“Bring back Tone Vays” — a news podcast edited by ForkLog and friends, covering the main industry developments of the week.
Topics of the episode: new regulatory initiatives in Russia, restrictions on WalletConnect for Russian users, the jury verdict in the Sam Bankman-Fried case, market analysis.
Participants: Lena Jess, Alex K.
Special guests: Denis Smirnov, Peter Bell, the authors of the ChatDPT podcast.
Host: Aremefe.
SBF Found Guilty
On November 2, jurors found guilty FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) on all counts. A final sentence will be handed down on 28 March 2024. The maximum possible sentence on the counts was 115 years.
Cryptocurrency transactions in Russia
According to the words of Yuri Chikhanin, director of Rosfinmonitoring, the volume of cryptocurrency transactions in Russia from January to September 2023 amounted to 185,000 transactions, three times higher than the previous year’s figure for the same period.
Chikhanin noted that, alongside ordinary citizens, cryptocurrencies are actively used by “drug traffickers, terrorists and corrupt officials.” In this context he called for swift regulation of the market.
Bitcoin tracking
Russian authorities are working on implementing transaction-analysis technology for citizens within the country. In an interview with the Parliamentary Gazette, Anton Tkachev, first deputy head of the State Duma committee on information policy, information technology and communications, said the system is being tested at one of Russia’s banks.
He explained the need for the measure by noting that the applicable law “On ЦФА” defines cryptocurrencies as property, but does not regulate transactions with them.
WalletDisconnect
Web3-protocol WalletConnect, which allows connecting integrated wallets such as MetaMask or Safe, announced restrictions on access for customers from Russia.
Many users criticised the decision, saying it runs counter to the spirit of decentralisation.
An exhilarating spring
According to CoinShares’s analysis, inflows into cryptocurrency investment products from 21 to 27 October amounted to $326 million — the highest since July 2022.
Against a backdrop of market revival, optimistic forecasts are becoming more common:
- VanEck CEO Jan vanEck, in the Empire podcast, expressed confidence in the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF and urged crypto investors to prepare for an “exhilarating spring”;
- According to Bernstein’s analysis, the price of the leading cryptocurrency could rise to $150,000 by January 2025 as a result of approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States.