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2023-10-17 14:12:04 GBTC discount to NAV hits lowest level since 2021 as SEC elects not to appeal Grayscale ruling

The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) discount has fallen to its lowest level in nearly two years as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fails to appeal against the recent Grayscale ruling. The GBTC discount to net asset value (NAV) — meaning how much lower the market price of each share is than the value of the bitcoin it represents — is trading below 16% for the first time since December 2021, hitting 15.9% by market close on Friday, according to The Block’s data dashboard.

GBTC trades at a discount as the shares currently cannot be redeemed, so the only option is to sell them to other prospective buyers. However, it historically traded at a premium until 2021’s crypto credit crunch. The narrowing trend — seeing the discount shrink from over 40% before BlackRock and others filed spot bitcoin ETF applications in June — is likely a sign of increased optimism the SEC will approve a spot bitcoin ETF in the U.S., including the potential conversion of GBTC. However, the decision not to appeal doesn’t necessarily mean the regulator is ready to approve one. The SEC had until midnight on Friday to appeal the ruling involving Grayscale's attempt to convert its flagship GBTC fund into a spot bitcoin ETF.

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2023-10-16 00:18:02 Tether Promotes Paolo Ardoino to CEO

Stablecoin issuer Tether has appointed Paolo Ardoino as its new CEO with former CEO Jean-Louis van der Velde transitioning into an advisory role. Ardoino became Tether's CTO in 2017 after joining Bitfinex three years prior. In that time Tether's (USDT) market cap has grown from less than $100 million to $83.5 billion as it experienced exponential growth starting in 2020. Van der Velde will remain as Bitfinex's CEO whilst Ardoino has retained his role as CTO at both Bitfinex and Holepunch, according to a press release.

“Paolo is extremely well-suited to lead Tether into this exciting new era,” said Jean-Louis van der Velde. “I believe Tether is poised to continue its rapid growth, with a continued focus on emerging markets and transformative technology. I think I can speak for the entire company when I say that we eagerly anticipate Paolo’s leadership as he guides Tether toward a future where finance knows no bounds.” The press release states that Ardoino envisions Tether as a "tech powerhouse" that will "reshape the future of finance."Tether's (USDT) market cap has grown from less than $100 million. The new CEO also hopes that company will expand the influence of the USD in global trade and exchange, which will ensure its utility in emerging markets.

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2023-10-14 21:14:06 EU regulator warns of DeFi risks, pushes back against 'code as law'

The European Securities and Markets Authority published a report outlining multiple risks to investors and financial stability stemming from decentralized finance. "Although investors' exposure to DeFi remains small overall, there are serious risks to investor protection, due to the highly speculative nature of many DeFi arrangements, important operational and security vulnerabilities, and the lack of a clearly identified responsible party," the report said.

The independent EU authority warned that DeFi operates in the absence of trusted intermediaries, which "could otherwise mitigate risks pertaining to financial stability and investor protection." The report, published Wednesday, highlighted the regulator's primary concerns regarding DeFi innovations. It separated smart contracts into five categories to help regulators understand the "enormous technological complexity of these systems." "Smart contracts remain an unregulated phenomenon where the accepted principle is exemplified by the notion that 'code is law,'" the regulator asserted. It said adherence to this principle creates a tendency to accept smart contract outcomes, "regardless of any moral or legal consideration."

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2023-10-13 09:05:28 Caroline Ellison Blames FTX Collapse Caused Solely By Sam Bankman-Fried

Caroline Ellison, the chief executive officer of Alameda Research, testified in the fraud trial of FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, revealing details about Alameda and FTX Collapse Causes. Ellison described how FTX’s affiliated hedge fund had borrowed billions of dollars from the cryptocurrency exchange’s deposits, creating a massive hole in Alameda Research’s balance sheet. Bankman-Fried asked Ellison to create alternative balance sheets to conceal the debt, but Ellison felt a sense of relief when the companies eventually collapsed.

