Tag: wazirx

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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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SEC Claims All of Ethereum Falls Under US Jurisdiction – Top Crypto Updates

SEC claims all of Ethereum falls under US jurisdiction

The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) claimed that Ethereum transactions take place in the United States as Ethereum nodes are “clustered more densely” in the U.S. than in any other country. The SEC argument is found within a Sept. 19 lawsuit against crypto researcher and YouTuber Ian Balina.

It was alleged that Balina conducted an unregistered offering of Sparkster (SPRK) tokens when he formed an investing pool on Telegram in 2018.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin up 5.6%, ETH rises 6%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $19,502.37, an increase of 5.6% over the previous day. Ethereum is up 6.11% over the last 24 hours to $1,369.76. Solana rose 5.29% to $32.6, while Cardano is trading higher by 3.19% at $0.45. Polkadot (DOT) rose 3.8% to $6.37. The global crypto market cap stands at $937.46 billion, a 4.02% increase over the previous day.

WazirX delists USDC stablecoin

Indian crypto exchange WazirX announced it would delist USD Coin (USDC), Pax Dollar (USDP), and TrueUSD (TUSD). It would auto-convert users’ existing balances on those three stablecoins into BUSD, the stablecoin developed by Binance. The exchange said the move was meant “to enhance liquidity and capital efficiency for users.”

UK Financial Regulator issues consumer warning against FTX

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a consumer warning against crypto exchange FTX for operating within the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom without authorization. FCA stated that firms that have not registered and adhered to the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Transfer of Funds Regulations of 2017 are at risk of being subject to its criminal and civil enforcement powers. 

South Korea requests Interpol’s help in Terraform Labs probe

South Korean prosecutors have asked Interpol to issue a fugitive alert for the founder of Terraform Labs, Do Kwon, as they investigate a $40 billion crash of the firm’s crypto (LUNA). Recently, a court issued arrest warrants for Kwon and five other people connected to Terraform Labs as prosecutors investigate allegations of fraud and financial crimes.

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SEC to Open Digital Asset Office – Top Crypto Updates

Kiev, Ukraine - September 22, 2017: Studio shot of Golden Bitcoins Coins and dollar bills. The Bitcoin was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 as a digital form of money This is a close up photo of several gold plated bitcoins together symbolizing th

SEC to open digital asset office

The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) is planning to launch a new office dedicated to reviewing filings related to digital assets. The Office of Crypto Assets to the Division of Corporation Finance’s Disclosure Review Program (DRP) will be responsible for reviewing the company filings of crypto issuers. The SEC said this move will allow the DRP to “better focus its resources and expertise to address the unique and evolving filing review issues related to crypto assets.”

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin up 1.8%, ETH falls 1%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $21,888.69, an increase of 1.8% over the previous day. Ethereum is down 1.01% over the last 24 hours to $1,740.31. Solana rose 1.75% to $35.05, while Cardano is trading higher by 0.02% at $0.507. Avalanche (AVAX) rose 1% to $20.53. The global crypto market cap stands at $1.06 trillion, a 0.63% increase over the previous day.

ED has unfrozen bank accounts after investigation: WazirX

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has unfrozen crypto trading platform WazirX’s bank accounts. It can now resume banking operations after almost a month. “After an in-depth internal investigation, WazirX noticed that most of the users whose information was sought by ED were already identified as suspicious by WazirX internally and were blocked in 2020-2021,” said the crypto platform in a blog.

ED is conducting investigations on 16 fintech companies to crack down on Chinese loan apps, many of which are suspected of laundering money. Some of them happened to use the WazirX platform. 

Ethereum geared up for The Merge

Ethereum’s much-awaited software update named ‘The Merge’ is just two days away. The update will shift Ethereum’s mechanism to proof-of-stake (PoS) from existing proof-of-work (PoW). According to the Ethereum Foundation, PoS will cut Ethereum’s energy usage by around 99.95%.

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Polygon Founder Launches $50M Web3 Fund – Top Crypto Updates

Polygon founder launches $50 million early-stage Web3 fund

Symbolic Capital, a new crypto-focused venture capital firm headed by Polygon blockchain founder Sandeep Nailwal, has raised $50 million for a fund to invest in early-stage Web3 companies. Investors in the Symbolic fund included a number of crypto industry participants, protocols, exchanges, auditing firms, and venture capitalists.

