Ex-Google CEO and chairman Eric Schmidt says he's invested "a little bit" of money into cryptocurrencies -- but for him, the most interesting part of blockchain isn't virtual currency. It's Web3. From a report: "A new model [of the internet] where you as an individual [can] control your identity, and where you don't have a centralized manager, is very powerful. It's very seductive and it's very decentralized," Schmidt, 67, tells CNBC Make It. "I remember that feeling when I was 25 that decentralized would be everything."

[...] Schmidt says his interest in Web3 involves a concept called "tokenomics," which refers to the specific supply and demand characteristics of cryptocurrencies. Schmidt also notes that Web3 could come with new models for content ownership and new ways of compensating people. "[Web3's] economics are interesting. The platforms are interesting and the use patterns are interesting," Schmidt says. "[It] doesn't work yet, but it will." For Schmidt, part of the problem with today's blockchain technology -- specifically referencing bitcoin as an example -- is that the majority of time people spend on those systems is dedicated to "making sure that nobody's attacking them ... they're incredibly wasteful."

A new breed of cryptocurrencies is seeking to replicate the stability of the dollar. But critics say they are a disaster waiting to happen. From a report: So-called "algorithmic stablecoins" have surged in popularity in recent months, spurring debate over whether they are good for the crypto industry. They are the edgy upstart sibling of conventional stablecoins -- digital currencies that seek to maintain a one-to-one relationship with a traditional currency, usually the dollar.

Issuers of conventional stablecoins say they hold cash or bonds so each of their digital coins is backed by a dollar's worth of real assets. But algorithmic stablecoins aren't necessarily backed by any assets at all. Instead they rely on financial engineering to maintain their link to the dollar. Some have failed, saddling investors with losses. "It's a lot more dangerous than taking a T-bill and tokenizing it," said Charles Cascarilla, chief executive of Paxos, the issuer of Binance USD, a popular stablecoin that uses the asset-backed approach. "It's a recipe for something really bad to happen."

Proponents say algorithmic stablecoins are better than the conventional kind because they aren't run by a single centralized entity. Instead they run autonomously on blockchain-based networks, relying on traders who could be anywhere in the world to keep them tied to the dollar. Such a design makes it more difficult for regulators to control algorithmic stablecoins, often seen as an advantage in crypto circles. U.S. regulators have stepped up their scrutiny of stablecoins in recent months but have largely focused on asset-backed coins. Algorithmic stablecoins are getting better at keeping their link to the dollar and could eventually overtake their conventional peers, said Sam Kazemian, creator of Frax, an algorithmic stablecoin partly backed by crypto assets.

The crypto payments startup Circle Internet Financial said it's closer to submitting an application to operate as a bank in the U.S., pushing forward with a months-old plan even as regulators make it more difficult for crypto companies to secure this kind of license. From a report: Circle, the issuer of the second-largest stablecoin, disclosed its intention to become a crypto bank in August and has held ongoing discussions with regulators since then, Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Allaire said in an interview. He declined to say when the company would submit the application, saying only that it would be "hopefully in the near future."

The company, which issues USD Coin, is deeply funded. On Tuesday, Circle said it raised $400 million from BlackRock, Fidelity Management and Research and others. The startup plans to go public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company in a deal valued at $9 billion. The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which oversees bank charters, has discussed a variety of topics with Circle management in regards to the company's banking ambitions. Those include interoperability between blockchains and how to assess the operational risks of a specific blockchain, according to Allaire. A representative for the OCC declined to comment on the conversations with Circle. The risk of connecting different blockchains was laid bare recently. Hacks involving crypto bridges totaled more than $1 billion in a little over a year, including a $600 million attack involving the crypto video game Axie Infinity.

"According to a new International Money Fund (IMF) report, cryptocurrency is much more popular in countries with insecure currencies and corrupt governments..." reports The Street, adding that the report concludes "the best way forward is not fight, but to learn how to better regulate cryptocurrency." The IMF surveyed more than 110,000 respondents in over 55 countries, polling between 2,000 and 12,000 people in each country, about their cryptocurrency use.... "Crypto usage is empirically associated with higher perceived corruption and more intensive capital controls," the study's authors write. "[...] This evidence adds to the case for regulating crypto usage — for example, by requiring intermediaries to implement know-your-customer procedures."
Bloomberg adds: The report shows why countries might want to require intermediaries, such as digital currency exchanges, to implement know-your-customer procedures — ID verification standards that are designed to prevent fraud, money laundering and terrorism financing, the organization said. Some countries, like the U.S., have already instituted those kinds of controls.

