Daily Digest - 4 April 2023

Headlines

▌Binance denies the rumor that "Interpol issued a red warrant to Changpeng Zhao"

In response to the rumor on Twitter that "Interpol issued a red notice to Changpeng Zhao", a Binance spokesperson stated in an email statement that "this rumor is not true."

CZ also responded on Twitter, saying that the arrest warrant circulating on the Internet was a photoshopped photo, and advised users to block the source of FUD.

Policies

▌The FASB Publishes Proposed Accounting Standards Updates Regarding Accounting and Disclosure of Cryptoassets

The U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) proposed an update to its proposed accounting standards for accounting and disclosure of encrypted assets, proposing to treat encrypted assets more like traditional assets and improve the accuracy of valuations.

Currently, generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) require companies to treat cryptocurrency holdings as “indefinitely intangible assets” on their balance sheets. Under current generally accepted accounting principles, cryptoassets are tested for impairment annually.

Blockchain Application

▌UBS conducts intraday cross-border repurchase on the blockchain

UBS has used Broadridge's distributed ledger repo (DLR) to conduct the first intraday cross-border repo transaction with a global Asian bank.

Beatriz Martin, head of finance at UBS, said: "Intraday repos are an invaluable tool for managing our liquidity usage, providing flexibility in our funding capabilities while reducing operational risk. Repurchase agreements (repos) involve the sale of bonds (usually Treasuries) and the repurchase at a later date. The net effect is similar to a loan.

Cryptocurrency

▌SEC to carry out investor education campaign, which includes cryptocurrencies

In an announcement on April 3, the SEC said it would reach out to groups including high school students, military personnel, elderly investors and Native Americans in an effort to improve financial literacy.

The financial watchdog advises that its possible actions in such incidents include how to avoid becoming a victim of cryptocurrency fraud. The SEC cited a March 23 warning in which the regulator urged people to be "cautious" when considering investing in crypto projects that may qualify as securities within the regulator's purview, the only time you should take risk in any speculative investment is when you can afford to lose the money completely.

▌Bank of England official: digital pound CBDC will not be programmable to avoid government control

Last week, Katie Fortune, senior manager of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) department at the Bank of England (BofE), suggested that the digital pound would not include government-enabled programmable features to avoid misunderstandings about government overreach.

Like the digital euro, the core of the digital pound is not programmable, but programmability can still be implemented by the private sector, Katie Fortune said. A two-tier model with a private sector layer in between could be built on top of BofE's infrastructure. In this way, it will be a private company dealing with the end user. This will enable the Bank of England to support innovation while maintaining its independence.