Cryptocurrency news by Protos

Cointelegraph owner sues founder of ‘Sam coins’ Maps and Oxygen

Fri, 26 May 2023 16:58:07 GMT

Cointelegraph owner Gregory Fishman claims that Maps and Oxygen CEO Alex Grebnev stole funds and ideas relating to the two projects.

Listen to this article to find out more.

https://protos.com/cointelegraph-owner-sues-founder-of-sam-coins-maps-and-oxygen/

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Bitcoin suddenly becomes second-biggest NFT blockchain

Fri, 26 May 2023 16:56:08 GMT

Ordinals, the latest incarnation of NFTs on Bitcoin since Counterparty’s Rare Pepes and operation code easter eggs, have catapulted into the industry. Although Ethereum still outranks all other blockchains in NFT transaction volume, Bitcoin has suddenly become the world’s second most popular blockchain for NFTs.

Listen to this article to discover why bitcoin-oriented NFTs have become so popular and to learn the history behind them.

https://protos.com/bitcoin-suddenly-becomes-second-biggest-nft-blockchain/

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White House hopeful De Santis sticks it to CBDCs in campaign launch

Thu, 25 May 2023 17:24:34 GMT

During a glitch-plagued Twitter Space yesterday evening, US presidential candidate and Bitcoin fan Ron De Santis came out against central bank digital currencies, calling their introduction “a massive transfer of power from individual consumers to a central authority.”

De Santis used the Space, hosted by Elon Musk and David Sacks, to announce his presidential nomination for the Republican Party. De Santis will now battle former president Donald Trump for the Republican nomination.

Listen to the article to discover how, the far-from-perfect Twitter space, went down.

https://protos.com/white-house-hopeful-de-santis-sticks-it-to-cbdcs-in-campaign-launch/

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Rumors prompt panic over $1.5B blockchain bridge Multichain

Thu, 25 May 2023 17:18:35 GMT

Worries about the stability of Multichain and its total value locked of $1.5 billion, sparked a major sell-off of the project’s token, MULTI, yesterday.

Listen to the article to find out what caused the exodus of MULTI holders.

https://protos.com/rumors-prompt-panic-over-1-5b-blockchain-bridge-multichain/

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Do Kwon jail stay extended despite already posting huge bail

Thu, 25 May 2023 16:47:22 GMT

Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon has had his request for bail revoked despite paying a bail sum of €400,000 euros ($429,000) last week. Instead, Do Kwon will remain in custody as he faces charges of fabricating official documents in Montenegro.

Listen to this article to discover why Do Kwon has been kept in detention.

https://protos.com/do-kwon-jail-stay-extended-despite-already-posting-huge-bail/

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Founder of crypto exchange BTC-e eyes prisoner swap with WSJ journalist

Thu, 25 May 2023 16:40:00 GMT

Alexander Vinnik, the co-founder of defunct Russian crypto exchange BTC-e, is facing money laundering charges in the US. But according to a report from the Wall Street Journal, he is optimistic about being included in a prisoner swap for captured journalist Evan Gershkovich.

Listen to this article to learn what Vinnik had to say as he is accused of identity theft and money laundering through the operation of BTC-e.

https://protos.com/founder-of-crypto-exchange-btc-e-eyes-prisoner-swap-with-wsj-journalist/

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US gov’t seeks to forfeit crypto seized on Binance in fraud case

Thu, 25 May 2023 16:28:18 GMT

The US Attorney’s Office has filed a civil forfeiture action to recover crypto proceeds of a business email compromise fraud scheme that targeted a company in Massachusetts, according to a press release on Tuesday evening.

Listen to this article to discover how perpetrators tricked the company into wiring close to a million dollars before the funds were converted into various cryptocurrencies, from bitcoin to shiba inu.

https://protos.com/us-govt-seeks-to-forfeit-crypto-tied-to-fraud-case/

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Crypto payments to China chemical suppliers fuel US fentanyl epidemic

Wed, 24 May 2023 14:56:51 GMT

Elliptic says crypto, primarily bitcoin and tether, is a growing payment method for buying fentanyl chemicals from China-based firms.

https://protos.com/crypto-payments-to-china-chemical-suppliers-fuel-us-fentanyl-epidemic/

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Balaji’s latest prediction: US gov’t will remotely seize crypto

Wed, 24 May 2023 14:50:47 GMT

In his latest description of future dystopia, Balaji Srinivasan predicts the government will force Apple and Google to seize crypto assets.

https://protos.com/balajis-latest-prediction-us-govt-will-remotely-seize-crypto/

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BitBoy and another less famous Ben are giving crypto a bad name

Wed, 24 May 2023 14:42:33 GMT

Ben Armstrong — AKA BitBoy — along with another less-well-known Ben, is damaging crypto’s reputation by shilling useless coins.

https://protos.com/bitboy-and-another-less-famous-ben-are-giving-crypto-a-bad-name/

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Binance commingled funds at Silvergate: Reuters

Wed, 24 May 2023 14:05:00 GMT

Binance allegedly commingled client and corporate funds across accounts controlled by Silvergate Bank, according to a new report by Reuters.

https://protos.com/binance-commingled-funds-at-silvergate-reuters/

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FBI warns of fake jobs abroad that enslave victims for crypto scams

Wed, 24 May 2023 13:58:16 GMT

The FBI warned US citizens to be wary of fake jobs in Southeast Asia that capture victims and force them into scamming people online.

https://protos.com/fbi-warns-of-fake-jobs-abroad-that-enslave-victims-for-crypto-scams/

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Here’s what’s behind the fall of the Bored Ape Yacht Club

Wed, 24 May 2023 11:26:53 GMT

The Bored Ape Yacht Club has fared pretty well compared to most other Ethereum-based NFT projects but it’s still down more than 60%.

https://protos.com/heres-whats-behind-the-fall-of-the-bored-ape-yacht-club/

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Crypto scam refused to return £10,000 to cancer patient

Wed, 24 May 2023 11:23:41 GMT

Safe Holdings has defrauded 30 victims out of their cash through a pyramid scheme claiming to offer advanced crypto trading technology.

https://protos.com/crypto-scam-refused-to-return-10000-to-cancer-patient/

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Exposé claims lies and LIBOR collusion by central bankers

Wed, 24 May 2023 11:18:57 GMT

The Times is publishing an exposé by Andy Verity describing lies and LIBOR collusion by the world’s top central bankers.

https://protos.com/expose-claims-lies-and-libor-collusion-by-central-bankers/

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DeFi has rough weekend with Aave and Tornado Cash chaos

Wed, 24 May 2023 11:06:48 GMT

A chaotic weekend for DeFi as two self-executing governance proposals wrought havoc on Aave and Tornado Cash.

https://protos.com/defi-has-rough-weekend-with-aave-and-tornado-cash-chaos/

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Twitter user mediates resale of stolen Bored Ape NFT, incriminates self

Tue, 23 May 2023 16:30:00 GMT

A Twitter user mediated the sale of a stolen NFT back to its owner without realising that this incriminates them, too.

https://protos.com/twitter-user-mediates-resale-of-stolen-bored-ape-nft-incriminates-self/

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Bitcoin 2023: Miami has had enough and so have we

Tue, 23 May 2023 16:25:00 GMT

Bitcoin 2023 marked the end of an era for Miami’s brief affair with the crypto industry. It’s already canceled next year.

Listen to this article to find out about our experience at this years lack lustered Bitcoin conference.

https://protos.com/bitcoin-2023-miami-has-had-enough-and-so-have-we/

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DCG misses $600M payment to Genesis as Gemini seeks resolution

Tue, 23 May 2023 16:15:00 GMT

Major Genesis creditor Gemini says it’s considering to provide forebearance in order to avoid a default situation.

https://protos.com/dcg-misses-600m-payment-to-genesis-as-gemini-seeks-resolution/

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To fee or not to fee? That is the question — does Uniswap have an answer?

Tue, 23 May 2023 16:10:00 GMT

The Uniswap governance forum is again debating whether to activate the protocol’s ‘fee switch,’ which would finally see it accrue revenue.

https://protos.com/to-fee-or-not-to-fee-that-is-the-question-does-uniswap-have-an-answer/

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CoinDeal executive indicted in $45M crypto fraud

Tue, 23 May 2023 16:02:32 GMT

Bryan Lee has been indicted for his role in the $45 million CoinDeal fraud scheme which saw investor funds used to purchase real estate.

https://protos.com/coindeal-executive-indicted-in-45m-crypto-fraud/

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Son of former Aussie politician charged with trading crypto for drugs

Fri, 19 May 2023 14:54:28 GMT

The son of a former Australian politician has been charged with running a dark web crypto-for-drugs operation.

Listen to this article to discover the scale of his alleged operation, and to find out how police caught him, in the proverbial way, with his hand in the cookie jar.

https://protos.com/son-of-former-aussie-politician-charged-with-trading-crypto-for-drugs/

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Texas proof-of-reserves crypto bill one step away from becoming law

Fri, 19 May 2023 14:47:54 GMT

The US state of Texas is taking a significant step towards increased transparency and consumer protection in the cryptocurrency industry, as legislation requiring crypto exchanges to maintain reserves moves closer to becoming law awaiting now only the signature of the governor.

Listen to this article to learn how the bill looks to stop crypto firms from commingling user funds.

https://protos.com/texas-proof-of-reserves-crypto-bill-one-step-away-from-becoming-law/

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Bitcoin ordinals close to flipping Ethereum NFTs in daily volume

Fri, 19 May 2023 14:40:07 GMT

Bitcoin ordinals have officially disrupted the NFT market, with the gap between bitcoin NFT and Ethereum NFT daily volumes getting slimmer by the day.

Listen to this article to find out just how close ordinals are to overpassing the daily volume of Ethereum NFTs.

https://protos.com/bitcoin-ordinals-close-to-flipping-ethereum-nfts-in-daily-volume/

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Andrew Tate says he doesn’t endorse shitcoins but he definitely did

Fri, 19 May 2023 14:29:52 GMT

On Monday, Andrew Tate, the infamous former kickboxing champion who is now facing charges in Romania for money laundering, organized crime, and human trafficking, made a statement online about his ‘no-shitcoin’ stance, tweeting a video saying he doesn’t endorse them and never will.

But has he really never endorsed them?

Listen to this article to discover the recent shitcoin he claims to have jokingly promoted, and why his 'no-shitcoin' stance isn't what it seems.

https://protos.com/andrew-tate-says-he-doesnt-endorse-shitcoins-but-he-definitely-did/

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Worldcoin has an optics problem

Thu, 18 May 2023 17:10:00 GMT

Worldcoin is an “open-source protocol” started by OpenAI founder Sam Altman. It uses metallic orbs to scan irises as a “proof-of-person” and provides those who volunteer their biometric data with 25 Worldcoins — a cryptocurrency that isn’t currently exchangeable for any real-world goods or tradeable on any exchange.

Worldcoin, for lack of a better term, is now suffering from a massive optics problem.

Listen to this article to discover the problems it faces, and why it's unlikely it'll overcome them anytime soon.

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Explained: Why Bitcoin users don’t send transactions directly to miners

Thu, 18 May 2023 17:00:44 GMT

Many believe that Bitcoin users send transactions directly to miners or pool operators. However, things are a little more random than that.

Instead, users generally broadcast transactions essentially at random — in other words, to whichever nodes happen to be connected to them and online at the time.

Listen to this article to find why Bitcoin users don’t send transactions directly to miners in a curious custom unique to the decentralization of the Bitcoin network.

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Here’s what the biggest stablecoins spent on lobbying in the US

Thu, 18 May 2023 16:44:40 GMT

The firms behind the three largest stablecoins Tether, Circle, and Paxos have all been lobbying in Washington DC over the past year.

Tether retains FTI Government Affairs through the Law Offices of Michael Jason Lee, Circle retains Invariant, and Paxos retains Mindset Advocacy.

Listen to this article to learn the history behind this lobbying and how much money is being spent.

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Tether to spend profits on growing its mysterious bitcoin reserves

Thu, 18 May 2023 16:39:44 GMT

Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin, has announced its intention to use up to 15% of its profits to purchase additional bitcoin.

As of March 31, the approximately $1.5 billion in bitcoin Tether held was approximately triple the amount of cash in its reserves. This change will presumably exacerbate that difference.

Listen to this article to discover why Tether is making bitcoin investments, despite dwindling cash on hand.

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Swiss gov’t supports cash referendum amid digital payment concerns

Thu, 18 May 2023 16:30:53 GMT

Switzerland’s government will hold a national vote on whether to enshrine the availability of cash in the constitution amid concerns about the rise in digital currency, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

A group called the Swiss Freedom Movement collected over 100,000 signatures in support of a plebiscite to safeguard cash at a higher level.

Listen to the article to find out why the government is worried about losing the use of cash.

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UK lobbyists slam gov’t report, deny crypto is like gambling

Thu, 18 May 2023 15:42:57 GMT

British Members of Parliament (MPs) have claimed that crypto has “no intrinsic value and no useful social purpose” while suggesting the space may be better regulated if it’s treated more like gambling.

The report claims that regulating retail trading and investment activity in unbacked crypto assets (such as bitcoin and ether) as a financial service, will “create a ‘halo’ effect, leading consumers to believe this activity is safe and protected when it is not.”

Listen to the article to discover why MPs believe crypto should be regulated like gambling.

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XRP surges as judge orders SEC to release Hinman files

Thu, 18 May 2023 15:35:03 GMT

A judge has denied the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) appeal to prevent the release of documents tied to William Hinman’s Ethereum speech.

The speech involved Hinman stating ether wasn’t a security before, years later, he was found to have a conflict of interest with a pro-Ethereum entity.

The development in Ripple's case against the SEC has sent prices of XRP upwards by 8%. Listen to this article to find out why Ripple benefits from the release of Hinman’s documents.

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SEC wants all investment advisors’ crypto held by qualified custodians

Thu, 18 May 2023 15:13:54 GMT

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed a new rule requiring investment advisors to hold all crypto assets — even non-security crypto assets like bitcoin — with a qualified custodian. Not only will the rule require enhanced bookkeeping and reporting if it goes into effect, but it will centralize large quantities of crypto assets at large companies.

Listen to this article to learn how this might impact the safety of your crypto if a custodian goes bankrupt.

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Vietnam kidnappers receive life in prison for crypto theft

Thu, 18 May 2023 15:04:58 GMT

A dramatic case of cryptocurrency theft case in Vietnam has come to an end as 16 defendants are sentenced over a plot involving the heist of VNĐ37 billion (approximately $1.5 million) worth of crypto.

The ordeal involved kidnapping and threatening the victim's family with HIV-laden needles.

Listen to the article to discover what started the crypto heist.

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Ledger dubs service ‘risk-free’ despite losing millions of user emails

Thu, 18 May 2023 14:09:59 GMT

Hardware wallet maker Ledger is looking to reassure concerned users who are worried that a new firmware update will make their funds “less safe than on MetaMask.”

Critics say the update could expose their details online and break the number one rule of keeping your crypto safe — never type your seed phrase into a connected device.

Listen to this article to learn more about Ledger Recover and why the wallet maker claims that it’s completely risk-free.

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Failing ventures and Twitter hiatus spark Tai Lopez bankruptcy concerns

Wed, 17 May 2023 12:20:00 GMT

Influencer, entrepreneur, and self-help guru Tai Lopez is having a very strange year. The usually loud and self-centered 46-year-old, well known for his videos showcasing his sports cars, mansions, and bookshelves, has gone uncharacteristically quiet on his social media — save for YouTube and Instagram, where he continues to push self-help podcasts and book reviews.

So, what’s going on? Listen to the article to find out how his failing businesses, including a disappointing web3 venture, may be behind it.

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SEC won’t give into Coinbase demands, says it wants the impossible

Wed, 17 May 2023 12:20:00 GMT

The Securities and Exchange Commission has replied to crypto exchange Coinbase's petition that demanded it outline and adopt new regulations on crypto and digital tokens.

In its petition, initially submitted in July of last year, Coinbase argued that most of the tokens traded on its platform shouldn't be defined as securities. It also wants the SEC to define what tokens are classified as such.

Listen to the article to discover what the Securities and Exchange Commission had to say,

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How Jump Trading allegedly manipulated UST into collapse

Wed, 17 May 2023 12:10:00 GMT

Chicago-based trading firm Jump Trading has been accused of manipulating the price of algorithmic 'stablecoin' TerraUSD a year before it collapsed, in a class action lawsuit filed on May 9 -- echoing ongoing investigations by New York federal prosecutors and suspicions from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Listen to this article to discover what the suit alleges about Jump trading execs, secret agreements with Do Kwon, and a discounted 61.4 million LUNA tokens.

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Ethereum beacon chain experiences inactivity leak

Wed, 17 May 2023 12:00:00 GMT

The Ethereum beacon chain recently experienced two periods where finalization was delayed and an inactivity leak began. Although it was still possible to transact on Ethereum during these periods, the blocks were not yet immutable, and could, under certain circumstances, end up reverted.

Listen to this article to discover what may have caused the leak.

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This scammer cloned crypto exchange HitBTC to steal $15M

Wed, 17 May 2023 11:50:00 GMT

A crypto scammer has stolen more than $15 million in bitcoin, ether, tether, and SHIB by cloning the user interface of popular Hong Kong-based crypto exchange HitBTC.

Listen to the article to find out how the scam, already running for nearly a year, drained user wallets of their crypto.

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South Korean crypto scandal prompts Upbit and Bithumb raids

Wed, 17 May 2023 11:40:00 GMT

A recent controversy involving a South Korean lawmaker’s cryptocurrency holdings has resulted in his resignation from his political party, and subsequent raids on prominent cryptocurrency exchanges Upbit and Bithumb.

Listen to this article to discover why approximately $4.5 million worth of wemix coins has caused the lawmaker to resign.

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Ethereum NFTs continue to stall despite brief Milady pump

Wed, 17 May 2023 11:30:21 GMT

A tweet Elon Musk has boosted the sales of the Milady Maker NFT collection, turning a profit for NFT sellers for the first time in months as the NFT dry season drags on.

Listen to this article to learn about the new meme-coin looking to compete against last week's other Pepe meme-coin.

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Here’s why the SEC never classified ether as a security

Wed, 17 May 2023 11:20:50 GMT

In the past, Ethereum wasn't a security. This period of classification caused confusion and, eventually, a great deal of controversy, as the former Securities and Exchange Commission director was found to have a financial conflict of interest from a pro-Ethereum entity at the time.

Listen to this article to find out why the SEC never classified ether as a security.

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How wire fraud, not securities violations, lands crypto criminals in prison

Wed, 17 May 2023 11:00:58 GMT

To combat crypto crime in the United States, industry participants often turn to the Securities and Exchange Commission. But when it comes to cracking down on bad actors, the Department of Justice’s emerging playbook seems to have a far greater success rate.

Listen to this article to discover why wire fraud is the most effective way of prosecuting criminals without the need to classify crypto assets.

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Tether attestation shows stacks of US treasury bills, more gold than bitcoin

Fri, 12 May 2023 14:32:38 GMT

Tether released its latest attestation by BDO Italy on Wednesday, revealing $81.8 billion in assets and $79.3 billion in outstanding Tether tokens as of March 1.

Tether is the largest stablecoin and one of the three largest cryptocurrencies, representing a systemically important representation of liquidity in the markets. The quality and quantity of its reserves are vital issues for the cryptocurrency industry. That said, the firm has often struggled to produce accurate and whole attestations.

Listen to this article to discover what Tether's latest attestation had to say about the company's

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So you don’t have to: Watching BitBoy and Trump Jr. talk about crypto

Fri, 12 May 2023 14:24:51 GMT

In the third installment of Cas's column So you don’t have to, the spotlight is once again on infamous crypto shill Ben Armstrong, aka BitBoy. Last time, Cas dissected his truly terrible book Catching Up to Crypto -- now, he's reviewing his rather lengthy interview with Donald Trump Jr.

Listen to the article to find out how BitBoy used the interview to shill and misinform alongside Donald Trump Jr.

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Coinbase warns of PEPE alt-right ties, token holders declare war

Fri, 12 May 2023 14:11:05 GMT

Investors in Pepecoin (PEPE), the meme cryptocurrency du jour, have started a Twitter war against crypto exchange Coinbase after its newsletter warned of its volatility and associations with the alt-right.

Listen to this article to discover what ignited the Pepe community, the chequered history behind the meme, and the drive towards a sudden meme coin surge.

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Explained: US House debate on cryptocurrency regulatory framework

Fri, 12 May 2023 13:59:03 GMT

In a joint committee hearing in the Unites States House of Representatives on Wednesday, members of the Financial Services Committee and the Agriculture Committee discussed what regulatory framework is needed to manage the risks and benefits of cryptocurrencies in the US.

Listen to this article to find out what representatives had to say about Joe Biden's sentiment for greater cryptocurrency regulation and to learn what they had to say on concrete issues plaguing the industry.

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UK police department confiscates over $6M from crypto drug dealer

Fri, 12 May 2023 10:51:19 GMT

A drug dealer caught with $6.7 million in cryptocurrency and $1.4 million worth of cocaine has lost the millions of dollars he made on the dark web in a record confiscation of its kind by the West Yorkshire financial crime department.

Listen to the article to find out how millions of crypto was used as part of a drugs empire in the UK.

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Bitcoin dev Luke Dashjr proposes to ban ‘spam’ ordinals

Fri, 12 May 2023 10:34:43 GMT

Luke Dashjr, one of Bitcoin Core’s developers, has proposed to ban bitcoin NFTs and the BRC-20 by extending spam filtration to Bitcoin’s recently introduced Taproot transactions.

Listen to this article to find out what he had to say about one of the most significant upgrades in the Bitcoin network.

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Estonia slashes crypto-friendly incentives ahead of MiCA

Fri, 12 May 2023 10:23:00 GMT

Estonia has given up on its brief attempt to become a world leader in the digital asset industry, with more stringent crypto licensing rules set to come into effect on June 15.

Estonia once enjoyed international attention for its crypto initiatives. In 2019, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) issued a report praising Estonia’s efforts to implement blockchain for digital IDs, drivers licenses, e-residency, and governance technologies.

Listen to this article to find out what's scuppered the talk of digital asset leadership.

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Spanish police rescue crypto investor kidnapped on holiday

Fri, 12 May 2023 10:16:31 GMT

A Syrian luxury car dealer and crypto investor was kidnapped while on holiday in Spain last week, in a plot that involved armed kidnappers, a three-story villa, a room prepared for butchery, and a million-dollar ransom.

Listen to this article to find out the full story behind a Dubai-based crypto fund manager and a holiday gone wrong.

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Coinbase claps back at SEC proposal, chief exec targets Gary Gensler

Fri, 12 May 2023 09:18:53 GMT

Coinbase has decided to further dig in its heels against regulatory pressure from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with CEO Brian Armstrong calling out the commission’s chair Gary Gensler, and the crypto exchange’s legal chief hitting back at an SEC proposal that would amend custody rules for registered investment advisors.

Listen to this article to find out what a letter, written up by Coinbase’s legal head Paul Grewal addressed to the SEC, says about Coinbase's disagreement with the major revisions proposed to the investment adviser custody rule and how the SEC is seemingly making assumptions about crypto that would do harm to investors.

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Pepe creator Matt Furie says he didn’t know Pepecoin existed

Thu, 11 May 2023 16:33:22 GMT

Pepecoin has been making the rounds on Twitter as holders of the meme token have declared war against the crypto exchange Coinbase. But did you know that the artist and original creator of Pepe, Matt Furie, had no idea it existed until now?

Listen to the article to find out what he had to say about Pepecoin on Twitter spaces.

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Western Alliance bank denies potential sale as shares steeply drop

Fri, 05 May 2023 16:41:29 GMT

Western Alliance bank has denied a Financial Times article stating that the bank was exploring a sale of all or part of its business, based on tip-offs by two anonymous sources who claimed to have been briefed on the matter.

Listen to the article to discover what the rumors had to say about Western Alliance bank.

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OpenSea NFT insider trading case raises potential for more fraud cases

Fri, 05 May 2023 16:36:11 GMT

A former manager at NFT marketplace OpenSea was found guilty of wire fraud and money laundering on Wednesday in a first-of-its-kind case involving digital assets and insider trading.

Listen to the article to discover how the 32-year-old product manager picked NFTs to be showcased on the OpenSea website before making a profit on the side.

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New Florida bill banning CBDCs passes, arguing they’re not money

Fri, 05 May 2023 16:27:09 GMT

The Florida legislature passed a bill Wednesday that effectively bans any central bank digital currency (CBDC) from being used in the state.

The new policy says CBDCs issued by any country will not meet Florida’s definition of money. The provision rejects a specific part of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), a widely adopted piece of model legislation updated by the American Law Institute and the Uniform Law Commission.

Listen to the article to find out more.

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How crypto traders can utilize MEV in blockchain transactions

Fri, 05 May 2023 16:08:10 GMT

Maximum extractable value (MEV) refers to all of the money that can be extracted by reordering, viewing, adding, including, or excluding transactions within a block. The vast majority of MEV occurs via decentralized exchanges (DEXs) like Uniswap.

Very often, discussions of MEV include the parties responsible for confirming transactions for ERC-20 tokens on Ethereum, which can come with issues such as validators being complicit with trading bots. Digital asset market participants have other ways to extract MEV using the different types of maximum extractable value.

Listen to this article to discover the four types of Maximum extractable value.

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FTX influencer ghosts lawyers, gets served on Twitter

Fri, 05 May 2023 15:57:46 GMT

Another influencer has been served in a high-profile lawsuit for promoting now-defunct crypto exchange FTX without proper disclosures — this time on Twitter.

Listen to the article to learn how the FTX influencer avoided lawyers, posted topless when he should've been in court and forced the court to approve Twitter as an appropriate channel to serve him a lawsuit.

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Control of TrueUSD private keys transferred to Techteryx

Fri, 05 May 2023 15:51:07 GMT

TrueUSD is a rapidly rising stablecoin that has seen its market cap increase from ~$950 million to ~$2.5 billion over the past three months, driven in part by Binance adopting TUSD as one of its zero-fee trading pairs.

Click on the video to find out how control of the private keys for TrueUSD has been transferred to Techteryx, a mysterious conglomerate in Asia with ties to Justin Sun.

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The US dollar isn’t close to losing world reserve currency status to China

Fri, 05 May 2023 15:32:33 GMT

Media coverage of China’s efforts to supplant the US dollar’s reserve currency status has reached a feverish pitch. Diplomatic announcements, ceremonial oil contracts, and narrowly selected data suggest that foreigners are increasing their acceptance of non-USD trade with China.

Listen to this article to discover how this isn't the case.

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Coinbase execs slapped with insider trading lawsuit as banks get spooked

Wed, 03 May 2023 15:00:53 GMT

Crypto exchange Coinbase’s top executives, including chief exec Brian Armstrong and board member Marc Andreessen, participated in insider trading to avoid $1 billion in losses in the days after going public two years ago, Coinbase investors claimed in a lawsuit made public on Monday.

Listen to the article to discover the different accusations the lawsuit makes, including the board selling $3 billion in stock prior to negative news.

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Verified Kraken and Binance accounts going cheap on the dark web

Wed, 03 May 2023 14:39:56 GMT

Dark web users can get their hands on fully verified crypto accounts for as little as $20, according to recent research from online data security provider Privacy Affairs.

Listen to this article to find out about the ‘Dark Web Price Index,’ and the varying prices on offer for crypto accounts.

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MicroStrategy hints at bitcoin bag dump while offloading shares

Wed, 03 May 2023 14:17:52 GMT

Michael Saylor looks to be in a very tight spot as the $2.1 billion outstanding debt his company used to buy bitcoin is coming back to haunt him.

Listen to the article to find out the options Saylor has as he contemplates the sale of some of his Bitcoins.

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How crypto-friendly Cross River Bank’s curious rise attracted regulatory heat

Wed, 03 May 2023 11:53:05 GMT

Crypto-friendly Cross River Bank has recently landed in the crosshairs of the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation over alleged violations of fair-lending laws, documents revealed on Friday.

The bank’s clients include various digital asset companies. USDC issuer Circle recently switched from Silicon Valley Bank after its collapse, over to the New Jersey-based bank for USDC issuance and redemption services. However, the bank's considerable rise has piqued the interest of skeptics.

In light of Cross River’s negative FDIC enforcement action, listen to the article for a review of the causes of the company’s parabolic growth -- which include ties to offshore crypto companies with traditional difficulty maintaining fiat banking relationships.

