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💰 Another Polygon co-founder steps away from duties
Polygon co-founder Jaynti Kanani has decided to step away from his full-time duties helping to lead the company he helped start in 2017. "After kickstarting Polygon in 2017, around 6 months back, I decided to step back from the day-to-day grind," he posted on X to make the announcement. "I'll be focusing on new adventures while still cheering and contributing to Polygon from the sidelines." Polygon saw another co-founder make a professional pivot earlier this year when Anurag Arjun departed the company to spin off the modular blockchain project Avail. Polygon saw another co-founder make a professional pivot earlier this year when Anurag Arjun departed the company to spin off the modular blockchain project Avail. In total, Polygon and its projects have a total of 10 co-founders, according to its website. Kanani said he is "bullish" on Polygon 2.o. Last month, the Ethereum scaling project officially proposed changes for the upgrade after first introducing it in June. Polygon 2.0 aims to establish a comprehensive network of interconnected Layer 2 chains, driven by zero-knowledge proofs. The decision follows the March announcement that fellow Polygon co-founder Anurag Arjun was departing the company and spinning off the modular blockchain project Avail.
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💰 Ripple Says Singapore License Formally Approved
Ripple’s Singapore arm has secured a license as a major payments institution from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the company said, allowing it to keep providing digital payment token services in the fast-growing region. It's the second piece of good news for Ripple in the past eight hours. “Singapore has developed into one of the leading fintech and digital asset hubs striking the balance between innovation, consumer protection and responsible growth,” said Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, in a statement. Ripple was granted a preliminary approval in June, but now its Ripple Markets APAC Pte Ltd subsidiary has obtained its formal licensing. The company said in a statement Tuesday that it does about 90 percent of its business outside the U.S. Meanwhile, Ripple has been fighting with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its right to operate there. The company won another significant victory in that case on Tuesday, when a federal judge ruled against the SEC’s effort to appeal, so the matter is heading toward a final showdown in an April trial. adding that the country has been the company’s Asia Pacific headquarters for six years.
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💰 Celsius successor to be seeded with $450 million in crypto if restart plan approved
The prospective successor to bankrupt crypto lender Celsius said it will have no funded debt and seed funding of up to $450 million in cryptocurrency if its plan to restart the business gets court approval, according to a recent filing ahead of a confirmation hearing on Monday. During the New York bankruptcy hearing yesterday, the firm, currently dubbed “NewCo” said it also plans to begin repaying customers whose funds were frozen after Celsius’s collapse in June 2022 by the end of this year. NewCo will be managed by the investment consortium Fahrenheit, which has also committed to invest up to $50 million as an equity stake in the new business, with Fahrenheit’s management team compensated in NewCo's common stock. “Fahrenheit believes in the business,” Celsius lawyer Christopher S. Koenig said at the hearing. “They are putting their money where their mouth is.” Fahrenheit made the winning bid to acquire Celsius’ assets in May, led by crypto investment firm Arrington Capital. Fahrenheit plans to take over Celsius' institutional loan portfolio, staked crypto and bitcoin mining unit. An affiliate of Lantern Ventures that says it’s owed $82 million argues Celsius’ advisers have overvalued the new business, Bloomberg noted.
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💰 Sam Bankman-Fried's Defense Asks for Clarity on Charity, Bankruptcy Arguments
Sam Bankman-Fried's defense team wants clarity from the U.S. judge overseeing the FTX founder's case regarding certain arguments the lawyers can bring up during trial. The defense wants clarity about whether it can argue that FTX, a big crypto exchange that collapsed last year, was not regulated in the U.S., though FTX.US did follow applicable rules, according to a Monday filing. Other questions include whether Bankman-Fried would be able to discuss the possibility that FTX creditors. The defense also seemed concerned about the Department of Justice's plan to "admit evidence concerning the alleged illegal campaign finance scheme." Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled in favor of the DOJ earlier this month when he granted prosecutors' motions to block Bankman-Fried from making certain arguments at trial. In the ruling he said that the defense did not object to those DOJ motions – statements the defense is now disputing. Bankman-Fried's objections to the DOJ's motions either contained arguments or details in footnotes that clarified his position, the Monday filing said. Parts of the filing ask for clarity about the scope of the judge's ruling on the extent the defense could make its arguments.
