After signing a non-binding agreement to buy FTX yesterday, reports show that the Binance network has walked out of the deal. Reports show that a Binance exchange representative issued a public statement noting that FTX’s problems are too huge for Binance to help.  

Binance cites ciscoveries made during due diligence 

The statement said in part; 

“Our hope was to be able to support FTX’s customers to provide liquidity, but the issues are beyond our control or ability to help.” 

WSJ reported that the potential of Binance doing any deal with FTX is completely off.

Binance’s decision to walk out of the deal was triggered by the discoveries made when conducting due diligence on FTX. Moreover, the Binance statement highlighted that “the latest news reports regarding mishandled customer funds and alleged US agency investigations” also fueled their decision to leave the deal. Even before today, there were serious concerns about the financial health of the FTX network. 

As a result of corporate due diligence, as well as the latest news reports regarding mishandled customer funds and alleged US agency investigations, we have decided that we will not pursue the potential acquisition of https://t.co/FQ3MIG381f.

— Binance (@binance) November 9, 2022

The regulatory troubles likely to face the exchange and its CEO, Sam Bankman Fried, are also among the factors considered when making this decision. The Binance spokesperson said; 

“As regulatory frameworks are developed, and the industry continues to evolve toward greater decentralization, the ecosystem will grow stronger.”  

Earlier today, Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, commented on the FTX situation, especially about the planned exchange purchase by Binance. Mr. Armstrong highlighted that even with Binance’s support, Sam Bankman-Fried’s credibility would remain ruined.

Sorare NFT has announced the appointment of Lionel Messi as a brand ambassador. The alliance is part of Sorare’s strategic plan to expand its services in the crypto space.

Messi joins Sorare

Sorare NFT platform appointed Lionel Messi as a Brand ambassador for the platform. The move is part of Sorare’s marketing strategy to expand its fantasy football services to football fanatics. The platform chose Lionel Messi since the football star is one of the greatest players in the history of football. Messi has had a remarkable football career, having collected five golden boots at the time of this publication.

As part of the consensus, the Argentina striker will work with Sorare to develop new content and fan experiences before the Qatar 2022 Fifa World Cup. The French start-up has expanded incredibly since its debut in 2018. Over 300 sports organizations and clubs, including La Liga, the Bundesliga, and Serie A, have joined the platform. The firm sparked a lot of attention in both NFT and football by raising over $600 million in Series B funding headed by Softbank.

The alliance with the former Barcelona player will yield tremendous results, especially when Messi leads his national team, Argentina, towards claiming the highly coveted Fifa World Cup. More improvements, partnerships, and deals with more members in the sports world are imminent as the platform expands its growth and number of users.

More of NFTs in sports

Sorare claims to have secured a contract with the English Premier League. Before recently, Sorare mainly concentrated on agreements with the NFL, but it has broadened its agreements to include the National Basketball Association, the NBA, and Major League Baseball. NBA top shot already has a successful line of NFTs minted from real-game NBA highlights. These NBA NFTs have astonished many by selling for millions of dollars.

One in particular shocked many. A LeBron James clip tokenized in the blockchain network sold in an auction for $200,000. A Zion Williamson edition went for slightly less than Lebron’s clip. The NBA created its version of a collectible digital asset in collaboration with Canadian company Dapper Labs, creators of the game CryptoKitties.

Many reforms have been going on lately in football as far as NFTs are concerned. Just recently. The Ballon d’Or was announced to award winners with NFTs alongside their physical trophies. Although Lionel Messi did not win this year’s Ballon, he is the single most played with the most similar awards totaling 5. This makes him the perfect partner for the business deal.

In addition to Ballon d’Or’s reforms, Villareal FC also made its advancement into the virtual world in early October by extending its partnership with one of its sponsors Color Star Technology. The two entities had partnered earlier as part of Color Star’s marketing strategy to lure football fans into its platform. The Color Star is a company dedicated to using artificial intelligence and technological advancements in the entertainment sector, entertainment technology, corporations, and Blockchain technology.

According to recent reports, Celsius network recently applied to a New York bankruptcy judge to keep custody of their customers’ accounts. Celsius network claims to have full custody over all wallets and the funds therein. However, the account holders maintain that the troubled lender should return custody to account holders.

Celsius want account custody 

Reports also indicate that the Celsius network claims that the assets in the withhold and custody accounts are part of their property and estates. According to reports, Celsius did business on the premise of account holders transferring their virtual assets to the debtor (Celsius). The account holders would then earn rewards from the earning program. 

According to reports, due to this policy:

“The Debtors (Celsius) have taken the position that digital assets transferred by Account holders to the Debtors for participation in the earn and borrow programs are property of the Debtors’ estates and that such account holders have unsecured claims against the Debtors. Certain account holders have asserted that digital assets transferred to the earn and borrow programs are their property.”

In a statement titled “Introducing Celsius’ Custody Solution,” released on April 11, Celsius announced new changes, which took effect on April 15. One of the changes concerning custody accounts said;

“On April 15, 2022, Celsius will launch a new Custody solution for users in the United States.”

Because of the terms of service update and policy change, Celsius believes it should get custody over some of its customers’ accounts listed in the network.

Account holders want custody returned to them

While Celsius wants to gain control over the investors’ accounts, on the other side, the account holders believe that the custody must be returned to them. A motion filed in court by ‘THE OFFICIAL COMMITTEE OF UNSECURED CREDITORS’ said;

“Digital assets held in the Custody Wallets are not the property of the Debtors’ estates. The April Terms of Use unambiguously provide that digital assets in the Custody Wallets are the account holders’ property, not the Debtors’ property. The Debtors maintained separate Custody Wallets in which they set aside digital assets that were intended to track, in the aggregate, customer balances in accounts within the Custody Program (the “Custody Accounts” and, such holders, the “Custody Account Holders”).”

The document insisted that the digital assets held in the accounts in question are not part of the property of Celsius’ estate. Further reports from the document highlight Celsius’s failure to track the custody assets accurately. Hence there was a deficit of $15 million in Custody wallets compared to the ones in Custody obligations. In simpler terms, the account holders believe they should have full custody of all their accounts until Celsius matters are solved.

The committee of unsecured creditors noted that they support the distribution of assets held in custody wallets to the actual account holders. They also mentioned that if given a chance, they will work with Celsius “to return a pro-rata share of such digital assets (by cryptocurrency type) in Custody Wallets to such Custody Account Holders.”

Crypto markets continue being troubled by negative news

Even before the Celsius dust settled, another top crypto network, FTX, the second largest crypto exchange, just recently hit the headlines with insolvency. There are claims that FTX is insolvent and requested help from Binance Exchange to deal with its troubles. The fall of such giants in the crypto landscape often negatively impacts the crypto markets. There were massive losses in crypto coins due to the problems brought by networks such as Celsius and FTX.

In the face of alarming BNB Volatility, Binance has topped up its emergency Insurance Fund ‘SAFU’ with over $700 million to safeguard its funds.

Binance tops up SAFU fund

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange platform, Binance, has topped up its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) to an equivalent of $1 billion worth of various cryptocurrencies in response to increased market volatility. The platform’s new move was announced by its founder via a tweet earlier today, November 9, 2022.

According to the popular crypto expert and founder of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, popularly known as “CZ,” Binance is protecting its fund by topping up its token-related addresses with over $700 million in different tokens. In comparison, another bitcoin address was funded with $300 million.

