FTX Group is sending "confidential letters" to politicians and other political beneficiaries of Sam Bankman-Fried, his deputies and his companies, asking them to return the money by the end of the month. This comes as Emergent Fidelity Technologies, a firm co-founded by SBF and former executive Gary Wang, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlhiL0KLHuM

Commodity strategist Mike McGlone  has analyzed the market and suggested that crypto could be “facing their first real recession.”  What Happened: In a recent assessment posted on Twitter, McGlone said that the digital asset market was undergoing its first macroeconomic contraction since the introduction of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC).

https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cryptocurrency/23/02/30753595/crypto-could-be-headed-for-its-first-real-recession-says-commodity-analyst-mike-mcglone?SNAPI

The former CEO of FTX was previously barred form using any messaging apps.

https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/02/06/sam-bankman-fried-lawyer-says-agreement-has-been-reached-on-use-of-messaging-apps/

Reliance Retail has implemented support for the digital rupee in its gourmet store line Freshpik.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/indian-retail-chain-rolls-out-support-for-cbdc-payments-in-stores-report

Crypto exchanges have until February 9th to submit their feedback to the regulator.

https://cryptopotato.com/koreas-fsc-orders-exchanges-to-delist-and-classify-crypto-with-securities-properties/

The first-ever exchange-traded fund focused on NFTs and metaverse assets has announced closure as the crypto winter continues to take more victims. 

https://cryptonews.com/news/first-nft-exchange-traded-fund-announces-closure-as-market-for-non-fungible-tokens-and-metaverse-assets-cool-down.htm

Rally cited a "challenging year" for the crypto industry in its decision to “begin to sunset” the platform's sidechain after Jan. 31.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/social-token-platform-rally-announces-shutdown-of-sidechain

The South Korean Ministry of Justice has placed the establishment of a Virtual Currency Tracking System high on its priority list for 2023.

https://www.thecryptoupdates.com/south-korea-takes-tough-stance-on-crypto-regulation/

Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Tharman Shanmugaratnam, spoke at the WEF23 and stated a controversial take on crypto regulations and questioned if regulating crypto could legitimize speculation, VulcanPost reported.

https://cryptoslate.com/singapore-financial-watchdogs-chairman-questions-if-regulating-crypto-legitimizes-speculation/

Electric vehicle leader Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported fourth-quarter earnings after the market close Wednesday. Here are the key highlights.

https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cryptocurrency/23/01/30576391/tesla-q4-earnings-highlights-revenue-and-eps-beat-cybertruck-and-crypto-holdings-updates-a?SNAPI

A stricter amendment proposed following the collapse of FTX was scraped.

https://www.theblock.co/post/205237/french-senators-vote-to-ease-crypto-licensing-regulation

Europol said that Bitzlato users were especially close to defunct darknet marketplace Hydra Market for drugs and stolen financial information.

https://dailycoin.com/crypto-exchange-bitzlato-laundered-1-billion-linked-to-criminal-activities-europol-says/

The advertising regulatory board (ARB) of South Africa has directed crypto asset providers and influencers to communicate in their advertisements that investing in crypto assets may result in capital loss.

https://cryptoslate.com/south-african-regulator-mandates-crypto-ad-risk-warnings/

Binance Charity – the philanthropic branch of the Binance Exchange – has announced its plan to provide over 30,000 Web3 education scholarships as part of its Binance Scholar Program.

https://bitcoinist.com/binance-charity-to-fund-30000-web3-scholarships/

Twitter recently added 30 more tokens to its Crypto Price Index or $Cashtags feature. The $Cashtags service allows users to check the price of individual cryptocurrencies.

https://bitcoinist.com/twitter-crypto-price-index-feature-with-30-tokens/