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🏦 Coinbase granted full license in Singapore
Coinbase, the crypto exchange operator, was granted a key regulatory license in Singapore. The Monetary Authority of Singapore handed the company a Major Payment Institution license, after granting in-principal approval late last year, according to an announcement today. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued the company in June for allegedly operating as an unregistered broker and exchange in violation of federal securities laws. “This license enshrines our commitment to the market and marks the end of our licensing journey,” said Hassan Ahmed, the country director of Coinbase Singapore, in an interview. “Our experience in Singapore in some ways contrasts what’s going on in the U.S. By providing this level of regulatory clarity and by providing clear rules that the industry has to play by, that’s really important for us as we’re thinking about our international strategy.” The licence paves the way for Coinbase’s Singapore entity to offer a wider range of Digital Payment Token services to both retail and institutional customers in the region, while also cementing its ties with local institutions. Standard Chartered is its local banking partner.
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🪙 Chainlink Unveils ‘Data Streams’ to Reduce Latency, Expands Decentralized Computing
Chainlink, the blockchain data oracle provider, has launched “Data Streams,” a new product designed to reduce network latency. The offering has now entered early access on layer 2 platform Arbitrum, the company said Monday in a press release. Chainlink Data Streams combines low latency market data and automated execution “to unlock a new generation of ultra-fast and user-friendly derivatives products," according to the company. Low latency market data refers to financial market data that is delivered without delay. The product uses a "pull-based" data oracle solution, where ”high frequency market data is continuously made available off-chain,” the press release said. Oracle reports are generated per block, and users can retrieve them off-chain and then validate with their on-chain transaction. This differs from the push-based solution where oracles proactively feed data to smart contracts at various time intervals. Using a pull-based system reduces the latency – how much time it takes for a data packet to travel from one point to another – of updates. Latency is a common problem that afflicts distributed networks, since messages have to propagate to nodes, often causing delays in finalizing and synchronizing transactions.
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🔵 Circle Claims Stablecoins are Not Securities in Binance Lawsuit
Circle argues that stablecoins like BUSD and USDC are not investment contracts and fall outside SEC jurisdiction. In a significant development in the ongoing legal battle between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and major cryptocurrency exchange Binance, stablecoin issuer Circle has intervened, asserting that stablecoins should not be categorized as securities under existing financial regulations. Binance faced several legal accusations from regulators with the charges based on the exchange’s role in enabling transactions in multiple cryptocurrencies. Circle’s argument centers around the premise that stablecoins like BUSD and its own USDC, designed for payments, are not investment contracts and, therefore, fall outside of SEC jurisdiction. The filing also argued that users of these stablecoins do not expect to gain any profits from individual purchases. This argument holds weight, particularly when considering the SEC’s accusation that Binance promoted BUSD by claiming it offered yield through reward programs. The SEC’s case against Binance involves them alleging that the cryptocurrency exchange had enabled transactions in cryptocurrencies such as Solana’s SOL, Cardano’s ADA, and the stablecoin BUSD. According to the agency, these cryptocurrencies are unregistered securities, leading to the charges against Binance.
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🇭🇰 Latest JPEX Arrestee Found with Shredded and Bleached Documents in Hong Kong Flat: Report
There appears to be no end to the JPEX saga. In the latest development, Hong Kong and Macau authorities have made fresh arrests of 18 suspects in the JPEX crypto exchange case. A total of $2.8 million has been seized in both cash and gold. A report from local media revealed that charges against two individuals were filed in Hong Kong for utilizing Macau casinos as a means to launder illicit funds. This led to the seizure of casino assets as well as $1.7 million in cash. The Hong Kong Police Force disclosed its efforts to locate additional suspects linked to fraud and money laundering charges. Hong Kong’s financial regulator warned JPEX for allegedly promoting its services in the city-state without proper licenses. Following the warning, the exchange substantially increased its withdrawal fees to nearly $1,000. In a twist, its employees deserted their booths at the recent Token 2049 event held in Singapore. Several arrests were made by the police in the city-state for alleged money laundering shortly thereafter after reportedly receiving more than 2,300 complaints from victims and losses of nearly $178 million. This included two popular influencers as well. However, Hong Kong’s authorities have maintained that the ringleaders of the operation behind JPEX are still at large. Subsequently, reports about JPEX being a potential rug pull also surfaced as social media channels and its official website remained inaccessible.
