Tag: Industry Expert

Binance CEO Says the Industry has been Setback a Few Years With FTX Saga

by Blockchain News

The blockchain industry has been experiencing a lot of challenges due to the fallout of one of the biggest crypto exchanges, FTX. 

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So many notable industry experts and stakeholders have given their opinions on what they thought brought about the current crisis in FTX. Some have also highlighted what they think the industry will look like going forward.

The CEO of the largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, Changpeng Zhao, has shared his thoughts on how the cryptocurrency market would rebound following the demise of FTX. Zhao expressed his views during the most recent Indonesia Fintech Summit. Zhao stated that the incident with FTX was disastrous for the sector and significantly undermined customers’ confidence.

“I believe that we have essentially taken a couple of years back. Regulators will examine this industry much more closely going forward, which is probably for the best, to be honest”, says Zhao during the interview.

Zhao also highlighted that while retail investors may experience a setback in the short term due to the collapse of FTX, he believes that debates about how to manage risks throughout the crypto ecosystem should start now to avoid similar occurrences.

A Call to Action for Crypto Exchanges

In the midst of the ongoing saga with FTX, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), a US government agency burdened with the responsibility of preserving the financial industry, has issued a warning letter to five crypto companies to stop making false claims about their customers that they are insured. The erring companies include FTX US, Cryptonews.com, Cryptosec.info, SmartAsset.com, and FDICCrypto.com.

The FDIC’s letter highlighted a tweet from FTX.US regarding the situation where the President of FTX.US, Brett Harrison, stated that “direct contributions from employers to FTX and stocks are stored in FDIC-insured accounts.”

FTX.US and SmartAsset.com responded to the letter by saying that they have removed the content from their online platforms.

In a bid to ensure safety in the crypto space, Cyprus officials are reportedly about to suspend the FTX’s European license due to its recent instability.

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It is High Time to Rethink Holding Strategies as FTX Crisis Roams, Says Blockchain.com CEO

by Blockchain News

Speaking on CNBC’s “Closing Bell” Thursday, Peter Smith deemed the collapse of crypto exchange FTX as “a tragedy and total failure of governance.”

The CEO and co-founder of crypto exchange Blockchain.com noted that there is a need for crypto investors to go back to the drawing board and hold their assets on their own private keys.

Smith explained:

“Crypto is one of the very few assets in the world that you can custody yourself, and I think we’re going to see folks increasingly move back to that model as well as move to a model of trusting regulated companies in the space.”

He added:

“The ultimate reality and the coolest part of crypto is that you can store your funds on your own private key where you have no counterparty exposure.”

The liquidity crisis facing FTX will also include various measures incorporated into the crypto ecosystem, the Blockchain.com CEO pointed out. 

For instance, a trend towards regulated cryptocurrency institutions will be the norm, and more crypto investors will emphasise corporate structure.

Smith highlighted that FTX was significantly popular within Silicon Valley-based groups. As a result, it did not emphasise the cryptocurrency economy significantly. He noted:

“This was very much a Silicon Valley momentum play, and we’ve seen that very clearly not work out.”

Some analysts believe Coinbase will be among the major beneficiaries when the greater focus is on regulated crypto entities. 

The proof-of-reserves concept is also making circles in the crypto space with the aim of rendering more transparency, Blockchain.News reported.

A proof-of-reserve uses a Merkle or Hash tree for data verification, synchronisation, integrity, and transparency purposes. “What is Proof-of-Reserves? An audit by a 3rd party ensuring that a custodian holds the assets it claims to. A snapshot of all balances held is taken & aggregated into a Merkle tree, a privacy-friendly data structure encapsulating balances,” Crypto exchange Gate.io explained.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) prompted the proof-of-reserves trend because it would propel more transparency in crypto exchanges by pointing out their digital asset holdings. 

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SEC Chair on FTX Collapse: Investors Need Better Protection

by Blockchain News

The collapse of the beleaguered crypto trading platform, FTX Derivatives Exchange has pushed top government officials, including Gary Gensler, the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to weigh in on the digital currency ecosystem.

