Tag: celsius

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WazirX Lays Off 60+ Employees – Top Crypto Updates

WazirX lays off 40% of its employees: Report

Indian crypto exchange WazirX has laid off several employees, the company said in a statement shared with CoinDesk. Around 50-70 employees, or 40% of the exchange’s workforce of 150, were laid off amid adverse economic conditions, the ongoing crypto winter, and India’s anti-cryptocurrency stand. WazirX’s daily trading volumes have been declining from a one-year high of 478 million in October 2021 to 1.5 million in October 2022.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin falls 0.4%, ETH down 1.6%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $19,203.16, a decline of 0.45% over the previous day. Ethereum is down 1.61% over the last 24 hours to $1,292.03. Solana fell 1.9% to $32.23, while Cardano is trading lower by 2.1% at $0.422. Avalanche (AVAX) fell 2.4% to $16.61. The global crypto market cap stands at $926.71 billion, a 1.01% decline over the previous day.

Coinbase suffers ‘major outage’ for customers with US bank accounts

Leading crypto exchange Coinbase paused transactions for users in the US due to technical issues. In a tweet, the company said users were unable to take payments or make withdrawals involving US bank accounts. It identified the issue as a problem with “ACH withdrawals, deposits, and buys failures.” Automated Clearing House Network (ACH) is a system used for transferring funds electronically in the U.S. between bank accounts. The issue has now been rectified.

Celsius ex-CEO withdrew $10M before it froze customer accounts: Report

According to a Financial Times report, Alex Mashinsky, who resigned as CEO of Celsius on Sept. 27, allegedly withdrew $10 million from the crypto exchange in May. This was just weeks before the crypto lending company filed for bankruptcy and froze withdrawals in June. A spokesperson for the ex-CEO said he “withdrew a percentage of crypto in his account, much of which was used to pay state and federal taxes.”

Read more here.

Crypto banking platform Juno raises $18M in Series A funding

Crypto digital banking firm Juno has raised $18 million in a Series A funding round to expand products and operations. It also plans to launch its first tokenized loyalty program. This round was led by ParaFi Capital’s Growth Fund and included well-known crypto industry figures from Coinbase, Polygon, and Messari.

Juno is a digital banking platform that encourages users to spend crypto in their everyday transactions. Its flagship product, the Juno card, allows users to transact with Circle’s stablecoin USDC.

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India Drops Two Rankings in Global Crypto Adoption Index – Top Crypto Updates

Antalya, Turkey - May 21, 2021: Close up shot of Bitcoin and alt coins cryptocurrency

India drops two rankings in global crypto adoption index

According to crypto analysis platform Chainalysis, India has fallen two slots to the fourth place in a list of 20 countries with the highest crypto adoption rate. This is primarily due to crypto tax and regulatory uncertainty. Vietnam continued to remain at the top spot, followed by the Philippines and Ukraine. The United States moved up to fifth in the 2022 Global Crypto Adoption Index Top 20.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin falls 2.6%, ETH crashes 10%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $19,772.6, a decline of 2.6% over the previous day. Ethereum is down sharply by 10.2% over the last 24 hours to $1,473.45. Solana fell 5% to $32.91, while Cardano is trading lower by 2.6% at $0.467. Avalanche (AVAX) fell 5.1% to $18.21. The global crypto market cap stands at $963.11 billion, a 3.41% decline over the previous day.

Epic Games Store launches first NFT game

Epic Games Store has launched its first non-fungible token (NFT) powered Web3 game called Blankos Block Party. It lets users play and collaborate in a colorful online world, and is inspired by designer/vinyl toy culture. NFTs are used in the game to represent unique items like avatar designs and accessories. These NFTs can be bought and sold through the game’s marketplace. 

Ethereum energy usage, carbon footprint down 99.99% after merge: Report

Ethereum’s merge was successfully completed overnight. A report from the Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute (CCRI) says that the network has cut its energy usage and carbon footprint by approximately 99.99% each. Ethereum’s estimated annual CO2 emissions have declined from over 11 million tonnes to just under 870 tonnes.