Bankman-Fried asked Ellison to create alternative balance sheets to conceal the debt, but Ellison felt a sense of relief when the companies eventually collapsed. She testified that Bankman-Fried was primarily responsible for the leveraged position that led to the collapse, despite his claims that she was in charge of Alameda’s borrowing. Added to the FTX collapse cause, Ellison detailed the growing sense of crisis in the crypto industry and the pressure she felt as Alameda borrowed billions from FTX. Bankman-Fried directed her to create false balance sheets and later blamed her for the worsening situation. She further revealed that Bankman-Fried sought the help of a foreign government in the past, mentioning a “large bribe” paid to Chinese officials to unfreeze $1 billion in Alameda funds. Ellison admitted to lying to other employees about the bribe.

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2023-10-12 09:04:41 Standard Chartered Predicts ETH To Teach $8,000 By 2026

Standard Chartered predicts ETH might soar to $8,000 by 2026. Geoffrey Kendrick, the lead on forex and crypto research at Standard Chartered, alongside his analytical squad at the bank, pinpointed Ethereum’s stronghold in smart contracts, gaming, and tokenization as the driving forces behind its projected price surge. After the financial behemoth’s prior forecast of bitcoin (BTC) potentially hitting $50K by year-end and surging to $120K in 2024, Geoffrey Kendrick and his team at Standard Chartered predicts ETH are back with a new report, this time spotlighting ethereum (ETH).

Kendrick underscores Ethereum’s “unrivaled command” across diverse realms of decentralized finance (defi), token genesis, and smart contract innovations. These dynamics could catapult ether to an impressive “$8,000 mark by 2026,” marking a quintuple jump from its present stance. Notably, this $8K projection is merely a precursor to the Standard Chartered predicts ETH’s ambitious long-term forecast of an ether valued between $26,000 and $35,000. Kendrick elaborated that this assessment contemplates emerging use cases and revenue streams yet to unfold. Current real-world implementations in gaming and tokenization are poised to accelerate this trajectory. Standard Chartered predicts ETH’s forex and crypto research lead further opined that U.S. regulations around spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) potentials will likely fortify both BTC and ETH.

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2023-10-10 13:00:28 Coinbase, OKX and Binance partner with UK firms as regulations come into force

Two weeks after the crypto exchange Bybit officially exited the UK market, citing the impact of new crypto marketing rules, several rival overseas players have adapted to the regime by teaming up with local partners. Coinbase and OKX are working with Archax to get their financial promotions approved, according to spokespeople for the exchanges. Binance, meanwhile, said in a blog post published Oct. 8 that it had partnered with Rebuilding Society, a regulated peer-to-peer lending firm that has dished out just £35 million.

The expectation is that these arrangements will allow the exchanges to continue serving UK customers from overseas despite new marketing rules from the Financial Conduct Authority — which include a cooling-off period for first-time investors — that have just come into effect. “The approvers, when they enter into an arrangement with the exchange or whoever else it might be, they approve the promotions and effectively they take responsibility for those promotions,” said George Morris, a partner at the law firm Simmons & Simmons. “It’s very much a symbiotic thing.” The FCA also put out an announcement on Oct. 8 warning that 143 entities are operating in the UK without permission and naming them in a list. That list includes HTX and KuCoin, two major global exchanges.

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2023-10-09 08:51:57 Certik Study: $332 Million Lost to Exploits, Hacks and Scams in September, More Than $1.3 Billion Lost in 2023

According to the cybersecurity firm Certik, digital assets worth approximately $332 million were stolen via code exploits, exit scams and flash attacks in the month of September alone. Exploits alone accounted for more than 98% of the thefts ($329.8 million) while the amount stolen through flash loan attacks and rug pulls was less than $2.4 million. As shown by the data, the biggest incident during the month was the $200 million exploit suffered by Mixin Network on Sept. 23.

