Celsius Bankruptcy: 94% of User Assets to be Distributed

 Cryptocurrency lending company Celsius (CRYPTO: CEL), which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 2022, recently released the names of users who are eligible to withdraw most of their assets held on the platform.
> The 1,400-page document filed with a New York bankruptcy court shows that the company has received court authorization to distribute 94% of each user's assets, subject to certain conditions.
> These conditions include that the transfer was less than $7,575 when made, and the users must have sufficient assets to cover any withdrawal fees and update their anti-money laundering and know-your-customer information.
> The filing stated, "whether and when Eligible Users are entitled to a distribution of the remaining 6% will be determined at a later date by the Court.". Continue reading.

USAF Boosts Blockchain Adoption with $30 Million Investment in Leading Enterprise Solutions Provider

Blockchain firm SIMBA Chain has received a $30 million investment from the U.S. Air Force (USAF) under its Strategic Technology Reachback and Analysis (STRATFI) program.
> The investment will fund the development and deployment of blockchain applications in supply chain management, with a focus on securing the future dominance of the USAF and its partner organizations, including the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research & Engineering, the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, and the Defense Logistics Agency.
> The new project for the USAF, which represents a significant increase in budget compared to previous blockchain initiatives, will improve the efficiency and comprehensive management of assets within the Department of Defense supply chain. More here.

ARK Invest Predicts Bitcoin to Reach $1 Million by Decade's End

According to ARK Invest's 2023 Big Ideas research report, public blockchains are fostering multiple revolutions, and Bitcoin is among them.
> Despite a turbulent 2022, ARK believes bitcoin's fundamentals are sound and predicts the cryptocurrency will reach $1 million by the end of the decade.
> Stating the reason for their confidence, ARK highlights that the "contagion caused by centralized counterparties has elevated Bitcoin’s value propositions: decentralization, auditability, and transparency."
> The report also highlights the increase in bitcoin's hash rate, and long-term holder supply, and addresses with a non-zero balance compared to previous downturns.> ARK also emphasized Bitcoin's superior performance compared to traditional asset classes, with a five-year CAGR of 272%, while global equities saw a 6.1% increase, global debt provided a 1.4% yield, and gold was up by 2.2%. Full report here.

22 Individuals and Entities Blacklisted for Supporting Russia's War Machine

The United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has blacklisted 22 individuals and entities across several countries as part of their ongoing strategy to clamp down on sanctions evasion globally.
> The sanctions were imposed due to the involvement of the individuals and entities in a sanctions evasion network that was supporting Russia's military-industrial complex.
> The actions taken were part of the Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs (REPO) Task Force, an international coalition of partners aimed at identifying, freezing, and seizing the assets of sanctioned Russians across the world.
> The Department of Treasury stated that the task force leverages information from international partners as well as data from Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to shut off opportunities for Russia to evade or circumvent US and partner sanctions. Continue reading.

Binance Launches BNB Greenfield: A Decentralized Data Storage System for Complete Data Ownership

Binance has unveiled its latest offering, the BNB Greenfield, a decentralized data storage system that is set to enhance the existing decentralized network of Binance's blockchain network, BNB Chain.
> The white paper for the project was released on Wednesday.
> This innovative storage system will be powered by Binance's BNB tokens and will offer a smart contract-integrated Web3 platform.
> It aims to give users and decentralized applications (dapps) complete control over their data, making it ideal for hosting websites, publishing content, storing data, and even personal cloud applications.
> As stated in the white paper, the BNB Greenfield testnet is expected to be launched in the coming months with the support of community developer teams from Amazon Web Services, NodeReal, and Blockdaemon. Details here.

Facebook Reality Labs Division Incurs $13.7 Billion Loss in 2022, Plans to Increase Investment in AR/VR

Facebook (FB) continues to incur significant losses in its Facebook Reality Labs (FRL) division, which focuses on augmented and virtual reality.
> The loss for the fourth quarter was reported at $4.3 billion, slightly better than the expected $4.4 billion and an increase from the previous quarter's $3.7 billion loss.
> For the entire year of 2022, FB's FRL division saw a loss of $13.7 billion with revenue of $2.2 billion, compared to a loss of $10.2 billion and revenue of $2.3 billion in 2021.
> Despite the losses, FB has stated that it views FRL as a crucial aspect of its future and plans to increase investments in the division, causing operating losses to grow significantly in 2023. Details here.

Bitcoin and Ether Prices Soar on Powell's Inflation Comment and Interest Rate Hike

The value of Bitcoin experienced a surge of $700, reaching above $23,600 after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell hinted at a potential decline in inflation.
> Earlier, the Federal Open Market Committee, as anticipated, raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.25% to a range of 4.5%-4.75%, the highest level it has been in the past 15 years.
> The central bank's policy statement mentioned that additional increases in borrowing costs will be necessary to control inflation.
As of the time of reporting, Bitcoin was trading at $23,600, having peaked at $23,627 following Powell's remarks, with a daily increase of over 2%.
> Ether, the cryptocurrency associated with the Ethereum blockchain, also saw an increase of 3% and was trading at $1,635.
> Crypto-related stocks, such as Coinbase, witnessed an 8% rise, while Marathon Digital Holdings increased by 7%.