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20 декабря 2023 08:55

📣 Galaxy Digital Looking to Buy More Crypto Bankruptcy Assets After Deal to Sell FTX's Coins: FT

Galaxy Digital (GLXY), the cryptocurrency financial services firm headed by Mike Novogratz, is looking to buy more assets from bankrupt crypto companies after securing a deal to sell bitcoin and ether owned by crypto exchange FTX on behalf of the estate's management, the Financial Times reported. That deal, from August, tripled Galaxy's assets under management to $5.3 billion, according to the FT.

Galaxy's global head of asset management, Steve Kurz, told the FT it is looking to repeat the experience with other bankrupt companies. That includes firms FTX invested in as a venture capital provider. In December last year, the New York-based company won an auction to buy self-custody platform GK8 from bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network. "We have a crypto venture team that has been investing off our balance sheet for five years," Kurz said, according to the newspaper. "The record that we have on that side of our asset management business means we'd be a good candidate for something like that."

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17 декабря 2023 19:08

🪙 Tether Releases Letters Sent to US Senate Committee: Details

Tether, the company behind the largest stablecoin, has released the two letters it had sent to the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and House Financial Services Committee. The letters are specifically addressed to pro-Bitcoin Senator Cynthia Lummis and Rep. French Hill. The main goal of Tether’s letters is to address issues raised by both Lummis and Hill regarding the alleged use of stablecoins in illicit activities, such as funding terrorism and money laundering.

The company added that it is “fully committed to the fight against terrorist financing, compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and U.S. Sanctions Laws, and meeting the highest levels of customer due diligence and rigorous transaction screening.” The letter also outlined Tether’s recently implemented policy that allows it to freeze wallets and assets supposedly linked to illegal activities. The recently appointed CEO, Paolo Ardoino, said his firm is grateful for the possibility of addressing these issues with the US government. He added that Tether aims to be a “world class partner” of US authorities as they “continue to assist law enforcement and expand dollar hegemony globally.”. Tether is the largest stablecoin issuer.

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15 декабря 2023 08:03

🇷🇺 Crypto Exchange CoinList Settles OFAC's Russian Sanctions Allegations for $1.2M

Crypto exchange CoinList paid $1.2 million to settle U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control allegations it allowed users in Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia, to use the platform. CoinList "opened 89 accounts for customers, nearly all of whom had specified 'Russia' as their country of residence but all of whom provided addresses in Crimea upon account opening," the OFAC notice reads. "Screening protocols failed to recognize that ‘Crimea’ or a city name in Crimea, provided in another data field, indicated likely residence in Crimea."

Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, and most countries still see the region as part of Ukraine. The occupation led to the imposition of sanctions on Russia. OFAC said that the fine was significantly lower than the potential maximum of nearly $327 million because of CoinList's past compliance, cooperation and the small number of transactions involved relative to the exchange's total volume. “This enforcement action further emphasizes the importance for virtual currency companies and those involved in emerging technologies to incorporate risk-based sanctions compliance into their business functions, especially when the companies seek to offer financial services to a global customer base,” OFAC said in a media release.

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13 декабря 2023 08:08

🏦 Coinbase looks toward diamond-handed institutions with new digital-asset project launch

Coinbase and Coinbase Asset Management have launched “Project Diamond” — a smart contract-powered platform designed to enable institutions to create, manage, buy and sell a range of digitally native assets directly on-chain. Coinbase Asset Management said Project Diamond’s initial use case will be confined to registered institutional users outside of the U.S. It works by leveraging Coinbase Prime custody, Coinbase’s web3 wallet.

The platform executed its first digital debt instrument on Nov. 10 as a feasibility demonstration for the UAE’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority. The demonstration was made in preparation for entering the Abu Dhabi Global Market RegLab, having received in-principle approval to conduct regulated activity within the sandbox. The ADGM RegLab is a specially tailored regulatory framework providing a controlled environment for FinTech participants to develop and test innovative solutions, according to its website. Project Diamond aims to bridge this gap — with its initial digital discount note demonstration, denominated in USDC, transacted within a single application at near-instant settlement speed on Base, Coinbase added.

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11 декабря 2023 16:52

🇬🇧 UK FCA crypto skills gap is causing slow enforcement, says National Audit Office

The National Audit Office (NAO) in the United Kingdom has raised concerns about the effectiveness of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in regulating the cryptocurrency industry. In a recent report titled “Financial services regulation: adapting to change,” the NAO has claimed that the FCA is being slow to respond and take action against illicit activities in the crypto industry.