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🇺🇸 Paradigm says SEC is trying to change the law with case against Binance
Crypto venture capital firm Paradigm accused the Securities and Exchange Commission of "circumventing the rulemaking process" in a brief filed in the agency's ongoing case against Binance. “Here, the SEC is attempting to leverage the disturbing allegations it levies in its complaint to change the law while circumventing the rulemaking process," Paradigm said in a statement on Friday. "The SEC is plainly acting outside the scope of its authority and we oppose this gambit." The SEC sued Binance in June over multiple alledged violations of securities laws, including not being registered as an exchange, broker-dealer or a clearing agency. Paradigm noted that Binance was one of many cases the SEC has brought against crypto exchanges recently, and said the SEC's stance "would upend what we know about securities law in several critical ways." The agency often relies on the Howey Test, born from a 1946 U.S. Supreme Court case involving citrus groves, to help determine whether transactions are investment contracts and thus subject to securities laws. "There are a whole host of assets that are promoted, bought, and sold for their potential for profit, and yet have been deemed time and again not to be a security per se," Paradigm said in its amicus brief.
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🇺🇸 Valkyrie Ether Futures Now Suspended Until SEC Approval
On September 29, the asset management company made an official announcement regarding the suspension of Valkyrie Ether futures purchases. The decision to halt Ethereum futures purchases is directly tied to the approval status of an amendment to the fund’s registration statement. Valkyrie’s Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BTF) has opted to refrain from acquiring Ether (ETH) futures contracts until the SEC’s approval for adding these contracts to the fund’s principal investment strategy becomes effective. Earlier, the SEC had granted Valkyrie approval to transform its existing Bitcoin futures ETF into a Bitcoin and Ethereum futures ETF. Consequently, this new fund will undergo a name change to “Valkyrie Bitcoin and Ethereum Strategy ETF,” and it is scheduled to take effect on October 3rd, maintaining the code BTF. In light of these developments, Valkyrie has committed to unwinding any Ethereum futures purchases that were previously initiated. This swift change in strategy follows the firm’s recent announcement that it had commenced the inclusion of Ether futures exposure within the BTF, following SEC approval. The suspension of Valkyrie Ethereum futures purchases underscores the company’s commitment to regulatory compliance and the evolving landscape of cryptocurrency investments.
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🔵 Stablecoin issuer Circle weighs in on SEC case against Binance
Circle, the company behind the the stablecoin USDC, today waded into the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s case against Binance. The SEC sued Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao in June over alleged violations of local securities laws. The suit alleged that Binance’s affiliate, BAM Trading, sold unregistered securities including BNB and stablecoin BUSD. Circle said that stablecoins designed for payments “do not have the essential features of an investment contract,” and as such do not fall within the SEC’s remit. Circle said in a filing that stablecoins designed for payments “do not have the essential features of an investment contract.” In a filing late on Thursday, Circle said that stablecoins designed for payments “do not have the essential features of an investment contract,” and as such do not fall within the SEC’s remit. It also argued that users of such stablecoins do not expect any profit from holding them, according to a CoinDesk report. The news comes a little over a month after Dante Disparte, Circle’s chief strategy officer, told Bloomberg that bank failures in the U.S. — and the impact of those on local stablecoin issuers — had forced investors into “unsafe, opaque” cryptocurrencies overseas.
