Crypto
Wazupnaija – Naija Entertainment blogs & Forums – Business – Crypto
Bithumb former chair Lee Jung-Hoon acquitted in the first instance
Lee Jung-hoon, the former chair of the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, was found not guilty on Jan. 3 by the 34th Division of the Criminal Agreement of the Seoul Central District Court. Jung-Hoon was on trial under accusations of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment Of Specific Economic Crimes due to fraud. The case has been ongoing since October 2018, when the former chairman allegedly defrauded 100 billion won ($70 million) during negotiations for the acquisition of Bithumb from Kim Byung-gun, chairman of the cosmetic surgery company BK Group. Jung-hoon could’ve faced an 8-year sentence had he been found guilty. According to the local press, in its official response to the ruling, Bithumb said it respects the court’s decision. The exchange also clarified that it i...
Su Zhu gets called out by the community as he fires off accusations against DCG
As liquidity issues surround the Digital Currency Group (DCG), Three Arrows Capital (3AC) founder Su Zhu made a Twitter thread containing allegations against DCG and FTX. However, the founder immediately got called out by the crypto community for blaming others and not taking accountability. In the thread, Zhu alleged that DCG had a role in the collapse of LUNA, now called Terra Classic (LUNC). Zhu claimed that the venture capital firm conspired with the FTX exchange to attack LUNC and made a profit by doing so. The 3AC founder also said that instead of restructuring from losses due to the 3AC bankruptcy, DCG “magically filled the hole.” Despite Zhu’s efforts to demonize DCG and FTX, the community believes that he should focus on his own misdeeds. So it was everyone else’s fault and ...
New year, same old troubles — The FTX saga continues in 2023: Law Decoded, Dec. 26-Jan. 2
Although having been granted the opportunity to enjoy Christmas and the New Year with his family, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has very few reasons for optimism in 2023. The United States Department of Justice has launched an investigation into the whereabouts of approximately $372 million in missing digital assets from FTX and its U.S.-based subsidiary, FTX US. According to SBF, the incident was perpetrated by either a former FTX employee or someone who had unauthorized access to a former employee’s computer. It would be great to know which former employees started to transfer out funds from Alameda Research just days after Bankman-Fried was released on a $250 million bond. The Alameda wallet was found to be swapping bits of ERC-20s for Ether (ETH) and Tether (USDT), and then those as...
‘Tracers in the Dark’ presents a fun crime story — and lesson in privacy
On its surface, Andy Greenburg’s new book, Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency, is a standard crime story. Fans of true crime podcasts will enjoy the crypto version and get a seat in the Federal Bureau of Investigation van as United States federal agents track down criminals through their crypto transactions. The first story recounted is that of a crooked Drug Enforcement Agency agent who stole funds from the online drug market Silk Road. It also addresses the hunt for Dread Pirate Roberts, aka Ross Ulbricht — Silk Road’s founder. Ross’ operational security was pretty good. He used Tor for everything. He used an encrypted laptop that locked itself when it was closed. He didn’t share personal details. But in privacy, all it takes is one mistake. He was...
Models and fundamentals: Where will Bitcoin price go in 2023?
Bitcoin (BTC) had a bumpy ride throughout 2022, along with the rest of the digital asset market. The cryptocurrency began the year exchanging hands around $46,700 and is currently trading over 64% down at $16,560 at the time of writing. Consequently, the coin’s market capitalization took a tumble from around $900 billion on Jan. 1, 2022 to end the year at around $320 billion. Bitcoin Price Trend in 2022 While Bitcoin’s drop in price could be attributed to the extraordinary circumstances that the entire cryptocurrency market has been through this year, it is important to reevaluate the 2022 price predictions made by various market entities. One of the most popular predictions was that of analyst PlanB’s Bitcoin Stock-to-Flow (S2F) model. The S2F model predicted BTC to be at nearly $11...
Final Fantasy creator reveals ‘aggressive investment’ in blockchain games
Final Fantasy creator Square Enix is set to double down on blockchain game development despite turbulence in the crypto market, according to a Jan. 1 letter from the Japanese company’s president, Yosuke Matsuda. The letter, titled “A New Year’s Letter from the President,” aimed to recap the company’s major accomplishments in 2022 and explain its plans for 2023. Out of 15 paragraphs, seven were about blockchain gaming, showing that blockchain gaming is a major focus of the company’s investing strategy going forward. ⚔An introduction to SYMBIOGENESIS ①⚔ Starting from today we’ll begin introducing Symbiogenesis, starting from the concept✨ Symbiogenesis is a new franchise by SQUARE ENIX, which brings real game utility ⚔ to 10000 collectible NFT artworks ...
