ftx
Alameda Research and FTX merge VC operations: Report
Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange FTX’s investment arm has reportedly absorbed the venture capital operations of Alameda Research in response to the ongoing crypto bear market. According to a Thursday Bloomberg report, Alameda’s Caroline Ellison said in an interview that the merger had happened prior to former co-CEO Sam Trabucco announcing his resignation on Wednesday, leaving Ellison as the firm’s sole CEO. The investment arm of the crypto exchange, FTX Ventures launched in January — when the absorption of Alameda reportedly began — with $2 billion in assets under management. BREAKING: Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX and Alameda merged their VC operations as the billionaire copes with a prolonged crypto winter https://t.co/5bXiTHphzs pic.twitter.com/EYUSa2bItG — Bloomberg Crypto ...
FTX partners with Paradigm for ‘one-click’ futures spread trading
Paradigm has announced the launch of spreads trading in partnership with crypto exchange FTX. In a Friday blog post, Paradigm said under the FTX partnership users would be able to utilize “one-click” trading with “no leg risk” for the spread between spot, perpetuals and fixed maturity futures on Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), Avalanche (AVAX), ApeCoin (APE), Dogecoin (DOGE), Chainlink (LINK) and Litecoin (LTC). FTX will provide “guaranteed atomic execution and clearing of both legs” for the trades. According to Paradigm CEO Anand Gomes, the arrangement was aimed at drawing in new crypto investors interested in cash and carry trades — leveraging crypto spot purchases and futures instruments on FTX. Gomes added that the rollout could lead to new product offerings “further down the...
We Attended a Secret Party In the Forest at Tomorrowland 2022—Here’s What It Looked Like
In the throes of the crypto winter, FTX found warmth in the effervescent confines of Tomorrowland. Cryptocurrency and electronic dance music have been inextricably linked thanks to the widespread adoption of digital collectibles by DJs. In fact, the 2021 IMS Business Report found that 76% of all music NFTs were issued by electronic music artists. The nexus of all this activity is music festivals, where NFT and crypto developers can escape the dangerous, theft-laden interwebs to demonstrate the utilities of their projects in a controlled environment. So FTX, a popular cryptocurrency exchange which averages roughly $10 billion of daily trading volume, touched down at the largest EDM festival in the world. The company organized a hidden stage called The Hill during each day of the 2022 e...
Voyager rejects Alameda buyout offer as it ‘harms customers’
Centralized crypto lender Voyager Digital Holdings has rejected an offer from FTX and its investment arm Alameda Ventures to buyout its digital assets on the grounds that the actions “are not value-maximizing” and potentially “harms customers.” In a rejection letter filed in court on July 24 as part of its ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, Voyager’s lawyers denounced the offer made public by FTX, FTX US, and Alameda on July 22 to buy out all of Voyager’s assets and outstanding loans – except the defaulted loan to 3AC. The letter states that making such offers public could jeopardize any other potential deals by subverting “a coordinated, confidential, competitive bidding process,” adding “AlamedaFTX violated many obligations to the Debtors and the Bankruptcy Cou...
BnkToTheFuture unveils 3 proposals to rescue Celsius from oblivion
Celsius’ lead investor BnkToTheFuture has outlined three proposals to save Celsius from bankruptcy while finding a good outcome for shareholders and depositors with funds stuck on the platform. Shared on Twitter by BnkToTheFuture CEO Simon Dixon on June 30, the three distinct proposals include either two options of restructuring and relaunching Celsius, or potentially co-investing in the platform alongside wealthy Bitcoin Whales. “Proposal #1: A restructuring to relaunch Celsius and allow depositors to benefit from any recovery through financial engineering. Proposal #2: A pool of the most influential whales in Bitcoin to co-invest with the community. Proposal #3: An operational plan that allows a new entity and team to rebuild and make depositors whole.” Dixon previously referred to...
Contagion: Genesis faces huge losses, BlockFi’s $1B loan, Celsius’s risky model
It’s been another day of watching the ripples of contagion spread through the crypto market. With Three Arrows Capital being ordered into liquidation by a British court, details have also emerged today of BlockFi liquidating a $1B loan to 3AC, and the fallout from the insolvency was partly to blame for lending firm and market maker Genesis Trading facing losses of “a few hundred million dollars.” Withdrawals remain suspended at the possibly insolvent lending and borrowing platform Celsius, which was revealed to have had a highly risky 19 to 1 assets-to-equity ratio before it ran into liquidity troubles this year. Celsius’ risky business According to documents reviewed and reported on by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on June 29, Celsius was operating on very fine and risky margins as ...
