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This week in the crypto world, we saw Craig Wright finally given a jail sentence for his Satoshi cosplay, Ripple launch a stablecoin, and El Salvador forced to row back on its Bitcoin adoption.
Craig Wright Sentenced After Decade-long Satoshi Cosplay
Satoshi cosplayer Craig Wright finally faced justice (of a sort) this week when a UK judge sentenced him to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, after his persistent claims to have created Bitcoin breached an injunction served earlier this year.
Wright failed to show up for a contempt of court hearing in London this week, which only added to Justice Mellor’s ire, and he duly sentenced Wright for the breach, while at the same time scrapping the trillion-dollar ‘champagne’ passing off case, which led to COPA accusing Wright of the breach in October.
Wright also faces the potential of perjury and fraud charges next year after his record-breaking deceit during the COPA v Wright trial.
Ripple Launches Stablecoin
Ripple launched its RLUSD stablecoin this week, which CEO Brad Garlinghouse called a “milestone” in the company’s plans. The launch marks a significant expansion of Ripple’s services as it ventures into the stablecoin market, an arena dominated by Tether and Circle, and it will be fascinating to gauge the uptake of RLUSD once the launch dust settles.
Ripple also added a number of former central bank executives to its advisory board this week, showing its intentions of making strides into the institutional banking world, as it has always hoped it would.
El Salvador Forced to Backtrack on Bitcoin Adoption
El Salvador has been forced to row back on the depth of its Bitcoin adoption in order to secure $3.5 billion in international loans. The country will either ditch its national Chivo wallet or sell it off to a private company and will allow others to create and launch their own wallets, as well as make Bitcoin acceptance by stores voluntary rather than mandatory.
El Salvador will retain its Bitcoin holdings, and will continue to add to them on a daily basis, but the IMF is hoping to reduce the risks associated with the country’s use of Bitcoin as a currency rather than as a reserve asset.
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Mark Hunter