cryptocurrency exchange
Alameda’s Caroline Ellison and FTX’s Gary Wang hit with additional fraud charges
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have hit former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and former FTX co-founder Gary Wang with fresh fraud charges. The new charges from the SEC and CFTC come as the pair plead guilty to federal fraud charges filed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) earlier on Dec. 22. SEC states that Ellison and Wang were charged for their role in the “multiyear scheme to defraud equity investors in FTX,” with the SEC also investigating whether other securities laws were violated as well. The SEC alleges that Ellison, under the direction of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, furthered the scheme by manipulating the price of FTX Token (FTT), which is described as a crypto security toke...
Uniswap to allow users to buy cryptocurrency using debit and credit cards
Decentralized exchange Uniswap has partnered with fintech company Moonpay to allow users to buy cryptocurrency on its web app using debit cards, credit cards, and bank transfers. The bank transfer option is being rolled out for users within most U.S. states, Brazil, the United Kingdom and the Single Euro Payments Area, also known as SEPA. In the announcement made on Dec. 20, Uniswap shared that its users will now be able to convert fiat to cryptocurrency on the Ethereum mainnet, Polygon, Optimism, and Artibrum in a matter of minutes. 1/ Go direct to DeFi Starting today, you can now purchase crypto on the Uniswap Web App using a credit/debit card or bank transfer at the best rates in web3 thanks to our partnership with @moonpay! https://t.co/YVyk8e6d2h — Uniswap Labs (@Uniswap) Decemb...
Gate.io experiences slowdown in deposits and withdrawals due to node maintenance
Users of the crypto exchange Gate.io are facing slow deposits and withdrawals on transactions due to a node maintenance from a third-party cloud provider, according to a Dec. 18 announcement. Gate.io said that transactions are still being processed and claimed that user funds are safe. The company stated: “At this moment, we are monitoring the network connection status of our cloud service providers and will expedite the deposits and withdrawals as soon as the network connection is restored.” It is unclear if the delay in transactions is related to OKX’s outage, which was caused by a hardware failure at a Hong Kong data center of its primary infrastructure provider, Alibaba Cloud. As reported by Cointelegraph, Alibaba’s Cloud server went offline on Dec. 17 and...
Only for foreign trade: Bank of Russia stands against free crypto investment
Russia’s central bank is ready to consider allowing cryptocurrency use within the country, but only as part of a legal experiment, said governor Elvira Nabiullina. “It’s possible to consider transactions through an authorized organization in the country as part of an experimental legal regime, but that would require a relevant law,” Nabiullina stated during a Bank of Russia press conference on Dec. 16. The Bank of Russia’s primary objection to crypto has always been that it cannot be used as a payment instrument, Nabiullina emphasized. She added that the central bank is also concerned about investor protection because the crypto market is highly volatile. While Russia formally does not prohibit its people from investing in crypto, the Bank of Russia believes that the mass adoption of crypt...
Raydium is attacked, loses $2M
Solana-based decentralized finance protocol Raydium has suffered an exploit, according to a statement from the developer. An initial investigation by the team revealed that the attacker took over the exchange’s owner account. The team said that “authority” over the automated market maker and farm programs has been paused “for now.” Twitter user and researcher ZachXBT reported that the attacker has bridged $2 million to Ethereum “so far.” An exploit on Raydium is being investigated that affected liquidity pools. Details to follow as more is known ⁰Initial understanding is owner authority was overtaken by attacker, but authority has been halted on AMM & farm programs for nowAttacker accnthttps://t.co/ZnEgL1KSwz — Raydium (@RaydiumProtocol) December 16, 2022 This is a breaking story and w...
Will FTX’s ill wind reach the Global South? Maybe not
With the crypto world still reeling from the FTX collapse, Brazil recently passed legislation that legalized cryptocurrency use for payments in the country. How to reconcile this with all those declarations in the West that crypto is having its “Lehman moment”? Brazil may have inadvertently revealed a cleft between the developed world and emerging markets with regard to the uses and misuses of cryptocurrencies. (The legislation still requires a presidential signature before it becomes law.) Unquestionably, FTX’s Nov. 11 bankruptcy filing hurt crypto exchanges and other crypto-focused enterprises in Brazil, as well as many crypto-based companies all through Latin America (LATAM). But this latest gale in the crypto winter is generally not seen as an existential threat — as it is someti...
