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💰 Ripple Grants Important License To Expand In Singapore
Ripple has received in-principle permission from the Monetary Authority of Singapore for its application for a Major Payments Institution License, which would enable a local subsidiary to provide regulated digital payment token goods and services in the city-state. The license will allow the company’s Singapore office to provide regulated digital payment token goods and services, as well as further expand its clients’ usage of its crypto-enabled On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) platform, which has grown 5x year on year in the nation. Ripple’s payments system saw enormous expansion in 2022, with clients spanning Asia, allowing companies and financial institutions to simplify cross-border payments. Internally, Ripple’s operations in Singapore were enhanced as the number of staff increased to meet the region’s expanding demand. The MAS has awarded less than 20 in-principle permits and licenses to crypto companies so far. As the region’s fintech footprint grows, proactive regulators like the MAS are ready to enjoy the many advantages of fostering innovative technologies while also laying the path for future global regulation. This clearance also puts Ripple on track to expand customer usage of crypto-enabled payments in Singapore and across the APAC region.
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💰 Bitcoin ETF Launches On Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange, Jun 22
The Netherlands has recently introduced a new equity exchange-traded fund that provides investors with exposure to a basket of Bitcoin-related company stocks. The Melanion Bitcoin Equities ETF, launched by French investment firm Melanion Capital, began trading on the Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange on June 22. This equities-based approach to investing in the BTC ecosystem is designed to track the Melanion Bitcoin Exposure Index, which is a custom basket of European and American stocks closely tied to BTC’s market price. The ETF complies with the Undertakings for the Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) regulatory framework for managing and trading mutual funds, set by the European Commission. This allows investment firms to register and sell trading products across the European Union, providing regulatory and investor protection requirements. According to Melanion Capital CEO, Jad Comair, the expansion to the Euronext Amsterdam exchange provides Dutch investors with a “regulated and transparent solution” to gain exposure to the BTC ecosystem. The Dutch market has shown significant interest in digital assets, and this ETF provides investors with an exciting opportunity to be a part of it within a regulated framework.
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📣 Binance Now Allows TUSD Spot Trading With Zero Maker Fee From June 30
Binance, the world’s biggest exchange, has launched a new zero-maker fee offer for TUSD spot and margin trading pairings. Binance has launched a zero-fee trading promotion for USD stablecoin pairings. During the promotion time, all current and new USD stablecoin spot and margin pairings, including but not limited to BUSD/USDT, TUSD/BUSD, TUSD/USDT, USDC/USDT, and USDP/USDT, will have zero maker and taker costs. The BUSD zero-maker fee promotion will be extended until December 31, 2023, at 00:00 (UTC). Binance began giving free BTC trading with 13 spot pairings in July 2022 to commemorate its fifth birthday. This scheme immediately increased Bitcoin trading volume on the exchange, but it also created a significant amount of criticism aimed at the exchange. Nonetheless, the exchange has kept the zero fees in place since then. Nevertheless, in March, Binance abruptly announced that free BTC trading would be discontinued, with the exception of pairings containing the stablecoin TrueUSD (TUSD). According to the notice, operations will resume to offer a flawless experience for its consumers. The minting of this stablecoin on Prime Trust began after the firm was rumored to be going bankrupt and selling it to Bitgo.
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💰 Bitcoin Miner Core Scientific Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Plan
Core Scientific has filed a Chapter bankruptcy 11 plan, demonstrating its determination to restructure its operations while meeting its creditors’ demands. The plan was filed in the Southern District of Texas Houston Division of the United States Bankruptcy Court. The proposal was discussed with key stakeholders, and the company is trying to generate as much agreement as possible on how a new Core Scientific might appear after exiting from bankruptcy procedures, according to the filing. Notwithstanding its present bankruptcy procedures, Core Scientific remains optimistic about its financial health and is focused on reworking its business model in order to achieve a successful return. Higher Bitcoin pricing, greater network hash rate, and lower energy costs were cited as reasons for the company’s better financial performance. According to the bankruptcy plan, holders of approved debtor-in-possession (DIP) claims would get full and final satisfaction of their claims on the bankruptcy plan’s effective date. They will either be paid in full in cash or given alternative therapy as agreed upon. Any lines of credit given to secure DIP claims will also be terminated, removing the secured interest in the company’s assets.
