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📣 Voyager Withdrawing Final Tokens To Switch To Fiat Compensation
The bankrupt cryptocurrency company Voyager Digital is starting to collect leftover tokens for sale and compensate users in USD once the complaint process is over. Voyager is collecting all remaining tokens in its wallet address to the main address. This action begins after crypto claims for its users have been closed, and the final fiat payment process will begin. This means paying users who the platform in US dollars will compensate after selling the remaining cryptocurrency.
Previously, Voyager users could withdraw 35.72% of tokens between June 20 and July 5 or choose to receive USD compensation after this lending platform sells tokens 30 days later. According to Arkham data, there is currently about $81.63 million in crypto in Voyager addresses. All these tokens will be sold in the next period. Voyager is a lending project that went bankrupt after the 3AC fund collapsed. The main reason behind this was that the project needed more money because the 3AC fund refused to pay the debt of $650 million. This means paying users who the platform in US dollars will compensate after selling the remaining cryptocurrency. According to Arkham data, there is currently about $81.63 million in crypto in Voyager addresses. All these tokens will be sold in the next period.
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💀 Whales Make Significant $APE Deposits, Sparking Exchange Activity
In a flurry of activity that has caught the attention of the crypto community, three prominent whales have collectively deposited a staggering sum of 1.85 million $APE (equivalent to $3.4 million) into various exchanges over the course of the past 12 hours. Among these transactions, the wallet addresses 0xa3fb and 0x0A77 notably executed withdrawals of their staked $APE holdings before proceeding to deposit them onto the renowned exchange platform, Binance.
In another intriguing development, wallet address 0xbDEA saw a substantial influx of 5 million $APE tokens from the Apecoin Token Distributor. Subsequently, a portion of these tokens, totaling 560,000 $APE (equivalent to $1.02 million), was promptly deposited onto the exchange platform OKX a mere three hours after the transfer was received. These moves have triggered a surge of interest within the cryptocurrency community, prompting discussions about the potential implications for both the $APE token and the broader market. Analysts are scrutinizing the whales’ actions to decipher potential trends or strategies, as such sizeable transactions can often serve as indicators of market sentiment.
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🔵 Offchain Labs Announces BOLD Validation Making Arbitrum More Secure
According to the official blog, the Arbitrum Offchain Labs development team announced the launch of a permissionless verification protocol Bounded Liquidity Delay (BOLD) to resolve Rollup disputes. BOLD enables the Arbitrum technology chain to ensure the security and vitality of the chain, minimizing delays in condition resolution and preventing dishonest parties from increasing the costs of honest parties. This verification method provides a fixed upper limit of 7 days for additional confirmation delays without being subject to delay attacks.
BOLD code and specs are now available on Github. There are a few more steps that need to be completed before the BOLD is ready to use. Publish official proof-of-concept code for BOLD written in the Isabelle programming language and Complete the academic paper. Share instructions for running Arbitrum Nitro development with the BOLD challenge in the coming weeks. A new test network environment will be made available to BOLD for community participation. As stated by Offchain Labs, Arbitrum Technology has always been built with security as a top concern. And that’s why they invest a lot of resources to build and improve the fraud proof system. This approach allows a single, honest validator to win Ethereum disputes against any opponent.
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💀 Apecoin (APE) Price Dropped To All-Time Lows Since Launch Of Otherside
According to Coingecko, the price of Apecoin (APE) has dropped to a record low of $1.77 despite Yuga Labs releasing some new elements to the Otherside metaverse game. Specifically, ApeCoin pulled back to the $1.77 mark on the evening of August 1, down more than 92% from the peak APE broke a year ago. The token currently ranks 65th by market cap, with a total value of $675 million. As of press time, APE has bounced to the $1.84 region following Bitcoin’s rally but is still down 10% on a weekly basis.
ApeCoin hit the market in March 2022 at $8.54 and went as high as $26.70 the following month. Bored Apes NFT also hit a peak minimum price of 152 ETH or $429,000 in April 2022 as Yuga’s Otherside game prepares to launch NFT-based plots that allow players to customize their own spaces within the online world. APE is often associated with the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club non-fungible token collection, although it is not the official cryptocurrency of BAYC. The long slips come after BAYC creator Yuga Labs’ landmark NFT sale over the weekend for the upcoming metaverse game “Otherside”. The price of the Bored Ape NFT fell to a multi-year low in early July. The collection’s floor price was just $52,000, down 88% from its peak.
