Weekly Newsletter[Block#837,198]
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A. Bitcoin Ecosystem
1. Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years for multi-billion dollar FTX fraud
2. Bitcoin address data now available in Google search
3. Turkish Misyon Bank moves into Bitcoin with Taurus
4. Hong Kong-based asset manager VSFG and Value Partners apply for spot bitcoin ETF
B. Regulation
1. EU vote on New Draconian AML Package for service providers on April 22nd
2. Paraguay strengthens measures to fight illegal bitcoin mining
C. Macroeconomy
1. Survey regarding expectations for the economy and for Fed actions shows positivity
2. Japan adjusts monetary policy
D. Bitcoin Tech Development
1. Hedgehog: a protocol for asynchronous layer 2 bitcoin payments
2. Notable code and documentation changes
A. Bitcoin Ecosystem
1. Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years for multi-billion dollar FTX fraud
Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a judge on Thursday for stealing $8 billion from customers of the now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange he founded. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan handed down the sentence at a Manhattan court hearing after rejecting Bankman-Fried’s claim that FTX customers did not actually lose money and finding that he lied during his trial testimony. A jury found Bankman-Fried, 32, guilty on Nov. 2 on seven fraud and conspiracy counts stemming from FTX’s 2022 collapse in what prosecutors have called one of the biggest financial frauds in U.S. history. The sentence marked the culmination of Bankman-Fried’s plunge from an ultra-wealthy entrepreneur and major political donor to the biggest trophy to date in a crackdown by U.S. authorities.
2. Bitcoin address data now available in Google search
In a significant move, Google has begun indexing Bitcoin data into its search engine results. Users can now search for Bitcoin addresses and see transaction details directly in Google searches. Now, displaying Bitcoin data in search results greatly expands public access to on-chain activity. With Google processing over 3.5 billion searches daily, basic Bitcoin data is now conveniently available alongside standard web results. Currently, Google is allowing three address formats — P2PKH, P2SH, and Bech32. When searching any of these Bitcoin public addresses, users will see the current balance, its last update and the balance as of the last transaction.
Reference:
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/bitcoin-address-data-google-search
3. Turkish Misyon Bank moves into Bitcoin with Taurus
Misyon Bank — an investment banking firm and one of the first neobanks in Turkey — is moving into digital asset custody with Swiss cryptocurrency custody provider, Taurus. The Turkish neobank signed a partnership agreement with Taurus to implement its technology in order to provide custody services at Misyon Bank. Taurus is known for providing its custody service to major European banks, including the Spanish financial services giant Banco Santander and global investment bank Credit Suisse. According to Misyon Bank CEO Önder Halisdemir, the partnership with Taurus is a significant step forward in its plan to make Turkey the “Switzerland of its region.”
Reference:
https://cointelegraph.com/news/turkey-misyon-bank-crypto-taurus
4. Hong Kong-based asset manager VSFG and Value Partners apply for spot bitcoin ETF
Asset manager VSFG, together with its partner, Value Partners, have applied for a spot-bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) with Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Earlier this week, a report from Bloomberg Intelligence said the SFC is likely to allow in-kind creations and redemptions for spot bitcoin ETFs in the second quarter of this year. In December 2023, less than two weeks after nearly a dozen applicants won approval for spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S., Hong Kong regulators said they were ready to consider applications for spot bitcoin ETFs. Hong Kong’s regulators have been attempting to loosen their grip in an attempt to become a global hub for the sector.
B. Regulation
1. EU vote on New Draconian AML Package for service providers on April 22nd
Earlier this week, the EU Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs voted for the texts after a political agreement on the package was reached in January. The law would require crypto service providers to comply with extended customer verification requirements and monitor cross-border transfers and transactions involving private wallets. The broader package also sets up an Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) based out of Frankfurt, Germany. The sweeping AML package aims to eliminate anonymous cash payments over €3000 in commercial transactions and prohibit cash payments above €10000 in business transactions. It would also require AML/KYC checks on all bitcoin payments to custodial wallets operated by regulated service providers.