The NAO highlighted that it took the FCA almost three years to take action against illegal operators of crypto ATMs. On July 11, Cointelegraph reported that the FCA had shut down 26 crypto ATMs as part of a coordinated investigation. The NAO claims that the delay in registering crypto firms seeking regulatory approval from the FCA was attributed to the absence of specialized crypto personnel. “For example, a shortage of crypto skills meant the FCA took longer than planned to register crypto-asset firms under money laundering regulations,” the report state. On Jan.27, Cointelegraph reported that the FCA approved only 41 out of the 300 crypto firm applications seeking regulatory approval since the rules were implemented in January 2020.

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08 декабря 2023 17:50

💰 Bitcoin price could potentially rise above $50,000 in early 2024: CryptoQuant

A CryptoQuant report predicted Bitcoin could potentially exceed $50,000 early in 2024, from its current price of $43,000. The prediction is based on analyzing Bitcoin’s user activity, using the Metcalfe price valuation band metric, considering factors like market capitalization, transaction volume, and user activity. The report suggested Bitcoin’s target price range could be $50,000 to $53,000 early next year.

"Bitcoin may be targeting $50,000 to $53,000 based on the network activity valuation perspective," CryptoQuant analysts said. CryptoQuant analysts noted that Bitcoin’s supply in profit is above 88%, and sell pressure may be increasing as a significant portion of circulating supply is in profit. The report, therefore, cautioned of potential short-term corrections, noting that high levels of circulating supply in profit often align with local market tops. The report referenced the “bitcoin bull-bear market cycle indicator,” indicating a current bull market but nearing an “overheated bull phase” which historically aligns with price rally pauses or corrections.

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06 декабря 2023 12:06

📊 Crypto mining firm Phoenix rises 50% on first day of trading after $370 million IPO

Crypto mining and blockchain technology firm Phoenix Group saw its shares soar by around 50% on its Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) debut today, following an initial public offering (IPO) that raised $370 million. Phoenix (PHX) rose to 2.20 United Arab Emirates dirhams ($0.60) in early trading, up from an IPO price of 1.50 dirhams ($0.41), before falling back. PHX is currently priced at 2.02 dirhams, according to TradingView data.

Phoenix’s IPO marks the first public listing of a crypto-related company in the Middle East and was 33 times oversubscribed, according to the firm — some $12 billion worth of orders. Phoenix made 907,323,529 shares available at 1.50 dirhams per share (a 17.6% stake of the company's share capital), with particular interest from retail investors, who oversubscribed by 180 times. Professional investors oversubscribed by 22 times. The company’s post-IPO valuation is estimated at approximately $2.5 billion. The listing was moved back a day after the UAE’s Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation marked Dec. 2 to Dec. 4 as public holidays for the private sector.

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03 декабря 2023 14:09

💰 Ripple's CLO Says SEC Is Anything But Infallible — Advises 'Don't Be Intimidated When They Come Knocking'

Ripple’s chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, slammed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on social media platform X on Thursday. Quoting an article published in the Wall Street Journal stating that the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled against the SEC in recent years, Alderoty stressed that the securities regulator is “anything but infallible,” noting that the agency is “bloated, broken, and beleaguered.”

Commenting on Alderoty’s statement, lawyer John Deaton shared: “I remember when I sued the SEC and some people said: ‘You’re crazy.’ Why? The SEC is only good at one thing: intimidating people because they have the unlimited resources of the American taxpayer. And some people also get intimidated because maybe fighting the SEC will mean the SEC calls the IRS [Internal Revenue Service] on you as well. This country was born fighting against government oppression and intrusion. It is most American to fight back!”. The securities regulator recently lost several legal cases against crypto firms. Last month, Alderoty highlighted three consecutive wins for Ripple Labs against the SEC, including the July 13 decision ruling that as a matter of law XRP is not a security.

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01 декабря 2023 17:13

💰 Celsius starts to open crypto withdrawals for holders of some claims

Celsius, a crypto lender that filed for bankruptcy last summer, is starting to open withdrawals to some users. Customers of the Custody Program, who are holders of "Class 6A General Custody Claims' and/or Class 6B Withdrawable Custody Claims," can start withdrawing their funds from the platform "on or around" Nov. 29, according to a court document. They have until Feb. 28 to make the transactions.

