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💰 Solana Saga phone orders canceled following 'inventory management' issue
Some customers' orders for Solana Saga phones have been canceled following an inventory mishap. Last week, the device saw a surge in demand after a 135% 24-hour jump in the price of the Solana-based memecoin bonk presented traders with an arbitrage opportunity. The Saga phone comes with 30 million bonk tokens, among other incentives — something that became worth more than the device at recent prices. The firm’s limited inventory of 20,000 phones promptly sold out in the U.S. and EU.
Solana Mobile said that all affected customers have been informed and will receive a refund in the coming days, apologizing for the inconvenience. Customers who haven’t received a cancelation notice should receive a shipping notice by the end of the year, it added. Aside from the inventory issue, some orders were also canceled after being flagged for “suspicious activity due to excessive device orders or payment risk,” Solana Mobile said. Solana-based memecoin bonk went parabolic this month, surging over 800% from $0.0000038 to a peak of $0.000035 on Dec. 15 — the day the phones sold out. However, bonk has since fallen sharply, down 46% to a current price of $0.000019, according to The Block's bonk price page.
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🟠 Federal judge approves settlement between CFTC and Binance
A federal judge approved a settlement between crypto exchange Binance and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a month after the crypto exchange's former CEO pleaded guilty to charges related to anti-money laundering violations. Under the settlement, former CEO Changpeng Zhao will have to pay $150 million, with a third of that paid within the next 30 days, according to the order signed on Dec. 14 by Judge Manish Shah in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Binance will have to pay a $1.35 billion penalty to the CFTC, as well as disgorge $1.35 billion of "ill-gotten transaction fees," according to the order. The agency said Binance, at former CEO Changpeng Zhao's direction, solicited customers in the U.S. and was aware of regulations in the U.S. but "chose to ignore them," according to a statement released on Monday. The consent order also requires Binance and Zhao to guarantee that the exchange will put in place a corporate governance structure that includes a board of directors with independent members, a compliance committee and an audit committee. Binance.US's governance and rendering his interest in the U.S. arm of the exchange "purely economic.
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📣 BlockFi Wallet Withdrawal Window Will Close On December 31
BlockFi, the crypto lending platform, issues a crucial reminder to eligible users to initiate withdrawals from their BlockFi wallet accounts. The deadline for submission is set at 11:59 p.m. UTC on December 31, 2023. Users are urged to complete withdrawal applications promptly to ensure swift receipt of cryptocurrency funds. Additionally, identity verification information requests must be submitted before January 12, 2024, 11:59 p.m. UTC.
Notably, unclaimed wallet distributions after the BlockFi wallet withdrawal window expires will be treated as restricted property under Section 347(b) of the United States Bankruptcy Code. Such unclaimed assets will be irretrievably returned to BlockFi, as stipulated in Article VI.C(6) of the Third Amended Joint Plan. Having successfully emerged from bankruptcy in October, BlockFi is now poised to repay creditors. This milestone enables the platform to pursue asset recovery from firms like Three Arrows Capital (also known as “3AC”) and FTX. Moreover, BlockFi can resume distributing assets to creditors and processing claims. The company emphasizes that BlockFi Interest Account (BIA) and Loan customers will gain access to withdrawal options for some assets in early 2024.
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🇺🇸 SEC Chair Gary Gensler doesn't want to talk about 'crypto securities'
Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler didn't seem like he wanted to talk about crypto on Wednesday after a meeting focused on the U.S. Treasury market, rebuffing a reporter's question about the status of various applications for spot bitcoin ETFs. "The $26 trillion Treasury market, which is really the base of our entire capital markets. It's how we fund our government. It's how our Federal Reserve does monetary policy. It's how we maintain the dollar dominance around the globe.
The U.S. Treasury market is a very consequential, very important market. Crypto securities are not only much smaller, it's not how we fund our government. It's not how we conduct monetary policy. And for many investors, they've been harmed in that market. And they're being harmed because there's too much non-compliance. It's not just non-compliance with securities laws. It's non-compliance with a raft of other laws. The SEC is currently reviewing more than a dozen applications from asset management giants including BlackRock and Fidelity for what would be the country's first spot bitcoin fund. The price of the world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has surged over recent months as analysts speculate that a decision could be getting closer.