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💰 Binance Integrates Bitcoin Lightning Network To Allow Deposit And Withdraw
Binance announced on Twitter that it is integrating the Bitcoin Lightning Network to allow users to deposit and withdraw funds. However, there is still a lot of technical work to be done, and an update will be made once the Lightning Network is fully integrated. Lightning Network is a secondary layer protocol that runs on the Bitcoin blockchain for transaction size verification. It helps to reduce costs and traffic congestion on the base layer of the Bitcoin network. Previously, Binance founder CZ (Changpeng Zhao) said in an AMA in early March that Binance is working on Lightning Network and may allow Lightning Network trading in small quantities first. Although no specific date has been set, the team has investigated it in detail. CZ believes that every exchange must support the Lightning Network so that users can enjoy the benefits, such as cost savings through faster transactions. The biggest advantage of the Lightning Network is its speed and affordability. Bitcoin network base layer fees and timeouts may be prohibitive. However, with the Lightning Network, you can send and receive small payments in a simple but impossible way on Bitcoin’s network.
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💰 Bitcoin Whales Acquire $3.5 Billion Worth Of BTC Despite Market Crash
As the cryptocurrency market tries to recover from the downturn it has been going through in recent weeks, it is interesting to note that the largest holders of Bitcoin (BTC) have been taking the opportunity to increase their holdings while the prices remained relatively low. This has been observed in the activities of Bitcoin whales, or crypto wallets holding between 1,000 and 10,000 BTC, who have collectively amassed around 131,600 BTC (presently worth over $3.5 billion) in the last 11 weeks. Large part of the above accumulation took place in the last week alone, when Bitcoin holders with 1,000 – 10,000 BTC added more than 60,000 BTC to their holdings, worth nearly $1.62 billion, as per the information shared by crypto trading expert Ali Martinez in a tweet published on June 20. This trend is quite significant, as these Bitcoin whales have brought back their collective accumulation supply levels to seven-week highs, soaring from around 4.51 million BTC in early April to close to the 4.65 million BTC at the time of publication. Interestingly, during this time, the price of Bitcoin slightly declined and remained relatively stagnant, as the chart suggests.
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🇲🇪 Do Kwon Sentenced To 4 Months In Montenegrin Jail For Passport Crime
Disgraced crypto king Do Kwon has been convicted of using forged passports in Montenegro and sentenced to four months in prison. He is also wanted by US prosecutors on fraud charges. On Monday, a Montenegrin court convicted Do Kwon, the disgraced former CEO of Terra, and his associate Han Chang-Joon of using forged Costa Rican passports to try to leave the country on a private jet. The court sentenced both men to four months in prison. Kwon’s defense in the Costa Rican passport case was that he believed the passport he bought through a Singapore agency was a legitimate “golden passport” for affluent applicants looking to fast-track citizenship in certain countries. However, the court rejected his explanation. This case has made headlines for months, and it is not difficult to see why. Kwon’s past actions have caught up with him, and he now faces charges for fraud stemming from the collapse of Terra last May. US prosecutors have been seeking his extradition for some time, and South Korean authorities want to try Kwon and Han on similar charges. The pair had been on the run for six months before being arrested in March at the VIP lounge of Podgorica Airport.