Qualifying users will be able to withdraw 72.5% of their crypto, minus transaction fees, if they didn't previously participate in a custody settlement. Customers who voted to reject the reorganization plan will not participate in this distribution, and their funds will be pooled in a segregated wallet and managed by the Litigation Administrator over the following six months, the document says. Some users have already tried to withdraw and complained they had trouble logging in, according to posts on X. Around 58,300 users hold what the court classified as "custody assets" worth about $210 million, according to a September court filing.

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29 ноября 2023 09:50

✖️ dYdX Chain starts paying trading rewards following governance vote

Cosmos-based Layer 1 dYdX Chain has begun distributing DYDX +
rewards accrued from trading activities to users, following the commencement of full trading on the decentralized derivatives trading protocol, which was greenlit by a decisive governance vote. The beta mainnet of dYdX Chain was launched on November 14, initiating "active trading" across more than 33 markets with leverage of up to 20x. During the beta phase, although staking rewards were active.

Since the launch of the beta stage two weeks ago, the protocol has seen over $1.86 million in total trades across roughly 14,000 transactions, as reported by the dYdX Operations subDAO, which manages the decentralized infrastructure of the dYdX Chain. Initially, just four markets are available for full trading: BTC/USD, ETH/USD, SOL/USD and LINK/USD, with more markets to be added over the coming weeks, the dYdX Operations subDAO said. The alpha mainnet for dYdX version 4, along with the debut of its Cosmos-based blockchain, was launched on Oct. 26, signaling a notable transition for the leading decentralized derivatives platform to become a standalone Layer 1 on Cosmos after previously relying on Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution StarkEx in version 3.

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26 ноября 2023 17:36

🟠 Binance Founder Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao Isn't a Flight Risk, His Attorneys Say

Binance founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao poses "no risk of flight" and should be allowed to return to the United Arab Emirates for now, a Thursday filing said. The partially redacted document pushed back against a U.S. Department of Justice filing, arguing that Zhao should not be allowed to leave the U.S. ahead of his February sentencing after pleading guilty to one charge of violating the Bank Secrecy Act. Zhao has already demonstrated he won't be a flight risk by the very fact that he came to the U.S. to enter that plea.

"Based on all the relevant facts, including Mr. Zhao’s voluntary self-surrender, his intent to resolve this case, and the sizable bail package he proposed, Judge Tsuchida found that Mr. Zhao presents no risk of flight, even while residing in the UAE," the filing said. Binance pleaded guilty to multiple charges alongside Zhao earlier this week, agreeing to pay a massive $4.3 billion fine, appoint monitors to oversee its compliance program and review its past transactions and accept Zhao's resignation as CEO. Former Binance regional markets head Richard Teng has taken over as CEO. Still, his attorneys and the DOJ have been arguing over whether he can return to the UAE, where he is a citizen and where his family lives, or if he must stay in the U.S. If Zhao returns to the UAE.

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24 ноября 2023 08:10

🏦 Kraken co-founder says crypto ‘more fair’ after historic Binance settlement

Crypto exchange Kraken is “playing the long game” even as “new threats to the industry's reputation continue to emerge,” its co-founder said today — hot on the heels of the U.S. Department of Justice's historic criminal settlement with Binance and just days after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a fresh lawsuit against Kraken itself. In a post on X, Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell said the game “feels a bit more fair today” in reference to the Binance settlement.

“The last 12 months have answered 2 nagging questions from shareholders: 1. How are they going so fast? 2. How are they getting away with it?” Powell wrote. “It's hard to keep faith while your market share dwindles and the only enforcement that's happening is against the good guys.” Powell added that new threats to the industry's reputation continue to emerge. “Each dodgy operation represents an opportunity for governments to scapegoat crypto and tighten the noose.He also brought up Coinbase and Ripple in his post, saying that Kraken and these firms were all the SEC’s “easy targets” sitting right in their backyard.

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22 ноября 2023 14:10

🟣 Kraken says products remain unaffected amid SEC’s new ‘disastrous’ lawsuit

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken says its operations are not impacted after the U.S. securities watchdog filed an “incorrect” and “disastrous” lawsuit against the firm on Monday. Kraken’s comments follow the filing of a lawsuit by the Securities and Exchange Commission against the firm's parent companies, Payward and Payward Ventures. In its blog post, Kraken said that the lawsuit has no impact on its products and that it remains “fully committed to our U.S. and global clients and partners.”

