Another domino fell in the crypto ecosystem over the weekend. Singapore-based lending firm Vauld stopped operations in response to “financial challenges” due to a flurry of customer withdrawals due to a crash in crypto markets. More than $197.7 million has been withdrawn from the platform since June 12. Interestingly, Three Arrows Capital, the hedge fund that seems to have spread its tentacles far and wide … Continue reading Notes 7/5: Vauld Acquisition Talks, Regulatory Action, and Celsius Disclosures

Tether, the world’s biggest stablecoin, has faced relentless questioning over reserves backing for USDT, its stablecoin pegged to the dollar. But that hasn’t stopped it from launching stablecoins pegged to various currencies. Its latest is a plan to launch a sterling-denominated stablecoin on the Ethereum blockchain. Called GBPT, the coin will be launched in early July according to a press release issued by the company. … Continue reading Tether Plans to Launch GBP-Pegged Stablecoin. No Details, As Usual, On Reserves.

These are strange times in cryptoland. On the one hand, the number of projects and businesses that have either crashed or are in danger of crashing has multiplied. But that increasing list hasn’t stopped investors from throwing money at startups in the sector or bidding up their valuations. Magic Eden Achieves Unicorn Status   Magic Eden, an online NFT marketplace, recently received an infusion of … Continue reading Magic Eden, Solend, and Saylor

The bad news keeps piling up for cryptocurrency markets. There was little respite for investors as the rout in bitcoin price, which began over the weekend, continued this morning. Bitcoin price dipped below the key $22,000 support level though it managed to stay above $20,000. The cryptocurrency is down by roughly 66% from its high last November. Other cryptocurrencies also witnessed significant downdrafts. Ethereum’s ether, … Continue reading Carnage Continues In Crypto Markets

How will New York’s proposed two-year moratorium on cryptocurrency mining affect miners? While crypto advocacy organizations have labeled the bill’s contents as ‘draconian’, its actual impact on crypto mining operations in the state might be limited. This is mainly because the bill restricts denials to miners who generate electric power away from the grid. Anecdotal evidence suggests that there are very few such miners in … Continue reading New York’s Bitcoin Mining Bill May Not Affect Many Crypto Miners

The crash of TerraUSD (UST), Terra’s stablecoin, continued to reverberate in the crypto ecosystem on Monday. Terra’s co-founder Do Kwon outlined a new revival plan, after detailing one on Friday, for his beleaguered stablecoin UST. The coin became unhinged from its peg to the US dollar last week and continues to trade at prices far below its 1:1 intended value. Kwon’s plan envisages a “reconstituting” … Continue reading Terra Proposes Fork In Revival Plan

The drama continued in the TerraUSD (UST) ecosystem this afternoon, when its operations were halted this morning to prevent governance attacks. “Terra validators have decided to halt the Terra chain to prevent governance attacks following severe Luna inflation and a significantly reduced cost of attack,” Terra’s official Twitter account tweeted. The blockchain began producing blocks a few minutes later and its block explorer showed that … Continue reading More Drama On Terra Blockchain

Bitcoin price and crypto markets tumbled to a new low for this year as investors, spooked by sell-offs in equity markets and the prospect of an economic recession, sold off their crypto holdings. At 19:23 UTC, the price of Bitcoin was $30,752.28, down by more than 11% from its price a day ago. Ethereum’s Ether, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was also … Continue reading Bitcoin Price Suffers Double- Digit Decline

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday released a 534-page proposal for climate change disclosures for comments. The wide-ranging proposal requires publicly traded companies to disclose their business’s greenhouse gas emission numbers. It asks them to identify climate risks, conduct scenario analysis, and transition away from business processes harmful to climate. The environmental impact disclosures will help investors, institutional and retail, who have recently … Continue reading SEC Climate Disclosures and Bitcoin Mining

In 1996, American poet John Perry Barlow set out an ambitious manifesto for Cyberspace, the worldwide web’s first iteration. As Barlow envisioned it, cyberspace was a place unsullied by commercial transactions, legal jargon, and government interference. The manifesto’s idea was grand and the language simple. How times have changed. The advent of Web3, the worldwide web’s third iteration, is marked by confusion and mild debate. … Continue reading Web3: More of Web2?

On the cusp of its initial public offering, North America’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has released projections of its performance for this past quarter. They look good. In a press release issued earlier this week, the company stated that it was expecting revenues of $1.8 billion for the first quarter of 2021, a number that is roughly 57% greater than all of its reported revenue … Continue reading Coinbase Expects Record Revenues and User Numbers in Bumper Quarter