ENEDEX DeBrief — Week 3, August 2022
Welcome to the 15th iteration of ENEDEX Debrief, where we recap 5 major news stories in the crypto and blockchain industry in bite size by the end of each week. Let’s get to it!
- Nigeria aims for millions of new eNaira users as it increases features, targets unbanked
The eNaira, Nigeria’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), will enter the second phase of its expansion with new technology to beef up its user base, Nigerian Central Bank governor Godwin Emefiele said Thursday, speaking at the 2022 eNaira Hackathon in Abuja. The eNaira, Africa’s first CBDC, was launched in October 2021.
“The eNaira is a journey, not a one-time event,” Emefiele said, adding:
“We don’t have a choice but to live with the fact that we are now in a digital economy, in a digital space, where the user[s] of cash will dissipate almost to zero.”
“The second phase of the project has begun and is intended to drive financial inclusion by onboarding the unbanked and underserved users […] with a target of about 8 million active users,” Emefiele continued. The CBDC has had about 840,000 downloads, with about 270,000 active wallets, including 252,000 consumer wallets. There have been about 200,000 transactions worth 4 billion nairas (about $9.5 million at the official exchange rate).
More CBDC, more onramp to crypto!
2. CME Group plans to launch options on ETH futures prior to the Merge
Major derivatives marketplace Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group intends to launch options trading for its Ether (ETH) futures products.
In a Thursday announcement, the CME Group said that subject to regulatory review, it plans to launch options contracts for its Ether futures, sized at 50 ETH per contract. The futures options, expected to start trading on Sept. 12, will follow the firm launching micro-sized Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether options in March 2022, BTC options trading products in January 2020, and a BTC futures contract in December 2017.
CME Group’s global head of equity and FX products Tim McCourt cited the Ethereum blockchain’s upcoming transition to proof-of-stake — also known as the Merge — in announcing the ETH futures product. McCourt said the group had observed an increase in trading volume and open interest for ETH futures and micro-sized ETH futures options, possibly in anticipation of the Merge.
Would you follow or not follow the “smart money” this time?
3. Celer Network shuts down bridge over potential DNS hijacking
Interoperability protocol Celer Network has asked its users to revoke the approval for several contracts after shutting down its cBridge over a suspected Domain Name System (DNS) hijacking.
According to the project’s initial analysis, there was suspicious DNS activity around 7:00 pm UTC on Wednesday. However, at the time of writing, the platform is still investigating and trying to learn more about the issue.
Meanwhile, as the platform continues to pinpoint the problem, the team has shut down the cBridge as an initial way to avoid further mishaps and protect users. The platform also advised its users to revoke token approvals for smart contracts on Ethereum, Polygon, Avalanche, BNB Smart Chain, Arbitrum, Astar and Aurora.
Always use DEX or Bridge that has been audited. Like ENEDEX that was audited by HashQuill!
4. FTX US among 5 companies to receive cease and desist letters from FDIC
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has issued cease and desist letters to five companies for allegedly making false representations about deposit insurance related to cryptocurrencies.
FDIC issued a Friday press release disclosing cease and desist letters for cryptocurrency exchange FTX US and websites SmartAssets, FDICCrypto, Cryptonews and Cryptosec. In the letters, which were issued on Thursday, the government agency alleges that these organizations misled the public about certain cryptocurrency-related products being insured by FDIC.
“These representations are false or misleading,” the FDIC said in regard to “certain crypto-related products” being FDIC-insured or that “stocks held in brokerage accounts are FDIC-insured.” The regulator said these companies must “take immediate corrective action to address these false or misleading statements” on their websites and social media accounts.
Just saying that DEX can’t be intervened with cease and desist
5. Tornado Cash community fund multisignature wallet disbands amid sanctions
Following the United States sanctioning USD Coin (USDC) and Ethereum addresses associated with the crypto mixer Tornado Cash, the signatories of the projects’ multisignature community fund havedisbanded.
In 2021, the Tornado Cash community created a fund to provide incentives to key contributors to the project. The fund was held in a community-managed multisignature wallet with five peer-elected members validating transactions who were selected because of their contributions to the project.
However, given that interacting with Tornado Cash now comes with more risks — including penalties for U.S. citizens ranging from fines of up to $10 million to prison time of up to 30 years — the community members in charge of the fund have vacated their posts and handed control to the project’s decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).
Another testament of DAO versatility. DAO can disperse and merge on consensus.
Those are 5 notable news stories about cryptoverse this week! Anything that we missed?
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