Tag: Business

Citizens Trust Bank Holds $65 Million in USD Coin reserves

by Blockchain News

Citizens Trust Bank, a financial institution that is regulated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), has partnered with Circle Internet Financial to hold some of its reserves in USD Coin (USDC). The move, which the companies said would promote financial inclusion and digital literacy in the greater Atlanta area, was announced earlier this week.

As part of a bigger partnership between the two firms, Circle announced on the 24th of February that the Atlanta-based Citizens Trust Bank will hold $65 million in USDC reserves. This partnership is part of a larger cooperation between the two organizations. Small firms will have access to finance thanks to the bank’s USDC reserves, and those reserves will also be utilised for other projects aimed at expanding financial inclusion. According to Cynthia N. Day, president and chief executive officer of Citizens Trust, owning USDC would also help enhance the bank’s balance sheet.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has designated Citizens Trust Bank as a minority-owned depository institution (MDI), which indicates that minority people make up the majority of either the bank’s voting shares or its board of directors. In 1947, the bank became a member of the Federal Reserve System.

The bank was able to attract an additional $220 million in deposits during the years 2020 and 2021. The most recent year for which information is readily accessible to the public is 2021, and during that year Citizens provided funding for business, consumer, and residential mortgage loans totaling 157 million dollars.

More users are depending on dollar-pegged assets to hold collateral, trade cryptocurrency, and generate income, which has led to the growth of stablecoin settlements in lockstep with the explosion in decentralized finance that has occurred over the last two years. Despite this, the use of stablecoins for payments is still relatively uncommon because of regulatory hurdles.

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Grayscale CEO challenges SEC’s denial of application

by Blockchain News

Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of Grayscale Investments, stated in a recent interview that he “can’t imagine” why the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) “wouldn’t want” to protect Grayscale investors and return the true asset value to them. Sonnenshein made this statement in response to a question regarding why the SEC “wouldn’t want” to protect Grayscale investors.

Sonnenshein explained that the SEC “violated the administrative procedures act” by denying approval for the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to be a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF), in June 2022, during an interview that took place on February 25 on What Bitcoin Did, a popular podcast that is hosted by Peter McCormack. The podcast is called What Bitcoin Did.

He stated that this act ensures that the regulator does not show “favoritism” or act “arbitrarily,” adding that the SEC acted “arbitrarily” by approving Bitcoin Futures ETFs while rejecting “GBTC’s conversion.” He explained that this act ensures that the regulator does not show “favoritism” or act “arbitrarily.”

Grayscale Investments saw the SEC’s approval of the first Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as “a indication” that the SEC was “changing its approach about Bitcoin,” according to Sonnenshein’s observation.

He stated that there is a “couple billion dollars” of capital that would immediately go back into investors’ pockets, on a “overnight basis,” if GBTC was approved as a spot Bitcoin ETF, and that this capital would “bleed back” up to the fund’s net asset value. He said this would occur if the fund was approved as a spot Bitcoin ETF (NAV).

Sonnenshein noted that this is because GBTC is now trading at a discount to its NAV. However, if it were to convert to an ETF, there would “no longer” be a discount or a premium; instead, there would be a “arbitraged mechanism” incorporated in the product.

He reaffirmed that Grayscale is now “suing the SEC now,” and that the company may have a ruling appealing the SEC’s rejection of its original application as early as “fall 2023.”

In addition to this, he said that Grayscale has more than “a million investor accounts,” and that investors from all around the globe trust on the company to “do the right thing for them.”

Sonnenshein “can’t fathom” a scenario in which the SEC would have no interest in “protecting investors” or “returning that value” to those investors.

He continued by saying that Grayscale isn’t going “to shy” away from the fact that it has a “commercial interest” in this approval, noting that if the application to challenge the SEC is denied, Grayscale may be able to appeal the case to the United States Supreme Court. He said that Grayscale isn’t going “to shy” away from the fact that it has a “commercial interest” in this approval.

This comes as a result of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing a 73-page brief with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in December 2022, outlining its reasons for denying Grayscale’s request to convert its $12 billion Bitcoin Trust into a spot-based Bitcoin ETF in June 2022. The brief was submitted in response to Grayscale’s request to convert its Bitcoin Trust into a spot-based Bitcoin ETF.

The conclusions that Grayscale’s approach did not adequately safeguard against fraud and manipulation were the primary considerations that led to the SEC’s determination.

The regulator has arrived at a same conclusion in a number of past applications for the creation of spot-based Bitcoin ETFs.

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FTX Japan users withdraw funds amid litigation

by Blockchain News

The continuing dispute between FTX and its co-founder, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), has been making a stir in the cryptocurrency market, with many consumers left waiting for a resolution to the conflict between the two parties. In the meanwhile, customers of FTX Japan have made the executive decision to take things into their own hands by withdrawing all of their money.

