Crypto news
2 executives of crypto exchange AAX arrested in Hong Kong: Report
Hong Kong police arrested two executives of the crypto exchange AAX accused of fraud and misleading the police, according to local media reports. Weigao Capital CEO Liang Haoming and former AAX CEO Thor Chan were arrested on Dec. 23. Local authorities accused them of claiming there was “system maintenance” as an excuse to delay customers from withdrawing assets amid liquidity issues. One of the executives also allegedly lied to the police about the timeline of his activities in the company, deliberately misleading law enforcement. Two bank accounts of AAX as well as the executive’s bank accounts and properties have been frozen. A third executive reportedly fled overseas with an AAX wallet and private keys that police believe contain around $30 million in digital assets. His propertie...
U.S. delays crypto tax reporting rules, as it still can’t define what a ‘broker’ is
A key set of crypto tax reporting rules is being delayed until further notice under a decision made by the United States Treasury Department. The rules were supposed to be effective in the 2023 tax filing year, in accordance with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in November, 2021. The new law requires that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) develop a standard definition of what a “cryptocurrency broker” is, and any business that falls under this definition is required to issue a Form 1099-B to every customer detailing their profits and losses from trades. It also requires these firms to provide this same information to the IRS so that it will be aware of customers’ incomes from trading. However, more than 12 months have passed since the infrastructure bill became law, but ...
Economic frailty could soon give Bitcoin a new role in global trade
The chaos we’ve experienced in global markets this year — global geopolitical upheaval magnified by the confluence of broken supply chains, inflation and heavy national debt loads — seems to signal the beginning of a new era. All of this is within the context of the United States dollar serving as the primary global reserve currency, currently accounting for about 40% of global exports. But monetary history tells us that multiple global reserve currencies can exist at one time. Many countries are actively seeking a reserve settlement that is insulated from global political strife. Bitcoin (BTC) may fit the bill, and if it is adopted as an alternative reserve currency — even at the margins — we will see the unleashing of Bitcoin-based trade and the rise of a new geopolitical reality. The Bi...
Santas and Grinches: The heroes and villains of 2022
From an outside perspective, 2022 has been a rollercoaster ride for crypto. The market reached a total valuation of $3 trillion during the bull market of 2021, only to scale back to its current level of around $810 billion. While this poor performance can be partly attributed to the pervading macroeconomic environment — compounded by rising inflation rates and the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict, among other factors — one cannot deny the role that the recent slew of insolvencies has had on the sector. That said, below is a list of arguably the most notable heroes and villains who have undeniably impacted this rapidly evolving industry over the past year. The heroes Changpeng Zhao At a time when some of the biggest players in crypto crumbled, Changpeng Zhao, also known as “CZ,” ensure...
SEC general counsel announces departure from public service
Dan Berkovitz, general counsel for the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, said he will be leaving the agency after more than a year. In a Dec. 22 announcement, the SEC said Berkovitz will depart on Jan. 31. A former commissioner with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Berkovitz joined the agency in November 2021. At the time, he said he planned to work with SEC chair Gary Gensler on a “regulatory agenda that will enhance investor protection.” “After thirty-four years of public service, it is time for me to pursue new and different challenges and opportunities,” said Berkovitz. It’s unclear whether Berkovitz intends to join the private sector after leaving the SEC. Brian Quintenz, who served as a CFTC commissioner from 2017 to 2021, joined&n...
BTC price ignores US PCE data at $16.8K as Bitcoin rejects volatility
Bitcoin (BTC) saw a flicker of volatility around the Dec. 23 Wall Street open as the latest United States inflation data came in line with expectations. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Bitcoin sees “crumb” of volatility on PCE Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD briefly decoupling from solid sideways action to dip to $16,750 on Bitstamp. The impact of the November U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index print was notably muted, despite the data forming a key component of Federal Reserve policy. Even in the low-volume, low-volatility environment thatBitcoin continues to trade in, PCE barely moved markets as traders began to accept that Christmas 2022 may be an underwhelming one. “Hope you enjoyed that little crumb o...