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🟠 BNB Chain Average Daily Active Addresses Spiked 25% to 1.4M in Q2 2023: Report
The growth in daily addresses and transactions on BNB Chain was majorly driven by increased activity from LayerZero. The number of average daily active addresses on the BNB Chain spiked to 1.4 million in the second quarter of 2023, signaling a 25.6% increase from the figure recorded in Q1. According to a report by crypto intelligence firm Messari, the number of daily active addresses almost reached an all-time average of approximately 1.5 million recorded in Q4 2021, during the end of the last bull season.
Messari’s researchers found that BNB Chain’s average new unique addresses increased by 91.1% in Q2, hitting all-time highs, and at the same time, daily transactions soared by 24%. The firm revealed that the growth in daily addresses and transactions was majorly driven by a rise in activity from omnichain interoperability and cross-chain messaging protocol LayerZero. While BNB Chain’s daily transactions increased, the average daily transaction fee plunged by 25.5%. This resulted from BSC validators voting to slash gas fees by 40% from 5 to 3 gwei to remain competitive with other low-cost protocols. The gas fee cut also affected BNB Chain’s revenue, which decreased by 6.1%. Besides LayerZero, notable transaction activity was recorded on PancakeSwap, Hooked Protocol, and CyberConnect.
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📉 GMX Big Drop In Price With 7% In A Day
GMX, the governance and utility token powering an Arbitrum-based decentralized exchange (DEX) for trading perpetual cryptocurrency futures with leverage, has faced a challenging 24 hours in the market. Over the past day, GMX/USD dropped to just above $50 per token, marking a disappointing performance when compared to other tokens that experienced only minor declines. Bitcoin’s attempts to reclaim the $30,000 mark were underway during this period.
The recent decline has led GMX to its lowest levels in over a month, with the cryptocurrency now down by 19.2% from its earlier highs of around $62. Despite the significant drop, there is no apparent new catalyst behind GMX’s recent price decline. However, upon investigating DeFiLlama, it becomes evident that the protocol’s trade value locked (TVL) in its smart contracts has been steadily decreasing on both Arbitrum and Avalanche in recent months. The falling TVL, particularly denominated in ETH, indicates that the protocol is struggling to retain crypto capital, which might explain the recent underperformance of the GMX token. GMX faces challenges in maintaining its position within the highly competitive cryptocurrency landscape.
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🪙 Solana Is On The Rise With A Gain Of Over 20% For The Week
Solana (SOL) has been on a remarkable upward trajectory in the cryptocurrency market, with its price surging by over 3.6% in the past 24 hours alone. This growth has outpaced the overall market, which saw a 1% increase during the same period. SOL’s performance in the past week has been equally impressive, with a notable nearly 23.7% surge, and over the last 30 days, it has soared by an astonishing 65%. Since the beginning of the year, SOL has seen an exceptional increase of 150%, making it one of the standout performers in the crypto space.
One of the key factors contributing to SOL’s recent success is the positive outcome of the legal battle between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This development has brought renewed optimism to the altcoin market, and SOL has been a major beneficiary. With its trading volume hovering around $580 million, the cryptocurrency has garnered significant attention from investors, indicating the potential for further gains in the near future. By bridging the gap between the two blockchain ecosystems, Solang aims to unlock new possibilities for decentralized application (DApp) development and foster innovation within the Solana network.
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🟠 Binance Terminates Sponsorship Deal With Argentina Amid Falling Profit
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has terminated its sponsorship agreement with the reigning World Cup champion, Argentina. The unexpected move was announced on Twitter, stating that the exchange had ended its sponsorship of the Argentina football team. The sponsorship agreement between the exchange and Argentina was signed in early 2022 for a period of five years. The exact value of the agreement was not disclosed. As part of the deal, Binance’s logo was set to appear on the team’s training jerseys.
