Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

CZ: As ‘Pure Web3 Company,’ Binance Has No Plans to Offer Stock Trading

Regardless of how many new users it could attract, Binance isnt interested in offering users the ability to trade stocks.　　CEO Changpeng Zhao told on the latest gm podcast that cryptocurrency exchanges offering the feature are neither right nor wrong, but he emphasized that swapping equities doesn‘t align with his company’s philosophy.　　And while stock trading has proven a lucrative market for many retail investment platforms, such as Robinhood and Webull, CZ said hed rather see Binance focus on building more Web3 tools.　　“We are a pure Web3 company,” CZ said. “We‘re not going back, we’re moving forward.”　　The CEO added that Binance is eyeing a few companies as potential acquisition targets during the bear market, but that none of those would revolve around the exchange of traditional equities. CZ also suggested the potential deals would be more “simple” than a complicated loan structure or bailout.　　“That is not to say that complex deals are bad,” CZ said. “But my preference is always keep everything very simple, very straightforward, boil everything down to very basic core principles, and go from there.”　　He also commented directly on the $500 million line of credit extended to bankrupt crypto broker Voyager Digital by Sam Bankman-Frieds Alameda Research: “I would

2022-07-18Deep Dive

Finance Redefined: DeFi market fell off the cliff in Q2, but there’s hope

Analytical data reveals that DeFis total value locked registered a minor dip from the past week, falling to a value of $56.45 billion.　　Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of key decentralized finance (DeFi) insights, a newsletter crafted to bring you some of the major developments over the last week.　　This past week, the DeFi ecosystem saw several new developments despite a bearish phase brought on by the lending crisis in the crypto market. Another crypto lender, Celsius, with high stakes in DeFi protocols, filed for bankruptcy. The overall DeFi market fell to new lows in the second quarter. However, a new report indicates users havent given up hope.　　BNB Chain launched a new decentralized application (DApp) platform with an alarm feature. Vermont state regulator opened an investigation into troubled crypto lender Celsius, deeming it deeply insolvent. A DeFi researcher has predicted that Ethereum proof-of-stake (PoS) can help Ether (ETH) overtake Bitcoin (BTC).　　The DeFi tokens saw a new flow of bullish momentum over the past couple of days owing to a market-wide green momentum after the inflation data release.　　DeFi market fell off cliff in Q2, but users havent given up hope: Report　　Despite the DeFi market suffering a 74.6% market cap decline in

2022-07-17Deep Dive

Bitcoin whales still 'hibernating' as BTC price nears $21K

Bitcoin price recovers 11% from the weeks lows as one trader targets $21,700 next.　　Bitcoin (BTC) hit $21,000 for the first time in several days on July 15 as markets enjoyed what one trader called “summer relief.”　　BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingViewAltcoin rebound eyed as BTC price adds 11%　　Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD grinding higher overnight to just tap the $21,000 mark on Bitstamp on the day.　　A noticeable change of tact had set in after initial losses on the back of forty-year highs for the United States Consumer Price Index (CPI). Versus the July 13 lows, BTC/USD was thus up 11%.　　“Summer relief time,” Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe summarized.　　Popular trader Crypto Tony was also in the mood for modest optimism on short timeframes, eyeing a move to $21,700 for profit-taking.　　“If we get this, then Alts can continue to enjoy a nice pump and relief rally,” he added in a further tweet.　　Many major altcoins had responded well to the uptick in BTC price action, with Ether (ETH) making a noticeable rebound to cap over 12% daily gains.　　Others in the top ten cryptocurrencies by market cap also fared well, with only Solana (SOL) nonetheless managing to beat

