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Indonesia has reportedly planned to set up a crypto exchange this year before the Financial Services Authority takes over the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency to regulate the crypto assets market. Cryptocurrency and digital assets are now recognized as regulated financial securities in the country. The country’s crypto market still recorded growth despite the crypto turmoil last year and the Bloomberg reported that there were 16 million investors in the first 11 months of 2022.

Ukraine pharmacy chain ANC Pharmacy has reportedly cooperated with Binance Ukraine to allow its customer to use crypto through Binance Pay for purchasing pharmacy products online. The services will first be introduced in Kyiv. Customers who want to pay in crypto must download the Binance application and select pharmacy products on the pharmacy chain’s website. After paying for the products via Binance Pay, they could pick up the order at a chosen shop.

Morocco’s first crypto bill has reportedly been finalized by the country’s Central Bank and is expected to be introduced in the following days. The bill seeks to protect individuals while not constraining innovation and it will include a legal definition of crypto that is adapted to the domestic context. The Governor of the country’s Central Bank previously said in a press conference that there would be a series of discussions between the bank and market participants before the implementation of the bill. Morocco is the fastest-growing crypto market in Northern Africa in 2022, with 3.1% of the population holding digital assets.

The US Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have issued a joint statement on 3 January, warning the banks of the risks associated with cryptocurrencies. The regulators identified risks such as volatility of digital asset markets, contagion risk within the sector, and fraud and scams among sector participants. The regulators believed that issuing or holding as principal crypto-assets that were stored on an open, public and/or decentralized network was highly unlikely to be consistent with safe and sound banking practices. They also expressed concerns about the safety and soundness of banks focusing on crypto clients or having concentrated exposure to the sector.

Italy’s Senate approved its 2023 budget on 29 December 2022. The bill, which defines crypto assets as a digital representation of value or rights that can be transferred and stored electronically by applying distributed ledger technology or similar technology, imposes a 26% capital gains tax on crypto-asset trading exceeding 2,000 euros. To encourage taxpayers to declare their digital assets, the bill allows them to pay a 14% tax if they declare the value of their holdings as of 1 January 2023. The bill also lowers the retirement age, introduces tax amnesties to reduce penalties on missed tax payments and provides fiscal incentives for job creation.

According to the report from Reuters, FTX’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried will plead not guilty in the FTX fraud case, though he could choose to amend his plea afterwards. He is now facing two counts of wire fraud and six counts of conspiracy and will enter a plea on these charges on 3 January 2023 before US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan federal court. The FTX’s founder was arrested in the Bahamas and was subsequently released on a $250 million bond on 22 December 2022.

Australia has reportedly had more crypto ATMs than El Salvador currently, making it the fourth-largest crypto ATM hub that accounts for 0.6% of the world’s total crypto ATMs. Australia has 219 active crypto ATMs as of 1 January 2023 and 99 of them were installed in the last quarter of 2022. There were 6,071 ATMs installed worldwide last year and the total number of global crypto ATMs is 38,602.

The US-based crypto exchange Kraken announced on 28 December that it will cease operating in Japan next month due to the current market condition in the country and a weak crypto market globally. The exchange said the move was part of its efforts to prioritize resources and investments in those areas that align with its strategy and will best position Kraken for long term success. It will deregister from the Financial Services Agency (JFSA) on 31 January 2023, which is the deadline for customers in the country to withdraw their fiat and crypto holdings. They could either transfer crypto to an external wallet or cash out and transfer Japanese yen to a domestic bank account.

The state-owned scientific research institute China Academy for Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) published 2022 White Paper on Blockchain on 29 December, featuring four types of blockchain technology with high application potential. The White Paper also reveals that there are currently more than 1,400 blockchain firms based in China and there are around 48 post-secondary institutions across China offering degrees and certificates related to blockchain engineering. China and US are now occupying more than half of the total market share regarding global blockchain firms.

FTX’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to enter a plea on two counts of wire fraud and six counts of conspiracy on 3 January 2023 before US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan federal court, who is assigned to replace the original judge due to the conflict of interest. The FTX’s founder is accused of misappropriating clients’ deposits to finance Alameda Research, purchase real estate and make political contributions. He denied any criminal liability before he was arrested on 12 December. He was released on a $250 million bond and is living with his parents in California.

FTX customers started a class action lawsuit against the firm and its former executives in the US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware on 27 December 2022. The plaintiffs want to act on behalf of over 1 million FTX customers both in the US and abroad to seek a declaration that funds held in FTX US accounts for US customers and in FTX Trading accounts for non-US customers or other traceable customer assets do not belong to FTX in the hope of defeating other secured or general unsecured creditors of the firm to recover the assets. The proposed class also want a declaration by the court that the traceable assets held at Alameda are not its property. Alternatively, they demand the court to recognize that they have a priority right to repayment over other creditors.

China’s official wallet app for its central bank digital currency has reportedly launched a new feature to allow users to send the digital yuan-filled red packets to each other. Similar to the feature of other Chinese mobile payment apps such as Alipay and WeChat Pay, the red packet can be sent to only one person or a group of people who would receive a random portion of money from the pool. While the digital yuan is still under trial in some designated cities of China, the latest report reveals that about 261 million people have already set up a digital wallet.