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🪙 Etherscan’s Users Can Now Analyze Smart Contract With AI-powered Code Reader
Etherscan, an on-chain data tracker, has adopted OpenAI’s model integration tool, which allows users to learn about the source code of smart contracts. Etherscan claims that the “Code Reader” tool will assist users in evaluating and learning specifics about the products and functionalities contained in the contracts. According to this unit, the responses will be implemented using AI technology to assist people in grasping the nature of the lines of code. According to a post on Etherscan’s website, the tool, which is built on AI technology created by OpenAI, enables users to request an explanation of the whole or sections of a smart contract’s source code. Users may also get a smart contract’s “read” and “write” functionalities, allowing them to make educated choices about how to engage with them and investigate potential uses for them in decentralized apps, according to the article. Code Reader’s use cases include acquiring a better knowledge of contracts’ code via AI-generated explanations, collecting complete listings of smart contract operations connected to Ethereum data, and comprehending how the underlying contract interacts with decentralized apps (dApps).
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🟠 Binance Launches Bitcoin Transaction Accelerator and Teases Layer-2 Solution
The world’s largest crypto exchange Binance launched a transaction accelerator for Bitcoin miners. Binance is also preparing a BNB Chain layer-2 scaling solution to improve network transaction speeds and costs. Separately, the firm announced on June 15 that Binance Pool has launched a “Bitcoin Transaction Accelerator.”. The new solution will allow users to confirm their transactions on the Bitcoin network quicker regardless of any potential network congestion issues, it noted. The Bitcoin network has struggled under demand for block space recently amid the BRC-20 memecoin minting and ordinal inscriptions craze. Also on June 15, BNB Chain posted a short video teasing a new layer-2 solution. It said the new offering would be “coming soon” on June 19, but no further details were provided. In May, regular users suffered from high transaction fees and a backlog of unconfirmed transactions in the Bitcoin mempool. The new transaction accelerator will only be available for verified Binance Pool users. A zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine is a fully compatible layer-2 solution that can seamlessly integrate with Ethereum’s smart contract ecosystem.
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🪙 Tether’s Banking Relationships, Commercial Paper Exposure Detailed in Newly Released Legal Documents
Stablecoin issuer Tether kept its funds in four banks, two investment management firms, two gold depositories and a gold broker and on its own sister company Bitfinex in March 2021, documents obtained by CoinDesk show. Tether’s past reliance on commercial paper is not news. The company, which issues and maintains the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalization, acknowledged putting funds in commercial paper in 2021. The Agricultural Bank of China Ltd, Bank of China Hong Kong, Bank of Communications Co Ltd, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Merchants Bank, China Construction Bank, China Everbright Bank Co and more all issued commercial paper and securities that Tether used to back its token. On March 31, 2021, Tether claimed it had more than $35.5 billion in U.S. dollar equivalents at these institutions, according to the documents. They were shared with CoinDesk by the New York Attorney General’s office (NYAG) in response to a state Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request filed in June 2021. The documents appear to have been created on Aug. 4, 2021, and serve as a snapshot of Tether’s operations on that day.
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💰 BlackRock’s Spot Bitcoin ETF Not The Same As Grayscale’s Product, Experts Say
Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) terminology can sometimes be tricky, and fund management giant BlackRock’s application for a spot Bitcoin ETF has raised some questions. BlackRock’s (BLK) iShares unit on Thursday filed an application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The name and other details of the proposal sparked some confusion among industry experts as to whether BlackRock was applying for an ETF or a trust with properties similar to the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). The answer is both. “It’s a reminder of just how complex ETF terminology is,” Noelle Acheson, editor of Crypto is Macro Now, said. “Technically, BlackRock's proposal is for a trust, but it's a trust that allows redemptions, so it functions just like an ETF.”. The key distinction is that an ETF for spot bitcoin “would be able to buy bitcoin at the end of the trading day to bring the fund's assets in line with its trading price. A trust does not have the ability to do this,” Joe Consorti, market analyst at The Bitcoin Layer said. In this sense, Acheson noted, the iShares product is nothing like GBTC, which has no redemption mechanism. “The market hears ‘trust’ and thinks it will be like GBTC with no redemptions, but that's not the case here,” Acheson said.
