At the end of the term, President Jair Bolsonaro Penal Code 4,401/2021, which regulates the cryptocurrency market in Brazil and was already approved by the Chamber of Deputies at the end of November. The punishment appeared in this Thursday’s Official Gazette (22).
Bill 4,401/2021, which creates a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies in Brazil, was approved on November 29 in the Chamber of Deputies after a long process marked by seven years of discussions between lawmakers and market players.
The law sets regulatory guidelines to guide illegal regulation, consumer protection and defence, combating financial crime and transparency of operations involving cryptocurrencies.
According to Julien Dutra, director of government affairs at 2TM, the holding company that controls the bitcoin market, even if Bolsonaro does not sanction the law in time, the PL will go back to Congress to enact it, since the matter has already been analyzed and approved in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. deputies.
crypto market
Most global stock indices are up for a third day, but the cryptocurrency market is still sideways this Thursday (22nd). Despite the price slump, the next few days will be hectic as investigations into the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX progress.
Bitcoin (BTC) price is down by 0.2% over the past 24 hours, at $16,840. Ethereum (ETH) is down 0.1% at $1,215, according to data from Coingecko.
In fact, Bitcoin (BTC) is down 0.2%, trading at R$88,087, according to the Bitcoin Gateway Index (IPB).
Amidst the stability of the largest cryptocurrencies, ICE, Popsicle Finance’s native token, is up more than 300% in the past 24 hours. Lollipop is a decentralized finance protocol focused on market making and passive income. The token jump was prompted by the news that blockchain developer Daniele Sistagalli will be returning to the project, according to CoinDesk.
MATIC, the Polygon token, is down 0.6% this morning. Polygon, an Ethereum scalability solution, has launched its second “testnet,” or public testnet, the last step before the mainnet launch, without specifying a date.
Meanwhile, Waves blockchain founder Sasha Ivanov has urged centralized exchanges to stop traders from betting on the protocol’s native token in the futures market, amid a 40% drop in the value of the digital currency over the past two weeks.
Other altcoins ran between gains and losses, including BNB (-1.2%), XRP (+0.7%), Dogecoin (+1%), Cardano (-0.2%), Polkadot (-1.4%), Shiba Inu (+ 0.2%), Solana (+0.1%) and Avalanche (-1.1%).
Lawsuits Against FTX Executives
US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams announced that Caroline Ellison, former CEO of investment firm FTX Alameda Research, and co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Gary Wang have pleaded guilty to criminal charges.
The two are accused of helping Sam Bankman-Fried, who founded the now-collapsed FTX empire, embezzle billions of dollars from clients for his own gain.
Williams added that Ellison and Wang are cooperating with prosecutors and that more charges will be brought against other individuals, according to The Block. But Williams also recommended that others involved in the FTX breakup come forward before making allegations: “Our patience is not eternal.”
Coinciding with the confessions of his former partners, Bankman-Fried arrived in the United States on Wednesday (21), having agreed to be extradited by a Bahamas judge. SBF is scheduled to participate in its first hearing in federal court in Manhattan this Thursday (22). According to Bloomberg, his attorney can apply for temporary bail.
Ellison will be eligible for $250,000 bail and will only be able to travel within the continental United States, according to CoinDesk. You will also need to provide all travel documents.
SEC and CFTC fees
The US Securities and Exchange Commission, US CVM, and CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) also filed civil lawsuits against Ellison and Wang for defrauding investors. The two reached an agreement with the agencies to file the lawsuit. If the deal is approved by a judge, both must give up the money they earned from FTX and Alameda and will be prohibited from “issuing, buying, offering, or selling any securities” except for their personal investment accounts.
In a 38-page document, the SEC explains that Ellison and Wang acted in conjunction with the SBF to defraud FTX investors at least between May 2019 and November of this year. Wang co-created a software code that allowed the transfer of capital from FTX to Alameda, including client funds. This money was used for illiquid investments and to cover the gaps in Alameda.
In a statement, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler alleged that “Caroline Ellison and Sam Bankman-Fried planned to manipulate the price of FTT, a security token that was an integral part of FTX, to support the value of the house of cards.”
Guarantees
FTT, the original FTX token, was sold as an investment contract and is a “security,” the SEC said in the allegation document, a statement expected to have a broad impact on the crypto industry, CoinDesk notes.
The strong weight of FTT on Alameda’s balance sheet was the trigger for the crisis that led to the collapse of FTX. Additionally, the digital currency exchange used its token to fund the acquisition of the Blockfolio trading platform, according to financial data obtained by Bloomberg News.
FTX paid about $84 million in 2020 for a majority stake in Blockfolio, which at the time was considered one of the largest acquisitions in the crypto industry. About 94% of the amount was paid out in FTT tokens.
Other advantages of cryptocurrency
Complaints are increasing on social networks about late payments by Braiscompany, A company that promises returns of more than 80% annually through “leasing crypto assets” has been accused of a financial pyramid scheme set up by Suno Research CEO Tiago Reis, according to a report by Bitcoin portal. Checking Braiscompany’s Instagram profile, there are many comments from customers since Tuesday night (20) trying to understand why the monthly income for December hasn’t been paid yet.
BDM Digital, the cryptocurrency issuer of the same name, and its partners, Among them is ophthalmologist Urandir Oliveira – who invented ET Bilu – who has been sued by a blockchain programmer who claims to be the creator of the project. According to the Midiamax website, which obtained information about the case, BDM would have cloned and used the software infrequently, resulting in a lawsuit for moral damages and compensation set at R$12.8 million.
Ray Youssef, CEO of P2P cryptocurrency platform Paxful, put on the extreme Bitcoin shirt once and for all by making the drastic decision to pull Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency, off the platform. In a letter he sent Wednesday to 11 million Paxful customers, Youssef says that while Ethereum has shown some benefit in real-world use cases, the ecosystem has thrived because of the token that opened the door to scams, harming thousands of people.
Betting on the metaverse cryptocurrency trading platform, Mynt and BTG Pactual, announced the listing of two more assets for trading: MANA and SAND, according to Exame. Meanwhile, monthly sales on virtual world platforms are down 96% since the start of the year, with just $2 million in circulation in November, according to data from The Block Research.
Bitcoin mining company Core Scientific, which has filed for bankruptcy, it can sell up to 1 gigawatt of its developing hubs. “The probability of selling the assets we are currently working on is close to zero,” mining director Russell Kahn told The Block. “The possibility of selling assets that are under development where we have electric power, land and substations is high.”
Designed by architect Paulo Jacobsen and facilities designed by Bill Lupo, Pita Arquitura and Kelving Labs, “Hashtown”, in Leblon, south of Rio de Janeiro, has become the headquarters of the crypto economy in the country. In the complex is The Crypto Kitchen, which accepts payments in cryptocurrencies. The customer needs to have a Bitfy account and choose from the 10 asset options provided by the digital wallet, according to Valor. The number of customers choosing this type of payment is still low, but chef Rafa Costa e Silva is considering porting the system to Lasai restaurant in Botafogo and to a venture that will open in the same neighborhood.