by many U S -based nodes that operate Ethereum's ledger – the folks who write and confirm transactions – as requiring them to disregard Tornado Cash-related transactions

stop them from reaching the ledger� Unless twothirds of the Ethereum network's "stake" is in favor of censoring the Chain, Tornado transactions would not be allowed to be written to the Ethereum ledger, at least under the current network rules

Koppelman lamented that Tornado had become a second-class citizen on Ethereum "You can still use Tornado and so on, but your transaction, if it touches Tornado or any of those addresses, will be treated differently "

FDIC

Koppelmann wrote that if the censoring validators stopped attesting to noncensoring blocks, the chain would eventually become the canonical, 100% censoring chain CoinDesk was contacted by several Ethereum developers who predicted that Ethereum would eventually split into two chains: an uncensored chain and a censored chain

chain in comparison to the uncensored Ethereum chain According to Drake, a new chain will need help gaining traction in the Ethereum community due to its decentralized finance, stablecoin, and non-fungible token economy

It's Different for Everyone.

CHIEF SAYS STABLECOINS COULD FUNDAMENTALLY ALTER THE BANKING

SYSTEM.

Although it will take more time for Tornado-linked transactions to reach the Ethereum ledger, if some "censoring" nodes are present, they will not

Gruenberg said that U banks have increasingly offered crypto services, including custody of customers' digital assets, which is why his agency has remained cautious about accepting regulated lenders to participate

A Significant Censorship Milestone

Koppelmann has been closely monitoring the number of nodes that censor Tornado transactions He wrote last week that the Ethereum blockchain had reached a "tragic milestone in censorship " 51% of Ethereum blocks censor Tornado transactions, he wrote

He notes that the "core community" of Ethereum differs from newer, more financially oriented entrants. This division, he says, could lead to a chain split "There are some opinions that I do not consider to be part of Ethereum's core community - however, some investors and venture capitalists say, "Ethereum simply needs to comply with OFAC," he said "Within Ethereum – what I consider the Ethereum core community," he continued, "There is not a single person who opposes Tornado cash transactions on Ethereum�"

According to him, the industry has primarily focused on trading, and so far, we have not seen many benefits� "It remains to be seen if there is any potential there "

To deal with stablecoins, he said Congress should pass new legislation

A chain split is "likely to happen," according to Justin Drake, an Ethereum researcher at the nonprofit Ethereum Foundation� "What tends to happen is that one of the forks is very, very dominant compared to the other," Drake predicted "It happened with Ethereum Classic� It happened with ETH POW," he said, referencing two previous forks of Ethereum "Absolutely less than 10%" of the main

because "our authority is clearly limited, particularly when it comes to protecting consumers as well as provisioning of wallets and similar services by non-bank entities "

A potential censored and uncensored chain is differentiated according to Drake's audience For example, a chain that isn't censored is "more attractive to builders " "If you're building an application and there's potential for censorship, then it could be censored " As Drake says, the threat of censorship is perceived as a "platform risk" by builders "There's this sense that censored chains could have a bigger audience," he says�

—Crypto Weekly

Furthermore, most citizens will just comply with a specific country's decision if it says, "No, we don't want you to use this�" He continued, "I predict that if you want to build an infrastructure to last a very long time, and that is global, then you're going to build it on an uncensored version�" If instead, you want to cater to one specific jurisdiction, maybe only the U�S�, or if you want to do something specific – just gambling or something you want to be very, very regulated " —Crypto Weekly

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Sanctions and Decentralized Finance: What's Next?

ROBERT STONE

International financial sanctions were imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine Russian sanctions may be undermined by decentralized finance, which has been heavily criticized Governments should consider restricting certain types of actors and transactions in future regulation In some ways, DeFi has proven to be a double-edged sword Despite its potential to increase financial inclusion and improve efficiency, this technology has also been criticized as a tool for rogue actors

Centralized Finance's Flaws are Exposed For All to See and Learn From with the Fall of FTX.

Robert Stone

The time is ripe to examine how DeFi instruments may impact sanctions as blockchain updates global finance. The design of many of these instruments may change as they develop, so this is merely a thought experiment� It is only by considering the consequences that it is possible to envision the framework needed to ensure DeFi contributes to a digital financial ecosystem that is resilient and sustainable

Removing Russia from the SWIFT Network

While the removal of Russian

We crypto aficionados keep re-learning the lesson of decentralization the hard way In the absence of U S regulations and crypto's centralized development, FTX collapsed A decentralized and transparent protocol would never have been able to melt down Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto trading empire We should all realize that an alternative to government-backed finance has one crucial flaw: no backing from the government After centuries of mistakes by

finance, cryptocurrency speculators are slowly learning the lessons of the past decade

banks from SWIFT's network was hailed as an important step in ramping up financial sanctions, its effectiveness has been questioned In addition to SWIFT, there are other channels through which financial institutions can exchange authenticated messages Despite being outside of SWIFT, many banks are still able to transact, albeit using slower and costlier methods

A top-five rival crypto exchange was provisionally rescued by the founder of the largest crypto exchange, Binance In the equivalent of a bank run, clients abandoned FTX After the problems were deemed too severe to overcome, Changpeng Zhao walked away. FTX has now filed for bankruptcy as its CEO resigned FTX's future looks grim, and the crypto economy's ripples have been devastating for some projects

There is a complementary relationship between network restrictions and sanctions Actors are disincentivized from doing

cannot be rescued by anyone due to its immense size� It will be left to the market to resolve a potentially systemic crypto crisis without the deal Even Mr Zhao, known as CZ, poses an obvious danger of relying on one person

What DeFi Can Do

business with targeted Russian entities through sanctions, while network restrictions increase the difficulty of doing so. As a result of Iran's removal from SWIFT in 2012, coupled with sanctions, the country saw its oil export revenue fall by almost half and its foreign trade decrease by 30%

Many reasons can lead to centralization, some of which are noble and intentional The carelessness of others is evident � By bringing the freedoms of the blockchain to traditional

Without centralized networks like SWIFT, how will we support sanctions against rogue actors in the future? This is where blockchain comes into play SWIFT cannot censor the transfer of value on a blockchain

criminals gain control of the central, private keys, putting that much power in one body can be dangerous The decentralized ethos would place that authority in a decentralized autonomous organization, if that was not possible, at least instituting a multisignature system

network However, the decentralized nature of blockchains makes it more difficult for rogue actors to intercept payments A future framework must consider how to replicate this important activity using blockchain technology� The regulatory process on cryptocurrencies is fasttracked throughout the board to address these concerns

Is cryptocurrency a way to circumvent sanctions?

Cryptocurrencies have long been used to break

In my view, centralized offerings will not survive in the long run It's called survival of the fittest. We are in a state of evolution, and there's no reason for them

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FEATURE

sanctions As the world's third-largest Bitcoin mining country, Russia is well situated to follow the lead of North Korea and Iran in using cryptocurrencies in the face of financial restrictions Nevertheless, cryptocurrencies are unlikely to provide Russian institutions with a primary method of evading sanctions in 2022 It is unlikely that cryptocurrency could be substituted for other currencies at the national level due to the need to work with regulated financial institutions As a result of the high risk associated with holding cryptocurrencies at regulated financial institutions, few are currently set up to settle accounts in cryptocurrencies Financial institutions had even been warned against facilitating such transfers by the Russian Central Bank

to exist since they don't offer anything new� The NYSE is better if you want to own centralized companies and trade assets in a centralized market

It does sound ironic that decentralized finance's main problem is centralization But the fact that we're even talking about this shows the importance that decentralization as an ideology commands in the world of crypto Economic incentives drive them to under-collateralize and risk user funds, just like the financial institutions that collapsed in 2008 Despite claiming to care about consumers, the companies play political games and cozy up to those who are supposed to regulate them This is exactly what SBF was doing CEO CZ of Binance didn't like it and said so It was the very reason he first announced he would sell all of his holdings, and the collapse of FTX precipitated from there

Problems with Centralized Financial Systems

Centralized financial systems can fail.

The Bitcoin white paper "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System," published by Satoshi

The network design must consider sanctions if cryptocurrency becomes a common payment method in the future There is no guarantee that every wallet address connected to a sanctioned user has been listed, despite the fact that regulated exchanges currently restrict transactions with sanctioned entities� Thus, alternative solutions must be sought, such as auditing wallets held by authorized entities By providing attestations that link wallet holders' legal identities to their wallets, users can gain

access to large corporate transactions through the Authorized Economic Operators program

Is there an alternative to central bank digital currencies?

went bankrupt during the 2008 financial crisis to avoid a global financial meltdown Globally, the 2008 financial crisis cost trillions of dollars and damaged trust between big banks and the public, who ended up paying the price As a result of such a crisis, everyone realized the danger of centralized intermediaries If these banks fail, all money held in them is lost forever except for up to 100k coverage with FDIC insurance

As far as central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are concerned, most countries are only in the exploratory phase� In a future where CBDCs are widely used, two design considerations must be taken into account due to declining physical cash usage and the freezing of Russian central bank assets�

Centralized financial systems can inflate the money supply.

One of the benefits of a CBDC is that it could reduce the need to carry cash during times of crisis Instead of lining up at ATMs to withdraw money, Ukrainian and Russian citizens could access their seamlessly and instantly if currency were token-based instead of

Quantitative easing (QE) has become an addiction for monetary institutions since the 2008 financial crisis Central banks increase the money supply through quantitative easing to stimulate a weak economy Central

paper Due to Russia's history of hacking Ukraine's electrical grid, a CBDC would need to be available offline regardless of whether electricity was on or off

Since CBDC networks are controlled, sanctioning a rogue actor is faster and easier� A CBDC can also optimize the freezing of rogue state assets since the issuer always retains control over the currency By holding CBDC US dollars as reserves, the US Federal Reserve could prevent the Russian Central Bank from spending assets�

starting in March 2020 And the U S government responded by spending roughly $5 5 trillion on various relief measures with varying levels of effectiveness A $1 trillion infrastructure bill and a $3 5 trillion social welfare and climate change bill were proposed and passed by the Democrats not long ago, and doing so has resulted in inflation. To make conventional currency work, all trust is required It is essential that the central bank not debase the currency, but fiat currencies have a history of trust breaches Governments have a monopoly over the money supply, and they use it

How will decentralized finance evolve?

