cryptocurrency exchange

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao to Terraform Labs’ Do Kwon: The fallen kings of crypto

22Nov

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Technology

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao to Terraform Labs’ Do Kwon: The fallen kings of crypto

[ad_1] Binance boss Changpeng Zhao has become the most powerful cryptocurrency figure to fall in a two-year period chaotic even by the standards of the notoriously volatile industry.Zhao stepped down as CEO of Binance -- the largest crypto exchange in the world -- after he and the company pleaded guilty on Tuesday to sweeping US money laundering violations and agreed to fines of more than $4 billion. Here are three of the highest-profile crypto executives who have fallen foul of the law since last year: - Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao -Born in China in 1977, Zhao moved with his family to Canada in the 1980s and later got a degree in computer science from McGill University, according to his profile in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.He founded Binance in 2017 in Shanghai, and led the company's ex...

Crypto’s Peer-to-Peer Exchanges Lose Ground in a Shrunken Market

24Jul

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Technology

Crypto’s Peer-to-Peer Exchanges Lose Ground in a Shrunken Market

[ad_1] Crypto exchanges that connect buyers and sellers directly without Wall Street-style middlemen are under pressure to improve their services amid a decline in market share.These so-called decentralized platforms facilitate trading via algorithmic, blockchain-based software known as smart contracts, with users retaining custody of tokens rather than handing them to an intermediary institution. Crypto diehards predicted a golden period for peer-to-peer trading venues such as Uniswap and dYdX after last November's collapse of the FTX exchange, which undermined trust in centralized platforms that take control of tokens. But that hasn't panned out: monthly spot trading volumes on decentralized exchanges slid 76% to $21 billion by June this year versus January 2022, more than the 69% dro...

Cryptoverse: Investors pick their AI race horses

26Apr

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Technology

Cryptoverse: Investors pick their AI race horses

[ad_1] What do you get when you cross cryptocurrencies with artificial intelligence?A seemingly sentient bitcoin that codes itself in the style of Japanese haikus? Alas not, though you do get billions of dollars of trading in a new class of crypto tokens. The machine mania sweeping the tech world amid the launches of bots like ChatGPT and Bard has reached the cryptoverse, with interest in tokens tied to AI blockchain projects surging. Average daily volumes for the biggest coins including SingularityNET, Fetch.AI and Render topped $1 billion in early February, hitting a two-year high, according to data firm Kaiko.AI-linked blockchain products cover a gamut of services including payments, trading models, machine-generated non-fungible tokens and blockchain-based marketplaces for AI applic...

Bitcoin Surged Past $30,000. Is Another Crypto Boom on the Way?

17Apr

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Technology

Bitcoin Surged Past $30,000. Is Another Crypto Boom on the Way?

[ad_1] When Bitcoin plunged from around $30,000 to below $20,000 in little more than a week last year, Three Arrows Capital co-founder Su Zhu described the tailspin as the “nail in the coffin” for his hedge fund.Fast forward to today, and the largest cryptocurrency has just retraced that path from $20,000 back to $30,000 in the past month — but the industry is a shadow of what it was the last time the token crossed that milestone. That's because several more caskets were hammered shut in the domino-like wave of bankruptcies that followed Three Arrows' collapse: Voyager Digital, Celsius, FTX, Blockfi, Genesis Global, and other formerly high-flying startups. It's clear that while the mood has improved compared with last year's apocalyptic vibe, the promising Bitcoin rebound alone won't be...

Why Crypto Is Watching Ethereum’s ‘Shanghai’ Upgrade

10Apr

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Technology

Why Crypto Is Watching Ethereum’s ‘Shanghai’ Upgrade

[ad_1] The Ethereum network is set to undergo a technical revamp on April 12 that will allow users to withdraw tens of billions of dollars of its native token, Ether. Known as the “Shanghai” upgrade, it's a necessary step after the world's most commercially important crypto platform shifted to a less power-hungry process for ordering transactions. Investors burned by recent turmoil in crypto markets will be wondering if, presented with their first opportunity to withdraw their tokens, some Ether holders will run for the hills. 1. What is Ethereum?It's a computer network that hosts what are known as smart contracts — self-executing software agreements in which a chain of actions can flow from defined conditions and contingencies. Since it was introduced by crypto entrepreneur Vitalik But...

Germany shuts down ‘world’s largest’ crypto launderer

16Mar

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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

13Mar

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Technology

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

9Mar

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Technology

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

24Feb

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Technology

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 ...

Crypto Mining Stocks Eye Best Month in a Year Atop Bitcoin Jump

17Jan

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Technology

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...