The suit follows similar actions against Coinbase and Binance, which the SEC alleges operate unregulated securities exchanges. Separately, the U.S. Department of Justice is reportedly seeking over $4 billion from Binance as part of a deal that could end an ongoing investigation, according to a Bloomberg report on Monday. Specifically, the crypto exchange pointed out that the SEC’s argument that its products were investment contracts was “incorrect as a matter of law, false as a matter of fact, and disastrous as a matter of policy.”, In the lawsuit, the SEC argued that Kraken has at times held customer crypto assets valued at more than $33 billions.

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20 ноября 2023 13:44

💰 Sam Altman Invited To Cardano Partnerchain LLM After Being Fired By OpenAI’s Board

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson invites ousted OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to join the Cardano partnerchain LLM. OpenAI’s board announced that Sam was fired for not being “consistently candid in his communications with the board.”. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has invited Sam Altman, the former CEO of OpenAI, to participate in a decentralized large language model (LLM) project related to the Cardano partnerchain.

The invitation of Charles Hoskinson comes after OpenAI’s board fired Sam Altman, as per Reuters. OpenAI’s Chief Technology Officer, Mira Murati, will serve as the interim CEO while the company searches for a permanent replacement. Altman’s departure followed a review process by the board, citing a lack of consistent communication hindering their responsibilities. Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s president and co-founder, resigned from the company in response to Altman’s firing. The sudden management changes surprised many employees, including Altman and Brockman themselves, who learned of the decision shortly before the public announcement.

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19 ноября 2023 09:39

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19 декабря 2023 20:00

🚨 Man Fingered in the July 2022 Hack on 2 Decentralized Exchanges Pleads Guilty to Computer Fraud

Shakeeb Ahmed, the man publicly charged with the hack of an unnamed decentralized crypto exchange, recently pleaded guilty to computer fraud and has agreed to forfeit over $12.3 million. Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has said that Ahmed also admitted to being the individual behind the July 2022 hacking of the decentralized finance (defi) protocol Nirvana Finance.

In a statement released on Dec. 14, 2023, Williams said Ahmed, a senior security engineer, has agreed to return the stolen crypto to his victims. Chronicling Ahmed’s July 2-3 attack on the decentralized platform, the U.S. Attorney said the security engineer exploited a vulnerability in one of the platform’s smart contracts. This step enabled Ahmed to insert fake pricing data and this ultimately helped to generate approximately $9 million worth of inflated fees. According to the statement, Ahmed later reached out to the platform and an agreement was reached in which he would return all but $1.5 million worth of digital assets. The agreement was, however, conditioned on the matter not being referred to law enforcement.

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16 декабря 2023 08:53

💰 Solana Rally Sees FTX's Holdings Grow to $4.2B, Setting Claims Market on Fire

A rally in the price of cryptocurrencies such as Solana (SOL), which is currently trading at $78, has set the market for FTX bankruptcy claims on fire, according to specialists at distressed firms dealing in crypto. Sam Bankman-Fried, the boss of FTX, which suddenly spiraled into bankruptcy last year, had championed the Solana project, and the exchange holds a sizable clutch of 55.8 million SOL tokens, according to CoinGecko.

Those SOL holdings, the majority of which (42.2 million) are locked up and not immediately tradable on the market, had been pegged at a market value of $1.16 billion earlier this year. The tokens are worth around $4.2 billion, based on the SOL price of $75.60 on Friday. This hike in the value of the FTX estate’s crypto holdings would catapult its recovery into 100% re-pay, leaving distressed firms scrambling to buy claims at 60-70 cents on the dollar, according to Thomas Braziel, CEO of 117 Partners. Vladimir Jelisavcic, founder and manager of Cherokee Acquisition, agreed that competition for FTX claims has been “exceptionally keen” lately.

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14 декабря 2023 08:12

📣 DeFi Platform Conic Finance's CNC Token Surges 50% as the Protocol Plots Comeback After Hack

Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Conic Finance unveiled plans Tuesday to deploy its upgraded version (v2) after suffering an exploit in July. "Over the past four months Conic has undergone extensive auditing and review in preparation of v2 deployment," a governance post reads. "Now that all audits are nearly finalized it’s time to prepare Conic for launch." The protocol's governance token CNC jumped about 50% to $2.20 immediately after the announcement, CoinGecko data shows.