“To adjust to recent price fluctuations, #Binance has topped up the #SAFU insurance fund to $1 billion USD equivalent again.”

CZ tweeted.

CZ’s tweet was accompanied by links to two reserve accounts, one of which holds both the Binance stable coin (BUSD) and the native token of the network (BNB).

What is Binance’s SAFU fund

The Secure Asset Fund for Users, or SAFU Fund, is an emergency insurance fund established by Binance in July 2018 to protect its users’ funds. After establishing the fund, Binance committed a percentage of trading fees to grow it to a sizable level to safeguard users. The fund’s value fluctuates based on the market. Also, SAFU fund wallets comprise BNB, BUSD, and BTC.

Based on the opening price on January 29, 2022, the Secure Asset Fund was valued at US$1 billion. According to recent reports, the SAFU addresses hold over $700 million in Binance ecosystem token BNB and Binance USD (BUSD), a stablecoin. The bitcoin address holds over $300 million worth of BTC as of press time. Totaling about $1 billion USD in the SAFU accounts.

With the SAFU emergency insurance fund, Binance offers asset protection to its users in extreme circumstances. The company has pledged to monitor the fund on an ongoing basis to ensure the fund size remains adequate to protect users’ interests. Users can view the wallet addresses where the funds are stored.

Binance protects user assets amidst volatility crisis

The augmentation of the SAFU fund is one of the latest moves in the back-and-forth between FTX and Binance, which has unfolded over the last few days. As a result of the tension between the two market leaders, the crypto market has whipsawed in the past 24 hours amid volatile market dynamics due to speculations surrounding prominent exchange FTX’s liquidity issues. Speculation surrounding the Sam Bankman-Fried’s owned crypto exchange grew so intense that the firm agreed to sell itself to bigger rival Binance – sparking panic among traders.

Just yesterday, the value of Bitcoin dropped below $17k and has continued to plummet. The SAFU fund is Binance’s way of protecting its users’ assets amidst dwindling markets. Regarding the new development, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, co-founder and CEO of Binance, stated:

“It’s our responsibility to protect our users while not only building the best and most secure platforms, but protecting them from any unforeseen issues. By providing the SAFU fund, we can give users some peace of mind.”

The crypto community on Twitter responded to the tweet with mostly positive reactions, applauding CZ for his action. Nonetheless, some others have questioned the sufficiency of the cap for funds in reserve.

Sam Bankman-Fried has fallen out of the top one hundred wealthiest individuals on the planet after seeing his over $16 billion fortune fall in a couple of hours as FTX’s collapse seems imminent.

SBF companies’ price tags before the collapse

This was triggered by a Tweet from CZ, stating that Binance would opt out of their agreement, causing SBF to lose about $14 billion in a single day. Since Tuesday, when FTX was compelled to turn to Changpeng Zhao’s rival firm Binance for assistance owing to a crushing liquidity crunch, Sam Bankman-Fried, alias SBF, has lost nearly 94% of his reported $15.6 billion personal fortune. His value has dropped below that of California’s most recent lottery winner.

Before the transaction, Bankman-share Fried’s in FTX was valued at $6.2 billion. At the same time, his crypto exchange business, Alameda Research, was estimated to be worth $7.4 billion to his wealth. After sources revealed that Alameda had a sizable investment in FTT, a token produced by FTX, there was uncertainty regarding the liquidity of FTX.

As of Wednesday, the rescue itself was seriously in question. After studying FTX’s financials, reports claim that Binance was ‘seriously leaning toward’ abandoning its acquisition plan. The announcement of the deal on Tuesday came following warning indications of investor fear after they withdrew $6 billion in shares in only 72 hours.

“Tens of millions of dollars worth of net inflows and outflows occur daily. The situation was generally normal until this past weekend, a few days ago.”

Bankman-Fried wrote in a memo to his workers on Tuesday.

Zhao claimed that his business had decided to purchase FTX on Tuesday because of the company’s ‘severe cash issue.’  Due diligence was still being done on the acquisition, which excluded FTX’s US businesses.

The Binance bailout would be the pinnacle of a remarkable fall for Bankman-Fried, who rose to prominence in the technology industry as FTX seized the top spot among cryptocurrency exchanges and began buying up competitors’ holdings at a frantic rate in recent months.

Buying Voyager wouldn’t be a bad idea now

FTX won the auction to purchase Voyager’s holdings for $1.42B in June of this year. The transaction took place two months after the cryptocurrency exchange implicated the billionaire owner of FTX in attempting to thwart its bankruptcy proceedings by providing early liquidity to Voyager clients.

The bid included an ‘extra consideration’ worth approximately $111 million and the market value of all cryptocurrencies on the Voyager platform, which was $1.31 billion.

Voyager’s digital tokens and digital asset loans, with the sole exception of loans to Three Arrows Capital, were up for sale at the time, according to a proposal made by Bankman-trading Fried’s company Alameda Research. After that, clients of Voyager would have been able to create an FTX account using funds from a percentage of their bankruptcy claims.’

Once the bankruptcy court has authorized the arrangement, Voyager clients could switch their business to FTX US.

The business added that it evaluated several bids before deciding that FTX was ‘the best option for Voyager stakeholders’. The best action would be to purchase Voyager with his current fortune. CZ said in a tweet that it is unfortunate to see his competition fail because it would lead authorities to call for more stringent exchange regulations.

ConsenSys, a provider of blockchain software technology, has added a new feature to the MetaMask wallet as part of its ongoing efforts to increase blockchain interoperability. However, according to a MetaMask executive, Bitcoin integration is not currently planned for blockchain bridge support via MetaMask Bridges.

According to a tweet from the firm, as of Nov. 9, Metamask users may now connect to several blockchain networks with MetaMask Bridges, which collects many blockchain bridges in one location.

What’s in it for users

Major Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible blockchains, including Ethereum, the Binance Smart Chain, Avalanche, and Polygon, are supported by MetaMask Bridges. According to the company, the new tool helps bridge key stablecoins, including Ether (ETH) and Wrapped Ether (WETH), as well as native gas tokens.

Users of Metamask may now transfer tokens across blockchain networks without the need to look for and select a trustworthy bridge, thanks to the new bridge functionality.

“There are a ton of different bridges out there, each supporting different networks and coins.” 

Angela Potter,  product manager for MetaMask Bridges, stated.

She further pointed out that there are significant differences in the pricing, speeds, and security features of different bridges, necessitating human data checks each time a bridge is used.

Among them, MetaMask Bridges would propose the optimal bridge for the user’s particular path since it has been carefully selected as the most decentralized and safe, according to Potter. She continued by saying that although MetaMask Bridges automatically determined the bridge with the best pricing, customers could also view time estimates and choose the fastest one if they like.

All MetaMask users may access the new bridge solution in beta through the Portfolio Dapp, a brand-new decentralized application (DApp) that enables users to examine numerous MetaMask accounts and their assets in a single location. Users may now bridge between networks using the Portfolio Dapp, released in beta in September 2022, following a few simple procedures outlined by MetaMask.

Potter stated that bridging is restricted to $10,000 per transfer and that MetaMask is not collecting any additional costs during the beta phase. ConsenSys has not yet established a release date for the general public.

With new cooperation, MetaMask launches its NFT portfolio value tracker.

