Crypto Near Miss: Banks Collapse, USD Coin Depegs, and Investors Receive Warning Shot - An eye-opening reminder that crypto investors must take steps to decentralise their investments and be their own bank.
EOS Network Ventures invests $20 million to develop decentralised applications and games on the EOS blockchain with the upcoming launch of EOS Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to boost innovation and growth in the ecosystem.
By Georgina Lee
HONG KONG - Bitcoin hovered near nine-month highs on Monday, and has closed out its best week in four years as turmoil in traditional banking drives some investors to turn to digital assets.
The biggest cryptocurrency by market value fell 1.8% in Asia hours to $27,549 after hitting its highest since June 12 on Sunday at $28,474.
It rose 26% last week and is up more than 35% in ten days as turmoil in the banking sector has rippled around the globe -- beginning with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and culminating, so far, in UBS' takeover of Credit Suisse at a discount over the weekend.
"The momentum is all driven by liquidity, as bitcoin is an alternative liquidity vehicle," said Markus Thielson, head of research and strategy at digital asset financial services firm Matrixport based in Singapore.
He expects bitcoin can hit $45,000 by year's end, with liquidity from central banks finding its way into crypto assets, much as it did during 2021, when bitcoin scaled reco...
TAIPEI - Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission will be the main overseer of crypto currencies on the island, the head of the regulator said on Monday.
Huang Tien-mu told lawmakers in parliament that the Financial Supervisory Commission will initially be responsible for the supervision of payments and transactions, but will not cover NFTs, or "non-fungible tokens".
Huang said he will discuss the details with other government departments as well as "self-discipline norms" with relevant industries.
Details will be announced after consultations with the cabinet, he added.
(Reporting by Emily Chan; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Himani Sarkar)...
By Dhara Ranasinghe and Amanda Cooper
LONDON - Financial markets are poised for relief on Monday after UBS Group AG agreed to buy Credit Suisse Group AG in a rescue orchestrated by the state and major central banks announced a co-ordinated move to shore up liquidity in the financial system.
In an early sign that risk appetite was set for a bounce, the euro, sterling and the Australian dollar all edged up, data from trading platform EBS and Dealing showed. Crypto currency bitcoin rose over 5%.
UBS will buy rival Swiss bank Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.23 billion) and agreed to assume up to $5.4 billion in losses as it winds down the smaller peer's investment bank after a shotgun merger engineered by Swiss authorities.
In a coordinated global response, central banks including the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan said they would enhance dollar swap lines, helping calm investors rattled by turmoil in the banking sector.
The euro was last quo...
The Web3 industry has been built on the pillars of trust, transparency and accountability between projects, contributors and community members. With this in mind, the EOS Network Foundation aims to grow the EOS ecosystem by adhering to these values and ensuring that those in the EOS community are provided with regular information on all the […]
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://eosnetwork.com/blog/monthly-program-operations-health-report/">Monthly Program & Operations Health Report</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://eosnetwork.com">EOS Network Foundation</a>.
The EOS Community Poker Tournament unites Web3 gaming enthusiasts for a philanthropic cause, merging competition and public goods funding on the EOS platform.
You’re invited to play in the 3rd Edition of the EOS Community Poker Tournament! Sunday, March 26th, 8pm ET / 00:00 UTCJoin us on the virtual felt as we hang out in the Discord voice chat and play some cards. You could win some sweet prizes for yourself (like Pomelo Astronaut Coins!) and even allocate […]
The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://eosnetwork.com/blog/eos-community-poker-tournament-for-public-goods-2023/">EOS Community Poker Tournament for Public Goods</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://eosnetwork.com">EOS Network Foundation</a>.
By Elizabeth Howcroft
LONDON - Crypto investors pulled around $3 billion overall from the stablecoin USDC in three days, the company behind the token said in a blog post on Thursday, as investors rushed to redeem their holdings in the wake of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
USDC broke its dollar peg on Saturday after Circle revealed that $3.3 billion of the coin's reserves were at SVB.
The stablecoin fell to as low as $0.88, according to CoinGecko data, but returned to $1 on Monday. Circle announced it would allow automatic USDC redemption through a new banking relationship, with Cross River Bank.
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a constant exchange rate with traditional currencies. USDC is the second-biggest stablecoin with a market cap of $37.6 billion.
From Monday to Wednesday, Circle processed $3.8 billion of USDC redemptions (investors swapping their tokens back into U.S. dollars) and created $0.8 billion more of the token, Circle's blog post said, meani...
- Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX made transfers of about $2.2 billion to company founder Sam Bankman-Fried through related entities, the company's new management said.
Overall more than $3.2 billion was transferred through payments and loans to company founders and key employees, FTX said in a statement on Wednesday.
These payments were made chiefly from Alameda Research hedge fund, FTX said, adding that it made these disclosures by filing schedules and statements of financial affairs with the bankruptcy court.