Wealthy nations have generally experienced an economic decline due to heavy wartime expenditures, lavish social welfare, or both During the 1960s, President Lyndon Johnson's The Great

Considering the application of blockchain technology is more important than ever, especially in light of the invasion of Ukraine, the use of cryptocurrency is making sanctions less effective While these alternatives to

fiat currency are unlikely to mitigate the impact of sanctions entirely, future regulation must consider how a government might restrict certain types of actors and transactions

As the world's strongest economy since World War II, the United States has enjoyed a long period of economic prosperity But arrogance would lead us to think that such strength will continue indefinitely. A collapse of the U S dollar is almost certain one day National currencies and nations do not last forever According to ancient money history, governments cannot sustain massive spending levels without their money depreciating, devaluing, and eventually becoming worthless

Centralized financial systems cannot be trusted.

We are not used to the government confiscating assets, except in cases of criminal activity like the FBI seizing drug dealers' assets Bankrupt governments take

This same technology can also play a central role in post-conflict rebuilding. With ordinary citizens being caught up in the Ukraine conflict, governments and corporations alike must strongly consider the humanitarian implications of today's technological decision-making When recovery begins, these will need to be transferred to citizens to aid in rebuilding, and CBDCs would be a way to do this in a targeted and efficient way. Only this way will the global community be able to guarantee not only the future efficacy of sanctions but also that citizens have safe and secure access to their assets

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Nixon to remove the United the money supply became

FEATURE

Ethereum's Potential will Surpass Crypto Winter's Ability to Stop it

ROBERT STONE

Since the beginning of this year, both the Ethereum and general cryptocurrency markets have followed the same path The trend is downward Over a year ago, the general

market was valued at more than $3 2 trillion, but now it is worth less than $760 billion The world's second-largest cryptocurrency player, Ethereum, is headed for a 70% decline this year

Ethereum investors have been hit hard by this However, this performance does not reflect the potential of the top cryptocurrency The safest investments are favored during market downturns, while riskier investments,

such as cryptocurrency, are avoided Whether Ethereum will turn around in 2023 is now the question Would you be able to make a good profit if you invested in this top ten leader? Let's take a closer look

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Trends in Performance

You might be frustrated with Ethereum's recent performance In spite of this, the currency price has climbed over time -- and has gained more and more after every difficult period that comes along� Due to its many strengths and promises for the future, crypto has this advantage Ether is a native token on the Ethereum blockchain

It has become the leading platform for decentralized applications (dApps) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) In addition to financial, technology, and gaming dApps

Down the road, it might be particularly useful and technologically transcendent in finance. A cryptocurrency holder can lend, borrow, or make payments without an intermediary Business practices around the world could be revolutionized by decentralized finance.

By sales volume, Ethereum is the largest NFT over time, according to CryptoSlam Compared to a few years ago, Ethereum is actually in a better position to climb A major upgrade project is taking place that eliminates the biggest problems the crypto player has Specifically, I am referring to energy use, slow speed, and high costs

Proof-of-Stake's Shift Ethereum's "merge" phase has been completed� Through the merge, Ethereum moved from an energy-intensive proof-ofwork validation method to a proof-of-stake (PoS) validation method� By using this method, Ethereum uses less than 99% of its former energy consumption� Complex computations are required for proofof-work (PoW), which makes PoW protocols particularly expensive and

wasteful due to its high energy consumption and requirements In contrast, PoS is far less impactful on the environment

Miners do not receive rewards or tokens under PoS� A fee-burning mechanism on Ethereum will help reduce token supply progressively� As a result, the price should rise over time The upcoming sharding upgrade should improve speed and cost Shading is the process of splitting up a workload across multiple databases horizontally Transaction fees are reduced, congestion is reduced, and speed is increased It is possible to process 100,000 transactions per second with the help of sharding

What are the chances that Ethereum will surpass all

past glories in 2023? Gains can come at any time Their arrival cannot be predicted In 2023, Ethereum's positive developments and market strength might result in a rally after a tough year like this one The strengths I listed above indicate that Ethereum has the potential to return to last year's high This would result in a return of almost four times next year As crypto takes off, Ethereum may also be able to surpass that grandly over time The potential is exceedingly promising�

None of this can be guaranteed� It is particularly risky because crypto is a relatively new industry You should only invest what you can afford to lose However, Ethereum is a good choice if you're an aggressive investor looking to identify tomorrow's crypto winners

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Is Binance Saving the Crypto Industry?

GEORGE SMITH

"HYPERBITCOINIZATION" COULD HAPPEN IN A FEW YEARS,

Idigit inflation rates have led to some governments becoming more open to Bitcoin The process is currently being accelerated by one Bitcoin evangelist meeting with officials. In

tender This past April, the Central African Republic followed suit Some elected officials in places like Portugal and the United Kingdom are increasingly interested in BTC

company started by Bitcoin pioneer Adam Back, had Samson Mow as its chief strategy officer for half a decade � A $1 billion bond backed by Bitcoin was issued

From conversations he has had with politicians, Mow believes that we are only a few years away from "hyperbitcoinization"when Bitcoin becomes the

Binance’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), has created an Industry Recovery Initiative (IRI) to help the crypto industry recover following the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX CZ’s plan is set to help crypto projects that are currently facing liquidity crises amidst the chaos of the quivering market It’s an admirable aspiration, but many skeptics are asking if it’s really going to help the entire industry Well, in short, it remains to be seen, but due to the sheer amount of backing the project has received, it’s looking very likely�

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Binance have initially committed $1 billion to the IRI but is looking to increase this to around $2 billion in the imminent future

Regardless of one’s opinion on centralized exchanges, it’s quite inspirational seeing one of the largest crypto firms support the industry in such a hugely impactful way After starting this initiative, Binance has successfully rallied prominent industry leaders and groups to sign onto the cause, with the company receiving over 150 applications of support The initiative is going to help stabilize the market and provide additional security to platforms and projects taking part

The value of Bitcoin has plummeted to a 2-year low, and the IRI has yet to impact any rising price directly We can only sit back and watch as the initiative attempts to reinvest back into the industry, reinvigorating crypto into the powerhouse it was only a year or so ago

Centralized Finance's Flaws are Exposed For All to See and Learn From with the Fall of FTX.

The 150 companies that have signed onto the initiative include leading groups such as Polygon Ventures, Aptos Labs, Kronos, Jump Crypto, and Brooker Group Founder of Tron, Justin Sun, has also stated that Tron, Huobi, and Poloniex will support Binance in funding the initiative, with Huobi Global validating this in a recent tweet.

Robert Stone

CZ announced the initiative on November 24th, stating the launch acts as a process of “protecting consumers and rebuilding the industry ” Many remain skeptical as to the beneficial impact of the IRI Looking at recent graphs, BTC is fluctuating between $15,000 - $17,000, and the aftermath of the FTX fiasco still creates ripple effects throughout the scene

We crypto aficionados keep re-learning the lesson of decentralization the hard way In the absence of U S regulations and crypto's centralized development, FTX collapsed A decentralized and

centuries of mistakes by

CZ has expressed major concern over the direction the industry seems to be headed and wants the initiative to act as a barrier against any further industry upsets� He released a statement regarding the initiative, "We will try to collect the other industry players together to form an

finance, cryptocurrency speculators are slowly learning the lessons of the past decade

A top-five rival crypto exchange was provisionally rescued by the founder of the largest crypto exchange, Binance In the equivalent of a bank run, clients

industry association globally and try to deal with some of the common standards in business ” Changpeng Zhao is taking precedence by acting upon a clear warning sign, and whatever happens next, at least someone is taking an active measure to clean up the blazing trail that SBF has left behind

Despite the deal, there would have been an obvious danger: Binance cannot be rescued by anyone due to its immense size� It will be left to the market to resolve a potentially systemic crypto crisis without the deal Even Mr Zhao, known as CZ, poses an obvious danger of relying on one person

What DeFi Can Do

Many reasons can lead to centralization, some of which are noble and intentional The carelessness of others is evident � By bringing the freedoms of the blockchain to traditional

In more recent events, DWF Labs have also highlighted their commitment to the future of Web 3 0 development by funding Binance’s initiative with a further $15 million This extra funding will help support all entrepreneurs and investors who have been affected by recent market collapses� DWF Labs transferred the entire amount in BUSD, Binance’s USD-pegged stablecoin that links to BNB The group released the following statement regarding their support for the IRI, “we believe that it is paramount to support builders in this challenging time We are committed to

providing financial support to the most promising and highest-quality companies that need it most ”

If Binance’s initiative receives enough support, then the industry may very well manage to climb out of this never-ending bear market slightly earlier than expected.

Finance, DeFi allows users to earn interest rather than banks If criminals gain control of the central, private keys, putting that much power in one body can be dangerous The decentralized ethos would place that authority in a decentralized autonomous organization, if that was not possible, at least instituting a multisignature system

Let’s hope that the IRI manages to kickstart the industry back into another prosperous era where we can look back upon the FTX collapse as nothing but a blip in a lucrative future!

In my view, centralized offerings will not survive in the long run It's called survival of the fittest. We are in a state of evolution, and there's no reason for them

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FEATURE

"We will try to collect the other industry players together to form an industry association globally and try to deal with some of the common standards in business.”