The boss of MetaMask Bridges claims that there are no immediate plans for the platform to integrate Bitcoin. However, reports have it that MetaMask users would be able to link DApps to blockchains like Bitcoin by utilizing MetaMask Snaps, or tools that allow users to personalize their MetaMask wallet:

“A few real Snaps enable connections between DApps, Filecoin, Solana, and Bitcoin. Once deployed, a “snap” may be used by any DApp, allowing EVM-compatible DApps to connect to the Bitcoin network via the active snap.”

ConsenSys intended to invest $2.4 million yearly in their recently formed MetaMask Grants DAO to support the expansion of the Web3 ecosystem. According to Taylor Monahan, the global product lead for MetaMask, the platform will continue emphasizing decentralized development as a driver of future growth.

MetaMask is a well-known cryptocurrency wallet for the Ethereum blockchain that was introduced in 2016. The wallet still does not support Bitcoin BTC, despite it proving the largest cryptocurrency in the world, as it is by default focused on Ethereum and EVM-compatible networks.

ASIC releases a list of the top 10 Ways to identify a crypto Scam as part of Australia’s 2022 Scam Awareness Week.

Crypto scam at an all-Time high in Australia, ASIC advises citizens

Australia’s market regulator ASIC has released a list of the “top-10 ways to spot a crypto scam” amid a detected rise in crypto-related investment scams this year.

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission’s (ASIC) public advisory statement was published as part of Scams Awareness Week 2022, an initiative designed to teach Australians how to identify all forms of scams. The campaign takes place between Nov. 7 to 11.

ASIC said that Australians had already lost more through “investment scams” in 2022 than the total $701 million figure in 2021, while ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court attributed cryptocurrencies to the exponential increase steep in investment scams over the last two to three years. In a statement, she said:

“The main driver of the increase was cryptocurrency investment scams, where losses increased by 270%. The ACCC have advised that losses to crypto scams have increased further in 2022.

Given this concerning trend, we want to arm Australians with the information they need to protect themselves from scammers.”

How to identify crypto scams

As part of the advisory, ASIC stated that cryptocurrency scams fall into three categories. The first relates to scams that the victim believes are investing in a legitimate asset. However, the crypto app, exchange, or website is fake.

The second scam involves fake crypto tokens used to facilitate money laundering activities, while the third type involves using cryptocurrency to make fraudulent payments.

ASIC says top signs of a crypto scam include “receiving an offer out of the blue,” “fake celebrity advertisements,” and being asked by a “romantic partner you only know on-line” to send money in crypto.

Other red flags include being asked to pay for financial services in crypto, being asked to pay more money to access funds, withholding investment earnings “for tax purposes,” or being offered “free money” or “guaranteed” investment returns.

The markets regulator also said it was common for scammers to pressure victims into transferring crypto to their website. To prevent this issue, ASIC advised crypto investors not to use web apps that aren’t listed on Apple Store or Google Play.

Other things to look out for is if “strange tokens appear in your digital wallet,” said ASIC.

If scammed, Court strongly advised victims not “to send any more money” to the scammer and to “block all contact” from them if their identity is known. They further added:

“Do not delay. Contact your bank or financial institution immediately to report the scam. Ask them to stop any transactions. Also, warn your family and friends so they can watch out for potential follow-up scams.”

Aussies are major targets of crypto scams a whopping $242 million dollars lost in 2022

A large population of Australians has fallen victim to investment and crypto-related scams, losing 242.5 million Australian dollars to scammers so far in 2022, according to Scamwatch’s latest data. 

From January to July of this year, the majority of all funds lost to all types were investment scams, ranging from romance baiting scams to classic Ponzi schemes and cryptocurrency scams.

A Nov. 7 report from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) predicted Australian-targeted scam losses would reach $4 billion Australian dollars by the end of 2022.

The ACCC has received $10 million in seed funding as part of its budget to build a National Anti-Scam Center to support the community in its fight against cybercriminals, which Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones confirmed on Nov. 7.

David Koch, the host of the Australian breakfast show Sunrise, has called for the ACCC to demand more accountability on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn over the scam-like content found on its platforms.

Sequel to Binance’s liquidation announcement of its FTX tokens, CZ and Jeff Garzik lends their wisdom to the crypto world.

Jeff and Zhao lend their wisdom to the crypto world

Following the announcement of a possible Binance buyout of troubled crypto exchange FTX, Binance’s chief executive, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), shared some advice and suggestions to the entire Crypto universe in the early hours of Tuesday, November 8, 2022, via his Twitter page. Last Sunday, Zhao announced on Twitter that he would sell Binance’s roughly $530 million holding of FTT, the native token of FTX. In this subsequent tweet, he shared ‘two big lessons’ with the crypto universe.

1: “Never use a token you created as collateral.”

2: “Don’t borrow if you run a crypto business. Don’t use capital ‘efficiently’. Have a large reserve.”

He further added:

“Binance has never used BNB for collateral, and we have never taken on debt.”

To corroborate Zhao’s tweet, Jeff Garzik, co-founder and CEO of Bloq, a blockchain enterprise software company, also took to his Twitter page to share his “Stock advice to new entrepreneurs running their first crypto company.” 

In the tweet, he said:

“You are not a crypto hedge fund. Holding volatile Crypto as a core balance sheet asset is risky and unwise.”

Crypto market going through hard times

Zhao’s suggestions came after he offered to buy out FTX following the concerns raised around the latter’s financial health and liquidity.

Zhao said his decision was triggered by “recent revelations” after a November 2 article by news site CoinDesk said much of the balance sheet of Bankman-Fried’s trading house Alameda Research is composed of the FTT token. He added that this liquidation would take a few months to complete due to market conditions and limited liquidity.

Zhao also said that all crypto exchanges should do Merkle-tree proof-of-reserves. A Merkle tree is a data structure used in computer science applications. Merkle trees encode blockchain data more efficiently and securely in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. They are also referred to as “binary hash trees.” He said:

“Banks run on fractional reserves. Crypto exchanges should not. Binance will start to do proof-of-reserves soon. Full transparency.”

The crypto market has faced a significant downfall because of the FTX exchange & its FTT token downfall.

Currently, almost all the coins are down by an average of 10%, except the ADA coin & BNB coin, thanks to the Binance- FTX controversy.

The current price of the BNB coin is $316.2, which is 1.23% down over the last 24 hours’ global trade price. This clearly shows that BNB coin is a leading crypto asset in the crypto space, as a haven.

BNB is the native token of Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange

Who are CZ and Jeff Garzick?

Changpeng Zhao, also called CZ, is the founder & CEO of first ranked crypto exchange Binance. From 2021 to 2022, he gained huge popularity because of his net worth, which gave him a place as the richest person in the crypto world. Zhao remains ready to push crypto adoption via educational programs & meetings in the offline & online world.

Jeff Garzick is the co-founder of the company Block Inc. which is dedicated to software development blockchain at the business level.

Garzik is also an advisor to various companies in the Blockchain industry known worldwide, forming part of its boards of directors and advisory. Among the companies he advises are Center, BitFury, Bitpay, Chain.com, Netki, and laboratories Waypaver. He currently serves as the CEO of the Bloq company and is an active commentator on the crypto world on social media.

One of the most extensive layoffs in the US this year, Meta announced it would lay off more than 11,000 people or 13% of its entire staff.

The letter from Mark Zuckerberg to the Meta staff

Zuckerberg stated that he was implementing “some of the most challenging adjustments we’ve ever made in Meta’s existence” in a statement sent to staff members on Wednesday morning.