Celsius files for permission to sell stablecoin holdings

Crypto lending firm Celsius Network has asked the court for authorization to sell its stablecoin holdings in order to generate liquidity to help fund its operations. The company is currently undergoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Celsius filed for bankruptcy in July, and is currently before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

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Binance US Launches High-Yield ETH Staking – Top Crypto Updates

Binance US launches high-yield Ethereum staking

Binance US is the latest major crypto exchange to launch Ethereum staking on its platform. Users can now stake the second-largest crypto by market cap and earn rewards at a starting rate of 6% annual percentage yield (APY). The company’s competitors Lido and Coinbase currently offer 3.5% and 3.25% APY, respectively, on staked ETH.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin up 2.4%, ETH rises 7%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $19,255.34, an increase of 2.4% over the previous day. Ethereum is up 7.04% over the last 24 hours to $1,626.24. Solana rose 4.32% to $32.44, while Cardano is trading higher by 2.39% at $0.474. Uniswap (UNI) rose 4.3% to $6.10. The global crypto market cap stands at $975.66 billion, a 3.75% increase over the previous day.

Celsius has been insolvent since 2019: Vermont Regulator

Vermont state officials have asked for broader powers to investigate Celsius. They have alleged that the troubled crypto exchange artificially inflated the price of its CEL token at the expense of retail investors going back over three years. “Excluding the company’s Net Position in CEL, liabilities would have exceeded its assets since at least February 28, 2019,” said Vermont assistant general counsel Ethan McLaughlin.

Voyager Digital to auction off assets next week

Bankrupt crypto broker Voyager Digital will auction off its remaining assets next week (Sept 13). Around 22 parties were in meaningful discussions to place a bid for Voyager’s assets as of early August, according to the group’s legal team. Voyager has also been working to return some money to customers. On August 5, the New York bankruptcy court handling the case approved a proposal to return $270 million to affected customers.

GameStop partners with crypto marketplace FTX

GameStop Corp announced a partnership with crypto exchange FTX US to increase its presence in the cryptocurrency space. The company will start selling FTX gift cards at some of its stores as part of the partnership. Earlier this year, GameStop launched a digital wallet and said it would enable transactions in a marketplace it is building for gamers to buy, sell, and trade non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Crypto lender Nexo introduces spot, futures trading

Crypto lender Nexo has launched a spot, margin, and futures trading platform for retail clients with the launch of Nexo Pro. The platform aims to offer retail clients access to institutional-grade aggregated liquidity with no minimum funding requirement. The product has been rolled out to the five million Nexo clients with up to a 50% discount on standard fees.

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Thailand Tightens Rules on Crypto Advertising – Top Crypto Updates

Thailand tightens rules on crypto advertising 

Thailand’s Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) has rolled out new rules on advertising for crypto companies after the industry has come under greater scrutiny from authorities. Crypto firms have to clearly show investment risks in advertisements and provide a balanced view of potential risk and returns. Information of advertising terms must also be given to regulators.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin up 0.8%, ETH rises 3.1%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $20,100.41, an increase of 0.8% over the previous day. Ethereum is up 3.15% over the last 24 hours to $1,592.06. Solana rose 1.62% to $31.59, while Cardano is trading higher by 2.9% at $0.459. Polygon (MATIC) jumped 6.6% to $0.883. The global crypto market cap stands at $984.34 billion, a 1.32% increase over the previous day.

Celsius seeks to return some customer funds in court filing

Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius said in a court filing that it would seek to return some of its customers’ funds. The company wanted to release nearly $50 million in digital assets belonging to customers who were a part of the “custody” program— accounts that stored crypto but did not generate returns. Customers of the custody program owned their assets, while customers using the Celsius “earn” or “borrow” programs had invested their assets expecting a return. 

Helium crashes 15% following proposed move to Solana

Helium’s HNT has lost significant value since developers proposed a plan to move the network over to Solana. HNT is down 32% over the past week and 47% in the last 30 days. This could indicate that investors and users may not be fully onboard with the ambitious plan.