The sponsorship deal itself was surrounded by controversy, as Binance competed with the Chiliz/Socios fan token issuance project to become the sponsor for the Argentina team, including star player Lionel Messi. Socios, feeling aggrieved, sued the Argentine Football Federation (AFA), seeking to be the sole fan token partner until 2026. In addition to the Argentina football team, the exchange sponsors other teams and issues fan tokens for S.S Lazio (Italy), FC Porto (Portugal), and Santos FC (Brazil). The exchange has also partnered with the Confederation of African Football to sponsor the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) and collaborates with the F1 Alpine team. Binance’s NFT platform has partnered with Cristiano Ronaldo to release NFT collections for fans.
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🔵 Aave Unleashes GHO, The Revolutionary Decentralized Stablecoin Redefining DeFi
In a significant development for the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem, Aave has announced the successful launch of GHO on the Ethereum mainnet. This marks a significant milestone for the Aave protocol and its community, as GHO aims to become a decentralized stablecoin that empowers users and fosters a people-powered financial ecosystem. The journey towards the creation of GHO began over two years ago when the community recognized the need for an Aave-native decentralized and overcollateralized stablecoin.
GHO, like the Aave protocol itself, is governed by the DAO. The DAO plays a pivotal role in setting the rules and policies that govern GHO, ensuring a transparent and community-driven approach. Community members can propose changes, which are openly discussed within the community before being put to a vote. This democratic governance process allows participants to actively shape the future of GHO. One of the key features of GHO is its fixed underlying mechanics and policies. Unlike traditional centralized stablecoins, GHO operates through self-executing smart contracts, making it more resistant to arbitrary changes by centralized entities or individuals. Additionally, all GHO transactions are published and auditable directly from the blockchain.
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💰 XRP Short Traders Face Record Losses Following Landmark Court Ruling
A recent court ruling has had a significant impact on the XRP market, driving prices up by almost double before falling back again in early Asian trading on Friday. According to data from Coinglass, traders who had invested in XRP-tracked futures were hit particularly hard, losing a total of $58 million. Of this total, $33 million was lost by those who had bet against price rises, while the remaining amount was lost by those who had bet on price increases. Crypto exchange Bybit saw the most liquidations, with traders losing $21 million, followed by OKX and Binance, both at $14 million.
For those who are not familiar with the term, liquidation refers to when a trader’s position is closed forcefully by an exchange due to a partial or total loss of the trader’s initial margin. This occurs when a trader is unable to meet the margin requirements or does not have enough funds to keep the trade open. Large liquidations can be a signal of a local top or bottom of a price move, which can help traders to position themselves accordingly. The court ruling that caused the surge in XRP prices came from the District Court for the Southern District of New York, which said that the “offer and sale of XRP on digital asset exchanges did not amount to offers and sales of investment contracts,” as “the record cannot establish the third Howey prong to these transactions.”
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💰 Celsius Files Lawsuit Against StakeHound Over $150 Million Token Dispute
Celsius, the bankrupt cryptocurrency lender, has filed a lawsuit against liquid staking platform StakeHound over allegations that it failed to return tokens worth $150 million. In exchange, Celsius received StakeHound’s liquid staking “stTokens.” However, StakeHound allegedly refused to exchange the stTokens for other tokens, claiming it had no obligation to do so. They also cited the loss of the keys associated with 35,000 Celsius ETH as a reason for not returning the tokens.
The tokens in question include Ether (ETH), MATIC from Polygon, DOT from Polkadot, and others. According to court filings, Celsius entrusted StakeHound with 25,000 staked native ETH, 35,000 native ETH, 40 million MATIC, and 66,000 DOT in 2021. StakeHound had previously filed an arbitration agreement against Celsius in Switzerland after the lender’s bankruptcy, which the company argues is a violation of Section 362 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. This section, known as the automatic stay, prevents creditors from collecting debts or initiating legal action against a person or company that has filed for bankruptcy. StakeHound blamed the custody provider, Fireblocks, for the loss and had previously launched a lawsuit against them.
