San Francisco

San Francisco authorities make arrest in stabbing of Cash App creator Bob Lee

Police chief Bill Scott said there was evidence that the suspect and Bob Lee knew each other but did not comment on the possible motive of the attack.

The San Francisco Police Department has arrested a tech executive named Nima Momeni in connection with the April 4 stabbing of Cash App creator Bob Lee.

In an April 13 press conference, the SFPD announced that Momeni was in custody following the execution of search and arrest warrants in San Francisco and Emeryville, a city across the bay. Police chief Bill Scott said that “the evidence shows that [Momeni and Lee] knew each other” but did not comment on the motive of the stabbing, adding that the case was not yet closed.

*SFPD Chief Bill Scott addresses reporters on April 13. Source: Facebook*

The death of Lee, known by many in the tech world for creating the mobile payment service Cash App, sent shockwaves through the crypto space. The news that Lee knew Momeni suggested the attack was not random, despite some media outlets pointing to San Francisco as a “crime-ridden” city.

“We knew nothing about the facts of this case immediately after it happened — none of us did,” said San Francisco district attorney Brooke Jenkins. “My urging, through Twitter, through the news, was to really press upon not just the media but the residents of San Francisco and everyone else not to draw conclusions about what happened in this case.”

1/ Protecting public safety & holding violent/repeat offenders accountable is a top priority for my administration. We work closely w/ @SFPD & bring forward charges when arrests are made & there is enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty. https://t.co/vq7fYoAjdP

— Brooke Jenkins 謝安宜 (@BrookeJenkinsSF) April 5, 2023

It’s unclear at the time of publication what charges, if any, Momeni could face in connection to Lee’s death, but San Francisco Mayor London Breed referred to the case as a murder. In addition to developing Cash App, Lee had formally been the chief technology officer of Square — later rebranded as Block — the chief product officer of MobileCoin, and a father of two.

Magazine: US enforcement agencies are turning up the heat on crypto-related crime

San Francisco federal bank eyes CBDC system development, reveals job posting

Within 24 hours of the job posting, 45 applicants have shown interest in joining the federal government to build an in-house CBDC.

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco is looking for a software engineer to help develop and implement systems related to a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

On Feb. 18, the San Francisco Fed posted a job opening for a “senior application developer – digital currency.” The candidate is expected to aid the Federal Reserve in designing and implementing systems critical to CBDC research. Revealing its intention, the Fed’s post read:

“Given the dollar’s important role, Federal Reserve System seeks to further understand the cost and benefits of the potential technologies for central bank digital currencies, and how the system better understand this emerging field.”

Key responsibilities include developing systems related to CBDCs, identifying improvements and mitigating risks, to name a few. The job location is in San Francisco, California, with a base salary ranging from $110,300 to $176,300.

*Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco job posting for senior application developer for CBDC. Source: LinkedIn*

At the time of writing, 45 applicants have shown interest in joining the federal government to build an in-house CBDC.

“The software engineer engages directly with management, other developers on the team, development operations teams, and vendors to ensure the Federal Reserve is well-positioned to design, develop, and implement technology to support a CBDC as may be required by the Board of Governors,” the job posting states.

As major economies across the world test CBDCs, India onboarded 50,000 users and 5,000 merchants to test out its recently launched digital rupee CBDC.

Reserve Bank of India deputy governor Rabi Sankar stressed that the government plans to proceed with CBDC testing in the smoothest way possible. He said:

“We want the process to happen, but we want the process to happen gradually and slowly. We are in no hurry to make something happen so quickly.”

India’s CBDC project is currently active across five cities, with nine more cities potentially gradually joining the pilot soon.