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Speaking in an interview with CNBC, Gensler said he has reiterated time and again that investors need adequate protection. He bemoaned the fact that despite the clear regulations that is existent in the industry, most players are still very much non-compliant to the rules.

“I think that investors need better protection in this space. It’s a field that’s significantly non-compliant, but it’s got regulation,” he said.

For FTX, the SEC boss said the fact that the company has a huge influence in the space in which it has a number of top-profile celebrities including Kevin O’Leary, Tom Brady, and Steph Curry as its ambassadors gives it a massive sway over investors. 

In his view, investors and the “public can fall prey to celebrity promotions,” a trait that showed up as very prominent over the past year. 

Gensler’s stance that the industry has the laws it needs to guide it is somewhat disputed by top figures in the digital currency ecosystem. In the wake of the FTX implosion, Senator Elizabeth Warren shared a tweet noting she will begin pressing the SEC to intensify its scrutiny of the ecosystem. 

In response, Coinbase CEO, Brian Armstrong said America does not have the right guiding laws for players in the industry, a move that has pushed more than 95% of trading activities offshore. Drawing comparisons with Singapore which has defined models for how crypto players should operate, Ripple CEO, Brad Garlinghouse supported Armstrong’s position underscoring the general consensus about the lack of clarity that exists in the industry.

With the fall of FTX, the SEC, Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are all now reportedly investigating trading platforms in the US, beginning with FTX US. This may likely be the norm moving forward.

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Mastercard CEO Says Crypto Has a Long Way to go Before Going Mainstream

by Blockchain News

Michael Miebach, the Chief Executive Officer of American payments giant Mastercard Inc is the latest financial industry veteran to share his optimism about the future of the nascent crypto ecosystem. 

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In a recent interview with Yahoo Finance, Miebach said he believes in the potential of the emerging assets, however, there are a lot of intricacies that must be resolved before the industry can go mainstream. When asked if he believes crypto can get to the point where everyone gets to use it as payment for transactions, Miebach responded by saying;

 

“Entirely possible, but I think it’s a long way to go before crypto becomes mainstream.”

 

Among the things he pointed out, that will need to be sorted include the ease of purchase of crypto and its associated products like Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). The compliance and security aspects of these emerging protocols have also remained a frail part that has created significant loopholes that must be covered in a bid to truly chart the mainstream embrace of the sector.

 

“I think this question on regulatory compliance, on scalable technology, on making sure it’s a predictable user experience – why is buying an NFT such a clunky experience? It shouldn’t be,” Miebach said in the interview.

 

Mastercard has been playing a central role in helping to get crypto products across to users around the world. Many crypto exchanges and service providers have partnered with Mastercard to issue co-branded payment cards to their users for easy crypto transactions. 


Notably, Miebach said Mastercard’s involvement in the crypto ecosystem is encompassing and also goes beyond direct payment and into Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). For Miebach, the crypto industry may have a lot of headwinds at this time, but the possibility that they will grow into a dominant aspect of the financial ecosystem in the long term is high.

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The Launch of CBDC May Destroy Bitcoin – Arthur Hayes

by Blockchain News

Arthur Hayes, one of the industry’s well-known trading and crypto veteran who doubles as the Co-founder of the BitMEX exchange, has given his view on what he thinks will happen to Bitcoin if the majority of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) is eventually launched.

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According to a press release, Hayes has called the CBDC “pure evil.” His point of view is based on the notion that the CBDC will grant the government total influence over amending legislation relating to numerous subjects, like the use of Bitcoin. 

He claimed that CBDCs directly infringe upon the right of individuals to self-govern fair trades with one another. He went on to say that the CBDC will affect the banks by posing an existential threat to their capacity to conduct business.

He also stated that he believes the government will be able to quickly replace fiat currency with CBDC because of the indifference of the population, bringing in a nightmare of financial surveillance. However, he hinted that the domestic commercial banks can act oddly as an accomplice to prevent the government from putting the best CBDC architecture for suffocating the populace into place.

