Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Binance Is Expanding Hirings Amid Falling Crypto Market

Several companies like Coinbase, Robinhood, and Gemini have been forced to cut staff and hiring due to the current bear market.　　Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has said that the bear market is a great time for crypto companies to hire more people and increase investments, Bloomberg News reported June 13.　　He said this during the Consensus conference in Austin, Texas. When asked about Coinbases decision to freeze hiring, he said:　　“We have a very healthy war chest; we in fact are expanding hiring right now.”　　He added that Binance is “kicking into high gear in M&A activity.”　　Zhao spoke extensively about the advantages of crypto winter, saying there are so many projects during the bull market and compensation demands are usually high.　　But the market is more balanced in the bear market. “if we are in a crypto winter, we will leverage that, we will use that to the max,” he concluded.　　His statements mean Binance is looking to increase investments and add to its growing portfolio that already includes a $200 million investment in Forbes. For more blockchain news, please download WikiBit - the Global Blockchain Regulatory Inquiry APP.　　Crypto companies facing job slashes　　While Binance might be considering new investments and hiring, the overall sentiment in

2022-06-14Deep Dive

Crypto Market Plunges Below $1T Amid Inflation-Driven Selloff

The total cryptocurrency market cap has fallen below $1 trillion for the first time since January 2021.　　Crypto in Crisis　　Crypto investors appear to be rushing for the exit after more macroeconomic turbulence.　　The crypto market has extended losses following Fridays higher-than-expected consumer price index inflation. Over the weekend, Bitcoin dropped by 17.4%, registering a new yearly low of around $23,911. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, fared worse, plummeting 27.3% in the same period.　　Despite the Federal Reserve raising interest rates by a total of 75 basis points in 2022, inflation has shown little sign of letting up, making more aggressive rate hikes more likely going forward. By raising rates, the Fed hopes to bring inflation back down to an acceptable level by slowing economic growth. However, doing so negatively impacts risk-on assets such as equities and cryptocurrencies.　　Since the Fed first committed to raising rates earlier this year, the crypto market has shed over $800 billion in value. In March, the sector‘s total market cap hovered around $1.8 trillion; now, data from CoinMarketCap shows that the asset class’ value has dipped below $1 trillion for the first time since January 2021.　　Total cryptocurrency market cap (Source: CoinMarketCap)　　Bitcoin has historically held up better than other crypto assets

2022-06-14Deep Dive

“Web5?” Jack Dorsey Plans Web3 Competitor Built On Bitcoin

Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter and Square, has been a big critic of evolving Web 3.0 ecosystem. In a bid to counter that Dorsey has launched its competitor Web5.　　How Web5 can outsmart Web3？　　As per the report, Web 5 will be a new approach to building Web 3 on the Bitcoin blockchain. The reason behind developing Web 5 on the BTC chain is that it is considered the most decentralized network. As this space is assured to be a decentralized system, the Twitter founder has mentioned that it is now acquired by venture capitalists.　　Web 5 will work with over the ownership of data and identity of a user. According to the blog, the Web2 ecosystem evolves around big companies owning users data. It stored by corporations across databases. Data privacy regulations have somehow failed to provide assurance to the customer. Web 5 aims to resolve it by building an “extra decentralized web”. It will try to give control to users of their data.　　Meanwhile, these same features were also promised by Web3 as well. The blog asserts that its data is portable, unlike Web2. Web 3 includes storage and identity protocols. However, in Web 5 these are part of its foundation.

2022-06-13Deep Dive

EU To Finalize Crypto Regulation Soon, What Does It Mean For Markets?