OUR MISSION

Ian Freeman: Bitcoin Pioneer to Scammer Supreme?

finance, cryptocurrency speculators are slowly learning the lessons of the past decade

Firstly, a brief warning that this article gets into some weird territory Really weird territory I'm talking satanic churches and nude protestors… but more on that later! At the time of writing, Ian Freeman's trial has just commenced, but by the time you're reading this, it will have most likely finished. Bear this in mind while you continue reading – I don't know the

outcome, but you can find it out with a quick search� What I do know, however, is all the facts leading into the trial and the outcome from the first few days in the courtroom We're going to be presenting a synopsis of all the events leading up to Freeman's arrest, why he was arrested in the first place, and what the expected outcome of the trial will be

Who exactly is Ian Freeman, the apparent money laundering activist whose trial has recently shaken the scene? What crimes is he being accused of, and how is the trial impacting the crypto industry? Let's dive deep into the possible con man, from who he is and what he stands for to what crimes he potentially committed and why – it looks to be the end of an era for the "Crypto Six."

Who is Ian Freeman?

What DeFi Can Do

Many reasons can lead to centralization, some of which are noble and intentional The carelessness of others is evident � By bringing the freedoms of the blockchain to traditional

Ian Freeman is a Free Keene activist/liberalist and member of the "Crypto Six" group He is a co-host of the Free Talk Live radio broadcast and was once described as a "Bitcoin pioneer " Freeman, who was once known as Ian Bernard, is facing nine charges in the trial process, ranging from

money laundering and tax evasion to wire fraud and the operation of an unlicensed, unofficial moneytransmitting business� He hosts a radio program that airs weekly and focuses on libertarian issues and concerns throughout Keene and New Hampshire

The "Crypto Six" are a group of six individuals

In my view, centralized offerings will not survive in the long run It's called survival of the fittest. We are in a state of evolution, and there's no reason for them

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FEATURE

GEORGE SMITH

FEATURE

to exist since they don't offer anything new� The NYSE is better if you want to own centralized companies and trade assets in a centralized market

who are believed to have been operating a money laundering scandal under the leadership of Freeman Other members of the group include Freeman's other radio co-host, Aria DiMezzo, former girlfriend, Renee Spinella (who is expected to testify against Freeman), her husband, Andrew Spinella, Colleen Fordham, and a man who used to be called Richard Paul but now goes by the name Nobody… yep, I told you it's going to get weird! Both of the Spinella's and Nobody have taken plea deals, avoiding jail time, whilst DiMezzo is going to be sentenced towards the end of December/early January Fordham successfully managed to have all charges dropped against her

What is the Trial About?

Problems with Centralized Financial Systems

Centralized financial systems can fail.

The Bitcoin white paper "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System," published by

The trial of Ian Freeman began on December 6th and is set to uncover the roots of his money-transmitting operation amidst possible money laundering concerns Prosecutors state that Freeman and co knowingly opened and operated a "crypto exchange business in violation of federal antimoney laundering laws and regulations�" The platform apparently "catered to scammers and other criminals and had them make cash donations to Keene area churches and converted that into Bitcoin In doing so, Freeman charged higher than normal

Satoshi

Nakamoto in October 2008, contained nine pages� Although Nakamoto conceived of Bitcoin before the 2008 financial crisis, his white paper was released at a fortuitous time� Even though the white paper was released in October 2008, the concept of Bitcoin was probably formalized in late 2006, and Bitcoin software was coded around May 2007

transaction fees " The trial is expected to run for at least two weeks

The prosecution reports how Freeman used local kiosks to operate his Bitcoin business transactions both in person and through online messaging Apparently, his golden rule for customers was, "What you do with your bitcoin is your business Don't tell me " The prosecution hammered in the nature of his business as to criminals across the globe, from "romance scammers" to the classic "Nigerian Prince" pleads Some of the victims of these scams are scheduled to be witnesses during the trial According to prosecutors, Freeman would "get a wire transfer from the victims, take a cut and then send the rest to clients in bitcoin " He also supposedly had a whole team dedicated to opening new bank accounts when his previous ones would get shut down due to suspicious activity

Multiple large banks went bankrupt during the 2008 financial crisis to avoid a global financial meltdown Globally, the 2008 financial crisis cost trillions of dollars and damaged trust between big banks and the public, who ended up paying the price As a result of such a crisis, everyone realized the danger of centralized intermediaries If these banks fail, all money held in them is lost forever except for up to 100k coverage with FDIC insurance

Initial Arrest of the Crypto Six

Centralized financial systems

can inflate the money supply.

The trial comes around 18 months after the group was first arrested, and their residence was raided by the FBI As far back as March 2021, FBI agents swarmed the suspected house in Keene, New Hampshire, wielding guns and arriving in armored vehicles Smashing through a window, the FBI seized a variety of suspicious

banks do not simply print money� Instead, they buy government and private assets Most often, it is bonds� It allows the government to spend more during economic crises and helps the private sector stay afloat. Before 2021, the U S economy showed no clear signs of inflation, but things have changed

items from the group, including $180,000 in cash, coins, and gold bars, as well as two Casascius bitcoins worth around 101 BTC

Casascius bitcoins are a rare form of physical Bitcoin, consisting of a metal coin with an embedded piece of paper where a holographic cover subdues a digital Bitcoin value They are no longer in circulation, but their digital values remain valid The FBI also seized a number of kiosks that Freeman had used for his Bitcoin operation, which have become a key piece of evidence for the prosecution

Context of the Crypto Six

I mentioned earlier that Ian Freeman is a Free Keene activist, and I'm sure that flew over many heads, as it did over mine when I first read it. "What is a Free Keene activist?" You might be asking, well, I thought the same, and here's the information I've found out�

The COVID-19 pandemic led the U S Federal Reserve to buy $700 billion in assets starting in March 2020 And the U S government responded by spending roughly $5 5 trillion on various relief measures with varying levels of effectiveness A $1 trillion infrastructure bill and a $3 5 trillion social welfare and climate change bill were proposed and passed by the Democrats not long ago, and doing so has resulted in inflation. To make conventional currency work, all trust is required It is essential that the central bank not debase the currency, but fiat currencies have a history of trust breaches Governments have a monopoly over the money supply, and they use it

Wealthy nations have generally experienced an economic decline due to heavy wartime expenditures, lavish social welfare, or both During the 1960s, President Lyndon Johnson's The Great

Keene is a city in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, with a relatively small population of 23,000 Free Keene activists are a voluntaryist protest group associated with the Free State Project, which is a political migration movement where over 20,000 libertarians moved to a single low-population state New Hampshire was the state selected, and

Society, combined with a war of attrition in Vietnam, led President Richard Nixon to remove the United States from the gold standard Because gold reserves were no longer required to back the money supply, increasing the money supply became too easy The dollar has slowly but surely devalued due to this decision Today there is more money printing going on in the U S than any other time historically

Keene became the hub of this movement, redubbed to the more specific Free Keene Movement The main aim of the group is to create a society "in which the maximum role of government is the protection of life, liberty, and property "

The Free Keene activists are usually peaceful in their protests, including paying money into expired parking meters to help others avoid parking tickets However, a number of their protests have been layered with controversy, including a court case of harassment against them in 2013, which the group successfully managed to debunk Many citizens of Keene have spoken out against the group, issuing statements where they have apparently witnessed some activists smoking weed on public grounds and engaging in nude protests There has even been a Facebook group created with the name "Stop Free Keene!!!" who attempts to disrepute the group at every opportunity�

Centralized financial systems cannot be trusted.

We are not used to the government confiscating assets, except in cases of criminal activity like the FBI seizing drug dealers' assets Bankrupt governments take

The Free Keene movement has denied all claims and stated that they have never engaged in any nude protests to their knowledge, citing how "toplessness is not nudity " The nature of the group's aims goes against most of the accusations, but it remains a bit of a grey area as it relays back to one word against the other Whichever you choose to believe, the

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important takeaways are the peaceful aims of the group VS the controversial remarks cited against them, as all context matters in the court

Satanic Churches and Tax Evasion

Yeah, it gets far stranger than some confusing nude protest allegations DiMezzo, a member of the Crypto Six, once described herself as a "transsexual Satanist anarchist" while running as a Republican candidate in the 2020 Cheshire County sheriff elections She also opened a bank account for the Reformed Satanic Church, while Nobody opened one for the Church of the Invisible Hand… don't worry; I'm just as lost as you are Assistant U S Attorney Georgia MacDonald described these churches as "little more than letterhead for Freeman's operations�"

Centralized Finance's Flaws are Exposed For All to See and Learn From with the Fall of FTX.

Robert Stone

There may be reasoning behind these church accounts, however, as the prosecution stated how Freeman would use them as a way of avoiding the detection of suspicious banking transfers� Namely, he could label them as "church donations " Through such methods, the prosecution proclaims how Freeman avoided paying taxes from as early as 2016 to as late as 2020 He faces four counts of tax evasion

The nature of Freeman's tax evasion claims lies in his

political roots Libertarians often oppose federal taxes, and it's a strong element of protest for the Keene Activists The question deepens upon further inspection of the trial, however� Tax evasion alone, while a crime, is not often a significant trial – it's the combination of money laundering, fraudulent claims, and the controversy surrounding the entire group that has made this trial such a phenomenon Does the tax evasion segway into the money laundering scam accusations?

finance, cryptocurrency speculators are slowly learning the lessons of the past decade

Freeman Seventeen of the initial 25 charges he was facing were dropped at the start of the trial due to the outcome of a previous court hearing Freeman's lawyer, Mark Sisti, stated that "the banks actually made money off Ian," similar to the "Buffalo Billions" conviction from November, where "no one was harmed "

"leave out details that do not benefit the case." It begs the question of whether the mentioning of the churches is actually relevant or if it's simply an attempt to discredit the group further Either they were used as a basis for false donations, or they really do give back and benefit the community.