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Crypto market maker Justin Sun ‘accidentally’ takes advantage of SUI promo

Wed, 03 May 2023 11:30:54 GMT

Tron chief Justin Sun, accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of using a network of entities under his control to manipulate the price of crypto tokens he's connected to, has had to explain a large transfer of TrueUSD to Binance that appeared to be intended to take advantage of a Binance promotion of the SUI token.

Listen to the article to discover more about Sun's TrueUSD transfer.

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Binance says ChatGPT was weaponized to falsely claim it has Communist ties

Tue, 02 May 2023 20:07:01 GMT

Crypto exchange Binance claims someone is feeding false information to OpenAI's ChatGPT in order to discredit the firm’s standing with US lawmakers, Forbes reported on Monday.

Listen to the article to find out what Chat GPT has to say about Changpeng Zhao and the Chinese Communist party.

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Rallying stock and crypto markets brace for Fed’s interest rate decision

Tue, 02 May 2023 16:36:07 GMT

After last year’s global energy crisis and high inflation, bitcoin has made a spectacular rally of 67% in 2023 at press time, bouncing back alongside stock markets. Now, traders and investors are awaiting the US Federal Reserve’s meeting on Wednesday, which will provide crucial clarity on the future of interest rates.

Listen to this article to learn the consensus on the Fed raising rates, the options they have in reducing inflation, and it's potential impacts on stocks and crypto.

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First Republic Bank collapses, JP Morgan to take over ‘all deposits’

Tue, 02 May 2023 16:13:15 GMT

Investment banking firm JP Morgan Chase will take over all of the deposits — insured and uninsured — and almost all assets of collapsed First Republic Bank, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation confirmed in a statement on Monday.

Listen to the article to find out the billions of dollars of cash in play as JP Morgan looks to take on the deposits and assets of First Republic Bank.

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Crypto Twitter responds to SEC chair’s stern warning to crypto firms

Tue, 02 May 2023 15:59:12 GMT

In his most straightforward warning to date, Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler published a video explaining how crypto exchanges have miscategorized most crypto assets as non-securities.

In addition to failing to register with the SEC, exchanges have failed to disclose risks, segregate customer assets, surveil market misconduct, nor file information necessary for reasonable investment decisions.

Listen to this article to discover the different ways Gensler says crypto exchanges are operating illegally, his warnings to these to these entities, and how crypto Twitter reacted.

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Did Vauld drive CoinLoan into court-ordered liquidation?

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 16:36:45 GMT

Estonian authorities have issued a notice of restraint of disposition to crypto lending platform CoinLoan’s Estonian branch. This notice limits CoinLoan’s ability to dispose of assets. A court-assigned liquidator must approve requests for customer withdrawals.

According to sources close to the matter, that includes assets of Vauld, another collapsed crypto platform. Basically, this means that CoinLoan will cease “all operations,” effective April 25.

Did Vauld drive CoinLoan into a court-ordered liquidation? Listen to the article to find out.

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El Salvador’s Bitcoin City canceled — but did it ever really exist?

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 16:14:23 GMT

El Salvador’s proposed ‘Bitcoin City,’ the crypto-funded, volcano-powered, Bitcoin mining tax haven that was, according to the country’s president Nayib Bukele, “coming along beautifully” has apparently been canceled. Or never actually existed.

Listen to the article to find out what's put a stop to the BTC city.

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Hackers use AT&T systems to steal millions in customer crypto, source says

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 16:08:08 GMT

A hacking group with access to AT&T’s internal network has stolen up to $20 million in crypto from customers’ wallets, according to an anonymous source.

Cybercriminals infiltrated AT&T's employee portal which in turn allowed them to generate their own mail keys -- the details that anybody with an AT&T email address can use to log into their accounts without using a password.

Listen to the article to discover the millions of dollars that were stolen by the hackers and how they did it.

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BBC chair linked to Russian crypto firm resigns following BoJo loan inquiry

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 15:58:53 GMT

Crypto investor and former chairman of the BBC, Richard Sharp, has resigned from the British media corporation following an inquiry into the potential conflicts of interest that could arise from his role in securing Boris Johnson an £800,000 personal loan.

Listen to the article to find out how Sharp is connected to crypto companies owned by Russian oligarchs and why he resigned from his position over a loan with Boris Johnson.

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Crypto traders unleash dangerous AI trading bots on DEXs

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 15:51:12 GMT

Crypto traders are using artificial intelligence (AI) to help them turn a profit. Projects are rapidly building AI tools that can execute trades with a particular focus on permissionless, ostensibly decentralized exchanges.

Listen to this article to discover how these bots are searching for the best trades using AI, while also being the perfect disguises for ponzi schemes.

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Congressional report says crypto didn't cause bank runs — fear of exposure did

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 15:40:27 GMT

A report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) has outlined the role of cryptocurrency in the failures of banks Silvergate, Silicon Valley, and Signature, stating that while the banks’ exposure to crypto was minimal, the perception of risk “may have driven non-crypto firms/individuals to make significant withdrawals.”

Listen to this article to find out the conclusion analysts came to when explaining recent bank runs and the role crypto played.

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UAE securities regulator begins registration process for crypto firms

Wed, 26 Apr 2023 16:44:36 GMT

Crypto companies looking to offer services in the United Arab Emirates can now apply for a license with the country’s securities regulator, according to an announcement released on Monday.

Listen to the article to learn the specifics behind the regulations and to what ends will it impact Binance's hopes of a new potential hub for their exchange.

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This MetaMask exploit has stolen $10M ether from OG crypto users

Wed, 26 Apr 2023 16:35:27 GMT

Over 5,000 ether has been stolen from the MetaMask wallets of cryptocurrency veterans across multiple chains since December 2022, according to a MetaMask developer known as Tay.

At the time of writing, the amount of ether stolen is worth $10.5 million. The ongoing hack deliberately targets “OGs who are reasonably secure,” the dev noted on Twitter, but it remains unclear how the sophisticated hacker is pulling it off.

Listen to this article to find out how the hacker is. pulling it off.

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Crypto exchange Luno abandons Singapore months after staff cuts

Tue, 25 Apr 2023 16:40:10 GMT

Last week Luno, the Digital Currency Group-owned crypto exchange, has announced that it’s set to cease operations in Singapore and will pull its plans to apply for a license in the country.

Luno claims that the move comes as part of a “regular evaluation” of its global strategy and has advised that all Singaporean users should withdraw their tokens and funds by June 19.

Listen to the article to find out how Singapore's crackdown on retail crypto traders has affected Luno.

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What did Gary Gensler really say when he promoted Algorand?

Tue, 25 Apr 2023 15:40:10 GMT

Following the news that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is charging crypto protocol Algorand’s creators and issuers for selling unregistered securities, crypto enthusiasts are sharing an old clip of SEC head Gary Gensler praising Algorand when he was a professor at MIT back in 2019. But what does Gensler really say in this lecture?

Listen to the article above to find out.

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MobileCoin founder Bob Lee’s murder was planned, prosecutors say

Tue, 25 Apr 2023 15:33:43 GMT

The fatal stabbing of Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App and cryptocurrency project MobileCoin, was deliberate, according to prosecutors.

A suspect is accused of stabbing Lee three times with a kitchen knife in early April over an argument about his sister.

Find out who is the alleged murderer and their connection to Bob Lee by listening to the article above.

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ChipMixer creator accused of laundering $3B in bitcoin still wanted by FBI

Tue, 25 Apr 2023 15:17:12 GMT

A Vietnamese man charged with washing up to $3 billion in bitcoin and crypto through money-laundering service ChipMixer, is still on the run and remains on the FBI’s most wanted list.

Listen to the article above to discover allegations that involve helping the Russian military, state-sponsored North Korean hackers, and a recently-collapsed exchange to bypass know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering measures.

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Opinion: Americans shouldn't offer their eyeballs to WorldCoin

Tue, 25 Apr 2023 15:09:18 GMT

WorldCoin is a cryptocurrency created by Sam Altman, the same entrepreneur and venture capitalist that brought the world OpenAI and ChatGPT. The protocol relies on Orbs — melon-sized silver balls that scan people’s retinas to acquire their biometric data.

The sales pitch goes something like this: If you scan your irises, you’ll get WorldCoin (cryptocurrency), which isn’t currently traded on any open marketplace. You’ll get to be involved with the WorldCoin Network, which will (supposedly and eventually) be a marketplace where people can trade real-world goods and services for WorldCoin.

But in the US, where WorldCoin would probably be considered a security by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the trade-off for your biometric data is even more bleak: you get nothing, you lose, good day.

Listen to the article to find out more.

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NFT collector forced to sell Bored Apes after falling for Ponzi scheme

Tue, 25 Apr 2023 15:00:18 GMT

Well-known NFT personality @FranklinIsBored was forced to sell several Bored Apes after supposedly losing 2,000 ETH (almost $4 million) in a Ponzi scheme.

According to a tweet thread, this is the third time that FranklinIsBored (actually an aerospace engineer named Frank Caldwell II) has lost significant sums of crypto since early 2022.

Listen to the video above to find out how he lost his funds.

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Explained: Civ Kit, the Nostr marketplace created by Bitcoin devs

Tue, 25 Apr 2023 14:38:17 GMT

Nicholas Gregory, Ray Youssef, and Antoine Riard have proposed a new “peer-to-peer electronic market system” on Nostr, the Bitcoin-friendly social networking protocol. Their introductory whitepaper describes a censorship-resistant system that uses Nostr for its order book and the Bitcoin blockchain for contracts and record-keeping.

The whitepaper’s notable authors call their new market proposal Civ Kit. They describe the new market as an enabler for global trade of goods, services, and foreign currency exchange. Specifically, they propose a way to sell any good or service through the following method.

Listen to the article to learn the ins and outs of Civ Kit.

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No, FTX hasn’t recovered all funds and isn’t restarting soon

Wed, 19 Apr 2023 15:42:17 GMT

Cryptocurrency Twitter prematurely rejoiced at the possibility that the statements of an FTX lawyer at its bankruptcy hearing meant that the company had recovered nearly all of its funds and was close to restarting. Neither is true.

Listen to the article to learn how the funds FTX claims to have recovered may be more than difficult to liquidate.

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Salvadoran newspaper relocates after threats from pro-Bitcoin Bukele

Wed, 19 Apr 2023 15:38:55 GMT

A major Salvadoran news outlet that has previously published negative stories about the country’s pro-Bitcoin president Nayib Bukele says it’s shifted much of its operation to Costa Rica following a government-led campaign of harassment, surveillance, and defamation.

Listen to the article to find out why El Faro says, “Under the government of Nayib Bukele, campaigns originating in Casa Presidencial have sought to defame and discredit El Faro and its employees."

For more informed news, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Google News or visit our website at Protos.com

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Do Kwon sent law firm millions of dollars before Terra crash

Wed, 19 Apr 2023 15:34:08 GMT

South Korean prosecutors have confirmed that Do Kwon, chief of Terraform Labs, sent a large sum of money to a top law firm in the country just before the collapse of the firm’s stablecoin terra and cryptocurrency luna a year ago, which created a domino effect in the industry.

Find out more about the millions Kwon sent to a law firm representing some of the most scandalous cases around by listening to this article.

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Bitcoin perp funding is negative. Arthur Hayes wants answers

Wed, 19 Apr 2023 15:27:37 GMT

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes noticed negative perp funding on several well-known exchanges such as Gate, Binance, and his own BitMEX. He attributed the negative funding rate to a wealthy 'cohort' who have been selling heavily into digital asset markets.

Perp is shorthand for 'perpetually rolling swap contract,' a popular crypto derivative. As opposed to a real swap, perps have no expiration and use a funding mechanism to anchor contracts to underlying spot prices.

Listen to this article to find out the explanations behind negative perp funding.

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Bitcoin needs a $970K wick in the next 62 days for Balaji Srinivasan

Wed, 19 Apr 2023 15:18:20 GMT

About a month ago Balaji Srinivasan, former CTO of Coinbase and general partner at VC firm Andreesen Horowitz (a16z), decided to make an incredible bet with people on Twitter: Bitcoin would crack a million dollars within 90 days.

Well, we’re checking in and, unfortunately for Srinivasan, it appears as though the bet isn’t going to go his way.

Listen to the article to find out the details behind this outlandish bet.

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Ethereum Shapella update leaves $1.4B stuck in withdrawal queue

Wed, 19 Apr 2023 14:47:21 GMT

Crypto traders may have to wait weeks to withdraw funds from the Ethereum blockchain following the launch of its long-awaited ‘Shapella’ software upgrade.

As reported by Reuters, Shapella was intended to unlock $30 billion worth of ether (ETH) staked by investors. However, according to data firm Nansen, around $1.4 billion is currently stuck in a withdrawal queue.

Listen to the article to find out the reason behind the delays.

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US helps Malta crack phone of alleged crypto scammer and kidnapper

Tue, 18 Apr 2023 16:36:31 GMT

US federal authorities are assisting Maltese police in building a case against businessman Luke Milton, accused of stealing up to $700,000 worth in cryptocurrency from a Maltese victim.

Authorities believe Milton, currently out on bail on unrelated charges of kidnapping, convinced a man over lunch to hand over his phone to help them invest in crypto. Instead, he allegedly transferred the man’s tokens into his own wallet. The US is now helping to gain access to the wallet.

Listen to the article if you'd like to know more about Milton and his connection to the Maltese media and government.

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Bug-riddled Twitter will display eToro’s crypto prices in-app

Tue, 18 Apr 2023 16:18:04 GMT

Last week Twitter announced a service that allows users to view the price of crypto and other assets in-app via a partnership with trading platform eToro.

eToro’s real-time prices for crypto, stocks, and more can be found in-app through a new service called $Cashtags, reportedly rolling out on Thursday. However, in order to trade assets, users must click on a 'view on eToro' tab which will take them to the trading platform’s website.

Listen to the article to find out the reasoning behind the collaboration and why crypto Twitter isn't sold on the idea just yet.

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Web3 is the future of the internet — and a16z’s exit liquidity

Tue, 18 Apr 2023 15:30:02 GMT

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz continues to call web3 an “evolution of the internet,” citing supposed upgrades from web2 like the potential for democratized ownership of Internet properties. It claims this inevitable transformation will return power to the hands of users.

However, both interests in web3 and related investments are plummeting.

Find out how, despite its optimism, Andreessen Horowitz's web3 ship is actually sinking by listening to the article above.

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Crypto’s money mule Reggie Fowler asks court for no time behind bars

Tue, 18 Apr 2023 15:22:20 GMT

Reginald Fowler, the former principal for crypto’s shadow bank of choice, Crypto Capital Corp, has given a sobering account of his personal hardships to court officials, in a bid to receive a lighter prison sentence that would see him spend no time behind bars.

Click on the video above to find out what the former crypto banker said.

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Out-of-pocket investors want to sue Twitter in Dogecoin lawsuit

Tue, 18 Apr 2023 15:18:00 GMT

Social media giant Twitter could find itself named alongside Elon Musk, Tesla, and the Dogecoin Foundation in an ongoing class action lawsuit that claims doge is a Musk-controlled Ponzi scheme.

Listen to the article to find out why Elon Musk has found himself on the end of a shiba shaped lawsuit.

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How major Bitcoin mining pools calculate pay-per-share

Tue, 11 Apr 2023 15:32:13 GMT

Bitcoin mining pools are straightforward: complete your share of work to earn your share of the winnings. Roughly $10 billion in annual payouts to miners around the globe makes Bitcoin mining the highest stakes proof-of-work (PoW) competition in the world.

However, formulas for calculating payouts to pool participants vary widely. Since the birth of mining pools 13 years ago, pool operators have used dozens of methodologies to smooth out income or reduce the need for trust.

Listen to the article for an explainer on the multiple payout types and the risks and benefits found within each one.

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Court filings reveal the lack of internal controls at FTX

Tue, 11 Apr 2023 14:53:40 GMT

FTX has filed a new report as part of its ongoing bankruptcy that discusses how failures of internal controls contributed to the firm’s collapse.

The report describes how FTX was led by Sam Bankman-Fried, with other executives almost universally deferring to him. The report also highlights unmanaged so-called ‘key person risk’ with one executive saying, “If Nishad (Singh, the firm’s director of engineering) got hit by a bus, the whole company would be done. Same issue with Gary.”

Listen to the article to learn how FTX lacked an internal audit team, many of its entities worked without key personnel including chief financial officers and chief risk officers and overall possessed questionable corporate structures and safeguarding procedures.

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Explained: The Tai Ping Shan dispute between Arthur Hayes and 3AC

Tue, 11 Apr 2023 14:24:20 GMT

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes is upset with Three Arrows Capital founders Su Zhu and Kyle Davies over rumors that the duo recently raised funds for their new exchange OPNX from Bahrain’s Sovereign Wealth Fund and were trading through Tai Ping Shan, also known as TPS Capital.

Using profanity on Twitter, Hayes said he wants his money back immediately. This implyies that he — and many wealthy crypto investors — lost money in the 3AC bankruptcy. Collections in that bankruptcy case have been delayed for months.

Listen to the article to learn about the opaque relationship between Three Arrows Capital and Tai Ping Shan Capital.

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Crypto market maker Wintermute bears eery resemblance to Alameda

Tue, 11 Apr 2023 13:21:15 GMT

One of the largest market-makers in crypto, Wintermute, claims to generate amazing revenues, trading trillions of dollars across thousands of trading pairs with differentiated strategies.

Media often characterizes its CEO, Evgeny Gaevoy, as a wunderkind savant. Stories of his rise to fame bear eery similarities to once-fawning coverage of Sam Bankman-Fried’s brilliance.

Listen to the article to find out why Wintermute has made many similar claims as other market makers, including the now-bankrupt Alameda Research.

For more informed news, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Google News or visit our website at Protos.com

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From the US to Australia, regulatory knot around Binance tightens

Thu, 06 Apr 2023 15:54:04 GMT

Binance Australia's derivatives license has been revoked by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission as part of an ongoing "targeted review" of Binance's businesses in the country, according to a press release issued on Thursday.

The command was given in response to Binance's own request to cancel the license, following a formal hearing conducted by ASIC to consider whether to revoke it.

Listen to the article to learn how Binance tried to put a positive spin on the news.

For more informed news, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Google News or visit our website at Protos.com

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One-third of crypto TikToks are misleading, study suggests

Thu, 06 Apr 2023 15:44:09 GMT

TikTok users have viewed videos using crypto hashtags over 1.6 billion times, but a new study found that more than one-third of those videos contain misleading information.

Click on the video to find out more about 'cryptok' creators and why their pushing their own products alongside misleading content.

For more informed news, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Google News or visit our website at Protos.com

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Low liquidity and Twitter suspension plagues newly launched OPNX

Thu, 06 Apr 2023 15:34:53 GMT

The quartet of failed crypto entrepreneurs — Zhu Su, Kyle Davies, Mark Lamb, and Leslie Lamb — are already striking out on their latest venture Open Exchange (OPNX), a cryptocurrency and bankruptcy claims exchange that launched a mere two days ago. So, what’s gone wrong in this incredibly short period of time? Everything that could.

Listen to the article to find out about OPNX's direr liquidity and declining token.

For more informed news, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Google News or visit our website at Protos.com

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New York finance regulator says Operation Choke Point 2.0 is ‘ludicrous’

Thu, 06 Apr 2023 15:28:39 GMT

New York Department of Financial Services superintendent Adrienne Harris has described the idea that last month's Signature Bank takeover was motivated by crypto as "ludicrous," reports Coindesk.

Listen to this article to discover how crypto Twitter was awash theories that the bank's shutdown was related to a crackdown on banks providing services to crypto firms.

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Opinion: Reddit co-founder’s reason for buying NFTs makes no sense

Thu, 06 Apr 2023 15:23:27 GMT

In an unwaveringly cringeworthy interview with Forbes, Reddit co-founder Alex Ohanian made the claim that due to the traumatic suffering his family endured during the Armenian Genocide, he’s decided to invest millions of dollars into NFTs.

“Even if all this experiment produces is a mechanism that enough people believe in to be able to take some notion of ownership or value… that feels like a win,” he said, vaguely. But let’s be real, Alex, you’re buying NFTs because you like them and want to make money, not to create any genocide-related safety mechanisms.

Listen to the article to find out why the Reddit co-founders NFT blitz has little to nothing to do with Armenian diaspora.

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Tether no longer has to submit attestations. Will anybody miss them?

Thu, 06 Apr 2023 15:11:27 GMT

It’s official: the last quarter for which Tether is required to legally submit to attestations of its reserves, as dictated by the Attorney General of New York, has passed. That means, at least according to the law, the company no longer has to submit any attestations, quarterly or otherwise.

Listen to the article to find out how we shouldn't expect much.

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MobileCoin exec Bob Lee stabbed to death in San Francisco attack

Thu, 06 Apr 2023 14:59:07 GMT

Bob Lee, founder of cryptocurrency MobileCoin and payments service Cash App, and former chief technology officer of Square has died after being stabbed in San Francisco on Tuesday.

At around 2:35 am local time, police responded to reports of an incident near the city’s Rincon Hill neighborhood.

Listen to the article to find about the events that unfolded and how the internet responded.

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How atomic multipath could take the risk out of large bitcoin payments

Thu, 06 Apr 2023 14:44:12 GMT

Software engineer Tobi Ojuolape has published a method for making very large payments using Bitcoin’s Lightning Network that recommends Lightning nodes upgrade to support atomic multipath payments (AMPs).

Ojuolape’s proposal is unexpected because the Lightning Network primarily handles small payments. Historically, research into large, Lightning payments has been neglected.

Listen to this article to find out what makes Bitcoin atomicity work and the benefits it can bring to the Bitcoin lightning network.

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DoJ seizes $112M in stolen crypto, will try to return funds to victims

Thu, 06 Apr 2023 14:23:02 GMT

Six virtual currency accounts allegedly used to launder funds for a number of crypto investment scams have been seized by the US Justice Department (DoJ) along with an estimated $112 million in virtual currency.

As detailed in warrants greenlit by judges in Arizona, California, and Idaho, the scammers persuaded victims to invest in fraudulent crypto trading platforms before funneling the funds to their own wallets.

Authorities investigating the case have pledged to return as much of the funds as possible to the victims.

Find out more about the series of confidence scams by clicking on the video above.

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Abolish the SEC! A decade of battling crypto’s top regulator

Tue, 04 Apr 2023 17:38:10 GMT

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is responsible for overseeing, regulating, and enforcing compliance on US securities offerings, and following its rules can be tough. Indeed, many crypto proponents would rather disregard — or abolish — the SEC altogether.

Here we’ll contextualize their attempts to fight the world’s most powerful securities regulator.

For more informed news, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Google News or visit our website at Protos.com

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Crypto Capital Corp exec banned from gambling while on bail

Tue, 04 Apr 2023 17:19:36 GMT

Reginald Fowler, the former principal for Crypto Capital Corp who previously plead guilty to multiple felony charges has been spending his time on bail gambling hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Fowler, who was also part-owner of NFL team the Minnesota Vikings, has pleaded guilty to a raft of charges, including bank fraud, wire fraud, and operating an unlicensed money transmitter.

Listen to the article to find out why the Authorities had to step in on Fowler's gambling tendencies.

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Opinion: Arbitrum misunderstands the definition of ‘proposal’ and ‘DAO’

Tue, 04 Apr 2023 17:04:38 GMT

Arbitrum recently released its ARB token and announced its intention to begin empowering a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) with authority over the direction of the protocol.

Arbitrum claims that “ARB token holders have the ability to directly propose, vote on and effectuate on-chain AIPs.” However this initial proposal, despite being written in the future tense, was not really a proposal as the company had already begun acting on it.

Despite the community voting against several ‘proposals’ roughly two to one, the proposals themselves were already being implemtented, rendering their votes meaningless.

Listen to the article to find out why Arbitrum is misleading its token holders.

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FedNow could outcompete almost every crypto project in existence

Tue, 04 Apr 2023 16:51:21 GMT

In July, the US federal reserve will finally release FedNow, its very own payment system that it says might just outperform virtually all digital assets, including stablecoins and the planned digital dollar.

FedNow says it will make USD settlements between financial institutions faster and cheaper while staying up and running 24/7. It also claims superior scaling, intraday finality, and vastly improved traditional interbank settlement systems like FedWire or ACH systems.

Put simply, FedNow might completely replace the need for a US central bank digital currency. You can find out exactly how FedNow plans to outdo the digital dollar along with almost every other digital asset by listening to the article above.

For more informed news, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Google News or visit our website at Protos.com

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SEC v. Ripple summary judgment expected in April

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 15:04:11 GMT

The multi-year legal battle led by the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding Ripple’s alleged unregistered securities offering could end in summary judgment by April. The defendants are Ripple, Chris Larsen, and Brad Garlinghouse.

Ripple raised $1.3 billion through its XRP token sale. The SEC alleges various illegalities of its offerings in its civil lawsuit. The presiding US District Court Southern District of New York could rule in summary judgment within a few weeks.

Find out what Ripple plans to do against the commission's crypto lawsuit winning streak by listening to the article above.

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3AC founders' crypto exchange OPNX is another smokescreen

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 14:56:14 GMT

Zhu Su, Kyle Davies, Mark Lamb, and Leslie Lamb’s new cryptocurrency exchange OPNX, is set to open in April.

The exchange, which was originally intended to simply be a trading platform for asset claims on bankrupt exchanges, hedge funds, and other broken companies, has shifted to being a spot, futures, margin, and bankruptcy claims trading platform.

OPNX promises transparency, fantastic UX, and fair pricing on order books. The reality is that OPNX is opaque and run by shady people with shady pasts.

Find out how the new exchange is downplaying the actions of Zhu Su and Kyle Davies by listening to the article above.

For more informed news, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Google News or visit our website at Protos.com

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Former Grenada ambassador Justin Sun is entering a world of pain

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 12:01:22 GMT

Local Grenadian media reported that Tron founder Justin Sun lost his ambassador status and title ‘His Excellency’ during the summer of 2022, despite keeping up the pretence on social media in the months following.

Sun’s @HEJustinSun Twitter handle continued posting through October. As previously reported by Protos, the last documented video of ambassador Sun representing Grenada at the World Trade Organization is an unlisted YouTube video from his June trip to Geneva.

Listen to the article to find out the growing list of troubles Justin Sun can't seem to shake.

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Is this anon identifying Bitcoin wallets through IP addresses?

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 11:55:22 GMT

An anonymous ‘entity’ that has been opening connections to Bitcoin nodes and listening to transaction announcements is likely a corporation performing some kind of blockchain analysis, according to pseudonymous Bitcoin app developer 0xB10C.

In a blog post published on Tuesday, 0xB10C detailed how the unknown individual or group appears to be trying to collect IP addresses of Bitcoin users and link them to their BTC addresses.

Listen to the article to find out how the unkown entity is finding these IP addresses and for what ends.

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SBF set to deny alleged Chinese bribe to unlock $1B Alameda funds

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 11:47:19 GMT

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to plead not guilty on Thursday to a new set of charges by the US government, which allege that the curly-haired former billionaire bribed Chinese officials to unfreeze locked funds belonging to Alameda Research, SBF's now-defunct crypto trading firm, and conspired to violate campaign finance laws.

Listen to the article to find out how Sam Bankman-Fried gave $40 million to Chinese officials in order to unfreeze Alameda trading accounts containing $1 billion in cryptocurrency.

For more informed news, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Google News or visit our website at Protos.com

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The Senate hearing on the collapse of SVB was embarrassing

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 11:39:09 GMT

The Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, which consists of 23 senators, including cryptocurrency advocates like Cynthia Lummis and haters like Sherrod Brown, all convened to discuss the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).

Unfortunately, instead of discussing how best to allay banking fears and concerns, hedging systemic risk, and setting up new rules and regulations, the senators used their time to yell at regulators to get a good soundbite for the next time they run for office.

Listen to how what could have been a useful educational experience turn into a stereotypical display of the circus that is American politics.

For more informed news, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Google News or visit our website at Protos.com

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Shinobi proposes zero-knowledge proofs on Bitcoin

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 12:52:40 GMT

Twitter influencer Shinobi has recommended adding zero-knowledge proofs for Bitcoin in an op-ed for Bitcoin Magazine.

They allow one party to prove that a statement is true without revealing the contents of the statement. It proves data is valid with zero knowledge of the data itself. For example, a ring signature is a basic ZKP.

Learn more about the proposal by listening to the article above.

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SEC claims Beaxy founder took ICO funds for gambling

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 12:34:11 GMT

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit against Beaxy, affiliated entities, and executives for operating an unlicensed securities exchange.

