Crypto NFT Today: The Latest Blockchain, Cryptocurrency and NFT News: March 29 – April 4
Welcome to another edition of Crypto NFT Today! If you enjoy cryptocurrency, NFTs, and riding emotional, and sometimes sketchy, roller coasters, you’ve come to the right place. So put on some soothing music and let’s go!
Russia delays CBDC rollout
The Russian Central Bank’s digital currency (CBDC) pilot rollout has been delayed indefinitely. Participating banks stressed that they are ready to begin the test phase, but enabling laws have not yet been approved in the State Duma. The TASS news agency reports that the law will be adopted sometime in May.
Executives have expressed enthusiasm for the project, with 13 banks ready to test CBDC retail payments.
“The use of smart contracts should reduce the operational burden of banks and make the agreements transparent, which will not only reduce the chances of misuse of the state’s and banks’ funds, but ultimately simplify the control over existing contracts,” said Vitaly Kopsov, innovation director of Sinara Bank .
The consumer CBDC pilot was originally planned for 2024, but was moved up as Russia’s central bank sought alternatives after Western sanctions banned them from the SWIFT payment system.
CFTC Sues Binance CEO Alleging Unregistered Crypto Derivatives
On Monday, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit against Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao, accusing the company of offering unregistered cryptocurrency derivatives in the US.
The suit, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, alleges that Binance ran a derivatives trading operation in its own BInance USD (BUSD), as well as Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC, and Tether (USDT) .
The CTFC alleges that Binance offered illegal goods off-exchange
options, such as if they failed to register as a futures commission dealer and failed to implement anti-money laundering and know your customer processes. The suit alleges that Binance instructed its employees to hide the US location of the transactions by using VPNs.
“Binance’s reliance on a maze of corporate entities to operate the Binance platform is deliberate; it is designed to hide the ownership, control and location of the Binance platform, the filing said.
Bitcoin shares fell by approx. 3% on the news before rebounding as traders moved in to buy the decline.
NFT Week in MIami offers impressive speaker lineups
Miami NFT Week has concluded its speaker lineup with marquee presentations from Francis X. Suarez, Mayor of Miami, Anthony Scaramucci, founder and co-managing partner of SkyBridge Capital, and one of the most influential names in Web3, Anthony Pompliano – entrepreneur, technology investor, and host of The Pomp Podcast.
A press release proclaimed Miami NFT Week as “one of the largest Web3 gatherings
on the US East Coast – with a global network of key industry entrepreneurs, influencers and political leaders in the broader blockchain space – building bridges using blockchain and diverse communities.”
Other speakers will include:
● Co-founder of Ape-In Productions and singer-songwriter, Timbaland
● Entrepreneur, two-time NBA All-Star and investor, Baron Davis
● Miami Ape Founder, Laura Rodriguez
● Mastercard Senior Vice President, Stefany Bello
● Founder of Metablox and Octalysis, Yu-kai Chou
● OneOf’s co-founder and CEO, Lin Dai
● Decentralized founder and co-founder of Ethereum, Anthony Di Iorio
● Artisant Co founder, Leila Ismailova
● Web3 consultant and creator, Swan Sit
BitKeep completes $8M compensation for APK hack, redirects immediately
Bitkeep Wallet has rebranded as Bitget Wallet following a $30 million investment from the crypto derivatives exchange last week.
The move comes as Bitkeep announced that it had fully compensated users who lost money in the 7.2.9 Android Package Kit (APK) hack. Hackers swapped malware on the Bitkeeps update, resulting in an estimated $8 million loss of user funds.
BitKeep said 11,090 wallets that lost funds have now been fully refunded, but says its customer service channels remain open to process “irregular claims” and appeals.
“We are working with the BitKeep team to bring the most used DeFi features, swap, NFT marketplace and DApps, to millions of users in the Bitget ecosystem,” said Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget.
BitKeep CEO Kevin Como will step down and Karry Cheung, its former chief product officer will become the new CEO.