How the Defence Fairs

Despite the evidence and sentiment seemingly stacking in the prosecution's favor, the trial has actually started out rather well for

What DeFi Can Do

Many reasons can lead to centralization, some of which are noble and intentional The carelessness of others is evident � By bringing the freedoms of the blockchain to traditional

Freeman's defense has stated that "the churches are real and give back to the community in several ways" and argued that "Freeman is not a scammer " The banks have helped to "set up an orphanage in Uganda and helped local businesses in New Hampshire set up bitcoin payment systems " Sisti hit back at MacDonald, forever bringing the churches into the occasion, asking the prosecution to

Coindesk reports Sisti appealing to the jury, "just because it's the federal government, and just because it is an assistant U�S� attorney saying it doesn't make it true Just because it's an FBI investigation doesn't make it credible " We await further information to determine the truth of the matter as the trial continues

Freeman is described to be a gentle, peaceful, and non-violent man by both

In my view, centralized offerings will not survive in the long run It's called survival of the fittest. We are in a state of evolution, and there's no reason for them

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FEATURE

to exist since they don't offer anything new� The NYSE is better if you want to own centralized companies and trade assets in a centralized market

his lawyer and several witnesses� Sisti states how Freeman is someone who has always "helped victims of scams rather than perpetrating them " These are two wildly varying accounts, and it's no surprise that the trial is going to take over two weeks to reach the bottom of things

Further benefitting the case is Sisti's account of Freeman's declining business to several suspicious customers, most notably an undercover agent claiming to be a heroin dealer According to Freeman's lawyer, "the agent put $20,000 in one

published by Satoshi

of Freeman's bitcoin kiosks even after Freeman told him he wouldn't do business with him in person as he'd requested "

"[MacDonald] told you he said no before this clown went to a vending machine – without Freeman's permission, by the way – and dumped $20,000," Sisti said "What's he supposed to do, put an armed guard in front of his vending machine?"

In another interesting counterpoint, Sisti references a potential witness to the case, a 76-year-old woman who transferred her savings,

Multiple large banks went bankrupt during the 2008 financial crisis to avoid a global financial meltdown Globally, the 2008 financial crisis cost trillions of dollars and increase

worth $755,000, to a romance scammer who allegedly traded through Freeman's crypto services, where he charged a 10% fee Whether or not this actually happened, we will soon find out when the witness is called up and cross-examination ensues However, Sisti makes an intriguing point on the back of this

Speaking to the jury, Sisti exclaimed, "what bank did the little old lady use? Which bank was so highly regulated but missed all the classic red flags of withdrawing such enormous sums in less than a week? Where were the warnings? Show me the bank president," Sisti said, "because that guy should be sitting next to me instead of Freeman "

The Legacy of Freeman and the Crypto Six

Wealthy nations have generally experienced an economic decline due to heavy wartime expenditures, lavish social welfare, or both During the 1960s, President Lyndon Johnson's The Great

Crowds have come out in masses to show full support for Freeman during his trial� It has garnered a lot of attention online, and "crypto liberalists" all over the world are in absolute support of Ian� There has been a website created at www cryptosix com, where a planned protest has been organized outside the courtroom scheduled for December 12th� Hundreds are expected to turn up to demonstrate their support for Freeman's innocence and their liberalist approach to crypto, privacy, and finance.

One cannot predict the outcome of such a quintessential trial; however, the verdict may very well help to crack down on future crypto scams and scammers If Freeman is guilty of fraudulent crypto schemes, then the industry will lean even further into dangerous regulatory waters This comes especially after the collapse of FTX, Celsius, and LUNA in 2022 However, suppose Freeman manages to clear his name In that case, crypto liberalists will stand on a more respected ground and can hopefully begin to steer the industry in a more positive, liberalist direction

Centralized financial systems cannot be trusted.

We are not used to the government confiscating assets, except in cases of criminal activity like the FBI seizing drug dealers' assets Bankrupt governments take

The mass of support speaks volumes for the public mindset However, there are many like myself who cannot take a side without seeing further evidence� As always, we've reported the facts of the trial and always attempt to remain unbiased� We implore you to research the events or watch clips of the trial as it progresses to reach your own conclusion It's important to read up on events and difficulties such as these as they often have ripple effects throughout the industry and often lead to regulatory developments As I mentioned earlier, by the time you read this, the trial will be over, so tell me – Is Freeman indeed a free man, or has the prosecution provided definitive evidence to form a conclusion?

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the money supply

weak economy

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There is a Revolution Going On Among the Unbanked

ROBERT STONE

DCentralized Finance's Flaws are Exposed For All to See and Learn From with the Fall of FTX.

Robert Stone

ecentralized finance plays a crucial role in enabling participation by everyone in the new digital economy There is a threat to the global money transfer industry The traditional means of serving the two billion unbanked are no longer effective in the face of high fees, a war on cash, and a growing trend toward de-risking by banks With global remittance flows to developing countries reaching record levels, bankless, cash-based societies are where the real money transfer market lies The world's developing countries have caught on with their citizens adopting easy-to-make cash transfers on their cell phones by the millions

World Financial and Monetary Systems Are Evolving

Mobile phones allowed even underserved communities to completely forego the need for traditional telecommunication infrastructures like wire networks and landlines

Today it is estimated that 90 72 % of the world's people own mobile phones 22% of the 1 1 billion adult

finance, cryptocurrency speculators are slowly learning the lessons of the past decade

A top-five rival crypto exchange was provisionally rescued by the founder of the largest crypto exchange, Binance of a bank run, clients abandoned FTX problems were deemed too severe to overcome, Changpeng Zhao walked away. FTX has now filed for bankruptcy as its CEO resigned FTX's future looks grim, and the crypto economy's ripples have been devastating for some projects

population has access to a mobile phone out of the 1 7 billion unbanked Decentralized infrastructure is typically the first point of contact for these people

with financial services. Like mobile phones, decentralized finance (DeFi) has become a leapfrog technology, enabling underbanked people to

Many reasons can lead to centralization, some of which are noble and intentional The carelessness of others is evident � By bringing the freedoms of the blockchain to traditional

signature system

access digital assets and services

In addition to these numbers, 30% of people do not use their bank accounts

In my view, centralized offerings will not survive in the long run It's called survival of the fittest. We are in a state of evolution, and there's no reason for them

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FEATURE

When we combine the second group with the first, we have half of the world's population not participating in old fiat paradigms due to expense and ease of use issues Due to fees and intermediaries with their

to exist since they don't offer anything new� The NYSE is better if you want to own centralized companies and trade assets in a centralized market

It does sound ironic that decentralized finance's main problem

Centralized financial systems can

fail.

The Bitcoin white paper "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System," published by Satoshi

hands in the pot, along with traditional finance being much more difficult and time-consuming, they do not use them They can not afford to use their bank

www.cryptoweeklymag.com

account Decentralized finance has become much cheaper for them to use and readily available as a means of payment in developing countries, far exceeding the ease of use of traditional fiat systems.

processed without the need for banks in developing countries It is easy to forget that bitcoin was invented only 14 years ago or that it spurred an array of blockchains geared to make international money transfers cheaper There was no alternative before this to send money internationally without banks other than costly and time-consuming alternatives such as Western Union, MoneyGram, and the like

The COVID-19 pandemic the U S Federal Reserve to buy $700 billion in assets starting in March 2020 And the U S government responded by spending roughly $5 5 trillion on various relief measures with varying levels of effectiveness A $1 trillion infrastructure bill and a $3 5 trillion social welfare and climate change bill were proposed and passed by the Democrats not long ago, and doing so has resulted in inflation. To make conventional currency work, all trust is required It is essential that the central bank not debase the currency, but fiat currencies have a history of trust breaches Governments have a monopoly over the money supply, and they use it

Building a bankless money transfer ecosystem requires the development of various intricate layers of transferring funds between countries, as well as the connection to global currencies Regulatory financial services are increasingly unavailable to people and businesses in small- to middle-income countries Additionally, governments and institutions are enforcing cash control laws in an effort to create a cashless society� Cash is king in Asia, and the denial of cash payments is already causing a rift between cashless and cash-based businesses

Who Are the Unbanked and the Underbanked?

community savings groups, peer-to-peer lending, and other informal forms of financing that predate the modern financial system. In developing markets, it is estimated that 35% of total economic activity occurs in the "informal economy," equivalent to trillions of dollars in "informal economic activity" outside of formal financial services. Almost every unbanked person lives in a developing economy with a young population

Is Decentralized Finance Exactly What it Sounds Like?

In a decentralized finance environment, financial services are reimagined in a peer-to-peer model governed by computer code For example, opening a bank account, using a payment application, or getting credit requires one to apply and be approved by banks and service providers� With fintech technology or fintech companies, it remains challenging for anyone without government identification or proof of assets to access financial services.

Centralized financial systems cannot be trusted.

Only in recent years has blockchain technology emerged as the solution to enable a global money transfer system, where transactions can be

has become an addiction for monetary institutions since the 2008 financial crisis Central banks the money supply through quantitative easing to stimulate a weak economy Central

Wealthy nations have generally experienced an economic decline due to heavy wartime expenditures, lavish social welfare, or both During the 1960s, President Lyndon Johnson's The Great

An unbanked person does not have a financial account The underbanked are those that have a bank account but don't or cannot use them This definition excludes

We are not used to the government confiscating assets, except in cases of criminal activity like the FBI seizing drug dealers' assets Bankrupt governments take

A DeFi infrastructure disintermediates institutions by offering "accounts," savings, loans, payments, and investing through technology and peer-topeer Transparency is the rule, code is the basis, and capital is crowdfunded and

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FEATURE

community sourced

Five years after its inception, decentralized finance has grown into a billion-dollar market that has reached an all-time high of more than $180 billion Doing so creates an open, transparent, censorship-resistant, neutral, and borderless financial infrastructure. A smartphone and an internet connection are all that are needed Anyone can access it anywhere in the world

There are almost five million users on DeFi today, up from 91,000 in January of 2020 Many of them are in developing countries where traditional finance has been out of reach

Centralized Finance's Flaws are Exposed For All to See and Learn From with the Fall of FTX.