Reference:
https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/eu-inches-closer-to-new-draconian-aml-agreement/
2. Paraguay strengthens measures to fight illegal bitcoin mining
The government of Paraguay is preparing to fiercely fight illegal bitcoin mining operations. In a meeting held last week between ANDE, the National Power Administration, the Supreme Court, and the Department of Justice, it was agreed to expedite several actions to combat illegal mining operations swiftly. The three institutions established an inter-institutional partnership that will allow the Department of Justice to deal with these cases easily, incorporating several aspects detailing the persecution and punishment of the actors in the theft of electrical energy. More so, the president of the Supreme Court, Dr. Luis María Benítez Riera, stated that the country’s courts will deal with these cases quickly, giving warranties that due process would be followed.
Reference:
https://news.bitcoin.com/paraguay-to-strengthen-measures-to-fight-illegal-cryptocurrency-mining/
C. Macroeconomy
1. Survey regarding expectations for the economy and for Fed actions shows positivity
The members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which sets policy, are surveyed regarding their expectations for the economy and for Fed actions. The median forecast for real GDP growth in 2024 increased from 1.4% when the committee met in December to 2.1% today. That is a big change and reflects the growing optimism about the resilience of the US economy. It also suggests more inflationary pressure. The median forecast for core PCE inflation in 2024 increased from 2.4% in December to 2.6% today. Finally, the members expect unemployment to remain relatively low, suggesting persistent wage pressure. This is important as the remaining inflation is mainly in labor-intensive services. The members now expect a more gradual easing of monetary policy in 2025. That reflects expectations that the economy will remain strong and that, as a result, it will take longer to reduce inflationary pressures. Interestingly, the forecasts of the most dovish members of the policy committee shifted toward more hawkishness.
Reference:
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/economy/global-economic-outlook/weekly-update.html
2. Japan adjusts monetary policy
For the first time in 17 years, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) increased interest rates. Japan was the last country to retain negative policy interest rates. Now there are none. For many months betting on the timing of the shift in BOJ policy became an industry in and of itself. Now, the BOJ is raising its benchmark interest rate from -0.1% to 0.1%. In addition, it is ending the policy of yield curve control. Under that policy, the BOJ bought and sold assets to target the yield curve. Now, it will allow bond yields to move on their own. BOJ Governor Ueda said, “We are going to set monetary policy like other normal central banks. Policy rates are going to be determined based on the economic and price situations.” Under the new policy framework, the BOJ will gradually end purchases of commercial paper, corporate bonds, exchange traded funds, and real estate investment trusts. However, it will continue purchasing government bonds at the same pace as previously but will not attempt to target the bond yield. In other words, the stance of monetary policy will remain “accommodative” but less so than previously.
Reference:
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/economy/global-economic-outlook/weekly-update.html
D. Bitcoin Tech Development
1. Hedgehog: a protocol for asynchronous layer 2 bitcoin payments
A freelance developer focused on Bitcoin and the Lightning Network, Super Testnet, unveiled his latest invention, Hedgehog. State updates in Hedgehog channels only require the sender to propose an update, which the recipient can then accept at their convenience. This asynchronous nature allows for more flexibility and efficiency in payment processing. The protocol works by leveraging a primitive in Bitcoin script known as “revocable connectors.” These connectors are built on two even more primitive components: revocable scripts and connector outputs. Revocable scripts allow either party to revoke a transaction after a certain period, adding an extra layer of security and control. Connector outputs allow you to construct a pre-signed transaction spending a separate UTXO alongside the connector output, allowing the transaction to be invalidated by spending the connector output by itself.
2. Notable code and documentation changes
LDK #2756 adds support for including a trampoline routing packet in its messages. This doesn’t provide full support for using trampoline routing or providing trampoline routing services, but it does make it easier for other code to accomplish that using LDK.
LDK #2935 begins supporting sending keysend payments to blinded paths. Keysend payments are unconditional payments sent without an invoice. Blinded paths hide the final hops of the payment path from the spender. Blinded paths are usually encoded in an invoice, so they’re usually not combined with keysend payments, but they can make sense when a Lightning service provider (LSP) or some other node wants to provide a generic invoice for a particular receiver without revealing the receiver’s node ID.
LDK #2419 adds a state machine for handling interactive transaction construction, a dependency for dual-funded channels and splicing.