Nations around the world are struggling over the best way to regulate the $2 trillion crypto market, with the level of oversight varying greatly from one country to another. The findings suggest that crypto assets "may be used to transfer corruption proceeds or circumvent capital controls," the organization said, without singling out individual countries.

The startup promises a fairly-distributed, cryptocurrency-based universal basic income. So far all it's done is build a biometric database from the bodies of the poor. MIT Technology Review reports: On a sunny morning last December, Iyus Ruswandi, a 35-year-old furniture maker in the village of Gunungguruh, Indonesia, was woken up early by his mother. A technology company was holding some kind of "social assistance giveaway" at the local Islamic elementary school, she said, and she urged him to go. Ruswandi joined a long line of residents, mostly women, some of whom had been waiting since 6 a.m. In the pandemic-battered economy, any kind of assistance was welcome. At the front of the line, representatives of Worldcoin Indonesia were collecting emails and phone numbers, or aiming a futuristic metal orb at villagers' faces to scan their irises and other biometric data. Village officials were also on site, passing out numbered tickets to the waiting residents to help keep order. Ruswandi asked a Worldcoin representative what charity this was but learned nothing new: as his mother said, they were giving away money.

Gunungguruh was not alone in receiving a visit from Worldcoin. In villages across West Java, Indonesia -- as well as college campuses, metro stops, markets, and urban centers in two dozen countries, most of them in the developing world -- Worldcoin representatives were showing up for a day or two and collecting biometric data. In return they were known to offer everything from free cash (often local currency as well as Worldcoin tokens) to Airpods to promises of future wealth. In some cases they also made payments to local government officials. What they were not providing was much information on their real intentions. This left many, including Ruswandi, perplexed: What was Worldcoin doing with all these iris scans?

To answer that question, and better understand Worldcoin's registration and distribution process, MIT Technology Review interviewed over 35 individuals in six countries -- Indonesia, Kenya, Sudan, Ghana, Chile, and Norway -- who either worked for or on behalf of Worldcoin, had been scanned, or were unsuccessfully recruited to participate. We observed scans at a registration event in Indonesia, read conversations on social media and in mobile chat groups, and consulted reviews of Worldcoin's wallet in the Google Play and Apple stores. We interviewed Worldcoin CEO Alex Blania, and submitted to the company a detailed list of reporting findings and questions for comment. Our investigation revealed wide gaps between Worldcoin's public messaging, which focused on protecting privacy, and what users experienced. We found that the company's representatives used deceptive marketing practices, collected more personal data than it acknowledged, and failed to obtain meaningful informed consent. These practices may violate the European Union's General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) -- a likelihood that the company's own data consent policy acknowledged and asked users to accept -- as well as local laws.

Almost half of all cryptocurrency owners in the United States, Latin America and Asia Pacific purchased the digital assets for the first time in 2021, according to a new survey from U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Gemini. From a report: The survey of nearly 30,000 people across 20 countries, which was conducted between November 2021 and February 2022, shows 2021 was a blockbuster year for crypto, with inflation in particular driving adoption in countries that have experienced currency devaluation, the report found. Brazil and Indonesia lead the world in crypto adoption, Gemini found, with 41% of people surveyed in those countries reporting crypto ownership, compared with 20% in the United States and 18% in the United Kingdom.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: Russia is considering accepting Bitcoin as payment for its oil and gas exports, according to a high-ranking lawmaker. Pavel Zavalny says "friendly" countries could be allowed to pay in the crypto-currency or in their local currencies. Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he wanted "unfriendly" countries to buy its gas with roubles. The move is understood to be aimed at boosting the Russian currency, which has lost over 20% in value this year. Sanctions imposed by the UK, US and the European Union, following the invasion of Ukraine, have put a strain on Russia's rouble and raised its cost of living.