Emerging Countries Lead the World in Cryptocurrency Use

Robert Stone

Cryptocurrencies are adopted, mined, and traded faster in emerging countries than in any developed nation except the United States

These crypto-hungry nations have a high proportion of unbanked residents: China, India, Pakistan, Kenya, and Nigeria are five of the seven countries with the highest concentration of unbanked adults Cryptocurrency ownership rates are relatively higher among unbanked and underbanked populations across the globe than among fully banked populations, even in developed economies

person

What DeFi Can Do

We should all realize that an alternative to government-backed finance has one crucial flaw: no backing from the government After centuries of mistakes by

There is a possibility that the unbanked of today will

problems were deemed too severe to overcome, Changpeng Zhao walked away. FTX has now filed for bankruptcy as its CEO resigned FTX's future looks grim, and the crypto economy's ripples have been devastating for some projects

never become bankedthey will leapfrog directly into the decentralized financial services industry. In a decentralized financial system DeFi rails enable access to global capital markets

Many reasons can lead to centralization, some of which are noble and intentional The carelessness of others is evident � By bringing the freedoms of the blockchain to traditional

and blockchain-native financial services for anyone with a mobile phone and an internet connection via blockchain wallets Blockchain-based digital wallets function as "accounts" that can be

organization, if that was not possible, at least instituting a multisignature system

In my view, centralized offerings will not survive in the long run It's called survival of the fittest. We are in a state of evolution, and there's no reason for them

used for sending, receiving, saving, and investing digital assets and can be opened by anyone There are no KYC rules involved Global capital markets can be accessed through this gateway for receiving and transacting

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December 2022 | Volume 48

www.cryptoweeklymag.com

FEATURE

and Centralized Financial Systems

Centralized financial systems can fail.

The Bitcoin white paper "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System," published by

in foreign currencies Large swathes of the population in countries such as Argentina, Venezuela, and Nigeria prefer to get paid in digital currencies and to move their wealth to decentralized ones such as Bitcoin and

Satoshi

Ethereum Cryptocurrencies are one of the most diverse asset classes in the world because they are permissionless

P2P Community Financial Models Are Improved by DeFi

Innovating decentralized finance within communitybased financial structures can improve existing informal, social financial infrastructure by making it safer, more convenient, and more reliable P2P exchanges in emerging markets are already driving crypto adoption by people without access to centralized financial institutions. Savings and loan models based on DeFi are likely to follow People in the community often use savings groups to save money and issue loans to benefit themselves. As a result of a DeFi-based approach, payments and withdrawals can be automated, ensuring fairness and transparency for all members In contrast, digital payments can be tracked more easily than physical cash

Centralized financial systems can inflate the money supply.

Challenges to Decentralized Finance Adoption

At present, US dollarpegged stablecoins and Chinese renminbi-pegged stablecoins are the two most liquid stablecoins Money transfers and stability are strong market opportunities

for stablecoins pegged to frontier and emerging markets Stablecoins enable access to digital money without banks or currency brokers Furthermore, stablecoins make it possible to transfer currencies frictionlessly, which is impossible in traditional markets As a result, businesses and individuals can send and receive cash within minutes, at a low cost, through a global money transfer network

There is a clear solution for unbanked businesses and people when blockchain technology is built into an ecosystem because it provides cash-tocryptocurrency transactions The ultimate goal is to enable those without a bank account to seamlessly transfer cash from one country to another with ease and at a lower cost� When these mechanisms are in place, money can move faster, cheaper, and more easily across borders

However, those living paycheck to paycheck face existential risks due to the volatility of crypto assets� Even the most mature cryptocurrencies can lose 72% of their value in a year� Adoption depends on more than mega-trends Market volatility and a lack of consumer protection will always threaten the adoption of DeFi without clear regulations and guardrails

Wealthy nations have generally experienced an economic decline due to heavy wartime expenditures, lavish social welfare, or both During the 1960s, President Lyndon Johnson's The Great

It's more than just removing the middleman that makes leapfrogging to DeFi so valuable The new digital economy facilitates more open access, participation, and opportunity As well as making existing financial products and principles more accessible, it can empower communities without access to capital formation Unbanked people can easily embrace and participate in a truly decentralized global economy thanks to decentralized finance.

Out with the Money Changers.

Centralized financial systems cannot be trusted.

We are not used to the government confiscating assets, except in cases of criminal activity like the FBI seizing drug dealers' assets Bankrupt governments take

With blockchain technology sounding the death knell for money changers, the 'bankless' era of global money transfer has dawned Money transfer businesses, whom the unbanked rely on, are losing access to financial services through de-risking As of 2016, 54% of banks were closing bank accounts as a result of risk avoidance, according to the World Bank, which has caused even more people to become unbanked or underbanked As I spoke about above, this encompasses half of the world's people! To prevent a digital divide and an increase in informal money channels that undermine financial integrity, the traditional money transfer industry must find solutions to this problem or go out of business It looks like the latter is occurring

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to under-collateralize

FEATURE

Going Deep About How the FTX Catastrophe Happened

ROBERT STONE

Whatare the chances of a multibillionaire losing everything he owns? After losing most of his fortune, his $32 billion company went bankrupt, and became the target of investigations by both the SEC and the Justice Department; cryptocurrency billionaire Sam BankmanFried went from industry leader to villain in less than a week Can we reach the stratosphere in terms of money in one weekend?

Most people would say it's an impossible task� Sam Bankman- Fried, 30 years old, CEO of FTX, the world's second-largest crypto exchange, did just that A leading exchange for buying and selling crypto derivatives was launched by BankmanFried in Hong Kong in 2019

before it all went south In September 2021, he moved the headquarters to the Bahamas Many big names invested in his vision� NBA star Steph Curry was with him at the Super Bowl He dined with Jeff Bezos and Leonardo DiCaprio

Bankman-Fried's crypto exchange, FTX, collapsed after a run on deposits left the firm with an $8 billion shortfall, forcing it into bankruptcy His empire was once compared to finance titans like John Pierpont Morgan and Warren Buffett

As a result of the damage, other crypto companies have been destabilized, and widespread mistrust of the technology has spread

In truth, there was something quite disturbing behind the facade FTX created for itself Ten romantically involved crypto kids ran a shady operation out of the Bahamas In the aftermath of the collapse of FTX, over 100 affiliated companies collapsed It affected over one million people� Hopeful investors in the crypto revolution were wiped out in a flash. This story revolves around Sam Bankman-Fried, a Californian academic who was born in 1992� His mother, Barbara, is a lawyer and the co-founder of multiple Democratic fundraising organizations Sam's Father, Joseph, was a law professor and would later help his son raise funds for his company In 2014, Sam graduated

from MIT and would go on to work at the New York trading firm Jane Street Capital He realized that he could make untold amounts of money trading cryptocurrencies He discovered a loophole where he could buy Bitcoin cheaper in America before selling it in Japan for more money Sometimes he would make up to 25 million a day In 2017 he would use the money from these trades to start his own company, Alameda research

Alameda research was made up mostly of Sam's MIT College friends and former work colleagues This firm would later be a key part of the collapse Sam supposedly believed in effective altruism, which he described as "trying to figure out what practical things you can do with your life to have as much positive impact as you can on the world " He would make an impact on the world alright, but it was by no means positive

In an attempt to appear more trustworthy as Sam became wealthy, he would promote himself as a resourceful billionaire driving a Toyota

38 www cryptoweeklymag com April 2023 | Volume 50

EDITORIAL

rather than something typical of a boy who's made it big This was far from the truth, however� He would actually own a 30 million mansion in the Bahamas Despite this contrast, Sam's humble brand image became popular among

social media influencers, and many celebrities promoted his companies

Sam made a few friends at Jane Street while trading Caroline Ellison was one of them, whom he began dating Caroline needed

career advice in 2017 and Sam suggested she should work for Alameda Research, his new company� Caroline thought that she might as well give it a go With that, someone with little to no experience would quickly be on her way to becoming the

CEO of what would become a multi-billion dollar operation

Many of the staff were Sam's former colleagues from Jane Street, and others were among his classmates at MIT Sam had an inner circle of 10 people who were all housemates They partied

39 www cryptoweeklymag com April 2023 | Volume 50 EDITORIAL

together and had been involved in romantic relations with each other

This group, of course, included the inexperienced CEO Caroline, who would publicly praise amphetamine drugs on her Twitter profile. On her Tumblr, Caroline states that "the only acceptable polyamorous relationship should be in the form of a hierarchy People should know where they fall within the ranking, and there should be vicious power struggles between the higher ranks "

Despite issues behind the scenes in 2019, Sam would start his next major project, FTX, a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange

For those unfamiliar, an exchange is a place to store and trade different cryptocurrencies and tokens for a fee. Of course, the firm would also offer discounts to clients who stored their money in a token called FTT (FTX made the FTT token, which also blew up this entire mess)� The group of young misfits kept high-level management in the dark about what they were actually doing One former FTX employee told Forbes that the group was "kind of a little click; just a bunch of degenerate kids at the end of the day�"

An alleged 2019 promotional document raised some eyebrows Alameda research was a crypto hedge fund

of sorts They carried out trades, matched buyers and sellers, and gave investors a supposed return Alameda promised 15 annualized fixed-rate returns to get people in the door with no downside As the Wall Street Journal later reported, the firm would use customer deposits as loans for trading Alameda research would later receive 10 billion dollars in FTX customer funds