Trouble brewing for the US: Two-thirds of TradFi expects a 2023 recession
The United States economy could be in for an upset. Data from a Wall Street Journal survey revealed financial experts expect the country to face an economic downturn this year. Over two-thirds of economists at 23 major financial institutions that do business with the Federal Reserve believe the U.S. will have a “shallow” or “mild” recession in 2023. Two of the surveyed institutions predict a recession for the following year. The research included big names in the financial services sector, such as Barclays, Bank of America, TD Securities and UBS. Collectively, the Federal Reserve was named as the primary reason for the recession due to it raising interest rates to fight inflation. At the time of writing, the inflation rate in the U.S. is 7%, compared with the Fed’s target desired rate...
Crypto exchange adoption boosts ENS registrations to over 2.2M
2022 proved to be a fruitful year for Ethereum Name Service, with the platform recording 2.2 million registered domains despite unfavorable market conditions for the cryptocurrency space. According to the service, over 80% of the total ENS domains created since the project’s inception were registered in 2022. Data from Dune Analytics shows that ENS has around 2.82 million names registered as of Jan. 2, with 630,340 owners of ENS domains. Happy New Year everyone! 2022 was an incredible year for ENS! Over 2.2m ENS names were registered in 2022 (that’s 80% of ALL names created) If you’re ready for 2023, drop your ENS below ✨ — ens.eth (@ensdomains) January 1, 2023 As Cointelegraph previously explored in an exclusive interview with founder Nick Johnson, ENS allows users to m...
Cameron Winklevoss pens open letter to Barry Silbert about Gemini’s blocked funds
Jan. 2 “marks 47 days since Genesis halted withdrawals,” Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, pointed out in an open letter to Barry Silbert, CEO of the Digital Currency Group — which owns Genesis. Winklevoss went on to make a blunt appraisal of DCG’s business practices. According to the letter Winklevoss posted on Twitter, Genesis owes Gemini $900 million for funds Gemini lent to it as part of the Gemini Earn program. “For the past six weeks, we have done everything we can to engage with you in a good faith and collaborative manner in order to reach a consensual resolution for you to pay back the $900 million that you owe,” Winklevoss wrote, adding: “Every time we ask you for tangible engagement, you hide behind lawyers, investment bankers, and process.” W...
Italy approves 26% capital gains tax on cryptocurrencies
On Dec. 29, 2022, days before the year’s end, Italy’s Senate approved its budget for 2023, which included an increase in taxation for crypto investors — a 26% tax on capital gains on crypto-asset trading over 2,000 euros (approximately $2,13 at time of publication). The approved legislation defines crypto assets as “a digital representation of value or rights that can be transferred and stored electronically, using distributed ledger technology or similar technology.” Previously, crypto assets were treated as foreign currencies in the country, with lower taxes. As reported by Cointelegraph, the bill also establishes that taxpayers will have the option to declare the value of their digital-asset holdings as of Jan. 1 and pay a 14% tax, incentives that are intended to encourage Italians...
Ethereum (ETH) Price Prediction 2025-2030 – Experts Recommend Investing in Metacade (MCADE) Instead
Since 2016, Ethereum (ETH) has been the undisputed number two crypto. The Ethereum price prediction for 2025-2030 suggests that it remains a safe investment. However, investors are starting to wonder if there is better value in other market sectors, such as GameFi and play-to-earn (P2E). That may be why so many experts are starting to recommend investing in crypto gaming company Metacade (MCADE) instead. Read on to learn why. About Metacade Metacade (MCADE) is at the forefront of a new generation of gaming companies that are blurring the lines between cryptos, GameFi, trading, earning, and working. As the name suggests, a virtual metaverse and arcade of the best games are at the heart of Metacade. But the company takes things to the next level by acting as a Web 3 community hub for blockch...
Vitalik Buterin highlights what he’s bullish about for 2023
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has shared some bullishness for the year ahead, including reaching a new milestone for rollup scaling as per the Ethereum roadmap. The Ethereum developer also confirmed the rollout of the Ethereum Improvement Protocol (EIP) 4884 sometime in 2023, which had been removed as part of the upcoming Shanghai upgrade package set for March. Responding to a Dec. 31 post from former chief technology officer of Coinbase, Balaji Srinivasan, asking users what they were bullish for in 2023, Buterin said he was looking forward to reaching the “basic rollup scaling” milestone as outlined in the Ethereum roadmap. Reaching the “basic rollup scaling” milestone in my roadmap diagram. That means: * EIP-4844 rolled out* Rollups partially taking off training wh...