Hayes also underlined that the government is trying to use CBDC to fight economic inflation, but he claims that doing so could hurt the general population by hurting the blockchain industry. The inflation that will soon be felt, according to him, will be significantly different from what the economy has seen over the previous 50 years, so he merely hopes that employing CBDC will be successful.

The Dominance of CBDC as an Instrument of Trade

A CBDC is a type of legally recognized digital currency, also known as “digital cash”. It is fundamental money, just like real money, and liability of the central bank. 

So many countries have begun testing the use of CBDC by using it to make payments for goods and services. For example, the government of Canada has begun consultations on how to use the CBDC. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland recently released a government statement with a focus on digital assets and currencies and their use worldwide.

Additionally, it has been reported that the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) wholesale CBDC Pilot Program is now complete.

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Coinbase CEO Criticizes Singapore’s Aim to Become a Web3 Hub at Expense of Crypto Trading

by Blockchain News

While speaking at the Singapore FinTech Festival 2022 on November 3, the CEO of U.S.-based crypto exchange Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, raised concerns that Singapore wants to become a forward-looking regulator, but is not welcoming cryptocurrency trading.

Armstrong stated: “Singapore wants to be a Web3 hub, and then simultaneously say: ’Oh, we’re not really going to allow retail trading or self-hosted wallets to be available.” He then said: “Those two things are incompatible in my mind.”

Armstrong further said: “Crypto should not be treated at a disadvantage; they should be treated equally with other financial service regulations.”

Comments by Armstrong came after Coinbase obtained in-principle approval from Singapore Central Bank to offer digital payment token services in the city-state last month.

Meanwhile, Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and Ravi Menon, the Central Bank’s Managing Director who were present at the event responded to Armstrong’s concerns.

Mohanty stated that retail investors today are “exposed to risks they do not understand they are taking.” He said the Singapore central bank believes that Web 3.0 is the future, but wants to ensure that money trading within the ecosystem is a safe currency. Mohanty explained that while the regulator doesn’t worry about internet protocols, it cares about consumers and wants to ensure they are protected.

On the other hand, Mr. Menon responded that MAS “wants to develop the city-state into a ‘crypto hub’ fueled by instant settlements, tokenized assets, and programmable money, not ‘speculating in cryptocurrencies’.”

Menon said Singapore wants to be a crypto asset hub but does not want to be a hub where trading and speculating in cryptocurrencies take place.

Menon further explained that “real value in the crypto industry comes from tokenizing assets and placing them on a distributed ledger for use cases that increase economic efficiency.”

Menon’s comments at the conference came after officials in Hong Kong announced at their own annual gathering, the Hong Kong FinTech Week, a series of policies to re-attract digital asset investment.

The announcement signaled that Hong Kong has joined the race to become Asia’s main financial hub.

On Monday this week, Hong Kong launched an overhaul of crypto regulations that puts it on course to legalize retail trading. The policy even gave firms the chance to start futures-based crypto exchange-traded funds. Officials are also willing to review property rights for tokenized assets and the legality of smart contracts.

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FTX Founder says Hong Kong Could be Top Blockchain Hub in Asia

by Blockchain News

Crypto exchange FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried said that, unlike the West, although Asia does not have a key web3, blockchain and cryptocurrency hotspot, Hong Kong could emerge as a leader in that sector.

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Speaking virtually during the annual Hong Kong FinTech Week 2022, Bankman-Fried said that other potential locations in Asia are Singapore and Busan.

“If you look at what the crypto hubs will be in the world, I think the Bahamas looks like one of them, Dubai looks like one of them, but if you look at the East, it’s not as obvious. It could be Singapore, could be somewhere like Busan in Korea, but I think there is a real chance it ends up being Hong Kong,” Bankman-Fried said.

Furthermore, the world’s youngest billionaire Bankman-Fried added that the Hong Kong government’s crypto initiative to start a consultation on legalising crypto trading by retail investors is a positive sign for a brighter future for crypto in the region.

