The Digital Assets 103
Summary
- Genesis, owned by Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group (DCG), filed for bankruptcy protection last Thursday listing debts of around $3.5 billion. Gemini's founders, the Winklevoss brothers threatens to sue DCG.
- DOJ charges founder of crypto exchange Bitzlato for processing $700M of illegal funds after a special conference last Wednesday. Major international crypto enforcement action between Europe and US. Bitzlato is an unknown exchange with alleged linked to Russia and dark markets. Data from Arkham Intelligence shows that tens of millions of dollars flowed through intermediate wallets to Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange.
- Signature Bank and Silvergate bank reportedly borrowed over $13 billion from the federal home loan system. Signature bank will handle transactions for crypto only above $100k.
- Bitcoin mining is booming despite market headwinds after the network’s mining difficulty hit a new all-time high of 37.59 trillion hashes
- German online bank, N26 starts to offer cryptos without the possibility to transfer outside.
- FTX Token FTT Pumps 32% after new CEO, John J. Ray III, says exchange could be revived.
- Developers finalised first 'shadow fork' for Ethereum's Shanghai upgrade, this will allow ETH to be unlocked and might trigger more capital in/outflows.
- Ava Labs and Amazon’s partnership could ‘expand the pie’ for blockchain
Business
Genesis files for chapter 11 bankruptcy as Winklevii threaten DCG lawsuit
Genesis Global has voluntarily filed for bankruptcy, along with its crypto lending arm, as parent firm DCG faces rising financial distress.
Ailsa Sherrington
Developers finalize first ‘shadow fork’ for Ethereum’s Shanghai upgrade
Ethereum developers have successfully launched a “shadow fork” of the Shanghai upgrade, to test it on a version of the main Ethereum network.
Fidelity Fund Bought Shares in a Crypto SPAC
The Fidelity Concord Street Trust, which kind of invests in everything with $11 billion in assets under management, has invested
Trustnodes News
Bitcoin Mining Is Booming Despite Market Headwinds - Decrypt
While certain miners have dumped Bitcoin to inflate their balance sheets, or filed for bankruptcy, things aren’t quite as bleak as they seem.
Tim Hakki
FTX Token FTT Pumps 32% After New CEO Says Exchange Could Be Revived - Decrypt
As talk swirls of FTX possibly being restarted in the future, the bankrupt exchange’s token, FTT, is seeing gains.
Kate Irwin
ConsenSys slashes headcount 11% as chief economist reveals formula for adoption
Lex Sokolin, the chief economist at ConsenSys has rejected the idea that regulation and user experience will drive crypto adoption.
Felix Ng
Congress’ FTX Problem: 1 in 3 Members Got Cash From Crypto Exchange’s Bosses
The session began with 196 U.S. lawmakers who took direct contributions from Sam Bankman-Fried and other former FTX executives, and many of them are still trying to get rid of it.
Jesse Hamilton, Cheyenne Ligon and Elizabeth Napolitano
Lugano Goes Digital to Issue Debt
With the issuance of a digital bond, Lugano is taking the next step toward becoming the blockchain metropolis of Europe. The technology-related risks of the issue are manageable, according to a rating agency.
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Markets
Crypto Charts 96
Bitcoin Last time we said: ‘so look to remain or get long on a correction to the $18′900-$19′200 level’ Looking for another push higher above $23′300 to complete 5 waves up. Looking at the MACD we can see clear divergence that hints that a top will soon be in
Opinions
In 2023, Bitcoiners Must Stop Shooting (Or Blocking) The Messengers
As the New Year begins, Bitcoiners should take this opportunity to engage with constructive criticism.
Heidi Porter
Regulations
Crypto Platform Bitzlato Charged With Laundering More Than $700 Million of Illicit Money
U.S. authorities designated cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato as a primary money-laundering concern and charged its founder for allegedly facilitating money laundering for criminals.
Mengqi Sun and Alexander Osipovich
Bitzlato: senior management arrested | Europol
Almost half of all Bitzlato transactions linked to criminal activities Targeting crucial crime facilitators such as crypto exchanges is becoming a key priority in the battle against cybercrime. Bitzlato allowed the rapid conversion of various crypto-assets such as bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, bitcoi…
National Australia Bank to Launch Stablecoin on Ethereum, Algorand: Report - Decrypt
The National Australia Bank announced that it will soon launch a new stablecoin backed by the Australian dollar on Ethereum and Algorand.
Alys Key
Crypto Contagion Underscores Why Global Regulators Must Act Fast to Stem Risk
Bo Li
Podcasts / reading
In the blog post, Vitalik Buterin ( Ethereum CoFounder ) explained how on-chain transactions can be carried out between two parties with anonymity.
An incomplete guide to stealth addresses
Vitalik Buterin proposes ‘stealth addresses’ to enhance Ethereum privacy
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed a new system called “stealth addresses” to enhance privacy on the Ethereum blockchain.