Conic Finance allows liquidity providers to diversify exposure to multiple liquidity pools and earn yields on major DeFi platform Curve Finance via so-called Omnipools. According to the governance post, the protocol will hold voting in two days about the list of supported Omnipool assets, whitelisted Curve pools for each Omnipool and initial liquidity allocation weights. Once the votes conclude, a separate governance proposal about the v2 deployment will include new features, reimbursement schemes and incentives. The total value locked (TVL) on Conic recently dropped to below $1 million from around $150 million before the attack, according to DefiLlama data.

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12 декабря 2023 17:16

📊 Long liquidations spike to over $320 million today as bitcoin, ether stumble

Bitcoin BTC experienced a slight downturn today, dropping to $42,200 in the early Asian session from an earlier high of $43,800 — marking a decrease of nearly 4%. Ether also declined almost 5% to $2,230, along with most altcoins. This downturn led to a substantial liquidation of long positions on centralized exchanges. The volatility resulted in the liquidations of more than $94 million in bitcoin positions, with the majority ($85 million) being longs. liquidations occur when a trader’s position is forcibly closed due to insufficient funds to cover losses.

Will Sheehan, founder of data provider Parsec, noted a surge in DeFi liquidations as well at around $2 million, stating it’s the first time in more than a year that “retail has been getting leveraged on-chain.” Within derivatives markets, funding rates for bitcoin, ether and other cryptocurrencies dropped below +0.01% today — down from over +0.1% observed in the past few weeks — indicating reduced demand for leveraged longs, per CoinGlass data. Heading towards 2024, analysts maintain a positive outlook on cryptocurrency. Experts at investment management firm VanEck predict Bitcoin will achieve new all-time highs by the fourth quarter of next year. This optimism is driven by expectations for the upcoming Bitcoin halving event.

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09 декабря 2023 17:57

📊 Ether, Solana Hit 19-Month Highs as Bitcoin Rally Halts with Traders Fearing 'Bull Trap'

Bitcoin's (BTC) rally halted Thursday, ceding the stage to cryptocurrency majors ether (ETH) and solana (SOL) which led the crypto rally after surging to fresh 19-month high. BTC dipped to $43,000 during the day following its breakneck climb to near $45,000 earlier this week, suggesting that traders took some profits after the largest crypto's breakout from $38,000 a week ago. Recently, bitcoin was changing hands at around $43,300, down 1.1% over the past 24 hours.

ETH, meanwhile, popped 5% over the same period and hit $2,372, its highest level since May 2022. Its rally drove up the prices of other ETH-adjacent cryptocurrencies, making them the best performers of the day. Ether classic (ETC) appreciated 6%, while liquid staking protocol Lido's governance token (LDO) increased by over 11%. Solana (SOL) jumped over 8% to $69, the highest since May 2022, following a three-week cool-off since its mid-November local top. Arthur Hayes, crypto investor and BitMex exchange founder hinted at a $100 price target, speculating about a bullish weekend for altcoins in social media platform X (formerly Twitter) post on Tuesday.

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07 декабря 2023 11:04

🏦 Coinbase Wallet Shared Links For Sending Money Instantly

Coinbase Wallet has introduced a new feature called Coinbase Wallet Shared Links, allowing users to send money globally through various messaging and social media apps including WhatsApp, iMessage, Telegram, as well as email. This feature eliminates the need for traditional banking methods and wire transfers, making sending money easier, cheaper, and faster. Users can simply create a link in Coinbase Wallet and share it with their recipients.

The funds will be instantly available, and if unclaimed within two weeks, automatically returned to the sender. Coinbase Wallet is available in 20 languages and over 170 countries, providing global accessibility for money transfers. In addition to Coinbase Wallet Shared Links, Coinbase Wallet is expanding global access by offering local fiat onramps in over 130 countries, making it easier for people in high-inflation economies to access stable currencies such as the US Dollar. Users can also receive money from any crypto exchange or self-custody wallet, buy USDC without Coinbase fees, and send USDC globally with no fees on various networks.

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05 декабря 2023 09:52

🇬🇧 Crypto.com Receives UK Authorization as an Electronic Money Institution

Crypto.com received authorization to operate as an electronic-money institution in the U.K., the exchange said in a Monday press release. Crypto.com received authorization to operate as an electronic-money institution in the U.K., the exchange said in a Monday press release. “The U.K. has and continues to be a hugely important market for our business and the greater industry,” said Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com.

