Crypto
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Sam Bankman-Fried says he will testify before the US House Financial Services Committee remotely
Continuing his so-called apology tour, Sam Bankman-Fried appeared on a Twitter Spaces chat with Unusual Whales and told nearly 60,000 listeners that he intends to testify at the United States House of Representatives Financial Services Committee remotely on Dec. 13. He was previously confirmed to appear in person. Bankman-Fried, who is allegedly currently located in the Bahamas, missed the deadline to confirm his appearance before the Senate Banking Committee the following day, despite the threat of a subpoena. Despite his frequent public speaking, Bankman-Fried has gone silent on Twitter himself, not posting since Dec. 9, when he indicated his agreement to appear at the House committee hearing. 1) I still do not have access to much of my data — professional or personal. So the...
NFT market held back by oversupply, greed and bad projects: Gary Vee
Popular entrepreneur and NFT proponent Gary Vaynerchuck — also known as Gary Vee — has argued that oversupply, greed and subpar projects are the main reasons the NFT market fell so hard over the past year. On Dec.12, Vaynerchuck highlighted his latest blog post via Twitter which explores the NFT sector’s current issues and where he thinks it’s headed next year. Hope this article can help some of you, the feedback has been humbling …. Why I Said 97-99% of NFTs Would Go to Zero – Gary Vaynerchuk https://t.co/BmhO7OUGdH — Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) December 11, 2022 Commenting on the state of the market, Vaynerchuck emphasized that there has been a significant amount of fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) from the media and users of social media this year, who have generally h...
US senator calls on SEC’s Gensler to answer for ‘regulatory failures’
Minnesota Senator Tom Emmer has slammed United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler for his flawed “crypto information-gathering efforts” and insisted Gensler should appear before Congress to explain the cost of his “regulatory failures.” Emmer’s comments came from a Dec. 10 tweet to his 67,500 Twitter followers, where he made reference to a bipartisan Blockchain Caucus letter he co-authored to the SEC Chairman on Mar. 16. Emmer said, “we now know Gensler’s crypto information-gathering efforts were ineffective” citing the collapses of the Terra ecosystem and bankrupt crypto platforms Celsius, Voyager and FTX. He declined to provide Congress with the information requested in the letter, which would’ve informed Congress of the apparent inconsistencies...
Arthur Hayes: Bitcoin bottomed as ‘everyone who could go bankrupt has gone bankrupt’
Arthur Hayes, the former CEO of crypto derivatives platform BitMEX, thinks the worst might be over for Bitcoin (BTC) this cycle as the “largest most irresponsible entities” have run out of BTC to sell. “Looking forward, pretty much everyone who could go bankrupt has gone bankrupt,” he said in the Dec. 11 interview with crypto advocate and podcaster Scott Melker. Hayes elaborates on his stance by explaining that when centralized lending firms (CELs) have financial troubles, they will often call in loans first, then sell BTC first because it operates as the “reserve asset of crypto” and “the most pristine asset and the most liquid.” “When you look at the balance sheet of any of these of the heroes, there’s no Bitcoin on it because what do they do, they sold...
Paxful CEO preaches Bitcoin self-custody, advises against crypto exchange
The case for self-custody grows stronger as investors demand evidence of their assets over crypto exchanges. While some CEOs chose to double down on assuring the funds’ safety on their platforms, Ray Youssef, the CEO of crypto exchange Paxful, sided with the idea of self-custody as he took responsibility for over 11 million users. The fall of FTX was an eye-opener for investors who predominantly entrusted crypto exchanges with safeguarding their assets. FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, however, broke this trust by misappropriating users’ funds via Alameda Research. Ever since, numerous exchanges had to share wallet information as proof of reserves publicly. Will be sending an email every week strongly advising our people to never keep savings on any exchange, including @paxful This is the way ! ...
Former top SEC crypto regulator hired by Caroline Ellison
A former top crypto regulator with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will represent Caroline Ellison, the ex-Alameda Research CEO, in an ongoing federal probe, according to a Dec. 10 report from Bloomberg. Ellison will be represented by Stephanie Avakian and a team of attorneys from WilmerHale. Avakain is currently chair of the Securities and Financial Services department at the law firm. At the SEC, she was a director at the Enforcement Division, where she expanded cryptocurrency oversight, bringing cases against Robinhood and Ripple Lab. According to the law firm’s website, “Ms. Avakian oversaw the Division’s approximately 1,400 professionals and staff. During her four years leading the Division, the SEC brought more than 3,000 enforcement actio...
