The Crypto Currier - 28th June 2022

This week in the Crypto Currier:

In a week of legal insanity and tragedy, crypto news doesn't give much optimism. Russia is piloting a blockchain to try to get round SWIFT. Goldman is reportedly advising on distressed Celsius assets whilst other crypto lending platforms have their own woes. Job cuts, now at Bitpanda. Philip Hammond says the UK is falling behind. Hacker group Anonymous vows to bring what it calls Do Kwon of Terra's crimes to light. And, Metaverse M&Ms....

Russia accelerates blockchain pilot for digital ruble, claims it’s a way around SWIFT

The Bank of Russia is piloting a blockchain system for a digital Ruble?with 12 banks. It claims the digital ruble could be an alternative to SWIFT. “This also solves the issue of disconnecting from SWIFT, because with such integration, SWIFT will no longer be needed,” said Olga Nikolaevna, First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia. It is also reported that the digital Ruble will integrate with the digital yuan. “Next year, more active work will begin on the interoperability of national currency platforms,” said the First Deputy Governor. It isn't yet clear how the interoperability of CBDCs will actually work.?(Ledger Insights) ?and?(FT)

Hacker Group Anonymous vows to bring Do Kwon of Terra's ‘crimes’ to light?

Hacktivist group Anonymous has said it is working to “make sure” Terra co-founder Do Kwon is “brought to justice as soon as possible” in regards to the collapse of the Terra LUNA and TerraUSD (UST) ecosystems. A video on Sunday purportedly from Anonymous listed Kwon’s alleged wrongdoings, including allegedly cashing out $80 million?each month from Luna and TerraUSD prior to its collapse as well as his alleged role in the fall of?stable coin Basis Cash, which Do Kwon allegedly co-created under the pseudonym “Rick Sanchez” in late 2020. The hacker group added “Anonymous is looking into Do Kwon’s entire history since he entered the?crypto?space to see what we can learn and bring to light” warning?“There is no doubt that there are many more crimes to be discovered in your trail of destruction.” The group also?criticised Kwon for his “arrogant tactics” in trolling competitors and critics and “acting like he would never fail.”?(Cointelegraph)?Read More

Bitpanda cuts roughly 30% of jobs

Austrian crypto exchange has said it is reducing its headcount from an estimated over 1000 to about 730, as well as rescinding some job offers. The firm's founder said "We need to make fundamental changes in how we operate and sharpen our focus by getting back to the basics, prioritising safety and compliance, user experience, education and community, while deprioritizing everything else." Bitpanda cited crypto winter and the broader economy, and also acknowledeged that it had grown too fast and had hired at an unsustainable pace. This follows a wake of other crypto exchanges reducing their headcount. (Finextra)?Read More

Goldman Sachs advising on buying Celsius assets

Goldman Sachs is reportedly acting on behalf of investors to attempt to raise $2 billion to buy up distressed assets from cryptocurrency lender?Celsius Network. The assets are most likely to be loans granted that are in default. This would allegedly let Goldman buy the company’s assets at a “huge discount” if the company files for bankruptcy. Goldman has not confirmed these reports. This follows Celsius Network's June 13th announcement that it was pausing all withdrawals and Wall Street Journal reporting that it had hired restructuring restructuring lawyers. Celsius had $11.8 billion of assets under management in May, down from $25 billion in October.?(Ledger Insights) ?and?(Pymnts) ?

2022 Crypto Bear Market Worst in History: Report

A report compiled by blockchain analytics firm Glassnode has found 2022 to be the worst bear market yet in crypto’s history. It found that inflation and tightening liquidity added to extreme leveraging and the high previous values of digital assets has led to more money being lost this time round. Bitcoin is currently down 73% from its all time high. “The various studies described above highlight the sheer magnitude of investor losses, the scale of capital destruction, and the observable capitulation events occurring over the last few months. Given the extensive duration and size of the prevailing bear market, 2022 can be reasonably argued to be the most significant bear market in the history of digital assets,” Glassnode states. (Bankless Times)?Read More

Crypto lending platform Nexo denies ‘smear campaign’ saying it embezzled funds

Crypto lending platform Nexo?has hit back at what it called “fake news” and rumours that its founders were part of a charity embezzlement scandal, saying the claims are untrue and defamatory. It has also issued a public cease and desist notice to the originator of the allegations. Anonymous Twitter account?otteroooo ?posted a series of?tweets claiming that Nexo’s co-founders stole funds from the Bulgarian charity HelpKarma to buy real estate and fund “lavish personal travel”. (Cointelegrah)?Read More

Crypto?lending platform BlockFi increases deposit rates, removes free withdrawals and gets $250 million credit line from FTX

BlockFi?has announced it will increase?its deposit rates spread across a wide range of cryptocurrencies and will stop its policy of allowing users one free withdrawal per month, effective 1st?July. These changes are attributed to risk management. This comes after the firm?got a provisional a $250 million revolving credit line from FTX. It?has also fired 20% of its staff amidst alleged financial concerns. (Bitcoinist)?Read More

