WhaleFin Weekly — WhaleFin Launches in Japan, Wintermute Hack, and More

WhaleFin

8 min readSep 29, 2022

Learn about the most recent trends and updates in the crypto industry.

Crypto Industry Updates

Amber Group launches WhaleFin in Japan

DeCurret Inc., a Crypto-Asset Exchange Service Provider registered with the Japan Financial Services Agency, announced on September 22 that it has changed its company name to Amber Japan K.K. following the completion of its acquisition by Amber Group.
Amber Group will be launching its flagship digital asset platform, WhaleFin, in Japan.

Read the full press release here.

Average daily settlement in Bitcoin fell by 44% month-on-month

In the course of Q3 2022, Bitcoin largely largely lost its inflation hedge and store-of-value narratives in the market after falling 72% from ATHs.
Bitcoin transaction count and transaction fees have fallen 3% and 23%, respectively. Average daily value settled has declined by 44%.

Read the full report“State of Bitcoin, Q3 2022” by Messari here.

Coinbase sued for patent infringement

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc is facing a patent lawsuit related to its digital trading technology, brought by a crypto company whose digital token offering led to a settlement with U.S. securities regulators in 2019.
The lawsuit, filed by Veritaseum Capital LLC, claims Coinbase infringed a patent awarded to Veritaseum founder Reggie Middleton by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office last December.

Source: Reuters

Computer North files for bankruptcy

One of the largest operators of crypto-mining data centers–Computer North–recently filed for bankruptcy (Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas).
The company filed owed as much as $500 million to at least 200 creditors.
In February 2022, Compute North announced a capital raise of $385 million, consisting of an $85 million Series C equity round and $300 million in debt financing.

Source: Bloomberg

OpenSea transaction volume tops $40 billion

The cumulative transaction volume of NFT trades on OpenSea has exceeded 40 billion USD.

Source: Dune Analytics

International Policies and Dynamics

Russia begins developing mechanism for international crypto payments

By the end of 2022, Russian authorities intend to regulate the issuance, circulation, and operations of digital assets, including international crypto payments.
Rosfinmonitoring, the Russian state financial intelligence agency, The Ministry of Finance, and the Central Bank of Russia, will be in charge of it.

Source: News.Bitcoin.com

Moscow Exchange drafting bill on digital financial assets and securities trading

The Moscow Exchange is drafting a bill to allow trading in digital financial assets and securities based on them.
The stock exchange is writing the bill on the behalf of the Russian Central Bank, which does not have the power to introduce legislation.

Source: Cointelegraph, Vedomosti

Final stage of Operation Colossus launched by Brazilian federal police to fight money laundering

On September 22, The Federal Police of Brazil, with the help of the Brazilian tax authority, launched the final stage of Operation Colossus, an investigation that has been taking place for more than 4 years.
The organizations executed more than 100 court orders directed at six cryptocurrency exchanges, four forex operators, and arbitrage agents suspected of aiding in money laundering operations.

Source: News.Bitcoin.com

New UK anti-money laundering bill would increase law enforcement authority related to cryptocurrency

A new anti-money laundering bill introduced in the UK is intended to make it easier for law enforcement to seize digital assets.
A second reading is anticipated for October 13, as the bill goes through the typical process of consideration to become law.

Source: The Block

Israeli exchange Bits of Gold becomes first crypto firm to receive Capital Markets License

Israel’s top markets regulator has granted local cryptocurrency exchange Bits of Gold one of its first licenses for exchanges that target crypto financial-services providers.
With the license from the Capital Markets Authority, Bits of Gold will be able to work with local banks and financial institutions.

Source: Coindesk

DeFi Space

$160M stolen from crypto market maker Wintermute

According to a tweet from founder and CEO Evgeny Gaevoy, Wintermute, a UK-based cryptocurrency market maker, became the latest victim of DeFi hacks.
The company lost approximately $160 million in 70 different coins due to the exploit of a smart contract bug in its DeFi operations.
Gaevoy stated that the company is solvent, with twice the stolen amount in equity left, stressing that users’ funds are safe.

WhaleFin and Amber Group’s Security Team managed to reproduce the Wintermute hack in less than 48h.