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🔻 Optimism Sparks Excitement with Security Council Announcement
Optimism has recently made an exciting announcement about its future plans, which involve the establishment of a security council. This security council is set to play a pivotal role in ensuring the integrity and decentralization of Optimism’s superchain network. Optimism is taking a proactive step to improve its blockchain operations by introducing this security council. As part of its commitment to transparency and community involvement, Optimism will introduce a governance proposal to incorporate the SC as a multi-party signatory. The security council will consist of at least eight members, and a key feature will be the 75% signature threshold required for any actions it takes. This ensures a high level of consensus among its members. The entire process of implementing the security council will be conducted through a series of governance votes, emphasizing community participation and decentralized decision-making. Optimism’s dedication to improving the transparency, security, and decentralization of its superchain network is evident through the establishment of the SC. With the involvement of multiple stakeholders and a robust governance framework, Optimism’s initiative is poised to usher in a new era of trust and reliability in the blockchain industry. Stay tuned for more updates on Optimism’s progress with the security council.
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🏦 Kraken Stock Trading Will Be Launched In 2024
According to Bloomberg, Kraken, the renowned cryptocurrency exchange platform with a 12-year history, is set to diversify its offerings by introducing trading services for US-listed stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in 2024. This strategic move represents Kraken’s first foray beyond its cryptocurrency core business. The new trading services will be facilitated through Kraken’s newly established department, Kraken Securities. Initially, these services will be rolled out in the United States and the United Kingdom. Kraken stock trading and ETF trading will be provided through its new division, Kraken Securities. The company is targeting a 2024 launch for these services. Eligible customers will have the opportunity to integrate their crypto holdings seamlessly with their Kraken stock trading and ETF portfolios, presenting a unified balance. This expansion comes at a time when Kraken is also bolstering its prime brokerage services and preparing to launch a qualified custodian service for institutional clients in the coming weeks. The custody service will operate independently from the exchange, with Kraken having applied for approval from the state of Wyoming.
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🇺🇸 Terraform Labs Founder Do Kwon Now Challenges SEC Amidst Global Legal Showdown
Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon has firmly contested the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission’s (SEC) bid to interrogate him within the United States concerning the tumultuous downfall of Terra and Luna stablecoins, according to a court filing made public on Wednesday. Last week, the SEC requested the Southern District of New York to approve their petition to question Kwon on U.S. soil, but Kwon’s legal team has deemed this request unfeasible. The primary reason cited is Kwon‘s detainment in Montenegro since March 2023, where he was subsequently found guilty of attempting to use a counterfeit Costa Rican passport to leave the country. In June, Terraform Labs founder received a four-month jail sentence in Montenegro, with both the U.S. and South Korea seeking his extradition. The SEC had initially sought permission to interview Kwon before the discovery cut-off date of October 13. This request stemmed from their lawsuit against Terraform Labs in February, alleging that the firm had misled investors regarding the security of investing in TerraUSD stablecoin. The agency accused them of raising substantial funds from investors through the sale of a network of interconnected crypto asset securities, many of which were unregistered transactions.
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🪙 Chainlink's CCIP goes live on Coinbase's Ethereum Layer 2 network Base
Decentralized oracle network Chainlink has launched its Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) on Base, an Ethereum Layer 2 scaling platform incubated by Coinbase. The move aims to provide Base developers with a secure means to build cross-chain applications and services capable of sending messages, transferring tokens and initiating other transactions across multiple blockchain networks, according to a statement. “Base and Chainlink are both building on the forefront of blockchain development as we work to bring the next wave of millions of new users into our industry,” Chainlink Labs Chief Business Officer Johann Eid said in the statement. “The scalability and technological creativity of Base as a Layer 2 solution, combined with an ever increasing number of Chainlink services, is a boon for developers looking to build the next generation of cross-chain applications and services.” "We’re excited about the launch of CCIP on Base to let developers securely build cross-chain applications, empowering them to experiment further and unlock new use cases,” Coinbase’s protocols lead Jesse Pollak, who spearheaded the Base launch, said.
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🏦 Coinbase’s Attempt to End SEC Lawsuit Should Be Rejected, U.S. Regulator Argues
U.S. regulators argued Tuesday that Coinbase Inc.’s attempt to toss out the securities law violation it faces should be rejected, asserting the crypto exchange’s justification contains “fatal flaws.” The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Coinbase (COIN) in June, saying the U.S.-based company failed to register as a securities exchange with the markets regulator. Coinbase has tried to get that case dismissed, asking the judge to make a pre-trial ruling that crypto changing hands isn't the same as an investment contract. SEC said in a filing Tuesday. At stake is the court’s eventual interpretation of who is getting the so-called Howey test right: Coinbase, with its narrower view, or the SEC, which says Howey is meant to be flexible and widely interpreted when it defines a security that must be regulated by the SEC. “This case turns on whether Coinbase intermediated transactions in ‘investment contracts’ and whether customers on Coinbase’s trading platform therefore were entitled to the protections afforded by the federal securities laws that require intermediaries of securities transactions to register with the SEC,” the regulator said. Coinbase has argued that crypto trades don’t meet this definition of an investment contract, because no actual contract is established in a transaction.