CEO and co-founder of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, wrote in a blog entry on the company’s official newsroom:

“I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here.”

He continued:

“I apologize to those affected, as I know this is difficult for everyone. He cited the tech industry’s post-Covid fast acceleration as the cause of the revenue loss.”

According to Zuckerberg, a “smaller handful of high-priority growth areas” would now receive more of Meta’s resources. These areas include the company’s AI discovery engine, its commercial and business platforms, and Zuckerberg’s much-discussed long-term plan for creating the Metaverse.

“Many believed this acceleration would last forever and continue long after the pandemic. I decided to boost our investments because I felt the same way dramatically. Unfortunately, things did not turn out the way he had anticipated.

I think our company is currently greatly undervalued. Our communities continue expanding as billions of people use our connected services.”

Zuckerberg said.

According to Zuckerberg, their main business has one of the highest profitability rates. He also said they’d emerge from this downturn more substantially and resilient than ever provided everything works well.

Additionally, he stated that all affected employees would receive 16 weeks of base pay plus an additional two weeks for every year of service, with no cap, and that the organization would offer “specialized immigration professionals” to people employed by Meta on a visa and who would probably be negatively affected by the loss of jobs.

How will fired workers benefit?

The blog post specifies base pay, health insurance benefits, and an offer of immigration support for people who are already in the US on a work visa. What the post states are as follows:

Sixteen weeks of severance compensation: Meta will provide 16 weeks of base pay plus an additional two weeks for each year of employment without a cap. Additionally, it will cover all of the employees’ remaining Paid Time Off (PTO). Before November 15, 2022, vesting, all impacted workers will receive their dues.

Health insurance: Meta will pay for all healthcare expenses for individuals and their families for six months.

Additionally, the business intends to offer three months of career help through a third-party partner, including early access to unreleased employment leads.

Meta will provide a similar level of support and a unique procedure that considers regional employment rules for workers outside of the US.

How will staff members be informed?

“Everyone will shortly get an email informing them of the implications of this layoff. Following that, every affected employee will have the chance to get in touch with someone, have their queries addressed, and attend information sessions.”

Wrote Zuckerberg.

Given the extent of access to sensitive information, Meta will block access to most systems for those who lose their jobs. However, the statement states that it will keep “email addresses active throughout the day so everyone may say goodbye.”

Which teams are more affected?

The post claims the cuts will affect every company division, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and its Reality Labs. The piece does state that “certain teams will be affected more than others.” Next year, Meta wants to hire fewer individuals and significantly reorganize its “business teams.”

More of these adjustments will be implemented in the upcoming months, including other cost-cutting initiatives like “lowering real estate footprint” and “transitioning to desk sharing for workers who already spend most of their time outside the office.”

As the crypto market enters the bear territory, about $832.08 million from over 389,621 traders have been liquidated in the crypto market over the past 24 hours, as seen in data extracted from Coinglass.

Of the $832.08 million liquidated at press time, about 72.22% were long positions, indicating bullish speculators have had a brutal day of trading.

According to Coinglass,  a cryptocurrency futures trading & information platform, Bitcoin longs vs shorts ratio and actively compare funding rates for crypto futures, the highest volume of liquidation was seen on Binance as the exchange recorded a $277.05 million, 33.3% of total liquidation on exchanges. 72.22% of the total liquidation on Binance was from traders who took the long position.

What is crypto liquidation?

Cryptocurrencies are known for their volatility. This makes them prime targets for liquidation. Liquidation, the bogeyman of crypto trading, occurs when an investor cannot meet the margin requirement for their leveraged position.

In the crypto space, the term liquidation is mainly used to describe the forced closing of a trader’s position due to the partial or total loss of the trader’s initial margin. This happens when they cannot meet the margin requirements for their leveraged position i.e. they have insufficient funds to keep the trade open. Margin requirements are often underfunded when there’s a sudden drop in the underlying asset’s price. When this happens, the exchange will automatically close out the position, resulting in a loss of funds for the investor.

Bitcoin crashes to a 5-month low

As predicted in the past few weeks, the price of Bitcoin has just crashed to a new yearly low of $17,114 on the Bitstamp exchange before paring some losses. The largest cryptocurrency is now down as much as 15.7% over the last 24 hours.    

Before plummeting further, Bitcoin price maintained a $17.5k threshold for a while, a 5-Month low last retested in June. Although on-chain metrics revealed the formation of a BTC bottom in October, raising hopes of a boost, prolonged weak volume of the asset and other current macroeconomic conditions, among other reasons, have caused the value of Bitcoin to plummet. In weeks preceding its fall, BTC has seen its value drop below $20,000 on several occasions forcing analysts to issue warnings about the possibility of the asset trading below $17,500.

However, the recent crypto update seems to replay its activities in June this year. On the 18th of June this year, Bitcoin (BTC) broke the $20K support for the first time since December 2020, plummeting to a heart-wrenching low of $17.5K and causing over $600 million in liquidations.

While the Bitcoin crash might have been alarming, the $17k threshold might not be the end of its fall. New data analysis from various intelligence platforms has shown that if BTC were to breach below the $17,500 level, it could plummet to as low as $12,000 as its volume around that point is also weak.

As a result of the crash in Bitcoin price, more than $854 million worth of crypto has been liquidated over the past 24 hours. The fall in crypto has been linked to the ongoing FTX drama. According to news making the rounds, Binance agreed to acquire its arch-rival earlier today after it turned out that the exchange was secretly insolvent.

New restrictions have been placed on Tornado Cash by the U.S. Treasury because of allegations that the North Korean government uses it. The firm, which stands as the leading mixer mechanism protocol for Ethereum has once more received sanctions from the American regulatory authority.

The U.S. Treasury Department said in a news statement that it was revising sanctions relating to Tornado Cash. The body added that the service had been utilized to give the North Korean regime material, financial, and technological support.

U.S. Treasury: Tornado cash linked to North Korea’s WMD program and Lazarus Group

A few months after the U.S. regulatory body issued a ban on Tornado Cash, the Treasury reclassified the initiative with claims that Tornado had encouraged illegal cyber-enabled behavior outside the United States. The Treasury claimed that Lazarus Group moved $455 million in stolen cryptocurrencies in March via Tornado Cash.

In addition, the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) of the Treasury Department announced on Tuesday it was going to delist and re-designate Tornado Cash in response to claims that North Korea used it to launder over $100 million in cryptocurrency to fund its WMD program, which includes the development of ballistic missiles.

“This action follows various recent DPRK ballistic missile launches, which are obviously in breach of numerous United Nations (U.N.) Security Council rulings,” according to a Treasury press release. “This action is part of the United States’ ongoing efforts to contain the DPRK’s ability to advance its unlawful weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile initiatives that threaten peace in the region,” the release said.

The sanction is a bid to halt the production of mass-destruction weapons

Recent missile launches by North Korea caused alarm in Japan and South Korea as the rockets traveled in their general area, even though no missiles made land contact.

According to a statement from Brian Nelson, Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, the sanctions action targeted two critical nodes of the DPRK’s weapons programs. He said that the program boosted the capacity to obtain and transport materials to support the development of mass-destruction weapons and ballistic missile programs, as well as its reliance on illegal activities, notably cybercrime, to earn income.

