Brazil's Congress has passed a bill that would regulate the use of cryptocurrency as a means of payment throughout the country, potentially providing a boost toward the adoption of digital assets in the South American nation, Decrypt report.

What this means is that banks, if they chose, could soon begin offering crypto payment services, facilitating the use of crypto for buying and selling ordinary goods, in the same way that consumers currently use credit cards or other similar services.

Some banks in Brazil are already today experimenting with crypto custody, such as the Brazilian subsidiary of the Spanish banking giant Santander, which has plans to begin offering crypto trading services as well. Other banks like Itaú, one of Brazil's largest private banks, plans to launch its own asset tokenization platform. None, however, have yet developed a service to process payments in crypto.

An eight-episode limited series about the FTX scandal from Joe and Anthony Russo’s production company, AGBO, has been set up at Amazon, Variety reports.

David Weil is set to write the pilot and executive produce, while an individual with knowledge of the project says that the Russos are in talks to direct in addition to executive producing. Other executive producers include Mike Larocca, Angela Russo-Otstot, and Scott Nemes for AGBO as well as Natalie Laine Williams.

Amazon is hoping to put the show into production in spring 2023.

According to sources, the Amazon series will be based on “insider reporting” by a number of journalists who have covered FTX and Bankman-Fried, though exactly what source material the show will draw from is currently under wraps. Sources also note that there have been discussions with multiple Marvel actors with whom the Russos worked in the past about joining the show in key roles, but all of those talks are preliminary at this time.

Crypto lender BlockFi filed for bankruptcy protection Monday, days after suspending withdrawals amid the ongoing fallout from exchange FTX's bankruptcy filing, Coindesk reports.

The company said it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, indicating it hoped to restructure, continuing operations in the meantime. BlockFi has about $257 million in cash on hand. A Bermuda-based affiliate is also filing for liquidation, a similar process.

According to the company's petition, BlockFi's executives estimate the company has more than 100,000 creditors, and checked off the ranges. Executives estimate the company has between $1 billion and $10 billion in both assets and liabilities.

The company's largest creditors include West Realm Shires Inc., the legal name for FTX US, which has a $275 million unsecured claim, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has a $30 million unsecured claim. The majority of the other top 50 creditors' names were not shared.

BlockFi's largest creditor is Ankura Trust Company, which the lender appears to have hired in February and now has a $730 million unsecured claim.

itcoin price saw a sudden sell-off on November 28 after a consolidative weekend, FXStreet reports. This bearish outlook comes as major protests erupt in China due to Covid restrictions. As a result of the growing unrest in the east, investors seem to be heading into a risk-off mode, pushing safe-haven assets like the US Dollar, bonds, and Yen higher.

Bitcoin price crashed 7% between November 19 and 21, which formed the second bottom at $15,443. After this move, BTC saw a 9% upswing that pushed it to $16,800, creating the fourth lower high.

After four days of consolidation, Bitcoin price finally broke down and tagged $16,120, the midpoint of the $15,443 to $16,797 range. As long as BTC remains above this level, there is a high chance that BTC will likely retest the previous Monday’s high at $17,188 and June lows at $17,593.

From a short-to-mid-term perspective, a flip of the $17,593 hurdle could open the path for Bitcoin price to retest the $19,011, the highest volume traded over the last 11 months. Additionally, the Relative Strength Index shows that the overall momentum is still bullish as it continues to produce higher lows since November 9.

On the other hand, if Bitcoin price fails to hold above the $15,700 support level, it will be the first sign of weakness. A breakdown of this level, followed by a four-hour candlestick close below $15,443 without a quick recovery, will invalidate the bullish thesis.

In such a case, Bitcoin price could explore the possibility of revisiting the high timeframe support level at $13,575.

Source: FXStreet 

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance on Thursday announced new details about its industry recovery fund, which aims to prop up struggling players in the wake of FTX’s calamitous bankruptcy, CNBC reports.

Binance said it will devote $1 billion in initial commitments to the recovery fund. It may increase that amount to $2 billion at a point in time in the future “if the need arises,” the company added.

It has also received $50 million in commitments from crypto-native investment firms including Jump Crypto, Polygon Ventures, and Animoca Brands.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao shared the public wallet address showing its initial commitment and said: “We do this transparently.” Public blockchain data reviewed by CNBC showed a balance of around $1 billion in Binance’s own BUSD stablecoin.

Billionaire investor and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman says he remains bullish about cryptocurrencies, despite the recent collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange and the market turmoil that has followed it, Cointelegraph reports.

In a Nov. 20 Twitter thread, the CEO and founder of hedge fund management firm Pershing Square Capital Management said he believes that “crypto is here to stay” despite recent challenges, though there’s a need to increase oversight and remove “fraudulent actors” in the space.

Bill Ackman is a billionaire American investor who most recently called for the removal of regulatory barriers and easing of regulations in New York in order to make the city a crypto hub. He is also a direct investor in a number of cryptocurrency projects.

“I think crypto is here to stay and with proper oversight and regulation, it has the potential to greatly benefit society and grow the global economy,” he said.