ftx
FTX hacker is now the 35th largest holder of ETH
The hacker that exploited the now-bankrupt FTX exchange last week made a tidy fortune that has propelled them to Ether (ETH) whale status. Just a day after the embattled FTX exchange filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, its wallets were drained for more than $663 million in various crypto assets, according to blockchain intelligence company Elliptic. Elliptic suspected $477 million of this was stolen, with a large chunk of those tokens being then converted into ETH, while $186 million worth of more than a hundred different tokens was believed to be moved into secure storage by FTX itself. As reported by Cointelegraph on Nov. 15, the attacker was still draining wallets four days later in what analysts called “on-chain spoofing.” According to blockchain security firm Beosin, the attacker has con...
The market is hot, but Solana is not — Data explains why SOL price is lagging
Solana (SOL) has been in a steady downtrend for the past 3 months, but some traders believe that it may have bottomed at $26.80 on Oct. 21. Lately, there’s been a lot of speculation on the causes for the underperformance and some analysts are pointing to competition from Aptos Network. Solana price at FTX, USD. Source: TradingView The Aptos blockchain launched on Oct. 17 and it claims to handle three times more transactions per second than Solana. Yet, after four years of development and millions of dollars in funding, the debut of the layer-1 smart contract solution was rather unimpressive. It is essential to highlight that Solana presently holds an $11.5 billion market capitalization at the $32 nominal price level, ranking it as the seventh largest cryptocurrency when excluding sta...
FTX to give a ‘one-time’ $6M compensation to phishing victims
Cryptocurrency exchange FTX will provide around $6 million in compensation to victims of a phishing scam that allowed hackers to conduct unauthorized trades on certain FTX users’ accounts. FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried posted in a Twitter thread on Oct. 23 that the exchange generally doesn’t award compensation to its users “phished by fake versions of other companies in the space” but in this case, it would compensate users. Bankman-Fried said that this was a “one-time thing” and FTX would “not do this going forward.” “THIS IS NOT A PRECEDENT,” he wrote, clarifying it was only the accounts of FTX users that would be reimbursed. 14) But this once, we’ll do it; roughly $6m total. (To be clear, only for FTX accounts! Hopefully other exchanges will comp theirs.) BUT AGAIN N...
Voyager customers could recover 72% of frozen crypto under FTX deal
Customers of bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital may be able to recover 72% of the value of their accounts under a tentative deal with FTX US, according to court documents. However, United States bankruptcy judge Michael Wiles during a court hearing said the tentative sale would not be final until it receives the approval of Voyager’s creditors and he approves the bankruptcy payout plan, saying during the court hearing: “If the plan falls apart, there’s no part of this agreement that survives.” There is also the inclusion of a clause called a “fiduciary out,” which allows Voyager to cancel the deal with FTX should any offers be presented that offer a better outcome for creditors. The clause is often included in bankruptcy cases, allowing companies to consider highe...
Bankman-Fried ‘100%’ supports knowledge tests for retail derivatives traders
The founder and CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried has backed the idea of knowledge tests and disclosures to protect retail investors but said it shouldn’t just be crypto-specific. Bankman-Fried tweeted his thoughts in response to an idea floated by the Commodities Future Trading Commission (CFTC) commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero on Oct. 15, saying the establishment of a “household retail investor” category for derivatives trading could give greater consumer protections. Romero said due to crypto, more retail investors are entering the derivatives markets and called for the CFTC to separate these investors from professional and high-net-worth individuals and have “disclosures written in a way that regular people understand or could be used when weighing ru...
Sam Bankman-Fried sheds light on how FTX would approach a Celsius bid
FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried have shared details on how his firm would approach a buy-up of Celsius’ tassets. The comments come in light of FTX US snapping up bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital’s assets for $1.3 billion via auction last week and a recent report that FTX was considering a bid for Celsius’ assets as well. Responding to a tweet from BnkToTheFuture founder Simon Dixon alleging FTX was “raising finance at a $32Billion valuation” in order to buy Celsius’ assets at “cents on the dollar,” Bankman-Fried clarified that his firm’s bid is determined at “fair market price, no discounts.” You up for discussing a plan to make up the difference with equity? I have some ideas that will make the community very happy with the ...
