Read about the most recent trends and updates in the crypto industry.
The turmoil provoked by FTX’s insolvency and liquidity issues has shaken the industry to its core. We feel the need to clarify that it’s business as usual at WhaleFin and Amber, and here we explain why.
What Happened to FTX?
- Led by Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), one of the crypto industry’s most well-regarded figures, FTX crypto exchange was until recently thought to be in fine shape.
- In January, the company raised $400 million from Softbank and others to reach a $32 billion valuation.
- On November 2, CoinDesk revealed that Alameda (the trading firm founded by SBF) had $14.6 billion of assets as of June 30, according to a private document reviewed by CoinDesk. Much of it is the FTT token issued by FTX.
- Shortly after the revelation, FTX suddenly froze customer withdrawals, and the CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), announced on Twitter that FTX had “asked for our help” and a non-binding Letter of Intent (LOI) was being discussed.
- No deal was ever reached, as CZ walked away from the deal (read more below).
Several media offer recaps of the FTX saga.
Read more on Cointelegraph and Wired.
Binance Walks Away From Deal to Acquire FTX
- Binance has scrapped its LOI to buy FTX, according to Binance founder CZ.
“As a result of corporate due diligence, as well as the latest news reports regarding mishandled customer funds and alleged U.S. agency investigations, we have decided that we will not pursue the potential acquisition of FTX.com,” the spokesperson told CoinDesk.
Bankman-Fried tells FTX Top Priority is Fundraising After Failed Binance Deal
- FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s top priority is to raise funds, according to his Slack message sent to FTX staff and seen by The Block.
TRON DAO Founder to Step Up and Save FTX?
- A recent tweet from Justin Sun, founder of Tron, a blockchain DAO ecosystem, reads
“Further to my announcement to stand behind all Tron token (#TRX, #BTT, #JST, #SUN, #HT) holders on #FTX, we are putting together a solution together with #FTX to initiate a pathway forward“
Read the tweet.
Nomura Unit Preparing To Trade Crypto, Boost Staff by 45%
- The crypto unit of Nomura — one of Japan’s largest banks — aims to grow its team to 55 over the next three months.
- Laser Digital, Nomura’s crypto unit, is also seeking to trade crypto itself and launch a dedicated trading platform in the first quarter of 2023.
- The firm’s CEO stated that the operation will include high-frequency trading, market making, and proprietary trading.
Coinbase Reports a Q3 Loss of $2.43 Per Share, with Trading Revenue Falling 44% Compared to Q2
- Coinbase reported a third-quarter loss of $2.43 per share.
- This is worse than expectations of $2.38 per share, but considerably better than their previous quarter’s $4.98 loss per share.
- In Q3, Coinbase lost $545 million with $590 million in sales, compared to $406 million in profit from $1.3 billion in sales a year ago.
- Their revenue from trading was $365fell 44% compared to Q2 2022, coming in at $365.9 million.
- On the upside, the exchange brought in $210 million in revenue from subscriptions and services.
Crypto Exchanges Must Comply With Russia Sanctions, Singapore Central Bank Says
- The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has reiterated that cryptocurrency exchanges need to conform to restrictions on Russian users imposed over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
- The reminder comes after researchers established that pro-Russia activists have raised millions of dollars in digital assets to support its war effort.
UK Powers to Regulate Crypto Ads Approved by Lawmaker Committee
- New U.K. laws to restrict crypto ads and outlaw the provision of services by unauthorized operators were passed by a committee of the House of Commons Thursday without opposition or further debate.
- The measures, now formally included in the government’s Financial Services and Markets Bill, add to those agreed upon last week by the Bill Committee, despite industry concerns that this legislation may make it more difficult to get ads approved.
Report: Over 30,000 Nigerians to Learn About Blockchain From Government Agency
- UK lawmakers recently agreed on new rules for stablecoins, and the government promised to consult on further crypto regulations and a digital Pound in the coming weeks.