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🇺🇸 Binance.US And SEC Reach Agreement On Access To US Customers’ Money
According to Coindesk, Binance, Binance.US and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have announced an agreement to ensure that only US-based employees can access customer funds. Under the proposed agreement, Binance.US will ensure that no employee of Binance Holdings (referring to Binance exchange) has access to the private keys for critical wallets, hardware wallets, or other access rights – administrative access to Binance.US Amazon Web Services tools. Furthermore, the US crypto exchange platform will share details on business expenses, including cost estimates, in the coming weeks. This proposed settlement comes in response to the SEC’s proposal to freeze the assets of Binance.US while pursuing the exchange over securities-related allegations. The regulator said it was concerned that funds could be moved overseas or that records would be destroyed if a temporary containment order (TRO) was not issued. Lawyers for Binance.US protested, arguing that freezing all of their assets would be tantamount to a “death sentence.”. On Thursday, the two sides released a report saying the parties worked hard to reach an agreement.
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🇷🇺 Russian Bitcoin Miners Rake In $4 Billion Yearly: Taxation To Bring $240 Million
Ivan Chebeskov, head of the Financial Policy Department of the Russian Ministry of Finance, said that Russian bitcoin miners earn about $4 billion a year from mining cryptocurrencies. The taxation of this industry can bring about 20 billion rubles (about 240 million U.S. dollars) to the budget. The Russian Ministry of Finance has estimated that Russian bitcoin miners generate around $4 billion annually from mining cryptocurrencies. In a session named “Mining as a “white swan” of the Russian economy” at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, Ivan Chebeskov, head of the Financial Policy Department of the Ministry of Finance, said that the taxation of this industry could bring in around 20 billion rubles (about 240 million U.S. dollars) to the budget. Chebeskov noted that the profit of miners is about 100 billion rubles. If the right prerequisites are created for the development of the industry, its multiple growth is possible, and so is the growth of tax contributions. The bill on the legal regulation of cryptocurrency mining was submitted to the State Duma in the fall of 2022, which assumes that in case of receiving a digital currency, the miner would have to inform the authorities.
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🇫🇷 Binance Under Investigation In France For Serious Money Laundering
The Paris prosecutor’s office stated to it that Binance is being investigated by local authorities for “illegally” providing digital asset services and serious money laundering. The information confirmed to Le Monde by the Paris public prosecutor’s office, an investigation relates to acts of illegal exercise of the function of digital asset service provider (PSAN) on the one hand and acts of aggravated money laundering by participating in investment operations, concealment. According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, an in-depth examination of papers and computer parts seized during the search is now required. Binance, which is being sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for failing to register as a trading platform and selling unregistered securities, is also suspected of violating French law governing crypto-asset platforms, which has made a wide range of activities conditional on obtaining the status of digital asset service provider since 2019. This registration with the Financial Markets Authority (AMF) is especially important if you want to market to prospective French consumers. Nevertheless, Binance, which has been delivering its services in France since 2020.
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⚪️ Voyager Allows Users To Withdraw Within 35% Cryptocurrency Limit This Month
A document filed with the court on Wednesday outlined a plan to reopen Voyager customers from June 20 to July 5 so that creditors can withdraw about 35% of the cryptocurrency. Voyager shut down its core business in July 2022, shutting down customer deposits and withdrawals. Paul R. Hage, who oversees the agency’s bankruptcy proceedings, told creditors on file that they can see the initial distribution they are expected to receive through its application on Friday. Initial cryptocurrency distributions will be made to creditors within three to seven calendar days of submitting a withdrawal request. A month ago, a judge allowed Voyager and its partners to liquidate the company. The litigation involving Three Arrows Capital and FTX will significantly increase Voyager’s existing assets, thereby improving the recovery rate of clients’ assets. Reportedly, the company is asking FTX to repay the loan of about $445 million. The company’s claim against 3AC is $650 million. The company said it planned to return about $1.3 billion to customers at the time. Reuters once said the expected recall rate was around 35%.