The lawsuit alleges that they engaged in the sale of an unregistered security with exchange token BXY, and also operated Beaxy as an unregistered securities exchange, failing to register as a broker or a clearing agency.

Find out what the rest of the allegations entail and the details behind a $900,000 misappropriation of funds by listening to the article above.

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Judge says token holders could be liable for DAO hacks

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 12:19:56 GMT

A judge for the United States District Court in the Southern District of California has ruled that DAO token holders can, as members of a general partnership, be held liable in a class action lawsuit for a hack suffered by bZx DAO. The lawsuit relates to a hack the bZx protocol experienced in November 2021 when one of the developers was phished and it was compromised for approximately $55 million worth of tokens.

After the hack, the 'DAO' voted to approve a plan that would eventually provide replacement DAO and debt tokens that would be repurchased. The plaintiffs in this lawsuit allege that this repayment would take "thousands of years."

Listen to the article to find out what this decision could mean for those holding any tokens with governance rights.

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Why is Silvergate Bank still listed on the NYSE?

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 12:01:04 GMT

Silvergate Bank announced its voluntary liquidation and said that it would soon be closing as a bank -- so why is it still trading on the New York Stock Exchange and worth approximately $2 a share? Listen to the article to find out why.

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3AC founders could be in contempt if they ignore new court order

Wed, 29 Mar 2023 16:36:39 GMT

Elusive Three Arrows Capital founders Kyle Davies and Su Zhu face being found in contempt of court if they fail to respond to an order summoning them to court in the British Virgin Islands.

The pair have been ordered to attend court on May 22 to aid in the collapsed firm’s liquidation proceedings. Listen to why authorities shouldn't hold their breath waiting for Davies and Zhu to get in touch by clicking the video above.

For more informed news, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Google News or visit our website at Protos.com

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Do Kwon faces ‘grim’ year in Montenegro jail, lawyer says

Wed, 29 Mar 2023 15:14:14 GMT

Terraform Labs founder and former fugitive Do Kwon is currently in a Montenegro jail awaiting likely indictment for alleged document forgery. Protos spoke to a criminal defense lawyer in the country to learn what daily life is now like for Kwon — and it’s a world away from the luxury of the private jet he attempted to board before his arrest.

Listen to the article above to find out the type of prison Kwon might be finding himself in and just how lengthy his sentence could be.

For more informed news, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Google News or visit our website at Protos.com

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Coinbase pitches “inflation-proof” flatcoins against struggling USDC

Wed, 29 Mar 2023 15:03:50 GMT

Coinbase wants to create more stablecoins to diversify away from its longtime favorite, the beleaguered USDC. The $16 billion crypto exchange has published its intent to develop a suite of experimental, inflation-adjusting stablecoins. These so-called ‘flatcoins’ will denominate trading pairs on Base, its proprietary Ethereum Layer 2 network.

You can find out everything you need to know about Coinbase's new 'flatcoins' by listening to the article above.

For more informed news, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Google News or visit our website at Protos.com

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Here’s what on-chain messages reveal about the $200M Euler Finance hack

Wed, 29 Mar 2023 14:55:18 GMT

On Monday, March 13, the year’s largest crypto hack so far occurred. Almost $200 million was stolen from decentralized lending protocol Euler Finance. The attack was devastating to the Ethereum-based platform, whose total value locked dropped by over 95%, as well as other DeFi projects which had funds tied up in Euler, such as Angle and Balancer.

Thanks to on-chain messages, we see how negotiations with the hacker took place. Listen to the article to find out what was exchanged between the two parties and what we now know about the hacker.

For more informed news, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Google News or visit our website at Protos.com

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SBF indicted for bribing China officials to unfreeze Alameda funds

Wed, 29 Mar 2023 14:43:03 GMT

A new superseding indictment has been filed against Sam Bankman-Fried, the former FTX and Alameda Research chief. The indictment adds a new conspiracy charge related to a bribery scheme that allegedly saw SBF direct more than $40 million in cryptocurrency to Chinese officials.

Listen to why SBF has been hit with these latest charges that add to an already growing list of crimes.

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Kraken founder promoted Custodia’s doomed bank and stablecoin

Wed, 29 Mar 2023 14:34:18 GMT

The US Federal Reserve rejected Custodia Bank’s application for a master account on January 27. Last week, it released a document explaining its reasoning for the rejection.

Like Kraken founder Jesse Powell, many fans of Custodia (formerly Avanti) praised its fully backed, non-fractional reserve banking application. However, almost no one spoke about Custodia’s shadowy plan to mint its own stablecoin with “implicit backing” from the Fed that would, according to regulators, add “a new, meaningful, volatile source of demand for Federal Reserve liabilities.”

Aside from Custodia’s founder Caitlin Long, the bank had no bigger cheerleader than Powell. Indeed, he tweeted his support for Custodia regularly. Listen to the article learn, unsurprisingly, he has a long history of supporting other shadowy stablecoins, especially Tether.

For more informed news, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Google News or visit our website at Protos.com

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CFTC lawsuit against Binance claims CZ traded against users

Wed, 29 Mar 2023 11:06:41 GMT

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has filed a lawsuit against Binance chief Changpeng Zhao, Binance, and it’s chief compliance officer, Samuel Lin.

It alleges serious compliance breaches, including a failure to register, allowing US persons to trade products they shouldn’t, and numerous KYC and AML failures.

Listen to the article to find a full breakdown of the allegations and Binance’s response to the lawsuit.

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Binance US could be shut down even with CFTC settlement

Wed, 29 Mar 2023 10:59:17 GMT

In his first interview after FTX crashed in November, Binance chief Changpeng Zhao (CZ) insisted that Binance is a clean exchange — that it matches trades but doesn’t trade futures or act like a trading shop.

However, yesterday’s complaint filed by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission against Binance, CZ, and chief compliance officer, Samuel Lim, suggests that the firm most definitely is a trading shop. According to the suit filed in Chicago federal court, Binance has its own unregistered trading operation through its “quant desk.”

Listen to the article to find out why this detail could be the end of Binance.

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Chinese tycoon accused of secretly controlling Gettr to promote crypto

Tue, 28 Mar 2023 18:43:15 GMT

The former Chinese billionaire behind the ill-fated Himalaya exchange and stablecoin reportedly pulled the strings at right-wing media outlet Gettr, using the platform to promote cryptocurrencies and conservative propaganda, according to former Gettr employees who spoke to The Washington Post.

Guo Wengui was a known Gettr investor but, as of last Sunday, it’s now apparent how big a role he had to play in financing, hiring, and making content decisions for the platform.

Find out how Guo allegedly took control of the Gettr app and what he did with the power by listening to the article above.

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Do Kwon registered company in Serbia weeks after Interpol arrest warrant

Tue, 28 Mar 2023 18:25:31 GMT

Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon registered a consultancy company in Serbia just three weeks after Interpol issued an international warrant for his arrest, according to business registry officials speaking to DL News.

Official records obtained by the outlet show a company called Codokoj22 was registered in the old town of Belgrade by Kwon and his business associate Han Chang-joon. The pair were arrested together in Montenegro for document forgery and traveling on a fake passport, after attempting to board a private jet to Dubai last week. Both deny the charges.

Find out the different connections the pair have to the company by listening to the article above.

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Author of Jan 6 insurrection plan to host war games at Bitcoin 2023

Tue, 28 Mar 2023 18:00:43 GMT

Political consultant and cryptocurrency advocate Samuel Armes announced last week that he is planning “a war-gaming session in Miami” to coincide with the Bitcoin 2023 conference. Armes was questioned last year by the House select committee for his alleged connections to the Proud Boy conspiracy and the January 6 insurrection.

Listen to the article to find out what he means by "a war-gaming session" and the reasons behind such a meeting.

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NFT whale down millions after farming Blur tokens with Bored Apes

Tue, 28 Mar 2023 17:41:21 GMT

The serial entrepreneur, tech bigwig, and singer Jeffrey Huang, better known in the crypto world as Machi Big Brother, has suffered realized losses of up to 2,400 ETH ($4.2 million) thanks to his attempts to farm tokens from the Blur NFT exchange.

Traders on Blur have been involved in so-called ‘farming wars,’ buying up and selling large amounts of NFTs to collect Blur tokens awarded against the user’s activity on the exchange.

But some traders like Huang have taken this farming to a very serious level, buying and selling mainly blue-chip NFTs such as Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks in very large volumes.

Listen to this article to find out the ins and outs behind Huang's farming war.

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Is Peter Thiel’s inner circle behind the Satoshi Nakamoto pseudonym?

Tue, 28 Mar 2023 17:26:55 GMT

Two years ago, billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel suggested that, during a cryptography conference 23 years ago, he met the person or group calling themselves Satoshi Nakamoto. He even came close to admitting he knew Satoshi’s precise identity. Now, following Thiel’s colleague Balaji Srinivasan predicting that bitcoin will be worth $1 million, these rumours have come to the surface again.

It’s possible that Thiel did know Satoshi as he did run in the same circles as them — from being a member of the PayPal Mafia to befriending Srinivasan and the founder of the first Bitcoin magazine, Vitalik Buterin.

But how deep do these ties go? And how likely is it that Thiel knows who Satoshi really is? Listen to the full article in the video above.

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Chinese users bypassed Binance KYC thanks to help from Binance

Fri, 24 Mar 2023 17:32:48 GMT

A report by CNBC claims to have revealed how Binance employees and volunteers are helping Binance users to avoid KYC checks.

CNBC translated a Chinese language Binance Discord server and Telegram group and found that Binance staff are showing customers how to bypass Binance KYC checks.

Listen to the article to find out all the different KYC workarounds being suggested by the Binance staff.

For more informed news, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Google News or visit our website at Protos.com

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Another hard week for the crypto industry — particularly Justin Sun

Fri, 24 Mar 2023 16:57:00 GMT

It’s been an extraordinarily difficult week for crypto companies and scammers, from a Wells Notice for Coinbase and crypto getting slammed by the White House, to Do Kwon getting apprehended with fake identification documents in Montenegro, there seems to be no escaping the long arm of the law.

But the strangest behavior from anyone currently being eviscerated by law enforcement has to be that of Justin Sun, founder of the Tron blockchain and owner of several cryptocurrency exchanges.

Listen to the article to find out about the big boiling pot of water Justin Sun has seemingly found himself in.

For more informed news, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Google News or visit our website at Protos.com

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Will arrested Terra founder Do Kwon be extradited to the US or South Korea?

Fri, 24 Mar 2023 16:37:10 GMT

Interpol has confirmed that Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon has been arrested in Montenegro’s capital city airport attempting to board a plane to Dubai with falsified Costa Rican and Belgium passports. The United States has subsequently filed eight counts of criminal charges against Kwon.

Find out the details behind his arrest and why everyone wants a slice of Kwon by listening to this article.

For more informed news, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Google News or visit our website at Protos.com

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This firm got $475M from SBF last year, now FTX wants it back

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 17:21:10 GMT

Following “constructive negotiations,” Sam Bankman-Fried’s bankrupt FTX has inked a deal to pull back more than $460 million in assets from Modulo Capital, the Bahamas-based hedge fund that received $475 million from Alameda Research back in 2022.

You can find out more about what was said in the court filings by listening to the article.

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Opinion: Silicon Valley Bank and the hypocrisy of venture capitalists

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 17:16:12 GMT

While the vitriol and mocking of public-facing venture capitalists like Jason Calacanis, David Ackman, and David Sacks is always welcome, what needs to be rendered clear is that there’s a deeper hypocrisy poisoning the well of venture capital: VCs refusing to acknowledge that they’re a community of like-minded individuals, who helped Silicon Valley Bank -- their bank of choice -- fail.

Let’s go back to the beginning.

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SEC sues Justin Sun over TRX, BTT, market manipulation

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 16:41:47 GMT

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit against Justin Sun, affiliated firms, and celebrity promoters, alleging market manipulation and sales of unregistered securities.

Listen to the article to learn the allegations the commission is making against Sun and his TRX and BTT tokens.

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Bitcoin mining industry outpaces the gains of bitcoin itself

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 16:14:48 GMT

The bitcoin mining industry has suffered a bear market lasting over a year. Miners lost the vast majority of their market capitalizations, resulting in companies seeking alternative sources of income, like taking subsidies for modulating municipal power grids, monetizing flared gas, or wholesaling stranded energy contracts.

Nonetheless, this year’s 64% rally in bitcoin has certainly buoyed mining stocks. The bull is back. Listen to this article to find out why.

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Dodgy cryptos MiamiCoin and NYCCoin finally get delisted

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 15:29:10 GMT

Singaporean crypto exchange OkCoin has suspended trading for NYCCoin and MiamiCoin, the respective cities' foray into cryptocurrencies, citing low liquidity.

According to a March 9 statement, token holders can withdraw their funds or keep them in their wallets -- but buying, selling, and trading isn't possible. However, OkCoin says it hopes to reopen these features soon.

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Coinbase execs have sold 9 times more stock than they’ve bought in 2023

Wed, 22 Mar 2023 17:28:32 GMT

Coinbase execs have dumped nearly nine times more shares in the company than they’ve bought since the start of the year, according to data from insider trading tracker, Dataroma.

The most recent figures show that since late December, company insiders have sold more than half a million shares at a total value of just over $26 million. By contrast, only 57,000 shares, worth just under $2.6 million, have been bought.

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US Treasury considers 100% backstop of bank deposits

Wed, 22 Mar 2023 17:14:21 GMT

The US government is concerned about the unlikely yet destabilizing possibility of nationwide bank runs. The Federal Reserve and Treasury already bailed out two banks last week, including the second-largest bank failure in the country’s history: Silicon Valley Bank. Now, the US Treasury is considering a backstop of all bank deposits nationwide.

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UK crypto group wants gov’t to step in to stop de-banking

Wed, 22 Mar 2023 13:44:26 GMT

Fully compliant crypto companies should be placed on a ‘white list’ to help banks to determine which ones are safe to expose to their clients, says CryptoUK, the UK’s leading crypto trade organization.

In a letter to regulators, CryptoUK says that circulating a list of safe firms is just one of a number of measures the government can take to prevent exchanges from being cut adrift from the financial system.

Listen to the article to hear why CryptoUK wants a 'white list.'

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IRS wants to know if NFTs count as collectibles for tax purposes

Wed, 22 Mar 2023 13:25:55 GMT

The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service are looking for guidance on whether to treat non-fungible tokens as a collectible under tax law.

In it’s own research, the IRA are struggling to determine if different renditions of an NFT should be consider a collectible, from owning an NFT gem, to an NFT of a plot virtual land.

Listen to the article to find out exactly what the IRA wants to know from owners of NFTs.

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Did Justin Sun’s diplomatic immunity get revoked?

Wed, 22 Mar 2023 13:16:56 GMT

David Sacks, the VC famous for co-founding PayPal, his tech investments, and for buying and dumping $1 billion worth of Solana, raised the alarm during Silicon Valley Bank’s bank run.

In his panicky tweets, Sacks argued that if SVB wasn’t saved, regional and small banks would also experience bank runs, causing financial chaos.

Yet, it seems that a number of the PayPal Mafia -- a group of investors who founded the firm -- pulled their money out of the bank before asking the authorities to step in. Listen to the article find out why the venture capitalist's flawed views are so at odds with his position on other policy issues.

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What’s up with TrueUSD and the rest of TrustToken’s stablecoins?

Wed, 22 Mar 2023 12:09:40 GMT

The market cap of TrueUSD has more than doubled in the last month to over $2 billion. TrustToken Incorporated, one of the companies behind the True family of tokens advertises them as “maximally transparent,” but the reality is somewhat different.

Listen to the article to discover who runs this token, the on-chain behavior of its tokens, and the history of its attestations and reserves.

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Bitcoin rallies amid Credit Suisse, Silicon Valley Bank failures

Wed, 22 Mar 2023 11:48:50 GMT

Bitcoin has rallied 20% this month amid a global wave of bank failures.

Bitcoin was born out of a similar banking crisis. In 2009, a staggering 140 US banks failed. Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto built Bitcoin to disintermediate third parties from digital cash transactions. Using the Bitcoin network, no one need trust any bank nor government to confirm payment.

Listen to how Bitcoin remains a resilient contender as banks struggle to stay afloat.

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Bithumb chief bribed to list crypto, prosecutors claim

Tue, 21 Mar 2023 21:28:27 GMT

South Korean authorities have announced an investigation into executives at Bithumb’s parent company following allegations that it listed certain cryptocurrencies in exchange for money.

As reported by Chosun Biz, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office disclosed on Friday that a number of senior figures at Bithumb Holdings are under investigation.

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Coinbase allegedly offered Circle $3B lifeline during USDC depeg

Tue, 21 Mar 2023 21:15:59 GMT

Crypto exchange Coinbase reportedly offered a $3 billion lifeline to Circle as its stablecoin USDC de-pegged as a result of Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) collapse, according to a person familiar with the arrangement speaking to Fortune.

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Blame the Fed: David Sacks and the VC who cried bank-run

Tue, 21 Mar 2023 21:08:03 GMT

“Where is Powell? Where is Yellen? Stop this Crisis NOW,” cried a perturbed and angry David Sacks before market close on Friday March 10.

Sacks, the VC famous for co-founding PayPal, his tech investments, and for buying and dumping $1 billion worth of Solana, was raising the alarm that Silicon Valley Bank had financial troubles and could risk a bank run.

In his panicky tweets, Sacks argued that if SVB wasn’t saved, regional and small banks would also experience bank runs, causing financial chaos.

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Community questions opaque finances at BNB Chain protocol Venus

Tue, 21 Mar 2023 20:55:47 GMT

The largest DeFi money market on Binance’s blockchain, Venus (XVS), finances a curious book. A string of events put it at risk of overexposure to assets from hacks and bridge exploits. Venus considers some $250 million worth of stolen BNB to be part of its so-called total value locked (TVL).

Today, it claims to possess roughly $950 million of TVL within Binance’s Smart Chain ecosystem, inclusive of those illegitimate funds, while community members have accused Venus Protocol of hiding some of its liabilities.

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Coinbase reportedly considers overseas expansion amid US crackdown

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 17:38:12 GMT

Crypto trading platform Coinbase has reportedly reached out to institutional clients about possible plans to set up a trading platform outside of the US. With crypto-friendly banks dwindling and regulatory scrutiny increasing, the potential move comes as no surprise.

Listen to the full story to learn Coinbase's history of nefarious dealings and why everyone might not be all open arms.

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Playboy loses $5M on Ethereum earned from NFT sales

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 16:58:58 GMT

Parent of Hugh Hefner’s Playboy, PLBY Group, has disclosed a loss of $4.9 million on the Ethereum it held last year — citing a crypto winter as the cause.

Playboy’s NFT collection, Rabbitars, launched in 2021 at the peak of the NFT craze. The price of Ether since Rabbitars was released has since plummeted over 60%.

Find out what the decreasing NFT collection means for Playboy by listening to the clip above.

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Ethereum liquid staking braces for April 12 withdrawals

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 16:12:50 GMT

After the Shanghai update, users will be able to unstake their ETH and sell or migrate to a new liquid staking service.

Prior to Shanghai, liquid staking services have only been competing for inflows. However, next month staking administrators will have to compete against other staking services just to retain their current depositors.

Currently, ETH liquid staking tokens belonging to just two services — Lido (stETH) and Coinbase (cbETH) — are worth over $10 billion. But there are other services out there vying for dominance.

Listen to the video for a review of Ethereum’s major liquid staking services.

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‘Circle Swap’ scam exploits USDC depeg fears, drains ether from wallets

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 11:54:19 GMT

Anxious traders looking to swap Circle’s stablecoin USDC should look out for scams.

Indeed, scammers have been pretending to be a legit swap market called ‘circle swap,’ when, in reality, ether was being drained from victims’ wallets.

Listen to how Tuesday’s attackers created a convincing mock-up using Circle’s name and a fake partnership in the hope of luring USDC holders in.

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The show goes on: How Signature Bank’s bailout saved Broadway

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 17:24:06 GMT

Major crypto bank, Signature, experienced major liquidity issues this week following the loss of FTX, subsequently leading to a sharp drop in stock price and a bank-run situation. Among its depositors were real estate and law firms -- but another sector under threat of breaking its leg was New York's musical theater scene.

According to insiders who spoke to Broadway News, Signature bank was a favorite of the Broadway industry. Signature reportedly propped up a significant number of shows, meaning its collapse would lead to dramatic consequences for broadway.

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Match CEO disses mobile games after blowing $50K on Clash of Clans

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 17:02:03 GMT

Match Group CEO Bernard Kim says dating apps are a far more worthwhile way to spend your time than mobile games — but only after he spent $50,000 in just three months on mobile strategy game Clash of Clans.

“I’ve personally spent $50,000 in three months in Clash of Clans, and I still look back at that with lots of shame,” Kim told an interviewer at a dating summit.

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Alameda co-chief Caroline Ellison got 75% less in bonuses than male counterpart

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 16:46:57 GMT

New court filings reveal that FTX and Alameda Research executives received $3.2 billion in payments and loans before the crypto firms collapsed — but the sole female exec, Caroline Ellison, got just $6 million.

Founder Sam Bankman-Fried was given $2.2 billion, former FTX director of engineering Nishad Singh got $587 million and founder Gary Wang received $246 million. Former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets Ryan Salame received $87 million and $25 million was given to former co-CEO of Alameda, Sam Trabucco.

Ellison’s $6 million is less than a quarter of what her male counterpart received.

Quotes in bold are our emphasis. For more informed news, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Google News or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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Bitcoin Core developer proposes new type of pruned node

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 15:57:48 GMT

For years, Bitcoin pruned nodes have reduced the file size of Bitcoin’s blockchain using a simple method. Now, there’s a new proposal.

Bitcoin Core developer James O’Beirne has proposed a new way to run a Bitcoin pruned node. His proposal overhauls the conventional method for pruning Bitcoin’s blockchain.

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How the US gov’t bailed out USDC stablecoin

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 15:31:33 GMT

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has taken over two banks at which Circle held billions of dollars worth of backing for its stablecoin, USDC. By making depositors whole at these insolvent banks, the US government has essentially bailed out USDC’s $1 peg.

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US gov’t creates moral minefield after SVB and Silvergate bailout

Wed, 15 Mar 2023 17:25:34 GMT

While your favorite public-facing VC was having a complete meltdown and talking about buying guns on Twitter, financial regulators and governing bodies met behind closed-doors to stop what was beginning to resemble a regional-level bank run.

Their move became clear on Sunday when a joint decision was announced, ensuring that all depositors at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature were fully covered – regardless of $250,000 limits on FDIC insurance.

The alteration seems to have driven the governmental bodies into an extremely morally hazardous minefield.

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How Raoul Pal’s Real Vision left its audience in the dark

Wed, 15 Mar 2023 17:16:10 GMT

When Real Vision was founded by Raoul Pal, Grant Williams, Daniel Horner, and Remi Tetot in 2014, it promised high-quality educational content on the worlds of finance and business.

At that time, it was one of the few financial media outlets to hold in-depth interviews with significant personalities. Rarely had the public been able to see these finance and business gurus speak at such length and in such detail about their histories, methods, and secrets. Then something changed.

In 2019, Grant Williams, who had produced some of Real Vision’s most spectacular interviews, left. And while the educational and historical content on Real Vision remained, gradually the Bitcoin and crypto-focused content started to ramp up.

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Crypto braces for impact of OpenAI’s new GPT-4

Wed, 15 Mar 2023 13:48:38 GMT

Sam Altman’s OpenAI has released GPT-4, an upgrade of its third-generation artificial intelligence engine that will affect the entire crypto industry.

Computer enthusiasts by trade, the crypto industry immediately heralded the launch of GPT-4. NFT fans immediately began experimenting with its art tools.

However, others cautioned about threats to blockchains and protocols with limited security testing, such as decentralized finance protocols.

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NatWest also limits UK crypto purchases, Binance halts GBP operations

Wed, 15 Mar 2023 13:38:23 GMT

UK bank NatWest will limit payments to £1,000 a day and £5,000 a month, joining other prominent firms in restricting crypto purchases and transfers, The Block first reported.

In NatWest’s announcement sent by email on Tuesday, it cited “increasing customer protection against crypto criminals” as the reason.

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Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin says US should have let SVB die

Tue, 14 Mar 2023 17:28:18 GMT

Hedge fund boss Ken Griffin says the US government should have allowed Silicon Valley Bank to go under as a “lesson in moral hazard,” rather than stepping in with a rescue package, reports the Financial Times.

The California-based bank was shuttered late last week when customers withdraw more than $40 billion — over a quarter of its total deposits — in a single day.

But instead of allowing the lender to collapse, regulators came through with a bumper package that they claimed would cover all depositors in full.

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Telegram chats by Jane Street and Jump Crypto staff probed in Terra case

Tue, 14 Mar 2023 17:22:08 GMT

Manhattan federal prosecutors have allegedly slid into the DMs of employees at Jane Street and Jump Trading to determine if market manipulation occurred in the collapse of Terra’s stablecoin, Bloomberg reports.

According to an unnamed source familiar with the matter, Telegram messages by Jane Street and Jump are being combed in relation to a potential bailout of TerraUSD in May, which never took place. Instead, the entire Terra ecosystem collapsed.

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Coinbase warns users their info was passed to UK tax office

Tue, 14 Mar 2023 17:13:42 GMT

Coinbase users in the UK have been informed that their names must be given to tax authority HMRC if they cashed out more than £5,000 in fiat during the 2021 tax year.

This is not the first time Coinbase has warned its users of financial disclosures to HMRC. In January last year, an almost identical warning was posted for the 2019 and 2020 tax years.

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HiveEx, Genesis Block, and SBF’s trading desk network

Tue, 14 Mar 2023 17:08:00 GMT

Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research may well have been one of the most important trading desks in all of crypto, but others such as HiveEx within the FTX cartel played important roles.

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How crypto market chaos affected US bank stocks

Mon, 13 Mar 2023 16:34:28 GMT

The current market chaos in US banking, tech, and cryptocurrency is hard to summarize without using the common moniker FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) in a very literal sense.

After the pandemic, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates in the US. Inflation went up; interest rates continued to rise. This flew in the face of years of enjoying low-to-no interest rates, first introduced with the goal of ensuring a stable economy.

However, cryptocurrency markets tumbled when FTX was identified as a fraudulent actor in November. Its main banking partner, Silvergate, served most prominent crypto firms — but when it began to experience a credit and liquidity crunch, depositors exited en masse and loan markets dried up.

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Crypto entrepreneur who fled FBI now works for Russian state media

Mon, 13 Mar 2023 15:45:13 GMT

Christopher Emms, the British blockchain pioneer who is wanted by the FBI for allegedly breaking US sanctions on North Korea has reportedly been hired to provide crypto commentary by Russian state broadcaster RT.

Emms was accused of organizing a crypto conference in Pyongyang, North Korea in April 2019 at which he allegedly explained to his audience how blockchain could be used to evade US sanctions. Since settling in Moscow, one of Emms' first productions is a lecture on inflation wrapped with an invective against the West.

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Ethereum limits full Shanghai withdrawals for 18 months

Mon, 13 Mar 2023 12:57:41 GMT

Within weeks, Ethereum’s Shanghai update will begin the process of unlocking 17.5 million staked ether worth $28 billion. Unavailable for withdrawal and unable to be sold currently, this supply will be slowly reintroduced to public markets and affect Ethereum’s price.

Ethereum’s official website says Shanghai could go live during the first half of 2023. Some experts believe the upgrade could activate as early as US tax day: April 15.

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Is ether a security? New York’s Attorney General thinks so

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 17:15:42 GMT

The New York Attorney General has alleged that TerraDollar, Luna, KuCoin Earn, and ether are securities in a lawsuit filed against KuCoin. A New York-based detective was able to create a KuCoin account, fund it with ether, trade for tethers, Luna, and TerraDollars, and take advantage of KuCoin’s Earn product all while in New York.

The NYAG alleges that these tokens, including ether, are securities under New York state’s Martin Act “because they represent investments of money in common enterprises with profits to be derived primarily from the efforts of others.” This standard is very similar to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s judicial Howey Test.

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DoJ appeals against Voyager asset deal with Binance US

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 16:57:09 GMT

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has filed an appeal against a judge’s approval of a bankruptcy plan for Voyager Digital that includes Binance US buying billions of dollars in assets.

