Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Voyager Digital asks the court to grant its withdrawal request.

The Federal Bankruptcy Court has granted Voyager Digital permission to execute user withdrawals.　　According to a recent court filing, Voyager is demanding a judicial permit to approve users withdrawal petitions. The sum is in excess of $350 million. The monies are held in a For Benefit of Customers (FBO) account at New Yorks Metropolitan Commercial Bank.　　This line is being pursued by the company in order to alleviate customer concerns and restore investor trust. According to the company, “failing to honor consumer withdrawals any longer could materially impair customer morale.”　　Recall that on July 4, Voyager Digital halted withdrawals on its platform due to a market collapse. The company stated at the time that the move would give it time to consider potential solutions to the issues caused by the current negative run.　　Shortly after, the ailing firm filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in order to retain its assets and maximize consumer value.　　The failing company claims to have $1.3 billion in crypto assets on its platform and over $350 in its FBO account with Metropolitan Commercial Bank.　　In addition, Voyager claims to have claims in excess of $650 million with Singapore-based Three Arrows Capital.　　Along with its appeal for authorization to honor withdrawals, Voyager also

2022-07-19Deep Dive

Lines, a cryptocurrency messaging platform, raises $4 million in a seed round.

Lines, the cryptocurrency messaging platform, has raised $4 million in a seed round, according to co-founder Shail Handa.　　Former Twitter VP Elad Gil led the funding round. Hash3, Scalar Capital, Volt Capital, Caffeinated Capital, Ethereal Ventures, Whimsy, Naval Ravikant, Balaji Srinivasan, and Gokul Rajaram were also present.　　“A rapidly growing number of people are using crypto pseudonyms to buy digital currency, swap NFTs, vote on proposals, and manage treasuries,” The Block reported. “The issue is that when someone attempts to communicate with another person in this network, there is no way of knowing whether or not they are speaking to the correct person.”　　Former Twitter VP Elad Gil led the funding round. Hash3, Scalar Capital, Volt Capital, Caffeinated Capital, Ethereal Ventures, Whimsy, Naval Ravikant, Balaji Srinivasan, and Gokul Rajaram were also present.　　“A rapidly growing number of people are using crypto pseudonyms to buy digital currency, swap NFTs, vote on proposals, and manage treasuries,” The Block reported. “The issue is that when someone attempts to communicate with another person in this network, there is no way of knowing whether or not they are speaking to the correct person.”　　Handa went on to say that this could be one of the reasons for hacks and scams

2022-07-19Deep Dive

Globant Survey: Most Gamers Believe Metaverse Will Change the Gaming Industry Positively

Metaverse Tech Might Change the Gaming Industry, Globant Survey Finds　　The sentiment of gamers toward metaverse tech and its influence on the future of the industry is changing to a more positive light. A new survey, titled “Metaverse Awareness Survey,” published by Globant, a software and tech company in partnership with Yougov, found out that gamers believe that the buzz around the metaverse is justified.　　The survey, which touched on other metaverse-related subjects like NFTs, consulted 1,000 gamers about the importance of the metaverse for the interactive entertainment industry. More than half of the surveyed believe that metaverse and its tech will impact the sector, with 41% of this group stating it will do it in a positive way, with 25% disagreeing about this issue.　　Advertising is also still seen badly by gamers in the metaverse, with only 35% being comfortable with advertising in these spaces. Only 44% would accept advertising in the metaverse if there was some kind of reward associated, like access to apps.　　Nicolas Avila, CTO for Globant in North America stated:　　Through this survey, we see that although the development of the metaverse is still in its early stages, U.S. gamers already see the technology as capable of expanding the realm

2022-07-19Deep Dive

In the first half of 2018, crypto investments fell by nearly 25% to around $9.3 billion.