Hong Kong is planning to issue tokenised green bonds and prepare for the development of the digital Hong Kong Dollar.

Financial Secretary of HKSAR Paul Chan spoke virtually during the Fintech Week on Monday to introduce the latest policy statement on virtual assets to the public, saying that “we want to make our policy stance clear to global markets, to demonstrate our determination to explore financial innovation together with the global, virtual-assets community,” hoping to maximise with the advantages and innovation of Fintech in terms of virtual assets.

Regarding the upcoming tokenisation of green bonds, Eddie Yu, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), spoke at the same event and disclosed that the authority is planning to issue the first batch of green bonds this year globally, aiming to promote the product to retail investors on a small scale first. Details will be announced further later.

FTX was relocated from Hong Kong to the Bahamas in 2021 due to regulatory uncertainty.

Bankman-Fired also confirmed last week that FTX is planning to launch its own stablecoin.

Speaking in an interview with Web3 news media, The Big Whale, Bankman-Fried discussed several of the industry’s perceptions concerning the exchange’s position atop the ongoing crypto winter.

As against the popular belief that FTX is the biggest winner in the industry based on its success in snapping up Voyager Digital and BlockFi, both crypto lenders that got riled up as prices of assets tumbled, Bankman-Fried reiterated that its role, irrespective of the perception is to help maintain industry balance which will, in turn, benefit everyone.

Acknowledging that this current crypto winter is the “first real Bear Market we’ve been through,” the FTX boss acknowledged that the market downtime is not affecting its business as such as it is always innovating.

“One of the main characteristics of crypto platforms is that our operation is not impacted by the market downturn any more than that,” he said, “Every day we continue to grow the business, and create services and new tools for customers. So, yes, the markets are less dynamic, things are a little tenser, but in the end, it doesn’t take us off course.”

Meanwhile, neighbouring Singapore is building measures to tighten its crypto regulations on retail investors.

Last week, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) unveiled a proposal to restrict retail participation in digital assets. Following this, small investors will be banned from funding coin purchases through borrowing.

Singapore’s central bank echoed sentiments similar to that of the MAS by asking companies to stop using tokens deposited by retail investors for lending or staking to generate yield. However, the restrictions proposed by the two regulatory bodies will not be applicable to high-net-worth investors.

However, Singapore is taking these moves to ensure positive growth of the crypto industry with security measures that will provide safety to investors.

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FTX CEO Quits Crypto Policy Debate, Allows Crypto Twitter to Carryon

by Blockchain News

The CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried has hinted that he is no longer interested in any debate that concerns crypto policies. He made his intention known in a Twitter thread shared over the weekend. 

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“Take the wheel, Crypto Twitter,” says Bankman-Fried after a heated argument in the comment section of the Twitter thread.

 

While cryptocurrency users wait for federal regulatory frameworks, Bankman-Fried published a set of guidelines in the digital industry for implementation in a press bulletin that should be followed to protect and clarify their rights but his publication was received with a lot of backlash by some key industry players.

 

Bankman-Fried has pushed Congress to approve a market regulation bill introduced by Senators Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and John Boozman of Arkansas. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) would have expanded regulatory authority over crypto exchanges under the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act.

 

The bill seems to be an action that is allegedly harmful to DeFi, primarily a sector of blockchain-based solutions that seek to enhance finance by swapping out central middlemen for computer code.

 

In the Twitter thread, Bankman-Fried urged the ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees to fight for what is right and make his voice heard. He also encouraged everyone to fight for their right to be free, the functioning of the economy, and the enormously scalable power of  Decentralized Finance (DeFi).

 

Oppositions in the Blockchain Industry

 

Bankman-Fried is not the first individual or body to be receiving backlash after proposing a crypto policy. 

 

For example, the Financial authorities in South Korea have stated their opposition to Busan City’s proposal to offer special regulatory support to overseas crypto businesses establishing digital asset exchanges.