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📣 Bitcoin Mining Companies In Venezuela Have To Close Because Of Cash Shortage
According to Bloomberg, Venezuela’s temporary ban on cryptocurrency mining inside the nation is basically putting an end to a sector that President Nicolás Maduro has worked hard to develop. Maduro has personally advocated for the usage of cryptocurrency, notably the government-issued Petro sovereign coin. The currency was marketed as a viable alternative to the Venezuelan bolivar in the midst of hyperinflation, as well as a means of evading punishing American sanctions. Nevertheless, as the state’s ban on crypto mining enters its third month, many cash-strapped miners may be forced to shut down permanently. And the Petro, which never took off but was once seen as Venezuela’s future gateway by Maduro, ceased trading on May 24. After starting an inquiry into a major corruption operation in which crypto wallets were reportedly used to divert payments owing to the state-run oil giant Petróleos de Venezuela SA, state officials initially put a stop to crypto mining in March. Mining organizations believe that 75,000 mining equipment units have been disconnected. It is about the equivalent of a large publicly listed mining company’s complete fleet of equipment, such as Riot Platforms Inc.
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📣 Deribit Launching Bitcoin Futures And Options After Halving In 2024
According to CoinDesk, crypto options trading platform Deribit announced that it will launch BTC options and futures contracts expiring on June 2024, precisely at 08:00 UTC, Thursday, June 22, to meet the high demand of customers. According to Deribit, the world’s largest crypto options exchange by trading volume and open interest, preparations for the same have already begun, with investors looking to bitcoin futures and options that expire two months after the critical event is known to have a significant impact on the price of cryptocurrencies. Crypto futures contracts are agreements between traders to buy or sell a particular asset at a possible price and on a specified date. Crypto options contracts provide the contract holder with the right but not the obligation to buy or sell an asset at a predefined price and date. Futures can be used to protect against potential market volatility. The basic purpose of options is to mitigate or lower the portfolio’s risk exposure. To make a leveraged optimistic or bearish wager on the underlying asset at a lesser cost, knowledgeable traders frequently purchase options or futures. According to Derbit, preparations for the halving have already begun, with investors looking for bitcoin futures and options expiring two months after the milestone.
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🇺🇸 Fed should play role in regulating stablecoins, Chair Powell says
Legislation to create a comprehensive regulatory framework for stablecoins in the U.S. could be approaching a speed bump, with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell arguing for a robust federal role in the regulation of the sector. “We believe that it would be appropriate to have a quite robust federal role in what happens in stablecoins going forward, and leaving us with a weak role and allowing a lot of private money creation at the state level would be a mistake.” The top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Maxine Waters, also sounded critical of the proposal from her Republican counterparts to allow state regulators to approve stablecoin issuance. Though Republicans can advance the bill out of committee and the House of Representatives on a party line vote, it needs support from Democrats in order to become law. Democrats hold a majority in the Senate and President Joe Biden would be loath to sign legislation that his own party does not support. “This proposal takes state preemption to a whole new level,” Waters said, referencing how a stablecoin approved in one state could then be sold across the country, whether or not other state regulators signed off.
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💰 Bitcoin Dominance Now Reaches 50%, Highest In 2 Years
While maintaining largely stable in recent days, Bitcoin dominance has risen to more than 50% for the first time in more than two years. According to TradingView data, Bitcoin’s market capitalization has surpassed that of all other cryptocurrencies combined. This comes as the majority of the larger-cap alts have been seeing slight daily losses. All eyes were on the United States as the CPI data and the Fed’s next FOMC meeting, both of which were due to be revealed and held this week. The inflation numbers, which were released on Wednesday, showed a small decrease. Yet, this had little impact on BTC’s price movement. On Thursday, the Federal Reserve, rather predictably, chose to stop its monetary strategy of rising interest rates. Bitcoin’s dominance last approached 50% in June 2022, when the whole crypto market crashed due to consistently rising inflation in the United States, prompting the Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy aggressively. Interestingly, Bitcoin’s market domination has increased by more than 10.5% since November 27, 2022, owing mostly to investors seeking a safe haven in the aftermath of the FTX crisis and rising governmental scrutiny of crypto assets in the United States.