Venture capital firms investment in the crypto space has dropped nearly 25% from a record $12.5 billion in the first half of last year to around $9.3 billion in the first six months of this year.　　Despite the fact that deal value has decreased, deal volume has increased, with 534 deals announced in the first half of this year compared to 456 in the same period last year.　　In the second quarter, investment data remained stable. More than $4.2 billion was invested in venture-backed crypto startups, a slight increase over the same period last year.　　Although this is a $1 billion decrease from the previous quarter and well below the record high of $6.1 billion set in the fourth quarter of last year, it is still a good result in the cryptocurrency markets winter.　　Six rounds of $400 million or more were completed in the first quarter. Under the alias Negentropic, Glassnode co-founders explained:　　“$17 billion in VC crypto investments and 1,000 deals in 2022.” The median deal size this year has been $4.5 million. Capital is pouring into BTC and altcoins, laying the groundwork for a strong recovery.　　Following Bitcoins 1,300 percent gains in 2018, venture capital funding nearly quadrupled to its previous high of

2022-07-19Deep Dive

300+ NFTs Stolen, $400K in Ethereum Taken In Premint Hack

On Sunday, hackers infiltrated popular NFT registration platform Premint and made away with 320 stolen NFTs and more than $400,000 in profit in one of the biggest such hacks this year.　　According to analysis by blockchain security firm CertiK, the hackers compromised the Premint website on Sunday with malicious JavaScript code. They then created a pop-up within the site that prompted users to verify their wallet ownership, ostensibly as an additional security measure.　　Multiple users quickly realized the pop-up was illegitimate and immediately took to Twitter and Discord to warn others not to follow its instructions. Even so, within minutes, the hackers had already duped several Premint customers.　　The pilfered NFTs included those from popular collections Bored Ape Yacht Club, Otherside, Moonbirds Oddities, and Goblintown. After securing these NFTs, the hackers immediately began flipping them on marketplaces like OpenSea; one stolen Bored Ape nabbed a price of 89 ETH, or around $132,000.　　Over the course of Sunday, the hackers collected 275 ETH, or just over $400,000, in sales of all 320 stolen NFTs. 　　The hackers then sent the funds to Tornado Cash, a service that pools together the cryptocurrency deposits of many users and mixes them, effectively wiping out the digital trail typically left

2022-07-19Deep Dive

Understanding the difference between an exchange and a broker: A guide for all Crypto traders

There have been several cases of cryptocurrency traders who felt disappointed after purchasing Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies from a given broker and found themselves unable to transfer them to their storage wallets or other crypto exchange to sell. Some felt they have been scammed or denied the right to transfer their purchased crypto assets. Well, this is caused by the gross misunderstanding of the nature of services provided by the brokers. Forex brokers are known to provide an option for crypto trading on their platforms as only CFDs. Trading Cryptocurrency as CFDs means there is no legal ownership of the assets purchased. This means the assets purchased cannot be transferred from the brokers platform to ones storage wallet or any other desired destination. We have therefore highlighted these differences between a broker and an exchange for all crypto traders to know the difference.　　Difference between a broker and an exchange　　Ownership of assets: There is no ownership of crypto assets purchased through a broker. This is because all crypto assets purchased through a broker are considered as CFDs. This is quite different from trading Cryptocurrency using an exchange as the latter offers traders legal ownership of assets purchased when they are bought

2022-07-18Deep Dive

Uniswap Price Increases Despite Robinhood Listing

On July 14, the American trading platform Robinhood announced the official listing of Uniswaps native UNI token in its crypto sector. The uni token has somewhat recovered, but upward pressure remains.　　Uniswap is a fully decentralized, transparent, and censorship-resistant protocol built on the Ethereum platform that serves as a financial infrastructure for automated liquidity. ERC-20 tokens can be exchanged using Uniswap. Uniswap is a decentralized exchange in a nutshell.　　In 2020, Uniswap, a decentralized exchange platform and on-chain market maker, will launch its own governance token called Uni.　　According to CoinMarketCap, UNI increased by 14 percent within 24 hours of its listing.　　One $UNI coin is currently worth $6.95, with a 24-hour trading volume of $250,296,608.　　Yesterday, Uniswap gained a long string of green bullish “candles,” along with an increase in trading volume and a break above the previous resistance point of $6.5. The bulls are currently attempting to hold the key psychological barrier for UNI at $6.5 on the daily candlestick chart.　　At the time of writing, the UNI/USD exchange rate had risen from $7.04 to $7.26. The recent price recovery has reclaimed these moving averages and is expected to provide some support; if the support is strong enough, bullish momentum could push UNI to

2022-07-18Deep Dive

OpenSea will lay off 20% of its workforce.