Sam also owned FTX, of course Gambling and investing with customer funds without their knowledge is a clear violation of traditional Finance Ten billion dollars in customer funds were transferred to Alameda Now both the Wall Street Journal and Reuters are reporting that billions of dollars were being used on Alameda, so billions of dollars in FTX In response to the reports, Sam stated, "customer money, yes, is being traded on the Alameda, uh, like through their trading house "

To make things worse, some of the things that Caroline said in interviews weren't too encouraging either� "Yeah, absolutely could pull it off without my math degree� I use very little math� Uh, I use a lot of, like, uh, elementary school math I tend not to have things like Stop Losses I think those aren't necessarily great risk management tools I was trying to think of a good example of a trade where

I've lost a ton of money Um, well, I don't know� I probably don't want to go into specifics too much with that "

Sam stated that he started FTX because he saw that most other crypto platforms only managed to cater to inexperienced retail investors FTX, on the other hand, would offer more advanced financial products like features and options trading for crypto or tokenized stocks that track the value of real companies like Tesla People either really liked the idea or trusted Sam because he managed to raise two billion dollars from various hedge funds and investment banks, including BlackRock

According to Coindesk, current and former FTX and Alameda employees claim that the operations were full of conflicts of interest, nepotism, and a lack of oversight� Employees claimed that Sam was the ringleader "Sam wanted to take riskier decisions than what others would take Sam ran everything We trusted him and believed him� But regardless, for now, crypto was rising like no tomorrow, and business was going great for Sam

In July 2021, it was reported that FTX was averaging 10 billion dollars a day in trading volume across its 1 million users By this stage, FTX had a UC

Berkeley Stadium named after them, an advertising partnership with the Golden State Warriors and the Mercedes F1 team They even had an NBA stadium in Miami named after them FTX was involved in every corner of the crypto space As FTX grew, it became a household name Promotional material included stars like Tom Brady, Stephen Curry, Naomi Osaka, and Larry David, and according to NBC, these Stars received equity in Sam's company in return

It's worth noting that this whole time FTX had no board of directors, just Sam, another employee, and a lawyer FTX even became involved geopolitically, being a partner of the world economic forum They also built the infrastructure to supply funds to Ukraine, basically turning cryptocurrency donations into fiat currency for deposit at the National Bank of Ukraine At this stage, Sam became knee-deep in politics He would soon be worth 26 billion dollars

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EDITORIAL

Sam supposedly believed in effective altruism, which he described as "trying to figure out what practical things you can do with your life to have as much positive impact as you can on the world."

CRYPTO WEEKLY SIGN UP TODAY FOR YOUR FREE DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION! (NO CREDIT CARD REQUIRED) WWW.CRYPTOWEEKLYMAG.COM

NFTs Have Astonishingly Radical Use Cases

ROBERT STONE

As a blockchain token, an NFT is unique by design, also known as a non-fungible token NFTs are different from other fungible tokens because

they have no identical token� The difference is that, unlike ETH, BTC, and SOL, NFTs have no identical token By establishing digital scarcity, an NFT establishes a unique,

provable identifier. Digital assets are identified in a room full of identical prints Therefore, NFTs can be used to prove the uniqueness or individuality of something,

and they typically have associated metadata, such as images, videos, and documents Depending on the issuer and the data associated with an NFT,

42 www cryptoweeklymag com April 2023 | Volume 50 NFT FEATURE

it can prove ownership of a digital or physical asset blockchain�

NFT Use Cases

With NFTs, the concept of scarcity is established, and a unique, provable identification is provided. Because some digital assets can easily be copied and reproduced, digital assets may seem less valuable in

our increasingly digital world Unlike identical prints, NFTs identify which digital asset is the original

Moreover, holders can also have self-custody over their digital assets using NFTs, allowing them to control their assets without involving a third party intermediary or web server "Not your keys, not your crypto" means that retaining full sovereignty over

your private keys and storing your digital assets in a selfcontained software wallet or hardware wallet is necessary for true ownership

Interoperability, or the ability to transfer assets across platforms, could also be enhanced by NFTs Regarding NFTs, there is clearly value there, along with the fact that, as a technology, NFTs have the greatest potential to scale with the growth of Web 3 0 and, ultimately, the Metaverse By design, NFTs allow a whole new concept of what it means to "own" a digital asset

Web3.0 is the Most Far-Reaching NFT Use Case

By incorporating decentralization via blockchain technology, Web 3�0 and the subsequent advent of the Metaverse will revolutionize our use of the internet, including token investing and loans There is a belief that it will revolutionize the internet, similar to how bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies have changed the financial world

Privacy and User Data Ownership is an Evolutionary Quantum Leap

Privacy concerns and concerns over personal data usage led to the creation of Web 3 0 Social

media platforms, browsers, and websites control most of the user data in Web 2 0 In contrast, Web 3 0 is intended to be more transparent and censorshipproof Using blockchain protocols and artificial intelligence, Web3 allows users to own their data in a decentralized manner In Web 3 0, permissionless meaning, no centralized gatekeepers, trustless meaning, no third parties required, and openness to all are designed to be embraced

NFTs and Web 3.0

If you are not familiar with NFTs, they are NonFungible Tokens NFTs are useful and integrable with Web 3 0 because they are blockchain-based Using NFTs, you can provide transparent proof of ownership for digital art, music, data, in-game assets, and personal records Using a crypto wallet as a profile pic (PFP) is now enabled on some social media platforms that verify NFT ownership� Additionally, NFTs can give you access to membership and voting rights and control over your digital identity You could, for instance, determine where charity funds are allocated, how a blockchain works, or even the characteristics of an NFT platform if you have voting rights on an NFT

In addition to creating Web 3 0 domains, NFT use

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cases keep expanding The Domain Name Service (DNS) is used to register or sell Web 2 0 addresses, such as "examplezyx com " Third parties usually provide these services Ethereum Name Service (ENS) and Crypto Name Service (CNS) are decentralized Web 3 0 domains allowing you to accept cryptocurrency

Like any other NFT, you can trade your Web 3 0 domain on an NFT marketplace Decentralization promises to expand what is possible on the internet as NFTs and Web3 become increasingly intertwined As a result of the possibilities mentioned above and yet-to-bedeveloped solutions, NFT and crypto will likely become ubiquitous on the internet - making the transition from Web 2 0 to Web 3�0 even more dramatic than that from Web 1 0 to Web 2 0

The Application of NFTs to Gaming

NFTs have created a lot of buzz in the traditional gaming industry� Some companies, such as Square Enix , Ubisoft , TakeTwo, and Epic Games , have embraced creating games with cosmetics and in-game assets � Indie development studio Aggro Crab Games and Valve (of the Steam store) have vehemently rejected NFTs

Despite its modest optimism, Electronic Arts are not actively developing NFT games NFTs appear to be a mixed bag at Microsoft since it banned third-party NFTs from "Minecraft" but has a blockchain lead who has said crypto and Web3 are part of its broader "portfolio." As Sony filed NFT-related patents for its gaming division in 2021, it appears to be exploring ingame NFTs

Games with NFT assets monetize gamers' time

and provide them with greater ownership of their achievements and digital assets, NFT advocates say Skeptics believe NFTs are unnecessary since players can already buy and sell accounts on multiple platforms

Due to backlash surrounding in-game NFTs, GSC Game World and Team17 scrapped NFT plans for upcoming games before the Ethereum Merge NFTs have been viewed differently by traditional game developers,

but a new class of games has emerged centered around NFTs Examples of Web3 games with in-game assets as NFTs include Axie Infinity, Splinterlands, Alien Worlds, and Big Time

To modernize and digitize their brands, other gaming companies have also jumped into Web3 As part of its efforts to sell Web3 game NFTs, GameStop launched an NFT marketplace and partnered with ImmutableX, a blockchain compatible with Ethereum

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NFTs in the Film Industry

Various reasons have led Hollywood and the independent film industry to adopt NFTs Streaming platforms and traditional studios see NFTs as a new way to generate revenue from their existing intellectual property (IP) and the declining home entertainment industry as consumers move from physical media to streaming

Netflix rewarded weekly online game players with

digital NFT posters of the show's stars for completing its NFTs for "Stranger Things " As part of its experimental "Lord of the Rings" NFTs, Warner Bros is reimagining the future of home entertainment by replacing DVDs with NFTs that unlock special features

Several Hollywood heavy hitters are dipping their toes into the world of NFTs, charging fans for digital collectibles while others are gamifying the process Some people are trying to make film NFTs revolutionary rather than commercial or promotional In this view, NFTs are a way to fund film projects that otherwise wouldn't be possible, such as Martin Scorsese's "Silence" and "The Irishman "

Juul said in an interview that "he knows there are tons of great scripts that won't get made because studios are focused on Marvel and franchise stuff�" To fund small and mid-budget movies big studios won't approve, Juul created NFT Studios and KinoDAO, which gives NFT buyers exclusive token-gated access to filmmaking decisions. "It's a similar situation for "Hunger Games" Co-producer Bryan Unkeless-but he wants to use NFTs to fund and promote "Runner�" Rather than working on a television show or video games, the Unkeless team is focusing on lore and developing a "Runner" comic book

NFTs in Music

The world of NFTs is becoming increasingly popular among electronic music producers and artists working with computers all day The company promises to connect with fans directly without relying on big record companies In order to make ends meet, musicians often feel pressured to tour and perform live shows because they make a very small percentage of income from streaming songs Touring became impossible during the pandemic, so artists sought other means of making money

There is no doubt that electronic artists are more likely than any other genre of musician to get into NFTs Electronic musician Dillon Francis said, "electronic music artists are always looking forward to what's coming in technology since they make their music on their computers "

Fashion and NFTs

In the 2022 metaverse hype, many luxury fashion brands launched NFTs of visual art or digital wearables-and these NFTs were sometimes also connected to physical assets in the real world As a means of relating to the younger generation of digital natives, some highfashion designer brands are employing NFTs and Web 3 0