Mr Zavalny, who heads Russia's State Duma committee on energy, said on Thursday that the country has been exploring alternative ways to receive payment for energy exports. He said China and Turkey were among "friendly" countries which were "not involved in the sanctions pressure." "We have been proposing to China for a long time to switch to settlements in national currencies for roubles and yuan," said Mr Zavalny. "With Turkey, it will be lira and roubles." Mr Zavalny added: "You can also trade bitcoins."

Analysts said Russia may benefit from accepting the popular cryptocurrency, despite the risks. "Russia is very quickly feeling the impact of unprecedented sanctions," said David Broadstock, a senior research fellow at the Energy Studies Institute in Singapore. "There is a need to shore up the economy and in many ways, Bitcoin is seen as a high growth asset." However, he noted that the value of Bitcoin has swung by as much as 30% this year. In comparison, the dollar has traded within 5% against the euro. "Clearly accepting Bitcoin, compared with other traditional currencies, introduces considerably more risk in the trade of natural gas," Mr Broadstock said. "Moreover, one of the major 'friendly' trade partners for Russia is China, and cryptocurrency is banned for use in China," he added. "This clearly limits potential for payment using Bitcoin."

"Motherboard's new CRYPTOLAND documentary series went to West Texas to get into the weeds about cryptocurrency mining and its impact on the environment," writes an anonymous Slashdot reader. From the report: Motherboard visited Giga Energy Solutions in east Texas for the latest episode of CRYPTOLAND, an eight-part documentary series on how cryptocurrency is affecting our world. Mines like Giga's are at the center of heated debate over cryptocurrency's environmental impact. To critics, turning natural gas into bitcoins is emblematic of everything wrong with the growing industry. To Giga Energy co-founders Brent Whitehead and Matt Lohstroh, though, they're undertaking an environmental service -- generating virtual currency using harmful gas that would otherwise be sent into the atmosphere. Instead of combusting surplus natural gas from an oil rig, they're diverting it into a generator, which converts it into electricity to power computers that mine for bitcoin. There's been a lot of skepticism around crypto's impact on the environment as well. The report continues: Alex De Vries, a data scientist at the Netherlands' central bank and founder of Bitcoin energy tracking project Digiconomist who spoke with Motherboard reporter Audrey Carleton as well as Hines and CRYPTOLAND host Krishna Andavolu, says Bitcoin's reliance on the fossil fuel sector is making vast and irreversible contributions to climate change, however.

"Most people are putting their money in Bitcoin simply because they expect the value of Bitcoin to go up," he said. "If that's the situation, where there is just not much possible practical use, but there is a very large energy impact, then my verdict would be that's absolutely not worth it." The full episode is available on YouTube.

In a separate episode published on Wednesday, Motherboard unearthed found footage from one of the first Bitcoin conferences: Bitcoin 2013 in San Jose.

Democratic lawmakers are entering a crypto collision course. Politico reports: Questions around how to police digital currency and whether to support its adoption are driving a rift not just between the party's liberal and centrist wings but also among progressives who often see eye-to-eye on financial regulation. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts -- who has long led the left's charge to crack down on banks and Wall Street -- has emerged as one of the party's most vocal cryptocurrency critics, warning that it exposes consumers to danger, is ripe for financial crimes and is an environmental threat because of its electricity usage. But a new generation of progressives -- and a number of other senior Democrats -- are embracing the startup industry. They're arguing against regulations that could stifle what proponents say is a new avenue for financial inclusion and a breakthrough alternative to traditional banks. "The project of radically decentralizing the internet and finance strikes me as a profoundly progressive cause," Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) said in an interview. "You should never define any technology by its worst uses. ... There's more to crypto than ransomware, just like there's more to money than money laundering."

The simmering conflict is set to intensify in the coming months. President Joe Biden last week asked federal agencies to start solidifying the federal government's approach to crypto, framing the step as supportive of innovation rather than an industry crackdown. The price of Bitcoin surged on the news. Separately, Democratic lawmakers have started to draft a host of crypto regulation bills that are also exposing a wide range of views on the government's role in the $1.7 trillion market for digital assets. The lack of consensus among Democrats means it's unlikely Congress will act anytime soon to pass major legislation laying out the direction of regulation of the new market. Some Democrats and lobbyists had expected initial votes early this year, but that timeline has slipped.