Crypto community members discuss bank run on Binance
Within the past 24 hours, cryptocurrency exchange Binance has seen outflows of over $1.14 billion due to rising FUD — or fear, uncertainty and doubt — within the crypto ecosystem. According to Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the exchange has seen this before, and he believes “it is a good idea to ‘stress test withdrawals’ on each CEX [centralized exchange] on a rotating basis”. We saw some withdrawals today (net $1.14b ish). We have seen this before. Some days we have net withdrawals; some days we have net deposits. Business as usual for us. I actually think it is a good idea to “stress test withdrawals” on each CEX on a rotating basis. 1/2 https://t.co/uF9lLPDSyS — CZ Binance (@cz_binance) December 13, 2022 The bank run on Binance comes a month after CZ triggered a bank ...
$75M worth of FTX’s political donations at risk of being recalled due to bankruptcy: Report
Following the collapse of FTX and its Nov. 11 bankruptcy filing, $73 million worth of its political donations is currently at risk of being recalled to repay the failed exchange’s creditors, according to a report by Bloomberg. Speculators online allege that the former FTX CEO and his executives sought to influence industry regulations with their generous multimillion-dollar donations to politicians and super PACs. Sam Bankman-Fried and executives Ryan Salame and Nishad Singh are believed to have been high-paying donors to both the Republican and Democratic United States political parties. Many politicians who were at the receiving end of FTX’s generosity now face difficulty regarding what to do next, as they may be forced to return the money to the bankruptcy trustee. In order to...
Paxful CEO preaches Bitcoin self-custody, advises against crypto exchange
The case for self-custody grows stronger as investors demand evidence of their assets over crypto exchanges. While some CEOs chose to double down on assuring the funds’ safety on their platforms, Ray Youssef, the CEO of crypto exchange Paxful, sided with the idea of self-custody as he took responsibility for over 11 million users. The fall of FTX was an eye-opener for investors who predominantly entrusted crypto exchanges with safeguarding their assets. FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, however, broke this trust by misappropriating users’ funds via Alameda Research. Ever since, numerous exchanges had to share wallet information as proof of reserves publicly. Will be sending an email every week strongly advising our people to never keep savings on any exchange, including @paxful This is the way ! ...
Binance’s proof of reserves raises red flags: Report
Binance’s efforts to improve transparency of its reserves also exposed red flags in the crypto exchange’s finances, according to accounting and financial specialists consulted by The Wall Street Journal. As noted by a former Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) member and investment manager, the report released by the audit firm Mazars give not bring investors confidence about the exchange’s finances, as it lacks information related to the quality of internal controls and how Binance’s systems liquidate assets to cover margin loans. Another red flag raised by the newspaper’s sources regards the lack of information about Binance’s corporate structure. According to the report, Binance’s chief strategy officer, Patrick Hillmann, was unable name...
Binance suspends trader’s account after complaints on Twitter
Crypto exchange Binance closed a trader account on Dec. 9 after a user complained about the exchange’s response for alleged funds theft. Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said the firm does not want to service “unreasonable” clients. A user by the name of CoinMamba on Twitter started complaining about the lost funds on Dec. 8, claiming that a leaked API key tied to crypto trading firm 3Commas was used “to make trades on low cap coins to push up the price to make profit.” The trader claims in a series of tweets that Binance was unable to provide him with appropriate support: Have talked to Binance support and so far they are refusing to do anything to help me with the situation, saying that is my fault. Not sure how the API was leaked, and whose fault is this. — CoinMamba (@coinmamba) Decembe...
SBF tried to destabilize crypto market to save FTX: Report
Tether executives and Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao worried that Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), former FTX CEO, was attempting to destabilize the crypto market aiming to save the now-bankrupt exchange, according to reports on Dec. 9. Messages seen by The Wall Street Journal of a Signal group chat named “Exchange coordination” reveals an argument between CZ and SBF on Nov. 10 about Tether’s stablecoin USDT. According to the report, CZ and others in the group worried that trades made by Alameda Research were focusing on depeg the stablecoin, which would have a ripple effect in crypto prices. Binance CEO reportedly confronted SBF: “Stop trying to depeg stablecoins. And stop doing anything. Stop now, don’t cause more damage.” SBF denied the claims in a statement to the WSJ....