The Last Word

Web 3 0, the Metaverse, and NFTs are at a very early stage, which provides them with the advantage of rapid change As a result, developers of these components are open to constant technological changes and are customizing them to offer users unique experiences In addition, combining these components promises to offer users an extremely rich experience

As a result of their increasing popularity, metaverses and NFTs are expected to be used by every industry, including consumer goods, education technology, food and retail, and information technology Besides the applications described above, these technologies will be used in many other ways in the future� As a result of its increasing popularity, Metaverse users may be able to pursue unconventional career paths, making it economically feasible�

It is expected that web 3 0 will become increasingly integrated, and a snowball effect will ensue in the coming years, which will, in turn, rapidly increase the dependency on its presence Web 3�0 strengthens the presence of the Metaverse, which in turn supports the use of NFTs, which promises users across the globe an enriching experience

45 www cryptoweeklymag com April 2023 | Volume 50

PROJECT 1

Shade Protocol (SHD) SILK

Squid Grow

shadeprotocol

SquidGrow is a meme coin developed by Shibtoshi, one of the largest whales who held Shiba Inu, worth millions at one point of holding It's one of the safest and fastest-growing tokens on the Binance Smart Chain, with a fully doxed team behind it They aim to "keep growing until we reach the top; '' a project so full of ambition is not one to miss out on

Developed on Secret Network, Shade Protocol consists of a network of privacypreserving Dapps to the high speed of the Secret Network, Shade has not only created a product that is privacy-friendly, scalable, and interoperable, but is also very easy to use

With Shibtoshi being a day one Shiba Inu holder, the possibilities for marketing and outreach have been endless There's a reason this project is perhaps THE fastest growing on the entire BSC - it's trusted, it's safe, and it's only going upwards

ShadeProtocol

PROJECT 2

Despite their inherent security, traditional stablecoins, such as those pegged to gold or fiat, have a major weakness; they lack privacy Using a stablecoin means that the merchant knows far more about you than with a credit card or debit card, allowing them to discriminate against you

SquidGrow was born with a vision to make the record of fastest growing price, and it succeeded Shibtoshi emphasizes the whitepaper's three core values: transparency, trust, and longevity SquidGrow is on the scene for the long haul as both the team and the community are driving efforts for real use cases disassociated from the token usage

Based on the Secret Network and SNIP20 private and fungible token standard, SILK gives

holders the option to make their transactions private or public. With advanced flexibility and auditable privacy, SILK is a 4th generation stablecoin

Since inflation remains a growing concern globally, Shade Protocol offers a stablecoin that doesn't adhere to a single fiat currency or asset, but can react to global trends as they change With Shade Protocol, everything will be under one umbrella, including a decentralized exchange

more use cases to come The staking pool is a high APY unlocked pool where staking your SquidGrow tokens rewards you with more tokens There is no penalty to unlock your staked coins The staking pool, generating an APY of 50%, is available for 30 days, so users can sit back and relax while passively earning rewards.

There's also an LP staking pool where LP tokens can be staked for a massive APY, sometimes up to 500%! The other current utility is SquidGrow lottery, where tickets can be purchased directly through the website, and a new draw is held every day

The utility for SquidGrow revolves mostly around staking and holders; however, Shibtoshi has promised

PROJECT 2

Dogeliens (DOGET)

PooChain

dogeliens

poochain

DogeliensOfficial

PooChainPortal

Dogeliens are coming The new king of meme coins has come from Puptopia to save the earth from mediocre cryptocurrencies The meme coin newcomer that could overthrow Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, Dogeliens Token (DOGET), is also one of the newly introduced ideas and has raised a huge amount in a heartbeat

$POOP is the native token from Poochain, a project that aims to create a unique blockchain exclusively for meme tokens Users can create, distribute and market their own tokens through Poochain, making for a smoother and easier experience for meme token traders and creators $POOP is the governance token for the network and will be utilized within the Poochain ecosystem

Dogeliens (DOGET) is an upcoming meme coin that aims to offer individuals an enjoyable cryptocurrency that both maintains the meme coin pleasure whilst including utility value These combine to make it a token you’ll want to consider Dogeliens is predicated on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), which supplies the community with faster transaction processing and easy scalability

Poochain and POOP are projects to look out for because of the wide array of features already available Not only is Poochain a whole new blockchain, but they also have their own swapping platform, an official dApp (decentralized app), and a whole staking process There are many more features and experiences to come, but Poochain has already shown how far ahead of the game they are compared to other meme tokens aiming to achieve the same thing

dogeliens

poo_chain

The buy tax for POOP is 9%, and the liquidity pool is locked for one year 2 4% of POOP tokens have

The coin supplies video games and academic info to newbies, aiming to assist the

As governments consider how to interact and use cryptocurrencies, and more nations adopt cryptocurrencies as a hedge against inflation, at the same time the world's population becomes more familiar with cryptocurrency, stablecoins will remain a major topic of discussion The answer to the question of what a stablecoin should be, can be found in SILK

The more numbers your ticket matches in each draw, the more you win. A deflationary mechanism revolves around the lottery tickets, as 10% of each lottery pool is burned every draw.

Shibtoshi has stated that "future utilities will only be announced when exact time frames are 110% able to be met" There is so much more to come from this token, and it's only going up from here, so get in on SquidGrow now before you miss your flight to the moon!

uninitiated and those wishing to learn about cryptocurrencies Their purpose is to create one of the best blockchain-based training platforms to attract extra individuals to the crypto industry Dogeliens completed this by establishing the ‘College of Barkington,’ which provides customers with a broad assortment of content material

already been burnt with more to come in the near future POOP is only at its inception in the grand scheme of things The team has so many features laid out in their roadmap that it makes it one of the most promising and safest investments in the meme token circle Many roadmaps are filled with empty promises and a lack of evidence Poochain has it all planned out clear as day

The team behind Poochain has even released a swanky new trailer for their upcoming dApp, allowing holders to stake POOP tokens from their phone and swap and exchange POOP coins wherever they go It's simple and accessible, and there's so much potential behind the project; it truly is one of the most promising and exciting projects to arise in recent months

Get staking your POOP coins now and start earning BNB through APY returns today Join the next meme token adventure and the future of meme token blockchains on Poochain!

Dogeliens Academy, a new educational platform, will be launched by Dogeliens This platform will provide a virtual class with video content so that everyone may learn more about blockchain technology Dogeliens will also provide DeFi services like staking and trading, which will be supported by the platform’s DOGET tokens The token is also required for users to mint NFTs to engage in the platform’s play-to-earn (P2E) games and obtain DOGET token prizes� While Dogeliens aspires to imitate Dogecoin, it will not remain in its shadow Instead, Dogeliens will grow and recruit additional next-generation utilities within its ecosystem

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Shade_Protocol

HIDDEN GEMS

squidgrow Squid_Grow SquidGrowPortalEntry

HIDDEN GEMS

PROJECT 3

Dogeliens

cookiesale

dogeliens.io

Cookie Sale launched in February 2022, and aims to become one of the biggest launchpads for tokens on the BSC sleek design and easy-to-use interface, CookieSale looks to be adaptable and adoptable for developers and a safe environment for investors works side by side with Kodi’s marketing & advertising agency Pitch. This benefits developers and holders of Kodi as well As a developer, you will be able to use CookieSale as an “A to Z” platform

CookieSale will be bought back into Kodi and then airdropped to holders, holding 10 million or more Kodi tokens

The coin supplies video games and academic info to assist most people to gain an understanding of cryptocurrency extra quickly They aim to create one of the best blockchain-based training platforms to attract extra individuals to the crypto business Dogeliens completed this by establishing the 'College of Barkington,' which provides customers with a broad assortment of content

Backed by powerful auditing companies such as Certik, SpyWolf, Brewlabs, Dessert Finance, Contract Checker, and HashEx developers will be able to choose between three pre-audited contracts or create their own and have it audited separately Other key features include liquidity locking, anti-bot features, custom airdrops, visual cues to aid in identifying safer investments, and more

DogeliensOfficial

cookiesaleio

dogeliens

PROJECT 4

Shade Protocol

shadeprotocol

Dogeliens (DOGET) is an upcoming meme coin that hopes to offer people an enjoyable experience that maintains the meme coin's pleasurable mystique It also includes elements of usefulness that make it a token you’ll consider for eternity Dogeliens is predicated on the Binance Smart Chain, which supplies the community with faster transaction processing and easy scalability

From advertising to zhooshing up your “cookie” there will be something that satisfies almost anyone’s tastes As a Kodi holder, a percentage of the revenue generated through

Kodi’s mission is to create a one-stop-shop IDO platform and provide investors with an interactive Entertainment Network that will keep users engaged, informed, and entertained while investing in the crypto space

ShadeProtocol

cookiesale kodicoinofficial

Shade_Protocol

Clear Vision

Developed on Secret Network, Shade Protocol consists of a network of privacy-preserving Dapps Due to the high speed of the Secret Network, Shade has not only created a product that is privacy-friendly, scalable, and interoperable but is also very easy to use

Kodi`s vision is to create an ecosystem that will be a driver in promoting a safer economic environment for crypto investors to participate in and for developers to grow their projects. Kodi is creating an industry-first Entertainment Network that will become THE place for crypto investors to socialize, have fun, win prizes, and learn about everything crypto Is there anything more about Kodi? How do you, as an investor benefit? Kodi by itself, is an entertainment project Kodi plays games post podcasts, do AMAs, have tournaments, live streams, and play plenty of music� At Kodi there are two subsidiaries� "Pitch" being the in-house advertising agency, which is a one-stop shop, all things content creation, both in crypto and fiat. Branding, websites, commercials, you name it Kodi does it The Pitch Advertising Agency and

Based on the Secret Network and SNIP20 private and fungible token standard, SILK gives holders the option to make their transactions private or public With advanced flexibility and auditable privacy, SILK is a 4th

One notable feature that stands out amongst other launchpads is that CookieSale will only charge a flat fee for listing Developers will be able to launch the right way, without the fear of a large sell from the launchpad taking profit.