Crypto conspiracy theories abound, but prop traders are just doing their job
Alameda Research is a cryptocurrency trading firm and liquidity provider founded by crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). Before founding his firm in 2017, SBF spent three years as a trader at the quantitative proprietary trading giant Jane Street Capital, which specializes in equity and bonds. In 2019, SBF founded the crypto derivatives and exchange FTX, which has quickly grown to become the fifth-largest by open interest. The Bahamas-based exchange raised $400 million in January 2022 and was valued at $32 billion. FTX’s global derivatives exchange business is separate from FTX US, another entity controlled by SBF, which raised another $400 million from investors including the Ontario Teachers Pension and SoftBank. The self-made billionaire has big dreams, like purchasing ...
FTX may be planning to purchase a stake in BlockFi: Report
Crypto exchange FTX is reportedly in talks to acquire a stake in BlockFi after the company issued a $250 million credit to the lending firm. According to a Friday report from the Wall Street Journal, FTX is currently in discussions with BlockFi regarding the crypto exchange purchasing a stake in the firm, but no equity agreement has been reached. The reported ongoing talks followed BlockFi signing a term sheet with FTX to secure a $250 million revolving credit facility on Tuesday. “BlockFi does not comment on market rumors,” a BlockFi spokesperson told Cointelegraph. “We are still negotiating the terms of the deal and cannot share more information at this time. We anticipate sharing more on the terms of the deal with the public at a later date. FTX founder and CEO Sam Ban...
Crypto winter freezes sports sponsorships for digital asset firms
The longer the crypto market stays in bearish territory, the more marketing deals with American sports teams are being taken off the table as crypto firms tighten their belts. Crypto exchange FTX has been rethinking its marketing plan to plaster its name and logo across Los Angeles Angels jerseys, according to a June 20 report from the NY Post. The dramatic market downturn is likely to blame for the retractions. Another patch deal between an undisclosed crypto firm and the Washington Wizards was axed just as the crypto market began its violent tumble in recent weeks. The crypto firm in question could have been FTX.US as the exchange’s NFT platform and the Washington DC-based Wizards have an ongoing partnership. The NY Post said that the deal with the Wizards was desirable for crypto firms ...
Biggest Bitcoin exchange inflows since 2018 put potential $20K bottom at risk
Bitcoin (BTC) could be on the verge of a retail major sell-off as exchange inflows spike to almost three-and-a-half-year highs. Data from on-chain analytics platform CryptoQuant shows users of 21 major exchanges sending coins to their wallets en masse on June 14. Major exchanges finish up 83,000 BTC in a single day As BTC/USD fell to lows of $20,800, panic appeared to set in among traders, and despite a reversal that at one point topped $23,000, few seemed willing to trust that the worst was over. Since then, spot price action has returned to near $21,000, while 24-hour exchange inflows reached 59,376 BTC. According to CryptoQuant data, this is the largest daily inflow since November 30, 2018. On that day, exchanges recorded 83,481 BTC of net inflows. May 9, 2022 ended with 29,082 BTC in n...
Crypto.com gets nod in Dubai and FTX launches in Japan
Two out of the top 10 largest cryptocurrency exchanges by volume will expand into new markets, with Crypto.com obtaining a provisional crypto license in Dubai and FTX launching in Japan. Crypto.com announced on June 2 that the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) provided the exchange with provisional approval of its Virtual Asset License giving the company the go-ahead based on initial compliance checks. The exchange said that VARA will carry out further due diligence and other mandated requirements before its full operating license is issued which it expects to happen in the “near term” Crypto.com said in March it would create a regional office in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) largest city after it enacted new laws for crypto and created VARA with the goal of making Dubai a ...
BAYC’s ApeCoin up 50% this week as its creator raises $450M in new funding
ApeCoin (APE) continued its rebound move Thursday as the firm behind it raised hundreds of millions of dollars in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz. APE’s price surged 7.5% intraday to reach around $14.50 per piece. Notably, the token’s upside move came as a part of a retracement rally that started at the beginning of this week when it was changing hands for as low as $9.50. That pushed APE’s week-to-date profits up by 50%, making it one of the best-performing digital assets since March 21. APE/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView Big VC booster To recap, ApeCoin digital currency came to existence on March 17, via an “airdrop” backed by Yuga Labs, the creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), a collection of nonfungible tokens (NFT) popul...