The Treasury also imposed sanctions on two people with ties to Air Koryo, the national carrier of North Korea. Both steps are a part of its attempts to stop funding North Korea’s nuclear development, even if they are not directly connected.

By a September update, the Treasury’s FAQ website also stated that the developers, DAO members, founders, and users of Tornado Cash were not subject to sanctions. Instead, the penalties were meant to stop anyone from utilizing the platform by blocking access to the project’s website and crypto addresses.

The crypto community dislikes the project’s sanctions, and there are now initiatives to oppose the program. To do this, Coin Center has sued the Treasury with support from Coinbase. The entire amount locked in Tornado Cash is around $200 million, and it is still in operation. Since the currency mixer is decentralized, authorities cannot immediately block transactions.

Slava Demchuk, Co-founder of AMLBot, CEO at PureFi, told Crypto.News that sanctions on dApps was an attempt by regulators to show “its strength and control over the participation of the crypto market once again.”

It is a sentiment shared by Alex Pipushev of GTON Capital who says:

“Despite the fact that regulators basically switched it off, they can’t prevent its functioning. You can block website, you can push miners to censor transactions or you can black list addresses who interacted with dApp. But, true decentralized applications cannot stop working anyway even if you put developers into the jail.”

Sanctions implications

The Treasury claims that people who participate in certain transactions with the people or organizations it has named might also be designated. Furthermore, the organization warns that any foreign financial institution knowingly facilitating a large transaction or rendering significant financial services for any people or organizations subject to the sanctions may face U.S. correspondence.

Chainwire has received nine excellence awards from G2, a leading software marketplace. The badges were assigned in G2’s Fall 2022 report based on the responses received from real users featured in its quarterly review form. The awards earned by Chainwire include Highest User Adoption, Best Performer, and more.

Chainwire receives 9 Excellency Badges 

Chainwire, a cryptocurrency, and blockchain press release distribution service, has been awarded nine excellency badges by the G2 software marketplace. 

Per a press release shared with crypto.news, the badges were assigned in G2’s Fall 2022 report based on the responses from real users that took part in its quarterly review survey.

Based in Tel Aviv, Israel, Chainwire automates the process of submitting press releases to the top crypto and blockchain publications, making it easier for Web3 projects to reach multiple news platforms and get to a global audience that needs their products and services.

Accolades given to Chainwire by G2 include High Performer, Users Most Likely to Recommend, and Highest User Adoption. Additional badges awarded to Chainwire include Easiest to Use, Best Meets Requirements, Easiest Admin, Easiest Setup, Easiest To Do Business with, and Best Support.

A huge milestone 

Commenting on Chainwire’s receipt of nine decorations from G2, Alon Keren, CMO at Chainware said:

“We’re delighted to have been recognized by G2 for our efforts in delivering an industry-leading newswire syndication service. We’re proud to be the first PR service of its kind for the blockchain industry, facilitating press release distribution across the entire cryptosphere, and providing Web3 projects the attention they deserve.”

Founded in 2011, and officially launched in May 2012, G2 (formerly G2 Crowd) is a peer-to-peer review platform based in Chicago, Illinois, United States.G2 was created by ex-BigMachines employees as a user reviews aggregator for business software.

G2 dubs itself the world’s largest and most trusted software marketplace. More than 60 million people across the world, including employees at all Fortune 500 firms rely on G2 to make smarter software decisions based on authentic peer reviews.

 Thousands of software companies and service firms around the world, including HubSpot, Zoom, and Adobe, amongst others, forge strategic alliances with G2 for reputation building, business growth, and more.

Shedding more light on how G2 rankings work, Sara Rossio, Chief Product Officer at the company said:

“Rankings on G2 reports are based on data provided to us by real software buyers. Potential buyers know they can trust these insights when researching and selecting software because they’re rooted in vetted, verified, and authentic reviews.”

Chainwire is the preferred crypto and blockchain press release distribution company of more than 300 players in the cryptoverse, including digital assets exchanges, launchpads, decentralized finance (DeFi) projects, Web3 PR agencies, and more.

While research experts have forecasted that the global cryptocurrency market size will witness exponential growth in the next four years despite the current gloomy conditions of the crypto space, the need for more crypto awareness and education cannot be over-emphasized, as billions of people still do not totally understand the workings of Web3. 

Binance Custody integrates the NEAR protocol and its native NEP-141 $NEAR token. This development is an attempt by NEAR protocol to provide secured custody for growing its layer one ecosystem native token (NEP-141).

NEAR protocol believes this will open doors for budding projects intending to build on the NEAR blockchain conveniently.

In reaction to the latest developments, NEAR protocol, via its official website, expressed excitement and optimism. It said:

 “We’re very excited to be part of NEAR’s journey as their institutional custody partner,” shares Athena Yu, EVP of Binance Custody. “With this integration, $NEAR token holders benefit from our secure, integrated security and liquidity solutions. We welcome any project building on the NEAR protocol to reach out to us to learn how our institutional infrastructure can help them scale with peace of mind.”

Marieke Flament, the NEAR foundation CEO, hopes the integration will give NEAR protocol the necessary liquidity and exposure to attain its full potential. He said:

“A core mission for NEAR is building an ecosystem of diverse communities and With the Binance partnership, NEAR can welcome to the NEAR ecosystem the many financial institutions that have turned to Binance as their trusted provider for digital assets custody and settlement solutions.”

How compatible are NEAR and NEP-141 tokens on Binance custody?

The integration is a multi-party computational technology backed by world-class asset management standards, and institutional users will considerably benefit from the integrated ecosystems.

However, Binance custody is an independent compliant and audited custodial solution that provides infrastructure support for over 230 digital assets. 

Athena Yu, vice president of the Binance Custody, said:

“We’re very excited to be part of NEAR’s journey as their institutional custody partner…With this integration, $NEAR token holders benefit from our secure, integrated security and liquidity solutions. We welcome any project building on the NEAR protocol to reach out to us to learn how our institutional infrastructure can help them scale with peace of mind.”

How secure is the Binance custody? 

The skepticism on safety stems from the recent unsuccessful attempts by hackers on the Binance bridge and so many other attempts on contemporaries. 

Binance custody has reiterated its commitment to ensuring that institutional users can safely store their digital assets and benefit from liquidity opportunities.

Marieke Flament, the NEAR foundation boss, expressed his views on security and opportunities that would come with the partnership. He said:

“A core mission for NEAR is building an ecosystem of diverse communities and with this partnership, NEAR can welcome to the NEAR ecosystem the many financial institutions that have turned to Binance Custody as their trusted provider for secured digital assets custody and settlement solutions.”

Binance Custody currently has an array of growing suite solutions that comprise:

Cold Convert — tokens can be seamlessly traded directly from cold storage at zero counterparty risk, zero slippage tolerance, and maximum security. 

Qualified Wallet — A specially built institutional-grade cold wallet. 

Prime Wallet — due to its underlying warm wallet infrastructure, users have described it as the best option for instantaneous transactions between Binance Custody and the Binance exchange, with sub-account transactions.

Binance Mirror — uses a 1:1 ratio to match all funds within institutional cold storage custody to their availability on the Binance trading exchange.

Popular global technology provider Ledger is partnering with Solana Mobile to build easy-to-use, secure Web3 experience for Solana Mobile users.

