Big Short Against Tether, CBDC Giweaway, New NFT Collections + More News

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.

__________

Investments news

• Fir Tree Capital Management, a USD 4bn hedge fund, constructed a way to short the most popular stablecoin tether (USDT) in an asymmetric trade, meaning the downside risk is small and potential to make money is great, Bloomberg reported, citing clients of the firm. Fir Tree is betting that its short wager could see a payday within 12 months as it expects that Tether’s roughly USD 24bn in high-yield commercial paper might lose value due to problems in Chinas’ real estate sector.
• Alan Chang, chief revenue officer for financial firm Revolut, is leaving this position for a new crypto venture and is seeking to raise USD 100m in financing, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. He has already invested millions of dollars into the new venture himself, per the report.
• Venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners announced it has dedicated USD 250m to crypto and “entrepreneurs that are powering the decentralized future.” The firm will be focusing on three core areas: consumer crypto, Web3 infrastructure, and DeFi.
• Decentralized platform for trading perpetual futures Hubble Exchange raised USD 3.3m in a strategic partnership led by DeFi investment adviser Framework Ventures. Funds from the raise will be used to scale the engineering team to continue developing the protocol ahead of its mainnet launch in April, they added.
• The US Department of Labor (DOL) warned firms marketing investments in cryptoassets to 401(k) plans as potential investment options for plan participants to exercise extreme care before they consider adding a crypto option. They add that fiduciaries must act solely in the financial interests of plan participants and that those who breach those duties are personally liable for any losses to the plan resulting from that breach.

Regulation news

• US Senators Bill Cassidy and Marsha Blackburn introduced the ‘Say No To the SilkRoad Act’, which would set new regulations and guidelines to crack down on the Chinese Communist Party’s digital yuan. They claim that the digital currency is used to collect personal data on users and bypass sanctions, and propose that the relevant authorities issue warning against the use of the currency and propose trade enforcement actions.
• The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) warned that crypto ATMs must be registered with them and comply with UK Money Laundering Regulations, but that no firms previously registered have been approved to offer crypto ATM services. The FCA said it will be contacting the operators of existing crypto ATMs in the country, instructing that the machines be shut down or face further action.
• The Bank of Israel published a draft circular dealing with managing anti-money laundering and combatting the financing of terrorism risks in cryptoasset payment services. Banking corporations will be required to clarify the source of the money used in the purchase of virtual currencies and the path through which the virtual currencies passed from the time of the purchase until the conversion to fiat currency, they added.

CBDCs news

• Jamaica plans to give JMD 2,500 (USD 16) of free money to the first 100,000 citizens who use its soon-to-be-launched Jam-Dex central bank digital currency (CBDC). Nigel Clarke, Minister of Finance, said that the national CBDC rollout is scheduled for the beginning of the April to June quarter.

NFTs news

• Fashion brand DIESEL announced the launch of the so-called D:VERSE, a new NFT collection that includes unique NFT editions of runway showpieces, as well as physical (and limited-run) garments, sneakers, and accessories. It will also feature a D:VERSE-KEY, a token that will give exclusive rights for discounted NFT pre-sales, raffles, free airdrops, additional metaverse wearables, and news about new projects.
• Playing cards manufacturer Cartamundi Group and entertainment giant Warner Bros. Consumer Products on behalf of DC are launching DC Hybrid Trading Cards by Hro, which will enable fans to unlock the DC Multiverse and collect, trade, and buy the first-ever DC-based hybrid NFT trading cards featuring DC superheroes and villains. The cards should hit shelves and digital wallets in March 2022, with additional and limited-edition content coming throughout the year.

Exchanges news

• FTX.US Derivatives, the derivatives trading arm of crypto exchange FTX.US, asked the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to allow the trading platform to clear margined derivatives trades directly for customers. Their current derivatives clearing organization license requires full collateralization of derivative positions through an intermediary, while the change would allow derivatives risks to be “transparently assessed and mitigated in real time.”

DeFi news

• Decentralized multi-chain liquidity enabler Symbiosis Finance, backed by Blockchain.com, Binance Labs, Amber Group, and more, announced it is ready for a beta mainnet launch. The project supports four decentralized exchanges at launch, which include Uniswap, PancakeSwap, Pangolin, and QuickSwap, with more to follow.

Adoption news

• Princeton University is launching an initiative on blockchain that will convene scholars across disciplines to better understand the potential benefits and pitfalls of the technology. The initiative received initial funding from four alumni who they state are leaders in technology, investing, and blockchain.

Legal news

• The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Canadian law enforcement officers have seized approximately USD 28m in bitcoin (BTC) from Sebastien Vachon-Desjardins, a Canadian man who was extradited from Canada to the United States on an indictment that charges him with participation in the NetWalker ransomware.