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📣 Voyager Witnesses $250M worth of crypto Net Asset Outflow Post Withdrawal Restart
Voyager has experienced a significant net outflow of $250 million worth of crypto assets since reopening withdrawals to users on June 23. The reopening of withdrawals on Voyager was met with a surge in users seeking to move their crypto assets off the platform. The net outflow of $250 million reflects a significant movement of funds, indicating users’ preference for storing their assets elsewhere or potentially taking advantage of other trading platforms.
As of now, the platform holds approximately $176 million worth of crypto assets, with a Clean Asset ratio (excluding VGX) of 96.15%. Notable assets on the platform include 2,287.4 BTC, 27,363.7 ETH, 18,558,340 USDC, 2,060 trillion SHIB, and more. The current amount of $176 million worth of crypto assets on the Voyager platform signifies the assets still under their custody. While the net outflow is substantial, the platform continues to hold a considerable sum of cryptocurrencies. The Clean Asset ratio, which stands at 96.15%, represents the proportion of assets excluding VGX, Voyager’s native token, and implies that the majority of the remaining assets on the platform are free from encumbrances or liabilities.
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💰 Grayscale makes Lido the second-heaviest component in its DeFi Fund
Digital asset manager Grayscale added the Lido protocol's LDO token to its DeFi Fund, making it the second-heaviest component. Grayscale's DeFi Fund is now weighted to include Uniswap (UNI) at 45.46%, Lido (LDO) at 19.04%, Aave (AAVE) at 11.53%, MakerDAO (MKR) at 10.82%, Curve DAO Token (CRV) at 7.03% and Synthetix (SNX) at 6.12%. Lido is a decentralized liquid staking protocol that allows users to keep staked tokens liquid via a stand-in token, or stToken.
"In accordance with the CoinDesk DeFi Select Index methodology, Grayscale has adjusted the DeFi Fund’s portfolio by selling certain amounts of the existing Fund Components in proportion to their respective weightings, and using the cash proceeds to purchase Lido (LDO)," Grayscale said in a company release. "No tokens were removed from the DeFi Fund." Lido is a decentralized liquid staking protocol that allows users to keep staked tokens liquid via a stand-in token, or stToken. LDO’s weight in the fund sits at 19.04%, second only to Uniswap’s UNI at 45.46%. Grayscale redefines the composites of its funds quarterly.
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🇰🇷 South Korea’s FSC Now Requires Employees Must Disclose Virtual Asset Holdings
The South Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC) defines the criteria for internal workers who must declare virtual asset holdings. The report’s target audience is public servants who are now performing virtual asset-related activities and workers who have performed such duties in the last six months. The tasks include developing and executing virtual asset rules or regulations, investigating and analyzing criminal cases involving virtual assets, administering and regulating virtual currency exchanges, support and management, and virtual asset technology development, among other things.
According to Asia Economic Report, the FSC issued a revised draft of the “Code of Conduct for Public Officials,” requiring employees with virtual asset responsibilities not to invest using relevant undisclosed information while performing their duties and requiring internal employees to report details of virtual asset holdings. A new form for the “Report on Virtual Assets Possession” has also been introduced, which requires the kind of virtual asset owned, date of purchase, quantity, and amount to be recorded. In addition, the definition of virtual assets under the ‘Specified Financial Information Act’ was incorporated in response to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission’s request to amend the code of conduct for each institution.
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🟠 Changpeng Zhao Ensures Safe Trust Wallet After Libbitcoin Explorer Crash
Following the recent disclosure of a critical vulnerability affecting cryptocurrency wallets utilizing Libbitcoin Explorer 3.x, Binance’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, has addressed the issue. He emphasized that while self-custodial wallets offer benefits, they aren’t devoid of risks, provided users understand their operation. The vulnerability arises from a flawed random number generator using a 32-bit seed, rendering it insufficiently random for contemporary cryptographic challenges like GPUs.