Ledger collaborates with Solana Mobile

Leading crypto infrastructure builder Ledger has announced a new collaboration with Solana Mobile, a subsidiary of Solana Labs, to enhance Web3 security features for Solana Mobile users. The two crypto firms made the big reveal earlier today, the 7th of October, on Twitter.

In a series of tweets, Ledger announced the expansion of its support to Solana Mobile to improve the security of its systems. Earlier today, Ledger wrote: “We’re partnering with @solanamobile

 to build an easy-to-use and secure Web3 experience for Solana Mobile users.” Tagging a video illustration, Ledger stated the coverage of its new pact with Solana Mobile. “We’re building a suite of integrations between Solana Mobile & Ledger including Ledger Live, Ledger Connect, and @solanamobile d-App developer support”.

Ledger is set to bring security to the Solana ecosystem

In its unveiling public statement, Ledger revealed a suite of security features with Solana Mobile, the mobile-focused subsidiary of Solana Labs, to strengthen virtual safety and improve ease of use for Solana users. Ledger’s security systems featuring the Ledger Nano and Ledger Live are the best option for Solana users. “Ledger Nano devices and Ledger Live, our all-in-one digital asset management app, are the most secure way for Solana holders and users to engage with the Solana ecosystem.” explained Ledger.

Furthermore, the digital assets firm asserted that its Ledger Nano X and Nano S Plus would help Solana users protect their private keys and keep their seed phrase off the internet and safe from bad actors. Also, Ledger claims that its devices support a system of “what you see is what you sign (WYSIWYS)”, allowing users transparency into the transactions they are signing. Ledger promises Solana Mobile users maximum security and easier operation with the new integration.

At the time of the release, the Solana app had been made available in Ledger Live and on Ledger Nano X & Nano S Plus devices, allowing Solana holders to securely manage their portfolio, as well as buy, send & receive SOL, and even stake it, all within the Ledger Live app. Ledger also stated that its secure browser extension, Ledger Connect, will now support Solana and integrate with Magic Eden in early 2023.

There is more to come, says ledger

While expressing delight at its new partnership with the fast-paced tech firm Solana, Ledger stated that the new pact intends to continue its great relationship with Solana Labs and the Solana community. It has also hinted at further collaborations with the blockchain infrastructure, stating:

“Our partnership with the Solana ecosystem is just beginning. We are planning a slate of features with Solana Mobile to deliver more ease-of-use and security for Solana users.”

Speaking on the new alliance, Ian Rogers, Chief Experience Officer at Ledger, said:

“We’re proud to partner with the Solana Labs and Solana Mobile teams to bring security to the Solana ecosystem.” 

Rogers added that the partnership would help achieve the firms’ shared vision to ensure cyber security. He further stated:

“Our shared commitment to security will ensure Solana users have access to the best security on the planet – whether they’re buying or staking SOL through Ledger Live or securely and easily collecting using Ledger Connect and Magic Eden. Your Solana is valuable; protecting your value by pairing your Saga Solana Mobile phone and your Ledger is a must.”

deltaDAO has launched its new Gaia-X Web3 Ecosystem on Polygon ID. Polygon ID to serve as the framework to handle verifiable credentials on deltaDAO’s new project.

deltaDAO leveraging Polygon supernets on new gaia-x web3 ecosystem project

Renowned data economy solutions firm, deltaDAO, has just launched its Gaia-X Web3 Ecosystem network upgrade in a new partnership with Polygon Supernet, a subsidiary of Polygon Technology, a popular Web3 infrastructure developer, today, 7th November 2022. deltaDAO reveals plans to leverage Polygon Supernet as a framework to handle its verifiable credentials.

Via a series of tweets earlier today, Polygon affirmed its new alliance with deltaDAO. According to Polygon, deltaDAO’s new Gaia-X Web3 Ecosystem will leverage Polygon Supernets systems to scale an open, secure, and compliant federated digital ecosystem and identity framework “for businesses building towards Gaia-X.” 

Polygon’s latest tweet reads:

“Gaia-X Supernets is now the foundation for the web3 ecosystem exploring Polygon ID as a framework to handle verifiable credentials.” 

Concerning the new collaboration, Polygon further stated that its partnership with deltaDAO will enable a global trustless data economy, allowing users full control of their data and helping them generate new revenue streams for all participants.

deltaDAO’s web3 gaia-x ecosystem

Implemented in 2021, deltaDAO’s Gaia-X ecosystem is the first and leading Gaia-X project based on Web3 technology: the minimal viable Gaia-X (MVG). 

According to a press release on Accesswire earlier today, deltaDAO’s Web3 Gaia-X ecosystem takes a decentralized and federated approach to data management, allowing data and services to be freely and securely built, collated, shared, and monetized while operating according to common standards, policies, and rules. “The network enables transparency, controllability, portability, and interoperability across data and services. The solution can be deployed on any cloud platform, on-premise or edge-infrastructure that adheres to the Gaia-X standards.”

Generally, Gaia-X is a “community driven, pan-European project” which seeks to design a new federated, interoperable, decentralized, and autonomous data infrastructure ecosystem, originally based on European values of transparency, openness, data protection, and security. Gaia-X was initiated in 2019 by the German Ministry of Economic Affairs & Energy and the French Ministry of Economic Affairs and was prioritized as the key element of the European Digital Strategy in 2020 by the president of the EU Commission

Polygon and deltaDAO to transform data economy in Europe

Expressing delight at deltaDAO’s new project, Polygon has stated that the new project is a journey to transform the landscape of the data economy in Europe and beyond.

Speaking for his firm, Albert Peci, Co-Founder and Web3 Lead of deltaDAO, has stated that its new partnership is geared at preserving the privacy of its users and ensuring a sustainable and decentralized economy. Peci said in a statement:

“We’ve designed the Web3 Gaia-X Ecosystem with Ocean Protocol and our partners to enable businesses and public institutions to safely store, exchange and process their data in a decentralized and resilient way using Web3 technology to remove single points of failure and control. By teaming up with Polygon, deltaDAO reinforces its vision of a privacy-preserving, sustainable and decentralized data economy.”

Antoni Martin, Co-Founder of Polygon has also commented on the new pact, stating that leveraging Polygon Supernets and Polygon ID will allow Gaia-X to reap all the benefits offered by Web3 in a modular and seamless manner. According to him, this will allow deltaDAO to “deploy projects that fully adhere to the core principles of decentralization while preserving privacy and championing sustainability.”

In the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2008, a fantastic innovation in the name of Bitcoin emerged. The mysterious technology developer, Satoshi Nakamoto, wanted to provide an alternative to the traditional payment system. With Bitcoin, people would no longer have to worry about government control and the interference of banks and other financial institutions in their financial transactions and dealings.

Today, the reality of digital currency is here. Whether it is mobile money or digital currencies like Bitcoin, the truth is that the revolution has already begun. Then COVID-19 came and propelled the reality of digital currency even further. Because of the restrictions to curb the pandemic’s spread, many people and businesses reverted to using digital currencies.

With Bitcoin having millions of users today, this innovation is affecting the traditional finance industry. But before we delve into how this is happening, have you heard about the Bitcoin Prime? It is a fantastic place to trade in the Bitcoin and other supported cryptocurrencies.

Security 

Security is a genuine concern in the finance industry, which faces numerous security risks ranging from ordinary theft to cyberattacks. Banks have lost money through bank robberies in the past. And while the risk is relatively manageable, it still looms. However, cyberattacks are now the main security threat to the finance industry. 