The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), a US government organization tasked with preserving the financial system in the event of bank failures, sent five crypto-related businesses including FTX US cease-and-desist letters requesting that they stop making false and deceptive claims regarding the availability of deposit insurance for their customers, another model through which opposition to policies can be showcased.

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Vitalik Buterin Thinks Twitter Headquarters Should Be Moved to Switzerland

by Blockchain News

Ethereum Co-founder Vitalik Buterin has made suggestions that the Twitter headquarters should be moved from the United States to Switzerland after the Twitter takeover by the richest man in the world, Elon Musk. 

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Vitalik Buterin, tweeted his opinions on the next steps for the top management of the company in a response to a user’s tweet just hours after Musk officially assumed control of the social media site. Although he didn’t give a reason for his suggestion, a Twitter user has suggested that his opinion may be due to the stability and strong financial regulations in Switzerland.

 

Elon Musk took over as the CEO of Twitter on Friday and confirmed when he tweeted that “the bird is freed”. 

 

He further highlighted that a content moderation council with a wide range of perspectives will be created by Twitter. According to him, no significant content decisions or account reinstatement will be put in place before the council meets.

 

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, is one of the investors in the Twitter buyout by Musk. Binance has verified through its CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), that it has fulfilled its promise to provide Elon Musk, the new CEO of Twitter, with a $500 million investment to assist in the acquisition of the social media firm.

 

CZ claimed that an intern was responsible for sending the funds after being questioned about Musk’s acquisition of Twitter. It is anticipated that the new alliance would bring Web3 into the Twitter ecosystem.

 

The Dogecoin (DOGE) Perspective

 

The price of DOGE has climbed by 10% after the Tesla CEO changed his Twitter bio to “Chief of Twit” on Wednesday as a result of the rumors surrounding Musk’s acquisition. Some Twitter users have predicted that DOGE would replace Bitcoin as the platform’s default payment method.


Charles Hoskinson the Co-founder of Input Output Global, Inc., and the Cardano blockchain platform has also hinted via a tweet that there is a possibility of the DOGE being merged with the Twitter platform since Elon Musk who is a strong supporter of the DOGE is now CEO of Twitter.

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Gavin Wood Steps Down as CEO of Parity Tech While Retaining the Chief Architect Position

by Blockchain News

Gavin Wood, founder of Polkadot and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Parity technologies has officially resigned as CEO of Parity.

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According to news reports from Parity, Wood will continue to be a major stakeholder and chief architect but will give up his role as CEO. The next CEO will be Parity co-founder Bjorn Wagner.

 

Wood’s decision to step down as the CEO comes from his need to find eternal happiness and also have enough time for the things he enjoys doing such as coding, designing, creating ideas, and working on Polkadot token (DOT) so as to deliver value toward fulfilling the company’s mission.

 

“My retained efforts will be geared toward ensuring that Polkadot and Web3 become available to a large amount of the population,” says Wood, adding that he believes the first step in doing this will be to assist the community in creating a number of intriguing chain-integrated social primitives, which are essential for the company to create a truly Web3 platform. 

 

Parity technologies is a key provider of blockchain technology built to disrupt centralized online services and provide institutional innovation. 

 

This was made available with the creation of Parity Ethereum, a prominent Ethereum Client. Currently, Parity is concentrating on Substrate, a blockchain foundation that is industry standard. It has made use of it to create Polkadot, a decentralized web blockchain meta-protocol that connects and secures global crypto-economies.

 

Through the Polkadot Relay Chain, the Polkadot Protocol can link public and private chains, permissionless networks, oracles, and emerging technologies. This enables these separate blockchains to share data and transactions in an untrustworthy manner.

 

Many Polkadot users do not seem to be bothered by the news. A Twitter user @Qinwen_Wang says “anything Gavin does or chooses, we support.”

 

The news of Wood’s resignation as the CEO of Parity comes after Alex Mashinsky recently tendered his resignation as CEO of the troubled crypto loan company Celsius Network.


Peng Zhong, CEO of Ignite, the organization that created the Cosmos blockchain ecosystem also announced his departure from the company earlier in July.

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