The document was submitted early this morning by the DoJ’s bankruptcy component overseeing New York (US Trustee, Region 2) to the District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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‘Bitcoin Willy Wonka’ Max Keiser now works for El Salvador gov’t

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 16:48:43 GMT

The President of El Salvador has appointed pro-Tether Bitfinex investor, ICO promoter, and self-described Bitcoin Maximalist Max Keiser to a senior government position. According to an op-ed from local outlet El Faro, Keiser and his wife Stacy Herbert are displacing some responsibilities of El Salvador’s official Foreign Ministry.

He purposefully cultivates an outlandish, splashy, and disordered personal brand. Late-night TV host Trevor Noah described him as “Bitcoin Willy Wonka.”

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Buying guns with crypto a constitutional right, argue lobbyists

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 11:24:43 GMT

A gun lobbying association has urged people to protest a proposal to exclude crypto from the definition of ‘money,’ which they claim effectively criminalizes buying guns with digital currency.

Just last week, the state of South Dakota proposed legislation that would alter the definition of money within the Uniform Commercial Code, effectively excluding crypto from being considered ‘money.’

In response, the non-profit gun rights organization Gun Owners of America has urged firearms owners to protest what it sees as a threat to the country's Second Amendment.

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Winklevii band Mars Junction on hiatus as Gemini bank loss rumors swirl

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 11:17:06 GMT

While no formal announcement has been issued, it looks like rock ‘n’ roll cover band Mars Junction, featuring the 41-year-old Winklevoss twins on lead vocals and guitar, is on indefinite hiatus.

The band, which began in mid-2021, has had a rough time of it since it last posted on Twitter in early November — the day before the complete collapse of FTX — advertising the opening of a merch shop.

Merch sales have not been disclosed.

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Gambling with Tether: Ultimate Bet, USDT perps, Tron bets, and the $1 peg

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 10:59:58 GMT

Throughout history, many online gambling and poker sites have been subject to fraud. Owners would cheat, overstate the odds of winning, operate like a Ponzi scheme, refuse to process withdrawals, or simply exit-scam altogether.

The 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act banned transferring money to and from illegal gambling websites, making it impractical for an online gambling business to serve US residents. With USD transfers nearly impossible, demand for censorship-resistant cryptocurrencies increased, and USDT and other cryptocurrencies met the niche market demand.

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DoJ moves Silk Road bitcoin to new wallets and exchanges

Wed, 08 Mar 2023 17:56:47 GMT

Blockchain analysis conducted by Protos shows that bitcoin related to the Silk Road seizure are moving, and some may have been sent to Coinbase.

A total of 49,000 bitcoin stored in a US Department of Justice wallet that were seized from darknet marketplace Silk Road have been moved to new addresses.

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UK announces second crypto ATM crackdown this month

Wed, 08 Mar 2023 17:19:08 GMT

The UK’s financial watchdog today announced its second crackdown on crypto ATMs in less than a month.

The joint operation with the Metropolitan Police will see regulators seize and confiscate unregistered crypto ATMs in East London. It follows an earlier crackdown in Leeds that was described by officials as a national first. To date, there are no crypto ATMs registered with the FCA.

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Vitalik dumps shitcoins before Fed confirms inflation not peaked

Wed, 08 Mar 2023 17:10:03 GMT

Vitalik Buterin timed the market’s next leg-down perfectly, selling up to $700,000 worth of shitcoins right before chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell testified in front of the Senate Banking Committee and rattled the markets.

Yesterday, Powell reminded everyone that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer than investors were expecting, and in addition, confirmed that it may also raise interest rates even higher than 5%. The current Federal Funds rate rests just above the 4.5% mark.

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Ordinals enable first-ever Bitcoin sovereign rollup

Wed, 08 Mar 2023 17:04:43 GMT

Bitcoin developer Casey Rodarmor’s launch of Ordinals continues to emanate shockwaves of unintended outcomes. His innovative, controversial use of Bitcoin’s Taproot and Segwit upgrades has not only created a new type of Bitcoin NFT but also a new class of blockchain rollup. This month, developers at Rollkit used Ordinals to introduce Bitcoin’s first sovereign rollup.

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Iran-backed hacker demanded 80 bitcoin in anti-Israeli ransom note

Tue, 07 Mar 2023 17:36:16 GMT

A group of anonymous hackers that recently attempted to extort nearly $2 million in bitcoin from a prominent Israeli university is linked to Iranian security services.

In February, the collective calling itself DarkBit targeted the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. The group claimed to have stolen ‘all’ of the university’s data and threatened to put it up for sale within five days unless it received 80 bitcoins ($1.7 million) by way of ransom.

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North Macedonia links Russia to bomb hoax, says crypto used to hide location

Tue, 07 Mar 2023 15:39:23 GMT

In a short segment on national television on Monday, North Macedonia's former prime minister and current minister of internal affairs, Oliver Spasovski, said that some recent bomb threats have been traced back to IP addresses in Russia and Iran, along with cryptocurrency payments made to VPN services.

North Macedonia and other Balkan nations have been bombarded with daily hoax bomb threats since October, causing widespread disruptions to schools, hospitals, hotels, shopping malls, museums, sports venues, and more.

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BoJo donor Christopher Harborne named as intermediary in Tether fraud claims

Tue, 07 Mar 2023 13:27:57 GMT

Big-time Brexit and Boris Johnson donor Christopher Harborne has been named in disclosures first reported by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that suggest Tether evaded blocks by US banks through falsifying documents.

These claims, wholly denied by Tether, say shell companies, false documents, and shady intermediaries like Harborne were used to con banks into keeping accounts open and money flowing.

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The story of Ryan Breslow and his crypto catastrophes

Tue, 07 Mar 2023 12:43:09 GMT

Ryan Breslow, the founder and former chief executive officer of Bolt, an online payment platform that last raised at a valuation of $11 billion, has faced a variety of challenges in the crypto ecosystem. These include handing a DAO over to a convicted fraudster and being accused of misrepresenting how Eco, a company he co-founded, made yield.

This is a recap of his time before an investigation revealed the former CEO mislead customers.

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Exclusive: Tether whale Heka Funds manager explains 100% returns

Mon, 06 Mar 2023 18:27:57 GMT

Following our reporting last week on Heka Funds, Protos got in touch with Elysium Global Arbitrage Fund founder Fabio Frontini to find out more about how, despite great counterparty risk, it managed to make 100% returns for its clients.

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Block.One founder Brendan Blumer lost over $70M on Silvergate

Mon, 06 Mar 2023 18:16:57 GMT

By November 16, EOS and Block.One founder Brendan Blumer had spent over $90 million to buy 9.27% of Silvergate stock. Since then, the crypto-friendly bank has collapsed by over 80% — Blumer has personally lost at least $74 million.

Silvergate was known to be a major bank for FTX and Alameda Research — FTX filed for bankruptcy five days before Blumer’s investment. Now, Silvergate is the latest ship to sink to the bottom of a rather cluttered crypto pool. Why did Blumer make such a blunder?

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Did Tether falsify documents to fool cautious banks?

Mon, 06 Mar 2023 17:56:12 GMT

Stablecoin giant Tether falsified documents that were provided to its banking partners, according to reporting from the Wall Street Journal. The company is also reportedly under investigation by the Department of Justice for bank fraud.

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NFT upstart Blur outstrips OpenSea in creator royalty payments

Fri, 03 Mar 2023 17:24:25 GMT

As of last month, up-and-coming NFT marketplace Blur began paying more royalties to creators who sell artwork on its platform than OpenSea, the NFT marketplace’s previous biggest hitter.

There are currently more artists being paid royalties via Blur, and the platform is also surpassing OpenSea in trading volume. Blur made a staggering $424 million in sales last week while OpenSea made only $92 million.

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Justin Sun’s stablecoin TUSD curiously grows amid market meltdown

Fri, 03 Mar 2023 16:36:54 GMT

Almost all stablecoins have seen their market caps dramatically reduced since the collapse of the Do Kwon-founded Ponzi scheme Terra/Luna in May and June of last year.

Binance USD has been hit particularly hard — its market cap has crumbled from $22 billion to $10 billion over the last three months. What’s peculiar, however, is the upward momentum of the Justin Sun-controlled stablecoin TUSD which has seen its market cap balloon from $750 million in December to nearly $1.2 billion today.

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Will crypto-friendly bank Silvergate file for bankruptcy this weekend?

Fri, 03 Mar 2023 16:20:23 GMT

Investors are worried that Silvergate might file for bankruptcy protection soon. Long-time critic and short-seller Marc Cohodes predicts the bankruptcy filing could arrive before Monday and that its CEO Alan Lane should face federal charges.

The publicly traded bank has delayed the release of its 2022 annual report. It admitted a “going concern” regarding its ability to survive financially. Silvergate has requested an extension of time from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in order to evaluate “internal controls over financial reporting.”

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Aussies lose $600M through ‘DIY’ crypto pension funds

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 16:25:39 GMT

Thousands of Australians have likely seen their pension funds decimated after their crypto investments shed an estimated $600 million AUD ($403 million) in value.

Affected are investors who decided to set up so-called DIY pension funds.

These funds differ from traditional pension pots in that their members are also the trustees, making them responsible for managing their savings themselves.This allows investors to place their money in less traditional markets, including crypto.

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Nationwide joins banks in hampering UK crypto payments

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 15:59:33 GMT

Building society Nationwide is the latest banking entity to restrict customers’ ability to buy cryptocurrency in the UK, as it bans the use of a credit card to buy crypto and sets a $6,000 limit to any daily crypto purchases.

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Silvergate warns investors it may not survive the year, shares drop 30%

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 15:55:58 GMT

Struggling Silvergate Capital, owner of crypto-friendly bank Silvergate, has warned investors that it expects to record further losses for 2022 that have significantly impacted its “ability to continue.” Its share price tumbled 30% following the news, from $13.60 to $9.50 at press time.

Silvergate notified the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday that it won’t be able to file its annual 10-K form on time for the fiscal year 2022. It cited the last-minute sale of additional investment securities to repay outstanding loans from the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco as a reason for the delay, along with the sale of additional debt securities in January and February 2023.

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Binance leads Voyager asset race but lender may face $60B fines

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 15:48:56 GMT

In July 2022, Voyager Digital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and for more than seven months, its customers have been fighting to get their money back. Soon, Binance could emerge as the winning suitor.

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Dutch police recover 90% of victim decryption keys in ransomware scam

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 17:13:50 GMT

The Dutch National Police have disrupted the Deadbolt ransomware group, recovering the decryption keys of 90% of victims that contacted police, according to a report by Chainalysis.

Since 2021, Deadbolt has preyed on small businesses and sometimes individuals, demanding smaller ransoms that can quickly add up. In 2022, Deadbolt successfully collected more than $2.3 million from about 5,000 victims.

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Musk Twitter scams pivot to paid ads that shill Mars trips and brain chips

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 16:50:21 GMT

Twitter scammers impersonating Elon Musk are reportedly pivoting from free accounts to paid ads as they attempt to lure victims with promises of free crypto, trips to Mars, and Neuralink brain chips.

The numbers of ads featuring the Twitter CEO’s photo seem to be on the rise. Forbes even suggests that Twitter is either “knowingly or unknowingly profiting from crypto scams on its platform.”

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Researcher ties Jane Street to notorious 'Wallet A' that helped depeg UST

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 16:35:37 GMT

New research suggests that there’s a “good chance” Terra’s collapse was largely triggered by quant trading firm Jane Street.

Igor Igamberdiev, head of research at crypto market maker Wintermute, believes that Jane Street is likely related to the notorious ‘Wallet A,’ which swapped 85 million UST for USDC and imbalanced the UST/3CRV Curve pool. Wallet A is often considered to be a major contributor to the depegging of Terra in May.

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Top DeFi projects move further from decentralization in 2023

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 16:13:03 GMT

Despite nearly six years passing since the inception of decentralized finance (DeFi) in 2017, it’s still experiencing child-like growing pains in 2023. DeFi underpins many Web3 properties which experience hacks and exploits weekly. Multi-million dollar exploits remain commonplace.

In 2023, DeFi could continue its slow development, or it could pass as an unsustainable fad. In any case, here are the most recent problems facing three large DeFi platforms today.

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Aussie man threatened to start bushfire in crypto extortion attempt, police say

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 15:32:16 GMT

An Australian man has been charged with extortion for giving authorities in Queensland a fiery ultimatum: hand over $5 million AUD ($3.4 million) in crypto or he would intentionally start a bushfire.

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FTX and BlockFi bankruptcies spook Visa and Mastercard

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 15:11:03 GMT

Payment processors Mastercard and Visa say they have no plans to alter their crypto strategies despite delaying plans to forge new relationships in the industry, following the high-profile collapses of a number of prominent firms.

As reported by Reuters, the spectacular implosions of companies including FTX and BlockFi have led to the financial giants pumping the brakes on a number of crypto-related products and services. According to anonymous sources close to the matter, the delays will remain in place “until market conditions and the regulatory environment improve.”

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NFT designer arrested for allegedly evading crypto tax in Israel

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 12:29:20 GMT

A prominent designer based in Tel Aviv was arrested on Sunday by Israeli authorities for allegedly failing to disclose cryptocurrency earnings in tax reports. Ben Benhorin, a digital artist and owner of independent studio Wuwa, creates generative code-based art and sells pieces on its OpenSea.

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Token of choice for Zhu and Davies' new exchange up 3,000%

Tue, 28 Feb 2023 17:46:34 GMT

If you’re wondering about the state of the cryptocurrency industry post-FTX’s dramatic collapse, here’s some news: a token associated with CoinFLEX, a bankrupted crypto futures and lending exchange, has rocketed by 3,000%.

The FLEX token has jumped from five cents to $1.50 since it was revealed that it would be utilized as the token of choice for the new Su Zhu, Kyle Davies, and Mark Lamb-run cryptocurrency bankruptcy claim exchange, OPNX.

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DeFi project LaunchZone claims to be latest victim of BNB chain exploits

Mon, 27 Feb 2023 19:01:24 GMT

Decentralized finance protocol LaunchZone has claimed an attacker has drained 80% of funds in its liquidity pool, worth $700,000.

LaunchZone claims to be “the ultimate DeFi platform.” The BNB Chain-based protocol paused trading and transferring of its native token, LZ, until “the problems are solved,” it announced on Twitter earlier today, in a post that restricts replies. However, it shared an announcement by crypto exchange Biswap that LZ will be delisted due to its alleged hack.

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Meet Heka Funds, the Tether whale that never stops giving

Mon, 27 Feb 2023 18:53:32 GMT

Earlier this month, Tether Holdings Limited reported a 2022 Q4 profit of $700 million and excess reserves of $960 million. The report couldn’t be independently verified but if true, these figures would be remarkable given the pain currently being felt across much of the rest of the crypto industry.

When we examine headlines from a year ago, it’s clear that most of crypto’s big players had it tough. Those who have survived and prospered are particularly interesting. Although it’s not possible to verify many of the claims coming directly from Tether, public information suggests that one of its little-known cousins, Heka Funds, has been consistently making money without pause.

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Richard Heart followers lose faith as PulseChain, PulseX face delays

Mon, 27 Feb 2023 17:32:34 GMT

Crypto personality Richard Heart has delayed the launch of PulseChain and PulseX for months. Hundreds of millions of dollars in user funds are inaccessible within sacrificed wallets for the two projects, while ongoing delays have caused finger-pointing among Heart’s “Hexican” following from his original ICO, HEX.

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Polygon hit by 157-block ‘reorg’ despite hard-fork to reduce reorgs

Mon, 27 Feb 2023 12:12:55 GMT

On Wednesday, Polygon experienced a blockchain quirk affecting 157 blocks or approximately five minutes worth of network activity.

After blocks appeared to have stopped being produced for several minutes, the Ethereum side-chain’s co-founder Sandeep Nailwal tweeted that (block explorer) Polygonscan was “having some issues.”

In actual fact, the interruption was down to a chain reorganization or ‘reorg’, a problem that Polygon is attempting to fix.

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Crypto firm tied to UK politics disappeared with investor cash

Fri, 24 Feb 2023 16:21:59 GMT

A UK crypto firm that disappeared, leaving 8,000 investors, including a Premier League footballer, locked out of their investments, has ignited fierce debate around the issue of corporate lobbying in UK politics.

Phoenix Community Capital was at one point rumored to be worth $800 million and offered its customers investments that would supposedly make them their money back in 45 days.

However, as The Guardian reports, the firm vanished in 2022, locking an estimated 8,000 investors out of their funds.

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NBA Top Shot NFTs could be unregistered securities, judge says

Fri, 24 Feb 2023 16:10:53 GMT

A New York judge has ruled that a proposed class-action lawsuit against Dapper Labs and its Top Shot Moments NFT collection can move forward because the offering could have been an unregistered securities offering.

In the eyes of the plaintiffs, the offering should have registered with the SEC but instead, it opted to withhold important information from investors about the risks of investing in its NFTs. Many of these have collapsed since their purchase.

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Sam Bankman-Fried charged with more fraud

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 18:58:06 GMT

A superseding indictment against Sam Bankman-Fried has been filed in the Southern District of New York, newly charging him with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business, commodities fraud, and securities fraud.

This is an addition to the existing conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions, wire fraud, and conspiracy charges.

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FOI reveals 32 UK crypto traders lost over $2M to FTX

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 16:22:07 GMT

Crypto traders in the UK have turned to the police for help after losing nearly $2.3 million following the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) FTX empire.

As reported by CityAM, a freedom of information request (FOI) submitted by trading website Investing Reviews to the City of London Police revealed how 32 crypto traders lost a collective £1.9 million ($2.28 million).

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Bored Apes floor price holds despite massive NFT dump

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 16:20:14 GMT

On Tuesday, web 3.0 company CanaryLabs.XYZ sold 71 pieces from the Bored Ape Yacht Club and Mutant Apes collections, raking in a total of up to 5,500 ETH or $9 million.

Surprisingly, the unusually large dump, which came after allegations that Yuga Labs plagiarised its logos, didn’t move the floor price at all. At the time of writing, Bored Ape Yacht Club’s (BAYC) 24-hour trading volume stands at around 13,723 ETH.

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BUSD fell to $0.20 on Binance after trader sold $600K

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 17:23:41 GMT

Liquidity on crypto exchange Binance evaporated on Wednesday morning as its stablecoin, BUSD, dropped to a low of $0.20 against the DAI stablecoin.

A single sell order of $647,000 triggered the steep tumble. However, BUSD instantly regained its peg against DAI, as arbitrage traders snapped up the discount and sold it for $1 on other exchanges.

Binance’s orderbook revealed $3.38 million in aggregated sell orders made while BUSD depegged against the DAI, CoinDesk reports.

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Opinion: It’s a blessing that SBF has taken a break from Twitter

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 17:05:41 GMT

Could it be beneficial for the prosecution to let Sam Bankman-Fried stay online and talking? Yes, but it’s also a detriment to society.

As FTX collapsed around him, Sam Bankman-Fried took to Twitter in an attempt to ease the disparate and panicked cries from traders, investors, and employees. Everything was fine, he assured the Twitterverse; the company was simply experiencing a liquidity crunch. It was all things SBF, all the time. Even when headlines read “SBF lies again” or “nothing he says makes sense," it somehow felt like he was controlling the narrative.

Then, about a month ago, there was resounding (and very welcome) silence.

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The crumbling empire of Fred Schebesta, Australia’s self-titled Crypto King

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 16:49:45 GMT

Fred Schebesta, the founder and former CEO of Australian financial services comparison application Finder, self-describes as the ‘Crypto King of Australia.’ He sold his over-the-counter trading (OTC) desk to Alameda Research which was then used to bank FTX.

Schebesta is also connected to a variety of different investment vehicles, though the full relationship between these entities is somewhat difficult to parse.

Protos investigated the tangled web of Schebesta's empire and mapped out how various entities are deeply entwined. From HiveEx to FTX, there's a lot to explore.

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DeFi hackers are making bank this year — it’s February

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 15:50:28 GMT

In early 2023, the cryptocurrency industry has been characterized by unexpected price pumps and mounting regulatory pressure, yet it’s been a fairly quiet time for the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.

DeFi, which usually suffers from a near-constant barrage of hacks, scams, and rug pulls, has flown largely under the radar while the likes of Binance and Kraken have faced off repeatedly with the SEC.

However, just because things in that particular part of the cryptosphere appear quieter, doesn’t mean that DeFi hasn’t had its fair share of drama.

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NFT flop Moonbirds cost this trader 1,000 ETH

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 12:30:02 GMT

An unidentified NFT trader has lost more than 1,000 ETH, most of it via purchases of the much-hyped Moonbirds.

Moonbirds was launched in April last year by Kevin Rose’s Proof Collective and was supposed to build connections between NFT collectors. It was also planning to host an NFT conference, however, this has now been canceled.

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Whales profited from retail investors in 2022 crypto crash, report

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 12:24:11 GMT

A new report by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) reveals most retail crypto investors bought the dip in the wake of Terra Luna and FTX’s collapse while larger investors mainly sold. As a result, a majority of crypto app users in “nearly all economies” have made losses on their bitcoin holdings, with whales selling “at the expense of smaller holders.”

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A brief introduction to Bitcoin lore and Easter eggs

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 12:19:14 GMT

As the world’s oldest blockchain, Bitcoin is a popular place to hunt for hidden gems. It has storied lore within communities of cypherpunks, gamers, and cryptographers, and with millions of users across its 14 years in operation, there have been more than a few Easter eggs hidden away.

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Lawyers explain why bail differs for crypto washouts SBF and Eisenberg

Mon, 20 Feb 2023 17:58:32 GMT

In the US, state and federal bail restrictions can differ wildly and, unless there’s some reason to believe that a charged individual will hurt themselves or others or flee before their trial, federal bail conditions are usually quite reasonable.

In the case of Sam Bankman-Fried, while he’s charged with the third largest corporate fraud in history (surpassed only by Bernie Madoff and Enron), he’s also never committed another crime, was relatively easily extradited from The Bahamas, and comes from a well-connected family at Stanford University.

Meanwhile, Avraham Eisenberg, the exploiter of the decentralized exchange Mango Markets, also faced bail hearings this month. Only, Eisenberg waived his right to bail entirely and went directly to jail.

So, why were their bail cases treated so differently? Protos reached out to several lawyers who spoke on background to provide some answers.

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Bored Apes accused of stealing logo from online drawing tutorial

Mon, 20 Feb 2023 16:59:03 GMT

Yuga Labs has nixed its Bored Ape Kennel Club logo after it was revealed that it plagiarised an image from a drawing guide called Easy Drawing Tutorial.

Yuga Labs co-founder, Greg Solano, seemingly dismissed the revelations as “claims'' despite the logo looking identical to the drawing in the guide by Rauno Tolonen.

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Jump Crypto profited from Terra Luna as investors lost billions

Mon, 20 Feb 2023 16:56:05 GMT

Sources familiar with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against Do Kwon have named Jump Crypto as the beneficiary of $1.28 billion dollars in profit from his decimated crypto empire, Terra Luna.

Do Kwon is facing civil charges in the US. The SEC alleges that he and his company, Terraform Labs, raised billions of dollars through unregistered securities.

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Here’s how insiders dump blockchain game tokens using Sybil attacks

Mon, 20 Feb 2023 16:47:01 GMT

The blockchain gaming industry had an impressive 2021. Play-to-earn, move-to-earn, NFT games, and prices for all sorts of blockchain entertainment were surging.

Of course, it was all just a flash in the pan. Within a few months, the bottom fell out of the market and both active users and market capitalizations cratered.

Now that much of the dust has settled, a new report by Delphi Digital examines the extent to which so-called Sybil attacks inflated growth metrics for blockchain gaming.

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Explained: SEC allegations against Do Kwon and Terraform Labs

Fri, 17 Feb 2023 17:06:53 GMT

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against Terraform Labs and Do Kwon alleging that they defrauded investors in a scheme involving multiple unregistered securities.

The SEC highlights claims by Terraform Labs and Do Kwon that Chai, a Korean payments application, used Terra. This was despite the payments actually being mirrored onto the blockchain and made using conventional means.

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Multi-million dollar transfers to CZ firms confused Catherine Coley

Fri, 17 Feb 2023 15:40:36 GMT

Reuters has reported that Binance directed over $400 million to be transferred from Binance US's account at Silvergate bank to Merit Peak, a firm controlled by Changpeng Zhao. The transfers reportedly began in late 2020 and continued through the first three months of 2021.

Catherine Coley, the then CEO of Binance US, reportedly didn't understand the transfers.

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Hackers threaten Satoshi film director with “unsettling” videos

Thu, 16 Feb 2023 18:20:01 GMT

The director of a spoof movie based on the reimagined antics of pseudonymous bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto has claimed that a group of ‘crypto hackers’ has anonymously threatened him and his wife.

The director behind Decrypted, told the Daily Mail how the hackers sent him “unsettling” videos before the film’s US launch earlier this month.

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Why does a16z want to strengthen its grip on Uniswap?

Thu, 16 Feb 2023 18:16:02 GMT

Venture capitalists at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) could control at least 41.5 million and likely over 55 million Uniswap (UNI) tokens. Globally, there are 753.7 million circulating UNI, and if a16z does indeed hold this number of tokens, it would allow the firm to unilaterally reach quorum for voting on Uniswap proposals.

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Crypto projects told to delay new coins due to “Alameda Gap”

Thu, 16 Feb 2023 18:15:31 GMT

New crypto projects have been advised to postpone their launches by up to six months after the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) Alameda Research sapped liquidity across major tokens by up to 50%.

Applications tailed off toward the back end of 2022 as SBF’s major market maker imploded, taking billions of dollars in liquidity with it.

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SEC custody rule change threatens crypto firms

Thu, 16 Feb 2023 12:24:00 GMT

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is proposing a modification to the custody rule for investment advisors holding client assets that would reduce choices for advisors managing cryptocurrencies.

The rule expands the requirements to all client assets, rather than just securities and funds. This would require all adviser-held assets to sit with a qualified custodian — generally, a bank, trust company, broker-dealer, futures commission merchant, or some foreign financial institutions.

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Celsius to sell crypto platform amid Mashinsky court battle

Wed, 15 Feb 2023 18:08:47 GMT

Now-bankrupt Ponzi scheme Celsius Network has reached a deal with NovaWulf Digital Management LP to sell its crypto platform, in an ongoing bid to refund customers.

Celsius must still seek the approval of bankruptcy court, as well as the blessing of the majority of its customers, before the deal can go through. If all goes to plan, users can expect a share of their trapped crypto on the platform to be returned in bitcoin and ether.

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Waves team accused of dumping its stablecoin to stay afloat

Wed, 15 Feb 2023 17:07:34 GMT

Blockchain data suggests that the Waves team may have sold its own stablecoin, USDN, to top-up the bridge of its DEX and also buy back the debt accumulated by its Vires lending platform after a crypto analyst alleged the Waves team sold up to $138 million in USDN since April last year.

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MobileCoin: The project that doomed FTX a year before Terra Luna

Wed, 15 Feb 2023 17:05:01 GMT

The turmoil that hit digital assets markets last year plunged several prominent exchanges and hedge funds into bankruptcy. Among the most high-profile was the collapse of the gargantuan, once-$29 billion Terra LUNA ecosystem which, many will say, was the first domino that eventually destroyed Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX. However, this would be a misunderstanding of causality. In actual fact, it started with MobileCoin (MOB).

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Bitcoin, get over here! Scam used Mortal Kombat to steal crypto

Wed, 15 Feb 2023 14:02:02 GMT

Ransomware scammers in the US have incorporated the classic gore-filled videogame Mortal Kombat into their latest attempts to relieve unlucky victims of their bitcoin.

As reported by PCMag, the attack targeted Windows computers via emails purporting to be from crypto wallet and payment platform CoinPayments. The emails informed users that their attempted payments “timed out” before a malicious ZIP file locked their computers and presented a Mortal Kombat-themed ransom note.

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Citadel Securities discloses hefty stake in struggling Silvergate

Wed, 15 Feb 2023 13:43:45 GMT

Billionaire Ken Griffin’s behemoth Citadel Securities has declared a 5.5% stake in Silvergate Capital worth around $25 million, according to a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Robinhood struggles continue, SBF shares up in the air

Wed, 15 Feb 2023 13:32:00 GMT

Robinhood made waves in 2013 by offering free shares in companies for new customers and gamifying complicated options contracts. In 2020 and 2021, covid restrictions and US government checks to citizens created the perfect climate for the broker, with gambling on stock markets rising in simplicity and popularity. Streamers, TikTokers, and YouTubers went full “not financial advice” on their audiences.

Ever since February of last year, however, it’s become abundantly clear that Robinhood picked the wrong time to go public — and the broker is struggling.

