Even with more layoffs in the cryptocurrency sector, investigations by regulators and a liquidity crunch with withdrawals blocked, digital currencies tracked stock markets’ gains on Friday (13), still under expectations of lower US interest rates and slowing inflation.
Bitcoin (BTC) is up 4.2% over the past 24 hours, reaching $18,917. In fact, BTC advanced 2.9%, quoted at R$97,358, according to Bitcoin Gateway Index (IPB).
Ethereum (ETH) price rose 1% to $1,411, according to data from Coingecko.
Altcoins also performed with gains, among them BNB (+1.7%), XRP (+1.9%), Cardano (+4%), Dogecoin (+3.3%), Polygon (+3.9%), Solana (+5.8%), Polkadot (+4.1%), Shiba Inu (+6.1%) and Avalanche (+4.5%).
Withdrawals blocked at Brainscompany
On Thursday (12) about 30 people turned out at the headquarters of Pricecompany Paraíba, in Campina Grande, to protest the company’s delay in making payments to its customers.
the Bitcoin portal He went to the site and spoke with investors who said they were disgusted by the lack of clarification or guarantees on the part of the company – which has been accused of financial pyramid by Tiago Reis, the creator of Suno Research.
“There are so many people looking for me every day. I practically only answer Direct here at Office for Braiscompany clients.”
The phrase is taken from the lawyer Larissa Gatto, who, after being a victim of GAS Consultoria, the financial pyramid created by the so-called Bitcoin Pharaoh, specialized in financial fraud and now sees a large number of her clients in despair with the constant delays in the payments of Antonio Neto Ace.
In an interview with Bitcoin portalGatto says that clients are in pain, that many of those who consult her are victims of other pyramids, and that they saw Braiscompany as a way to save their financial lives.
Cryptocurrency Crisis
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) has filed a lawsuit against Genesis Global Capital, a crypto credit platform, and against the Gemini Trust Company in connection with its passive income earning program, which allegedly violated investor protection laws. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil suit in Manhattan federal court alleging that Genesis should have registered the product, which would have required disclosure of detailed financial information to customers.
Companies have begun to market the software to retail investors in February 2021 and has raised billions of dollars in crypto assets from hundreds of thousands of investors, the SEC said. In November, after the FTX bankruptcy, Genesis blocked customer refunds, which also affected users of the Earn program maintained in partnership with Gemini, which would have blocked about US$900 million. Amid the feud with Genesis, Gemini ended Earn this week.
Genesis is controlled by the Digital Currency Group (DCG)., which also owns Grayscale Investments and CoinDesk news portal. According to the Financial Times, DCG owes creditors more than $3 billion. To fill the gap, the group is considering selling assets from its $500 million venture capital portfolio which has stakes in more than 200 crypto projects, including block explorer Etherscan and exchange Coinbase.
FTX clients
Japan’s financial sector watchdog You think the local FTX unit will be able to refund customers starting in February. “We are in close contact with FTX Japan,” Mamoru Yanase, deputy general manager of the Strategy Development and Management Division, which is part of the Financial Services Agency, told Bloomberg.
Withdrawals scheduled for mid-February which FTX announced last month was likely the result of that communication, so “we would expect them to take appropriate action based on that,” he said. A Delaware judge gave the go-ahead Thursday for the sale of Japan’s FTX unit, among other assets such as derivatives arm LedgerX.
New FTX management lost $72,000 on decentralized financial lending platform Aave while trying to get money back to lenders. The responsible team was trying to close the position and transfer the amount to a wallet at Alameda Research, the FTX trading arm, and in the process first removed the collateral used for the position, putting it at risk of liquidation.
Cryptocurrency data platform Arkham noted in a report shared with The Block that over the course of nine days, the position liquidated twice for a total of 4.05 aWBTC (Wrapped Bitcoin), a token used on Aave backed by BTC.
Even with his former empire destroyed, Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX, he pledged to use almost all of his personal assets to help clients who had lost their money. In its first, long message of its new Substack newsletter, the SBF once again declared its innocence: “I didn’t steal the money and I certainly didn’t keep the billions.” Alameda lost money, he said, due to an underprotected market crash.
Bankman-Fried also took the opportunity to snare his old foeBinance CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao blamed him for the Alameda incident. The extreme, rapid and targeted “crash” precipitated by the Binance CEO has rendered Alameda insolvent, the SBF writes, adding that the Alameda crisis has hit FTX “and elsewhere.”