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💰 Sam Bankman-Fried Lost Half a Million Dollars Every Day After Alameda Launched, Michael Lewis Claims
Millions of dollars from the first-ever tranche of funds raised by Sam Bankman-Fried were almost lost after trading firm Alameda Research initially started in 2017, author Michael Lewis claimed in his biography of Bankman-Fried “Going Infinite.” The then 26-year-old SBF intended to invest these funds in the growing and inefficient crypto markets, capturing price differences across markets and creating high-frequency trading (HFT) strategies to pick up pennies every few seconds. Most of these were losing bets from the start with Alameda losing millions of dollars in its first months. It lost over $500,000 every day throughout one such month, Lewis wrote, while some trading funds had “simply vanished” due to poor fund management. Another bot called Modelbot, which was programmed to trade nearly 500 tokens on some thirty exchanges, turned out to be yet another dud initially. It made no distinction between deeply-liquid crypto majors such as bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) and very thinly-traded memecoins – sparking concerns among early Alameda staff that it could end up evaporating all of the raised money. The tides finally changed after Gary Wang and Nishad Singh (both FTX directors who have since pled guilty to fraud in the ongoing trial) joined the firm.
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🏦 Coinbase push abroad gaining steam but plenty of uncertainty remains
Coinbase’s announcement this week that it secured a key regulatory license in Singapore, the U.S.-based crypto exchange’s international push appears to be gaining steam. But while the company’s drive to secure regulatory approval to operate in international markets is widely viewed as an intelligent move, some analysts simultaneously view Coinbase’s recent gains as somewhat symbolic rather than substantive, at least for the time being. Coinbase to lean into international initiatives given the still-heightened regulatory risk in the U.S., we think it remains an open question whether the company will be able to execute what appears to be a very difficult pivot,” Berenberg Capital Markets analyst Mark Palmer told The Block. “There is a lot of competition in the markets it is targeting, and it would have to gain a great deal of traction to make up for the net revenue to which it could lose access in the U.S. The approval follows a string of other announcements coming as a result of Coinbase’s push abroad, a strategy it calls “Go Broad, Go Deep.” Last week, the company not only gained approval to offer non-U.S. retail users perpetual futures, it also secured registration as a cryptocurrency exchange and custodian wallet provider with the Bank of Spain.
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🆘 Friend.Tech Users Targeted by SIM Swap Attack, Several Ether Drained
Some Friend.Tech users reported that they were the victim of SIM swap attacks over the weekend with the attackers successfully draining thousands of dollars worth of tokens. SIM Swap attacks are a common occurrence and happen when criminals take over control of a mobile phone by tricking service providers to connect that phone number to a SIM card in the hacker’s possession. Swapped phones can then be used for fraudulent activity. At least two users claimed that were targeted in a SIM swap attack which allowed exploiters to drain over 42 ether (ETH), worth nearly $70,000 at current prices, over separate attacks. “If your Twitter account is doxxed to your real name, your phone number can be found, and this could happen to you,” posted @darengb, a user who got impacted. Their phone carrier is Verizon. Social application Friend.Tech has become one of the most popular crypto platforms this year, despite the bear market, generating steady revenues and profits for its creators. The application amassed over 100,000 users in under two weeks after going live, as previously reported. Hackers may employ techniques from smart contract manipulation or flash loan attacks, to using a traditional method to exploit wealthy users.
