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Coinbase Senior Software Engineer Left This Week, Unclear if Departure Linked to New Policy
Andrei Anisimov, whose LinkedIn profile still describes him as a âÂÂSenior Software Engineerâ at Coinbase, tweeted Saturday that this had been his last week at the cryptocurrency exchange. At press time it wasnâÂÂt clear whether Anisimov was one of the 60 people who accepted a severance package that was offered this week.
- In a company-wide memo obtained earlier this week by CoinDesk, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong informed employees that 5% of the companyâÂÂs 1,200-person workforce had accepted theàseverance packageàoffered last week.ÃÂ
- The severance offer was made in response to disagreement about ArmstrongâÂÂs recent statement that his companyâÂÂs policy was not to engage in âÂÂbroader societal issuesâ or entertain employee discussions about it.
- According to LinkedIn, Anisimov had been with the exchange for just over a year.
- A direct message to him via Twitter seeking comment was read but not immediately responded to. In another Tweet he praised his former company, saying, âÂÂIf youâÂÂre thinking of joining Coinbase â donâÂÂt hesitate, itâÂÂll be worth it.âÂÂ
Read more: 5% of Coinbase Employees Take Severance Offer Over âÂÂApoliticalâ Stance
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Shenzhen Giving Away Millions in Digital Yuan in Lottery to Boost Consumption, Test Tech: Report
The rapidly growing city of Shenzhen will be giving away 10 million yuan (US$1.47 million) of ChinaâÂÂs new sovereign digital money via lottery, as China seeks to test out and stimulate the usage of the digital funds, according to a report in the South China Morning Post.
- Winners will be announced on Sunday and the currency can be used at 3,389 shops. They canâÂÂt be transferred or moved into a regular bank account, the report said.
- The promotion is part of ChinaâÂÂs plan to move solely to digital currency, known as the Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP).
- The new currency has been used in more than a billion yuan worth of transactions across the country n a series of test programs over the past 12 months.
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SEC Will Be Forced to Give Crypto Guidance Despite Bureaucracy, Risk-Avoidance: Peirce
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner (SEC) Hester Peirce, well known for her pro-cryptocurrencies views, said increased interest in the space will necessarily force the regulatory body to shift toward a more accommodating stance, but it wonâÂÂt be easy, according to a recent interview with Cointelegraph.
- âÂÂWhile weâÂÂve been very slow in giving guidance, there is more and more interest from a wide spectrum of people, both inside the crypto space as well as inside the traditional financial institutions who are asking us for guidance,â Peirce said. âÂÂThe landscape is changing so quickly.âÂÂ
- âÂÂSo I think weâÂÂre going to be forced to confront that more and more in the coming years.âÂÂ
- Peirce blamed bureaucracy for the SECâÂÂs slowness to react to financial innovation, saying it acts as an impediment to change and discourages risk-taking.
- âÂÂItâÂÂs really difficult,â the commissioner said. âÂÂThereâÂÂs so many different layers of bureaucracy things need to get through and people tend to be very hesitant to make decisions because when they do the ramifications come back on them if something goes wrong so itâÂÂs easier to kick the can down the road.âÂÂ
- On the positive side, Peirce said that pro-crypto moves in the U.S. by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency as well as actions by regulators in other countries are slowly prodding the SEC into action.
- She also said there are a growing number of people at the SEC, many who are interested in crypto, who want the body to become more innovation-friendly. That combined with the growing interest in financial innovation will eventually cause the regulatory agency to shift, she said.
- On another issue, the commissioner said Congress needs to be thinking about smart contracts and decentralized finance so it can give the SEC directives on how it wants the regulator to handle them.
- Peirce said that while she hopes the SEC will revisit its decisions to reject BTC Exchange-Traded Funds, she declined to predict whether the regulator will ever approve them, saying the SEC seems to have made up its own standards just for BTC.
- Though the commissioner called the prospect of a digital dollar âÂÂlikely,â thatâÂÂs not where she says the real action is.