Notably, Trust Wallet and Binance Wallet avoid using this flawed generator for mnemonic generation, according to CZ. On August 10, SlowMist reported that Distrust uncovered a severe vulnerability impacting cryptocurrency wallets reliant on Libbitcoin Explorer 3.x. This flaw permits unauthorized access to private keys by exploiting the Mersenne Twister pseudo-random number generator (PRNG), causing tangible real-world repercussions. The vulnerability emanates from the pseudo-random number generator (PRNG) implementation within Libbitcoin Explorer version 3.x. This implementation relies on the Mersenne Twister algorithm and a mere 32-bit system time as its seed. This precarious approach enables attackers to discover a user’s private key in a matter of days through brute-force tactics.
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📊 Worldcoin Sees a 148% Surge in Unique Addresses, the Top 20 Wallets Command 94% of WLD Supply
Worldcoin’s native cryptocurrency, worldcoin (WLD), has oscillated in value between $2.69 and $2.13 per token throughout the preceding 12 days, peaking at $3.30 per coin on July 24, 2023. The number of individual addresses possessing WLD under Worldcoin’s umbrella has surged by more than 148%, escalating from 164,195 wallets to a figure of 408,721 unique addresses. Worldcoin’s native asset WLD has maintained a median average price of $2.41 per token over the course of the past 12 days.
Conversely, WLD also touched an all-time low of $1.66 on July 24, but the price has since rebounded, climbing more than 27% from that low. In the week leading up to August 5, WLD’s value has eroded by 9.2% against the U.S. dollar, with 1.7% of that loss occurring on August 5 alone. What has improved in Worldcoin’s recent performance is the rise in the number of unique addresses holding WLD. As of July 25, the count of WLD token holders stood at 164,195 wallets. Fast forward 12 days to August 5, and that figure has expanded by 148% to 408,721 unique addresses. Dominating the landscape, the largest address commands a staggering 57.8604% of the supply, encompassing 103,494,839 WLD tokens, while the top 100 holders collectively wield ownership of 95.08%.
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🚨 Leetswap Trading Restarted But User Can’t Buy Tokens
According to the official announcement from Leetswap, the largest DEX on the layer 2 Base platform, now DEX transactions have resumed, but users cannot buy tokens. Specifically, transactions have now resumed on the DEX. Users can sell those tokens affected in their hack, as their remaining liquidity cannot be rescued by white hat hackers. A URL is attached to be able to withstand more loads if the leading site fails to load. The purpose of trading resumption is to allow users to dispose of illiquid tokens.
As mentioned earlier, on August 1st, the axlUSD/WETH pool in LeetSwap was hit by a price manipulation attack, and the loss amounted to around $620,000. Yesterday, about 400 ETH was recovered from the risk liquidity pool, and this money will be redistributed to different pools for restart. The liquidity hack is the second-biggest LeetSwap mining after a project creator (believed to be Sam Bankman-Fried) withdrew $12.5 million from a Layer 2 Base meme coin, BALD. Launched in 2022, LeetSwap is the largest decentralized exchange on Coinbase’s Base network, which aims to provide higher transaction speeds and lower fees than Ethereum. However, Do not buy any tokens because if you do, the liquidity of the DEX could again be exploited by hackers.
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🔵 Aave V3 Supported For Deployment Sincerely Coinbase Layer 2 Base Mainnet
In a major move aimed at expanding its presence in the budding DeFi ecosystem, the Aave community has initiated a significant vote on the ARFC proposal for “Aave V3 Deployment on Base.” The proposal seeks to deploy Aave V3 on Base after the Base mainnet goes live, accompanied by a selection of prominent assets, namely wETH, wstETH, cbETH, and USDC, to serve as collateral options. The deployment of Aave V3 on Base Mainnet holds great promise for both platforms, as it paves the way for a mutually beneficial collaboration.
For Base, adopting Aave V3’s codebase signifies a significant step towards enhancing the on-chain experience by incorporating a diverse range of DeFi platforms. It also introduces a trusted flagship lending protocol, adding to the platform’s credibility. By tapping into Base’s infrastructure, Aave aims to capture future growth and unlock new opportunities in the DeFi space. This integration would provide valuable revenue streams and access to Base’s vast user base of over 110 million users and assets exceeding $80 billion. After a recent major assault on Curve Finance, Aave accepted an urgent motion to deactivate CRV borrowing on Ethereum. The prohibition is intended to prevent traders from abusing Curve flaws and indulging in malicious shorting of borrowed CRV, which might result in repeated liquidations.