Crypto exchange OKX releases second proof of reserves
Crypto exchange OKX has released its second proof of reserves (PoR) on its website, only a month after releasing its first one. Haider Rafique, chief marketing officer at OKX, said on Twitter that the crypto exchange is committed to sharing its reserves status every month. NEW #OKX #proofofreserves published TODAY. This is our 2nd PoR published and we commit to publishing monthly ✅ A quick overview of our PoR and new features…. — Haider (@Haider) December 23, 2022 The announcement also included the rollout of a new feature that allows “users to view OKX reserve ratios for new and historical data,” self-verify on-chain assets, and download new and historical data, Rafique said. OKX’s second proof-of-reserves ratios indicate that the exchange has 101% of Bitcoin (BTC), 103% of E...
Price analysis 12/23: BTC, ETH, BNB, XRP, DOGE, ADA, MATIC, DOT, LTC, UNI
Bitcoin (BTC) is on track to end the year with a loss of about 65%. This would mark the third negative year for Bitcoin with the other two being 2014 and 2018. In comparison, the S&P 500 has fared much better but that is also down close to 20% in 2022. Although cryptocurrency prices have seen deep cuts this year, traders have continued to plow money into the space. An online survey conducted by Blockchain.com shows that 41% of the respondents bought crypto this year and 40% plan to purchase crypto in the next year. Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360 However, a sustained recovery in risk-assets may happen only after inflation shows signs of cooling. That would raise expectations of a pivot by the United States Federal Reserve from its aggressive monetary ...
HK legislator’s firm to lure 1,000 Web3 start-ups over 3 years
A start-up accelerator co-founded by Hong Kong legislative council member Jonny Ng Kit-Chong wants to attract 1,000 Web3 businesses to set up shop in the city-state over the next three years. Ng Kit-Chong is a member of the legislative council for the election committee constituency and has been in office since January this year. The engineer and politician has his finger in a lot of pots as he has declared owning shares in roughly 40 different companies. One such company is the start-up accelerator G-Rocket, which he co-founded alongside Casper Wong in 2016. Wong is the current CEO and spoke to the South China Morning Post on Dec. 23 about the firm’s new aptly named program “Hong Kong Web 3.0 Hub.” The CEO outlined that G-Rocket is first looking to help 100 Web3 start-ups get their busine...
Be ‘very wary’ of crypto proof-of-reserve audits: SEC official
A senior official from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission has warned investors to be “very wary” about relying on a crypto company’s “proof-of-reserves.” “We’re warning investors to be very wary of some of the claims that are being made by crypto companies,” said SEC’s acting chief accountant Paul Munter in a Dec. 22 interview with The Wall Street Journal. A number of crypto firms have commissioned “proof-of-reserves” audits since the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, aiming to quell concerns over their own exchange’s financial soundness. However, Munter said the results of these audits isn’t necessarily an indicator that the company is in a good financial position. “Investors should not place too much confidence in the mere fact a company says it’s got a proof-of-reserves...
How crypto could be good for CBDC and vice versa: Industry exec explains
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) could potentially find some mutually beneficial interactions with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), according to one industry executive. While crypto is often associated with financial freedom, the concept of CBDC is frequently seen as the exact opposite. But this doesn’t mean that there cannot be a balance between the two, according to Itai Avneri, chief operating officer and deputy CEO at the crypto trading platform INX. CBDCs and regulated cryptocurrencies could potentially complement each other in the future as the two types of digital currencies have their own benefits, Avneri said in an interview with Cointelegraph on Dec. 22. Comparing CBDCs to regulated primary offerings, Avneri suggested that allowing or enabling crypto funds to participa...
New NFT private auction scam threatens OpenSea users
As nonfungible tokens (NFTs) became more popular, bad actors who constantly try to exploit users within the space have become more active. Now, a new hack involving a feature on the NFT marketplace OpenSea threatens NFT holders through phishing sites. In an announcement, anti-theft project Harpie warned NFT users of a new hack involving gasless sales on the OpenSea platform. According to Harpie, hackers were able to steal millions in digital assets by exploiting the feature. When users want to conduct gasless sales within the OpenSea platform, they are required to approve a signature request with an unreadable message. With this feature, users are also able to allowed to create private auctions with unreadable signatures. Hackers have been able to steal NFTs like magic with a little-...