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🟠 Binance Labs Invests In 5 Promising Projects In Incubation Program
Binance Labs, the venture capital and incubation arm of Binance, recently announced investments in the top 5 performing projects from Season 5 of its Incubation Program. Previously more than 900 project applications had been received but only a select few, less than 2% of the total, were selected to participate in the program. Throughout the season, participants benefit from a tailored curriculum that meets their specific needs as founders, complemented by exclusive resources from the ecosystem and engaging side conversations with industry leaders. Here are 5 potential projects that Binance Labs decided to invest in covering many areas of Web3, Defi, Infrastructure, tools and middleware. Bracket Labs, a project to build leveraged on-chain products with simple interfaces and adaptive pricing, innovates to dramatically improve usability. DappOS, a project focused on building an operating protocol. Kryptoskatt, a Web3 financial simplification project for users around the globe. Mind Network, a full cryptographic network built on the patented Fully Adaptive Uniform Encryption (FHE) framework. zkPass, a privacy-preserving, composable decentralized identity verification solution for Web3 based on multi-party computation (MPC) and zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technology.
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🪙 Ethereum Developers Propose 2,048 ETH Validator Limit For Improved Network Security
Ethereum core developers are discussing the possibility of increasing the maximum validator balance from the current 32 ether (ETH) to as much as 2,048 ether per validator. This proposed increase would significantly impact large-scale staking operations, which are currently forced to spin up multiple validators in order to earn yield on any amount greater than 32 ETH. As a result, there are currently 600,000 active validators and an additional 90,000 awaiting activation in the queue. During a recent Ethereum core developer consensus meeting held on Friday, Michael Neuder, an Ethereum Foundation researcher and key proponent of the proposed change, made the case for this increase. He argued that while the current validator cap promotes decentralization, it inadvertently leads to an inflation of the validator set size. In contrast, raising the cap could slow down the expansion of the active validator set, ultimately improving the network’s efficiency in terms of achieving finality within a single Ethereum slot. Currently, rewards earned beyond the 32 ETH cap must be redirected elsewhere to generate any staking yield. However, if the cap were to be lifted and raised, these rewards could immediately be compounded.
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🟠 BNBChain Launches opBNB On Testnet, A High-performance L2 solution For Gaming
BNBChain launches opBNB, a L2 scaling solution for BSC powered by Optimism opStack, designed for gaming and daily use with high throughput and low fees. BNBChain recently announced the launch of opBNB, a Layer 2 scaling solution for the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) powered by the Optimism opStack. The block gas limit is 100M gas and is primarily designed for gaming, decentralized exchanges, daily use, and digital collectibles. The ideal scenario is having opBNB serve. The opBNB network works by offloading transaction processing and resource usage from the BSC while still posting data to the underlying mainnet. Users interact with the network by depositing funds from BSC and using applications and contracts on opBNB. Sequencers then aggregate transactions, compute state transitions and submit them to the rollup contract on BSC. Provers generate cryptographic proofs that prove the validity of these state transitions, and Verifiers check the proofs to verify the opBNB state is correct. The TPS of the opBNB network is around 4761, which is much faster than the native transfer on BSC.