The crypto exchange said the transfers did not include over $240 million spent to purchase luxury property in the Bahamas, political and charitable donations made directly by the FTX debtors, and substantial transfers to non-debtor units in the Bahamas and other jurisdictions.
A lawyer for Bankman-Fried declined to comment.
FTX filed for bankruptcy protection in November, saying it was unable to completely repay customers who had deposited funds on its exchange. FTX's new...
BRUSSELS - Police and justice departments from around the world have taken down the cryptocurrency platform known as ChipMixer, which had been used by cybercriminals, Europe's Europol police agency said on Wednesday.
Europol said it had supported German, U.S., Belgian, Polish and Swiss authorities in the dismantling of ChipMixer's infrastructure, which also resulted in as much as 40 million euros ($42.2 million) being seized.
ChipMixer, an unlicensed cryptocurrency mixer set up in mid-2017, specialised in mixing or cutting trails related to virtual currency assets.
The ChipMixer software hid the blockchain trail of the funds, making it attractive for cybercriminals looking to launder illegal proceeds from drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, ransomware attacks and payment card fraud, Europol said.
($1 = 0.9488 euros)
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Mark Portger)...
Introduction The monthly calls with EOS block producers (BP) are meant to establish regular communications between the top 30 EOS BPs and the EOS Network Foundation (ENF) to foster an open dialogue between network operators and custodians in support of the mutual development of the EOS ecosystem. Meeting Overview The meeting started at 02:00 UTC […]
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By Rae Wee
SINGAPORE - Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase will let customers in Singapore move funds to and from accounts via local banks, smoothing one path to investing in digital assets at a time when markets are on edge over financial stability and crypto banking.
Transfers, in Singapore dollars, are facilitated by a traditional bank, Standard Chartered, and carry no fee, the company said in a statement. Previously, users could only purchase crypto via a Visa or Mastercard debit or credit card, or transfer crypto in and out of their Coinbase account.
Hassan Ahmed, Coinbase's country director for Singapore, told in an interview the move was part of the company's international expansion strategy. Rivals Crypto.com and Gemini already offer a similar service.
Coinbase, which last year received in-principle approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to offer payment services in the city-state, is looking to ramp up its Singapore retail offerings, said Ahmed.
Singapore has ge...
LONDON - Top cryptocurrency bitcoin hit a nine-month high of $26,533 on Tuesday, in its fourth consecutive day of gains, as it appeared to benefit from chaos in global markets following last week's collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
Bitcoin rose to $26,533 at around 1306 GMT, up around 10% on the day at its highest since June 2022. It gained 7.6% on Sunday and 9.1% on Monday.
The dollar was little changed overall after U.S. consumer price data on Tuesday showed inflation still rising, but at a slower pace than the previous month, in a widely anticipated reading that may lead the Federal Reserve to slow or even pause hiking interest rates next week.
Cryptocurrency prices fell sharply in 2022 as rising rates prompted investors to ditch risky assets. A series of collapses at high-profile crypto firms, including major exchange FTX, left customers with large losses.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft, editing by Sinead Cruise)...
By Elizabeth Howcroft
LONDON - Britain's NatWest has imposed new limits on the daily and monthly amount customers can send to cryptocurrency exchanges, seeking to protect consumers from "crypto-criminals", the bank said on Tuesday.
From Tuesday customer transfers to cryptocurrency exchanges will be limited to 5,000 pounds ($6,088) per 30-day period, with no more than 1,000 pounds per day, NatWest said.
Regulators around the world have warned of the risks of scams and fraud in the largely unregulated world of crypto trading.
Consumers across the UK lost 329 million pounds in crypto crime last year, NatWest said, with the cost-of-living crisis contributing to the problem as criminals lure investors with the promise of high returns.
"We have seen an increase in the number of scams using cryptocurrency exchanges and we are acting to protect our customers," said Stuart Skinner, head of fraud protection at NatWest, which is one of Britain's domestic biggest lenders.
In June 2021 NatWest int...
By Elizabeth Howcroft and Tom Wilson
LONDON - Binance is halting its sterling deposits and withdrawals, a company spokesperson said on Tuesday, a month after the crypto exchange ceased dollar transfers.
Binance has been informed by its partner for sterling transfers, Paysafe, that it would halt its services from May 22, the spokesperson said, impacting all Binance customers.
Sterling transfers for new users were stopped on Monday, it said.
(Reporting by Tom Wilson and Elizabeth Howcroft; editing by Jason Neely)...
- Crypto conglomerate Digital Currency Group (DCG) is looking to find new banking partners for portfolio companies following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and Silvergate, CoinDesk reported on Tuesday, citing messages viewed by the outlet.