Dogeliens Academy, a new educational platform, will be launched by Dogeliens This platform will provide a virtual class with video content so everyone can learn more about blockchain technology Dogeliens will also provide DeFi services like staking and trading, which the platform's DOGET tokens will support The token is also required for users to mint NFTs to engage in the platform's play-to-earn (P2E) games and obtain DOGET token prizes While Dogeliens aspires to imitate Dogecoin, it will not remain in its shadow Instead, Dogeliens will grow and recruit additional next-generation utilities to its ecosystem

CookieSale launchpad Cookie Sale will work in unison to become the go-to destinations for developers to build their brands and launch their projects With Cookie Sale, you can launch your project from A to Z Gone are the days of taking your token supply Kodi simply charges a flat fee, no strings attached.

generation stablecoin

So how do you benefit as a holder? Well, if you're, a holder of at least ten million KODI you receive BNB, rewards automatically deposited You also can participate in Kodi`s weekly games where you can win, BNB

But here's where things get really

Since inflation remains a growing concern globally, Shade Protocol offers a stablecoin that doesn't adhere to a single fiat currency or asset but can react to global trends as they change With Shade Protocol, everything will be under one umbrella, including a decentralized exchange

The answer to the question of what a stablecoin should be can be found in SILK

47 www cryptoweeklymag com April 2023 | Volume 50 45 www.cryptoweeklymag.com December 2022 | Volume 48

kodicoin

Two percent of every transaction goes straight into the Kodi treasury contract The treasury buys back Kodi tokens, creating an increase in price, and stores them in the treasury Twenty percent of these tokens are burnt and 80% gets used to top up the staking pools as needed revenue generated through pitch and cookie sale also gets added to the treasury contract This creates the everincreasing price floor, whilst also removing tokens from circulation Go say hi on their telegram community, or check out their website at Kodicoin com kodi_coin

PROJECT 3

Cookie Sale Kodi (KODI)

Dogeliens are coming The new king of meme coins has come from Puptopia to save the earth from mediocre cryptocurrencies The Meme Coin Newcomer That Could Overthrow Dogecoin And Shiba Inu, Dogeliens Token (DOGET), is also one of the newly introduced ideas and has raised a huge amount in a jiffy The other two tokens discussed in this article are Ethereum (ETH), the second largest crypto project, and Aptos (APT), which completes a project abandoned by one of the largest companies, META

Why Bitcoin Can't Be Used To Launder Money

ROBERT STONE

PART TWO: LAYER 2 CONSENSUS MECHANISMS: WHAT ARE THEY AND HOW DO THEY WORK?

Bitcoin is frequently criticized for being a money laundering tool It's just the opposite; that's the problem That's not good enough for me We were led to believe we could be anonymous using Bitcoin initially, and it was all a lie I had latched onto that and felt there was a promise with Bitcoin against the worldwide money changers Everything I thought I knew about Bitcoin initially was fiction, as it turned out People were transacting with Bitcoin on illicit darknet marketplaces in the early days because they weren't aware of the consequences Turns out, if there is a desire, they will find anyone who exposed themselves to these places

Earlier this year, Matt Levine commented on the arrest related to the Bitfinex theft that Bitcoin is extremely difficult to launder because the blockchain is publicly accessible There are no user names associated with addresses or wallets on the chain itself It is, however, very easy to monitor some amount of Bitcoin and see if it moves. It's not difficult for regulated exchanges

to reject Bitcoin that is compromised in any way

Robert Stone

Further, while a wallet does not technically have a name associated with it, it is quite easy to link it to someone's name in many cases Bitcoin purchases made through Coinbase or any other established, regulated exchange can be linked to your name� From there, you can work your way backward

ast week we went into a bit of depth about what layer 2 consensus mechanisms are, what they do, and how they work. We talked about Optimistic Rollups, ZK Rollups, and Validiums. I then discussed a bit about the contrast between layer 1 and layer 2 chains. Today I will finish up by explaining some of the more common layer 2's and what they do.

Money laundering is not an issue for Bitcoin, so the critics are wrong or lying One of the two I do think there are people out there

who are actively lying about everything to do with crypto; they hate it so much As a result, industry participants can disassociate themselves from any unsavory elements But there's a problemBitcoin may not have any point if it can't be used for laundering money� Can we fix that? Its stateless nature makes it an attractive investment� No one can get in the way and say "no " If the powers that be can easily look onto the chain and know what you are doing, then it's hard to see exactly what the benefit is.

Layer 2 Examples

In general, layer 2s (which anyone can build), provide a greater range of options for end users as they harmonize with the Ethereum ecosystem� There can be a balance between the advantages of a layer 2 blockchain and the limitations of another layer 2

Then when you think

These are Some of the More Common Layer 2s:

General Layer 2s Defined

The general layer 2 project mirrors Ethereum's mainnet's performance and functionality, but with lower fees (gas). Here are a few examples:

about it, when CBDC's come (Central Bank Digital Currencies) —and they will— all the governments of the world will be able to see every move you make with your money� In fact, they will try to get rid of paper money which is the only truly anonymous form of government-issued legal tender for payments we have unless everyone starts tracking all the serial numbers on the bills with every transaction it makes� That is not going to happen With CBDCs, it's all going to be an insidious part of the code. It won't even reflect Bitcoin's transparency What

48 www cryptoweeklymag com April 2023 | Volume 50 www.cryptoweeklymag.com December 2022 | Volume 48

BEGINNERS GUIDE

it will reflect is a wantonly effective new tool for the surveillance state They will know what CBDC funds you have, and they will have all of the serial numbers They could turn off your money, like turning off a faucet at any time, and render it useless if it pleased them

More recently, the wallets of anyone who had connected to Tornado Cash were blacklisted and rendered unusable This travesty showed the world that governments could, in fact, can shut you off at any time What the free world needs to happen is for Bitcoin and Ethereum, and all the best altcoins out there need to take it to another level and fork into what the people of the world really want Their privacy The same privacy we all have with a wad of paper money in our wallets

the project that Bitcoin was not very private and that it was a deliberate tradeoff But the regular Joe on the street didn't have a clue about that All we ever heard in the news was how Bitcoin would facilitate organized crime and terrorism We were repeatedly told in the news and in print that Bitcoin was anonymous There was no thought of blockchain analysis in Bitcoin's early years As a result of the truth that Bitcoin is not anonymous at all, blockchain analysis has become extremely accurate Now, for Bitcoin to be taken seriously, its ecosystem needs to be leveled up as well

collect personally identifiable information about their customers, authorities can easily match Bitcoin transactions to real people Due to its easy traceability, law enforcement agencies actually prefer it when criminals use the asset Every transaction on the blockchain is recorded To make the Bitcoin blockchain nearly untraceable, developers are currently developing tools such as the Lightning Network

wallets that use CoinJoin, a technology that groups Bitcoin transactions together in order to hide their origins Several projects promise near-anonymous transactions and more privacy by mixing protocols A good example is CoinJoin Other wallets that are very promising are Wasibi and Sparrow Monero is a token that is specially optimized for privacy as well

PART TWO: LAYER 2 CONSENSUS MECHANISMS: WHAT ARE THEY AND HOW DO THEY WORK?

Decentralize that, and the cryptosphere will have something unstoppable� Thus, crypto seems to have been designed for such a purpose� An unregulated, stateless system of money that allows anyone to transact without state approval, or anyone else for that matter

CBDCs can and will be a powerful tool for governments of oppressed societies like China that exclude dissidents from formal financial systems. In the beginning, it was understood by developers in

The Lightning Network

Privacy-protecting projects are being targeted more than ever before as the U S government ramps up crypto regulatory efforts Currently, users are contemplating Tornado Cash's implications Bitcoin developers, however, have been working behind the scenes to ensure privacy when transacting with crypto for years�

Robert Stone

It is evident that the U S is trying to 'fit' cryptocurrencies into what it perceives as its financial control framework by targeting an opensource protocol rather than an individual The fight for financial privacy escalates again here as the importance of holding funds without KYC links becomes apparent Since cryptocurrency exchanges

Bitcoin users can stay private by using the Lightning Network, a perhaps lesser-known method "Second-layer solutions" were created to solve Bitcoin's scalability issueor, to put it another way, to process a greater number of transactions� In order to accomplish this, it skirts the main Bitcoin blockchain Since every transaction isn't permanently stored in the main blockchain, it also has privacy benefits. Instead, the transactions are grouped together and recorded as one big transaction later In addition to microtransactions, like buying a coffee, this allows anonymous payments to be made

In an unprecedented move, Tornado Cash, an app that lets users anonymously send Ethereum, has been banned by the U S Treasury Department It is now illegal for American citizens to access the tool or interact with addresses that use it Currently, crypto developers and users are assessing the impact of this prohibition and how it might be enforced However, for now, similar tools are being developed for Bitcoin

In Conclusion

Layer 2 Examples

Wallets

Bitcoin can be made more private by using certain wallets Particularly

These are Some of the More Common Layer 2s:

General Layer 2s Defined

The general layer 2 project mirrors Ethereum's mainnet's performance and functionality, but with lower fees (gas). Here are a few examples:

Ultimately, Bitcoin's goal should be the equivalent of other open projects, like Signal, Tor, or even email itself� Yes, they can be used by people you don't like But if they couldn't be used by them, then they couldn't be used by the people you do like And if Bitcoin never achieves this status — where anyone can use it without influence from a centralized entity like a government — then it's really not clear at all what the point is

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BEGINNERS GUIDE