ECB warns stablecoins pose larger privacy risk than CBDCs, SEC serves Sushi DAO subpoena

ECB president shushes CBDC privacy concerns, points finger at stablecoins

European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde said central banks have no interest in using or monetising user data collected through state-backed digital cash.

She made the remarks during a Bank for International Settlements Summit panel, saying, “A digital currency will never be as anonymous and respecting of privacy as cash.”

‘A digital currency will never be as anonymous and respecting of privacy as cash’

Lagarde alluded to an ECB project called Cash Plus, saying its privacy characteristics will be similar to cash.

The ECB boss added that big tech companies and stablecoin firms are more likely to commercialise user data.

The news comes as after the ECB’s own survey indicated that privacy is one of the biggest concerns for European citizens in regards to central bank digital currencies.

NOW READ: Swedish CBDC head: The state doesn’t care how people pay for things

Sushi DAO and its ‘head chef’ served subpoena by SEC

Sushi DAO and its head chef Jared Grey are seeking to create a $3 million Sushi DAO Legal Defense Fund after the US Securities Exchange Commission served it a subpoena.

Details of the subpoena are scant as Grey refused to elucidate on the “ongoing” case, though the head chef stated that he and Sushi were cooperating with authorities.

Grey posted a proposal to create the legal fund on Sushi’s DAO forum, where governance issues can be voted on by the community.

NOW READ: Bitcoin becomes haven during bank bloodbath with 28% surge: ‘Extra liquidity, that’s the difference’

White House report slams ‘very volatile’ crypto assets

The Biden administration’s annual economic report to congress branded crypto assets as “very volatile, and, hence, highly risky,” adding that they have not lived up to any of the promises made regarding their benefits to the financial system.

Netizens on crypto Twitter shot back, saying that the report lacked nuance.

The report comes as the battle over cryptocurrencies is heating up on Capitol Hill.

Senator Elizabeth Warren – whose effort to restrict crypto in the US has intensified in recent months – has this week argued for the need to expand the “legal reach” of the Senate Banking Committee to ensure crypto audits meet US standards.

Representative French Hill echoed sentiments expressed by other crypto-friendly regulators in the US, highlighting what has been called ”regulation by enforcement” on the part of US agencies.

Hill urged Congress to “pick up on stablecoin regulation,” emphasising potential damage to the digital asset industry in the US if companies leave to jurisdictions with concrete crypto rules.

NOW READ: Bank meltdown crushes crypto regulation hopes: ‘Crypto in the US is dead’

North Korea-linked hacker group tries to phish Euler exploiter’s stolen funds

Recently exploited DeFi protocol Euler Finance has warned its own attacker to not get hacked by North Korean cybercriminal gang Lazarus.

An on-chain exchange between the attacker and the hacking group has kicked off a strange new chapter in the highly publicised exploit.

The message, sent from the “Ronin Exploiter” wallet linked to the March 2022 attack that saw $625 million stolen from gamefi protocol Axie Infinity, asked Euler’s attacker to decrypt an encoded message.

Euler Finance suspected this was a part of a phishing scam to steal the attacker’s stolen funds, and sent its own exploiter a flurry of warning messages, urging them to make good on an agreement proposed yesterday and return funds to Euler.

Circle CEO unveils plans to set up EU headquarters in Paris

Stablecoin company Circle will place its European headquarters in crypto-friendly France, as the first step in its expansion into the European Union.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire revealed the company’s plan in an interview, outlining “commercial and policy reasons” for the choice to set up shop in France.

Circle plans to onshore its new EUROC stablecoin, which will be the euro equivalent to the company’s USDC stablecoin based on the US dollar.

USDC recently experienced a major depeg following the collapse of several banks with crypto ties including Silicon Valley Bank, where Circle kept $3.3 billion in reserves.

NOW READ: Europe’s MiCA offers crypto utopia for Americans in a banking crisis. But it’s not that simple

More web3 news from around the web...

XRP jumps 20% with crypto world hopeful Ripple will beat SEC in landmark court case – Fortune Crypto

Judge approves Celsius custody account settlement to return 72.5% of crypto assets – The Block

UK crypto white list needed to solve ‘debanking,’ lobby group says – CoinDesk