Changpeng Zhao Clarifies Binance’s Investment in Collapsed Terra

Terra’s ship sailed gallantly but has now collapsed following a series of algorithm attacks that made the blockchain network’s native token LUNA plunge to what many see as an irredeemable level.

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With so many experts wondering what is going on, Binance’s Chief Executive Officer, Changpeng Zhao has come out to clarify the investments the trading platform has in the Terra ecosystem in what appears as a response to false claims going around on Twitter.

According to CZ, as he is fondly called, Binance invested $3 million in Terra back in 2018 when the project was labeled a Layer 0 blockchain, and the trading firm did not invest in the protocol in its second financing round. CZ said Binance did not also make any acquisition of UST, the network’s algorithmic stablecoin that is no longer maintaining a peg with the US Dollar.

“I need to address falsehoods circulating in crypto twitter,” Zhao said in the Twitter thread, “Binance did not participate in the 2nd round of Luna’s fund raising nor did we acquire any UST. Binance Labs invested $3m USD in Terra (the layer 0 blockchain) in 2018. UST came much later after our initial investment.”

The CEO noted that the exchange has made hundreds of investments over the years and while some turned out very successful, there are a number of others who end up by the wayside.

Changpeng Zhao also lends his voice to the Terra ecosystem’s validator’s proposal to fork the blockchain and create Terra2 by taking a snapshot of LUNA token holders’ balances prior to the network’s attack and eventual price slump. To CZ, “Minting, forking, don’t create value,” but burning and token buyback do.

At the moment, there are approximately 6.5 trillion LUNA tokens in circulation, and burning or buyback, according to CZ can be very expensive. While CZ has promised further support beyond the relisting of LUNA/USDT spot trading shortly after halting the services, the CEO however, demanded transparency and accountability.

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Exchange Tokens Recovers as Investors Focus on Utility

The cryptocurrency ecosystem is gradually seeing a comprehensive recovery, and while there is still a bit of volatility in the market, exchange tokens are on a bullish tear as investors return back to trading actions. 

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The market plunged by shedding more than $200 billion in a couple of days this past week as every digital currency experienced a ripple effect of the fall of the Terra blockchain network. The LUNA coin lost 99% of its value while the protocol’s native token, UST, is currently changing hands at $0.1765 instead of $1 according to CoinMarketCap’s data.

How Exchange Tokens are Performing

Led by Binance Coin (BNB), the cryptocurrency of the world’s largest trading platform is up 6.32% to $297.72, a significant trading level considering its plunge to almost a 12-month low of $216.32 earlier in the week. Despite the broad-based sell-offs the coin has recorded, it is still ranked as the fifth-largest digital asset with the USD Coin (USDC) displacing it from the fourth position.

FTT, the native coin of the FTX Derivatives Exchange is changing hands at $31.45, up 3.5% in the past 24 hours. KuCoin Token (KCS) is also seeing a remarkable run in its price, equally surviving the similar onslaught that was experienced by its peers.

The cryptocurrency is up 11.34% to $13.57, a figure that is 52.53% from its All-Time High (ATH) of $28.80.

The rejuvenation seen in these exchange tokens is evident that demand is picking up from traders as many took the ‘wait and see’ approach amidst the extreme volatility that engulfed the ecosystem a few days ago.

Exchange tokens serve a very vital role in the functioning of their respective platforms, and unlike other tokens with limited utility, their rates of growth can be projected to exceed other prominent tokens in the medium to long term.

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Nigeria Releases New Rules Classifying Crypto as Securities

In a move that might boost crypto trading in Nigeria, the nation’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rolled out “rules on issuance, offering platforms, and custody of digital assets” for virtual firms, according to Bloomberg. 

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The rules offer more clarity on digital assets’ trading in a nation that already sits among the largest crypto markets globally. 

 

As a change of tone, the nation’s central bank had prevented commercial lenders from undertaking crypto transactions or operations last year. 

 

Owen Odia, Luno’s Nigeria country manager, noted:

“The regulations could act as the precursor for a surprise move from the central bank to reverse its approach, providing critical foundations for mass crypto adoption across the country.”