Crypto firms in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are being deluged with requests to liquidate billions of dollars of virtual currency as Russians seek a safe haven for their fortunes, Reuters is reporting, citing company executives and financial sources. From the report: Some clients are using cryptocurrency to invest in real estate in the UAE, while others want to use firms there to turn their virtual money into hard currency and stash it elsewhere, the sources said One crypto firm has received lots of queries in the past 10 days from Swiss brokers asking to liquidate billions of dollars of bitcoin because their clients are afraid Switzerland will freeze their assets, one executive said, adding that none of the requests had been for less than $2 billion.

"Bitcoin was seen by many of its libertarian-leaning fans as a kind of doomsday insurance," argues a columnist in the New York Times, "a form of 'digital gold' that would be a source of stability as the world grew more chaotic and unpredictable....

"But Bitcoin hasn't boomed.... Bitcoin prices are down 10 percent in the past month, and Ether, the second most popular crypto coin, is down roughly 15 percent.Day-to-day usage of cryptocurrencies isn't picking up the way you'd expect, either. Bitcoin trading volume rose after Russia invaded Ukraine, but it has remained relatively flat since, suggesting that people aren't rushing to trade their rubles and hryvnia (Ukraine's currency) for digital currencies. Russian oligarchs don't appear to be using crypto to evade sanctions en masse, either, despite initial fears that they might...."

The column ultimately argues that bitcoin isn't playing a central role in the unfolding crisis. "Which raises the obvious question: Why not?" One possibility is that crypto is still too confusing and too difficult for normal people to use, especially during a war. Internet access is spotty in many parts of Ukraine, and reports have suggested that even the country's elites are struggling to convert their assets into crypto.

Another possibility, popular among skeptics of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, is that Bitcoin is still too volatile to be useful as a hedge against economic and political instability. "The Bitcoin and crypto communities have been selling a false narrative all these years that Bitcoin is supposed to be a safe haven from the traditional financial markets," said Jimmy Nguyen, the president of the Bitcoin Association, a cryptocurrency trade group. (His group promotes a Bitcoin spinoff, Bitcoin SV, that sees itself as a more useful version of the cryptocurrency.) Bitcoin is doomed, Mr. Nguyen argues, because it can be slow and expensive to process transactions, making it less useful for paying for things. "And so a lot of Bitcoin supporters have had to come up with this argument that it's meant to be a reserve asset," he said.

Kevin Werbach, a professor of legal studies and business ethics at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, floated a different theory. Bitcoin's earliest and most vocal adopters, he said, tended to be libertarians who saw cryptocurrency as a kind of insurance policy against hyperinflation and government corruption. But the more recent price swings in the crypto markets attracted a surge of speculators who viewed Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies mainly as investments, and cared less about their political implications. "There's a tremendous amount of rhetoric around Bitcoin in particular that suggests that it's predominantly a means of escaping from the government-issued fiat currency system," he said.

"And yet most of the activity, according to basically every rigorous study that's been done, is predominantly people speculating...."
CNN got another reaction from Eswar Prasad, a professor at Cornell's Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, also a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and the author of "The Future of Money: How the Digital Revolution is Transforming Currencies and Finance."

The professor's opinion? While bitcoin "has failed in its stated purpose as a medium of exchange for conducting transactions, it has become a speculative financial asset..." The Russian government cannot count on bitcoin to evade sanctions — after all, payments for international transactions still need to be settled in real money such as dollars or euros. Furthermore, cryptocurrencies cannot in any significant way prevent a country's currency from collapsing in value relative to major reserve currencies since those values are determined in formal financial markets. Cryptocurrencies might in fact hurt Russia if they are seen by the country's citizens as a better option than the plunging domestic currency. Thus, bitcoin might end up precipitating a flight of deposits from Russia's banking system and even as a conduit for capital flight out of the country.

President Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday instructing agencies across the federal government to study the possible risks presented by the explosion in popularity of cryptocurrencies and consider the creation of a U.S. digital currency. From a report: The executive order urges federal regulators to review the risks a roughly $1.75 trillion crypto market presents to consumers, investors and the broader economy. Federal agencies will have several months to prepare a report with their findings, which would then inform any new regulatory actions the White House takes. About 16% of adult Americans, or roughly 40 million people, have invested in, traded or used cryptocurrencies, according to a White House fact sheet. That growing prevalence of digital assets, which include volatile cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and so-called stablecoins pegged to assets like the U.S. dollar, has pushed the Biden administration to centralize its work on the topic. White House officials have been working with the crypto industry and experts for several months to prepare the executive order. "We must take strong steps to reduce the risks that digital assets could pose to consumers, investors, and business protections," Mr. Biden said in the order, adding that the White House will monitor cryptocurrencies' impact on financial stability, nationals security and climate change.

