Today in Crypto: ‘Now is Best Time to Invest in Web3’, Ex-FTX US President Brett Harrison Resigned Due to ‘Protracted Disagreement’ with Sam Bankman-Fried, Bank of England Building a CBDC Team

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

• Hong Kong’s finance chief, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, said the time is right for the city to invest in the Web3 digital economy despite recent volatility, as competent market players who survive a “burst bubble” can focus on innovation and make significant strides, according to the South China Morning Post. “The recent instability of the virtual assets market and the collapse of some virtual asset exchanges have cast doubts on the future of Web3, but we believe this is the best time to promote development,” Chan wrote on his weekly blog.
• Crypto derivatives and copy trading platform Bitget launched its Bitget Web3 Fund during the Hong Kong Blockchain Week, with an initial investment of $100 million, said the press release. “The fund will focus on investing in Web3-friendly venture capital and outstanding Web3 projects, with the goal of supporting the development of the next generation of crypto projects,” it added. The Bitget Web3 Fund will seek out VCs and projects globally but prioritize partners in Asia that have a clear roadmap and an experienced team.

Legal news

• Former FTX US President Brett Harrison resigned last September partly due to a “protracted disagreement” with the then-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and members of his closest team, claimed a new report by the FTX‘s current management, filed Sunday with the US bankruptcy court in Delaware. Harrison had concerns about the way FTX US was being run, including “the lack of appropriate delegation of authority, formal management structure and key hires,” it said. His bonus was reduced, and he was told to apologize to Bankman-Fried – which he refused to do. 
• Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried described the affiliated company Alameda Research in internal communications as “hilariously beyond any threshold of any auditor being able to even get partially through an audit,” according to the 45-page report, published Sunday by FTX Trading Ltd. The report presents in detail FTX’s poor record-keeping, as well as a lack of cybersecurity defenses and expertise in key areas like finance. It stated that Alameda “often had difficulty understanding what its positions were, let alone hedging or accounting for them.” 

CBDC news

• The Bank of England is looking to build a team of as many as 30 people to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Sunday Times reported. It is seeking engineers to lead the project, including a “digital pound solution architect” to research the benefits of different designs, and a “security architect” who will help to make sure that any new currency is secure and resilient against potential cyber or privacy threats. Both roles will pay up to £80,000, the report said. 

Regulation news

• A new bill aimed at regulating Bitcoin (BTC) mining in Arkansas, USA, is now awaiting Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ signature, having been approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Arkansas Data Centers Act of 2023 seeks to establish guidelines for miners and protect them from discriminatory regulations and taxes, guaranteeing that firms have the same rights as data centers.