The problems for FTX started in November 2022, when Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao made the announcement that his company would be liquidating its substantial holdings of FTX Token (FTT). This caused a domino effect that slowed down fund withdrawals across FTX and its subsidiaries. FTX Token (FTT) was the cryptocurrency that Binance held. The statement had a particularly negative impact on the Japanese cryptocurrency trading site Liquid Group, which has been controlled by FTX since February 2022. On November 15, withdrawals were fully halted for the platform.

Moving ahead in time to the 21st of February, FTX Japan commenced withdrawals, although the procedure was not an easy one. In order to complete the withdrawals, cash needed to be transferred from the now-defunct FTX Japan exchange onto an account with Liquid Japan. Despite this, some users saw this as a positive turn of events, and as a result, many of them started withdrawing all of their money from FTX Japan.

Hibiki Dealer, a well-known cryptocurrency trader based in Japan, just reported that they were able to effectively remove all of their cash off the site. Concerns have been expressed regarding the steadiness and dependability of cryptocurrency exchanges as a result of the scenario, even if it is unknown how many users have followed suit.

The volatility nature of the cryptocurrency market highlights the significance of effectively managing risk, which is also brought to light by this episode. It is essential for exchanges to have solid risk management procedures in place in order to safeguard not just themselves but also the users of their platform. In spite of this, it is still unknown how FTX will bounce back from this setback, which is particularly concerning given the current legal dispute with SBF that hangs over the firm.

In conclusion, while the decision by FTX Japan to restart withdrawals was a welcome step for its consumers, the scenario has underlined the issues that face crypto exchanges in a market that is very volatile. Cryptocurrency exchanges must place an increased emphasis on risk management and user safety in order to remain competitive in an industry where consumers are increasingly demanding accountability and transparency.

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Voyager reportedly sells assets on Coinbase exchange

by Blockchain News

It has been revealed that the centralized finance (CeFi) platform known as Voyager Digital has been selling its assets via the cryptocurrency exchange known as Coinbase. Voyager Digital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2022. On-chain data suggests that Voyager was paid a minimum of one hundred million dollars in USD Coin (USDC) over the course of three days beginning on February 24.

According to the assertions of the on-chain expert Lookonchain, Voyager has been sending cryptocurrency assets to Coinbase on an almost daily basis since Valentine’s Day. According to the findings of the inquiry, Voyager moved millions of dollars using a variety of cryptocurrency tokens, such as Chainlink (LINK), Ether (ETH), and Shiba Inu (SHIB) (LINK). In spite of what seems to be a sell-off, Voyager still has about $530 million worth of cryptocurrency in its possession, with the greatest amounts held in Ether (about $276 million) and Shiba Inu (about $81 million).

The purported sale of money takes place at the same time as the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has expressed concerns over Binance.acquisition US’s of over one billion dollars’ worth of assets that had belonged to Voyager. The SEC has raised concerns regarding the legality of such a transaction, and as a result, they have objected to the acquisition. Additionally, they have requested additional information from Binance.US in order to determine whether or not the transaction is in compliance with the regulatory requirements.

Voyager Digital has suffered a significant setback as a result of the bankruptcy petition that was filed in July 2022, and the company has been making efforts to reorganize its finances ever since then. It is widely acknowledged that the selling of its assets on Coinbase is a key step for the company to acquire funds and remain operational. On the other hand, a number of industry professionals have voiced their worry over the effect that such a massive sell-off would have on the cryptocurrency market and the possible repercussions that it will have for investors.

It is not yet clear what lies ahead for Voyager Digital and whether or not the company will be able to emerge victorious from its current financial predicament. Despite this, the decision to sell assets on Coinbase is indicative of the company’s proactive actions to solve its financial issues and seek new opportunities for development.

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Solana Network Experiences Slowdown in Block Production Following Upgrade

by Blockchain News

After an update to the validator software on February 25, the Solana network saw a decrease in the rate at which blocks were produced. Transactions were disrupted as a consequence of the event, which prompted validators to downgrade the software in an effort to restore network speed.

At around 6:00 AM (UTC), a technical problem began, which prompted validators to downgrade to version 1.13 in an attempt to get transactions back up throughout the network. However, the downgrade was not sufficient to return Solana to regular operations, and as a result, the decision had to be made to restart the network on version v1.13.6.

“A considerable delay in block production was reported by the network about the same time as an upgrade to the validator software was being implemented. The engineers are currently investigating the underlying reason of the problem “Noting Solana’s webpage for the compass

The problem is related to the upgrading from version 1.13 to version 1.14, which slowed down the process of finalizing blocks. The Solana network is in the process of being restarted, and in order for activities to continue, it is essential to have 80 percent of active stake online:

“As additional validators finish their restart, this number will climb in accordance with the amount of stake they have delegated: this implies that bigger validators such as CEX have a disproportionately high influence on restart timeframes.”