Thursday the Washington Post reported the Ukrainian government had already received more than $42 million in cryptocurrency donations since last Saturday — "plus digital artwork including a limited edition worth roughly $200,000," according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic. Some of the crypto donations have already been converted into traditional currency, primarily euros, according to Kuna.io, the Kyiv-based cryptocurrency exchange that helped the government set up and manage its crypto wallets for donations. The money was then used to buy critical supplies like drones, bulletproof vests, heat-sensitive goggles and gasoline, from both state actors and the private sector.

None of the more than 180 donated digital artworks — known as non-fungible tokens, or NFTs — have been sold, according to data from blockchains, which store information in an immutable, public digital ledger.... Ukraine, which hadn't asked for NFTs, received a map of the Donetsk area of eastern Ukraine, parts of which have been controlled by Russian-backed separatists, in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, plus photos of blue-and-yellow peace signs and an animated "fire dragon." NFT donations also included images from the Shibelon collection, which is "based on a mythology in which Elon Musk was granted genius powers by an alien, who also created bitcoin," wrote journalist
In addition to well-established cryptocurrencies, Ukraine received donations denominated in almost 100 obscure digital currencies, according to a Post analysis of data from Etherscan. They included a new one named Save Ukraine, another with a racially abusive name, and several themed after crypto community in-jokes focused on dogs and Musk, the Tesla CEO. The government's strategy has been to convert less popular cryptocurrencies into traditional money first and hold bitcoin and ether in reserves because they are more stable and liquid, Chobanian said. Donations were still streaming in as new efforts to raise crypto for the Ukrainian government cropped up.

Early Tuesday morning Ukraine time, Ukraine's 31-year-old deputy prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, announced AidForUkraine, a joint effort of his Digital Ministry, developers behind the Solana blockchain and Everstake. So far, AidForUkraine has raised $1.4 million, according to its website.... The speed with which the AidForUkraine fundraising effort came together was "magic," said Everstake's Vasylchuk, who fled Kyiv days before the invasion thanks to his pilot's license and is in temporary housing in Florida.... Beyond the official government-led effort, Come Back Alive, an NGO benefiting Ukraine's army, has also received millions in cryptocurrency donations — and is getting millions more from UkraineDAO, a group organized on the blockchain that held an auction to raise funds, according to blockchain data. The NGO organizers pivoted to crypto after their campaign was suspended from Patreon. But UkraineDAO is limiting spending to helping the victims of war, the New York Times reported. Patreon spokesperson Ellen Satterwhite said that would "absolutely be allowable under our guidelines."
Elsewhere On GoFundMe, Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher have already raised over $15 million for refugee and humanitarian aid — in just one day.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is scrutinizing creators of NFTs and the crypto exchanges where they trade to determine if some of the assets run afoul of the agency's rules, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. From the report: A focus of the probe is on whether certain nonfungible tokens, digital assets that can be used to denote ownership of things like a painting or sports memorabilia, are being utilized to raise money like traditional securities, said the people. Over the past several months, attorneys in the SEC's enforcement unit have sent subpoenas demanding information about the token offerings. The inquiry is the latest attempt by the SEC under Chair Gary Gensler to ensure the crypto market adheres to its regulations. In February, the commission and state regulators levied a record $100 million fine against BlockFi, a popular virtual-currency exchange, for failing to register products that pay customers high interest rates to lend out their digital tokens.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica, written by Kyle Orland: Second Life, the long-lived online metaverse that still attracts nearly a million monthly active users, has announced it will start charging US users local sales tax on many in-game purchases for the first time since its launch in 2003. That could be a significant drag on the online universe's robust in-game economy and serve as a warning for other nascent metaverse efforts hoping to sell virtual goods to US residents. In announcing the move Monday, Second Life developer Linden Labs cited the 2018 Supreme Court decision South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., Et Al. That decision established that states and localities could charge sales tax even for products sold by online companies that don't have a physical presence in that state. Following that decision, Linden Labs says it has "done our best to shield our residents from these taxes as long as possible, but we are no longer able to absorb them."