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USDC faces SEC enforcement amid stablecoin crackdown

Wed, 15 Feb 2023 12:22:42 GMT

Rumors are circulating that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will soon issue an enforcement notice to Circle over its stablecoin USDC.

The move comes as part of the SEC’s current crackdown on stablecoins and follows its enforcement letter to Paxos, demanding the exchange stop minting Binance stablecoin BUSD because it may be a security.

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PayPal halts stablecoin launch amid BUSD and Paxos scrutiny

Mon, 13 Feb 2023 17:21:07 GMT

PayPal has halted the debut of its stablecoin amid heightened regulatory scrutiny in the crypto industry and news of a probe by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDF) into its key partner, Paxos.

Crypto firm Paxos was working closely with PayPal to launch a ‘PayPal Coin,’ announced last year when it was leaked by Bloomberg. The coin was intended to be backed by the US dollar. However, the incumbent launch was halted on Friday.

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BUSD is dead, long live USDT

Mon, 13 Feb 2023 17:03:07 GMT

Paxos has announced that from February 21, it will no longer issue new Binance USD (BUSD) tokens.

Binance USD is a dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Paxos that carried the Binance brand name. Protos previously reported on the work of Jonathan Reiter which showed that Binance Peg BUSD, a token pegged to BUSD issued by Binance, hadn’t always been appropriately backed.

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MetaMask users targeted in Namecheap email scam

Mon, 13 Feb 2023 16:20:29 GMT

Crypto wallet holders were targeted this weekend when domain registrar Namecheap was hacked, allowing scammers to send out a raft of phishing emails impersonating MetaMask and DHL, reports BleepingComputer.

Namecheap’s email system was breached on Sunday and messages attempting to steal personal details and crypto wallets were fired out via the company’s email platform SendGrid.

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Bitcoin ordinals pump and dump using stolen images and copyright

Mon, 13 Feb 2023 15:59:38 GMT

Bitcoin inscriptions using ordinals are becoming increasingly popular. As the hype cycle begins for the “NFTs on Bitcoin” movement, profiteering ordinals pump groups have quickly sprung into action.

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Hong Kong woman paid scammers $800K in crypto to adopt cat

Mon, 13 Feb 2023 15:07:55 GMT

A woman in Hong Kong lost nearly $800,000 when she attempted to adopt a kitten but instead got caught up in an elaborate crypto scam, reports Alarabiya News.

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Scoop: Australian political parties received donations from FTX

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 15:34:23 GMT

Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) and other FTX executives were major US political donors. But they were also active internationally, with one related Australian entity making $27,540 in donations in the 2021-2022 cycle according to Annual Returns published by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).

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Kraken settles with SEC over crypto staking — is Coinbase next?

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 15:12:44 GMT

Crypto exchange Kraken has agreed to pay $30 million and discontinue offering staking-as-a-service in the US, in order to settle charges of offering an unregistered security with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The complaint against Kraken details how the SEC feels that the pooling of staking user assets and efforts to derive profits for them results in the staking product being a security.

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So you don’t have to: Catching Up to Crypto by Ben Armstrong

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 14:33:26 GMT

At the end of 2022, I vowed to start the new year with a column called So You Don’t Have To.

The idea was simple: I’d read crypto books, watch fluff documentaries, and play Ponzi games. Then, after torturing myself enough, I’d report back with an honest review.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t have started with a more loathsome, vanilla, and hypocritical book than Catching Up To Crypto: Your Guide to Bitcoin and the Digital Economy by the equally loathsome, vanilla, and hypocritical Ben “BitBoy” Armstrong.

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Tether’s shareholder capital cushion is full of contradictions

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 14:02:07 GMT

Tether has released a new assurance from BDO Italia, as required by its settlement with the New York Attorney General (NYAG), revealing an increase in Tether ‘Shareholder Capital Cushion’ to over $960 million.

Interestingly, this number seems quite different from what Tether had previously disclosed on its transparency page.

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DeFi protocol Umami Finance sours as CEO goes rogue and core team quits

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 13:55:24 GMT

A dramatic week has resulted in the mass-resignation of Umami Finance’s core team and a crash in the price of the UMAMI token, as the project’s ex-CEO allegedly dumped his token holdings.

Umami Finance claims to be “pioneering the institutional adoption of DeFi,” but TradFi investors are likely to be put off by recent developments.

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Hong Kong investment manager loses $1.5M inheritance in crypto scam

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 12:00:54 GMT

A 63-year-old Hong Kong investment manager has lost $1.5 million in family inheritance after being lured by a supposed female crypto investing expert into investing his money into a scam crypto trading site.

This kind of widely reported scam is known as pig butchering. Victims are slowly groomed towards investing their money into various fake trading sites run by scammers.

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Kraken exec says it aims to ‘build trust’ one hour before SEC probe leak

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 11:57:01 GMT

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is almost done investigating major crypto exchange Kraken for potential unregistered securities sales, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

A settlement could be expected in the 'coming days,' the outlet reports, yet it remains unclear which tokens or offerings are under the US regulator's scrutiny.

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Justin Sun strengthens ties to Tether and Hong Kong

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 11:40:48 GMT

Tron founder and Poloniex investor Justin Sun is continuing to pad his colorful crypto industry resume, this time turning his attention to once-giant Chinese crypto exchange, Huobi.

The exchange recently confirmed a long-standing rumor that Sun holds a leadership role at the company. Last year, Huobi hid Sun’s involvement behind the name of Huobi’s equity suitor, About Capital Management.

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Scammers target French politician in latest XRP Twitter scam

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 19:31:33 GMT

Hackers hijacked the Twitter account of an obscure French politician earlier this week, using it to promote a Ripple (XRP) scam.

According to reports, the account, belonging to Municipal Councillor Quentin Feres was taken over on Tuesday.

While in control, the scammers tweeted, “XRP is ready to huge PUMP. To support our community, Brad Garlinghouse Ripple XRP CEO initiated XRP GIVEAWAY…Note: you can take a gift only once. Please hurry up!”

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Kyle Davies has time to launch crypto exchange but not to answer courts

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 16:13:35 GMT

Three Arrows Capital founder Kyle Davies made “only piecemeal disclosures” and refused to cooperate with investigations into the now-bankrupt hedge fund, according to a recent court filing.

According to CoinDesk, Davies was issued a subpoena via Twitter back in January. However, the documents demanding access to 3AC’s financial records were all but completely ignored.

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What is Fedimint and second-party custody for Bitcoin?

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 16:05:41 GMT

Fedimint addresses a significant attack vector of the Bitcoin network: centralized custodians, such as exchanges holding keys to large amounts of its customers’ bitcoin. The world needs to look no further back than FTX for an example of such a custodian’s multi-billion dollar loss.

Fedimint claims to offer a “second-party custody” solution for Bitcoin. That wordplay refers to one’s friend or relative, instead of an otherwise corporate and impersonal third-party. Fedimint also aims to provide greater privacy in transactions using so-called federated Chaumian mints.

So, how does it work?

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Top South Korean officials follow fugitive Do Kwon to Serbia

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 17:55:16 GMT

South Korean officials traveled to Serbia earlier this month as they stepped up their pursuit of elusive former Terra chief Do Kwon. As reported by Bloomberg, the delegation included a member of Seoul’s prosecutors’ office and a senior Justice Ministry official.

Kwon has been on the run since the Terra (LUNA) ecosystem imploded in May last year, taking a raft of digital assets and crypto-related organizations with it.

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Coinbase insider trading case ends with guilty plea

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 17:31:05 GMT

Ishan Wahi, a former product manager at Coinbase, has plead guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a case involving insider trading, according to Reuters. Wahi shared information about Coinbase listings with his brother and his friend, which prosecutors allege resulted in $1.5 million in profits.

Ishan Wahi’s case represents a more aggressive strategy against cryptocurrency insider trading, focusing on wire fraud charges instead of criminal securities fraud charges. Wahi is also part of an ongoing civil suit brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) related to this behavior — it alleges that the tokens involved are securities.

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DebtDAO burns 18 million controversial FUD tokens

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 17:00:09 GMT

The controversial FTX User Debt (FUD) token issued by unknown 'DebtDAO' soared in price to unexpected heights on Monday, resulting in a decision to burn 18 million tokens to bring its value back down to its initial supposed representation of FTX's debt.

DebtDAO's bond token, FUD, was issued last week as an alleged portrayal of FTX's debt. Each token was meant to have a value of $1 which amounted to around $100 million owed to FTX creditors.

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Craig Wright pursues jury trial over billions worth of bitcoin

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 15:16:33 GMT

The London Court of Appeal has ruled that Craig Wright’s case against Bitcoin developers can proceed to trial. The case involves Wright’s allegation that his company, Tulip Trading, lost 111,000 bitcoin (worth $2.4 billion today) to hackers who stole its private keys.

Wright is arguing that Bitcoin developers have an obligation to help asset owners recover those funds. Previously, a lower court had dismissed the case, however, the Court of Appeal overruled that dismissal, giving Wright a chance to pursue his case in front of a jury.

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Huobi monetizes FTX collapse with opaque debt token

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 18:48:59 GMT

Huobi has announced that it’s listing the ‘FTX User Debt’ (FUD) token issued by the ‘DebtDAO.’ This is despite the lack of many basic details that would help explain its functionality.

The project claims that FUD is a ‘bond token’ issued after it was notified of a ‘debt amount’ of $100 million related to the FTX bankruptcy.

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UK watchdog warns crypto firms of tougher rules with prison penalties

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 18:21:47 GMT

The UK’s top financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has kicked off 2023 with strict warnings for the tech and crypto sectors, amid concerns that the cost of living crisis will make some more susceptible to financial scams.

Last year, the FCA made companies change or remove 8,252 misleading or fraudulent promotions — 14 times more than in 2021.

This sharp uptick in FCA regulation is expected to continue this year.

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How Triad-linked gang used crypto and casinos to launder $10B

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 18:12:02 GMT

Australian Federal Police have announced their dismantling of the Xin Money Laundering Organization, which moved an estimated $10 billion.

Among those arrested is the apparent leader of the organization, Steven Xin. Xin was the Australian business partner of former junket operator Alvin Chau.

Together they ran the SunCity junket, apparently in coordination with ‘Broken Tooth’ Wan Kuok-koi, boss of the Macau branch of the 14 K Triad during the bloody Triad wars.

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Devs of crypto scam Dingo pump fees to 99% via backdoor

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 17:30:06 GMT

Altcoin fans have been warned that a popular new token is a scam designed to charge users a stealthy 99% transaction fee. According to Dingo Token’s four-page white paper, the crypto only charges a 10% fee per transaction.

However, as reported by Info Security Magazine, researchers have discovered a backdoor that appears to have been put in place to “steal users’ funds.”

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Wormhole hacker buys Lido’s stETH on heavy margin

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 17:25:35 GMT

Readers might remember the curious heist of Wormhole, the inter-blockchain bridge that linked assets between the blockchains of Ethereum and Solana. Not only was it history’s largest bridge loss at $325 million, it was also championed by fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried and capitalized by a multi-billion dollar trading firm, Jump. A large amount of those funds are now being used to buy stETH on margin.

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Genesis creditors are starting to bail on bankrupt lender

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 16:04:47 GMT

Some Genesis creditors are deciding that it’s time to take the money and run — even if all they’re able to get is a fraction of what they paid into the bankrupt lender.

Earlier this week, Stephen Sokolowski, a crypto mining executive, sold his $4 million claim against Genesis for just $1 million, or $0.25 on the dollar. It was bought by a fund managed by investment bank Jefferies, according to a court filing.

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Tim Draper asks Sri Lanka if it has ‘the guts’ to adopt bitcoin

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 15:50:49 GMT

Draper was in Sri Lanka when he met recently elected President Ranil Wickremesinghe where he told his spiel about bitcoin adoption at the central bank. According to Bloomberg, he was met with icy feedback. In a meeting with Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe, Draper announced, “I come to the central bank with decentralized currency.”

“We don’t accept,” Weerasinghe replied, reportedly taking a sip of fizzy ginger beer.

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Anarchist coders say new DarkFi project will be better than Bitcoin

Fri, 03 Feb 2023 17:36:23 GMT

A group of anarchist coders is preparing to launch a next-generation crypto software that they say will “present a graver threat to governments than other internet advances of the past 20 years,” reports Politico.

The group, which calls itself ‘DarkFi,’ claims that its new blockchain project “is not a corporate startup,” rather it’s “a democratic economic experiment, an operating system for society.”

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Ripple says SEC lawsuit could end in weeks — don’t hold your breath

Fri, 03 Feb 2023 15:53:43 GMT

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been suing Ripple since December 2020, and they are within months of their final battle. The SEC alleged that Ripple and two of its executives raised $1.3 billion in an unregistered securities sale. Ripple has declined settlement offers to date, claiming that they never conducted such a sale.

Both parties anticipate that the presiding judge could issue summary judgment within the next few months.

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Kraken shutters Abu Dhabi office a year after gaining license

Fri, 03 Feb 2023 15:36:35 GMT

US-based crypto exchange Kraken is shuttering its Abu Dhabi office as part of its ongoing global cost-cutting measures, reports Bloomberg.

The move means that transactions in Dirham, the country’s official currency, will no longer be allowed. However, customers from the region will still be able to use the platform.

The company took the decision less than 12 months after gaining a local license. Kraken no longer shows up in the registry for Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM).

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Bitfinex and unknown sources deposit $13M in Alameda Research crypto wallet

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 17:16:33 GMT

Sam Bankman-Fried’s bankrupt crypto trading outfit Alameda Research has received $6 million in Tether and $2.5 million in ether from Bitfinex’s hot wallet and $4.5 million worth of USD coin from an unknown source. Alameda’s consolidation wallet further received 30,000 Lido tokens worth over $65,500.

It received the $10.5 million from Bitfinex and an unknown source overnight, as it deals with ongoing bankruptcy proceedings. A Bitfinex spokesperson told CoinDesk, “Alameda had an account on Bitfinex and Bitfinex is collaborating with the liquidators to return what’s left.”

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NFT wash trade accounts for 6.5% of daily sales volume on OpenSea

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 15:05:14 GMT

A wash trade of a dead NFT collection made up 6.5% of the daily sales volume on OpenSea yesterday morning. The purchase of the single NFT from the Crop Collection was transacted at 409 ETH valued at around $648,000.

Wash trading has been a very common feature in the NFT market with some reports alleging that at the peak of the NFT bull market, 80% of the total sales were, in fact, wash trading.

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Can Solana stay afloat without SBF and FTX?

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 14:52:29 GMT

Solana is widely regarded as the personal project of Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). He single-handedly set a floor price of $3 before one of the most spectacular bull runs in crypto history to $267.

SBF is now under house arrest and many of his colleagues turned state’s evidence. With SBF’s fraudulent empire in bankruptcy, famously centralized Solana has had to find other ways to remake itself.

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What is Miniscript and how does it help Bitcoin?

Wed, 01 Feb 2023 18:06:16 GMT

Wallet manufacturing giant Ledger has unexpectedly released an update to its Bitcoin App, adding Javascript, Rust, and Python code support for Miniscript.

Thanks to Ledger embedded engineer Salvatore Ingala’s initiative, any common Ledger device is now able to create time-morphing vaults and other complex Miniscript transactions using Ledger’s official code. Millions of Bitcoin wallets are now compatible with the programming language.

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Social token Rally abruptly shuts, user crypto stranded on-chain

Wed, 01 Feb 2023 17:05:32 GMT

Yesterday, social token platform Rally.io, which runs on its own Ethereum sidechain, announced it would suddenly cease operations. The decision leaves the funds of users and creators stuck on the chain, which “may simply become inoperable.”

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FTX Japan promises to return funds but still won’t say when

Wed, 01 Feb 2023 13:55:39 GMT

FTX Japan has confirmed that its customers will be able to withdraw funds from “an unspecified moment in February.”

In a post published this week, the company informed users that their assets will be made available via Liquid, a Japanese crypto exchange that was acquired by FTX in February 2022.

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Crypto tax firm CoinTracker cuts 20% of staff a year after $100M round

Wed, 01 Feb 2023 12:18:09 GMT

Cryptocurrency tax company CoinTracker has laid off 19 employees representing approximately 20% of its workforce. This is according to an internal email reviewed by Protos and confirmed by a statement from CoinTracker CEO Jon Lerner.

In January last year, CoinTracker raised $100 million in its Series A at a valuation of $1.3 billion. The round included Y Combinator, Kraken Ventures, and Coinbase Ventures.

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FTX clawback efforts accelerate with $450M lawsuit against Voyager

Wed, 01 Feb 2023 12:00:00 GMT

Sam Bankman-Fried’s bankrupt crypto lending arm Alameda Research has filed a lawsuit against bankrupt crypto brokerage Voyager Digital, in an attempt to reclaim approximately $446 million in loan payments.

The lawsuit described Voyager Digital as a ‘feeder fund’ that ‘fueled’ the misconduct of Alameda Research. A feeder fund is a structure where investors invest in that fund, and the investments are then fed into the ‘master fund’ which executes the investments — a key target for clawbacks in the Bernie Madoff case.

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Independent examiner finds Celsius ticks every Ponzi box

Wed, 01 Feb 2023 11:52:50 GMT

An independent investigation has determined that now-bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network was a Ponzi scheme by using client funds to buy up its native token and inflate price.

Since September, former prosecutor Shoba Pillay has examined claims that the crypto lender was misappropriating funds and defrauding investors. The executive summary of Pillay’s 689-page report states that Celsius’ promises of “trust,” “transparency,” and “financial freedom” were a complete lie.

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Did Taproot ruin Bitcoin with NFT inscriptions of monkey jpegs?

Tue, 31 Jan 2023 17:10:41 GMT

NFT-like bitcoin inscriptions have become a hot topic in a long-running debate among Bitcoiners: How much non-financial transaction data should the Bitcoin community want to include on its blockchain?

The debate is old enough to trace back to Satoshi Nakamoto. Indeed, in a 2009 proposal to decentralize domain names, Satoshi came down on the side of using alternative data storage instead of Bitcoin’s ledger. Satoshi reasoned that users should not have to download data from other applications (like BitDNS) to use Bitcoin’s network for its primary utility: peer-to-peer digital cash.

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UK woman allegedly lost $25K bitcoin in attempt to hire hitman

Tue, 31 Jan 2023 16:42:10 GMT

A UK court has branded a dark web site advertising bitcoin-for-hire hitmen an “absolute sham” and “palpable nonsense” after a woman, who allegedly tried to have a one-time fling murdered, lost $25,000 in bitcoin.

Mother-of-five Helen Hewlett allegedly paid a £20,000 deposit for a hitman on the site Online Killers Market. It was agreed that money would exchange hands once her former fling, an ex-colleague, was murdered. However, the fake hitmen took Hewlett’s cash without going through with the deed.

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Australian regulators investigated FTX before collapse

Tue, 31 Jan 2023 16:34:32 GMT

Australian securities regulators were investigating FTX as early as March 2022, according to emails obtained by The Guardian.

The investigation looks to have begun after it became clear that FTX was offering 20 times leverage on its investments. When regulators began to investigate, they discovered that FTX had acquired its license from a takeover of IFS Markets, which had itself acquired it by taking over Forex Financial Services.

In order to understand whether or not FTX was maintaining the standards required by the license, regulators issued an S912C notice to gather information to assess its compliance.

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FTX funded this UK charity, now it’s under investigation

Tue, 31 Jan 2023 16:25:22 GMT

A UK-based charity is being probed by regulators over its ties to collapsed crypto exchange FTX.

In a statement issued on Monday, the Charity Commission announced that it is launching an official inquiry into Effective Ventures Foundation, which received much of its funding from Future Fund, the charitable arm of Sam Bankman-Fried’s now-bankrupt firm. The charity previously described the collapse as a “serious incident.”

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Pro-Russian influencer receives bitcoin donation from suspected serial scammer

Tue, 31 Jan 2023 16:19:28 GMT

Syrian-Australian conspiracy theorist Maram Susli, known online as Syrian Girl, has stepped back from social media after asking her followers for donations and receiving $127 in bitcoin from a wallet with alleged ties to numerous scams and Russian terrorism.

Pro-Russian Susli is a YouTuber who creates political content in support of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime in Syria while condemning the US and Israel. “Syrian patriot and Sunni Muslim from Damascus, anti-neocon, anti-NWO, anti-Zionist,” her YouTube profile reads.

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How did so many Jane Street traders wind up at FTX?

Tue, 31 Jan 2023 15:55:36 GMT

Established in 1999, quantitative trading firm Jane Street has grown to become a multi-billion-dollar Wall Street giant. The firm employs thousands of employees and, even though it’s not required to file public financials, it disclosed $7.8 billion in earnings on $17 trillion worth of securities trades after its fiscal year 2020.

However, perhaps the most interesting thing about the New York-headquartered company is that it employed five workers who subsequently went on to participate in Sam Bankman-Fried’s ill-fated FTX empire.

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High-profile investor accidentally gives away NFT collection

Fri, 27 Jan 2023 15:53:43 GMT

Proof Collective co-founder Kevin Rose is the latest high-profile NFT investor to fall victim to a “social engineering” attack. On Wednesday, he signed a single transaction that triggered the sale of the majority of his collection for free.

Rose is a well-known tech investor. Before entering the world of NFTs, he co-founded Digg, had a stint at Google Ventures, and created apps focused on fasting and meditation. Proof Collective, which launched in late 2021 and created the popular Moonbirds series, counts Beeple and Gary Vee among its members.

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Bitcoin is the decade’s top asset but $100k is still a long way off

Fri, 27 Jan 2023 14:45:20 GMT

A recent report by Goldman Sachs, naming bitcoin as the best-performing asset of the year so far has bitcoiners once again dreaming the $100K dream.

This isn’t the first time that bitcoin has outperformed other assets. Indeed, there have even been reports that have tagged it as one of the best-performing of the last decade. But what are the odds of history repeating itself? In the event of a new bull market, will bitcoin be, as Paul Tudor Jones once said, “the fastest horse in the stable” once again?

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What is Nostr and why do Bitcoiners love it?

Fri, 27 Jan 2023 14:35:13 GMT

Bitcoin maximalist Jack Dorsey significantly contributed to the popularity of social media platform Nostr overnight on December 14, when he chose to tweet about it. Thousands of Bitcoiners joined the platform thanks to his publicity of the platform, which promises to be a credible decentralized social site that could displace Twitter.

His recommendation gained 428,000 organic impressions. The next morning, Dorsey donated 14 bitcoin (then worth $250,000) to Fiatjaf from Bitcoin gaming company Zebedee. Fiatjaf is the lead maintainer of Nostr and a developer on Damus, Nostr’s leading implementation.

So, what is Nostr? And why is the Bitcoin community excited about it?

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Opinion: Charles Hoskinson would be the worst thing to happen to CoinDesk

Thu, 26 Jan 2023 16:42:51 GMT

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson recently went live on Twitter to discuss the bankruptcy of crypto exchange Genesis and how parent company Digital Currency Group may sell its media arm, CoinDesk. His expressed interest in buying the company has journalists nauseous.

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Sentiment turns from bear to bull for Bitcoin miners in 2023

Thu, 26 Jan 2023 16:27:24 GMT

In the late 2022 depths of the bear market, sentiment for bitcoin miners was abysmal. Rig operators were suffering. Profits had evaporated. Equity valuations cratered.

Now that bitcoin is above $20,000, more miners are turning their rigs back on. The average hashrate devoted to bitcoin rose to over 272 quintillion calculations per second by January 23.

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Coinbase disagrees with almost $4M fine from Dutch central bank

Thu, 26 Jan 2023 16:19:11 GMT

Dutch central bank De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) has announced a €3,325,000 ($3.6 million) fine imposed on crypto exchange Coinbase for operating unregistered in the Netherlands for two years, resulting in what the DNB called “very severe” non-compliance with the law.

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Far-right Arizona politician Wendy Rogers proposes bitcoin as legal tender

Thu, 26 Jan 2023 15:29:34 GMT

Far-right extremist Senator Wendy Rogers has introduced a bill into the Arizona State Senate to add bitcoin as “legal tender” for Arizona.

Critics of previous proposals have pointed out that the declaration of bitcoin as legal tender potentially violates constitutional limitations on states’ ability to issue their own money.

Rogers’ bitcoin bill continues the trend of far right figures endorsing the cryptocurrency, including self-proclaimed dictator Nayib Bukele. El Salvador’s future is staked on the success of Bitcoin — and it’s not going well.

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Doctor offered bitcoin to have wife drugged, colleague beaten up

Thu, 26 Jan 2023 15:25:00 GMT

Washington-based doctor Ronald Craig Ilg has been sentenced to eight years in prison after he tried to get a bitcoin-for-hire hitman to kidnap his estranged wife and break the hands of a former colleague.

Neonatologist Ilg was willing to pay $2,000 in bitcoin via the dark web to have a fellow doctor “given a significant beating.” He also specified that the assault “should injure both hands significantly or break the hands.”

Despite this attack not being carried out, Ilg returned to the dark web a month later with what he called “another, more complicated job.”

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Unredacted document shows $1.2B in BlockFi assets linked to SBF

Thu, 26 Jan 2023 15:11:53 GMT

Bankrupt lender BlockFi was revealed to have more than $1 billion in assets linked to FTX and Alameda Research when a creditor committee accidentally published unredacted financial records.

As reported by CNBC, the hastily-unpublished documents showed that the company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November, has just under $416 million worth of assets tied to FTX and a little over $831 million in loans to Alameda. This is considerably more than the $1.02 billion claimed in previous financial disclosures.

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Arbitrum and Optimism: Two protocols control 80% of all Ethereum Layer 2 TVL

Thu, 26 Jan 2023 15:03:57 GMT

Ethereum’s leading Layer 2 protocols, Arbitrum and Optimism, surged in popularity in 2022. Combined, Arbitrum and Optimism account for four-fifths of all value locked across Ethereum’s Layer 2s.

On January 12, these two protocols surpassed Ethereum’s daily transactions — showcasing their scaling potential. Optimism alone processed 800,000 transactions that day.

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Uniswap votes to launch on Binance’s centralized BNB Chain

Tue, 24 Jan 2023 17:48:35 GMT

A temperature check vote proposing to deploy Uniswap v3 on BNB Chain has passed with over 80% of the vote. This is despite community concerns about moving the decentralized exchange (DEX) to a more centralized platform.

However, despite the vote attracting “the biggest number [of participating wallets] for the whole Uniswap Governance History,” with just 0.1% of voting wallets making up 99% of the 24.9 million votes, Uniswap may have centralization problems of its own.

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Binance admits it commingled customer funds with token reserves

Tue, 24 Jan 2023 17:19:08 GMT

Crypto exchange Binance has acknowledged that it failed to keep backing for dozens of tokens issued on Binance Smart Chain separate, and instead commingled it with customer funds.

On Binance Smart Chain, 94 tokens issued by the exchange are pegged to other cryptocurrency assets. The backing for dozens of these “B-tokens” was stored commingled in an exchange cold wallet, rather than kept separate.

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Crypto skeptic Janet Yellen dismisses $1 trillion coin as a gimmick

Tue, 24 Jan 2023 16:18:17 GMT

Unfortunately, crypto’s hyperinflationist prognosticators got another prediction wrong. No, the Treasury Secretary will not be instructing the US Mint to forge a $1 trillion coin.

During an interview with the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Secretary Janet Yellen formally denied rumors, explained why the Federal Reserve wouldn’t purchase it, and called the hypothetical item a gimmick.

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Not financial advice: Three words crypto execs love to abuse

Tue, 24 Jan 2023 16:06:45 GMT

People on cryptocurrency Twitter are overjoyed at the prospect of helping you, and are quick to offer life, diet, entrepreneurial, and other advice; but never financial.

It’s a common-held belief that adding three simple words to the end of anything will absolve you of legal repercussions — despite digital asset lawyers warning that adding “not financial advice” on its own is “pretty useless.”

Sam Bankman-Fried, Changpeng Zhao, and Anthony Pompliano have all apparently missed the memo that the Securities and Exchange Commission went after celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather for crypto promotion, despite including the disclaimer.

Red flags aside, I sometimes feel as though I could use greater direction in my life. That’s why I’ve turned to the brilliant minds on crypto Twitter to advise me — but definitely not about my finances.

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New York issues fresh guidance to tackle FTX-style co-mingling

Tue, 24 Jan 2023 13:30:00 GMT

Crypto companies will be forced to keep customer assets separate from company assets under new guidance due to be published by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).