Crypto.com has been striving to be compliant with regulators across the globe. The exchange recently received licenses in Singapore and is regulated as a derivatives clearing organization with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. It also has registrations and licenses in France, Dubai and elsewhere. “The U.K. has and continues to be a hugely important market for our business and the greater industry,” said Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com. The country has said it wants to be a crypto hub. Crypto.com, as Forisgfs UK, was registered as a crypto business by the FCA in August last year.

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02 декабря 2023 20:31

🇺🇸 Rep. French Hill Estimates Crypto Legislation to Pass in Early 2024

Representative French Hill, vice-chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and chair of the Digital Assets Subcommittee, outlined the committee’s plans regarding crypto regulation for next year. Hill told CNBC they intend to pass a stablecoin bill and a crypto oversight bill by early 2024. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) the necessary tools to exert oversight over the cryptocurrency market.

Hill blasted the lack of action from the SEC on the FTX case, criticizing SEC Chair Gary Gensler for not working with Congress in issuing a regulatory framework with a legislative background as was recommended in a Biden Administration executive order signed last year. According to Politico, House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry is in conversations for these two crypto bills to be included as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). However, if this is not achieved, the committee intends to bring them to the floor before the end of this year. “I think it’s something that will benefit institutional and individual investors,” he concluded.

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30 ноября 2023 10:21

🇦🇪 Paxos expands to Abu Dhabi with two new in-principle approvals

Crypto firm Paxos continues its international expansion, now snagging two preliminary approvals in Abu Dhabi. Paxos has received two in-principle approvals from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority in the Abu Dhabi Global Market to issue stablecoins and offer crypto brokerage and custody services, the company said Wednesday. The preliminary approvals are for two new entities of Paxos within the ADGM.

The full approvals are expected in the first half of next year, a Paxos spokesperson told The Block, adding that those will allow the company to issue new USD-backed as well as other currency-backed stablecoins from Abu Dhabi, although Paxos is currently focused on a new USD-backed stablecoin. The Abu Dhabi expansion plan comes two weeks after Paxos received in-principle approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore for its new local entity that will launch a new USD-backed stablecoin in the country. Paxos was founded in 2012 and is backed by high-profile investors, including Bank of America, Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and Coinbase Ventures.

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28 ноября 2023 14:15

📣 KyberSwap recovers $4.7 million after exploit

Decentralized exchange protocol KyberSwap has recovered $4.67 million in funds following a recent security attack. A hacking incident resulted in a loss of $47 million from Kyber's concentrated liquidity pools last week. A portion of funds' recovery was completed yesterday through negotiations with the operators of front-running bots, which extracted about $5.7 million in crypto from KyberSwap pools on the Polygon and Avalanche networks during the hack, the team said.

The bot operators agreed to a deal in which they would return 90% of the funds they had taken to a specified KyberSwap address on the Polygon network, with a 10% bounty as their incentive. This negotiation is distinct from the main event’s hacker, who had previously indicated a willingness to negotiate. While the team offered a white hat bounty, that negotiation has seemingly not yet progressed. The hacker had targeted KyberSwap’s Elastic pools, impacting funds across multiple blockchains, including Arbitrum, Optimism, Ethereum, Polygon, and Binance Smart Chain. The vulnerability exploited by the hacker was linked to an issue with the tick interval boundaries in Kyber’s concentrated liquidity pools.

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25 ноября 2023 22:02

💰 Blur price doubles following Season 2 airdrop and Binance listing

The price of the NFT marketplace Blur's native eponymous token has doubled in the last three days, following its recent airdrop and getting listed on Binance. The token has risen from $0.31 on Nov. 21 to its current price of $0.63 today, according to The Block's Price Page. The token's price is also up 150% over the last month. Blur’s Season 2 rewards program, designed to incentivize usage, concluded on November 21. This airdrop was aimed at rewarding those who utilized the Blur marketplace from May to November.

According to a Dune dashboard, 43,000 users have claimed 269 million tokens ($169 million) so far. This represents 87% of the total number of claimable tokens. The majority of the tokens were claimed in the first few hours of the airdrop going live. Three users claimed more than 10 million tokens ($6.3 million) each, with one of them — with the ENS name hanwe.eth — netting 22 million tokens ($13 million). A pseudonymous crypto individual known as Machi Big Brother claimed 6 million tokens ($3.8 million). Earlier today, Binance announced that it was listing Blur, with trading starting a few hours later. This corresponded to an immediate jump in the token's price.