Santander, HSBC and Deutsche Bank are still willing to connect with crypto firms, CoinDesk said, after recent banking failures in the United States left crypto firms and tech startups stranded and hunting for new banking partners.
DCG has also reached out to BlackRock, JPMorgan and Bank of America, the report added. DCG is the parent company of CoinDesk.
The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the report.
Banks may restrict some services for crypto firms, such as brokerage and money market services and the ability to wire money to third parties, according to the messages seen by CoinDesk.
Traditional banks may set up banking accounts for crypto firms, but would place restrictions based on the level o...
By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Medha Singh
- Imagine digitally inscribing 3D images of objects such as multi-colored spheres onto a tiny fragment of bitcoin. Then imagine selling them for $16.5 million.
Just when you thought crypto couldn't get any stranger, bitcoin accidentally births a new breed of NFTs.
The new entrants have materialized in 2023 following bitcoin network upgrades that enabled each satoshi - the smallest denomination of bitcoin, or one hundred millionth - to store a few megabytes of data, from text and images to audio and video.
The data storage was an unintended consequence of the upgrades. Now crypto enthusiasts have embedded a total of 385,000 "inscriptions" known as Ordinals on bitcoin since January, including more than 200,000 image files and over 150,000 text ones, according to Glassnode Market Intelligence.
"I think this is really the start of a fundamental shift in what you can do with bitcoin," said Alex Miller, CEO at bitcoin developer network Hiro.
The col...
By Elizabeth Howcroft
LONDON - U.S.-based crypto firms are trying to open Swiss bank accounts after the collapse of two U.S. crypto-focused banks made it harder for them to use lenders in the United States, but bankers said the Swiss firms may not take them.
Crypto-focused U.S. bank Silvergate Capital Corp said it planned to close last week after it was hit with losses following the dramatic collapse of crypto exchange FTX in November last year.
Its closure was followed by the collapse on Sunday of Signature Bank -- seen as U.S. crypto firms' main alternative to Silvergate -- in one of the largest failures in U.S. banking history.
The global banking sector was thrown into turmoil by Friday's collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, which sent global bank stocks plunging on Monday on concern about further contagion. The tech-focused lender also banked crypto companies and was the second-biggest U.S. bank failure.
Crypto analysts said that the U.S. bank closures, along with a regulatory crackdo...
네개 Pomelo 시즌을 통틀어 공공재를 위한 기부액 $2,600,000 이 모집 되었습니다 !Pomelo 는 첫번째 한 해 동안 아주 많은 성과를 이루었습니다! 🎉🎊커뮤니티가 공공재의 조건에 대해 보다 잘 이해함으로써 저희가 매 시즌 통과하는 그란트가 늘어나고 있습니다. 크립토 마켓 환경의 변동으로 인해 매칭풀이 줄어들었음에도, 참가자 및 커뮤니티의 참여가 늘어났습니다. 💪💪💪저희는 신청 제출 및 그란트 열람 과정을 지속적으로 개선해 왔습니다. 또한 저희는 컬렉션과 같은 새로운 기능을 추가하였으며, Pomelo 바운티가 곧 여러분들과 만나게 됩니다.🤯Pomelo 가 지향하는 방향은 커뮤니티가 그란트 과정을 관리할수 있는 환경을 만드는 것입니다.시즌 4 를 돌이켜 본다면?시즌 4 통계 수치통과된 그란트: 138기부자 수량: 907기부 수량: 5,281모집된 금액: $93,740매칭된 금액: $365,000시즌 4 의 새로운 Pomelo 참여자 수량은?시즌 3 로부터 시즌 4 까지, Pomelo 는 34개의 새로운 그란트 및 446 명의 새로운 기부자를 얻었습니다! 새로운 기부자들 중에 일부는 시빌 기부의 가능성이 있지만 저희는 더욱더 많은 커뮤니티 멤버의 Pomelo 참여를 보게 되어 너무 기쁩니다.항소 결과한개 그란트가 시즌 4 분석 및 액션에 대한 항소에서 승리하였습니다. EOS Turkey YouTube Channel 의 그란트 오너는 시빌공격으로 간주되었던 일부 기부가 정당한 것임을 증명하였습니다. 이를 통해 그들의 매칭풀 분배에 대한 감소가 줄어 들었습니다.피드백 설문조사 결과를 통해 알수 있는 것은?우선, 저희는 여러분들이 생각하는 잘 진행되었던 부분을 다루고, 그다음 개선이 필요한 부분을 짚어 가도록 하겠습니다.Pomelo 의 훌륭한 부분은?1. 간편한 신청아주 많은 응답자가 신청 과정이 간편하고 유저 체험이 매끄럽다고 하였습니다.2. 그란트 열람많은 사람들이 열람 기능이 더없이 뛰어나다고 하였으며, 이를 어느정도 개선된 필터와 컬렉션...