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🪙 Grayscale Moves to Convert Its Ethereum Trust to a Spot ETH ETF
Grayscale Investments in conjunction with NYSE Arca has filed for approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to convert the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) to a spot ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF). The company – after a court victory over the SEC this past summer – is also awaiting approval from that agency to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to an ETF. Grayscale’s Ethereum trust is the largest ether investment product in the world, with almost $5 billion in assets under management. “At Grayscale, our unwavering commitment is to offer investors transparent and regulated access to crypto through product structures that are familiar,” said Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein in a statement. “As we file to convert ETHE to an ETF, the natural next step in the product’s evolution, we recognize this as an important moment to bring Ethereum even further into the U.S. regulatory perimeter.” A number of other asset managers have filed for approval of a spot ether ETF, with Invesco/Galaxy Digital last week being the latest to do so.
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🇨🇳 Chainalysis: Hong Kong and China’s OTC Markets Remain Active Despite Crypto Winter
Hong Kong’s active over-the-counter crypto market drove $64 billion in volume, not too far below China’s $86.4 billion, during the last year despite the territory having a much smaller population, and the global chill through crypto markets. While data shows that the value of transactions in both China and Hong Kong have dropped over the last year because of Beijing's continued strict prohibition on crypto assets and a prolonged downturn in the crypto market, Chainalysis argues that the presence of large OTC markets. “The increasingly close relationship between China and Hong Kong leads some to speculate that Hong Kong's growing status as a crypto hub may signal that the Chinese government is reversing course on digital assets, or at least becoming more open to crypto initiatives,” it said in its report. Chainalysis said that Hong Kong dominates in large institutional crypto transactions compared to other Asian regions. Its data shows that 46.8% of Hong Kong's annual crypto trades were institutional transactions exceeding $10 million, while retail trades under $10,000 accounted for just 4% of the City’s volume, marginally below the global average of 4.7%. On the other hand, South Korea leans heavily on retail trading on centralized exchanges, with “professional” traders between $10,000 and $1 million in transaction volume making up 40% of volume.
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🇧🇷 Brazil rolls out blockchain-based digital ID
Over 214 million Brazilians will soon be using blockchain technology for digital identity, the government recently announced. Rio de Janeiro, Goiás and Paraná will be the first states to issue identification documents on-chain through a private blockchain developed by Serpro, Brazil’s national data processing service. The entire country should be able to issue identity documents through blockchain technology by Nov. 6, reads a decree on Sept. 25. According to Alexandre Amorim, president of Serpro, the immutability and decentralization of blockchain made it an ideal technology for the country’s digital identification project. As per the local government, the national ID project is crucial in targeting organized crime, allowing government sectors to work together, offering a simpler way to access services and streamlining administrative records. The city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, recently disclosed a similar initiative, allowing residents to access identity documents via a digital wallet. The newly adopted technology will allow a more secure data exchange between the Federal Revenue and government departments, said the announcement.
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🇺🇸 ‘I Won’t Tell if You Don’t’ — SEC Unearths Alleged Scheme by Do Kwon to Fabricate Terra Transactions
Court filings submitted by the SEC show a purported conversation between the Terraform Labs founder and former CEO Do Kwon and his business partner the former CEO of Chai, Daniel Shin. “Kwon perpetrated a scheme to fabricate Chai transactions on the Terraform blockchain to make it appear more active, all to dupe investors,” the SEC filing claims. The conversation allegedly held between Kwon and Shin, marked May 9, 2019, sees Kwon purportedly saying. The alliance forged between Terra and Chai sparked considerable excitement upon its unveiling on June 11, 2019, with the company elucidating that the pact ushered Terra into South Korea’s TMON, a bustling e-commerce hub retailing a vast array of products from electronics and fashion to home decor and gifts. Within the disclosed dialogue, Shin probes the likelihood of discovery concerning the authenticity of these transactions. Answering the query, Kwon allegedly affirms, “I will try my best to make it indiscernible.”. Subsequent to persuading Shin into endorsing the scheme under a veil of confidentiality — a pact sealed with a playful ‘I won’t tell if you don’t,’ Shin seemingly proposes a smaller-scale trial to “see what happens.”