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💰 Celestia to integrate data availability layer with Polygon CDK
Celestia will integrate its data availability layer with Polygon Labs’ chain development kit, an open-source codebase used for developing Layer 2 chains.This integration introduces a specialized data availability solution to Layer 2 projects using Polygon CDK, such as OKX, Immutable, Astar, IDEX, Palm Network and others. It aims to potentially reduce gas fees for these projects, which are part of Polygon 2.0, which purports to be an ecosystem of Layer 2 chains capable of interacting with one another.
Layer 2 networks developed on Polygon’s CDK employ zero-knowledge rollup technology. They aggregate transactions off-chain and finalize them in bundles on the mainnet. However, these chains necessitate verifying data availability, which means ensuring every network member can securely retrieve and confirm off-chain stored data. A challenge arises as Ethereum, the platform these chains often rely on, lacks a dedicated execution environment for its DA layer. As a result, Ethereum nodes must process and store data on-chain indefinitely, contributing to increased fees for Layer 2 solutions. This is where data availability solutions may come in.
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📊 Binance Research Report Reveals 110% Surge in Crypto Market Cap YTD
Positive shift in stablecoin supply, NFT trade volume resurgence, and increased fees signal crypto market maturation. A recent report from Binance Research reveals a remarkable surge in the total cryptocurrency market capitalization, which has climbed by about 110% year-to-date, adding over $870 billion in capital, with a notable 55% increase observed in Q4 alone. This growth follows a period of stagnation after the 2021 crypto highs, marking a potential shift in market dynamics.
A significant finding highlighted in the report is the first positive shift in the quarterly net change of the supply of the top five stablecoins since Q1 2022. This indicates a growing interest and influx of capital into cryptocurrencies. Moreover, there has been a notable resurgence in trade volumes of NFTs, particularly in Bitcoin NFTs, breaking the previous year-long downtrend. NFT trade volume resurgence reflects a renewed market sentiment and a revival in speculation. The study also highlights a surge in fees generated by leading crypto projects in November, suggesting the maturation of these platforms into revenue-generating businesses, with Ethereum leading in fee generation.
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📣 Bitzlato co-founder pleads guilty to processing $700 million in illicit funds
Anatoly Legkodymov, the Russian co-founder of Hong Kong-registered virtual currency exchange Bitzlato, pleaded guilty to money laundering crimes in a New York court on Wednesday, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York. Legkodymov was scheduled to appear in a Brooklyn courtroom before U.S. District Judge Eric Vitaliano at 2:30 p.m. ET for a "criminal cause for pleading," Reuters reported earlier in the day.
"Legkodymov’s guilty plea today confirms that he was well aware that Bitzlato, his cryptocurrency exchange, was being used like an open turnstile by criminals eager to take advantage of his lax controls over illicit money transactions," stated United States Attorney Breon Peace. "The defendant may have thought he was operating from a safe haven overseas for his ‘No Questions Asked’ clearinghouse, but this prosecution and conviction demonstrate otherwise." Legkodymov was arrested in Miami in January and charged with transmitting illicit funds. Bitzlato had been the largest counterparty of the now defunct Hydra darknet marketplace, whose users sent around $700 million worth of crypto through the exchange, according to the indictment.
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🪙 Tether’s holdings of BTC currently have a profit of $1.1 billion
Tether’s holdings of BTC have announced a new investment strategy that will see it allocate up to 15% of its net realized operating profits towards purchasing Bitcoin (BTC). The move is seen as a sign of Tether’s confidence in the cryptocurrency market and its belief in Bitcoin’s long-term potential. Under the new strategy, Tether will only purchase Bitcoin with profits that it has already realized, rather than unrealized capital gains from price increases.