Within the first few hours after the issue was reported, Solana’s validators got together and brainstormed potential solutions to the problem. Infrastructure provider Chorus One pointed out in a Tweeter that the event “demonstrated how really decentralized the network is.” The first chorus continued: “If we didn’t have to spend so much time debating, we could get back up in an hour. However, every step along the route is up to controversy, including whether or not to downgrade, whether or not to restart, and whether to transition from an approach of downgrading to one of restarting. Voting occurs. In the end, it takes us between 8 and 10 hours to recuperate, rather than only 1.”

This is a developing story, and further information will be posted as it becomes available. Please check back for updates.

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Binance Australia Derivatives Closes Accounts After False Classification

by Blockchain News

On February 23, the company Binance Australia Derivatives sent an unexpected notice to a subset of its customers, informing them that the company would be immediately canceling their accounts because of an error in which certain users were incorrectly categorized as “wholesale clients.” The error occurred as a result of the company incorrectly classifying certain users as “wholesale clients.” This issue transpired as a result of some users being wrongly classified as “wholesale customers.” The problem occurred because the company was mistakingly referring to certain users as “wholesale clients,” which was caused by a misunderstanding.

This incident caused a flurry of responses from users on social media, and the next day, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced that it would be conducting a “targeted review” of Binance’s local derivatives operations in response to the public outcry that it had generated. This review was in direct response to the public outcry that this incident had generated. This evaluation was an immediate reaction to the backlash that had been caused by this episode in the public’s eye. This assessment was an instant response to the backlash that had been produced by this incident in the eyes of the public.

The “categorization of retail customers and wholesale clients” of Binance Australia Derivatives will be one of the topics that will be examined as part of the assessment that will take place on the 24th of February, according to a statement that was released by a representative for the regulator. This will be one of the topics that will be examined as part of the evaluation that will take place. On February 24th, as part of the evaluation that will take place on that day, this will be one of the subjects that will be reviewed and discussed in depth. The evaluation will be carried out on February 15, which is the day after Valentine’s Day in the Gregorian calendar.

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Scammers Target Australians in Cryptocurrency Call Center Scheme

by Blockchain News

It has come to light that people of Australia are the principal targets of a sophisticated multinational network of con artists that operate out of call centers focused on bitcoin. The network is believed to have originated in China. The heart of operations for the network may be found on the continent of Australia. It is commonly believed that the administration of this network is being handled by criminal syndicates that have their headquarters in Israel.

As part of a large-scale operation, law enforcement officers from the countries of Serbia, Germany, Bulgaria, and Cyprus carried out house searches in a total of eleven locations across the country of Serbia, including four call centers. These locations included the country’s capital city of Belgrade. Officials from the island nation of Cyprus were responsible for the operation’s coordination. During the course of this operation, they discovered evidence showing that Australians were among the citizens of all of the other countries who were exposed to the highest degree of examination. This information suggests that Australians were among those subjected to this level of inspection. The material was made available to the general public on February 23 via the dissemination of an article that had been authored by The Australian and published on that day.

Fifteen individuals and about 1.46 million dollars’ worth of cryptocurrencies were seized into custody as a direct result of the operations, which were carried out as a direct consequence of the acts.

It would seem that con artists who work out of these contact centers are using advertisements on social media in an effort to persuade fresh victims into falling for their schemes. They achieve this goal by ensuring prospective investors that any investments they make would result in a significant return on the cash that they have invested. The findings of the research reveal that individuals do engage in this activity, which testifies to the notion that it is prevalent since it indicates that people do participate.

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FTX Japan Loses Thousands of Users After Resuming Withdrawals

by Blockchain News

Following the resumption of withdrawals on February 21st, the Japanese unit of the defunct cryptocurrency company FTX has stated that thousands of customers have transferred their business elsewhere.

FTX Japan said in a statement made on February 22 that customers of both the exchange and those at Liquid Global had withdrawn around 6.6 billion yen (which was equivalent to approximately $50 million at the time of publishing) in cryptocurrency and fiat cash. The cryptocurrency company reports that 7,026 account holders have transferred cash from FTX Japan to Liquid, that 5,697 transactions have included cryptocurrencies, and that 1,947 customers have withdrawn fiat currency.

The cryptocurrency company said on February 20 that in order to make withdrawals, users of FTX Japan would first need to authenticate the amounts in their accounts and then transfer those funds to a Liquid account. For the first time in more than three months, withdrawals started up again around three in the morning UTC on February 21.

When its parent business filed for bankruptcy in November 2022, FTX Japan was part of the action. At that time, the corporation froze the assets of around 9 million members, denying them access to millions of dollars’ worth of funds. According to a report by NHK at the time, FTX Japan had around 19.6 billion yen in cash when it suspended operations. This is equivalent to more than $138 million, which leads one to believe that there may be over $90 million remaining for consumers as of February 22.