More layoffs
Crypto.com will cut about 20% of its global workforceAccording to a statement on the platform’s blog. The CEO of the Singapore-based payments and crypto wallet company, Chris Marsalek, said the decision was made to focus on “prudent financial management” and “position the company for long-term success.”
The news comes on the heels of layoffs at Blockchain.com as well. The cryptocurrency platform will lay off 28% of its employees, which equates to 110 people. “To better balance product offerings and demand, we made the difficult decision to reduce operating costs and headcount to scale the company.” This week, US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced the cut of nearly a thousand people.
Other advantages of cryptocurrency
Bitso has announced the trading of the Euro Stablecoin (EUROC), that accompany differences in Euro, Valor reported. Developed by Circle, the same company that issues USD Coin (USDC), the cryptocurrency is the world’s second largest stablecoin by market cap – second only to Tether (USDT) – and the world’s fifth largest cryptocurrency.
Brazilian Hashdex was among the top three index fund managers (ETFs) in the digital asset sector, according to Valor. With contributions of about $170.97 million in 2022, Hashdex ahead of traditional ETFs and passive investment firms, such as VanEck and Fidelity, VanEck and Fidelity, which raised, respectively, $115.17 million and $37.5 million, based on data bloomberg.
Samsung Asset Management has indicated that it may launch a Bitcoin Index Fund cash in Hong Kong if the city allows such products to be traded, according to Bloomberg. On Friday, the company placed the Samsung Bitcoin Futures Active ETF on the futures market and is monitoring the city’s initiative to become a cryptocurrency hub for a potential producer investing directly in digital currencies.
Two of the largest exchanges in Canada, Coinsquare and WonderFi, is in advanced merger talks, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the plans. If the deal goes through, the resulting company will become Canada’s largest cryptocurrency exchange with approximately 1.15 million users.
It may be announced in the coming days. Although not sure that the deal will pan out. The terms are unknown, but one possibility is for Coinsquare shareholders to take a majority stake in the new company.
Crypto payments platform Wyre has secured a new funding source, allowing it to raise the recently announced limit of up to 90% for customer withdrawals by up to 90%. “We are delighted to share that today we have received funding from a strategic partner that will allow us to continue our normal operations,” Wire wrote on Twitter, adding that he would “resume accepting deposits and raise the withdrawal cap by 90% immediately.” The company did not say how it obtained the financing.
After being subjected to a money laundering investigation in BulgariaCryptocurrency credit platform is facing a wave of withdrawals. Nexo is being investigated for cases of money laundering, tax violations, computer fraud, and even a possible connection to Ruja Ignatova, the Bulgarian outlaw crypto queen.
Republican representatives should form a subcommittee With a focus on crypto assets in the United States, a measure that puts industry oversight and legislation at the top of the party’s agenda amid the crisis in the sector, according to the Politico portal. In the European Union, officials are concerned about new rules coming into effect and questioning whether the new legislation is really adequate to protect investors, according to the Financial Times. Meanwhile, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) highlights three approaches to regulating the sector in a new report.
Cryptocurrency credit companies are back A lot of bitcoin mining rigs are highly indebted companies that have decided to run the machines and coins as a new business option. These companies are “(…) flooded with mining rigs,” Wolfie Chow, head of research at TheMinerMag, told Bloomberg. One way for cryptocurrency lending to “avoid further losses from bad loans is to keep the collateral machines running and generate some revenue.”
Increased use of cryptocurrencies by sanctioned entities It helped push the total amount of illegal activities in the industry to a record $20.1 billion last year, according to data platform Chainalysis. These entities accounted for 44% of illicit cryptocurrency-related transactions last year, according to a preview of The Wall Street Journal’s “Crypto Crime Report” whose full version will be published by Chainalysis in February.
Bill Gates is still not convinced of the importance of Web3and cryptocurrencies and the metaverse, saying these technologies are not “revolutionary.” In response to a question from a Reddit user about what current technology had the potential of the Internet in the year 2000, Kotb said, “Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the main AI. I don’t think Web3 is too big or that the wave itself is revolutionary, but AI is Very revolutionary.
Despite Gates’ skepticism, Web3 market Shows signs of healing. Data from The Block showed non-fungible token sales rose 13% in December from November to $549.5 million, after declining for eight months.
And in a new bet in this segment, a group has been launched in OpenSea, namely Win Trump Prizes, It allows users to purchase rewards related to former US President Donald Trump. When purchasing NFTs, users can videotape Zoom with Trump for 200 ETH ($277,000 USD), arrange a dinner party for 50 ETH ($69,000 USD) or meet with Trump for 21.45 ETH ($30,000 USD), among others. Other awards.