According to Paxful, a Bitcoin peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace, Nigeria has the largest crypto transaction volume outside the United States. 

 

Moreover, a recent study by crypto exchange KuCoin revealed that Nigerians were entering the crypto space because of the lack of affordable financial services and high inflation rates, given that 35% of them were engaged in this sector in the last six months. 

 

The research suggested that cryptocurrencies were filling the gap in the traditional financial market because Nigerians were using them as an alternative for storing and transferring assets.

 

The KuCoin study also noted that P2P was a favored strategy among Nigerians, given that 65% of crypto investors in the nation made fiat deposits to cryptocurrencies through P2P platforms. Therefore, the latest development might accelerate crypto adoption on Nigerian soil. 

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Twitter Shares Plummet by 20% as Elon Musk’s $44 Billion Takeover Shelved

The anticipated takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc., was temporarily postponed as he waited to be briefed about the social media giant’s fake accounts.

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Musk tweeted:

“Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users.”

This revelation initially caused Twitter shares to drop by at least 20%, but they regained some ground following a consequent tweet by Musk that revealed he was still committed. At the close of business on Friday, the shares had pared their losses to 9% and ended the day at $40.72.

 

According to Real-Time Billionaires by Forbes, Musk is the world’s richest man with a net worth of $232.5 billion, and his announcement about the Twitter acquisition happened late last month. 

 

At the time, this revelation made Dogecoin (DOGE) surge by 20%, as his strong advocacy about this cryptocurrency and other Shiba Inu-themed memecoins has not gone unnoticed.

 

Furthermore, transactions worth more than $100,000 escalated on the Dogecoin network. Musk had previously opined that DOGE was the people’s crypto. 

 

The recent development puts Musk’s Twitter takeover in jeopardy despite disclosing that his quest to own the social media giant was driven by the urge to “transform” the firm into a “platform for free speech around the globe.”

 

The turn of events seems not to be going well with Dogecoin because it was down by 5.27% $0.08941 in the last 24 hours during intraday trading, according to CoinMarketCap.

 

Moreover, the recent Terra crash has negatively impacted memecoins. For instance, Shiba Inu was down by 13.04% in the last 24 hours.

 

Terra LUNA sent shockwaves to the crypto market because it nearly lost 100% of its value by hitting an all-time low of $0.027 on May 12 from the all-time high (ATH) price of $119.18 recorded nearly a month ago on April 5.

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Emirates Airline to Roll Out Bitcoin Payment and Enter the Metaverse

Emirates Airlines has revealed plans to adopt advanced digital solutions, such as cryptocurrency, metaverse, and blockchain, to optimize customer satisfaction rates.

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Speaking to a media gathering at the Arabian Travel Market, Emirates CEO Adel Ahmed Al-Redha disclosed that the Bitcoin payment option would be rolled out with more flexibility. Furthermore, non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles would be traded on the company’s website.

 

As the largest airline and flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the aerospace giant seeks to streamline and trace aircraft records using blockchain technology. 

 

Furthermore, the Airline sees NFTs and the metaverse as stepping stones toward meeting customer needs. Al-Redha noted:

“With the metaverse, you will be able to transform your whole processes — whether in operation, training, sales on the website, or complete experience — into a metaverse type application, but more importantly, making it interactive.”

Since the metaverse and NFTs are new technological fields, Emirates intends to hire new staff to enhance this sector by developing applications to monitor customer needs. Different airlines like Norwegian Air have joined the crypto bandwagon as they seek to offer clients a worthwhile experience. 

 

Meanwhile, the decision by Emirates to enter the crypto space might be influenced by a paradigm shift being witnessed in the UAE as the nation’s interests are changing from oil to cryptocurrency and metaverse, among other blockchain and broader technological innovations. For instance, the country intends to become a blockchain capital by establishing a legal framework to aid the operation of blockchain and crypto companies. 

 

The UAE has already established multiple free zones in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Moreover, crypto companies got the green light to set up business in the Dubai Multi-Commodities Centre (DMCC) free zone last year. 

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