Tether will also store the Bitcoin it purchases in its own custody, rather than using a third-party custodian. This is in line with the company’s philosophy of “Not your keys, not your bitcoin”. Tether’s decision to invest in Bitcoin is based on the belief that the cryptocurrency has the potential to reshape the way we conduct business and live our lives. Bitcoin has a proven track record of impressive returns and is increasingly being recognized and adopted by major financial institutions. Tether believes that Bitcoin is a key component of a diversified investment portfolio. In addition to investing in Bitcoin, Tether is also exploring other opportunities in the digital asset landscape.
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🟠 Coinbase and Bybit are main winners following Binance settlement: Kaiko
In the wake of Binance's $4 billion settlement with U.S. authorities last week, crypto exchange rivals Coinbase and Bybit have emerged as the main beneficiaries. Despite registering over $1 billion in outflows during the aftermath of the settlement, Binance has not shown signs of a dramatic decline in liquidity, however, with the exchange's market depth rising post-settlement, according to Kaiko research analyst Riyad Carey.
U.S. authorities, including the Department of Justice, Department of the Treasury and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, settled with Binance last week, concluding a criminal investigation into allegations of money laundering and sanctions violations and marking one of the largest corporate settlements in U.S. history. The settlement involved $4.3 billion in penalties and included criminal charges against former CEO Changpeng Zhao, who stepped down as part of a plea deal. Coinbase was one beneficiary, at least in terms of its share price. Coinbase's stock was already performing well in November, with the Binance settlement adding fuel to the fire, Carey said, as COIN surged by over 75% for the month.
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💰 AntPool agrees to refund record $3 million Bitcoin transaction fee
Bitcoin mining pool AntPool has agreed to refund the record-breaking $3 million transaction fee it mined last week, pending owner verification. AntPool wrote in the announcement. “The risk control system of AntPool temporarily froze the fee when packaging the transaction. Please contact us before 00:00 (UTC+8) on December 10, 2023 and verify personal identity. After verification, AntPool will refund the fee.”
AntPool requested the original owner of the funds to prepare a signing tool, such as Electrum or Bitcoin Core — the most widely used software implementation of the Bitcoin protocol — using the private key of the address that sent the transaction to sign the message “AntPool”, then send the signed text to its support email address. The transaction was mined by AntPool in block 818,087 but it had not publicly commented on the matter until now. The previous record $500,000 fee paid in September was subsequently identified as a “fat finger” overpayment by the crypto services provider Paxos. F2Pool, the miner facilitating that transaction, agreed to reimburse the fee to Paxos.
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📣 Crypto Trading Firm Kronos Research Offers 10% Bounty to Hacker
Taipei-based cryptocurrency trading and investment firm Kronos Research has opened doors for negotiations with a hacker who made off with $25 million of the firm's treasury early this month. Last week, the Taiwanese trading and VC firm reported via a post on X that an unauthorized entity gained access to its API keys. Onchain experts ZachXBT and Lookonchain later confirmed that the attacker made off with $25 million, mostly in stablecoins.
"At present, we can confirm that the losses are about $26 million in crypto assets, and despite it being a sizable amount, Kronos remains in good standing. All losses will be covered internally, and no partners will be affected," the firm later posted on X. Public, on-chain negotiations between hackers and their victims have become increasingly common. Recently, the attacker behind an exploit of KyberSwap signed one of the transactions that pilfered funds from the decentralized exchange, stating that they would begin negotiations when they were "fully rested." KyberSwap offered them a 10% bounty to return stolen funds. In August, Curve Finance offered hackers a 10% bounty in exchange for the return of the stolen crypto, also negotiated via transaction signing.
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📉 GBTC Discount Shrinks To Two-Year Low of 7.5%
GBTC shares are approaching BTC parity as negotiations between Grayscale and the SEC move apace. Shares for the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) – the world’s largest Bitcoin fund – are nearly back to parity with Bitcoin (BTC)’s price after trading deeply underwater for the past two years. Their rising value reflects market confidence that Grayscale’s efforts to convert its fund into a Bitcoin spot ETF will prove successful. GBTC’s discount to NAV ratio shrank as low as 8.6%, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.
