Crypto
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Approving a spot crypto ETF is ‘all about political power’ — Perianne Boring
Perianne Boring, founder and CEO of blockchain advocacy group Chamber of Digital Commerce, placed the lack of approval of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the United States squarely on Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler, suggesting politics played more of a role than economics. Speaking to Cointelegraph at the Texas Blockchain Summit in Austin on Nov. 18, Boring said the events surrounding FTX’s collapse may have “emboldened the regulation by enforcement approach” from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Treasury, with Republican lawmakers likely to focus on oversight using their House majority in the next Congress. According to the Chamber of Digital Commerce CEO, passing any kind of legislation — including bills on crypto, blockchain, and stablecoins — wil...
Bitpanda secures crypto licence in Germany, claims to be the first “European retail” crypto investment platform to do so
In an official blog post, Bitpanda announced that it has secured a crypto custody licence from the German financial authority, BaFin. Having obtained this licence, the Austrian-based crypto exchange can now legally market its services to residents of Germany. Bitpanda also claimed to be the first retail crypto exchange based out of Europe to have achieved this distinction. The collapse of the FTX crypto exchange has brought increased scrutiny to unregulated crypto exchanges that operate outside of a country’s jurisdiction. For this reason, many exchanges are seeking to gain licences in multiple countries to prove that they are legitimate. This latest licence adds to the list of countries Bitpanda is officially regulated in, including Austria, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Czech Republic, ...
Crypto Twitter reacts to Binance CEO’s deleted tweet about Coinbase’s Bitcoin Holdings
Coinbase was trending on Twitter on Nov. 22 after Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, known also as CZ, sent out a tweet that appeared to question Coinbase’s Bitcoin holdings. In the since deleted tweet, CZ referenced a yahoo finance article that alleged that “Coinbase Custody holds 635,000 BTC on behalf of Grayscale.” CZ added, “4 months ago, Coinbase (I assume exchange) has less than 600K,” with a link to a 4 month old article from Bitcoinist. The Binance CEO made it clear that he was simply quoting “news reports”, and not making any claims of his own. However, his tweet was not received well by the crypto community. A screenshot of CZ’s since-deleted tweet. Shortly after, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong indirectly responded to CZ in a series of tweets, stating; “If you see FUD ou...
Bitcoin price returns to $16K amid warning over BTC whale selling
Bitcoin (BTC) headed higher into the Nov. 22 Wall Street open after setting another two-year low. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Thanksgiving buywall appears at $12,000 Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as it recrossed the $16,000 mark, having set lows of $15,480 on Bitstamp. Momentum took the pair to $16,189 before consolidating, marking gains of 3.7% versus the day’s lows. Talk among analysts remained tied to the Digital Currency Group family, including Grayscale, currently at the center of rumors over the fallout from the defunct exchange FTX. For monitoring resource Material Indicators, a “guard rail” bid at $12,000 could ultimately be what protected the market should a major capitulation occur over the Thanksgiving holida...
House on a hill: Top countries to buy real estate with crypto
The mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies has brought immense potential to the fintech industry, and some of the capabilities have spilled over into the real estate market. Subsequently, the real estate sector is evolving to accommodate a new crop of investors who prefer making payments using crypto. The trend of investing in real estate with crypto gained momentum in 2021 following a market explosion that saw Bitcoin (BTC) breach the $60,000 mark. Today, numerous jurisdictions have amended their real estate laws to allow property purchases using crypto due to their transformative impact. Alexander Tkachenko, CEO and Founder of the VNX liquidity mining platform, told Cointelegraph that the full capabilities of crypto in real estate remain untapped. “There is still a huge demand for alter...
Mango Markets hacker allegedly feigns Curve short attack to exploit Aave
As described by analysts at Lookonchain on Nov. 22, tokens of decentralized exchange Curve Finance (CRV) appear to have suffered a major short-seller attack. According to Lookonchain, ponzishorter.eth, an address associated with Mango Markets exploiter Avraham Eisenberg, first swapped 40 million USD Coin (USDC) on Nov. 13 into decentralized finance protocol Aave to borrow CRV for selling. The act allegedly sent the price of CRV falling from $0.625 to $0.464 during the week. Fast forward to today, blockchain data shows that ponzishorter.eth borrowed a further 30 million CRV ($14.85 million) through two transactions and transferred them to OKEx for selling. The team at Lookonchain hypothesized that the trade was conducted to drive down the token price “so many people who used CRV...