OpenSea has become the latest victim of the ongoing crypto winter, deciding to reduce its workforce.　　According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace has announced that it will lay off one-fifth, or 20%, of its workforce.　　OpenSea, one of the largest marketplaces for NFTs, has indicated that approximately 57 people will be laid off, despite the fact that it now employs 230 people.　　According to TechCrunch, the companys LinkedIn page lists 769 employees, implying that approximately 150 people lost their jobs.　　Chief Executive Devin Finzer stated in an internal memo to employees, which was also shared on Twitter, that the company would provide severance and healthcare coverage to those laid off until 2023. Finzer also mentioned that accelerated equity vesting will be available.　　“The changes were making today position us to maintain multiple years of runway under various crypto winter scenarios (5 years at current volume) and give us high confidence that we only have to go through this process once,” Finzer explained.　　The layoffs contradict Finzers claims in January following the receipt of $300 million in venture capital funding, when he stated that the funds would be used to hire 90 new employees and establish a fund for creators.　　As the

2022-07-18Deep Dive

Is Dubai the Next Cryptocurrency Exchange Hub?

Many jurisdictions around the world are now interacting in various ways with the digital currency ecosystem. Among the Gulf nations, Dubai is one of the most active influencers.　　While many state actors see it as a threat, a much larger number of others see it as an opportunity.　　With the slew of licenses granted to cryptocurrency exchanges today, Dubai appears to be one of the latter. According to Blockchain.News, OKX, one of the leading crypto exchanges in the digital currency ecosystem, is one of the most recent in the industry to be granted permission to operate in Dubai.　　The Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) granted the crypto trading platform a provisional virtual assets (VA) license, allowing it to offer targeted crypto products to qualifying investors, according to the announcement.　　While the move complements the exchanges efforts to go global, emphasizing, among other things, its compliance capabilities, it speaks much more to VARAs generosity and forward-thinking position. Based on the approval of the new license, the trading platform intends to open a new regional office in Dubai in order to pursue a more comprehensive engagement in the region.　　“The MENA region is one of our industrys fastest growing markets, and we are very excited to

2022-07-18Deep Dive

Avalanche's John Wu: TradFi Interest in Crypto ‘Has Absolutely Not Waned’

It may be crypto winter, but traditional financial institutions are sticking around and continuing to influence the space, says Ava Labs President John Wu.　　Ava Labs operates the Ethereum sidechain Avalanche, a smart contract platform designed around sustainability and speed thats home to services for staking, lending, and trading cryptocurrency, including dapps SushiSwap and Nexo. AVAX, up more than 9% over the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap, now has a market cap in excess of $6 billion.　　Wu said companies like JPMorgan Chase and Société Générale-Forge, a subsidiary of one of Frances largest investment banks, are examples of how financial institutions are still innovating during crypto winter and paving the way for broader crypto adoption.　　“The institutions who are trying to apply the blockchain technology to either streamline or to do new tokenization of real world assets, their interest has absolutely not waned,” Wu told Decrypt at Avalanche House in Brooklyn on Friday.　　JPMorgan already uses its own stablecoin, JPM Coin—backed 1:1 by the U.S. dollar—as a tokenized form of U.S. dollar deposits helping facilitate transactions for institutional clients. Wu sees the project as a notable on-ramp for institutional investors looking to ease into crypto.　　He referenced recent efforts from JPMorgan with the Monetary

2022-07-18Deep Dive

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