Compass Mining to shut down Georgie mines, citing high energy costs

Compass Mining, a Bitcoin (BTC) mining rig service, was notified that the owner of lucrative mining hubs 2 and 3 located in Georgia would shut down amid rising energy costs. Since Compass sells Bitcoin mining hardware and contracts for facilities, it did not have an influence over the decision.

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Celsius Countersues KeyFi for ‘Gross Mismanagement’ – Top Crypto Updates

Celsius countersues KeyFi for ‘gross mismanagement’

Crypto lending platform Celsius filed a countersuit in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Tuesday against Jason Stone and his company KeyFi. In the filing, Celsius alleges Stone falsely represented himself as a pioneer and expert in coin staking and decentralized finance (DeFi) investments. The countersuit alleges KeyFi stole millions of dollars in coins from Celsius-controlled wallets and transferred them to wallets that they owned.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin up 0.2%, ETH rises 1.6%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $21,322.51, an increase of 0.18% over the previous day. Ethereum is up 1.69% over the last 24 hours to $1,627.57. Solana fell 0.21% to $34.90, while Cardano is trading higher by 0.74% at $0.456. Polkadot (DOT) is up 1.2% to $7.5. The global crypto market cap stands at $1.02 trillion, a 0.69% increase over the previous day.

Coinbase to cut costs, focus on subscriptions

Coinbase is cutting costs and shifting its revenue model, said CEO Brian Armstrong. He wants the crypto exchange to move away from trading fees as its main source of revenue. While such fees bring in revenue during bull markets, cash flow dries up when bearish sentiment takes hold.

In other news, a Coinbase customer is suing the exchange for $5 million for failing to properly secure customers’ accounts and “flouting” federal securities laws.

Metaverse, NFT Tokens have crashed more than 20% this week

Gaming and NFT-related cryptos, including Flow (FLOW), Axie Infinity (AXS), Decentraland (MANA), and Gala (GALA), have posted severe losses over the past week. FLOW, the token powering everything on the layer-1 blockchain flow, has fallen more than 23% over the past week.

The primary reason behind the bearish price action across the market can be linked to calls for further interest rate hikes in September. 

Nearly 15% of Indians traded in crypto in last six months: KuCoin Survey

As per a KuCoin Survey, over 115 million crypto investors in India either hold crypto or have traded crypto in the past six months, accounting for 15% of the Indian population aged 18 to 60 years. Despite the government’s stance on digital assets and the levying of a 30% tax on income from digital assets, the Indian crypto market is expected to reach $241 million by 2030, the report said.

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BlackRock Launches Spot Bitcoin Private Trust – Top Crypto Updates

BlackRock launches Spot Bitcoin Private Trust

BlackRock has launched a Spot Bitcoin Private Trust to offer its U.S.-based institutional clients direct exposure to the most popular cryptocurrency. The company said it is seeing “substantial interest” from some of its institutional clients in accessing crypto markets through its technology. The asset manager is also exploring permissioned blockchains, stablecoins, crypto-assets, and tokenization.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin falls 2%, ETH up 0.2%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $23,970.84, a decline of 2.16% over the previous day. Ethereum rose 0.2% over the last 24 hours to $1,891.01. Solana fell 2.43% to $43.36, while Cardano is trading lower by 0.5% at $0.534. Avalanche (AVAX) fell 2.23% to $28.9. The global crypto market cap stands at $1.15 trillion, a 0.99% decline over the previous day.

Creditors move to block Celsius from selling mined Bitcoin

Celsius Network’s unsecured creditors have been pressing the company on potential misconduct by the company and its insiders. During a hearing in the bankruptcy proceeding on August 12, the committee moved to block Celsius’s attempts to sell some of its mined cryptos. On Monday, the committee of unsecured creditors filed a statement calling out “empty and false promises” Celsius’ CEO Alex Mashinsky made days before the company froze customer assets.

ED freezes Vauld’s assets worth Rs 390 crore

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) froze assets worth Rs 370 crore of crypto exchange Vauld. The company is going through a financial strain as it halted all withdrawals and deposits on its platform last month. This development comes days after ED froze nearly Rs 65 crores worth of bank assets belonging to WazirX‘s director Sameer Mhatre in connection with a money laundering investigation.