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23 ноября 2023 14:44

🟠 Binance ex-CEO Changpeng Zhao says he’ll ‘deal with pain’ in internal memo

Changpeng Zhao, who stepped down as Binance’s CEO on Tuesday, said in an internal memo to staff that he will have to “deal with some pain but will survive.” “I needed a break anyway. And now I got it,” Zhao said, according to a screenshot of the letter first reported by crypto journalist Colin Wu. Two sources familiar with the matter confirmed the memo's authenticity. Binance is expected to hold a company-wide town hall meeting — at which Zhao and his successor Richard Teng are expected to speak.

Zhao pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act and stepped down as the CEO of the world’s largest crypto exchange. As part of the plea deal, Zhao agreed to pay a $50 million fine. Binance, the company, will pay a $4.3 billion fine for violating money transmission laws and U.S. sanctions. Zhao will also pay a $175 million personal recognizance bond and must agree to appear in court in Seattle on February 23 next year for sentence hearings, a court filing showed. The world’s largest crypto exchange saw a significant uptick in withdrawals today. Data from DefiLlama showed that Binance’s 24-hour outflows topped $1 billion as of 3:30 p.m. Hong Kong time on Wednesday. The exchange's net outflows over 7 days amounted to $703.1 million.

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21 ноября 2023 12:02

🟢 Tether Freezes $225M Linked to Human Trafficking Syndicate Amid DOJ Investigation

Stablecoin issuer Tether has frozen $225 million worth of its own stablecoin following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) into an international human trafficking syndicate in Southeast Asia. The investigation was ongoing for months and used blockchain analysis tools provided by Chainalysis. It marks the largest-ever freeze of a stablecoin, a press release said.

The crime syndicate is related to the "pig butchering" scam, which the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said cost U.S. citizens $3.3 billion last year. The frozen tokens were being held in self-custodied wallets and did not belong to Tether customers, the press release added. "Through proactive engagement with global law enforcement agencies and our commitment to transparency, Tether aims to set a new standard for safety within the crypto space,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether. Tether also froze 32 crypto addresses linked to terrorism and warfare in Ukraine and Israel last month.

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@TradeCryptoNow

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19 ноября 2023 16:47

🚨 Stars Arena Incident Causing Community Disturbance Confirmed Not A Hack

The friend.tech clone project on Avalanche Stars Arena is once again facing security concerns following a recent incident that has caused damage to many users’ assets. The project has responded by announcing a key migration to enhance security measures. According to the project, a thorough investigation by its engineering team has found no evidence linking the recent claims of funds draining to an exploit affecting the wider platform.

The project’s response comes amidst growing concerns among users who have reported missing funds. On November 17, 2023, an account named “GiganticTip” shared on-chain data retrieval findings indicating that many users had their assets drained, with AVAX tokens being transferred through the FixedFloat mixer to obscure the hacker’s identity. Despite the project’s assurances and plans to continue development, the Stars Arena incident has further eroded users’ trust. The incident raises questions about the project’s security measures and the potential for further vulnerabilities. The upcoming key migration will be closely watched as the project seeks to regain user confidence and address ongoing security concerns. The attacker later returned the funds, keeping 10% as a bug bounty.

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17 ноября 2023 08:40

🪙 Paxos to issue new USD-backed stablecoin in Singapore

Crypto firm Paxos has formed a fresh entity in Singapore to launch a new USD-backed stablecoin in the country. Paxos Digital Singapore Pte. Ltd. received in-principle approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Paxos said late Wednesday. The new entity will issue a USD-backed stablecoin that will comply with Singapore's recently finalized stablecoin regulatory framework before the legislative amendments take effect.

In August, MAS finalized its framework for regulating stablecoins, applicable to single-currency stablecoins pegged to the Singaporean dollar or any G10 currency, including the U.S. dollar. Crypto firms aiming to recognize their stablecoins as "MAS regulated stablecoins" must comply with the framework. "Paxos is one of only two companies, alongside StraitsX, to get this approval from MAS," a Paxos spokesperson told The Block. "We will issue a new stablecoin with all new branding. That's because it is done from Singapore." Paxos does not yet have a name or specific details for the new stablecoin, aside from it being USD-backed and issued by the firm's new Singapore entity, the spokesperson said.

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