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📣 Arthur Hayes Predicts AI Powered by DAO for Self-Organization
Arthur Hayes, founder of BitMEX, has shared his compelling insight into the future of artificial intelligence (AI). The DAO structure empowers AI and humans to collaboratively shape the future of various industries, enabling growth and prosperity in the evolving digital landscape. By harnessing the potential of public blockchains, DAO gains independence from state control, offering a more decentralized and autonomous approach to organization.
According to Hayes, AI will adopt a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) structure for self-organization. Unlike traditional centralized systems, DAO relies on public blockchains, paving the way for a new era of collaboration between AI and humans within the AI+Human economy. Hayes emphasizes that the role of DAOs will be instrumental in facilitating the expansion of the AI+Human economy. This synergy between AI and human intelligence creates a powerful ecosystem, driving innovation and unlocking untapped potential in various sectors. DAOs present a robust alternative, providing the structure and framework needed for AI and human collaboration without heavy reliance on central authorities.
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💰 BDO Validates FTX’s $376 Million Acquisition Of DAAG As Fair Value Amidst Controversy
BDO stated that FTX’s $376 million acquisition of DAAG is free of problems and represents fair value. Accounting firm BDO has given its stamp of approval to FTX’s $376 million acquisition of Swiss start-up company Digital Assets AG (DAAG), now known as FTX Europe. BDO’s assessment asserts that the transaction reasonably represents fair value, countering FTX Trading’s recent complaint. The firm faced controversy when its bankruptcy lawyers sought to recover $323 million from FTX Europe’s leadership.
FTX Trading’s concerns, BDO’s independent evaluation stands firm in its belief that the acquisition price was justified and fair. It indicates that the acquisition of DAAG, now operating as Europe Branch, was executed without any issues and represents a reasonable value for the deal. Notably, BDO has recently reduced its presence in the cryptocurrency space, making their objective analysis all the more crucial in this contentious matter. Allegations arose that former CEO Bankman-Fried overpaid for DAAG due to his close ties with executives Patrick Gruhn, Robin Matzke, and Brandon Williams, who are all currently facing lawsuits. The controversy surrounding the firm’s acquisition of DAAG has drawn significant attention.
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💰 Celsius Hits Important Deal, Users Can Get Compensation Later This Year
According to the Wall Street Journal citing court documents, bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network has reached an important settlement that could clear the way for Celsius to get court approval to return assets to customers and end the bankruptcy process. Reportedly, since the opening of the inquiry portal, a total of 30,000 customer complaints have been resolved, with a claim value of US$78 billion. The court will approve the settlement at an August 10 hearing.
The Wall Street Journal added that a confirmation hearing on Celsius’s restructuring is scheduled for October and that customers could start receiving crypto and other assets later this year. While Celsius’ lawyers argue that Celsius owes customers no more than their deposits, some users have filed claims for misconduct by former management. Earlier this month, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit in federal court against Celsius and its former CEO, Alex Mashinsky, accusing it of raising billions of dollars through fraudulent and unregistered sales, defrauding investors, and manipulating the price of its native token. The company recently announced a $4.7 billion settlement with US government regulators over allegations of fraud.
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💰 Argo Blockchain Raises £5.7 Million In Share Sale to Reduce Debt, Share Price Declines
Argo Blockchain, a global leader in cryptocurrency mining, has successfully raised £5.7 million ($7.5 million) through the sale of new shares. The funds raised will be used to reduce the company’s outstanding debt, which stood at £59.1 million prior to the sale. The sale included a private placing that raised £5.134 million and a public sale that raised £616,000. A total of 51,340,000 new ordinary shares were placed with institutional investors at a price of 10 pence per share, while retail investors subscribed for 6,160,000 new ordinary shares at the same price.