The discount reflects the difference between the market cap of GBTC’s shares versus the total value of all BTC held by the trust. According to the most recent figures from Grayscale’s website, the fund holds $33.75 in BTC per share, compared to a market price of $31.21 right now – a mere 7.5% discount as of Friday. At the time, separate memos from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed that executives from Grayscale, BlackRock, and others held meetings with the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets on Monday to discuss their respective ETF applications. Major investors like Cathie Wood and Mike Novogratz – who themselves govern funds sponsoring separate ETF applications – have noted increased engagement from the SEC in helping to sharpen their products before they reach the market.
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🪙 Justin Sun Confirms HTX, Heco Chain Exploited After $100M in Suspicious Transfers
Crypto exchange HTX and blockchain protocol Heco Chain were hacked for a cumulative $97 million in various tokens earlier Wednesday, Justin Sun, one of the investors at the exchange, confirmed in a post. Sun said HTX will fully compensate for any losses originating from the exchange. Deposits and withdrawals are temporarily suspended while the remaining funds are secure. Once we complete the investigation and identify the cause, we will resume services,” Sun said.
Blockchain security firm Cyver flagged suspicious transfers to the tune of $85 million earlier Wednesday. It said in a message to CoinDesk that the attack was due to a suspected private key leak, which allowed their holders to access the Heco bridge, which lets users transfer tokens between Heco Chain and Ethereum. Heco Chain was set up by HTX, which continued to be one of its maintainers. A HTX spokesperson told CoinDesk that HTX and Heco Chain operate independently. The incident follows a smaller $8 million exploit of HTX in October, where hackers were able to steal 500 ether from the exchange. All losses were fully covered in the days following the incident.
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🟠 BNB price spikes amid report of possible Binance deal with DOJ
The price of BNB rose Monday after a report the U.S. Department of Justice is seeking $4 billion from Binance as part of a deal that could end its ongoing investigation. BNB has increased by over 5% in the past 24 hours and was changing hands for $254.51 at 1:50 p.m. in New York, according to CoinGecko. It had surged as high as $258.05, the highest price since June 9. According to a Bloomberg report on Monday, the DOJ is seeking over $4 billion from Binance Holdings Ltd.
The DOJ has been investigating the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange over alleged money laundering, bank fraud and sanctions violations, according to the Bloomberg report. Negotiations include the possibility that Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao could face criminal charges in the U.S. as part of an agreement to resolve the probe, the report added. The report said investors are stalling, with risk-off sentiment returning to a previously buoyant market. This is despite the latest indications on FedWatch that reveal an almost 98.8% probability that the U.S. central bank will maintain its target rate within the current range of 5.25% to 5.50% at its next meeting on December 13.
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📣 Sam Altman remains at Worldcoin's developer while he may return to OpenAI
Sam Altman, ousted CEO of OpenAI, appears to be keeping his job at Tools for Humanity, the company behind Worldcoin, as negotiations regarding his return to OpenAI reportedly continue. Tools for Humanity's website lists Altman as the co-founder and chairman of the project, and a spokesperson confirmed that the website remains a current indicator of his position. Worldcoin's WLD token initially fell upon the news of Altman's ouster from OpenAI, though its price has recovered from $1.83 to $2.40.
Worldcoin aims to build a global network by distributing tokens to participants who agree to have their retinas scanned by an orb-like device, thus verifying, in theory, that each person on the planet has one and only one Worldcoin account. Since launch, nearly 40 million WLD tokens have been distributed to users, according to data from Worldcoin. Tools for Humanity raised $100 million in March 2022 at a $3 billion valuation and a further $115 million in May 2023. Worldcoin's WLD token initially fell upon the news of Altman's ouster from OpenAI, though its price has recovered from $1.83 to $2.40, according to The Block's Price Page.