2022-07-16Deep Dive

Funding for Crypto Startups Falls to One-Year Low

According to Bloomberg, digital currencies, public stocks, and venture capital backing crypto startups have finally cooled down after experiencing massive growth as a result of the effects of an economic storm.　　According to Bloomberg, which cited data from the research firm PitchBook, funding for private crypto firms fell to its lowest level in a year in the second quarter.　　Prior to the economic downturn, the rising popularity of cryptocurrencies helped set a record of $9.85 billion in venture capital raised in the first quarter. According to Bloomberg, this only indicated how long it would take for venture capital deals to be completed.　　“Even though the crypto market started slowing down in November, December, those deals were already in the works, so they closed in the first quarter,” said Robert Le, a PitchBook fintech analyst.　　The second quarter provided a clearer picture of the impact of the economic turmoil on cryptocurrency firms. According to PitchBook, venture capitalists invested $6.76 billion in cryptocurrency companies in the three months ending in June, a 31% decrease from the previous quarter.　　Bloomberg reported that “the crypto industry now mirrors the sluggish activity among tech and venture capital investors.”　　“Everyone is very hesitant to close deals right now,” Le explained.　　The collapse of

2022-07-15Deep Dive

Animoca Brands Receives New Funding of $75 Million

Animoca Brands announced a $75 million funding round in its latest round.　　Investors backed the digital entertainment, blockchain, and gamification firm at a subscription price of A$4.50 per share for a total of 23,237,058 new shares, according to the fundraising details. Following this increase, the company now has 1,836,142,334 fully paid ordinary shares on the market.　　This funding round values Animoca Brands at $5.9 billion pre-money, with high-profile investors such as Liberty City Ventures, Kingsway Capital, Alpha Wave Ventures, 10T, SG Spring Limited Partnership Fund, Generation Highway Ltd, Cosmic Summit Investments Limited, and others participating.　　The funding round builds on the $358 million boosts the company received in January, when its valuation was still set at $5 billion.　　“Digital property rights represent a society-defining generational shift that affects everyone online and will pave the way for the emergence of the open metaverse,” said Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands. “We are deeply honoured to continue to enjoy strong investor support as we work to solidify Animoca Brands leadership position in the Web3 industry and in the field of true digital ownership.”　　Animoca Brands, known for its support of some of the most popular Web3.0 gaming protocols, such as Axie Infinity and The

2022-07-15Deep Dive

Celsius Bankruptcy Filing Shows $1.2 Billion Hole in Its Balance Sheet

The Celsius Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing confirms its liabilities outweigh its assets by $1.2 billion.　　The filing shows that the company owes clients and creditors $5.5 billion. But its assets, even after paying off three large loans from DeFi protocols Maker, Aave, and Compound in the last week, which allowed it to reclaim roughly $1 billion worth of collateral, total only $4.3 billion. 　　That means Celsius is $1.2 billion short and insolvent. Its what remains of the “$2 billion hole” that kept FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried from wanting to do a deal with the company, unnamed sources told The Block in late June.　　Without the $1 billion in recently reclaimed collateral, its debts would have outsripped its assets by $2 billion around the time Bankman-Fried was rumored to have met with Celsius along with Voyager Digital and BlockFi.　　Celsius froze user funds on June 12, a day after CEO Alex Mashinsky sent a now infamous tweet claiming that not “even one person” had problems withdrawing their money from the platform. After the freeze, Celsius put out two more statements on its website explaining that it needed more time to stabilize.　　Then, starting last week, the company paid off all three of its major loans

2022-07-15Deep Dive

Crypto winter touches OpenSea, sacks 20% of staff

Leading non-fungible token marketplace OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer has revealed that the crypto firm laid off about 20% of its staff on July 14.　　According to the announcement, the company reduced its staff strength because of the “unprecedented combination of crypto winter and macroeconomic instability” that could last for a long time.　　The announcement did not reveal the exact number of affected employees; however, the figure is expected to be in the hundreds. The companys LinkedIn profile showed it has a workforce of 750 individuals.　　Meanwhile, Finzer said he believes OpenSea would be going through this process only once because the firm has “built a strong balance sheet” through its raised funds.　　The changes were making today put us in a position to maintain multiple years of runway under various crypto winter scenarios (5 years at the current volume) and give us high confidence that we will only have to go through this process once.　　Finzer added that affected workers would receive severance and health insurance until 2023 alongside an accelerated equity vesting.　　Rival NFT marketplaces like LooksRare and NFT.com responded to Finzers tweets with revelations that they were hiring more hands.　　OpenSeas trading volume has dropped to new lows after starting the year strongly. According to

