SEC - Page 311

Chainlink Labs announced on Wednesday that it had partnered with PriceWaterhouseCooper Germany to boost the adoption of its enterprise-grade blockchain technologies.

The collaboration will see Chainlink Labs PwC Germany’s partner companies hoping to leverage blockchain technologies. PwC will advise such firms with its knowledge of Web3 regulations and technologies in the joint venture via Chainlink’s blockchain middleware.

The news comes amid a push for blockchain and smart contracts—Web3 technologies designed to empower industry 4.0, despite technical challenges. Issues such as secure connectivity and blocked interoperability continue to limit the capabilities of most on-chain firms and networks.

PwC Germany has expertise with its in-house blockchain technologies, which include Blockchain Explorer and Transaction Analyzer (BETA), Smart Contract Formal Verification Framework, Tokenization Framework, Travel Rule Integration, and Digital Asset Valuation Model.

The joint venture will also facilitate technological assessments and strategies, consultation, ecosystem management, and others, as outlined in PwC’s recent report.

Dimitri Gross, Technology Interest Group lead for digital assets and crypto for PwC Germany, said: “PwC Germany and Chainlink Labs aim to help accelerate enterprise adoption of blockchain technology in key enterprise sectors such as capital markets, ushering in a new era of transactional security, transparency, and efficiency.”

William Herkelrath, managing director of business development at Chainlink Labs, added the strategic collaboration would “help enterprises securely connect their existing systems to all major blockchain networks.

He concluded: “By interacting with the blockchain economy through Chainlink, enterprises can begin realizing the transformative power of smart contracts and blockchain oracles.”

Republican governor Ron DeSantis hopes to install a blanket ban on federal central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) imposed on Florida. In a press release, DeSantis accused the Biden Administration of creating a CBDC for “surveillance and control.”

He added: “Today’s announcement will protect Florida consumers and businesses from the reckless adoption of a ‘centralized digital dollar’ which will stifle innovation and promote government-sanctioned surveillance. Florida will not side with economic central planners; we will not adopt policies that threaten personal economic freedom and security.”

Jimmy Patronis, State Chief Financial Officer, added that DeSantis was “ahead of the curve” in “protecting individual rights.”

He added: “A Central Bank Digital Currency is the cornerstone of a federal government that could track each and every transaction that happens in the world. There would be no privacy, and if there is no privacy, there are no rights. In the same way Florida is fighting back against the IRS, we need to fight back against this program. It’s how we protect freedom, liberty, and prosperity.”

Furthermore, Tarren Bragdon, chief executive for the Foundation for Government Accountability, added that the proposal continued the “strong track record of [DeSantis] pushing back on an overreaching federal government.”

Explaining further, he said: “Our money says In God We Trust. The central bank digital currency changes that to In Government We Trust. That’s wrong and I am grateful for the Governor’s continued pushback of an out-of-control DC bureaucracy.”

DeSantis’ proposal called on further state governments to adopt similar legislation to tackle alleged threats from CBDCs. Roughly 18 states have proposed to fight Biden’s “ESG financial fraud,” it added.

The announcement comes amid a series of measures DeSantis has taken to “prevent the proliferation of woke ideology in the financial sector and American daily living,” the statement concluded.

Silicon Valley Bank’s branch in the United Kingdom has provided millions in bonuses for its employees hours after receiving a lifeline from HSBC, Sky News reported on Friday, citing anonymous sources.

HSBC bought the embattled bank for just one pound sterling, the banking giant announced last week.

According to the report, HSBC approved payments to SVB UK employees and executives, with teams receiving bonuses with the funds.

Sources speaking to Sky News added staff provided undisclosed payments to its chief executive, Erin Platts, but funds were “modest” and between “£15 million and £20 million.”

Further sources added that the banking crisis had wiped out the values of senior executive stocks. Additional insiders revealed that the bonuses had been a “signal of HSBC’s confidence in the talent base” and aimed to “retain key staff” from SVB UK.

Ongoing Banking Collapse

The news comes amid the ongoing aftermath of the Silicon Valley Bank Group’s collapse into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States. It did not receive protection for SVB Capital and SV Securities.

The US wing aims to preserve its value amid the bankruptcy proceedings, it said in a recent statement.

SVB has long provided financial backing for venture capital firms, startups, and other key investors in the emerging technologies space. Its collapse has sent ripples across the tech industry and triggered massive instability in global markets.

The Bank of England also shuttered SVB UK’s operations last week, ordering the bank to “stop making payments or accepting funds” due to its insolvency protocols.

Shareholders of SVB Financial Group also sued executives and the defunct bank for allegedly defrauding investors about interest rates. The lawsuit accuses three of the groups involved of withholding information about the knock-on effects of rising interest rates leading up to the bank runs.

Cryptocurrency could turn to shadow banks amid the ongoing banking crisis, Molly White, software engineer and crypto skeptic, said at a recent event.

At the South by Southwest (SXSW) panel in Texas, White told the audience that ongoing crises linked to Silvergate Bank and Signature Bank could potentially derail cryptocurrency firms.

She explained that there were only a “handful of US banks” supportive of cryptocurrency clients, adding: “With Signature and Silvergate both out of the picture, I think that’s going to be very impactful on the crypto industry [which] still really needs access to traditional finance and to U.S. banking rails.”

White added that without the two banks, the crypto industry would have a “tough time.”

“They’re either going to have to find other banks that are willing to work with them, which was already tough, and will probably only be tougher after the collapses of these banks, or they’re going to have to turn to some of the sort of shadier shadow banks,” she concluded as quoted by Cointelgraph.

The news comes after New York authorities cracked down on Signature Bank, sparking outcry over the New York Department of Financial Services’ jurisdiction.

Over the last few months, the SEC and numerous US agencies have cracked down on global cryptocurrency firms such as CoinEx, Binance, Kraken, Ripple, and KuCoin, among others.

Silicon Valley Bank Financial Group has officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States, the company revealed in a press release on Friday.

The embattled bank filed its voluntary petition hoping to conserve its assets, but will not include SVB Capital or SVB Securities in its bankruptcy filings.

SVB Financial Group also aims to explore strategic alternatives for its subsidiaries, adding it will no longer affiliate with Silicon Valley Bank NA or SVB Private, its private banking and wealth management operations.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) supervises operations for Silicon Valley Bridge Bank NA.

Currently, SVB Group holds roughly $2.2 billion in liquidity, which includes interests, cash, and other “valuable investment securities accounts and other assets.”

However, according to figures, SVB Group has $3.3 billion in aggregate principal amount of unsecured notes, which do not affect SVB Capital or SVB Securities.

William Kosturos, SVB Group’s chief restructuring officer, said in a statement: “The Chapter 11 process will allow SVB Financial Group to preserve value as it evaluates strategic alternatives for its prized businesses and assets, especially SVB Capital and SVB Securities.”

SVB, Silvergate Fallout

The news comes as the ongoing collapse of SVB, Silvergate Bank, and now-defunct cryptocurrency platform FTX has sent shockwaves across the cryptocurrency community. News of the most recent collapse has severely limited financing options for firms aiming to invest in Web3 technologies.

HSBC Bank purchased SVB’s British wing on Wednesday for just £1, allowing it to operate the former’s business dealings with key tech firms and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the United Kingdom.

Silvergate Bank also collapsed earlier in the month after authorities found it had facilitated payments for FTX and Alameda Research, the latter’s subsidiary.

News of the bank’s dealings with FTX forced numerous partners such as Paxos, Galaxy Digital, BitStamp, Coinbase, and Gemini to sever ties to the institution.