- âÂÂI think a lot of the really interesting innovation is happening outside of sort of the central bank digital currency space.âÂÂ
UPDATE 23:59 UTC Adds comments from Peirce about hurdles to financial innovation at the SEC
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SEC Will Be Forced to Give More Guidance About Crypto: Peirce
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissioner (SEC) Hester Peirce, well known for her pro-cryptocurrencies views, said increased interest in the space will necessarily force the regulatory body to shift toward a more accommodating stance, according to a recent interview with Cointelegraph.
- âÂÂWhile weâÂÂve been very slow in giving guidance, there is more and more interest from a wide spectrum of people, both inside the crypto space as well as inside the traditional financial institutions who are asking us for guidance,â Peirce said.
- âÂÂSo I think weâÂÂre going to be forced to confront that more and more in the coming years.âÂÂ
- Peirce also said that pro-crypto moves in the U.S. by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency as well as actions by regulators in other countries are also slowly prodding the SEC into action.
- While there are a lot of people at the SEC who want the body to become more innovation-friendly, the regulatorâÂÂs bureaucracy acts as an impediment to change and discourages risk-taking, Peirce said. The number of people interested in innovation and in crypto at the SEC is âÂÂgrowing,â she said.
- The commissioner also said Congress needs to be thinking about smart contracts and decentralized finance so it can give the SEC directives on how it wants the regulator to handle them.
- Peirce said that while she hopes the SEC will revisit its decisions to reject BTC Exchange-Traded Funds, she declined to predict whether the regulator will ever approve them, saying the SEC seems to have made up its own standards just for BTC.
- Though the commissioner called the prospect of a digital dollar âÂÂlikely,â thatâÂÂs not where she says the real action is.
- âÂÂI think a lot of the really interesting innovation is happening outside sort of the central bank digital currency space.âÂÂ
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Pelosi Rejects, Senate GOP Bridles at White House’s $1.8T Stimulus Offer: Reports
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected the White HouseâÂÂs recently boosted $1.8 trillion stimulus offer, saying it doesnâÂÂt provide enough in the way of coronavirus testing, worker safety and child care, the Financial Times reported.
- Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal quoted people familiar with a Saturday call between the presidentâÂÂs chief of staff and Senate Republicans as saying several of the GOP members said they were opposed to another large stimulus package.
- The Senate Republicans instead are backing a measure along the lines of one they proposed in September that was less than half the size of the presidentâÂÂs most recent proposal and would cut spending in other areas as a partial offset, the WSJ reported.
- The presidentâÂÂs boosted offer, made Friday, gave a lift to bitcoin (BTC) and equities alike.
- Even with opposition to the offer on both sides of the aisle, BTC is holding onto todayâÂÂs gains, up 2.70% to $11,361 at press time.
- According to the FT, the House speaker didnâÂÂt rule out chances for a deal, saying âÂÂI remain hopeful that yesterdayâÂÂs developments will move us closer to an agreement on a relief package that addresses the health and economic crisis facing AmericaâÂÂs families.âÂÂ
UPDATE: 21:25 UTC Adds that Senate Republicans are also opposed to the presidentâÂÂs proposal.
Pelosi Rejects White House’s $1.8T Stimulus Offer: Report
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected the White HouseâÂÂs recently boosted $1.8 trillion stimulus offer, saying it doesnâÂÂt provide enough in the way of coronavirus testing, worker safety and child care, the Financial Times reported, setting back hopes for an imminent breakthrough in talks.
- The boosted offer, made Friday, gave a lift to bitcoin (BTC) and equities alike.
- Even though Pelosi rejected the offer, BTC is holding onto todayâÂÂs gains, up 2.52% to $11,351 at press time.
- According to the FT, the House speaker didnâÂÂt rule out chances for a deal, saying âÂÂI remain hopeful that yesterdayâÂÂs developments will move us closer to an agreement on a relief package that addresses the health and economic crisis facing AmericaâÂÂs families.âÂÂ