The capital raise, comprising both the placing and retail offer, was oversubscribed by new and existing shareholders. In total, 57,500,000 new ordinary shares were issued, raising gross proceeds of approximately £5.75 million. The placing price represents a discount of around 14% to the 30-day volume weighted average price (VWAP) of Argo stock and a discount of 25.92% to the closing mid-price on July 18, 2023. The newly issued shares represent approximately 12.03% of the company’s existing issued ordinary share capital. Applications have been made for the admission of the new ordinary shares to the standard listing segment of the Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
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💰 Ripple Set To Initiate Talks with US Financial Firms In Q3 Following Favorable Court Ruling
According to a recent CNBC interview with Ripple’s general counsel, Stu Alderoty, the company is expected to commence negotiations with US financial institutions in the third quarter regarding the adoption of its On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) product. This product utilizes XRP cryptocurrency for efficient money transfers. Ripple’s optimism stems from a recent court ruling that granted the company a partial victory in its legal battle against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Last week, a New York judge delivered a significant ruling stating that XRP itself is not inherently security, countering some of the SEC’s claims against Ripple. The company has been embroiled in a legal dispute with the regulatory body for the past three years, accused of conducting an illegal offering of $1.3 billion through XRP sales. Ripple vehemently denied the allegations, asserting that XRP should be classified as a commodity rather than a security. The court battle had adverse consequences for Ripple, leading to losing a customer and investor, with MoneyGram terminating its partnership with the company in March 2021. Additionally, Tetragon, a UK-based investor that previously supported the company, sold its stake back to the company after an unsuccessful attempt to sue for redemption.
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📣 BlackRock CEO Larry Fink Makes Bold Prediction For Cryptocurrencies’ Global Rise
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink recently shared his positive outlook on cryptocurrencies during an appearance on CNBC. Describing crypto as an international asset, Fink emphasized its differentiating value compared to other asset classes. He expressed belief in the potential of cryptocurrencies to transcend national currencies, citing the depreciation of the US dollar and the global interest in digital assets. Fink noted that BlackRock is witnessing increasing interest in crypto, which is broad-based and worldwide.
BlackRock, an $8.5 trillion asset management company, recently filed an application for a spot Bitcoin ETF. The filing includes a surveillance-sharing agreement, which could be a crucial factor in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finally approving such a product. The SEC has previously rejected numerous Bitcoin ETF applications. Fink emphasized BlackRock’s commitment to safety and security in new markets. He stated that if the company’s name is associated with a product, they will ensure it is safe and protected. The company believes in democratizing investing and recognizes the transformative role of ETFs. Fink sees this as just the beginning of ETFs’ impact on the investment landscape.
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🪙 Stader Labs Introduces ETH Staking Product Offering 6% Yield
Stader Labs, a non-custodial multi-chain staking platform, has expanded its services to include Ethereum staking. The company claims to offer the highest yields on ether (ETH) staking compared to other protocols. With a focus on decentralization and capital efficiency, Stader offers node operators the opportunity to stake with just 4 ETH, significantly lower than the 32 ETH typically required. This new product provides one of the highest yields on ether staking compared to other protocols. Stader’s unique approach allows node operators to maintain the Ethereum network.
Stader Labs issues an ETHx token, representing the entire stake, while the remaining 28 ETH comes from liquid stakers. To incentivize participation, Stader offers a 50% reward boost, resulting in a reward rate exceeding 6%. Additionally, with the option of 8x leverage, node operators can earn up to 35% more yields on their staked ETH. Popular staking services like Lido and RocketPool currently hold a cumulative $15.5 billion worth of ether, offering yields ranging from 3% to 4%. Stader’s offering stands out with its higher yield potential and lower capital requirement, making it an attractive option for those seeking passive investment opportunities through staking.
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📣 BIT And Copper Revolutionize Institutional Crypto Trading With Enhanced Security
Digital asset exchange BIT announced today an update to its existing integration with Copper’s ClearLoop, a leading digital asset settlement network. Copper through ClearLoop will now support BIT’s Unified Margin function, allowing traders to use all of their assets as collateral, thanks to the integration update. In addition, the update converts previously supported coin-margined choices to USD-margined ones. BIT will also implement the new ClearLoop trust structure as part of the upgrade.