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💰 Grayscale Bitcoin Trust nears 2023 highs on BlackRock ETF filing as buyers step up
Bitcoin plans by BlackRock appear to have sparked a rally in the “OG” institutional BTC investment vehicle. Data from monitoring resource CoinGlass shows that on June 17, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) almost hit new 2023 highs. Bitcoin market sentiment showed a modest improvement late last week as news emerged that the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, had filed to launch a Bitcoin spot price exchange-traded fund (ETF). According to CoinGlass, that discount, or a negative “premium,” used to characterize GBTC share prices, is currently at -36.6%. While still heavily discounted, GBTC thus trades closer to zero than at almost any time this year. On June 13, for example, the discount was closer to -44%. “Very different structure than other efforts by a behemoth who doesn’t lose. ‘30 act redeemable trust w/ redemptions (unlike GBTC) + proposed rule change filing. They came to play,” he added. The BlackRock move is already shrouded in controversy of its own, as market commentators spar over whether it is, in fact, an ETF at all.
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📣 Terraform’s Do Kwon Claims He Didn’t Know His Passport Was Fake
Do Kwon, who was recently arrested in Montenegro after evading authorities for months, claimed that he had no idea the Costa Rican passport he was traveling with was fake. Ever since the catastrophic collapse of the Terra ecosystem a year ago, Do Kwon, the person behind the protocol, has been blamed by many for his role. Although he claimed he was not trying to escape from the authorities, his location was unknown until recently when he was apprehended in the European country – Montenegro – while carrying a fake passport. During a hearing at the Podorica District Court in Montenegro’s capital on June 16, Kwon explained that he received the Costa Rican passport he was caught with through an agency in Singapore “recommended by a friend.” He also tried getting a Granada passport but was rejected. However, when asked about the name of that agency, Kwon said he didn’t remember it, and he only knew it was Chinese. According to the report, Kwon also had a Belgian passport when he was arrested. Prosecutor Harris Chabotich said the two passports had different names and different dates of birth, which made it clear that they “were created with bad intentions. Please punish it appropriately.”. Kwon also urged the judge to punish just him for being caught with a fake passport.
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📣 Crypto donors raise $500,000 to support ZachXBT in lawsuit
The crypto-community has raised over $500,000 to support anonymous crypto investigator ZachXBT, who announced yesterday he is being sued for defamation. The fundraising effort appears to have struck a chord with members of the crypto community, echoing concerns about censorship and legal threats against researchers. As of Saturday morning, ZachXBT's donation address holds 163 ETH, worth about $290,000 at current prices, as well as ~$180,000 of USDC, ~$30,000 of USDT, and other coins. The donations include $5,000 of JESUS token and 69 billion GENSLR tokens, worth $800, a meme token themed around — and not endorsed by — the current Securities and Exchange Chair Gary Gensler. The lawsuit, filed in a Texas court, accuses ZachXBT of defaming Jeffrey Huang. ZachXBT alleged Huang embezzled cryptocurrency from Formosa Financial, a crypto startup. Huang demanded that ZachXBT remove the claims after denying them. ZachXBT maintains that the lawsuit is baseless and meant to censor him. The case is poised to be an important test of free speech rights in crypto research and journalism.
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📣 Wyre Closed Soon, Users Can Withdraw Assets Before July 14
Wyre, a crypto payments company, tweeted that the company will close soon due to market conditions. Users can now withdraw assets until July 14. The company emphasizes that it will continue to protect the safety of customers’ assets. Users with assets on the Wyre platform will have until July 14 to withdraw their assets through the company’s dashboard, after which there will be a separate process for recovering assets remaining on the platform. The reason for this action is attributed to the current crisis in the market. “If you have assets on the Wyre platform, you can withdraw them via Wyre’s dashboard through Friday, July 14. After then, we will have a separate process to recover assets remaining on the platform. We will post details on the process on our website and blogs.” As previously reported, in January of this year, Wyre informed employees that the company would be liquidated but later said that it had received financing from a strategic partner and could continue operating regular operations and remove the customer’s withdrawal limit. The sudden and rapid collapse of FTX has once again plunged the crypto industry into a cold winter.
