Tag: crypto exchange

Germany shuts down ‘world’s largest’ crypto launderer
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Germany shuts down ‘world’s largest’ crypto launderer

[ad_1] German authorities said Wednesday they had taken down the "world's largest" money laundering site for cryptocurrency, seizing millions of euros' worth of bitcoin in the process.Law enforcement officials secured around 44 million euros ($46 million) of the digital currency in the move against online platform ChipMixer, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and Frankfurt prosecutor's office said in a statement. Working together with authorities in the United States and Europol, investigators also seized the servers belonging to the "darknet" site. ChipMixer's operators are suspected of "commercial money laundering and running a criminal trading platform on the internet", the German authorities said.The site is said to have accepted criminally obtained bitcoin to pay it out agai...
Billions Worth of Crypto Trades at Risk as Bank Shutdowns Take Toll
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Billions Worth of Crypto Trades at Risk as Bank Shutdowns Take Toll

[ad_1] The digital-asset market is coming off of a turbulent year featuring a number of high-profile blowups. Now, two shutdowns in the banking industry — SVB Financial Group's Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate Capital Corp. — have set off a fresh set of stresses. SVB's failure triggered a knock-on effect in the crucial market for stablecoins after digital-asset giant Circle Internet Financial Corp., one of the biggest issuers of the widely used tokens known for their perceived safety, revealed it had $3.3 billion of reserves with the bank. The news caused Circle's token, USD Coin, to slip below its intended 1-for-1 peg with the dollar, sending a shock through the market. As concerning as USD Coin's de-peg was, it is the shutdown of crypto-friendly bank Silvergate...
Cryptoverse: Hooked on growth, bitcoin investors turn to smart tokens
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Cryptoverse: Hooked on growth, bitcoin investors turn to smart tokens

[ad_1] For investors living on the digital edge, bitcoin is starting to look a little old-fashioned.Hooked on high growth, some are turning away from the original cryptocurrency - designed as an alternative to regular cash - in favor of its descendants created as native tokens of blockchain platforms that host smart contracts and apps. MarketVector's Smart Contract Leaders Index, which tracks major tokens of this kind - including ether, dot and solana - is up 36% in 2023, outpacing even bitcoin's 33% rise. Solana's token is up 76% this year. Bundeep Rangar, CEO of crypto-focused investor Fineqia, said he expected the biggest crypto returns to come from smart contract tokens on platforms that support decentralized finance (DeFi) apps."Those are ones that you will find capital appreciati...
Crypto Retrenchment Persists With Over 2,000 Jobs Lost in 2023
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Crypto Retrenchment Persists With Over 2,000 Jobs Lost in 2023

[ad_1] The digital-assets industry has shed more than 2,000 jobs in the first two months of 2023, as companies continued to retrench even as crypto prices staged a partial recovery.US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc. this week indicated that more layoffs could be in store, after cutting 20% of its workforce in January. Other trading venues including Crypto.com, Huobi Global, Gemini and Luno also announced job cuts in the past two months. Exchanges' revenues are reliant on retail trading, which has been slow to pick up after a wave of failures and scandals ripped through the sector last year. Layoffs have been widespread among other types of crypto businesses too. Chainalysis, a company that specializes in tracking digital-asset transactions and counts Singapore's GIC among ...
PayPal pauses stablecoin work amid regulatory scrutiny of crypto – Bloomberg News
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PayPal pauses stablecoin work amid regulatory scrutiny of crypto – Bloomberg News

[ad_1] PayPal Holdings Inc is pausing work on its stablecoin as regulators increase scrutiny of cryptocurrencies and a key partner on the project faces a probe by the New York State Department of Financial Services, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. PayPal had hoped to debut the stablecoin, which will be backed one for one by the dollar, in the coming weeks, Bloomberg reported, citing a person with knowledge of the matter. "We are exploring a stablecoin; if and when we seek to move forward, we will of course, work closely with relevant regulators," a spokesperson for the payments firm said in an emailed statement. The cryptocurrency market is going through a turbulent period as the collapse of some of its biggest players, including FTX, has shaken the faith of investors in what...
Genesis Says ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ Owes Millions From Unsettled Trades
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Genesis Says ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ Owes Millions From Unsettled Trades