2022-07-15Deep Dive

NFT Marketplace Public Beta Released by GameStop

In the midst of the crypto markets downturn, video game retailer GameStop Corp announced the launch of a public beta version of a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace on Monday.　　The NFT marketplace from the company is a non-custodial, Ethereum-based layer 2 marketplace that allows parties to truly own their digital assets, which are represented and secured on the blockchain. According to the statement, users can connect to their own digital asset wallets, such as the recently launched GameStop Wallet.　　The new feature product was released in the midst of the crypto markets downturn. Currently, there are 236 NFT collections and over 53,000 NFTs listed on the public beta NFT marketplace.　　Clients can use this non-custodial Ethereum Layer 2-based application to buy, sell, and trade NFTs associated with digital assets used in various games.　　Customers would also be able to enjoy the connection between their wallet and the marketplace if the marketplace provided essential statistics and educational content.　　An Ethereum-compatible zkRollup protocol, in collaboration with Loopring, will provide players with faster, cheaper, and more secure access to digital property rights.　　Loopring zkRollup lowers customer costs because it is based on Ethereums self-hosted security while extracting expensive gas fees.　　Back in January of this year, the companys stock skyrocketed

2022-07-15Deep Dive

KuCoin refutes job-cut rumors, revealing plans to hire during the Crypto Winter

KuCoin CEO Johnny Lyu announced on Monday that the exchange plans to hire over 300 people in the coming months. The executive stated: “KuCoin has not reduced its workforce and has no plans to do so. We are one of the few crypto platforms that has grown by relying on an effective business strategy, focusing on the release of new products, and maintaining a healthy environment in our team.”　　Lyu stated that the company was doing everything possible to increase employee productivity and motivation while also focusing on compliance and innovation.　　According to the CEO, the total number of employees at the firm recently surpassed 1,000, and the company is currently looking to hire 300 more. According to the executive, positions are available in the companys marketing, compliance, and technology teams.　　Lyu went on to say: “In times of market turbulence, we believe that our bet on growth is the only correct decision that allows us to maintain a high bar. Any discussions that assert the opposite should be considered untenable.”　　The Current Downsizing Pattern　　Since May of this year, the crypto sector has been hit hard. Digital token prices have fallen across the board, and at the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading for

2022-07-14Deep Dive

7,500 Ether Stolen from Uniswap in Phishing Attack

According to PeckShield, a smart contract security firm, the hacker was able to steal the cryptocurrency from Uniswap using a phishing tactic.　　Prior to the hacking incident, the hacker targeted the liquidity provider using a fake Uniswap airdrop token as phishing bait. Following that, the victim claimed the token and interacted with the malicious smart contract, giving the hacker indirect control over their wallet.　　During the attack, the wallet was supplying $8 million to a WBTC/USDC liquidity pool on Uniswap version 3.　　The hacker exited the users liquidity position after the attack, swapped the assets, and transferred them out. The hacker routed the funds through Tornado Cash, a transaction mixer on the Ethereum network, according to the Block.　　The hacking incident occurred three weeks after Uniswap hired a former New York Stock Exchange president as an adviser.　　Stacey Cunningham will help Uniswap Labs business by focusing on regulation for Uniswaps role in DeFi, according to Blockchain.News.　　Cunningham said in a statement that she joined Uniswap Labs because “she believes in the potential of a decentralized exchange and in Uniswaps commitment to fairer markets.”　　Despite the current challenging market environment, the hack in Uniswaps wallet and the new appointment have occurred.　　The prolonged drop in crypto prices, combined with

2022-07-14Deep Dive

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