Criminals do not have to attack a bank physically to steal money. Instead, they can do so virtually from the comfort of their homes. Banks investing in technologies have created an opportunity for cybercriminals to attack and steal effectively. Bitcoin’s blockchain technology has the power to change this.

Banks and other financial entities can embrace blockchain technology as a risk management measure against cybercrime. The technology applies cryptography to encrypt data making it almost impossible to hack. If banks and other financial entities can adopt blockchain, they can then relax since the threat of cyberattacks will be a thing of the past.

Diverting funds

Before Bitcoin, the finance industry was the primary custodian of money. Most people and organizations kept their money in banks and other financial institutions. The financial institutions also handled most of the financial transactions. The industry dealt with a lot of money, from taking payments to managing funds transfers and operating loans.

When Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies came, many funds moved from the traditional finance sector into the crypto. For example, by the end of 2021, Bitcoin alone accounted for about 2.9% of the total money in the world. And this is only one cryptocurrency. The figures show that Bitcoin technology is causing more funds to divert from the traditional finance industry into cryptocurrency. 

Elimination of intermediaries

Bitcoin technology is also eliminating the role of intermediaries in financial transactions. Blockchain is decentralized, meaning no single entity manages it. However, the central bank, commercial banks, and other entities controlled everything in the traditional finance industry. For example, the central bank determines the amount of money in circulation.

Blockchain’s decentralized system provides a peer-to-peer network of transacting. Instead of going through intermediaries, you transact directly. To illustrate this, let’s use the example of someone who wants to pay for some item using a credit card. This transaction will involve intermediaries like the individual’s bank and the credit card company.

However, with blockchain’s decentralized system, the individual would surpass the bank and the credit card company and pay directly to the seller. Apart from eliminating unnecessary delays, this direct transaction would also lower costs because the individual would not have to pay the intermediaries’ fees.

Final thought

It is undeniable that Bitcoin technology is affecting the finance industry, not just in one way. Already, some of the effects are occurring. However, considering the technology is still young, we can only imagine the magnitude of the future impact on the finance industry.

When Satoshi Nakamoto launched Bitcoin in 2009, it did not seem like anything worth consideration. At first, Bitcoin remained relatively unknown, with limited interest in it. Yet, this was the fuel it needed to finally become the most popular cryptocurrency with over 300 million users today. 

Bitcoin is just one among many cryptocurrencies that have since emerged. Cryptocurrencies have become increasingly popular, and this is what initially caused banks to worry. When cryptocurrencies began to become more popular, banks tried to fight them. They saw it as a real threat to their existence. Indeed, their fears were not unfounded, considering the continued impact of cryptocurrency on the banking sector.

However, more banks are now starting to accept the reality of cryptocurrencies. They are now beginning to embrace rather than fight this innovation. But how has this process been, and what has pushed banks to take a different stance? Before answering these questions, The News Spy is a new and fantastic trading platform that you can try out. Perhaps, you can visit their website through bitcoin-360-ai.com for more information.

Banks embracing cryptocurrency

The past years have seen more conventional banks change their stance on cryptocurrency. From trying to block it, they are now starting to embrace it. According to recent data, traditional banks, including Wells Fargo, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, JPMorgan, Citigroup, UBS, and Credit Suisse, have started embracing cryptocurrency.

These banks are preparing by building their capacities to handle cryptocurrencies. Specifically, they are employing digital asset teams that will manage cryptocurrency when they finally adopt them. And this is an impressive move. The banks have realized that cryptocurrency is not their forte, so they are preparing teams to deal with the innovation when they finally embrace it.

Why are more banks embracing cryptocurrency?

Despite the shift in position regarding cryptocurrency, one wonders why banks are making this move. Generally, one would argue that banks have realized that cryptocurrency is not very different from fiat money. Therefore, they are becoming more conscious that they, too, have a stake in the space of cryptocurrency.

However, there are some particular reasons that we can point out that are pushing more banks to embrace cryptocurrency. 

Popularity of cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrencies have become very popular and widespread. Today, millions of people and organizations are using cryptocurrency. For instance, Bitcoin has over 300 million users, and hundreds of thousands of transactions occur daily on the platform. Other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum also command significant user bases. 

The growing popularity of cryptocurrency within a brief period is something that banks could not ignore. It makes them realize that efforts to fight it can only be futile. For example, despite the ban on cryptocurrencies in China, the Chinese government introduced the digital Yuan as a replacement. And this shows why it is hard to fight this digital currency.

Potential of blockchain technology

Banks also appreciate blockchain technology’s immense potential, which underpins cryptocurrencies. Initially, banks tried to fight cryptocurrencies because they did not understand blockchain technology well. They only focused on its decentralized system, which they saw as a direct threat to their existence and continued control over the financial system.

However, as information about the potential of blockchain technology in reducing costs, making the transfer of funds faster, and enhancing security, more banks are now beginning to have a more positive attitude towards the technology. If they are to benefit from the technology, then they have to embrace cryptocurrency.

Conclusion

More banks are embracing cryptocurrencies because of their growing popularity and the realization of the immense potential of underlying blockchain technology.

By the first quarter of 2023, Laser Digital, the bitcoin and cryptocurrency-focused division of Nomura, will allegedly introduce an institutional trading platform. A bitcoin trading platform for institutional clients is expected to go live in 2023.

According to a report from Blockworks, Laser Digital, the recently established cryptocurrency division of Nomura, Japan’s largest brokerage and financial bank, aims to hire many more people to expand its range of services. 

Nomura is set to increase employees

Over the following three months, the unit plans to hire 55 employees. To offer a variety of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency services and dabble in VC investment in the space would entail a 45% increase in its staff.

Laser Digital’s goal is to initially increase employment numbers at its Swiss headquarters, then open additional facilities in Dubai and London. After expanding its worldwide workforce numbers, the company will discuss opening a shop in Japan.

CEO Jez Mohideen allegedly stated that Laser Digital is not rushing to announce a profit as the company waits for Dubai regulator permission.

Laser Digital will still have its job cut out for it. Its anticipated expansion comes as the sector prepares for recovery in the wake of Terra’s failure in May and the subsequent bankruptcy of prominent cryptocurrency lenders Celsius and Voyager.

With the long term in mind, Laser Digital is one of several cryptocurrency companies awaiting regulatory permission in Dubai. Mohideen stated that the company isn’t pressing to achieve extreme profitability in the next year or two. According to Mohideen, Nomura’s management initially hesitated to start a separate crypto firm but is now undoubtedly supportive.

High correlation is caused by several general macroeconomic reasons that pose challenges to players in the traditional capital market and the crypto ecosystem, including rising inflation, the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, and energy-related concerns in Eastern Europe.

Famous cryptocurrency firms cut workers earlier this year in anticipation of a protracted decline, including Coinbase, Blockchain.com, and OpenSea. Dapper Labs, a startup in the digital collectibles industry, and Galaxy, a financial services company, has also recently made workforce reductions.

Nomura was adamant about crypto at first.

According to Mohideen, Nomura’s management initially hesitated to start a separate crypto firm but is now undoubtedly supportive. Mohideen, said in a statement:

“For us, it’s taken some time and a lot of work, but we’ve arrived at a stage where the firm is firmly convinced. The project must be completed.”

Nomura is Japan’s largest brokerage and investment bank, with $442 billion in assets under management as of this month. The bank initially planned to let institutional clients trade cryptocurrency products public in May, a few months after the bank had funded the fnality firm.