Brett Harrison will step down as FTX US president, move into advisory role
The president of cryptocurrency exchange FTX US, Brett Harrison, has announced he will be transitioning into an advisory role in the next few months. In a Sept. 27 announcement on Twitter, Harrison said he will be resigning his position as FTX US president but will remain with the exchange “with the goal of removing technological barriers to full participation in and maturation of global crypto markets, both centralized and decentralized.” Harrison has worked as FTX US president since May 2021, following a job at Citadel Securities. “I can’t wait to share more about what I’m doing next,” said Harrison. “Until then, I’ll be assisting Sam [Bankman-Fried] and the team with this transition to ensure FTX ends the year with all its characteristic momentum.” 1/ An announcement: I’m stepping down ...
FTX in talks with investors to raise $1B for further acquisitions — Reports
Sam-Bankman Fried’s crypto exchange FTX is reportedly engaged in talks with investors to raise $1 billion in new funding, as it looks to utilize extra capital for financial acquisitions during the bear market. According to a Sept. 21 report from CNBC which cites sources close to the matter, the talks are still ongoing and the details could still be subject to change. If found to be true, the funding amount would keep the FTX’s current valuation of roughly $32 billion intact. The potential $1 billion funding round would add to the $400 million FTX raised in January, and could signal strong investor faith in the firm despite the sector undergoing a lengthy crypto winter. Other details are sparse at this stage, however, the sources said some of the new funds would be put towards m...
Former CFTC commissioner Jill Sommers joins FTX US Derivatives board
Jill Sommers, who served as a commissioner at the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has joined the board of directors for FTX US Derivatives. In a Thursday announcement, crypto exchange FTX US’ derivatives arm said Sommers had become its latest board member in a move seeming to increase the company’s regulatory efforts. Sommers served as a CFTC commissioner from 2007 to 2013 under former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush and was the managing director of regulatory affairs for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. According to Sommers, FTX US Derivatives aimed to become “the most regulated digital asset exchange in the world.” She said the board would work closely with regulators, suggesting discussions with the CFTC and others within the United States government. “Add...
Sam Bankman-Fried denies report FTX plans to purchase stake in Huobi
Global crypto exchange FTX will not be acquiring a majority stake in Huobi, according to CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, or SBF. In a Monday tweet, SBF explicitly denied a Bloomberg report that claimed FTX was planning to purchase crypto exchange Huobi. Cointelegraph reported on Aug. 12 that Huobi co-founder Leon Li was considering selling his majority stake, valued at more than $1 billion, in the company. “We are not planning to acquire Huobi,” said SBF. Just to be explicit because apparently a lot of people are saying this: No, we are not planning to acquire Huobi. — SBF (@SBF_FTX) August 29, 2022 Under SBF’s leadership, both FTX and Alameda Research have stepped in a few times amid the bear market to bail out crypto firms facing liquidity issues. In a June NPR interview, Bankman-Fried...
Regulators have a weak case against FTX on deposit insurance
In a cease-and-desist letter to fast-growing crypto exchange FTX, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) shed light on a now-deleted tweet from the exchange’s president, Brett Harrison, and issued a stark warning over the company’s messaging. Harrison’s original tweet said, “Direct deposits from employers to FTX US are stored in individually FDIC-insured bank accounts in the users’ names.” He added, “Stocks are held in FDIC-insured and SIPC [Security Investor Protection Corporation]-insured brokerage accounts.” Although Harrison stewarded FTX to its best-ever year in 2021, increasing revenue by 1,000%, the firm now faces the unenviable prospect of running afoul of a powerful government agency. In an attempt to clarify the situation to his 761,000 Twitter followers, Brett said, “C...
XRP price pumps and dumps amid mysterious $51M whale transfers — What’s next?
XRP price saw a major spike on Aug. 26, hinting at a possible effect from some big traders. Large XRP transfers, Ripple Swell Global event Notably, XRP’s price jumped 6% to $0.37, a two-week high, during the early London hours. The token’s upside move occurred hours after its network processed three massive transfers worth $51 million involving crypto exchanges Bitso and FTX, as highlighted by Whale Alert. XRP/USD hourly price chart. Source: TradingView XRP’s gains also came as a part of a broader upside move that started on Aug. 25, a day after Ripple announced its flagship event, “Ripple Swell Global,” to be held in London in November 2022. The market has seen similar reactions to the Swell event in the past. Bearish reversal setup in play XRP’s i...