Could a Grayscale Bitcoin Trust collapse be the next black swan event? Watch The Market Report
On this week’s The Market Report show, Cointelegraph’s resident experts discuss what the ramifications would be if Grayscale Bitcoin Trust were to collapse. We start off this week’s show with the latest news in the markets: GBTC next BTC price black swan? — 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency, just like the rest of the crypto industry, remains highly susceptible to downside risk as it continues to deal with the fallout from the implosion of exchange FTX. Contagion is the word on everyone’s lips as November grinds on — just like the Terra collapse earlier this year — and fears are that new victims of FTX’s giant liquidity vortex will continue to surface. Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) seems to be on everyone’s radar this week for all the wrong rea...
Sam Bankman-Fried deepfake attempts to scam investors impacted by FTX
A faked video of Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has circulated on Twitter attempting to scam investors affected by the exchange’s bankruptcy. Created using programs to emulate Bankman-Fried’s likeness and voice, the poorly made “deepfake” video attempts to direct users to a malicious site under the promise of a “giveaway” that will “double your cryptocurrency.” Over the weekend, a verified account posing as FTX founder SBF posted dozens of copies of this deepfake video offering FTX users “compensation for the loss” in a phishing scam designed to drain their crypto wallets pic.twitter.com/3KoAPRJsya — Jason Koebler (@jason_koebler) November 21, 2022 The video uses appears to be old interview footage of Bankman-Fried and used a voice emulator to...
Texas to probe FTX endorsements by Tom Brady, Stephen Curry and other celebs
NFL quarterback Tom Brady and NBA point guard Stephen Curry are reportedly among the celebrities facing a probe from the Texas financial regulator over their promotion of the now-bankrupt crypto exchange, FTX. Joe Rotunda, director of enforcement at the Texas State Securities Board reportedly told Bloomberg in a Nov. 22 report that the Texas State Securities Board is scrutinizing payments received by celebrities to endorse FTX US, what disclosures were made and how accessible they were for investors. Rotunda however noted that while the watchdog was taking a “close look at them,” the celebrities’ endorsements of FTX were not an “immediate priority,” but would be part of the “regulator’s larger probe into FTX’s collapse.” Both Brady and Curry have a...
Hong Kong believes stablecoin volatility can spillover to traditional finance
The fall of crypto giants this year reignited questions about the stability of cryptocurrencies and their impact on fiat ecosystems. Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) assessed the situation and found that the instabilities of crypto assets, including asset-backed stablecoins, can potentially spill over to the traditional financial system. The HKMA assessment on asset-backed stablecoins pointed out the risks of liquidity mismatch, negatively impacting their stability during “fire-sale” events. A fire sale event relates to a momentary price fluctuation when investors can purchase stablecoins cheaper than their market price — a phenomenon noticed during the Terra (LUNA) crash. According to Hong Kong’s central bank, the interconnection of crypto assets has made the crypto ecosystem more vuln...
Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest adds more Bitcoin exposure as GBTC, Coinbase stock hit new lows
Bitcoin (BTC) firms’ shares are a major “buy” for asset manager ARK Invest in the midst of the FTX meltdown. The latest data confirms that ARK continues to up its holdings of both exchange Coinbase (COIN) and the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). Cathie Wood buys the dip With FTX contagion still rippling through the crypto industry, ARK’s decision to add exposure to two firms caught in the firing line stands out. According to numbers supplied by CEO Cathie Wood’s dedicated tracking resource, Cathie’s Ark, the firm added 176,945 GBTC shares on Nov. 21. These join a larger tranche of 273,327 shares from Nov. 15, that purchase completed just a week after FTX fell apart. ARK Invest GBTC holdings chart (screenshot). Source: Cathie’s Ark Since then, GBTC has come under the spotlight as ...
Senate Banking Committee Democrats warn SoFi about meeting its compliance deadline
Chairman of the United States Senate Banking Committee Sherrod Brown and three other Democratic committee members sent letters Nov. 21 to federal officials and to Anthony Noto, president of SoFi Technology. They expressed concern about the online bank’s efforts to conform to Federal Reserve Board requirements and nonbank digital asset trading activities conducted through SoFi Digital Assets. In the letter to Noto, Sherrod, along with Sens. Jack Reed, Chris Van Hollen and Tina Smith, notes that the Federal Reserve had said that SoFi “is currently engaged in crypto-asset related activities that the Board has not found to be permissible” for a bank holding company (BHC) or financial holding company (FHC). The Federal Reserve granted SoFi the status of financial holding company after its purch...