- Lawmakers are now studying government proposals to regulate stablecoins.
IRS Building Hundreds of Crypto Cases, Ramping Up Hiring: Bloomberg Tax
- The United States Internal Revenue Service is developing hundreds of soon-to-be-public cases involving crypto.
- The cases being built reportedly involve crypto-to-fiat “off-ramping” transactions, as well as individuals being paid in crypto and not reporting it as income.
CloudWalk Is First Crypto Firm in Brazil to Become a Licensed Payments Institution
- CloudWalk, a Brazilian payments company, has become the first crypto firm to be authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil as a payments institution.
- This will allow CloudWalk to offer credit cards to users and provide payment accounts to businesses.
- The company will be the first crypto firm to connect directly with Pix, the Brazilian government’s payment system
- Pix has 126 million users.
First Industry Pilot for Digital Asset and Decentralised Finance Goes Live in Singapore
- The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced that the first industry pilot under MAS’ Project Guardian.
- The pilot project explores potential DeFi applications in wholesale funding markets, and it has completed its first live trades.
- More industry pilots have been launched to test the application of asset tokenization and DeFi across a broader range of use cases in the financial sector.
Trovio Group launches a $35m DeFi Fund powered by Yield App
- Trovio Group, one of Australia’s leading asset managers, has partnered up with Yield App, a digital wealth platform with $200 million under management. Together they launched a brand-new crypto fund.
- This $35 million fund, dubbed the Trovio DeFi Fund, offers wholesale investors the opportunity to diversify their investment through a yield-generating strategy within the DeFi (decentralized finance) ecosystem.
Aave Community Members Vote to Deploy on zkSync v2 Testnet
- Community members in the DeFi platform Aave voted on Wednesday to deploy the protocol to the zkSync 2.0 testnet.
- The successful vote marks the first stage of Aave’s rollout to the new version of the zkSync platform, a layer 2 rollup network on Ethereum that offers users faster transactions and cheaper fees.
dYdX Foundation Introduces Autonomous subDAO-Based Infrastructure Proposal
- On November 3, 2022, the dYdX Foundation shared with the community the dYdX DAO’s plans for the near future.
- The dYdX DAO plans to consist of several autonomous subDAOs in the that each work on core functional areas of the protocol and are ultimately accountable to the dYdX community.
- Solana unveils Google partnership, smartphones, Web3 store at Breakpoint
- OpenSea launched on-chain royalty enforcement tool for new NFT series
- Solana NFTs are live on Instagram & Facebook
- Warner Bros. to launch Game of Thrones series NFTs
- Sotheby’s auctions 5 “Boring Apes” BAYC NFTs
- Cryptopunks: The 1st NFTs to enter The Guinness World Record Book
Check out our WhaleFin NFT Marketplace here.
BitMex Former CEO Arthur Hayes Calls CBDCs “Pure Evil”
- Arthur Hayes, a former CEO of the cryptocurrency derivatives platform BitMEX, has just published a blog post titled “Pure Evil” in which he expresses his views on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
- Hayes clarified that however, CBDCs aren’t evil to everyone. He remarked that the evil it represents to some is the good it represents to others.
Crypto Regulators ‘Missing An Opportunity’ With Bitcoin Spot ETF
- Investors see a future with cryptocurrencies, but US regulatory inaction is costing the support of elected officials, according to Grayscale Investments CEO Michael Sonnenshein.
- The digital assets firm is suing the Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC) after the regulator refused to allow the conversion of its $12 billion Bitcoin fund into a spot ETF.
India’s Crypto Taxes May ‘Kill the Industry,’ Binance CEO Says
- Binance Holding Ltd. Chief Executive Officer CZ said India’s onerous taxes on cryptocurrency transactions will probably kill the industry there.
- CZ made these remarks during a panel at a fintech conference in Singapore on Thursday.
Weekly High
- BTC: $21,301
- ETH: $1,645
Weekly Low
- BTC: $15,886
- ETH: $1,098
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