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🇬🇭 Ghana's Securities Regulator Creates Taskforce to Build Capacity for Crypto Asset Oversight
According to Daniel Ogbamey-Tetteh, the Director General of the Ghanaian Securities and Exchange Commission, the commission has established a task force to help it build its capacity to oversee and regulate crypto assets. The establishment of the task force is in line with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO)’s call on members to take steps to protect digital asset consumers.
Ogbamey-Tetteh made these remarks at an event marking the commission’s 25th anniversary. As per a report by BFT Online, the Ghanaian regulator has also been working on boosting capital and crypto asset owners’ confidence in the commission. Interestingly, the SEC through its deputy director general, has previously advised Ghanaian residents to stay away from crypto assets because they are not regulated by the commission. However, despite this admonishment, Ghanaian residents have continued to trade and invest in cryptocurrencies, forcing the regulator to think of ways to protect crypto users. Director General revealed that the SEC is prioritizing developing human capital and the digitalization program.
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💰 Ripple CEO Garlinghouse Ignites Crypto Revolution: Battles Overreach for Global Dominance!
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has pledged his support for pro-innovation and pro-crypto candidates in the upcoming 2024 US elections. This announcement comes at a crucial juncture when the cryptocurrency industry is facing heightened regulatory scrutiny, and leaders like Garlinghouse are stepping forward to shape its future. The Ripple CEO argues that a balanced regulatory framework is essential to foster innovation while ensuring the industry’s integrity and security.
Addressing the pressing need for transparency, Garlinghouse highlights the importance of open communication and clear guidelines within the crypto space. He underscores the significance of adopting a compliance-first approach to meet regulatory standards, build credibility, and gain broader acceptance. The Ripple CEO’s call for pro-innovation and pro-crypto candidates aligns with his vision for a progressive and thriving digital economy. By thttps://coincu.com/238196-ripple-ceo-garlinghouse-ignites-crypto/hrowing his weight behind political figures who share these values, Garlinghouse aims to create an environment conducive to technological advancement and the responsible growth of the crypto sector.
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📣 SafeMoon files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy after exec arrests, SEC charges
DeFi protocol SafeMoon filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection on Thursday after the U.S. securities watchdog last month charged the firm for alleged fraud. SafeMoon filed the voluntary petition for bankruptcy to the United States Bankruptcy Court in the District of Utah on Thursday. The document was signed by chief restructuring officer Kenneth Ehrler. SafeMoon US LLC, has estimated assets in the range of $10 million to $50 million and estimated liabilities of $100,001 to $500,000.
The news comes after the Securities and Exchange Commission last month charged the firm and its executive team for alleged fraud and unregistered offering of crypto securities. The agency said SafeMoon’s three executives — Kyle Nagy, John Karony and Thomas Smith — failed to deliver promised profits and misappropriated investor funds for their own personal use. Karony and Smith were arrested last month, while Nagy remained at large. “As alleged, the defendants lied to SFM investors concerning whether SFM’s use of ‘locked’ liquidity was inaccessible to the defendants, as well as their personal holding and trading of SFM,” prosecutors said. SafeMoon token fell 14.4% over the past 24 hours as of Friday noon in Asia, according to data from CoinGecko.
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🪙 Tether Scores Second-Lowest Rank in S&P Global Stablecoin Stability Assessment
Ratings company S&P Global introduced a stablecoin stability assessment on Tuesday, assigning scores from 1 (very strong) to 5 (weak) as a measure of how capable the cryptocurrency is at keeping to its fiat-currency peg. None of the eight stablecoins assessed warranted a 1. Three – Gemini dollar (GUSD), USD Coin (USDC) and Pax Dollar (USDP) – scored 2 and Tether (USDT), the largest stablecoin by market cap, was assigned 4 (constrained).
Stablecoins are often digital assets backed by real-world assets like the U.S. dollar and are meant to hold their value against those assets. Some, however, are not physically backed, and attempt to use mathematical algorithms to maintain their value. S&P's assessment considered quality risks, including credit, market value and custody risks as well as liquidation and overcollateralization among other criteria. USDT is the third-biggest crypto after bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), with a market capitalization of over $90 billion, according to CoinGecko. Last November, as concerns circulated over the ability of crypto exchange FTX to continue functioning, it dropped 3% below its peg. The company attributed the drop to market volatility.