[ad_1] Ver, known to some as “Bitcoin Jesus” for his evangelistic role in the early days of crypto, was named in a court summons in New York on Tuesday by GGC International Limited. A Genesis unit is seeking more than $20 million from Bitcoin Cash backer Roger Ver, alleging that he failed to settle cryptocurrency options transactions that expired in December. Ver, known to some as “Bitcoin Jesus” for his evangelistic role in the early days of crypto, was named in a court summons in New York on Tuesday by GGC International Limited. The filing included a notice seeking no less than $20.9 million in money damages, in addition to legal costs and expenses. Crypto lender Genesis Global Holdco LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, owing its top 50 creditors more than $3 billion...
Crypto Mining Stocks Eye Best Month in a Year Atop Bitcoin Jump
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Crypto Mining Stocks Eye Best Month in a Year Atop Bitcoin Jump

[ad_1] A Bitcoin rebound has put crypto mining stocks on course for their best monthly performance in at least a year, providing some respite from the debt and energy-price worries that pummeled the shares in 2022. A Bitcoin rebound has put crypto mining stocks on course for their best monthly performance in at least a year, providing some respite from the debt and energy-price worries that pummeled the shares in 2022. The 20-member MVIS Global Digital Assets Mining Index is up 64% so far in January, outstripping Bitcoin's 28% advance. That's the gauge's best month since its inception at the end of 2021 and contrasts with last year's 88% drop. The Luxor Hashprice Index — which seeks to measure how much a miner can expect to earn from the computing power used for the Bitcoin netwo...
Beware the Dangers of Crypto Regulation
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Beware the Dangers of Crypto Regulation

[ad_1] With so many unknowns and the risks of contagion mostly contained, the best policy right now is caution. The collapse of FTX and the charges against Sam Bankman-Fried have brought many renewed calls for crypto regulation, from both commentators and legislators. That is precisely why this is a time for caution. No matter how strong the temptation, we should not overregulate. Begin with two central facts. First, there are numerous ways for small and large investors to lose their money, including by investing in risky equities. Regulating crypto won't end that danger. Second, despite being one of the largest financial frauds in history, FTX has not created systemic financial risk, which should be the main concern of regulators. And market forces already have made the risk from ...
YEARENDER-Cryptocurrencies at crossroads after annus horribilis
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YEARENDER-Cryptocurrencies at crossroads after annus horribilis

[ad_1] Crashes, contagion, collapses came in such quick succession that investors were, towards the end of the year, asking serious existential questions. To borrow from Britain's Queen Elizabeth, 2022 is not a year on which the cryptocurrency world shall look back with undiluted pleasure.Crashes, contagion, collapses came in such quick succession that investors were, towards the end of the year, asking serious existential questions. After all, the largest cryptocurrency, bitcoin, has not kept its head above water for more than a week at a time, and is down about three-quarters from last November's $69,000 peak. The market value of the 22,000-odd tokens and coins is now at less than a third of the peak $3 trillion in November 2021, and many of them are comatose, if not outright dead.T...
Binance, Tether to Solana, After FTX Fall, These Crypto Entities Are Grabbing the Spotlight
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Binance, Tether to Solana, After FTX Fall, These Crypto Entities Are Grabbing the Spotlight

[ad_1] Sam Bankman-Fried’s arrest in the Bahamas pending a possible extradition to the US opens a fresh chapter in efforts to untangle whether his crypto empire was built using fraudulent methods. Sam Bankman-Fried's arrest in the Bahamas pending a possible extradition to the US opens a fresh chapter in efforts to untangle whether his crypto empire was built using fraudulent methods.Regardless of the outcome, the demise of his digital-asset exchange FTX continues to shake the wider crypto market's foundations. Skittish investors are pulling money out of rival exchanges, fearful of having their assets stuck should any of those venues collapse. At least one major crypto firm has filed for bankruptcy in the wake of FTX's unraveling, while two others were forced to suspend some withdrawal...