crypto blog
FTX reboot could falter due to long-broken user trust, say observers
Several crypto industry commentators have expressed skepticism about FTX CEO John Ray’s vision to potentially reboot the crypto exchange, citing trust issues and “second-class” treatment of customers as reasons why users may not “feel safe to go back.” Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted on Jan. 20 praising John Ray for looking at a reboot of FTX, suggesting it is the best move for its customers. I’m glad Mr. Ray is finally paying lip service to turning the exchange back on after months of squashing such efforts! I’m still waiting for him to finally admit FTX US is solvent and give customers their money back…https://t.co/XjcyYFsoU0https://t.co/SdvMIMXQ5K — SBF (@SBF_FTX) January 19, 2023 This came after John Ray told The Wall Street Journal on Jan. 19 that he wa...
Crypto becomes second most widely-owned asset class for women: eToro survey
While traditional asset classes fail to foster broader adoption among women, crypto seems to have found success in bringing women on board, according to a recent survey. Data sent to Cointelegraph by the eToro team highlighted that crypto is now the second most widely-owned asset class for women, second only to cash. This comes from eToro’s latest Retail Investor Beat, which surveyed around 10,000 global retail investors in 13 countries. According to the survey results, there is a significant rise in crypto ownership among women. Data shows that ownership increased from 29% in the third quarter of 2022 to 34% in the last quarter. According to the eToro team, this suggests that crypto is “succeeding where traditional financial markets have sometimes failed, ” which is by br...
NFT sales topped 101 million in 2022: DappRadar report
Over the last year, nonfungible tokens (NFTs) continued to play an important role in the growing Web3 industry. NFTs initiated a shift away from hype-based drops, to utility-centric projects with long-term value. A new DappRadar report on blockchain and decentralized application (DApp) adoption in 2022 revealed that the NFT sale count last year reached 101 million — a 67.57% increase from the previous year. According to the report, the Ethereum ecosystem holds the top spot in the NFT ecosystem, holding 21% of the market share and over 21.2 million transactions processed. It is followed by Wax (14.5 million), Polygon (13.3 million) and Solana (12.9 million). Both the Solana and ImmutableX ecosystems saw massive growth from the previous year in terms of transaction activity, with a 440%...
FTX-linked Moonstone bank to exit the crypto space
Moonstone Bank, a rural Washington state bank that received an estimated $11.5 million investment from FTX’s sister company, Alameda Research, says that it will be exiting the crypto space and returning to its “original mission” as a community bank. In a Jan. 18 statement, the bank said that the change in strategy comes as a result of “recent events in the crypto assets industry and the changing regulatory environment surrounding crypto asset businesses.” As part of the bank’s initiative to “return to its roots,” it said that it will no longer use the name Moonstone Bank and will be rebranding and re-adopting the Farmington State Bank name, known in the local community for 135 years. According to the bank, the change is estimated to take effect in the coming weeks and loca...
Nexo agrees to $45M settlement with SEC and states over earn product
Crypto lender Nexo Capital has agreed to pay $45 million in penalties to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) for failing to register the offer and sale of its Earn Interest Product (EIP). The news was announced by the SEC and NASAA in two separate statements on Jan. 19. According to the statement from the SEC, Nexo agreed to pay a $22.5 million penalty and cease its unregistered offer and sale of the EIP to U.S. investors. The additional $22.5 million will be paid in fines to settle similar charges by state regulatory authorities, the report said. NASAA said in its statement that the settlement in principle comes after investigations into Nexo’s alleged offer and sale of securities after the past year of inv...
Samsung’s Bitcoin ETF, $700M bust, Coinbase exits Japan: Asia Express
Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industry’s most important developments. Samsung’s new Bitcoin ETF On Jan. 13, Samsung Asset Management, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the namesake South Korean conglomerate, successfully listed the Samsung Bitcoin Futures Active ETF on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. According to local news outlet Edaily, the ETF debuted under the ticker 3135:HK and seeks to replicate the performance of spot Bitcoin by investing in Bitcoin futures listed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). The ETF will also simplify the procedures for investors seeking exposure to regulated Bitcoin products in the Asia-Pacific time zone. Park Seong-jin, head of Samsung Asset Management’s Hong Kong office, commented: “Hong Kong is the only market in Asia where B...