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🏦 Decentralized Exchange Uniswap Expands to Bitcoin Sidechain Rootstock
Decentralized exchange Uniswap expanded to the Bitcoin sidechain Rootstock, in a boost to the world's largest blockchain's decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape. Uniswap version 3 (v3) has been deployed on Rootstock by GFX Labs, the team behind trading terminal Oku, according to an emailed announcement shared with CoinDesk on Monday. According to Uniswap's website, the project, originally designed for Ethereum, has also been deployed on the Ethereum layer-2 networks Arbitrum, Optimism and Polygon.
Oku will provide Rootstock with trading tools that incorporate analytics, limit orders and liquidity provider position management. The combination of Ethereum-based Uniswap's smart contract capabilities with the security of Bitcoin's proof-of-work network could bring deeper liquidity and more DeFi uses cases to the crypto industry. "Rootstock's combination of Bitcoin's security and Ethereum's smart contract capabilities, now augmented with Uniswap v3, introduces a new dimension of on-chain swaps, liquidity depth and yield opportunities on Bitcoin's network," according to the press release. Bitcoin network to capitalize on the rise of BRC-20 – a token standard to enable the issuance of tokens and therefore DeFi applications on Bitcoin.
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🟠 Zhao can’t return to UAE before sentencing: report
A federal judge in Seattle ruled that Chanpeng Zhao, former CEO of Binance, can’t return home to the United Arab Emirates before he’s sentenced in the U.S. in February. The same ruling was issued on November 27, pending a further review. Prosecutors had warned that Zhao presented a flight risk, citing his wealth and the fact that the UAE has no extradition treaty with the U.S. U.S. District Judge Richard Jones on Thursday rejected the idea of Zhao returning to the UAE.
U.S. District Judge Richard Jones on Thursday rejected the idea of Zhao returning to the UAE outright before he is sentenced, according to the Bloomberg report today. The same ruling was issued on November 27, pending a further review. Chanpeng Zhao, former CEO of Binance, can’t return home to the United Arab Emirates before he’s sentenced in the U.S. in February Prosecutors had warned that Zhao presented a flight risk, citing his wealth and the fact that the UAE has no extradition treaty with the U.S. In November, Zhao pleaded guilty in a Seattle court to violating, and causing a financial institution to violate, the Bank Secrecy Act. He also agreed to pay a $50 million fine. The news comes after an initial ruling that Zhao could not return to the UAE, pending a further review.
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📊 Gate.io blames volume spike on issues with clients’ quant trading strategies
For the second time this week, an Asian crypto exchange finds itself explaining an abnormal spike in trading volume. Gate.io saw daily trading volumes swell to a high of $4 billion on the evening of Dec. 4 — many times larger than what the Asian crypto exchange fields on a typical day. The spike has already caused a spat with the community behind a so-called “animal token” named RATS, created on the Bitcoin blockchain using the BRC-20 protocol.
Gate, however, attributes the outlandish volume to market fluctuations, which disrupted some of its clients trading strategies. “We have confirmed that this is a result of substantial market fluctuations during that evening which caused issues with the trading strategies of some quant institution users. Changes in the strategies of institutional users during market volatility are common and do not impact the overall functionality of our platform,” a Gate spokesperson said. The news comes in the same week that HashKey Exchange, a month-old exchange licensed in Hong Kong, saw daily volumes surge to $4.5 billion.
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📣 JPMorgan's JPM Coin to Make Its Debut on Interbank Transactions
Jpm coin, the blockchain token used by JPMorgan to settle billions in same-bank transactions, will be used to complete interbank transactions. The asset recently debuted on Partior, a blockchain ledger that features inter-bank transactions using blockchain assets, which might expand its utilization. Partior, launched in a joint effort of JPMorgan alongside DBS Bank, Temasek, and Standard Chartered, features quick multicurrency transactions alongside its members.