In other news, Bitbns’ withdrawals in Indian Rupees have been delayed as law enforcement officers have blocked its bank account.

CoinSwitch to fund Web 3.0 startups

Crypto exchange CoinSwitch has introduced a Web3 Discovery Fund with an initial capital of $10 million to back early-stage startups. The fund will curate portfolio startups and provide single-window access to marquee investor partners, including Tiger Global, Ribbit Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and Sequoia Capital India.

[Web 3.0 is the upcoming third generation of the internet. Websites and apps will be able to process data through machine learning (ML), Big Data, decentralized ledger technology (DLT), etc.

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Celsius Lays Out Mining-Focused Reorganisation Plan – Top Crypto Updates

Celsius lays out mining-focused reorganisation plan

Crypto lender Celsius has half a million creditors owed more than $5 billion, said the company’s attorneys during its first bankruptcy hearing. News of Celsius’ liquidity crisis broke on June 12, when it paused all customer withdrawals due to “extreme market conditions.” Celsius is betting big on its crypto mining operation to help fill the $1.2 billion hole in the company’s balance sheet.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin down 0.45%, ETH falls 0.1%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $21,830.81, a decline of 0.44% over the previous day. Ethereum fell 0.1% over the last 24 hours to $1,522.15. Solana fell 0.18% to $43.32, while Cardano is trading lower by 0.01% at $0.473. Avalanche (AVAX) rose 0.17% to $23.52. The global crypto market cap stands at $1.01 trillion, a 0.09% increase over the previous day.

Bankrupt Three Arrows Capital owes $3.5B to creditors

Three Arrows Capital (3AC) owes a whopping $3.5 billion to 27 different companies, including Blockchain.com, Voyager Digital, and Genesis Global Trading. The details come from affidavits describing details of the bankruptcy and liquidation of the crypto hedge fund. 3AC failed to repay loans and missed multiple margin calls with lenders.

Argentinian exchange Buenbit launches crypto loans

Argentina-based crypto exchange Buenbit has launched a local currency loan product that uses crypto as collateral. Users will be able to use MakerDAO’s stablecoin (DAI) as collateral and withdraw up to one million nuARS, a stablecoin tied to the Argentine Pesos. The product is the first of its kind in Latin America.

Crypto startup funding falls by 26% in H1 2022: Report

As per a report by Crunchbase, investments in startups focusing on the crypto industry fell nearly 26% to US$9.3 billion across 534 deals in the first half of 2022. The drop in crypto startup funding mirrors a global pullback across sectors amid falling stock markets and asset prices.

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Bitbns Launches ‘Zero TDS’ on SIP Investments – Top Crypto Updates

Bitbns introduces ‘zero TDS’ on SIP investments

Crypto exchange Bitbns has announced zero tax deducted at source (TDS) on its systematic investment plans (SIP) on crypto investments. The initiative aims to remove the taxation burden from investors while encouraging them to undertake SIPs. SIPs will help leverage the benefits of rupee cost averaging to counter volatility. Investors availing of SIP for a minimum of 12 months can now invest seamlessly without paying TDS.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin, ETH up 1%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $19,692.37, an increase of 0.99% over the previous day. Ethereum rose 0.7% over the last 24 hours to $1,064.25. Solana rose 0.6% to $33.44, while Cardano is trading higher by 0.8% at $0.426. XRP rose 1% to $0.318. The global crypto market cap stands at $873.39 billion, a 0.55% decline over the previous day.

Celsius recovers over $400M in staked Ethereum collateral from Aave loan

Struggling crypto lending platform Celsius has nearly cleared all of its outstanding DeFi debt after recovering 400,000 collateralized Staked Ethereum (stETH) from its loan on Aave. The withdrawal amounts to $415 million in crypto that’s been saved from the risk of liquidation— almost a tenth of the asset’s $4.4 billion market cap. The latest move brings Celsius’ total debt across decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols down to just $59 million.