As such, starting March 31, Second Life users will be billed for local taxes on recurring billings such as subscriptions and land fees. Linden Labs will continue to absorb any taxes charged on one-time purchases like name changes and purchases of L$ in-game currency. But those costs will be passed on to users "at some point in the future" Linden Labs writes. "This is news we don't enjoy sharing, but for the health of the business and of Second Life, we can no longer continue absorbing these tax burdens," Linden Labs writes. "Thank you for your understanding and your continued support of Second Life."

Linden Labs' experience could serve as a cautionary tale as other major companies all rush to launch their own metaverse offerings. That includes companies using so-called "web3" technologies like cryptocurrencies and NFTs to power their virtual economies. Aside from possible local sales tax exposure, cryptocurrencies can be taxed as income or capital gains when they're earned, sold, or converted to another form. NFTs, meanwhile, could likely be taxed as collectibles, attracting a top capital gains tax rate of 28 percent in the US. And the IRS is starting to crack down on enforcement for crypto-based earnings thanks to a provision in last year's bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Financial sanctions are easier than ever for Russians to evade. Thank Bitcoin CNN: 'Financial sanctions are easier than ever for Russians to evade. Thank Bitcoin' The senior editor of CNN Business writes: The West's initial salvo of financial sanctions against Russia failed to deter President Vladimir Putin from launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Now the United States is taking a punitive approach, announcing another round of sanctions meant to tighten the screws on Russian banks and "corrupt billionaires." But some experts say those measures, which so far do not target Putin himself, are becoming increasingly easy to evade, thanks in part to a surge of cryptocurrency adoption in Russia.

The U.S. and EU sanctions rely heavily on banks to enforce the rules. If a sanctioned business or individual wants to make a transaction denominated in traditional currencies such as dollars or euros, it's the bank's responsibility to flag and block those transactions. But digital currencies operate outside the realm of standard global banking, with transactions recorded on a public ledger known as the blockchain. "If the Russians decide — and they're already doing this, I'm sure — to avoid using any currency other than cryptocurrency, they can effectively avoid virtually all of the sanctions," said Ross S. Delston, an expert on anti-money laundering compliance.

The U.S. Treasury is well aware of this problem. In an October report, officials warned that digital currencies "potentially reduce the efficacy of American sanctions" by allowing bad actors to hold and transfer funds outside the traditional financial system. "We are mindful of the risk that, if left unchecked, these digital assets and payments systems could harm the efficacy of our sanctions."
Meanwhile, the BBC reports Ukraine has received at least $11 million in anonymous bitcoin donations to support its war effort — with Forbes noting that includes $1.9 million from a wallet also associated with an auction of NFTs raising funds for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

China announced powers to jail those found guilty of raising funds via token sales as it expands its crackdown on crypto. From a report: China's highest court amended its interpretation of the country's Criminal Law to make raising money from the public through "virtual currency" illegal, according to a statement today. The amendment comes into force from March 1. While China has banned crypto-based fundraising since 2017, this new amendment means Chinese courts can now officially issue sentences to criminals. Jail terms will vary from below three years to over ten years, depending on the amount raised.

President Biden is expected to issue an executive order next week directing agencies across the government to study cryptocurrencies and a central bank digital currency (CBDC), and come up with a government-wide strategy to regulate digital assets. Yahoo Finance: According to an administration official familiar with the matter, the forthcoming directive will commission a study of a CBDC and ask a range of agencies -- including the Departments of Treasury, State, Justice and Homeland Security -- to develop a report on the future of money and payment systems. Meanwhile, the Director of the Office of Science and Tech policy will do a technical evaluation of what might be needed to support a CBDC system.

The move comes as Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday that a rift has developed between the White House and Treasury over crypto regulation, but a Treasury official disputed the account as "inaccurate." The administration is engaged in a wide-ranging effort to regulate the sector, with the FBI forming a new crypto unit led by a seasoned computer crimes prosecutor. The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), created after the 2008 financial crisis to monitor risks to the system, will be asked to study financial stability issues that arise from digital assets. The President's Working Group on Financial Markets has already tasked the FSOC with looking into systemic risks of stablecoins.