While the Singapore-based project is already live, its inner workings’ details and utilization numbers are still fuzzy. Ledger Insights reported that they believed DBS Bank was live on the platform but that other banks still are not using it. JPMorgan beat other U.S.-based banks that have still to obtain permission to deploy this kind of solution, having received a no-objection letter from the United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for Partior’s use in May. However, including jpm coin in Partior might boost its usage, given the size and significance of JPMorgan’s blockchain token and its almost ubiquitous presence in baking markets.
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🇸🇬 Terraform Labs, Do Kwon Fail to Have Singapore Class-Action Suit Rejected: Report
Terraform Labs and its founder, Do Kwon, may be hit with a class-action lawsuit in Singapore after the High Court dismissed an attempt to have it thrown out, Business Times reported on Thursday. Terraform lawyers tried to shift the action to an arbitration process, citing the website's terms of use, according to the Business Times. The lawyers claimed users had foregone the right to trial and to join a class-action suit. The court ruled otherwise.
"To our knowledge, this is the furthest a class-action suit has progressed in the world," Mahesh Rai, a director of Drew & Napier, which represents the claimants, said in an interview. "Now we are approaching discovery stage." The suit was filed in September 2022 by Julian Moreno Beltran and Douglas Gan on behalf of 375 others, who claim they lost a combined $57 million. The claimants are alleging fraudulent misrepresentation by Terraform Labs, Do Kwon and his co-founders in their promotion of the algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD (UST), which led them to purchase and stake the tokens and hold on to them as UST lost its peg to the U.S. dollar in May 2022 and plunged to less than $0.10.
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🏦 Coinbase tells some customers it received subpoena related to Bybit
Coinbase has alerted some users about a subpoena it received from a U.S. regulator involving crypto exchange Bybit, according to emails sent out by the exchange that were posted on social media. The CFTC has certain powers to conduct investigations, including through voluntary statements and subpoenas, according to its enforcement manual. Laws also require Coinbase to collect information.
Coinbase itself has faced regulatory scrutiny from the Securities and Exchange Commission after it was sued in June for allegedly operating illegally as an exchange, broker and clearing agency. Shortly before, the SEC sued Binance on similar charges, but also included allegations that the exchange lied to customers and misdirected capital to separate investment funds owned by former CEO Changpeng Zhao. "We may access, read, preserve, and disclose information when we believe it is reasonably necessary to comply with law, legal obligations, regulations, law enforcement, governmental, and other legal requests, court orders, or for disclosure to tax authorities," Coinbase said.
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🪙 Hamas, Hezbollah Now Prefer Tron to Bitcoin: Reuters
The Tron blockchain has overtaken Bitcoin as the cryptocurrency network most favored by groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, which are designated as terror organizations by the U.S., U.K. and other jurisdictions, Reuters reported on Monday. Israel has made 87 such seizures from Tron wallets this year, two-thirds of the total number going back to July 2021. These include 39 from wallets the country said in June were owned by Lebanon-based Hezbollah and 26 in July from Hamas ally Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
There has been a sharp rise in cryptocurrency seizures from Tron wallets since 2021 and a decline in those from Bitcoin wallets, Reuters' analysis found. Almost two-thirds of Israel's Tron seizures were in 2023, including 39 from wallets Israel said in June were owned by Lebanon's Hezbollah and 26 in July from Hamas ally Palestinian Islamic Jihad. "Earlier it was Bitcoin and now our data shows that these terrorist organizations tend to increasingly favor Tron," Mriganka Pattnaik, CEO of blockchain analysis firm Merkle Science, said. In response to the research, Tron spokesperson Hayward Wong told Reuters all technologies could "in theory be used for questionable activities," adding that Tron did not have control over those using its network.
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🟠 Binance faces aggressive CFTC action: “Access to US customers is a privilege, not a right.”