The European Union is set to finalize its Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) bill by as soon as this month, a recent report suggests.　　The bill, which was approved by the parliament earlier this year, will establish common regulation for crypto across the bloc.　　Introduced in 2020, MiCA intends to lay out comprehensive crypto regulation in the EU bloc.　　Bloomberg said in a report that European politicians are set to meet twice this month to resolve any issues surrounding the bill, clearing the way for its passing.　　The bill has also been fast-tracked in the wake of the Terra crash, which spurred increasing calls for more investor protection in crypto.　　Stablecoin regulation a point of contention　　Despite calls for speeding up regulation, insider sources told Bloomberg that lawmakers were still divided over some aspects of the bill.　　A major point of contention, especially in the wake of the Terra crash, is on how to regulate stablecoins. Lawmakers are discussing how to reduce the use of stablecoins, particularly in non-Euro transactions. They are also planning to introduce a ceiling to the amount of stablecoins that can be used in a transaction.　　Crypto commentator Patrick Hansen said on Twitter that the goal of limiting stablecoin use is to prevent the

2022-06-13Deep Dive

Crypto-Related Lawsuits Rising in Russia, Criminal Cases Increase by 40%

Courts in Russia are hearing a growing number of cases around crypto assets, a new study has shown. About two-thirds of them have been launched under provisions of the countrys Criminal Code but civil cases represent a large share as well.　　Criminal Cases Involving Cryptocurrency in Russia Near 1,000 in 2021　　Lawsuits related to cryptocurrency, exchange of digital assets and coin minting have seen a serious increase in Russia over the course of last year, reaching a total of 1,531. The number comes from research conducted by the cybersecurity company RTM Group and quoted by Izvestia this week.　　The majority of these, 954 cases, have been initiated under various articles of the Russian Criminal Code, the daily wrote on Friday. Another quarter of the proceedings, 365, are civil cases, almost one in 10 (141) is a bankruptcy, and 5% (71) are administrative cases, the article detailed.　　The authors of the study note that most often cryptocurrency appears in criminal cases related to drug trafficking as those behind such deals would like their payments to remain anonymous — 738 such cases were filed last year. Other criminal proceedings include the laundering of illicit funds using digital coins.　　Claims against unjust enrichment through crypto transactions form the

2022-06-13Deep Dive

Nigeria’s Largest Stock Exchange Plans to Adopt Blockchain for Settling Trades

The largest stock exchange in Nigeria – Nigerian Exchange Ltd. – will reportedly roll out a blockchain-enabled trading platform next year to facilitate the capital market and attract young investors. The main application of the distributed-ledger technology will be in trade settlements, the company revealed.　　According to Bloomberg, the exchange will partner up with a technology company, aiming to receive approvals from Nigerian watchdogs by 2023.　　Temi Popoola – the CEO of Nigerian Exchange Ltd. – viewed blockchain technology as a facilitator of the financial market, enabling an “effective way of trading financial assets.” He added the deployment could allow young investors to have “fast and easy access to the market,” as they have accounted for the majority of crypto users in the country.　　The firm‘s first electronic share offering, issued by MTN Group Ltd.’s Nigeria unit last year, was 1.2 times oversubscribed, with 85% of the investors under 40 years old. For more blockchain news, please download WikiBit - the Global Blockchain Regulatory Inquiry APP.　　It‘s still unclear whether the exchange will be directly implicated with cryptocurrency. If so, it has to operate in compliance with Nigeria’s SEC and the regulatory framework imposed by the countrys central bank.　　Last year, the Central Bank of

2022-06-13Deep Dive

JPMorgan Looking to Bring DeFi Yields to Non-Crypto Assets via Tokenization

Wall Steet behemoth JPMorgan has reportedly found a way that enables DeFi developers to leverage the yield-generating potential of non-crypto assets.　　JPMorgan Could Bring DeFi Yields to Non-Crypto Assets　　According to a Coindesk report published June 11, JPMorgan hinted that it has found a way to bring trillions of dollars of tokenized assets to DeFi.　　At Consensus 2022 in Austin, Texas, Tyrone Lobban, head of Onyx Digital Assets at JPMorgan told Coindesk the banks institutional-grade DeFi plans and highlighted the amount of value in tokenized assets waiting to be poured into the DeFi landscape.　　He said: “Over time, we think tokenizing U.S. Treasurys or money market fund shares, for example, means these could all potentially be used as collateral in DeFi pools. The overall goal is to bring these trillions of dollars of assets into DeFi, so that we can use these new mechanisms for trading, borrowing [and] lending, but with the scale of institutional assets.”　　For the uninitiated, institutional DeFi differs from retail DeFi in that the former typically requires users to pass certain know-your-customer (KYC) strictures to benefit from the underlying digital assets permissionless pools.　　To date, several leading DeFi protocols have unveiled their institutional-grade DeFi solutions such as Aave Arc, Compound Treasury, and