Opinion: Bots are a critical tool for retail investors
The thing about the future, where robotic super traders battle over micromovements in stock price, is that it’s already here. With access to algorithmic trading bots a click away, we could be seeing the fall of human investors and the triumph of artificial intelligence. Algorithmic trading bots are programmed to buy and sell when they detect preprogrammed conditions and can execute pretty much any trading strategy. They have been used by professional traders for two decades, and these firms have taken them into the crypto markets too. Now, a new crop of accessible crypto trading tools has hit the market, made with retail clients in mind. I know — I have built several of them. Currently, I’m working on a system that helps neophyte investors find their own risk preferences based on the...
Binance tightens rules on NFT listings
According to a Jan. 19 announcement by Binance, the cryptocurrency exchange has tightened its rules for nonfungible tokens, or NFT, listings. Starting Feb. 02, 2023, all NFTs listed on Binance before Oct. 2, 2022, and have an average daily trading volume lower than $1,000 between Nov. 1, 2022, and Jan. 31, 2023, will be delisted. In addition, after Jan. 21, 2023, NFT artists can only mint up to five digital collectibles per day. Binance NFT requires sellers to complete know-your-customer (KYC) verification and have at least two followers before listing on its platform. In addition to the revised rules, Binance said it would forthwith “periodically review” NFT listings that do not “meet its standards” and recommend them for delisting. “Users can repo...
Bitcoin price corrected, but bulls are positioned to profit in Friday’s $580M BTC options expiry
Bitcoin (BTC) price has held above $20,700 for 4 days, fueling bulls’ hope for another leg up to $23,000 or even $25,000. Behind the optimistic move was a decline in inflationary pressure, confirmed by the December 2022 wholesale prices for goods on Jan. 18. The United States producer price index, which measures final demand prices across hundreds of categories also declined 0.5% versus the previous month. Eurozone inflation also came in at 9.2% year-on-year in December 2022, marking the second consecutive decline from October’s 10.7% record high. A milder-than-expected winter reduced the risk of a gas shortages and softened energy prices, boosting analysts’ hope of a “soft landing.” According to analysts, a soft landing would avoid a deep recession and ...
DeFi problems and opportunities in 2023: Market Talks
On this week’s episode of Market Talks, Cointelegraph welcomes Grant Shears, founder of Blocmates — an educational and consultancy company that aims to create crypto, decentralized finance (DeFi) and Web3 content that anyone can understand. This week, to kick things off, the show takes a look at the emerging trends of 2023 and what people should look forward to. What industries could really take off this year, and which sector could have the most potential to grow? It’s no secret that 2022 was not a great year for DeFi, an industry that arguably imploded on itself by offering unsustainable high yields that eventually caused the model to collapse. Host Ray Salmond, Cointelegraph’s head of markets, asks Shears if there are any projects this year that plan to fix this problem, and what that f...
FTX CEO says he is exploring rebooting the exchange: Report
John Ray, who took over as CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX prior to bankruptcy proceedings, has reportedly set up a task force to consider restarting FTX.com. According to a Jan. 19 report from the Wall Street Journal, Ray said everything was “on the table” when it came to the future of FTX.com, including a potential path forward with rebooting the exchange. FTX Trading, doing business as FTX.com, was one of roughly 130 companies under FTX Group that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2022. Ray reportedly was considering reviving the crypto exchange as part of efforts to make users whole. FTX reported on Jan. 17 that it had identified roughly $5.5 billion of liquid assets in its investigations, with more than $3 billion owed to its top 50 creditors. According to the FTX CEO, he...
Bitcoin Suisse explains why Swiss is a crypto pivot point: Davos 2023
Switzerland is a “pivot point” for crypto adoption in Europe and continues to be the “center point of the next stage of institutionalization,” said Dr. Dirk Klee, CEO of Bitcoin Suisse. Klee divulged why Switzerland is still the top spot for crypto in Europe and will continue to attract institutional investors in an exclusive Cointelegraph interview in Davos, Switzerland. We have boots on the ground in Davos! Our reporter @gazza_jenks speaks to Dr. Dirk Klee, CEO of @BitcoinSuisseAG about Switzerland and the adoption of cryptocurrency at the @wef. #CTWEF23 pic.twitter.com/ka00dvWpVz — Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) January 18, 2023 In discussion with Cointelegraph reporter Gareth Jenkinson, Klee explained: “A lot of trust has been destroyed and eroded in the last year and...