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🟠 Binance.US Fires 50 Employees Amid Legal Difficulties With the SEC
According to Reuters, citing two people familiar with the matter, Binance.US fired fifty people, spreading across the legal, compliance, and risk departments. The world’s biggest exchange claims that it would do everything in its power to defend the platform. Binance also feels that the SEC’s failure to collaborate in good faith is a miscalculation in terms of establishing clear standards for the digital asset market. The SEC also charged BAM Trading, Binance.US’ operational firm, with misleading investors about non-existent trading restrictions on its platform. The SEC then petitioned a federal court to seize Binance.US’ assets, which included more than $2.2 billion in cryptocurrency and $377 million in bank accounts. The SEC voiced worry that the exchange may cause such monies to be moved abroad. The world’s biggest exchange claims that it would do everything in its power to defend the platform. Binance also feels that the SEC’s failure to collaborate in good faith is a miscalculation in terms of establishing clear standards for the digital asset market.
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🟠 DAI Surpasses BUSD, Becoming The Third-largest Stable Currency
Stablecoins have recently had a position change when BUSD is no longer a stablecoin that has no place for itself. Instead, DAI is currently one of the stablecoins gradually taking over BUSD’s market share. After USDC, DAI is currently the third biggest stablecoin. Moreover, the market value of BUSD has fallen by about 74% from $16.57 billion at the start of the year, while the market value of DAI has fallen by 13% from $5.06 billion at the start of the year. More than 2.4 billion stablecoins were redeemed in 30 days, from May 15 to June 16, 2022. Three of the top stablecoins had a 4% to 19% decrease in supply over this time period, compared to the previous month. The decreasing supply of different tokens in stablecoin projects has become a continuous trend, with large redemptions for USDC, BUSD, and DAI during the previous month. USDC, the second biggest stablecoin, had its supply shrink by 5.7%, while BUSD saw nearly 19% of its tokens redeemed. Similarly, Makerdao’s DAI stablecoin has dropped 4% since May 15, 2023. Among these variations, two stablecoins stood out by increasing their supply over the previous 30 days: Tether (USDT) and TrueUSD (TUSD).
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💰 Bitcoin dominance reaches highest level in nearly two years
Bitcoin dominance has reached a level that has not been seen in almost two years, suggesting that traders and investors are flocking to the relative safety of the world's first and largest cryptocurrency over other smaller tokens. Bitcoin dominance, or a percentage of the total cryptocurrency market capitalization that Bitcoin represents, has reached 45.84%, according to The Block's Data Dashboard. In April of this year, Bitcoin dominance touched 45.65% but had been swinging in a range. Since last week, however, its dominance has been on the rise. It comes at a time when the United States Securities and Exchange Commission has declared several tokens as unregistered securities in its lawsuits against crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase — claiming that most tokens are securities. Since then, the prices of many mentioned tokens have declined. Meanwhile, bitcoin's price has been relatively stable. The upcoming Bitcoin halving in April or May 2024 could also be a factor. The Bitcoin halving is an event that occurs approximately every four years.
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🟢 USDT Is Under Selling Pressure As It Loses 0.3% Of The Value
Tether’s USDT, the biggest stablecoin by market capitalization, is under pressure, according to speculation. There is presently no hint of a USDT depreciation, and the stablecoin is trading around one dollar. Yet, a stablecoin that is theoretically tied to a stable asset (the US dollar) might lose parity with that currency. The deepest pools in the DeFi ecosystem, the Uniswap and Curve protocols, seem to be filled with USDT sellers at present. When sellers rush the market, it might result in a fast depeg, as seen after the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, when the well-regarded USDC stablecoin (issued by Circle and Coinbase) lost its peg and plummeted as low as $0.93 before quickly recovering its dollar parity. On June 15, the data showed that the Curve platform’s stable currency 3pool ratio has tilted, of which USDT accounted for 70.29%. In addition, the market shows that the stablecoin has slightly unanchored and fell to around $0.9975. Tether announced a chain swap with a third-party exchange to transfer 750 million USDT from Tron to Ethereum ERC-20.
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