A few weeks earlier, the cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinex Global suffered an exploit in which digital assets worth $54 million were stolen. According to reports, preliminary investigations hinted at a possible compromise of private keys which enabled the criminals to move funds from the platform’s hot wallets. For context, in August the total value of digital assets stolen through exploits only totaled $13.5 million. Meanwhile, unlike in the month of August when digital assets lost through exit scams topped $26 million (more than half of the nearly $46 million that was stolen), only $1.9 million was lost via this tactic in September. Likewise, the data indicates that the value of digital assets lost via the so-called flash loan attacks dropped significantly from $6.4 million in August to $0.4 million in September.

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2023-10-08 15:40:55 FriendTech developers rake in nearly $20 million since August launch

The development team behind social protocol FriendTech has generated nearly $20 million in revenue in just a few months since going live. Launched in August, FriendTech is a platform that allows users to link their Twitter accounts and facilitates the purchase or sale of influencer profile tokens (named “keys”) with ETH on the Coinbase-backed Layer 2 network, Base. These keys grant users privileged communication access to the influencers.

The project holds the lead as the largest revenue-generating app on Base and the second-largest in all of crypto, according to DeFiLlama data. At the current rate, it's on track to generate an annualized revenue of $180 million. The platform has so far generated nearly $40 million in overall fees from users. These fees are generated by taxing approximately 10% of the trading volume of social tokens. Half of this total fee is allocated to the project's team as revenue, and the other half is distributed to users whose keys are traded. However, the number of unique users has dropped significantly since late September, according to data from The Block.

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2023-10-07 12:19:55 Immutable zkEVM Mainnet Will Start To Launch On December 2023

Immutable zkEVM Mainnet launch is scheduled for December – January, followed by dedicated app chains and zk-prover integration in 2024. With the recent launch of Immutable zkEVM Testnet, along with numerous games that have already begun building on it, Immutable zkEVM, powered by Polygon Labs, is on track to become the home of gaming on Ethereum. Recently, more than 50 games have committed to building on Immutable zkEVM. Additionally, Immutable zkEVM is set to undergo a series of technical upgrades leading up to the Mainnet launch

Additionally, Immutable zkEVM is set to undergo a series of technical upgrades leading up to the Mainnet launch. These upgrades are geared towards enhancing various aspects of the platform, including the player experience, revenue engine, and developer experience. Milestone 1 – Immutable zkEVM Testnet (August): Over 20,000 addresses have been active across more than 100,000 transactions on Immutable zkEVM’s Testnet, demonstrating strong developer interest. Milestone 2 – Immutable zkEVM Testnet Re-Genesis (November): A re-genesis of the Testnet is scheduled for November, involving a transition from Polygon Edge to Geth EVM client to ensure compatibility with Ethereum. Milestone 3 – Immutable zkEVM Mainnet (December – January): The highly anticipated Mainnet launch will follow, inviting developers in stages before opening to the public.

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2023-10-06 09:30:19 Former Alameda Engineer Reveals Hidden Truth Before FTX Crisis

Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison’s confession, rather than internal warnings, led to the revelation that the trading firm was on the brink of collapse, according to a recent CoinDesk interview with a former Alameda engineer, Aditya Baradwaj. The former Alameda engineer stated that it appeared to be “business as usual” until the final days, which seemed like a flurry of trading activity. The shocking truth was only revealed on the last day when Caroline disclosed what had transpired behind closed doors.

In a surprising turn of events, as the trial against Bankman-Fried unfolds, he now has a final opportunity to present his side of the story. Prosecutors allege that Bankman-Fried allowed Alameda to borrow vast sums from FTX, diverting the funds into various projects. This includes making substantial loans to FTX executives using customer funds, which were then spent on political donations. Federal prosecutors argue that Bankman-Fried used FTX as a means to embezzle billions of dollars in customer funds. He purportedly indulged in speculative trading at Alameda Research, invested in real estate in Bahamas, and donated to the effective altruism movement that was believed to be the foundation of his business.

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