2022-06-13Deep Dive

U.S. Treasury Department on Track to Regulate Unhosted Wallets

IN BRIEF　　The U.S. Treasury Department reiterated its commitment to addressing risks of unhosted crypto wallets at Consensus 2022.　　Two major rules are being drafted to protect Americas national security.　　The Treasury Department joins Senators Lummis and Gillibrand in the effort to bring more clarity to the crypto space.　　The U.S. Treasury Department is progressing toward addressing the anonymity of unhosted crypto wallets as part of Joe Bidens wider strategy to tackle illicit finance involving digital assets.　　Following two rules proposed by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in 2020 that enforce transaction reporting on unhosted wallet transactions exceeding $10,000, while also compelling banks to collect information on a customer and their counterparty for any transaction exceeding $3,000 involving an unhosted wallet, U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo affirmed that the government agency has made progress.　　Speaking at Consensus 2022, Adeyemo confirmed:　　“…we are working to address the unique risks associated with unhosted wallets…Fundamentally, financial institutions need to know who they are transacting and doing business with to make sure they are not making payments to criminals, sanctioned entities, or others. When it comes to unhosted wallets, we are working to provide them the information they need to avoid facilitating these kinds of illicit payments.”　　Increased scrutiny

2022-06-13Deep Dive

Do Kwon denies fresh allegations of withdrawing $2.7B from Terra ecosystem via Degenbox

Do Kwon was recently accused of withdrawing $80 million a month from the Terra ecosystem leading up to the crash — fresh allegations claim this happened more than 33 times, and a staggering $2.7 billion was taken out of the system through Degenbox by Abracadabra Money.　　Do Kwon has publicly denied the allegations, calling them “categorically false,” after making his Twitter account public again.The Allegations　　According to the allegations, Do Kwon used Abracadabra.money and a staking loop that allows extreme levels of leveraging to withdraw the money as described by FatManTerra:　　“You can stake collateral to buy UST, put it into Anchor, then use your aUST to borrow more UST, put it into Anchor again… You get the drill. Its Anchor on steroids.”　　The staking loop is also employed by other derivative tokens such as stETH. These advanced yield strategies offer insanely high rewards but create extremely volatile investments with ever-increasing liquidation risks. FatManTerra alleges that Do Kwon undertook such a strategy and thus gambled with the future of Terra for his own personal gain.　　FatManTerra questioned how Do Kown could have sold the $80 million tranches of tokens he acquired without crashing the price of either $LUNA or $UST since there is a lack

2022-06-13Deep Dive

Meme Token King Dogecoin Lost 91% in Value Since Last Year's High

The Dogecoin Dog Days — Meme Token King Sheds Significant Value　　Dogecoin fans have been watching the largest meme coin asset plummet in value week after week. While it is still a top ten cryptocurrency, dogecoin (DOGE) has lost a lot of value since the assets all-time high on May 8, 2021. Over a year ago today, DOGE exchanged hands for $0.739 per unit and today the 24-hour price range for DOGE has been between $0.064 to $0.072 per coin.　　Binance DOGE/USDT daily chart on June 12, 2022.　　On Sunday, June 12, 2022, there‘s $567 million in worldwide DOGE trade volume during the past 24 hours. Dogecoin’s market valuation today is $8.68 billion which equates to 0.755% of the $1.15 trillion crypto economy. While being the tenth largest market cap, DOGE is below solana (SOL) and just above polkadot (DOT) in terms of market positions.　　While 91% down from the all-time high is pretty significant, DOGE is still up a whopping 75,260% since the asset‘s all-time low on May 6, 2015. At that time, seven years ago today, DOGE was trading for $0.00008690 per unit. Dogecoin’s recent market performance has not been so optimistic as 12-month stats show DOGE is down 79.3%.　　DOGE lost 21%

2022-06-12Deep Dive

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