Binance faces aggressive CFTC action when the CFTC Commissioner says, “Access to US customers is a privilege, not a right.” The last couple of years have been tough for the crypto industry and its leading figures. And it’s not likely there will be relief for the sector anytime soon. At least, that’s what policymakers are signaling. This week, Binance chief Changpeng Zhao joined his former industry rival Sam Bankman-Fried in making headlines for charges against him and his crypto exchange, which included breaching US anti-money-laundering laws.
On Tuesday, Zhao pleaded guilty and left his role as CEO. Binance is set to pay over $4.3 billion in fines, $50 million of which will be paid by the former CEO himself. As part of Binance faces aggressive CFTC action, A statement made by CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero read: “There are no pirate ships in US markets” and that “access to US customers is a privilege, not a right.” Goldsmith added that the CFTC plans to continue its aggressive pursuit of crypto exchanges that violate trade laws. The commissioner noted that there will be no tolerance for using VPNs, or any other actions that could circumvent KYC rules, including pop-up questions that merely ask users to attest that they aren’t based in the US.
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🟠 Binance Will Retain Its International Dominance After U.S. Settlement: Bernstein
Binance experienced minor outflows of less than $1 billion following the news of the settlement with the U.S. government, there was no major panic from customers, and it remains the dominant crypto exchange internationally, with $67 billion of customer funds under custody, broker Bernstein said in a research report Wednesday. “Binance’s reputation with retail non-U.S. customers has remained strong through the crisis,” analysts led by Gautam Chhugani wrote.
Binance will remain a “material entity in non-U.S. markets,” but Bernstein says it expects increased competition from the likes of listed rival Coinbase (COIN) and new exchanges in regulated markets such as Hong Kong and Singapore. Bernstein says the crypto exchange has adequate funds to settle the $4.3 billion fine while maintaining healthy operations. “Binance’s complete exit from the U.S would mean continued dominance of onshore and incumbent exchanges in the U.S.,” the authors wrote, noting that asset managers who have filed exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications are already working with exchanges such as Coinbase for prime broking and custody.
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🔴 Avalanche's AVAX token leads price rally among Ethereum rivals
AVAX, the native token of the Avalanche blockchain, is spearheading a rally among Layer 1 alternatives to Ethereum. In the past month, blockchain platforms that are considered Layer 1 alternatives to Ethereum have seen their native tokens make gains of over 100%, compared to a 22% increase in the value of ether. AVAX has surged nearly 130% in the last 30 days, according to CoinGecko data, while Solana's price increased by 113% and the native token of the Near protocol has risen by 110%.
In an illustration of the increased activity on these alternative Layer 1s, data from The Block's dashboard shows the number of daily transactions on the Near blockchain has reached an all-time high of 1.68 million. "Avalanche's collaborations with heavyweight institutions like JP Morgan and Citi are indicative of a growing institutional inclination towards high-performance layer 1 alternatives to Ethereum," said Jeff Feng, co-founder of Sei Labs, which supports the high-performance Sei blockchain. "These developments highlight the financial industry's active search for scalable blockchain solutions," he added.
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🇺🇸 Sen. Elizabeth Warren points to dangers of crypto scams targeting older investors in latest call to pass her legislation
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., criticized cryptocurrency's role in schemes targeting older investors while pushing for her bill that she says would bring scammers to a halt during a recent Senate hearing. "The anonymity is terrific," said Steve Weisman, a senior lecturer at Bentley University. "You have people looking for the privacy and of course that is something with crypto mixers where your account gets mixed in with others and becomes very difficult to trace."
Weisman said in the ransomware attack against Colonial Pipeline, which provides fuel on the U.S. east coast, the government was able to trace the accounts, but said once funds are funneled into mixers, that crSen. Elizabeth Warreneates a problem. "There is a legitimate privacy concern that people may have, but it does not come anywhere near to the scammers," Weisman continued. Warren said her bill, called the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act, would make it easier for regulators to track suspicious activity around crypto and shut down those scammers. "I think Americans are sick and tired of these crypto crimes, and it’s long past time that we get some regulation in place to deal with this," Warren said.
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