Since November, the majority of FTX consumers, including those at FTX US, have been unable to withdraw their assets because of the bankruptcy processes that have been going on in the United States. The matter is now being heard in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, where the judge has already ruled against a move to appoint an independent examiner on the grounds that doing so would be prohibitively expensive.

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Gate.io to Launch Crypto Exchange in Hong Kong Following Government’s $6.4M Investment in Web3

by Blockchain News

Following the announcement that the Hong Kong government intends to infuse 50 million Hong Kong dollars ($6.4 million) into Web3 as part of the city’s budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year, cryptocurrency exchange Gate.io is getting ready to build a presence in Hong Kong.

On February 22nd, Gate Group announced that it would be applying for a cryptocurrency license in Hong Kong, which will enable it to establish “Gate HK.” Hippo Financial Services, the local subsidiary of the corporation, was awarded a license in August 2022 to allow it to offer custody services for virtual assets.

In a budget address on February 22, the Hong Kong finance secretary, Paul Chan, pledged financing relating to Web3 as well as the formation of a crypto task force. This news comes at the same time.

He went on to say that Web3 had “great potential,” and that the Special Administrative Region of China is obligated to keep up with its “constant growth.”

“It is imperative that we stay current with the times and make the most of this priceless chance to drive innovation forward.”

Chan said that the monies will be used to expedite “the growth of the Web3 ecosystem” by organising “workshops for young people,” holding international seminars, and boosting commercial collaboration.

Because of the legislation that the government has enacted around cryptocurrencies, he said that a “big number” of businesses are contemplating opening up shop in the city. Dr. Han Lin, the founder of Gate Group, referred to Hong Kong as both “a worldwide strategic market” and a “hub” because of its “industry-leading regulatory system.”

On February 20th, Hong Kong announced its intentions, which included a new licensing framework as well as a proposal to provide retail traders access to approved cryptocurrency platforms.

Chan has said that he “will organize and head a task force” on the creation of virtual assets in response to the surge in commercial interest. This task force will be comprised of individuals from financial regulators, market actors, and “relevant policy bureaux.”

According to Chan, the purpose of the task group is to “offer suggestions on the sustainable and responsible growth of the industry.”

In October, Hong Kong launched crypto-friendly policy frameworks in an effort to govern the business inside the city. This was the first step in the city’s quest to achieve status as a worldwide centre for the cryptocurrency industry.

The city’s unique status enables it to have its own laws and government, despite the fact that it is located inside a territory that is part of China. However, there are reports that authorities in Beijing are covertly supporting the region’s crypto aspirations. This would appear to be in contradiction to China’s prohibition on cryptocurrencies, but the push that Hong Kong is making in the cryptocurrency space.

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Slim Odds of Slashing and Best Practices to Avoid it

by Blockchain News

A fundamental developer of the Ethereum ecosystem said that since the debut of the Beacon Chain on December 1, 2020, there have only been 226 validators sliced out of a total of 524,060 validators, which is barely 0.04% of the total. This information was provided by the developer. Slashing happens when a validator breaks the rules that govern the proof-of-stake consensus. This often results in the removal of the validator from the network and the loss of a part of the Ether (ETH) that was pledged as collateral. The Ethereum core developer known as “Superphiz” pointed out these low cutting rates in a tweet on February 23. He said that staking ETH should not be a worry since the probabilities of having it slashed are very low.

In addition, Superphiz suggested a total of four up-and-coming best practices as a means of lowering the chance of being reduced even more. Because many slashings are the result of unsuccessful system migrations, one of these procedures is erasing any existing chain data on older staking machines and then reinstalling and reformatting the validator. Additionally, Superphiz advised use a technique known as “doppelganger identification,” which examines the validator’s keys to see whether or not they are operational before beginning the validation process.

The purpose of these steps is to make the process of staking ETH more safe and to convince users that the chance of having their stakes lowered is quite low. Staking Ethereum is an essential component of the Ethereum network since it contributes to the network’s overall security and offers a passive revenue opportunity to users who donate Ether. The move from a proof-of-work consensus algorithm to a proof-of-stake consensus algorithm is scheduled to take place as part of the next Ethereum 2.0 update. This change is expected to make staking ETH even more significant.

Users should have trust in staking their Ethereum (ETH) because to the low rate of slashing that occurs within the Ethereum ecosystem as well as the best practices that are advised by Superphiz. Users have the ability to further mitigate the risks associated with staking and contribute to the overall security of the Ethereum network by following the established best practices and taking the required safeguards.

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Bitcoin (BTC) $ 41,872.22 5.73%
Ethereum (ETH) $ 2,252.36 4.19%
Litecoin (LTC) $ 73.36 1.87%
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 245.51 8.36%