Binance’s proof of reserves raises red flags: Report
Binance’s efforts to improve transparency of its reserves also exposed red flags in the crypto exchange’s finances, according to accounting and financial specialists consulted by The Wall Street Journal. As noted by a former Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) member and investment manager, the report released by the audit firm Mazars give not bring investors confidence about the exchange’s finances, as it lacks information related to the quality of internal controls and how Binance’s systems liquidate assets to cover margin loans. Another red flag raised by the newspaper’s sources regards the lack of information about Binance’s corporate structure. According to the report, Binance’s chief strategy officer, Patrick Hillmann, was unable name...
3Commas denies staff members stole API keys
Crypto trading firm 3Commas has denied its employees’ stole user’s API keys, claiming that screenshots circulating on social media are fake and urging affected users to file police reports to stop the perpetrators from stealing their funds. In a blog post published on Dec. 11, 3Commas co-founder and CEO Yuriy Sorokin said that fake screenshots of Cloudflare logs are circulating on Twitter and YouTube “in an attempt to convince people that there was a vulnerability within 3Commas and that we were irresponsible enough to allow open access to user data and log files.” The alleged screenshots intend to show how customer’s API keys were exposed in 3Commas dashboard on Cloudflare. In an another blog post, on Dec. 10, Sorokin encouraged affected users to file a...
Bitcoin’s boring price action allows XMR, TON, TWT and AXS to gather strength
The relief rally in the United States equities markets took a breather this week as all major averages closed in the red. Traders seem to have booked profits before the busy economic calendar next week. The S&P 500 index dropped 3.37%, but a minor positive for the cryptocurrency markets is that Bitcoin (BTC) has not followed the equities markets lower. This suggests that crypto traders are not panicking and dumping their positions with every downtick in equities. Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360 The range-bound action in Bitcoin suggests that traders are avoiding large bets before the Federal Reserve’s rate hike decision on Dec. 14. However, that has not stopped the action in select altcoins, which are showing promise in the near term. Let’s look at the charts of Bitcoin ...
Florida best-prepared US state for widespread crypto adoption: Research
It’s not just pro-crypto regulations but also a supporting infrastructure that allows sustainable crypto adoption in any jurisdiction. Weighing in factors such as the number of Bitcoin (BTC) ATMs, blockchain companies and public interest in cryptocurrencies, Florida comes out as the most crypto-ready state in the United States. The U.S. hosts a network of 33,865 Bitcoin ATMs, representing 87.1% of total crypto ATM installations worldwide. In addition, the nation contributes to 37.8% of the global Bitcoin hash rate, which makes the US the most dominant player in crypto. However, a state-wise analysis reveals that not all 50 states are equally prepared for the inevitable mainstream crypto adoption. Research conducted by Invezz regarded Florida as the crypto capital of the US for its active e...
Abnormal token price movements on Binance not hack-related, confirms CZ
Crypto exchange Binance began investigating suspicious behavior on its platform after noticing abnormal price movements for certain trading pairs involving Sun Token (SUN), Ardor (ARDR), Osmosis (OSMO), FUNToken (FUN) and Golem (GLM) tokens. Nearly 40 minutes into the investigation, Binance CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao revealed that the price movements “appears to be just market behavior.” On Dec. 11 at 3:10 am ET, Binance issued a notice about abnormal price movements for some trading pairs. The exchange began an investigation to narrow down suspicious accounts responsible for the issue. To investors’ relief, Binance’s investigation did not point to the possibility of compromised accounts or stolen API keys. Based on our investigations so far, this appears to be just market behavior. One guy d...
SBF ‘didn’t like’ decentralized Bitcoin — ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood
Bitcoin (BTC) is too “decentralized and transparent” for former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, says Cathie Wood. In a tweet on Dec. 10, Wood, who is CEO of investment giant ARK Invest, delivered a fresh damning appraisal of the FTX saga. Wood: SBF “couldn’t control” Bitcoin As the legal ramifications of FTX and Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF, continue, Bitcoin loyalists are giving him little sympathy. ARK’s Wood is now firmly among them, not mincing her words as BTC price action continues to trade around 20% down over the month. “The Bitcoin blockchain didn’t skip a beat during the crisis caused by opaque centralized players,” she wrote. “No wonder Sam Bankman Fried didn’t like Bitcoin: it’s transparent and decentralized. He couldn’t control it.” Wood linked to ARK Invest’s...