As reported by Reuters, the state’s top financial regulator is pushing for new rules on co-mingling of funds. The move comes in the wake of the collapse of US-based exchange FTX and trading firm Alameda Research which left the companies’ clients billions of dollars out of pocket.

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BBC chair linked to Russian crypto firm faces inquiry over BoJo loan

Tue, 24 Jan 2023 13:17:37 GMT

BBC chair and crypto investor Richard Sharp has asked the BBC board to review any possible conflicts of interest in his current role, stemming from claims that he helped to secure former prime minister Boris Johnson an £800,000 loan guarantor right before he appointed Sharp as chair.

The former prime minister told Sky News this morning that Sharp “knows absolutely nothing about my personal finances — I can tell you that for one hundred percent ding dang sure.” However, Johnson doesn’t deny that discussions about the loan took place. Sharp, a former Goldman Sachs banker, maintains that he was fairly appointed.

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US banks pressured to sever ties with crypto companies

Tue, 24 Jan 2023 12:52:42 GMT

Banks in the US are under increasing pressure to sever ties with cryptocurrency firms, as unfavorable media scrutiny, public sentiment, and regulatory measures against the industry grow. Not a single US regulatory body, like the Federal Reserve or the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), looks at the crypto industry favorably today, according to a banking exec at a crypto-friendly American bank.

In an exclusive talk with Protos, the banking exec spoke on-background about the regulatory hurdles facing the industry and what it means for crypto’s future in America.

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Why couldn't Huobi admit Justin Sun helps run the crypto exchange?

Tue, 24 Jan 2023 12:39:48 GMT

Since Justin Sun of Tron (TRX) fame became a Huobi Global Advisory Board member, the exchange has been embroiled in a number of controversies. Among them is the fact that, for months, Huobi refused to say exactly how Sun was involved in its acquisition by the opaquely-named About Capital Management.

As you’d expect, rumors swirled that Sun backed the acquisition, which would have explained his quick appointment to Huobi’s Global Advisory Board. Huobi remained quiet about the situation until a statement issued on January 19, 2022, confirmed that he had indeed assumed a leadership role in the company.

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Genesis files for chapter 11 bankruptcy as Winklevii threaten DCG lawsuit

Fri, 20 Jan 2023 15:50:55 GMT

Late Thursday night, Genesis Global announced it voluntarily filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, along with its crypto lending arm Genesis Global Capital and lending unit Genesis Asia Pacific. In a press release, Genesis used every buzzword it could think of to frame the move in a positive light.

Genesis initiates process to achieve global resolution to maximise value for all clients and stakeholders and strengthen its business for the future, the headline to announce its bankruptcy reads.

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Yuga Labs faces plenty of problems as lawsuits, probes, and hacks mount

Fri, 20 Jan 2023 13:58:29 GMT

Yuga Labs, the company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT collection, is struggling with an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a hack of its Mailchimp account, and a flurry of lawsuits flying back and forth.

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Federal Home Loan Banks are bailing out crypto

Thu, 19 Jan 2023 18:22:45 GMT

The Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) system is suddenly finding itself bailing out numerous cryptocurrency-friendly banks, such as Silvergate and Signature. Estimates suggest they received over $15 billion in advances from the network combined.

FHLBs were established in the wake of the great depression, designed to provide funds to any residential housing finance member, or to “any community financial system” for small businesses and farms. FHLBs don’t receive taxpayer funding, are privately owned, and don’t follow the majority of their initial guidelines.

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The deep ties between Binance, Bitzlato, and darknet market Hydra

Thu, 19 Jan 2023 15:52:17 GMT

On Tuesday, Binance was named as one of the three largest counterparties for crypto exchange Bitzlato, in a US Treasury order that prevents any covered financial institution from sending funds to the relatively unknown firm.

Bitlatzo’s majority owner, Anatoly Legkodymov or “Gandalf”, was arrested and indicted by the Department of Justice (DoJ) on Tuesday in the Eastern District of New York. He’s charged with operating an unlicensed money transmission business.

The Treasury has indicated that he’s a “primary money laundering concern” with connections to Russian illicit finance.

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Programmable Bitcoin vaults could reimagine long-term savings

Thu, 19 Jan 2023 13:27:11 GMT

Bitcoiners might be able to program long-term savings vaults into code, on-chain — an exciting development for Bitcoiners who keep the cryptocurrency as a long-term investment, known as ‘hodling’ (holding on for dear life).

Despite the roller coaster-like swings in bitcoin’s value, many people believe Bitcoin is a durable store of value. So, as the Bitcoin community increasingly seeks programmability regarding long-term investment practices, Bitcoin Core developers are now considering the addition of hard-coded “vaults” into Bitcoin’s software through a soft fork.

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SEC violates privacy law while investigating dubious crypto firm Green

Thu, 19 Jan 2023 13:09:17 GMT

Crypto miners involved in dubious crypto startup Green say they’re easier targets for hackers, after their personal data was unintentionally leaked by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The commission, which has increasingly enforced regulations on crypto firms as industry scandals continue to erupt, reportedly leaked 650 names and emails of Green users earlier this month.

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Crypto rapper Razzlekhan lands new job despite facing 25 years in prison

Wed, 18 Jan 2023 17:36:35 GMT

Heather Morgan, AKA Razzlekhan, AKA The Crocodile of Wall Street has reportedly found a new job despite still being under house arrest for her alleged role in 2016’s $4.5 billion Bitfinex hack.

As reported by the New York Post, the world’s foremost crypto rapper will be working three days a week as a ‘growth marketing and business development specialist’ for an unnamed tech company in New York City. A judge has agreed to modify the terms of her house arrest to allow her to base herself at the company’s office.

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Fraud, crime, and the Winklevii force DCG to freeze dividend payouts

Wed, 18 Jan 2023 15:15:00 GMT

Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group (DCG) has suspended shareholder payouts as it struggles to ride out a “wave of unprecedented fraud and criminal behavior” plaguing the industry.

As reported by CoinDesk, in a letter to shareholders on Tuesday, Silbert explained that the company was “focused on strengthening our balance sheet by reducing operating expenses and preserving liquidity.”

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Silvergate in crisis: Billions withdrawn, liquidations and losses mount

Wed, 18 Jan 2023 14:57:44 GMT

Crypto-friendly bank Silvergate posted a loss of $949 million for the final three months of 2022. Massive losses in the past few weeks have forced the company to lay off 40% of its staff. It expects to part ways with $8.1 million in restructuring costs, such as severance packages.

Customers withdrew a record-breaking $8 billion from Silvergate during the quarter. The bank’s largest customers, FTX and Alameda Research, filed for bankruptcy protection in November. As Silvergate liquidated assets to satisfy an avalanche of customers’ withdrawal requests, the bank lost hundreds of millions of dollars by selling bonds and other illiquid securities prior to their intended maturities. Silvergate will also pay a $134 million impairment charge for securities that it plans to prematurely sell during the first quarter of 2023.

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Bored Apes puts the ‘shit’ in shitcoin

Wed, 18 Jan 2023 10:42:36 GMT

Yuga Labs has announced its first Bored Ape-themed video game… And trying to understand it feels like digging through shit to find a key.

The game: Dookey Dash. The premise: One of Yuga Labs’ apes got so drunk at a party that it swallowed a very important key. The rules: very complicated.

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Crypto thieves give away cars after stealing too much bitcoin

Tue, 17 Jan 2023 15:40:42 GMT

Criminals behind a UK-based bitcoin scam bribed authorities, bought luxury properties with suitcases full of cash, and handed out thousands of pounds to people in the street after making “more money than they could spend.”

The gang was jailed this week for between six years and 18 months after exploiting a loophole in an Australian crypto exchange to steal $26.9 million in bitcoin. However, before they were arrested, they enjoyed extremely lavish lifestyles thanks to the ill-gotten crypto. Police reportedly recovered 445 bitcoin, luxury watches, cars, property, designer goods, and a £600 wine cooler.

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Why Serbia makes sense for crypto fugitive Do Kwon

Tue, 17 Jan 2023 14:18:41 GMT

On September 13, roughly four months after the collapse of algorithmic stablecoin terra and crypto token luna, South Korean authorities issued a warrant for founder Do Kwon’s arrest. Lo and behold, he was nowhere to be found.

In December, Kwon was spotted by authorities in Serbia after appearing in Dubai, leaving some wondering why he chose to go there. Only, Serbia is a much more likely place for a crypto fugitive like Kwon to ensure they remain hidden.

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Boris Johnson received record $1.2M donation from serial crypto investor

Tue, 17 Jan 2023 13:54:34 GMT

Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson has reportedly received a record-breaking £1 million ($1.2 million) donation from a Thailand-based cryptocurrency investor and Bitifinex/Tether parent company shareholder.

Friday’s updated register of interests reveals how Christopher Harborne made the record gift to Boris Johnson LTD, the former PM’s political office that funds his activities.

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How many times will Alameda Research liquidators get liquidated?

Mon, 16 Jan 2023 18:20:00 GMT

Since the collapse of disgraced Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire, liquidators have been attempting to consolidate the crypto holdings of both FTX and Alameda Research, with the aim of eventually returning some value to creditors.

Despite the lack of risk mitigation procedures at Alameda, it appears that those in charge of liquidating the remaining assets may be just as gung-ho as the previous leadership.

On-chain evidence of repeated errors paints a worrying picture for those hoping to one day recoup some of their funds.

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Waves DEX users panic as USDT and USDC disappear

Mon, 16 Jan 2023 18:10:00 GMT

Waves DEX users have been complaining that they can’t withdraw USDT or USDC from the exchange. On the Waves blockchain explorer, withdrawals of USDT and USDC seem to be working normally but users are struggling to get their transactions actioned in reality.

When looking at the Waves DEX Ethereum bridge, it seems that it’s been depleted of all its USDC and USDT. Users took to Twitter to ask Sasha Ivanov, founder of Waves and the administrator of the Waves DEX to ask about their balances but received no replies.

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Explained: El Salvador’s contentious bitcoin-backed Volcano Bonds

Mon, 16 Jan 2023 17:51:37 GMT

Since the president made bitcoin legal tender in 2021, he’s struggled to prove the move makes any kind of sense for the country — El Salvador has sparred with major international players in the financial industry, like the International Monetary Fund.

With the passage of the country’s new Digital Assets Issuance Law, El Salvador is one step closer toward finally being ready to sell its Volcano Bonds for some bitcoin and USD — but especially, Tether.

Here’s what you need to know.

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Judge says 800 victims of BitConnect scam can share $17M

Fri, 13 Jan 2023 16:44:59 GMT

Approximately 800 victims of the BitConnect crypto investment scam will get back at least some of their funds after a San Diego Federal court ordered that $17 million be distributed to investors in over 40 different countries.

BitConnect managed to con thousands of investors out of a collective $2.4 billion by fraudulently pitching BitConnect’s ICO and crypto exchange as a sound investment.

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What’s happening with Binance’s $2 billion recovery fund?

Fri, 13 Jan 2023 16:36:37 GMT

After the collapse of FTX, Binance enjoyed several weeks of glowing press coverage about its commitment to spend $1 billion on helping the crypto industry. However, it appears that the wallet in question still holds nearly $1 billion BUSD and hasn’t spent anything.

In its initial announcement on November 24, 2022, Binance claimed that 150 companies had applied to this so-called Industry Recovery Initiative so it’s possible that Binance is still evaluating applicants and will disburse funds sometime in the future.

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Authorities raid Bulgarian offices of crypto lender Nexo

Thu, 12 Jan 2023 17:54:27 GMT

Bulgarian authorities have raided the Sofia offices of crypto lender Nexo amid claims of a number of violations, including tax offenses and computer fraud.

Police targeted more than 15 sites across the city on Thursday as part of what prosecutors called “a pre-trial investigation aimed at neutralizing an illegal criminal activity,” (via Reuters).

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Ooki DAO ghosting CFTC lawsuit could see it lose the case

Thu, 12 Jan 2023 17:32:09 GMT

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has requested that a federal judge impose a default judgement against Ooki DAO after it failed to respond to a lawsuit that alleged it violated federal commodities laws.

Ooki DAO -- formerly known as bZeroX -- is a decentralized crypto lending and borrowing protocol that offers users margin trading through loaned funds in order to increase trading exposure.

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Scoop: More Genesis creditors say they were duped

Thu, 12 Jan 2023 16:46:00 GMT

A second group of Genesis creditors says they were misled by the lender into thinking that their money would be safe, and are now out hundreds of millions of dollars. The group is made up of individuals who were direct clients of Genesis, rather than investors who came in through Gemini or another intermediary.

At least one member of the group pulled all of his money out of Genesis in late spring, following news that the lender had significant losses tied to Three Arrows Capital (3AC), the multi-billion-dollar hedge fund that went bankrupt in May.

However, the creditor, who declined to give his name because he is still in active negotiations with Genesis, ended up putting more than $10 million back into the company in the second half of last year.

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What’s moving bitcoin’s price right now?

Wed, 11 Jan 2023 18:03:11 GMT

Bitcoin is currently rallying after a brutal 2022 that saw 65% slashed from its price. But how long can the upturn last? Is it even a real rally? And why do bitcoin’s ups and downs over the past 12 months appear to be so closely tied to the fortunes of traditional stocks?

Here, Protos takes a look at bitcoin’s price history and some current activity to try and understand what’s going on in both markets.

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License-hunting Crypto.com kills Tether for Canadian users

Wed, 11 Jan 2023 17:10:00 GMT

Crypto.com is in the process of de-listing Tether (USDT) for Canadian users, effective from the end of this month.

A Crypto.com spokesperson says this decision was made “in accordance with instructions from the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) as part of our pre-registration undertaking for a restricted dealer license.” Crypto.com filed its pre-registration with the OSC at the beginning of August 2022.

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Ethereum unlock in March worth tens of billions of dollars

Wed, 11 Jan 2023 16:52:31 GMT

A massive tranche of ether (ETH) is unlocking soon. During a meeting on December 8, Ethereum developers decided to make staked ETH on Ethereum’s Beacon Chain available for withdrawal with the Shanghai update as early as March 2023. The meeting was ratified last week.

The Beacon Chain holds $21 billion (over 15.9 million ETH) staked within Ethereum’s Proof-of-Stake system. Additional ETH is voluntarily staked into the Beacon Chain daily and cannot be withdrawn until Shanghai activates. So, by the time March arrives, the Beacon Chain will far exceed 16 million ETH.

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First crypto insider trading case ends with 10-month sentence

Wed, 11 Jan 2023 11:31:49 GMT

In what was called crypto’s first-ever insider trading case, the brother of a former Coinbase employee has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

As reported by Reuters, Nikhil Wahi, confessed last year to making trades using confidential information passed to him by his brother Ishan, a product manager at the San Francisco-based exchange.

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Coinbase proves strategy works by axing 1,000 employees

Tue, 10 Jan 2023 17:10:18 GMT

Coinbase chief Brian Armstrong has hinted that the spectacular implosion of Sam Bankman-Fried’s rival exchange FTX last year proves that his company has chosen the right strategy for long-term success. However, despite this foresight, the company has announced that it’s set to fire nearly 1,000 employees.

Armstrong broke the news early Tuesday in a message to Coinbase’s employees.

“Coinbase is well capitalized, and crypto isn't going anywhere. In fact, I believe recent events will ultimately end up benefiting Coinbase greatly (a large competitor failing, emerging regulatory clarity, etc.), and they validate our long-term strategy,” wrote Armstrong.

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This website allows FTX customers to file an official fraud report

Tue, 10 Jan 2023 17:01:27 GMT

The US Justice Department has launched a webpage that allows any US resident who believes they’re a victim of fraud by Sam Bankman-Fried to file an official report. It specifies 10 rights that federal crime victims have under US law, including United States Code Title 18 Section 3771. The site also provides official FTX contact information from the US government.

FTX disintegrated in November 2022 and, according to bankruptcy filings, could have more than one million creditors. It owes its top 50 creditors more than $3 billion and the US government’s bankruptcy overseer assigned a creditors’ committee to its bankruptcy case.

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Justin Sun’s stablecoins are melting

Tue, 10 Jan 2023 14:09:23 GMT

Both of Justin Sun’s stablecoins, one of which Protos has previously reported on, are struggling to maintain their promised $1.00 peg.

At the time of writing, USDD is hovering around $0.97, and USDJ is trading at $1.09. Curiously, this means that one of Sun’s stablecoins is melting down while the other is melting up.

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A comprehensive timeline of Silvergate’s downfall

Tue, 10 Jan 2023 13:57:15 GMT

Silvergate marketed itself as a crypto-friendly banking services provider but, unsurprisingly, it ended up providing financial services to firms that were once the world’s second-largest crypto exchange and market-maker: FTX and Alameda Research.

As the world discovers the reality behind Silvergate’s business, investors have progressively sold off shares as they dropped from their $238 November 2021 heights to under $13 today. Not only that, even Senators are probing Silvergate regarding inappropriate transfers of FTX customer funds into Sam Bankman-Fried’s trading fund, Alameda.

With Silvergate's reckoning still playing out, here is a timeline of events that led up to and hastened the company's collapse.

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The many misrepresentations of Alex Mashinsky

Tue, 10 Jan 2023 11:45:10 GMT

The New York Attorney General (NYAG) has brought a suit against Alex Mashinsky, formerly CEO of the now-bankrupt Celsius Network, for securities fraud, failure to register, repeated and persistent fraud, and repeated and persistent illegality.

In the complaint, the NYAG alleges a variety of misrepresentations that Mashinsky made. Here is a summary of the specific misrepresentations they allege.

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The challenge in accounting for Tether reserves

Tue, 10 Jan 2023 11:17:53 GMT

Accurately accounting for Tether’s reserves is a challenge, even (or perhaps especially) for Tether itself. Twitter user Jay Pinho recently published a website that attempts to track the value of the assets backing Tether to gain some insight into their solvency. It also allows you to tweak the composition to see how that affects the performance.

However, due to Tether’s commitment to remaining as opaque as possible, accurately making this assessment can really only be done by someone with full access to its books.

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Binance’s stablecoin BUSD hasn’t always been 1:1 backed, report

Tue, 10 Jan 2023 11:02:14 GMT

Binance has previously undercollateralized its stablecoin, BUSD, on its own blockchain, according to on-chain data revealing that the wallet backing the BUSD bridged from Ethereum’s blockchain onto Binance’s blockchain did not consistently equal one dollar’s worth of assets for each Binance-pegged BUSD.

Investigative reporter Jonathan Reiter of Data Finnovation collaborated with Patrick Tan of Novum Alpha to initially publicize the shortfall. Reiter has published five scholarly articles and specializes in stablecoin research. Both firms are based in Singapore. Their joint analysis shows insufficient backing of BUSD trading on BNB Chain for several months.

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Chief legal officer departs FTX-linked Moonstone Bank

Tue, 10 Jan 2023 10:42:04 GMT

Moonstone Bank chief legal officer Joseph Vincent, a former top banking regulator, has left the financial firm, after being with the bank for just eight months.

Vincent joined Moonstone, one of the smallest banks in the country, which gained national attention late last year for its ties to FTX, in May 2022. Moonstone heralded Vincent’s hire in a post on LinkedIn. “We are delighted to share this exciting news,” Moonstone wrote.

Prior to joining Moonstone, Vincent spent 18 years as a top official in Washington’s Department of Financial Institutions, which is the state’s banking regulator. Vincent is also an adjunct legal professor at Seattle University School of Law, according to the school’s website.

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Justin Sun confirms 20% staff cuts at Huobi amid insolvency rumors

Fri, 06 Jan 2023 10:45:09 GMT

In a text message to Reuters, Huobi’s advisor Justin Sun confirmed that the crypto exchange plans to dismiss 20% of its employees this quarter.

“The planned layoff ratio is about 20%, but it is not implemented now. With the current state of the bear market, a very lean team will be maintained going forward,” a Huobi spokesperson told The Block.

Tron founder Sun sits on Huobi’s global advisory board. For the past few days, he’s been battling rumours of Huobi’s insolvency on Twitter.

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Why was crypto so quick to embrace Andrew Tate?

Thu, 05 Jan 2023 18:35:49 GMT

Tate’s a pretty popular guy in the crypto world. In addition to having many fans in the space, he’s been interviewed – and in some cases even defended -- by various popular influencers, including Anthony Pompliano and Laya Heilpern.

But, for those who haven’t had the dubious pleasure of coming across him already, Tate is a former world champion kickboxer and now online influencer who’s amassed millions of fans and followers by claiming to teach young men how to “stop being losers.”

Known for peddling online courses that promise to show how to ‘escape the Matrix,’ the cigar-smoking supercar enthusiast also has a history of shilling crypto.

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Former FTX lawyer expected to testify against Sam Bankman-Fried

Thu, 05 Jan 2023 17:14:22 GMT

A growing number of associates of former billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried are choosing to cooperate with authorities, who are working to prosecute the FTX co-founder for a slew of criminal fraud charges.

Last month, former Alameda Research chief Caroline Ellison pleaded guilty to defrauding investors. She agreed to cooperate fully with investigators, which spelled bad news for Bankman-Fried. He pleaded not guilty to a series of fraud charges on Tuesday.

Now, reports indicate that FTX’s former top lawyer Daniel Friedberg has been cooperating for months.

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Scoop: Larry Summers gives up advisory role at crypto firm DCG amid criticism

Thu, 05 Jan 2023 14:55:26 GMT

Larry Summers, the Harvard professor and former top financial advisor during the Obama administration, has cut ties with troubled crypto conglomerate Digital Currency Group (DCG).

Summers joined DCG as a senior advisor in 2016, a year after DCG was formed. It’s not clear when Summers resigned his role -- through a spokesperson, Summers told Protos he left DCG several months ago.

However, the former US Secretary of the Treasury was listed on DCG’s website as a member of the company’s advisory board as recently as November. That information has since been removed from DCG’s website.

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Coinbase fined $100M over KYC and AML failures

Thu, 05 Jan 2023 12:03:57 GMT

Coinbase has agreed to cough up a total of $100 million to bring an end to an investigation into failures of its anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) measures.

The exchange announced on Wednesday that it will pay $50 million to the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) and will invest the same amount in bringing these programs up to standard.

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Crypto price predictions for 2022 were so off

Thu, 05 Jan 2023 11:00:22 GMT

December meant only one thing: ’tis the season for media outlets to churn out articles wherein crypto ‘experts’ share their bitcoin and ethereum price predictions for the upcoming year. “$250,000!” one cries out. “No, $500,000!” another ‘analyst’ boldly bellows.

Hark! Thou art all mistaken. For last December, the cryptocurrency market was sharply falling from an unprecedented all-time high. Bitcoin price had peaked at $69,000 on November 10, and began falling rapidly to under $50,000 by early December.

By scouring last year’s articles about price predictions, it’s clear that a steep drop in just a month wasn’t enough to keep the loudest voices in crypto quiet. Predicting bitcoin and ethereum’s price is a fool’s errand. Here’s what those who did it anyway had to say.

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Top crypto news headlines of 2022

Thu, 05 Jan 2023 10:30:26 GMT

On New Year’s Day, the market capitalization of crypto assets totaled $2.4 trillion. At press time, it has declined 64% to $845 billion.

Plenty of events dragged everything down this year. Here are the top crypto headlines of 2022.

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Deliberate Blindness: Sam Bankman-Fried’s Enablers

Wed, 04 Jan 2023 17:30:00 GMT

There was a time when it was easy to be seen as brilliant in crypto. All you had to do was find someone with a great idea -- preferably someone who didn't like to pay attention in meetings -- and throw a bunch of money at them. If you were really brilliant, you would even work out a deal where they'd eventually give you all of that money back. In business, this is called synergy.

Nowadays, things aren't so simple. Pesky people want to know what your 'due diligence' process is, and ask how you failed to recognize the billions of dollars of fraud happening in the company you owned a big chunk of. Many investors tend to act as though they were caught unawares -- but perhaps we must consider that it's just an act.

If it's not an act, at the very least it's a dereliction of responsibility.

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NFT founder used investor funds to fuel crypto casino addiction

Wed, 04 Jan 2023 17:10:00 GMT

Popular streamer and serial NFT project founder DNP3 has admitted to using investor funds to fuel his gambling addiction.

In a statement issued on January 3, the streamer revealed that over the past year, he’s become addicted to gambling and has pumped “every dollar he could find” into the Stake crypto casino.

The social media star has over one million followers and subscribers across Twitter, Twitch, Instagram, and YouTube and is particularly well-known for highly-publicized acts of generosity, including handing out huge sums of money to other streamers.

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Genesis pressure mounts as Cameron Winklevoss threatens Barry Silbert

Wed, 04 Jan 2023 16:45:43 GMT

On Monday, Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss published an open letter to fellow billionaire Barry Silbert, the chief exec of Digital Currency Group (DCG), explaining Gemini’s side of an ongoing dispute with DCG and its subsidiary, Genesis Global Trading.

In the letter, Winklevoss gave Silbert a short deadline to publicly commit to resolving the situation that led to Gemini Earn suspending withdrawals. The famous twin accused Silbert of ignoring previous attempts to work together, claiming the DCG chief hoped that it would “just magically go away.”

He claims Silbert agreed to meet to discuss a proposal and then never followed through when Gemini submitted two. Now, Winklevoss demands that Silbert commit to finding common ground by January 8.

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Proud Boys ties to pro-crypto political consultant Samuel Armes

Wed, 04 Jan 2023 16:20:27 GMT

A crypto advocate and US political consultant named Samuel Armes has said he helped form key strategies later outlined in the ‘1776 Returns’ document -- a crucial file in the Proud Boys conspiracy case.

An interview between Armes and the US House Select Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection was released among a raft of transcripts last week. It shows that Armes had ties to the Proud Boys through his connections in the crypto industry. However, the links go further back.

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Sam Bankman-Fried expected to plead ‘not guilty’ — but why?

Wed, 04 Jan 2023 15:46:26 GMT

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of now-bankrupt FTX and Alameda Research, is reportedly expected to plead not guilty at his arraignment for eight charges including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to break campaign finance laws.

Several alleged co-conspirators, including Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research, and Gary Wang, FTX co-founder, have already pleaded guilty to charges related to the same scheme. There are also ongoing CFTC and SEC civil suits being brought against Bankman-Fried which allege both commodities fraud and securities fraud.

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The most important Bitcoin news of 2022

Wed, 04 Jan 2023 14:30:00 GMT

2022 has been rough year for bitcoin news as a series of industry implosions have sent the coin’s price tumbling by around 63% year-to-date. (To be fair, Bitcoin performed no worse than the broader crypto sector, which declined from $2.3 trillion to $846 billion this year. Even the NASDAQ stock market declined -29%.)

Fortunately, several big events advanced the Bitcoin network and put it on a firmer footing for the future. Of course, many challenges remain.

Here is a quick round-up of the major headlines telling the story of bitcoin’s 2022.

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IRS says ‘revolving door’ good for policing crypto

Wed, 04 Jan 2023 11:25:00 GMT

The special agent heading up the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation division (IRS-CI) says that crypto companies will need to work closely with federal agencies if they want to build legitimacy.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), New York-based special agent Thomas Fattorusso also claimed that the only way forward for agencies trying to regulate and fight crime within the space is to work hand-in-hand with those operating in it.

“Cryptocurrency is here to stay,” said Fattorusso (via WSJ).

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Bitcoin dev says 200 BTC stolen just before Proof of Keys day

Wed, 04 Jan 2023 11:00:13 GMT

A leading Bitcoin Core developer has claimed that a hacker has compromised his Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) key and stolen more than 200 bitcoin ($3.5 million).

Luke Dashjr, a Core developer since 2011, has made over 200 contributions to Bitcoin’s code and maintains the Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) section of Bitcoin’s GitHub repository.

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Top DeFi hacks and exploits of 2022

Fri, 23 Dec 2022 16:26:23 GMT

The collapse of centralized crypto firms became the biggest news stories in 2022, with Celsius and FTX dominating mainstream coverage.

CeFi also experienced its share of hacks, such as exchanges Crypto.com, Deribit and the more than $400 million from FTX during its chaotic implosion last month.

DeFi has taken a hammering, too. CeFi’s failures can mainly be chalked up to mismanagement, opacity, and fraud. Many of the following DeFi hacks and exploits are down to smart contract vulnerabilities, from which there is generally no recourse.

Let's take a look at the top five DeFi hacks and exploits that happened this year.

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The biggest NFT headlines of 2022

Fri, 23 Dec 2022 16:11:23 GMT

In 2021, the excitement around NFTs could barely be contained. Headlines were glowing and frenzied, and art collections and virtual land plots sold fast.