Philip Hammond, Former Chancellor says UK is falling behind on crypto opportunity

Philip Hammond, who served as the U.K.’s Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2016 to 2019 has said the UK is slipping behind its rivals in the EU when it comes to cryptocurrency regulation. He said that there has been a distinct lack of direction and cohesion when it comes to crypto policy: “Particularly in the area of digital asset trading, I feel that the UK has missed a trick [...] We are getting very close to the point where it will be too late. Other jurisdictions are racing ahead of us.” “The problem is that there are no regulations, and nobody quite knows where they stand, right? It's a bit of a wild-west, and has gained, frankly, a mixed reputation, particularly among policymakers and politicians and the public.” This, despite belated government plans to introduce legislation. (Cointelegraph)?Read More

Several?Trading Platforms Are Now Battling?Cryptocurrency’s Liquidity Issue

The industry wide selloff in digital assets and the fall of some of the highly ranked tokens including Terra USD has had ripple effects across the industry, with liquidity issues and loss of income affecting several platforms. Several exchanges are now limiting or halting withdrawals.?Crypto physical futures exchange CoinFlex?has halted all withdrawals from its platform, citing “extreme market conditions” and “looming uncertainty surrounding a counterparty”. New York-based crypto brokerage and exchange Voyager Digital Ltd. is also capping customer withdrawals from its platform at $10,000 and 20 transactions per day. This comes after it?secured?$485 million in credit lines from Alameda Research in to strengthen safety for customer assets.?(The Merkle)?Read More

85%?of Retailers Over $1 Billion Accept?Cryptocurrency?as a Form of Payment?

85% of businesses with more than $1 billion in annual online sales say they accept some form of?crypto-enabled payment method. This differs to merchants with between $250 million to $1 billion in annual online sales, where only 23% accept?crypto?for purchases. The types of crypto payments accepted include?cryptocurrency?wallets, gift cards purchased from websites that accept?cryptocurrency?and?cryptocurrency?debit or prepaid cards. (Pymnts)?Read More

Binance is rolling out a platform for VIPs and institutions

The largest crypto exchange Binance is launching Binance Institutional, a new platform for institutions and VIPs. The services offered by the new platform will include algorithmic trading, asset management and a broker program for companies looking to utilise Binance's exchange.?Binance's BNB coin rose 5% after this news was announced. This comes as most other crypto exchanges are reducing headcount in the bear market. CEO CZ tweeted "I am most bullish in bear markets." (Business Insider)?Read More

Former Binance employees and investors: CEO CZ has more control than he lets on

Former Binance employees and investors have said Binance CEO CZ effectively has sole control of what happens at the exchange. "At the end of the day, he's the holding company," an anonymous former Binance employee said. According to Bloomberg, a legal memo from a client who lost $1.2 million on the exchange said: "It appears that the Binance Platform is not owned by any company or other legal entity". (Business Insider)?Read More

Harmony Protocol suffers $100 million hack, offers $1 million bounty

Harmony Protocol suffered a hack in which hackers stole $100 million in Wrapped Ethereum (WETH), AAVE, SUSHI, DAI, Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC), and which they swapped for Ethereum. Harmony’s team has since found the wallet address of the hacker and says it’s working with "national authorities and forensic specialists" to retrieve the stolen funds. The team has offered a $1 million bounty in exchange for no criminal charges, for the return of funds and sharing exploit information. This is the latest in a string of exploits of cross-chain bridges. (Decrypt)?Read More

Bored Ape restaurant no longer accepting crypto, just dollars

The Bored and Hungry restaurant in Los Angeles, offering food themed around the Bored Ape NFTs, has stopped accepting crypto. Investors and diners don’t seem perturbed, saying crypto is better for investment than for spending on burgers. (Futurism)?Read More

Binance signs soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo for NFTs

Binance has signed a multi-year deal for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with footballer Christiano Ronaldo. It's believed the deal is to create a series of NFT collections exclusively available on Binance. Yet another celeb endorser of crypto/ NFTs... Ronaldo has the world's highest career earnings of any footballer at over $1 billion putting him second only to Tiger Woods amongst all athletes. (Ledger Insights)?Read More

Mars Wants to Put M&Ms into the Metaverse, because the Metaverse needs sweets...

Candymaker?Mars Inc.?has filed for an NFT trademark for M&Ms, in the latest NFT-based marketing stunt. Mars is also hoping to bring M&Ms into the Metaverse. The application also reportedly seeks to trademark software for authenticating, storing, and transmitting non-fungible tokens (NFTs), digital currencies and tokens, and crypto-collectibles. Kraft Foods also filed a number of trademark applications for a range of digital assets for seven of its food brands a few weeks ago…. (Pymnts)?Read More