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🪙 Millions in Ether Tied to FTX 'Hacker' on The Move
Around 2,500 ether (ETH), worth just over $4 million, tied to last year’s apparent exploit of the FTX exchange started moving early Saturday, blockchain data shows. Ether held in a wallet associated with the FTX accounts drainer began moving for the first time in nearly a year. The funds were split into two, and then a few times in subsequent transactions, with 700 ETH transferred using the Thorchain Router, about 1,200 ETH being moved through the Railgun privacy tool. Another 550 ETH is sitting in an intermediate wallet. Railgun is a privacy wallet that lets users store tokens and use funds for decentralized financial services, such as lending and borrowing. These transactions are shielded, meaning the exact use of such funds is not known. On the other hand, Thorchain is a bridge that lets users swap tokens between different blockchains. Accounts tied to FTX and FTX US were drained on Nov. 11, 2022, mere hours after the company filed for bankruptcy and founder Sam Bankman-Fried resigned from the crypto empire he ran. The attacker took over $600 million worth of ether at the time. In a since-deleted tweet, the then FTX general counsel Ryne Miller said the exchange was taking “precautionary steps” to secure funds from other FTX wallets. John J. Ray III, the CEO and Chief Restructuring Officer of the FTX Debtors.
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⚪️ Paypal Selects Crypto.com as ‘Preferred Exchange’ for PYUSD Stablecoin
Crypto.com announced a partnership with Paypal that aims to establish the digital assets exchange as the preferred trading platform for the online payment provider’s new paypal usd (PYUSD) stablecoin. In a press release, the crypto firm highlighted it has already listed the new currency and is currently the exchange with the deepest liquidity for its trading pairs. Paypal introduced the stablecoin in early August with the stated goal to eventually making it an integral part of its payments infrastructure. PYUSD is issued by the New York-based Paxos Trust Company on the Ethereum blockchain and is reportedly redeemable 1:1 for U.S. dollars, backed by dollar deposits, short-term Treasury securities, and comparable assets. “PayPal has been a true pioneer in the digital commerce evolution and Paxos is a market-leading issuer of stablecoins. We are tremendously excited to team up with them to collectively advance the crypto frontier,” said Crypto.com’s Senior Vice President and Head of Payment Partnerships Joe Anzures. The partnership expands the integration between the financial giant and the crypto exchange which offers users of its Visa Card the option to top it up with Paypal. Furthermore, PYUSD deposits are already available to Crypto.com retail users via the platform’s app and the exchange promises trading features in the near future.
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💰 Ripple’s Fortress Trust Acquisition Now Collapsed After Nearly 3 Weeks Of Agreement
Financial technology giant Ripple has opted to withdraw from its proposed acquisition of Fortress Trust, marking a significant turn of events just 20 days after announcing the expansion initiative. This move follows Ripple’s earlier announcement on September 8, expressing its intention to acquire Fortress Trust, albeit without disclosing the purchase price. Sources close to the matter indicated that the deal’s value was less than the $250 million Ripple paid for custody firm Metaco in May. Ripple’s Fortress Trust acquisition may have been influenced by recent developments. A day before the acquisition announcement, Fortress Trust disclosed a cryptocurrency theft amounting to nearly $15 million, attributing it to an unnamed third-party vendor’s phishing attack. Ripple had previously agreed to cover losses resulting from a third-party security incident as part of the deal. Ripple’s ongoing legal battle with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission adds a layer of complexity to its business decisions, and the failure of this acquisition could potentially benefit other companies with ties to Fortress. Ripple’s Fortress Trust acquisition breaks down closely on the heels of BitGo’s withdrawal.
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🇸🇬 Co-founder Of 3AC Zhu Su Arrested At Changi Airport
The co-founder of failed crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, Zhu Su arrested at Changi Airport whilst attempting to travel out of Singapore on Friday (Sep 29) afternoon, as per The Business Times. The Singapore Courts swiftly issued a committal order, resulting in a four-month prison sentence for Zhu Su. The action was taken due to his deliberate failure to cooperate with the liquidators’ investigations, which a court order had mandated. Additionally, the order aimed to hold Zhu Su accountable for his activities as a co-founder and former investment manager of 3AC. Zhu Su, the co-founder of the now-defunct hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), found himself in legal trouble at Changi Airport, Singapore. On Friday, September 29th, he was apprehended while attempting to leave the country. Notably, this isn’t an isolated incident. Kyle Davies, another co-founder of 3AC, received a similar committal order with a four-month prison term, though his whereabouts currently remain unknown. Throughout Zhu Su’s imprisonment, the liquidators will actively engage with him, focusing on recovering assets owned by 3AC or acquired using its funds. If necessary, Teneo, the joint liquidator, may also pursue further court orders. Their unwavering commitment lies in recovering 3AC’s assets and maximizing returns for its creditors.
