Block 1: Essential news
Crypto.com in the SEC's crosshairs
Crypto.com has filed a complaint against the US securities regulator (SEC) after receiving a Wells Notice, indicating that the SEC is considering action against the exchange for alleged breaches. It accuses the SEC of over-regulation and a one-sided interpretation of cryptocurrencies as securities. Above all, the company denounces the absence of clear and transparent rules, in violation of legal procedures. In parallel, Crypto.com has called for an agreement between the SEC and the CFTC to clarify the regulation of cryptocurrency derivatives.
FTX: Refunds confirmed
Nearly two years after its bankruptcy, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court has validated FTX's reorganization plan, enabling creditors to receive their repayments soon. Around 98% of creditors will be reimbursed 119% of their claims, based on the value of cryptocurrencies at the time of bankruptcy - so it will be dollars, not the underlying assets that will be redistributed. Here are the prices of the main cryptocurrencies on November 13, 2022, two days after the platform filed for bankruptcy:
As a reminder, FTX's collapse in 2022 was the result of mismanagement of funds by Alameda Research and manipulation of customer funds. FTX will redistribute between $14.7 and $16.5 billion. Some experts believe that this repayment could exert buying pressure on the cryptocurrency market, as some creditors may reinvest their funds.
Tether complies with European standards
Tether, which issues the market's leading stablecoin (USDT), will adapt its technology to comply with European MiCA regulations, which strictly regulate crypto-assets, including stablecoins. Although Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, initially expressed concerns about these regulations, he has now hailed the regulators' efforts. With several platforms having already delisted stablecoins not compliant with MiCA, Tether is positioning itself for the long term to maintain its hegemony in Europe by collaborating with players like Chainalysis to monitor transactions.
Visa: ever closer to the blockchain
Visa has launched the "Visa Tokenized Asset Platform" (VTAP), a solution enabling banks to issue and manage stablecoins via blockchains. The service, available on the Visa Developer Platform, offers a modern infrastructure and APIs to facilitate adoption. BBVA, a major Spanish bank, is one of the first to test VTAP, with a pilot program planned for Ethereum in 2025. VTAP enables the use of smart contracts to automate financial processes and aims to connect various public and private blockchains.
Block 2: Crypto Analysis of the week
To get into the swing of things, here's the trailer for the HBO documentary :
The mystery surrounding Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator, is still very much in the news, more than 15 years after the launch of the famous blockchain. Since 2008, when Satoshi introduced Bitcoin to a cryptographic mailing list, his identity has remained a subject of intense speculation. Satoshi's sudden disappearance in 2011, after Bitcoin was used by WikiLeaks, only fueled the theories.
On Tuesday night, an HBO-produced documentary entitled Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery rekindled these speculations by claiming to have finally revealed the identity of Bitcoin's creator. According to the documentary, Satoshi is Peter Todd, a Canadian developer active in the Bitcoin community since 2012, and known for his major contributions, including his involvement in the Blocksize War in 2017 and the creation of OpenTimestamps, an open-source project.
One of the pieces of evidence put forward in the documentary aired by HBO is his involvement in the notorious Blocksize War in 2017, which resulted in Bitcoin's split and the creation of Bitcoin Cash. During this conflict, Todd supported the "small blockers" camp, i.e. those who wanted to limit the size of transaction blocks on the Bitcoin blockchain. This camp felt that smaller blocks would preserve the network's decentralization and security, ensuring that anyone could participate in transaction validation with accessible hardware.
Interestingly, Todd was not alone in this fight. Adam Back, another suspect often cited in discussions about the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, was also among the supporters of "small blockers". The two emblematic figures shared a common vision of how Bitcoin should evolve, emphasizing the preservation of its founding principles.
Todd's choice to support this camp, despite the growing popularity of "big blocker" advocates who advocated increasing block size to allow more transactions per second, reinforced speculation. But despite this, neither Todd nor Back were ever officially confirmed as Satoshi Nakamoto.
In addition, the film suggests that Todd, who was in his early twenties in 2008, adopted the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto to give weight to his ideas, for fear of being discredited due to his young age. Another piece of evidence put forward is Todd's implementation of the replace-by-fee (RBF) concept, funded by an anonymous person known as John Dillon, whom the documentary assumes to be another of Todd's identities.
Another troubling point raised by the director is a 2010 exchange between Peter Todd and Satoshi Nakamoto on a forum. Todd had simply clarified a technical explanation given by Satoshi, a gesture which, in the documentary, is interpreted as further evidence linking Todd to Satoshi's identity.
"The level of reaching here rivals QAnon stuff (which is pretty ironic if you know what Cullen's previous documentary was about)"
Exactly.
The truth is pretty simple: there's hundreds, even thousands of people who could have created Bitcoin.
We're not going to find Satoshi. https://t.co/TZMtqJhxgU
- Peter Todd (@peterktodd) October 9, 2024
And yet, this exchange is nothing more than an ordinary discussion that one might have in any group of cryptography enthusiasts. Once again, it's a theory based on weak and inconclusive elements.
However, despite these accusations, Todd firmly denies being Satoshi, wryly declaring, "If I were Satoshi, I'd have destroyed my ability to prove it so I'd never have the temptation to do so." Even Adam Back, a figure in the Bitcoin community often suspected of being Satoshi, also backed Todd, calling the theory "ridiculous".
This isn't the first time such an investigation has claimed to reveal Satoshi's identity. In 2014, Newsweek journalists named a man of Japanese descent living in California as Satoshi, a theory quickly refuted.
The HBO documentary, while interesting, seems more focused on creating a compelling story than revealing a definitive truth. The question remains: who really is Satoshi Nakamoto? The answer is still unknown. While some see this as a mystery to be solved, others believe that Satoshi's true identity may not be as important as the legacy he left behind with Bitcoin.
So, whether Satoshi Nakamoto is Peter Todd, another developer or even a group of people, the quest for his identity remains one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of our time. And, above all, it's a tremendous strength for Bitcoin.
Block 3: Gainers & Losers
Cryptocurrency chart
(Click to enlarge)
Block 4: Readings of the week
Unmasking Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto again (Wired)
Where have all the metaverse CEOs gone? (Wired)
I've just entered the Bitcoin mining lottery (Bitcoin Magazine)