While this excitement — and the market — has cooled considerably, NFTs still make big news on a regular basis. Here’s a look back at some of the most significant NFT stories of 2022.

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Online casino uses crypto loophole to lure back gambling addict

Fri, 23 Dec 2022 15:40:29 GMT

A recovering gambling addict lost $300,000 to an online casino after the site showed him how he could use crypto to bypass banking restrictions and licensing laws.

Australian Blake Barnard was winning his fight against his gambling habit after his bank stepped in and canceled his casino deposits.

However, as detailed in an interview with ABC, once online betting platform Luckystar noticed the canceled deposits it emailed Barnard, recommending that he try using his Visa or crypto.

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Tether transparency: A lesson in lying

Fri, 23 Dec 2022 15:31:54 GMT

Tether, the first — and probably most controversial — stablecoin, has spent seven years promising transparency and audits. But a promise of transparency isn’t transparency. What Tether has proven, if anything at all, is that, sometimes, a promise may be enough.

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Bad news for Bankman-Fried as Ellison and Wang plead guilty

Fri, 23 Dec 2022 13:58:13 GMT

Former chief exec of Alameda Research, Caroline Ellison, has entered a plea deal with the Southern District of New York, along with FTX’s co-founder Gary Wang.

Former FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried has not pleaded guilty, but has landed on US soil after agreeing to extradition from the Bahamas, and is now in the custody of the FBI. Combined, the three face up to 275 years in prison.

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The best of the worst NFTs minted in 2022

Fri, 23 Dec 2022 12:38:00 GMT

Love them or hate them, NFTs have created a buzz around blockchain in 2022. Sadly, they have also ushered in a wave of tasteless, corrupt, and in some cases outright mad NFT projects — resulting in a colorful year, to say the least.

The one color it’s seemingly lacking, however, is green. NFT trading volume has dropped 97% since early January highs. Numbers for NFT marketplace OpenSea are bleeding: active traders, sales, and monthly volume are all down by 61%, 75%, and 96% respectively since January. Indeed, some six figure NFTs are down almost 99% this year.

To celebrate the wild ride, here’s a recap of some of the most ridiculous NFTs of the year.

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Top insights from Michael Saylor’s debate with Doomberg and George Gammon

Fri, 23 Dec 2022 12:21:11 GMT

Michael Saylor, executive chairman and former chief exec of MicroStrategy, shared some new insights in an interview with George Gammon and private fund manager and commodities analyst Doomberg.

In an hour and a half live discussion on Tuesday, Saylor reiterated his theory that bitcoin is the best hedge against the debasement of fiat currency. Then, he faced a series of tough questions and divulged more information on his decision to go all-in on bitcoin.

It’s the first time that Saylor has spoken so candidly about his quest to turn MicroStrategy into a highly leveraged bitcoin bet.

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Grayscale considers GBTC buyback if it loses SEC lawsuit

Wed, 21 Dec 2022 14:20:58 GMT

Grayscale Investments has informed investors of a contingency plan to deliver some capital to GBTC shareholders ⏤ even if it loses its appeal of the SEC’s decision to block GBTC from converting into a spot bitcoin ETF. Grayscale might institute a 20% share buyback.

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Chelsea FC owner first in line for $350M payout if Genesis goes under

Wed, 21 Dec 2022 12:00:00 GMT

Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group (DCG) could be forced to pay back $350 million to financier and Chelsea FC owner Todd Boehly if its brokering subsidiary Genesis goes under, according to people familiar with the company’s finances.

As reported by the Financial Times (FT), Boehly led a debt raise for DCG through his Eldridge investment group in November 2021. This raise included a $600 million loan from the group and a number of other investors.

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Bankman-Fried agrees to US extradition as FTX hunts down donations

Wed, 21 Dec 2022 11:30:00 GMT

During a dramatic day in court on Monday, former FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried voluntarily agreed to be extradited to the US, the Washington Post reports. The decision comes as the crypto exchange seeks to recoup money spent by Bankman-Fried and his cabal, such as political donations.

A Monday morning court session in which Bankman-Fried was expected to agree to extradition lasted only 10 minutes thanks to a public outburst. Jerome Roberts, a local lawyer representing the curly-haired entrepreneur, said the court session happened without his knowledge — things were moving “prematurely,” he said.

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Reuters hints at ‘dark secrets’ surrounding Binance and its reserves

Wed, 21 Dec 2022 11:12:48 GMT

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), who has repeatedly promised transparency, reiterated his vow in the wake of the FTX bankruptcy. However, Reuters this week accused Binance of hiding its liabilities and concealing financial details.

Reuters even questioned whether Binance executives have an interest in market-makers that trade against customers of the exchange — as was the case at BitMEX, FTX, and other exchanges sued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The outlet cited a comprehensive review of regulatory filings around the world, including interview requests sent to dozens of regulators.

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Bitcoin briefly trades above $24k on Waves DEX as users jump ship

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 13:00:00 GMT

Bitcoin briefly traded above $24,000 on the Waves blockchain-powered WX Network as holders scrambled to exchange their coins and withdraw their money from the decentralized exchange.

The rush to the exit was sparked after DEX saw a number of its tokens' withdrawal gateways shut down for an upgrade, including those of bitcoin and tether. Traders could deposit crypto to the exchange but couldn't withdraw it. Those who panicked at the news sought to sell their tokens at high prices in order to buy tokens that still had their withdrawal gateways open -- namely the Waves token.

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How does crypto use MPC wallets?

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 12:35:24 GMT

MPC wallets enable parties to share the responsibility of signing and encrypting data without any single party holding a complete private key. Cryptographic applications use multi-party computation (MPC) to generate digital signatures or decrypt data without sharing private inputs.

Organizations like exchanges, custodians, and other large digital asset businesses often prefer MPC wallets because this technology prevents trust in any single employee with a single key to assets.

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FTX used former Wirecard partner to process Chinese payments

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 11:45:00 GMT

Australian bank Cuscal was listed in FTX’s bankruptcy filings as one of the group’s banking partners. It was listed alongside Omipay, an Australian payments processor that focuses on offering payments to and from China.

Omipay also works with authorized representatives like Bano which provide other payment services, and it operates payment platform Monix/Monixfin. Protos previously reported that FTX used Monix to access banking services in Australia.

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Finder Wallet sued by Australian regulators for unlicensed Earn product

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 11:14:51 GMT

Finder Wallet, the cryptocurrency offshoot of Finder, has been sued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for its Earn product which offered customers a way to earn yield on their cryptocurrency.

They allege that the Australian financial services comparison firm was providing illegal financial advice and was offering Finder Earn without the appropriate licensure.

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Hivemapper CEO hints tokens equal ownership, SEC may not like it

Fri, 16 Dec 2022 17:15:00 GMT

On what was a strange Thursday for US-based mapping service Hivemapper, the firm’s CEO and co-founder Ariel Seidman suggested that the project’s upcoming HONEY token will represent ownership in the platform. This is a curious revelation, as any token that represents equity would likely have to be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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MicroStrategy and Silvergate are 2022’s most shorted crypto stocks

Fri, 16 Dec 2022 16:38:18 GMT

MicroStrategy has been a regular favorite stock for short-sellers looking for big drawdowns. The US-based software firm was listed as the eleventh most-shorted stock. Interestingly, just ahead of it in tenth spot is crypto bank, Silvergate Capital Corporation which, in March, lent MicroStrategy $205 million, collateralized with bitcoin, to purchase around 4,000 more bitcoin.

The interest rate for this loan was never published and, bizarrely, MicroStrategy chief Michael Saylor once claimed that the firm holds custody of all of its bitcoin, implying that Silvergate may not have access to the assets against which Saylor borrowed his money.

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FTX influencers shift blame back onto the crypto exchange

Fri, 16 Dec 2022 16:21:51 GMT

Before it filed for bankruptcy in November, crypto exchange FTX was this year’s largest advertiser among crypto companies. Needless to say, it overspent ⏤ but not before hordes of influencers convinced their followers to deposit money into FTX. The exchange then proceeded to “lose” $8 billion of its customers’ money.

Some celebrities backtracked on their endorsements after FTX collapsed, claiming that they were fooled along with the rest. However, FTX investors aren’t buying it. Some have sued big names like Larry David and Tom Brady for the part they played in misleading customers.

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Scoop: Crypto exchange Bitvavo owed up to $300M by Genesis

Fri, 16 Dec 2022 11:30:00 GMT

European crypto exchange Bitvavo is part of the so-called creditors’ committee that is trying to wrestle more than $1.8 billion back from Barry Silbert’s Genesis Trading and its parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG). This is according to sources familiar with the matter who spoke directly to Protos.

When Bahamas-based exchange FTX collapsed in November, Genesis was forced to suspend redemptions. As a result, in addition to freezing $175 million of Genesis’ trading assets, it also left Genesis and DCG owing three major creditors — $900 million to the Winklevoss twins’ Gemini, $350 million to a group of investors led by investment firm Eldridge, and $300 million to Bitvavo.

As part of their efforts to claw back their money, Gemini and Bitvavo have formed a creditors’ committee. They have also retained law firm Kirkland & Ellis as legal counsel and global investment bank Houlihan Lokey as financial advisor.

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What does the Fed’s latest interest rate hike mean for bitcoin?

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 17:13:50 GMT

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve issued its latest interest rate increase in response to inflation. Federal funds rates have been hiked up to a target of 4.5%.

Surprisingly, the Fed’s projections for the duration and value of interest rates may be higher than predicted. Almost all board members estimate that an interest rate slightly above 5% will be appropriate for next year, even as far as Q4.

So, are prolonged and higher interest rates a new critical blow for bitcoin and crypto?

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Explained: Binance’s beef with crypto trader CoinMamba

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 16:45:00 GMT

How far can a digital asset exchange go to shut down somebody’s account? As famous trader CoinMamba discovered, a centralized exchange like Binance can close accounts for the same vague, hand-wavy reason as any other financial institution — especially when its account owner threatens to create social media drama.

This week, Binance placed an account belonging to an influential trader who goes by the name ‘CoinMamba’ in withdraw-only mode after he claimed to have been a victim of an exploit of his account’s API key.

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Justin Sun’s stablecoin USDD quietly loses peg amid FTX chaos

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 16:30:00 GMT

Crypto exchange FTX, trading firm Alameda Research, and news of the hundreds of other companies exposed to their collapse has kept the spotlight off a few floundering projects. Take, for instance, Justin Sun’s personal “algorithmic” stablecoin USDD.

FTX withdrawals stopped functioning on November 6 and 7. Two days later, something broke for USDD. Price briefly spiked to $1.01 on November 9 and then began to drop. USDD slipped from its $1 peg, falling to as low as $0.97.

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US authorities charge Sam Bankman-Fried with ‘massive’ fraud

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 16:16:03 GMT

On Tuesday, it was announced that Sam Bankman-Fried, former CEO of crypto exchange FTX, had been arrested and indicted. Various fraud and money laundering charges filed against him by three US authorities provide new insight into how he operated.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) states in its complaint: “Bankman-Fried was orchestrating a massive, years-long fraud, diverting billions of dollars of the trading platform’s customer funds for his own personal benefit and to help grow his crypto empire.”

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New FTX chief describes the firm’s collapse in bankruptcy testimony

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 15:30:00 GMT

Recently appointed chief exec of crypto exchange FTX, John J. Ray III, provided new insight into the firm’s collapse in prepared testimony on Tuesday.

At a US House Financial Services hearing on the subject, Ray explained that the firm seems to have failed due to “the absolute concentration of control in the hands of a very small group of grossly inexperienced and unsophisticated individuals who failed to implement virtually any of the systems or controls that are necessary for a company that is entrusted with other people’s money.”

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Fate of crypto exchange Binance hangs on US money laundering investigation

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 15:11:24 GMT

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is conflicted on whether a longstanding investigation into Binance and its executives should end with indictments or a plea, according to an investigation by Reuters.

Sources told the outlet that the charges under investigation are unlicensed money transmission, money laundering conspiracy, and sanctions violations. Law firm Gibson Dunn, which represents the crypto exchange, reportedly met with the Justice Department to discuss outcomes.

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SBF arrested in Bahamas, criminally indicted in New York, charged by SEC

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 14:59:02 GMT

The Attorney General of the Bahamas has announced the arrest of Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). The FTX founder is being detained by the Royal Bahamas Police and awaits criminal extradition to the United States.

The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York confirmed the arrest on Monday and its intent to unseal the criminal indictment on Tuesday. In addition to criminal charges, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is also charging SBF on civil charges of securities violations.

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What could Terra founder Do Kwon be getting up to in Serbia?

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 14:15:00 GMT

The infamous co-founder of failed crypto stablecoin TerraUSD, Do Kwon, has been spotted by authorities in Serbia. He continues to evade an Interpol arrest warrant on charges of fraud and tax evasion in South Korea. It's unclear what Kwon is doing in the country, or how much freedom the crypto entrepreneur currently enjoys. However, Kwon frequently denies that he's on the run.

Indeed, there’s too much to see and do in Serbia’s capital Belgrade to stay indoors. The city has a rich culture, with plenty of hidden gems for Kwon to enjoy. A few curated recommendations by the Protos team.

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EU finance ministers push for checks on crypto transactions above $1,000

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 13:55:00 GMT

Last week, the European Council proposed anti-money laundering regulations, including a new EU rule which would demand crypto exchanges conduct due diligence on every crypto transaction worth €1,000 or more.

The rule, which applies to all crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), has yet to be approved by the European Parliament. However, it's likely to go through -- legislative processes are in their final and concluding stages.

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Opinion: The Block and the future of crypto media

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 13:36:15 GMT

It’s been a weird month for everyone in the cryptocurrency industry, to say the least.

A CoinDesk article put its parent organization, into a bit of a bind; the mainstream media seemed to whitewash Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) at first blush; and now it comes to light that The Block’s former CEO borrowed money from SBF to buy the controlling interest in the company. Not to mention, a crippling crypto bear market has impacted readership, ad revenue, and other parts of every media company’s business practices.

It’s hard to take it all in — but here’s why I’m still bullish on my favorite journalists in the cryptocurrency industry.

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Researchers find $500M scam targeting French speakers via fake crypto websites

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 19:15:00 GMT

A crypto scam network stole as much as $500 million through impersonating mainstream banks and crypto companies in order to convince their victims to purchase fake stocks, NFTs and crypto.

The scam ring, named CryptoLabs, has been targeting French speakers through a network of over 300 fake domains, ranging from crypto and fintech organisations to banking and asset management industries. One victim alone lost over $1.6 million to the scam.

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Kevin O’Leary made $4.3M in profit on FTX investment despite claimed loss

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 19:00:00 GMT

In an interview with CNBC on December 8th, it was revealed that Kevin O’Leary made a $4.3 million profit from his FTX investment. Despite this, he publicly claims to be angry about losing money on the exchange.

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Opinion: Bitfinex goes full fascist

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 18:47:55 GMT

Two weeks ago the infamous “Volcano Bitcoin Bond” finally made its way to the El Salvador legislature for final approval — a legislature completely controlled by Nayib Bukele’s New Ideas Party.

While final rubber-stamping occurs through an economic commission, also made up almost exclusively of New Ideas party members, it’s worth talking about more than just why the Volcano Bitcoin Bond has been widely mocked by financial experts. Specifically, why two companies deeply intertwined in the crypto industry — Bitfinex and Blockstream — are supporting a fascist.

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FTX probe has feds wondering if SBF brought down Terra

Thu, 08 Dec 2022 16:30:00 GMT

US prosecutors in Manhattan are said to be probing Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) involvement in the collapse of stablecoin terraUSD and its sister token, luna. According to sources close to the matter, SBF “steered the prices” to benefit his various crypto firms, including FTX and Alameda Research, the New York Times reports.

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Explained: Why bitcoin’s dominance is down this bear market

Thu, 08 Dec 2022 16:08:53 GMT

As of last year, when bitcoin -- and crypto in general -- were riding the wave of exorbitantly high prices, the dominance enjoyed by the world's leading crypto took a dip as money flowed into altcoins and other crypto tokens.

Indeed, bitcoin's dominance dropped significantly from 63% in January 2021 to just 42% by May. It then slipped even further to a bottom of 40% during December.

The altcoin bull run that followed bitcoin's price hike last year was a much-expected and predictable reaction to the currency's surging value. What wasn't expected: for bitcoin’s dominance to remain low in a bear market. B

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Lawsuit puts pressure on Grayscale to open GBTC books

Thu, 08 Dec 2022 15:30:00 GMT

Fir Tree, the hedge fund that previously announced it was shorting tether, has now filed a lawsuit against the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) alleging misconduct and seeking records to help determine that.

Fir Tree alleges that Grayscale has breached the trust agreement by not allowing shareholders to review relevant documents.

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Politician guilty of shilling anti-Biden crypto, gives fine to gun lobby

Thu, 08 Dec 2022 15:09:28 GMT

Outgoing Republican congressman Madison Cawthorn has been fined $15,000 by the House Ethics Committee for pumping the short-lived Let’s Go Brandon coin and, in the process, breaking conflict of interest rules.

Let’s Go Brandon (LGB) was a meme-inspired crypto associated with an offensive anti-Joe Biden chant and was dubbed “America’s Free Speech Coin.” It was also briefly approved as a Nascar sponsor in December 2021 but the sport's governing body blocked the deal, claiming that it had been given the go-ahead by an employee without the authorization to do so.

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3AC founders and staff hit with subpoenas as feds push for records

Thu, 08 Dec 2022 13:07:30 GMT

Three Arrows Capital (3AC) co-founders Su Zhu and Kyle Davies will be required to hand over “any recorded information” relating to the bankrupt crypto hedge fund after a federal judge greenlit subpoenas to be dished out to the firm’s former leadership.

The subpoenas will demand that Zhu and Davies give up anything from company documents and papers to financial records and account details.

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What's up with crypto exchange Gemini and its ties to FTX?

Thu, 08 Dec 2022 12:45:46 GMT

Genesis Trading and its parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG) owe over $900 million to Gemini Earn, as the contagion from FTX's rapid collapse continues to spread. Gemini’s billionaire founders, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, have kept a relatively low profile during the fallout.

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From Alameda chief to bankrupting FTX, meet Caroline Ellison

Tue, 06 Dec 2022 18:17:41 GMT

Caroline Ellison was the sole chief exec of Alameda Research at the time of its demise. Her company used money from customers of its sister company FTX without their consent and in direct violation of FTX’s own terms of service.

Like SBF, Ellison previously worked at quantitative trading firm Jane Street Capital. Ellison then moved to Alameda Research in March 2018, where she shared CEO duties with Sam Trabucco. When Trabucco resigned in August this year -- just three months before bankruptcy -- she became CEO.

Here's an insight into her life at FTX.

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Metallica scams net thousands in crypto as band teases new album

Tue, 06 Dec 2022 17:15:00 GMT

US heavy metal giants Metallica have warned fans to steer clear of crypto giveaway scams looking to piggyback on the news of the band’s upcoming new album and tour.

Despite the warnings, more than $7,000 worth of bitcoin and ether has been sent to crypto addresses linked to the con.

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Trouble in paradise: Bahamas fears FTX crash could hurt its rep

Tue, 06 Dec 2022 16:42:22 GMT

The collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) FTX may have serious repercussions for the Bahamas as a financial services jurisdiction and its ongoing efforts to be seen as a legitimate jurisdiction for crypto exchanges.

Politicians and regulatory authorities in the region are certainly aware of this risk and there's a consistent air of panic in their statements on the subject. And who can blame them when the stakes are so high.

Last week, member of parliament James Kwasi Thompson made a statement in support of the attorney general's comments on FTX. He also criticized the Bahamian government for causing "irreputable damage" to the country with its silence.

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Bermuda-based insurer Relm distances itself from FTX fallout

Mon, 05 Dec 2022 17:00:00 GMT

Relm Insurance, a subsidiary of the Deltec International Group, the parent company of Deltec Bank & Trust, has issued a statement attempting to distance itself from the fallout from FTX and Alameda – companies it was, at least partially, insuring.

In a statement from CEO, Joseph Ziolkowski, Relm admits to insuring West Realm Shires (aka FTX US), FTX Australia Pty. Ltd., and "companies that have been compromised due to their relationship with FTX and Alameda.”

"Following a detailed review of our entire portfolio, we remain confident that we will continue to be well-capitalized to serve the needs of the industry as the fallout from this event evolves," wrote Ziolkowski.

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Scoop: Ex-Alameda exec Sam Trabucco bought millions in property pre-collapse

Mon, 05 Dec 2022 16:35:00 GMT

Sam Trabucco, former co-CEO of bankrupt crypto investing firm Alameda Research, purchased two luxury apartments in San Francisco last year, documents verified by Protos reveal.

Trabucco announced an early retirement just months before Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX and Alameda collapsed in November. He appears to have vanished entirely from social media — yet went on a massive all-cash property shopping spree in the run-up to the complete financial ruin of the company.

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How decentralized is DeFi, really?

Mon, 05 Dec 2022 16:14:25 GMT

DeFi has had a rough two years. During the halcyon days of DeFi Summer 2020, it promised to build an alternative to banks and the traditional financial system. Two years later, bad actors have stolen billions of dollars through a series of hacks, scams, and pyramid schemes and many are questioning how decentralized DeFi really is -- or ever was.

Returning to the word “decentralized,” many critics now view the descriptor as misleading. Is a DeFi protocol actually decentralized if it has, say, fewer than 50 liquidity providers, fewer than 50 controlling voters, or fewer than 50 Discord participants? What about if it has fewer than 50 GitHub commits or fewer than 50 administrators selecting governance topics and tabulating Snapshot.org votes?

By any of those standards, only a small handful of DeFi protocols would qualify.

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Documents reveal Alameda Research bought FTX stake from Binance

Mon, 05 Dec 2022 15:53:39 GMT

The 2021 sale of FTX equity owned by Binance in exchange for FTX Token (FTT) and BUSD was purchased by Alameda Research, according to documents distributed as part of the Series B-1 that Protos reviewed. This confirms the reporting about FTX equity being on Alameda Research’s balance sheet as provided by Sam Bankman-Fried to Forbes.

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Here's how staking protocol Ankr got robbed in DeFi free-for-all

Fri, 02 Dec 2022 17:39:50 GMT

A compromised private key has led to an ‘infinite mint’ exploit targeting Ankr, with the fallout causing amplified collateral damage to stablecoin project Helio Money.

Ankr provides liquid staking services on Binance’s BNB blockchain, among others. Users can deposit BNB which is locked up to secure the chain under the Proof of Stake model, receiving a deposit token in return.

The exploited token, aBNBc, accumulates staking rewards via Ankr while allowing users to use their capital elsewhere in DeFi, or effectively withdraw their staking position by swapping back to BNB.

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Washington regulator doesn’t need ‘new laws’ to ‘stop bad guys’ in crypto

Fri, 02 Dec 2022 14:12:33 GMT

As more and more of the tentacles from Alameda, FTX, and Sam Bankman-Fried are exposed within the financial system, regulators continue to be asked difficult questions in the wake of the devastation.

In a previous discussion with Protos, the Federal Reserve admitted, “Bad things can happen, even when you think things are in order.”

Most recently, we reached out to the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), which had a much different perspective on the current state of regulatory affairs.

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BlockFi blames FTX for bankruptcy but lets bitcoin mining debt slide

Fri, 02 Dec 2022 11:36:29 GMT

Crypto lender BlockFi is blaming its recent bankruptcy on now-infamous Bahama’s-based exchange FTX, citing an unpaid and uncollateralized debt of $275 million.

However, despite the money owed from Sam Bankman-Fried’s imploding empire, BlockFi also lists more than $1 billion in additional uncollateralized debt to other borrowers and massive amounts of supposedly collateralized debt.

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GTA creator Rockstar Games bans NFTs and crypto

Thu, 01 Dec 2022 18:20:00 GMT

Videogame giant Rockstar has announced new user guidelines for its roleplaying servers, that effectively outlaw the buying and selling of blockchain products.

As reported by TechRadar, the new measures will have a particular effect on Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto Online servers. Some gamers had been using these servers, many of which are not officially supervised by Rockstar, to trade digital assets like cryptocurrencies and NFTs.

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Bitcoin IRA deposits at Genesis could leave retirees broke

Thu, 01 Dec 2022 17:50:00 GMT

Genesis Trading is struggling to raise new capital and warned of a possible restructuring in the wake of the FTX bankruptcy. It has frozen retirement funds held by Bitcoin IRA customers.

It may become the latest victim of a bad year for digital asset investment companies. It already froze withdrawals of deposited assets. This move could hurt owners of retirement accounts who deposited funds on Bitcoin IRA’s IRA Earn product.

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European Central Bank says crypto is dead, but is it?

Thu, 01 Dec 2022 17:32:01 GMT

The European Central Bank (ECB) has released its strongest bearish statement on crypto to date. In a blog post on its website, the bank chastises the EU Commission for legitimizing the industry with new regulations and predicts the death of bitcoin.

Protos has previously reported that, when it comes to crypto, there are very strong divergences between central bankers and legislators.

The ECB itself has also previously warned that the collapse of major stablecoins could trigger financial contagion. Now the bank is going even further, declaring that bitcoin is dead and claiming that its recent price stabilization is only a last gasp before it slips into “irrelevance.”

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Honey, where’s the bitcoin? Divorce lawyers hunt for hidden crypto

Thu, 01 Dec 2022 16:40:00 GMT

Crypto has long been popular with criminals looking to hide, launder, or move their ill-gotten gains. But now disgruntled spouses facing divorce are adopting the same tactics as ganglords and cartels and using assets like bitcoin to keep their money out of the hands of their erstwhile partners.

As a result, many legal firms are now catering specifically to this growing sector and helping parting couples who want to make sure their settlement is all present and correct by tracking down hidden crypto.

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Exclusive: The Fed responds to the Moonstone Bank mystery

Thu, 01 Dec 2022 16:30:00 GMT

One of the lingering questions for the cryptocurrency industry is how the incredibly small and foreign-owned Farmington State Bank, now Moonstone Bank, was able to acquire regulatory guidance under the Federal Reserve.

As previously reported, Moonstone received an $11.5 million investment from Sam Bankman-Fried’s now-bankrupt Alameda Research in March. It’s owned by a company called FBH — its chairman, Jean Chalopin, also chairs Deltec Bank and Trust. Deltec’s major clients include Tether and Alameda. Chalopin sits on Moonstone’s board of directors.

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Alameda bought this obscure OTC desk to handle FTX banking

Thu, 01 Dec 2022 16:20:00 GMT

HiveEx was an over-the-counter (OTC) desk in Australia started in early 2018 by Fred Schebesta and Frank Restuccia. The duo started Finder, a financial services comparison website, before deciding to enter the OTC business.

The Australian OTC trading desk, was purchased by Alameda Research in 2020 and subsequently used to accept deposits for FTX.

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The crypto bromance of Binance’s CZ and Tron’s Justin Sun

Thu, 01 Dec 2022 15:43:43 GMT

Tron founder Justin Sun may have a unique relationship with Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) that's driven by Chinese money.

According to The Verge, Sun is the subject of an FBI investigation related to allegations that he gave insider information to Chinese traders while pumping-and-dumping crypto assets, then purchased citizenship to avoid criminal extradition.

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South Korea adds Terraform Labs' Daniel Shin to wish list

Thu, 01 Dec 2022 14:00:00 GMT

South Korean prosecutors have issued an arrest warrant for Terraform Labs co-founder Daniel Shin, alleging he illegally profited before the collapse of its cryptocurrency luna and stablecoin terraUSD in May.

Warrants were also made for three other Terraform Labs investors and four engineers, Yonhap News reports.

South Korea has led the criminal investigations into the firm’s demise, suspecting fraud and tax evasion on a mass scale. The tax records of chief exec Do Kwon and Shin were seized. In July, prosecutors raided the offices of several top local crypto exchanges as well as the homes and offices of related suspects, including Kwon and Shin.

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Bitcoin, dictators, and weed: Meet GOP candidate Jane Adams

Tue, 29 Nov 2022 19:15:00 GMT

Jane Adams, a GOP candidate who unsuccessfully ran for Nevada’s 1st District House Republican nomination, has made Bitcoin an essential part of her platform. Her concerning online presence has led us to ask: Who is Jane Adams? Protos interviewed the controversial figure to learn more.

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Russian billionaire latest crypto tycoon to die mysteriously

Tue, 29 Nov 2022 19:04:21 GMT

Yet another high-profile crypto tycoon has died in mysterious circumstances, taking the tally of questionable crypto-related deaths to four in less than five months.