The ClearLoop update also converts previously supported coin-margined options to USD-margined options and implements the new ClearLoop trust structure, reducing customers’ exposure to counterparty risk even more. Copper is a SOC2 Type 2 accredited startup that was formed in 2018 with ClearLoop as its heart. ClearLoops allows customers to trade and settle in near real-time across several exchanges, reducing counterparty risk and enhancing capital efficiency. ClearLoop’s technical capabilities for off-exchange settlement remains unaltered. The integration, however, now includes the critical advantage of bankruptcy remoteness provided by ClearLoop’s legal structure.
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🏦 Crypto.org blockchain validator penalized, loses over $25,500 in CRO
The information was shared on Twitter by IcyCRO, a validator and a Cosmos InterBlockchain Communication (IBC) relayer of tokens like cosmos (ATOM). According to IcyCRO, Moonnode got compromised, and the hacker double-signed, which led to the validator being “tombstoned.” The slashing mechanism within the Crypto.org chain is different from other projects within the Cosmos ecosystem. While many other Cosmos chains impose penalties for downtime, the Crypto.org chain implements an extended jail time of 24 hours.
MoonNode is a validator service that allows users to stake CRO and earn rewards. The service is operated by a company called Emrit. MoonNode had approximately 9 million CRO staked. With the 5% penalty implemented for double signing, the validator lost roughly 450k CRO, which was burned. Notably, MoonNode’s largest delegator, who had around 1 million CRO staked, lost 50k CRO from their stake. Validators need to trigger a manual transaction known as an “unjail” transaction to rejoin the validation process after the jail period of 10 minutes elapses. During this jail time, the validator cannot participate in transaction validation or earn rewards, resulting in a massive cost of opportunities lost.
Source
/channel/Crypto_Bitcoin_Blockchain
📣 Gemini Files Lawsuit Against DCG For Fraud Conspiracy, DCG Calls It A “Publicity Stunt”
Gemini has sued DCG and Barry Silbert for a fraud conspiracy against Genesis creditors. DCG calls it a “publicity stunt”. Mediation process is ending. Gemini, the cryptocurrency exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, has sued Digital Currency Group (DCG) and its founder Barry Silbert. Gemini alleges that Silbert and DCG were involved in fraud against creditors of Genesis, a cryptocurrency lending platform that filed for bankruptcy last year.
According to the complaint, Silbert and DCG conspired with Genesis to create false financial reports to hide the fact that Genesis was insolvent. DCG responded to the lawsuit by calling it a “publicity stunt” by Cameron Winklevoss to deflect blame from himself and Gemini. The mediation process is coming to an end, and the case is expected to be handled under Chapter 11 bankruptcy law. Gemini claims that Silbert and DCG were involved in a carefully crafted fraud against creditors of Genesis. When Genesis notified Gemini that it would terminate the Earn program in October 2022, Silbert reached out to set up a meeting to induce Gemini to continue to Earn. He did this knowing that Genesis was massively insolvent. Silbert claimed that Genesis faced only a timing issue, but this was a lie that hid the gaping hole in Genesis’s balance sheet.
Source
/channel/Crypto_Bitcoin_Blockchain
💰 Cardano Total Value Locked In DeFi Hit All-Time High
Cardano (ADA) is seeing its positive growth towards decentralized finance (DeFi), while the current price movement remains largely unchanged. According to data from the DeFiLlama aggregator, ADA Total Value Locked (TVL) across DeFi ecosystems has risen to an all-time high, with the increase being maintained steadily from the start of 2023 to present. At the present time, TVL on DeFi platforms reaches over $210 million, representing 2% of the current total supply of ADA. It is still one of the coins with the highest market capitalization in the crypto market.
Although this amount is not being supplemented in Dollar terms because of the token’s price drop, it does demonstrate how much interest investors have in the Cardano DeFi universe. If the measure just tracked the number of mentions, a thread with a high number of mentions may boost the count on its own, even if mentions were low elsewhere on social media. As a result, to gain a more accurate reflection of the trend in the larger market, the social volume only takes into account unique postings. However, in terms of macro factors, Cardano is facing unfavorable factors from the US authorities, namely the U.S. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has designated ADA as a security token in its lawsuits with US exchanges, which caused its price to plummet in early June.
Source
/channel/Crypto_Bitcoin_Blockchain