More on Mohideen

Mohideen started working at Nomura in February 2018 as its chief digital officer, overseeing prospects for commercially motivated digitization in the wholesale banking sector.

He also serves as a director at Komainu, where Nomura is the major shareholder. He entirely transferred his attention to Laser Digital as of September 30. The 38-member team now consists of 17 transferees from Nomura’s digital division, while the remaining team members are drawn from a variety of TradFi and cryptocurrency organizations.

This week, FTT has attracted some notice. Users of BitMEX can trade FTT with up to 50x leverage through our FTTUSD and FTTUSDT listings starting at 12:00 UTC today. Quanto Contract Specs for FTTUSD.

FTT listings margined by Tether and Bitcoin

Regardless of the FTT/USD pricing, the FTTUSD product, like all other Quanto contracts, has a fixed Bitcoin multiplier. Due to this, traders can buy or sell FTT without touching either FTT or USD.

As the FTT/USD exchange rate fluctuates, traders can post margin in XBT and profit or lose money in XBT. The reason that the FTTUSD swap trades at a premium or discount to the FTTUSD spot price may be due in part to this Quanto risk premium.

In a tweet, CryptoHayes wrote:

“Many other investments become unnecessary when you can lend money to the U.S. government for a year at rates close to 5%. There will be more casualties in the #crypto credit tragedy. Luna/3AC/CEL = Bear Sterns; who will be Lehman?”

Investor panic amidst Binance’s debut into the FTX-Alameda

Open interest, or the amount of money invested in futures and perpetual futures linked to FTT, has more than doubled since early Asian hours from $87.56 million to $203 million, setting a 12-month high.

As per information provided by Matrixport Technologies, the funding rate, or the cost of holding bullish long positions or bearish short positions, has fallen drastically to an annualized -36%. A negative funding rate indicates that shorts or bears are in control and are willing to pay extended funding to maintain their positions.

Rising open interest and the pessimistic financing rate signal traders are selling FTT, which is what the market is doing.

FTT losses more of its value

The CEO of the largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, Changpeng Zhao, disclosed plans to liquidate the company’s approximately $530 million stake in FTT, the native token of Sam Bankman-FTX, Fried’s on Sunday. Later, Caroline Ellison offered to purchase all of Binance’s FTT tokens for $22 as the CEO of Bankman-trading Fried’s firm Alameda Research.

FTX Crypto Derivatives Exchange founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried delivered a speech on October 13, 2022, in Washington, D.C., at the Institute of International Finance (IIF) annual membership convention.

FTX Crypto Derivatives Exchange founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried delivered a speech on October 13, 2022, in Washington, D.C., at the Institute of International Finance (IIF) annual membership convention.

The already wounded digital asset market is being affected by simmering conflicts between the two wealthiest executives in the crypto sector.

Could there be a solvency issue at the company?

The native token of Sam Bankman-FTX, Fried’s FTT, is held by Binance for over US$530 million. On Sunday, Binance Holdings Ltd.’s billionaire CEO Zhao “C.Z.” Changpeng announced plans to sell this position on Twitter. The world’s largest and seventh-largest crypto exchanges are administered by Binance and FTX, respectively.

Zhao claimed that “new developments” had caused him to make his choice. The FTT token makes up a sizable portion of the balance sheet of Bankman-trading Fried’s firm Alameda Research, according to a November 2 story. Following Zhao’s announcement, traders hurried to withdraw money from FTX, and the price of FTT dropped in large trading volumes.

In response to that article, Caroline Ellison, CEO of Alameda, stated on Sunday that this balance sheet only represents a portion of the company’s corporate entities and that there are more than US$10 billion in assets that are not included. Later, Ellison made the US$22 purchase offer to buy all of Binance’s FTT tokens.

A fight between the two billionaires occurred at a difficult time for the sector, which was rocked by several scandals this year, from the collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin to a run of bankruptcies among crypto lenders. Anto Paroian, CEO of crypto hedge fund ARK36, stated that the industry is “still suffering from PTSD.”

Trying to promote FTT

Binance’s ownership of FTT is a carryover from its stake in FTX, which Zhao claims was sold for around US$2.1 billion last year. The CEO declared he would make an effort to minimize market impact when selling the FTT tokens. He noted that it might take a couple of months to finish the procedure.

In recent months, Zhao and Bankman-Fried have engaged in a Twitter battle, exchanging insults from allegations of front-running deals to lobbying U.S. legislators. Zhao first denied that selling FTT was a move against a rival in a series of tweets on Sunday, yet a later statement insinuates discontent with FTX.

Banker Fried is said to have a net worth of $15.4 billion, while Zhao is worth $18.9 billion.

FTX’s native token FTT continues to plummet as rumors about the crypto exchange’s possible insolvency continue to make the rounds.

FTT plunges 25%

The price of FTT declined more than 25% on Tuesday, falling from $21.83 to $15.40 in the space of three hours amid a continued selloff of the exchange’s native coin. FTT has since rallied slightly to above $17 but is still down more than 20% in today’s trading period. Despite the rally, FTT has lost almost $600 million from its market capitalization in the space of a few hours.

Tuesday’s selloff comes as FTX is navigating a bank run on its exchange over fears that the platform might be insolvent. The platform has reported a large volume of withdrawals with some customers complaining on social media about the slow nature of the process.

FTX for its part has been trying to defend the value of its token by liquidating other crypto on its books. There are fears that a continued decline in the FTT price could cause a cascade of liquidations in the crypto space and trigger another knock-on contagion effect similar to what happened during the TerraUSD/Luna collapse.

Indeed, FTT is not the only token currently in the red. Bitcoin and Ether are down 4% and 5% in the last 24 hours. The total market capitalization has dropped more than 4% on Tuesday.

The FTX bank run is tied to an earlier revelation about Alameda Research’s balance sheet leaked at the start of November. Alameda is a quantitative crypto trading outfit owned by FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. The leaked balance sheet showed Alameda’s significant exposure to the FTT token. Alameda responded to the document stating that it was not the firm’s complete balance sheet.

Shortly after the news became public, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao stated that the exchange would unwind its FTT position, triggering a significant market reaction. Bankman-Fried responded to these issues on Monday, stating that FTX was fine. This assurance appears to have done little to calm the market given Tuesday’s massive price slump.

Alameda saga continues

FTT’s price could further plummet if BitDAO sells the FTT tokens in its reserve. Earlier today, the DAO released a governance proposal requesting Alameda Research – a quant crypto trading firm owned by Sam Bankman-Fried – to provide proof that the platform did not sell BIT tokens in its possession. 

In November 2021, BitDAO and Alameda completed a token swap, with the former swapping 100 million BIT tokens with the latter for 3,362,315 FTT. The agreement was that both entities will not sell either token for three years. 

But BitDAO’s request came as a result of a sudden dump in the price of its BIT tokens, with the coin losing 25% of its value at the time of the proposal. However, Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison said that the quant trading firm was not responsible for BIT’s plummet. 

Alameda has since provided on-chain proof that it had not sold the 100 million BIT tokens. According to on-chain data from Etherscan, a wallet address labeled “Alameda 25” has received BIT token inflows amounting to 100 million of the coins since BitDAO’s query. BitDAO has also confirmed the news and thanked Alameda for its swift response.