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💰 Hashdex Bitcoin ETF Filing Now Acknowledged By The SEC
Hashdex Bitcoin ETF filing has emerged on the SEC website, ahead of the anticipated date of October 6, 2023, according to Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart. Hashdex, a prominent crypto asset management company, threw its hat into the ring for a coveted spot in the United States’ Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) market last month. The firm submitted an application to the SEC for a Bitcoin futures ETF that will directly hold spot Bitcoin, adding to the growing competition in this space. For those unfamiliar with ETFs, they are investment funds that trade on traditional stock markets, deriving their value from an underlying basket of assets, which can include stocks, bonds, commodities, and other financial instruments. Bitcoin ETFs, on the other hand, allow investors to track the value of Bitcoin through traditional stock exchanges rather than crypto exchanges. Furthermore, Seyffart noted that the SEC has acknowledged the Bitcoin ETF filings from CBOE and Franklin Templeton. Traditionally, it takes about a week for the SEC to acknowledge a 19b-4 filing. However, Franklin Templeton submitted its 19b-4 document only yesterday. Seyffart’s announcement hints at the urgency prompted by concerns surrounding a looming government shutdown.
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🏦 Latest Gemini Genesis News Reveals $282 Million Withdrawal Before Bankruptcy
In a recent Gemini Genesis news reported by Bloomberg, Gemini withdrew $282 million from Genesis before bankruptcy, triggering legal disputes in the crypto world. In a recent Gemini Genesis news, Gemini Trust Co. executed a significant move months before Genesis Global Holdco LLC faced a deposit freeze and eventual bankruptcy. Two anonymous sources have revealed that Gemini Trust Co., owned by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, withdrew approximately $282 million in cryptocurrency from Genesis in August 2022. Contrary to speculations, the withdrawn funds were not directed towards the Winklevoss twins. Instead, they were allocated to establish a reserve to facilitate immediate redemptions for Gemini Earn customers. The situation was complicated as FTX’s collapse sent shockwaves through the volatile crypto market. Genesis subsequently froze customer withdrawals and, in January, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York. In response, Gemini filed a claim seeking $1.1 billion for Earn users. Since the initial withdrawal freeze, negotiations involving Gemini, Genesis, and Digital Currency Group have been ongoing, marked by public disagreements between Barry Silbert, the founder of DCG, and the Winklevoss twins. A tentative agreement reached in February remained unresolved, leading to a lawsuit by Gemini against DCG for fraud in July.
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🪙 Ethereum Revenue Milestone Hits $10 Billion, Outpacing Tech Giants: Report
Ethereum revenue milestone reaches $10B quicker than Meta (Facebook) and Microsoft, driven by network activities. The new ethereum revenue milestone places it among the ranks of tech giants. According to a recent report from crypto brokerage firm Caleb & Brown, Ethereum has surpassed $10 billion in revenue since its launch in 2015. It took Ethereum approximately 6 years to reach this revenue milestone, surpassing Meta’s 7.5-year timeline and leaving Microsoft, which took 19 years, far behind. The revenue has been generated from various sources, including transaction fees and activities conducted on the Ethereum network, such as decentralized finance transactions, NFT trading, cryptocurrency transfers, and more. Despite this notable accomplishment, Ethereum’s revenue has experienced a significant decline of over 77% from the previous year, reflecting the broader downturn in the crypto market. Current data from crypto analytics firm Token Terminal indicates that Ethereum’s revenue for this year stands at $1.7 billion. However, the future holds promise for Ethereum. Some sources suggest that if adoption continues, Ethereum’s network revenue could skyrocket from its current $2.6 billion to an astonishing $51 billion annually by 2030.
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