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BlockFi files for bankruptcy and sues Sam Bankman-Fried on same day

Tue, 29 Nov 2022 18:45:00 GMT

Cryptocurrency lender BlockFi filed for bankruptcy on Monday and, a few hours later, sued Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) investment firm for withholding Robinhood stock it promised as collateral, Financial Times (FT) reports.

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More trouble for Grayscale as Ethereum trust plummets

Tue, 29 Nov 2022 18:30:00 GMT

Grayscale Investments is best known for its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) product, which is currently trading at a steep discount to its assets under management (AUM). But the company has also created a number of other publicly traded products, among them the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) which, much like GBTC, provides ether exposure via a trust trading on US over-the-counter (OTC) markets.

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Tech CEO accused of stealing 400 BTC via fake Ethereum rival

Tue, 29 Nov 2022 18:00:00 GMT

A Northern Ireland-based tech CEO has been charged with running a large-scale crypto scam that stole 397 bitcoin (today worth nearly $6.5 million) from victims and has been called "the first case of its kind" in the country.

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Global crypto ATM transactions plummet in bear market

Tue, 29 Nov 2022 17:27:22 GMT

Crypto ATMs have been consistently popping up across the world for years. In 2021, the market experienced its biggest growth rate -- but in a crippling year for crypto, ATM installations have stalled while the number of transactions have plummeted, Bloomberg reports.

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Opinion: FTX fall stresses centralization vs decentralization debate

Tue, 29 Nov 2022 16:43:00 GMT

The implosion of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried’s Bahama’s-based exchange is, by volume, one of the largest financial frauds in history. But despite it impacting more than one million people and with up to $10 billion of client money lost, so far, little has been said about the irony of this historic event.

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Exclusive: Moonstone Bank further explains Gemini and Revolut ties

Tue, 29 Nov 2022 16:14:37 GMT

Revelations and rumors continued to swirl after Thanksgiving, with internet sleuths pointing out that Ronald Oliveira, the once-chief exec of Revolut, had departed from his CEO role at Moonstone after only eight months. Additionally, curious to some was the role of Noah Perlman, chief operating officer at Gemini, as a Moonstone board member. Protos reached out to Janvier Chalopin once more to get answers.

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Crypto’s dislike for NYT peaks with SBF speaker deal

Fri, 25 Nov 2022 18:00:00 GMT

Former billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has confirmed he will speak virtually at New York Times’ (NYT) DealBook Summit event next week, resulting in major backlash online.

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Green bitcoin miner crashes, takes Aussie billionaire with it

Fri, 25 Nov 2022 16:00:00 GMT

An Australian software billionaire and climate change activist has likely taken a hit after a ‘green’ bitcoin mining firm he invested in saw its share price plummet by 94%.

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Exclusive: Moonstone Bank explains ties with Alameda Research

Fri, 25 Nov 2022 15:15:00 GMT

Recent bankruptcy documents have revealed the relationship between Sam Bankman-Fried's bankrupt Alameda Research and a rural bank in Washington called Farmington State Bank, now known as Moonstone. As scrutiny continues, Protos had the opportunity to ask Moonstone’s chief digital officer, Janvier Chalopin, some questions.

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Online bank SoFi struggles amid FTX-inspired crypto probe

Fri, 25 Nov 2022 14:40:00 GMT

Online bank SoFi is fighting on two fronts after the White House paused student loans and senators began to probe its crypto operations in the wake of the collapse of Bahamas-based exchange FTX.

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Bitcoin IRA complaints mount after axing Earn and adding altcoins

Fri, 25 Nov 2022 14:12:16 GMT

Bitcoin IRAs (individual retirement accounts) seemed like a simple concept to investors, particularly those accustomed to other types of retirement plans. So simple in fact that, in March 2021, as bitcoin surpassed $50,000, the eponymously named company Bitcoin IRA bragged about cresting 100,000 clients.

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The curious case of FTX and Farmington State Bank, aka Moonstone

Fri, 25 Nov 2022 13:44:33 GMT

In bankruptcy filings, crypto exchange FTX revealed a curious connection to stablecoin Tether through a small bank in rural Washington. Farmington State Bank is in fact the 26th smallest bank in the US, out of over 4,700. Until this year, it employed three people.

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Grayscale Bitcoin Trust and its ties to crypto meltdowns

Wed, 23 Nov 2022 20:37:35 GMT

The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) is an over-the-counter (OTC) traded fund meant to track the price of bitcoin. Grayscale Investments is owned by Barry Silbert's crypto mammoth Digital Currency Group (DCG), which also owns beleaguered crypto trading and lending firm Genesis.

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Market manipulator liquidated trying to short Curve

Wed, 23 Nov 2022 20:10:44 GMT

A notorious market manipulator, responsible for last month’s attack on Mango Markets, yesterday attempted to crash the price of DeFi exchange Curve’s CRV token.

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Was Tether at the center of Sam Bankman-Fried's empire?

Wed, 23 Nov 2022 19:37:27 GMT

Out of all the companies in the crypto industry, the demise of Sam Bankman-Fried's (SBF) crypto exchange FTX was the most likely to pull stablecoin Tether (USDT) down with it. Tether has always maintained close links with SBF’s former empire. Indeed, the vast majority of all transactions that FTX processed involved USDT.

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Pressured bitcoin miners can’t sell the dip fast enough

Wed, 23 Nov 2022 17:55:53 GMT

The liquidity crisis in the bitcoin mining industry shows no sign of letting up. Indeed, statistics show that bitcoin miners are selling their coins at record levels last seen in 2016.

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FTX owes $3B to 50 creditors including Genesis and BlockFi

Tue, 22 Nov 2022 18:30:16 GMT

Legal filings have revealed that collapsed crypto exchange FTX owes its 50 biggest creditors more than $3 billion — and it could take them years to get even a small portion of it back.

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Genesis still consistently inconsistent amid bankruptcy claims

Tue, 22 Nov 2022 17:52:50 GMT

Crypto brokerage Genesis, part of Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group (DCG), has warned that if it doesn’t hit target in a fresh funding round, it may go bankrupt. Genesis initially sought a whopping $1 billion, but has now slashed its goal in half.

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DeFi protocol AAVE faces bad debt and centralized points of failure

Tue, 22 Nov 2022 17:49:24 GMT

AAVE has a bad debt problem. A global community of people use the AAVE protocol to take out and service crypto loans, provide liquidity, stake, earn interest, and/or vote on governance proposals.

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Investigation finds Celsius 'Custody' was ploy to remain relevant

Mon, 21 Nov 2022 19:24:48 GMT

An interim investigative report filed in the ongoing bankruptcy of Celsius Network provides more context about its business practices and shows a predictable pattern of irresponsibility.

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Bankman-Fried deepfake lures FTX customers into giveaway scam

Mon, 21 Nov 2022 19:06:42 GMT

A Twitter account impersonating the founder of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), scammed customers into believing they could receive compensation through a fake giveaway, Vice reports.

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Armstrong holds no Coinbase common stock but who has GBTC’s bitcoin?

Mon, 21 Nov 2022 18:02:27 GMT

Brian Armstrong has sold every last share of Coinbase common stock that he held since IPO. The last sales were recorded on November 11, quietly occurring as crypto markets focused almost exclusively on the ongoing issues surrounding FTX and Alameda.

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Grayscale and MicroStrategy struggles hint at hard times for crypto

Mon, 21 Nov 2022 17:49:59 GMT

Indeed, bitcoin has taken a 25% dive and many altcoins fared even worse with FTX-backed Solana spiraling 65%. The question now on everyone's mind: is more pain in store for crypto markets? The FTX fallout has come in the middle of a huge patch of bearish sentiment across all markets but crypto is also facing wide and structural market deleveraging which is making companies go bust and coins go to zero.

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Helium founder races cars while the crypto startup is on collision course

Mon, 21 Nov 2022 17:24:53 GMT

It’s been a difficult year for crypto project Helium Network and its founder, Amir Haleem. Initially lauded as a competent startup and internet-of-things darling, it floundered this summer when it was revealed that some advertised big-name ‘partners’ — including Salesforce and Lime — weren’t actually in business with the firm.

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The crypto bets of a16z crumble, early investors still profit

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 18:11:26 GMT

By Q1 this year, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz’s (a16z) flagship crypto fund had returned almost five times for early backers, according to documents reviewed by Semafor. The firm sold a portion of its tokens right before crypto’s bear market began in May, meaning that early investors are guaranteed a successful return.

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Russian bill to give crypto miners new ways to bypass restrictions

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 17:59:45 GMT

A new bill submitted to Russia’s State Duma would give crypto miners in the country two new ways to sell their coins. However, the proposal faces stiff competition from a government and financial system that remains hostile to the adoption of digital assets.

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FTX bankruptcy: A complete failure, worse than Enron

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 17:33:12 GMT

FTX chief exec, John J. Ray III, has filed his first declaration in the bankruptcy of FTX, FTX US, Alameda Research, and related entities. Ray, who had served as Chairman of Enron during its bankruptcy, stated that he’d never seen “such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information.”

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A look at Jump Crypto and its shady past

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 12:54:24 GMT

Over the years, Jump Crypto, the crypto-specific arm of Chicago-headquartered trading firm Jump Trading, has worked alongside some of the most prominent firms and individuals in the crypto space. However, it’s also been embroiled in its fair share number of high-profile controversies.

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Not even Sir David Attenborough is safe from Twitter crypto scams

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 12:45:43 GMT

Promoted tweets on Twitter are using the likeness of famed naturalist Sir David Attenborough to trick users into shady crypto schemes.

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We watched every SBF interview so you don’t have to

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 12:30:40 GMT

It’s been an exhausting week for every person even remotely involved with the cryptocurrency industry. The collapse of FTX and Alameda Research has brought with it what would normally be written off as “FUD,” or fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

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Solana’s close ties to FTX cause financial and structural damage

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 12:28:49 GMT

The fallout from the implosion of FTX is being felt across the crypto industry, with firms supposedly rescued by the exchange now being dragged under along with their erstwhile ‘savior,’ Sam Bankman-Fried.

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LFG audit raises questions about Jump Trading and Terra collapse

Thu, 17 Nov 2022 12:01:55 GMT

According to a new independent report, Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) transferred more than 52,000 bitcoin (BTC) from its reserves to Jump Trading as part of its efforts to defend the price of terraUSD (UST). However, observers have already started to point out that there are certain, crucial details missing.

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A timeline of Genesis Trading halting crypto withdrawals

Wed, 16 Nov 2022 18:31:57 GMT

Genesis Global Capital, the cryptocurrency lending arm of Genesis Global Trading, has shut down withdrawals amidst the FTX and Alameda Research collapse.

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How realistic is a Sam Bankman-Fried comeback?

Wed, 16 Nov 2022 13:46:54 GMT

Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) is eyeing a comeback. This is despite him being investigated by the Bahamian authorities and his firm, FTX, filing for bankruptcy.

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Jump Crypto ties to FTX and Solana put Robinhood users at risk

Wed, 16 Nov 2022 13:28:50 GMT

Investors in the investing app Robinhood fear that contagion from FTX could affect their trades being processed by Jump Crypto. The link between Robinhood, Jump, and FTX is direct: Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) notably owned 7.6% of Robinhood’s stock and once claimed to be preparing a full acquisition offer for Robinhood.

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Sam Bankman-Fried caught deleting more tweets that aged like milk

Wed, 16 Nov 2022 13:26:59 GMT

Digital asset information platform The Tie has compiled many of the tweets Sam Bankman-Fried has deleted in the past year. It showcases how tons of people are scrambling to sever ties with Bankman-Fried and FTX -- and more importantly, gives insight into which of his own posts he doesn't want you to see.

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FTX founders Bankman-Fried and Wang reportedly detained

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 18:52:29 GMT

According to reports, FTX co-founder Gary Wang is being held under supervision by Bahamian authorities alongside Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). The pair are also being investigated by the country’s financial crimes unit.

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UK crypto inquiry asks Binance if it knew it would collapse FTX

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 18:51:17 GMT

The UK Government began an inquiry into the crypto assets industry yesterday. Officials from the likes of Binance and Ripple were asked if crypto could be compared to 17th-century tulip mania and if Binance knew its relationship with FTX would lead to the exchange’s collapse.

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Political donations won’t save Bankman-Fried from investigation

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 18:42:38 GMT

Amidst the collapse of FTX, conspiracies about the relationship between the crypto exchange and lawmakers have spread. Elon Musk, the “richest man in the world,” has even propagated these claims, stating that Sam Bankman-Fried was not investigated because he was “a major Dem donor.”

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Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto lobbying legacy haunts Washington

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 18:32:21 GMT

Sam Bankman-Fried’s newfound infamy has given cryptocurrency regulators an opportunity to unravel the former billionaire’s lobbying efforts. Lawmakers will be pressed to reassess their approaches to digital assets, Politico reports.

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Can FTX tokenize its own bankruptcy?

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 17:13:50 GMT

A former FTX employee, Zane Tackett, put out a Twitter thread a few days ago ending with a pointed — if biased — question: Should FTX issue a “Cool Token” or go through a traditional bankruptcy proceeding?

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Serial crypto failure Mark Cuban says he’s in it for the apps

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 17:12:11 GMT

Outspoken Shark Tank entrepreneur Mark Cuban says that smart contracts and apps are the reason he invested so much of his money into crypto and that what’s required is a ‘ubiquitous’ app that’s needed by everyone.

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CZ on brink of second bailout for crypto

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 17:10:56 GMT

Binance chief Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has announced on Twitter that the firm will launch “an industry recovery fund” to help limit the impact of the collapse of FTX and the rest of Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency empire.

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Explained: Crypto.com’s ongoing insolvency battle

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 17:09:42 GMT

With most eyeballs on FTX’s rapid meltdown last week, fears of a Crypto.com insolvency are swirling on the periphery. Some observers fear that Crypto.com or its Cronos (CRO) blockchain system could face similar struggles or financial shortfalls in the wake of the FTX collapse.

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Bahamian rhapsody: FTX users exploit loophole to withdraw crypto

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 19:23:34 GMT

As the FTX meltdown continues, worried users are turning to inventive, risky, and most probably illegal workarounds to attempt to extract what funds they can from the Bahamas-based crypto exchange.

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Former Enron chairman takes over SBF’s bankrupt crypto cartel

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 19:21:42 GMT

Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchanges FTX and FTX.US, trading firm Alameda Research, and over 100 related entities have declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

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Famed short seller Bill Ackman defends Bankman-Fried then deletes tweet

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 19:20:10 GMT

In an almost instantly-deleted tweet, billionaire and activist investor Bill Ackman “gave credit” to founder and chief exec of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) for his “accountability,” and said he’d “never seen a CEO take responsibility as [SBF] does here.”

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Bitcoin Optech celebrates years of major fixes to Bitcoin vulnerabilities

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 19:19:09 GMT

The popular Bitcoin OpTech newsletter has created a Hall of Fame to thank developers who responsibly disclosed major vulnerabilities in Bitcoin software without exploiting them for their own benefit. The list provides more than four years of history of episodes when Bitcoin came close to the brink of failing.

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Peak traffic on Ledger left users unable to move crypto

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 12:25:50 GMT

As Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange FTX faces bankruptcy, users are scrambling to move cryptocurrency to cold wallets like Ledger and Trezor — but due to a sudden surge in traffic, Ledger experienced ‘downgraded server performance’ which left users unable to send or withdraw funds.

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Bitcoin trackers reveal Saylor and El Salvador both rekt

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 12:24:37 GMT

According to two investment tracking websites, a pair of bitcoin’s most vociferous supporters, MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor and president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, are a combined $1.75 billion down on their well-publicized investments.

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Justin Sun, crypto’s most shameless marketer, play-acts the hero

Thu, 10 Nov 2022 17:45:17 GMT

Justin Sun has apparently noticed a number of pretty significant events happening in crypto at present. He also seems to have realized that nobody’s talking about him so, in true Justin Sun fashion, has found a way to insert himself into the discussion.

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The many lies of Sam Bankman-Fried

Thu, 10 Nov 2022 15:22:45 GMT

Until recently, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) had one of the largest fortunes in the digital industry world, with an estimated net worth exceeding $16 billion. Yet now the world can see the truth: SBF lies a lot. Like most mark-to-market fortunes that only exist on paper, wealth can evaporate during a liquidity crisis.

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Consumer Protection Bureau issues warning, but is it too late?

Thu, 10 Nov 2022 15:21:15 GMT

On the heels of a tumultuous few days, weeks, and months for the cryptocurrency industry, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has released a 45-page bulletin detailing consumer reports of frauds, scams, and other malfeasance related to crypto — but is it a day late and a dollar short?

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Panic and resignations reign over FTX’s final days

Thu, 10 Nov 2022 15:19:45 GMT

Insiders at could-be acquired crypto exchange FTX are sharing perspectives on Twitter that paint a bleak picture of the firm’s final throes. As the market questioned the solvency of Sam Bankman-Fried’s top exchange, employees were seemingly left in the dark.

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Solana is dying and it can’t find a buyer

Thu, 10 Nov 2022 15:18:31 GMT

A prominent trader within the crypto community has recently speculated that Solana may pump if Binance chief Changpeng Zhao (CZ) tweets anything positive about his mooted takeover of FTX.

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Crypto market split 50/50 on Binance FTX deal going through

Wed, 09 Nov 2022 15:40:53 GMT

Yesterday, the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance announced it’s set to buy out struggling Bahamas-based rival FTX pending due diligence. However, markets are seemingly 50/50 on the chances of the deal going through.

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SEC has said nothing to prove Polkadot is not a security

Wed, 09 Nov 2022 15:39:37 GMT

Polkadot supporter Web3 Foundation recently claimed that the $7 billion token Polkadot (DOT) has made friends with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and no longer qualifies as a security — instead, it’s software. Only, no evidence exists that the SEC made such a claim.

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We searched for FTX’s ether — and we have questions

Wed, 09 Nov 2022 12:19:58 GMT

In an effort to assess FTX’s financial situation, we’ve attempted, unsuccessfully, to track down the cold wallet with the remainder of the exchange’s ether. In the process of searching for the wallet, we encountered a series of interesting transactions that, while not evidence of any malfeasance, point to a very close relationship between FTX and Alameda Research.

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If Alameda didn’t dump BitDAO’s token 20% who did?

Wed, 09 Nov 2022 12:18:29 GMT

BitDAO, a DeFi project “building governance, treasury management, and DeFi products” linked to crypto exchange ByBit, has called out DeFi-focused trading firm Alameda Research to request proof that it didn’t break a three-year agreement to not sell each other’s tokens.

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BREAKING: Binance will acquire FTX to help with ‘liquidity crunch’

Tue, 08 Nov 2022 17:41:28 GMT

Binance and FTX have just announced that, pending due diligence, Binance will be acquiring FTX in order to help with a “liquidity crunch”.

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FTX halts ERC-20, Solana, and Tron withdrawals

Tue, 08 Nov 2022 17:38:13 GMT

FTX has stopped processing withdrawals of ERC-20 tokens, Solana, and Tron since earlier this morning. This comes amidst a renewed focus on the financial position of FTX, Alameda Research, and the extended Sam Bankman-Fried universe.

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Former EU commissioner involved in suspected crypto Ponzi scheme

Tue, 08 Nov 2022 17:37:53 GMT

John Dalli, former Maltese finance minister and former EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, has deep ties to a suspected Ponzi scheme that involves a crypto operation known as QuickX.

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North Korean hackers used new methods to target Israeli crypto

Tue, 08 Nov 2022 17:30:31 GMT

Hackers from North Korea using “unfamiliar tools” have attempted to steal money from an Israeli crypto firm, presumably to fund the country’s secretive nuclear program, according to reports in Israel.

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Judge rules LBRY’s token is a security — what about XRP?

Tue, 08 Nov 2022 15:45:28 GMT

On Monday, crypto firm LBRY Inc. lost its case against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). LBRY was initially charged by the SEC in March 2021 for selling securities and failing to register with the commission.

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50,000 bitcoin seized after criminal calls police on self

Tue, 08 Nov 2022 14:31:38 GMT

In an unprecedented move, the Department of Justice (DoJ) has announced that it has arrested a “James Zhong” and seized over 50,000 bitcoins. The coins in question were originally stolen from the dark web marketplace the Silk Road back in 2012 — a full decade ago.

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Has the naming rights curse finally hit crypto?

Tue, 08 Nov 2022 09:32:17 GMT

While it would be unfair to say that every corporate stadium naming rights partnership precedes an unfortunate event — after all, there are more than 75 professional league stadiums in America — a mythology has been established around such deals and the hubris it takes to see them through.

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UK asks public if minimal NFT regulation will suffice

Tue, 08 Nov 2022 09:28:03 GMT

UK Parliament has asked the public to weigh in on non-fungible token (NFT) regulation amid tanking sales and depreciating value.

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How the battle between Binance and FTX went from bad to worse

Tue, 08 Nov 2022 09:26:04 GMT

The rivalry between CZ and SBF is, at its heart, the story of a bromance gone sour. The two and their respective companies are natural competitors that had until now been brought together in a strategic partnership. Let’s take a look at some of the key ups and downs in one of crypto’s most high-profile relationships.

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Explained: Is Polygon truly decentralized?

Tue, 08 Nov 2022 09:23:23 GMT

Polygon, an Ethereum scaling platform that claims to be decentralized, is landing partnerships with major names. Already a partner with Coinbase NFTs, it just became the primary provider of Instagram’s upcoming NFT marketplace.

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Bitcoin Core devs accused of forcing replace-by-fee transactions

Mon, 07 Nov 2022 12:51:41 GMT

Synonym CEO John Carvalho has accused a number of Bitcoin Core developers of attempting to force Bitcoin to accept replace-by-fee (RBF) transactions by default. Their proposal would change Bitcoin’s core protocols rather than let users decide whether to use RBF transactions or zero-confirmation (0conf) at the surface level.

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This tool suggests Bitcoin was the wrong bet for Michael Saylor

Mon, 07 Nov 2022 12:41:07 GMT

A website claims to have worked out how much Michael Saylor and MicroStrategy would have made if the company had invested in Ethereum instead of bitcoin – and the yacht-loving bitcoin evangelist had probably better look away now.

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Is Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto trading firm Alameda Research broke?

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 17:34:51 GMT

CoinDesk has obtained financial documents belonging to Alameda Research that provide an unprecedented view into its financial position and entangled relationship with sister company FTX.

If you'd like to read this article and more, visit Protos.com.

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What smart crypto investors can learn from Crypto.com

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 12:36:12 GMT

Six years after it launched, Crypto.com had confirmed its position alongside the likes of Binance, Coinbase, and FTX as a top 10 spot crypto exchange.

If you'd like to read this article and more, visit Protos.com.

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Bitcoin mining in Niagara Falls goes ‘brrr’ in all the wrong ways

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 12:31:46 GMT

The noise pollution of bitcoin mining in Niagara Falls has led to City Hall ordering two major operations to shut down until they take measures to reduce the sound of cooling fans — but only one has complied so far.

If you'd like to read this article and more, visit Protos.com.

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New Bitcoin Lightning Network bug: Unattributed payment routing

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 12:30:13 GMT

Bitcoin developers are discussing a new Lightning Network bug that can cause unattributed payment routing failures. This bug can cause Lightning Network payments to fail without the parties involved knowing why.

If you'd like to read this article and more, visit Protos.com.

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Opinion: Dogecoin is back but may not be here to stay

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 12:28:14 GMT

Since news of Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover was announced last week, his favorite crypto Dogecoin has more than doubled in price. The Shiba Inu-branded token was launched as a joke by crypto-skeptic Jackson Palmer, yet it’s soared into the eighth biggest cryptocurrency by market cap — supported by Reddit community WallStreetBets and various superstars like Snoop Dogg, Mia Khalifa, and Mark Cuban.

If you'd like to read this article and more, visit Protos.com.

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Crypto crime spree continues with Deribit and Solend hacks

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 12:25:23 GMT

The world of crypto is a minefield of hacks, scams, and rug pulls. The maxim “not your keys, not your coins” advises against trusting centralized exchanges but, as today’s news about crypto exchange Deribit and lending protocol Solend shows, neither CeFi nor DeFi is safe from the near-constant efforts of exploiters.

If you'd like to read this article and more, visit Protos.com.

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Crypto VC handed detailed plan for Jan 6 attacks to Proud Boys

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 12:21:51 GMT

The New York Times has revealed that Eryka Gemma was the individual responsible for giving the 1776 Returns document to Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the far-right group the Proud Boys who has been indicted for seditious conspiracy.

If you'd like to read this article and more, visit Protos.com.

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Can Kraken’s new social media project lure Crypto Twitter users?

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 12:10:57 GMT

A new social media platform designed specifically for crypto users launched this week, promising to “cultivate a crypto community built on trust and transparency.”

If you'd like to read this article and more, visit Protos.com.

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Thousands enslaved in Cambodia to run fake ICOs and scams

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 12:09:31 GMT

The Cambodian government has come under fire for turning a blind eye to Chinese crime rings that human trafficked ‘up to 100,000’ migrant workers and forced them to run online scams, including fraudulent crypto ICOs.

If you'd like to read this article and more, visit Protos.com.

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FTX and Tether were closer to Celsius than anyone realized

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 12:07:09 GMT

Dirty Bubble Media has published the results of an investigation into links between Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) companies and Celsius. As it turns out, FTX, SBF, Celsius, and even Tether are far more financially linked than previously thought — with ties running deeper than SBF’s Alameda Research becoming a major creditor to now-bankrupt Celsius.

If you'd like to read this article and more, visit Protos.com.

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How Nic Carter fueled demand for tungsten on crypto Twitter

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 12:05:29 GMT

Digital asset traders FOMO’d into buying heavyweight tungsten cubes last year based on a joke by Castle Island Ventures partner, On The Brink podcast host, and Bitcoin mining apologist Nic Carter.

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Every coin this CEO creates dies, will this play-to-earn be different?

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 12:04:08 GMT

Integrated blockchain gaming and entertainment platform Catheon this week announced the release of its $CATHEON token, a replacement for its $CHICKS token that was tied to the NFT-based play-to-earn (P2E) game SolChicks, which faked fanbase numbers earlier this year.

If you'd like to read this article and more, visit Protos.com.

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New photos of 3AC yacht in Malta show no sign of Davies and Zhu

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 12:02:02 GMT

The Cayman Islands-registered yacht bought by Three Arrows Capital co-founders Su Zhu and Kyle Davies, famously named ‘MUCH WOW,’ has ended up in Malta. The yacht, now rechristened the ‘RMF,’ arrived in Malta from the port of Yasmine Hammamet in Tunisia last week.

If you'd like to read this article and more, visit Protos.com.

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Here’s how much Elon Musk has pumped Dogecoin this year

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 12:00:21 GMT

In the last half year of 2021, the world’s richest man Elon Musk appeared to repeatedly pump his three favorite coins on Twitter: bitcoin, ether, and doge.

If you'd like to read this article and more, visit Protos.com.

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Is crypto outperforming the market?

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 11:57:58 GMT

It’s been a brutal year for cryptocurrencies, with the industry shedding trillions since hitting all-time highs last year. But the crypto market isn’t alone. Stocks, bonds, and many commodities were also riding high just a year ago. So, what we want to know is, is cryptocurrency underperforming or outperforming the market?

If you'd like to read this article and more, visit Protos.com.

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Explained: Why so many websites host Satoshi’s Bitcoin whitepaper

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 11:56:29 GMT

The Bitcoin whitepaper was released by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto exactly 14 years ago, on October 31, 2008. They shared the nine-page document under the permissive free software MIT license for anyone to access. However, just last year a UK court forced a website to take it down for infringing copyright.

If you'd like to read this article and more, visit Protos.com.

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BlockFi faces heavy losses from its loan to Core Scientific

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 11:51:48 GMT

Last week, the fledgling US-based miner Core Scientific, which has been selling most of its bitcoin throughout this year announced that it’s ready to go through bankruptcy proceedings with creditors as it halts all its debt payments.

If you'd like to read this article and more, visit Protos.com

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Your guide to metaverse Halloween parties 2022

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 11:49:13 GMT

Happy Halloween! If you’re interested in checking out some Halloween-themed metaverse, crypto, or NFT parties today, read on. If you’re new to virtual reality, metaverses, OpenSea, MagicEden, or the hundreds of costume-friendly NFT communities on Discord, YouTube, or Twitch, it’s simple to stop by and say hello.

If you'd like to read this article and more, visit Protos.com.

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