Solana NFT Marketplace Magic Eden Launches Gaming Venture Arm

Magic Eden, the largest NFT marketplace in the Solana ecosystem, has launched a Web3 gaming investment arm. It aims to make strategic investments and onboard developers into Web3 via Magic Eden’s infrastructure. Eden Games has partnered with the makers of several Solana games to power in-game NFT marketplaces.

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DeFi Giant Aave Plans to Launch its Own Stablecoin – Top Crypto Updates

DeFi giant Aave plans to launch its own stablecoin

Decentralised finance (DeFi) protocol Aave is planning to launch its own stablecoin. It has created an Aave Request for Comments (ARC) for a new decentralized, collateral-backed stablecoin native to the Aave ecosystem known as GHO. The proposal for a new stablecoin is now in the hands of the community of AAVE token holders that vote on decisions that affect the protocol’s future.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin jumps 7%, ETH up 5.9%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $21,831.41, an increase of 7% over the previous day. Ethereum rose 5.94% over the last 24 hours to $1,243. Solana rose 2.53% to $37.52, while Cardano is trading higher by 2.3% at $0.476. Avalanche (AVAX) rose 5.4% to $20. The global crypto market cap stands at $961.4 billion, a 4.92% increase over the previous day.

Reddit to launch NFT avatars built on Polygon

Reddit will launch a new Collectibles Avatar marketplace leveraging non-fungible tokens (NFTs) hosted on Polygon’s blockchain. The website will partner with independent artists to create unique avatars that Reddit users can buy for a fixed price and customize with gear. The purchase of these avatars gives owners a license to use the artwork on Reddit and other platforms. 

Celsius accused of fraud in lawsuit by ex-employee

A former investment manager at Celsius Network filed a lawsuit against the crypto lender, saying it used customer deposits to rig the price of its own crypto token and failed to properly hedge risk. These actions had allegedly caused Celsius to freeze customer assets. The complaint said Celsius ran a Ponzi scheme to benefit itself through “gross mismanagement of customer deposits”.

DeFi lender Teller launches ‘buy now pay later’ feature for NFTs

Teller Finance, a DeFi lending platform, has launched a new feature allowing a ‘buy now pay later’ (BNLP) for NFT projects. Teller has extended this feature for Bored Ape Yacht Club, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, Moonbirds, Doodles, Cool Cats, etc. Teller’s NFT BNLP service is called “Ape Now, Pay Later” and is built on the Polygon network.

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Celsius Freezes All Withdrawals, Transfers – Top Crypto Updates

Celsius crashes 70% in 1 hour after firm halts withdrawals

Controversial crypto lender Celsius announced it was pausing all customer withdrawals, swaps, and transfers on Sunday night. “We are taking this necessary action for the benefit of our entire community in order to stabilize liquidity and operations while we take steps to preserve and protect assets,” the company said in a statement.

The company’s CEL token crashed 70% in one hour after the announcement.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin falls 7.7%, ETH down 8.5%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $25,324.91, a decline of 7.72% over the previous day. Ethereum fell 8.57% over the last 24 hours to $1,330.21. Solana crashed 11.78% to $28.3, while Cardano is trading lower by 8,73% at $0.464. Avalanche (AVAX) plumetted 12.1% to $16.18. The global crypto market cap stands at $1.02 trillion, a 6.93% decline over the previous day.

Crypto investors have resorted to a massive sell-off amid fears of high inflation.

Helium to launch new tokens to scale 5G in multi-network expansion

The Helium Network has announced a model expansion to address the demand for unlimited wireless protocols. It will launch new MOBILE and IOT tokens as it expands its crypto-powered wireless network. The token-incentivized network may also expand to include additional decentralized protocols.

Helium rewards crypto to users for deploying hotspots and providing network coverage. It has launched over 848,000 hotspots in 176 countries. 

Accepting crypto payments a priority for majority of US retailers: Deloitte

A survey by Deloitte found over 85% of U.S. merchants prioritize enabling crypto payments, while ~83% do the same for stablecoins. Around 87% of merchants believe accepting crypto payments can provide a competitive edge in the market. Most retailers expect a significant increase in interest in using digital currencies for payments. Nearly 75% of them aim to enable crypto and stablecoin payments over the next two years.