New analysis suggests that 74% of all money made through ransomware attacks in 2021 went to Russia-linked hackers. The BBC reports: Researchers say more than $400 million worth of crypto-currency payments went to groups "highly likely to be affiliated with Russia." Russia has denied accusations that it is harboring cyber-criminals. Researchers also claim "a huge amount of crypto-currency-based money laundering" goes through Russian crypto-companies. Chainalysis, which carried out the research, said it was able to follow the flow of money to and from the digital wallets of known hacking groups using public blockchain transaction records.

In the Chainalysis report, it's highlighted that 9.9% of all known ransomware revenue is going to Evil Corp - an alleged cyber-crime group which the US has issued sanctions and indictments against, but who are operating in Russia with apparent impunity. A BBC investigation in November found that Igor Turashev, one of the accused leaders of Evil Corp, is operating several businesses out of Moscow City's Federation Tower. The tower is one of Russia's most prestigious addresses, home to prominent businesses and with apartments going for millions of dollars. Chainalysis claims several crypto-currency companies based in the tower were used by hackers to launder illicit funds, turning crypto-currency from digital wallet addresses to mainstream money. "In any given quarter, the illicit and risky addresses account for between 29% and 48% of all funds received by Moscow City crypto-currency businesses," researchers allege.

During today's telecast of the Super Bowl, 100 million Americans will see at least three commercials promoting cryptocurrency, reports the Washington Post, "and though Tom Brady may be gone from the game, he hovers over it, hawking crypto exchange FTX."

"Yet the hype belies a more complicated relationship. Unlike the National Basketball Association, the National Football League, the country's most popular sports league, has essentially prohibited its teams from using crypto." It's a microcosm of the broader cultural battle between those touting the currency as the shiny future and others warning of its dangers.... [T]he headlines often come with a negative tint. New York Times columnist and economist Paul Krugman warned last month about crypto's parallels to the subprime mortgage crisis. This week, the FBI arrested a New York couple for allegedly conspiring to launder billions in crypto. That can scare the large corporate entities of professional sports, particularly the NFL, whose love of fresh revenue sources is matched only by its fear of public relations disasters.... In September, a memo revealed by the Athletic showed the league's restrictive attitude toward crypto... "Clubs are prohibited from selling, or otherwise allowing within club controlled media, advertisements for specific cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings, other cryptocurrency sales or any other media category as it relates to blockchain, digital asset or as blockchain company, except as outlined in this policy," it said.

The NFL has made some forays into NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, the digitally watermarked tools that are crypto's less controversial cousin, signing up for a partnership with Ticketmaster for NFTs of Super Bowl tickets and an NFT video highlight program with Dapper Labs, one of the leaders in the space. And of course the Super Bowl is taking place at SoFi Stadium, named for the digitally minded financial firm. But sponsorships from crypto exchanges remain off-limits, and the idea of the NFL creating a cryptocurrency, which some enthusiasts have advocated, is the stuff of fantasy. Even the Super Bowl commercials going for as much as $7 million for 30 seconds — which the league authorizes — include only exchanges such as FTX and not currencies themselves....

The NFL has formed an internal working group to study the regulatory, brand and other consequences of partnering with crypto companies but has set no timetable for when its rules could be revised. Renie Anderson, the NFL's chief revenue officer, said the league is moving slowly by design. "We don't want to put everything and the kitchen sink into this," she said by phone from the site of Super Bowl events in Los Angeles. "We don't know where a lot of this is going, so what we're trying to do is testing and learning so we can understand." She cited regulatory and market forces that are still coming into focus. (The Treasury Department and other federal agencies have been ramping up their efforts to create a regulatory framework for crypto, but there remains a degree of murkiness around what the future limits might be.) The NFL, Anderson said, would rather act after there's clarity. "It's hard to unwind something like a naming rights deal," she said, "and I'd rather not have to undo opportunities two years later because there are rules against advertising or marketing certain things."

National Basketball Association executives, however, say they see a major opportunity right now.
The article also points out that one football star even says he converted his $750,000 salary to Bitcoin. Though one sports analyst calculates that if the purchase was made on November 12th, after federal and state taxes it's now worth about $35,000.