Panda DAO says it will dissolve and return investors’ assets due to internal strife

Panda DAO recently put forth a new proposal to dissolve itself and return assets back to investors.
Out of the 1.292 billion PANDA in circulation, between 500 million and 700 million PANDA tokens would be distributed among investors. Of those remaining, some would be redistributed among liquidity providers.

Source: Cointelegraph

Uniswap Foundation splashes $1.8 million in first round of grants

Uniswap Foundation has announced its first wave of grants.
The grant sum totals $1.8 million across 14 recipients.
Uniswap was created to promote the growth of the decentralized exchange’s ecosystem.

Source: Token Insight

PoVs

NFTs bring in-game ownership to a new level — Blokhaus

The founder of Blokhaus Inc Mark Soares recently stated:

NFTs improve interactivity by allowing users to unlock fully modular, community-driven, in-game experiences to which they own the pieces.

Source: Cointelegraph

Bitcoin unlikely to massively breakout in 2022 — CoinShares

Digital asset manager CoinShares says Bitcoin price is not likely to experience any upwards trend in 2022.

The FED is likely to have a continued dampening effect on the bitcoin price outlook.

Only some “unexpected deterioration in macroeconomic data” could change the trend.

Source: Daily Hodl

Welcoming talk of fresh crypto regulations — Upbit top executive

Kim Young-bin, the Chief Legal Officer at Dunamu, South Korea’s market-leading crypto exchange Upbit’s operator, has spoken out in favor of new crypto regulations both at home and abroad.

While increased regulation may cause the markets more short-term pain, the industry is set to benefit in the long term.

With Seoul edging toward the creation of a new bill to regulate the industry and the European Union developing its own markets in crypto-assets (MiCA) proposal, crypto is about to enter an era of “transition.”

Source: Crypto News

‘Bear markets are good’ — Messari CEO

Messari CEO Ryan Selkis views this bear market positively for the long-term health of the industry.

During bear markets, many low quality projects and platforms are removed from the market due to sell pressure and volatility.

Source: Decrypt.co

Bitcoin has reached the bottom and could go back above $60,000 “some time in the next 4 years,” — Michael Saylor

According to Michael Saylor, chairman and co-founder of MicroStrategy:

Bitcoin could go back to $68,990, its peak reached in November “sometime in the next four years,” and could reach $500,000 in the next decade if it matches the market cap of gold.

Source: Yahoo Finance

BTC and ETH Market Insights

The Fed decided to raise key interest rates 75bps, which was basically well priced in going into the FOMC meeting. However, forward guidance from dot plots essentially target 4.5% terminal rates by year end, even with deteriorating financial conditions signaling a hawkish impetus.
There are 2 more FOMC meetings left this year with an expected 100–125 bps in combined hikes. The most recent meeting reflected the Fed’s determination to keep tightening and dispelled the idea of a quick pivot to QE in the short-term. The price of BTC fell by 4.7% in the first minute and was near the June lows after the announcement as it continued its recent trend of trading with heavy correlation to global macro markets. Investors were actively unwinding their positions as the desk observed a significant drop in open interest of BTC futures.
The next important macro date will be the September CPI data, released on October 13th.

Weekly High

Bitcoin: $22,673
Ethereum: $1,745

Weekly Low

Bitcoin: $18,231
Ethereum: $1,280

NFTs

LiveArt

LiveArt teams up with Huang Yuxing to release Meta-morphic Obsidian Stone NFT series.
WhaleFin is one of LiveArt’s partners and NFT ticket re-sellers.

Game of Thrones NFT Collection

“Game of Thrones” enters the Metaverse with Funko Digital Pop NFT collection.

FIFA+ Marketplace

FIFA launches FIFA+ marketplace for NFTs.

AC Milan’s NFT Game

Italy’s AC Milan launches NFT game with MonkeyLeague.

NFT Airline Tickets

Argentine airline Flybondi to adopt NFT technology for ticket issuance

About WhaleFin by Amber Group

WhaleFin, powered by Amber Group, is an all-in-one digital asset platform designed to empower you to diversify, manage, and grow your wealth digitally in a secure manner. On WhaleFin, you can buy, sell, trade, and invest in crypto with ease.

Download the app here.

Amber Group is a leading digital asset platform operating globally with a presence in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. We provide a full range of digital asset services spanning investing, financing, trading, and spending, backed by some of the best investors across the world such as Sequoia Capital, Temasek, and Tiger Global Management.

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