[Web3 is an idea for a new iteration of the World Wide Web that incorporates concepts such as decentralization and blockchain technologies to give power back to the users in the form of ownership.]

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin falls 1.5%, ETH down 3.1%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $21,399.11, a decline of 1.49% over the previous day. Ethereum is down 3.18% over the last 24 hours to $1,649.8. Solana fell 4.2% to $34.67, while Cardano is trading higher by 3% at $0.479. Avalanche (AVAX) has fallen sharply by 5% to $22.49. The global crypto market cap stands at $1.03 trillion, a 1.89% decline over the previous day.

ED raids 5 premises linked to CoinSwitch Kuber

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) searched five locations linked to crypto platform CoinSwitch Kuber on Thursday. It is the third exchange to be investigated by ED for the alleged diversion of proceeds of crime raised by 365 instant loan apps by offering loans at exorbitant rates of interest.

This comes weeks after the central agency raided the offices of Zanmai Labs, the operating agency of India’s largest crypto exchange WazirX. 

Samsung plans to launch crypto exchange in South Korea by 2023: Report

As per reports, Samsung’s investment arm is eyeing the launch of its own cryptocurrency platform in South Korea. Samsung Securities is one of seven domestic brokerages looking to start operating a crypto exchange in the first half of next year. Talks with local authorities over securing licensing are said to be in advanced stages.

CoinDCX launches DeFi mobile app

Crypto exchange CoinDCX launched Okto, a decentralised finance (DeFi) mobile app aimed at easing the transition of crypto consumers to DeFi. Okto will help users securely navigate DeFi and access thousands of tokens from multiple decentralised exchanges (DEXs) across blockchains with its in-built wallet. It will be available in India within CoinDCX Pro and as a standalone Okto App globally.

Alchemy acquires Ethereum coding platform ChainShot

Blockchain development company Alchemy has acquired ChainShot, an educational platform that helps aspiring Web3 developers enter the crypto space. ChainShot offers courses and an Ethereum developer boot camp that covers blockchain fundamentals. Graduates from ChainShots secure positions at leading blockchain companies and projects, including NFT marketplace OpenSea and security firm OpenZeppelin.

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DeFi Exchange Curve Finance Gets Hacked – Top Crypto Updates

DeFi exchange Curve suffers frontend hack

Decentralized trading platform Curve Finance confirmed reports that its website had suffered a frontend attack on Tuesday. Hackers compromised a Curve website or domain name to redirect users or their transactions to a malicious destination. According to blockchain detective Zachxbt, hackers stole $570,000 in ETH and sent it to the FixedFloat crypto exchange to launder the money.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin falls 3.7%, ETH down 5.4%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $22,043.15, a decline of 3.24% over the previous day. Ethereum fell 5.4% over the last 24 hours to $1,680,34. Solana fell 6.8% to $39.51, while Cardano is trading lower by 4.3% at $0.510. Avalanche (AVAX) declined by 4.1% to $27.33. The global crypto market cap stands at $1.08 trillion, a 3.74% decline over the previous day.

WazirX is an intermediary whose platform was misused: Zanmai Labs

Zanmai Labs (WazirX’s parent company) issued a statement saying that all its users are KYC compliant and WazirX acts like an intermediary whose platform was misused. The firm said it has no affiliation with users who are the subject of an Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) investigation for transactions they carried out on the exchange. The statement comes after Binance removed its off-chain fund transfer channel with Wazirx.

Last week, ED conducted searches on one of the directors of Zanmai Labs and issued a freezing order on its bank accounts. The exchange has been accused of helping 16 fintech companies to divert their alleged proceeds of crime using crypto.

Coinbase posts loss in Q2 as trading volumes fall

Coinbase Global Inc. reported a larger-than-expected quarterly loss for the April-June period (Q2 CY22) as trading volumes fell drastically. Volumes at the crypto exchange fell more than 60% YoY to $217 billion in Q2, with retail participation sinking 68% and institutional trading falling 46%. Coinbase expects trading volumes in the third quarter to be even below that of Q2.

Mercado Libre to expand crypto trading across Latin America

E-commerce firm Mercado Libre plans to expand its crypto trading feature across the region after a successful start in Brazil. In December 2021, users of Mercado Pago (Mercado Libre’s digital wallet) were allowed to buy and sell Bitcoin, Ether, and stablecoin Pax dollar (USDP) in Brazil after integration with the Paxos blockchain infrastructure.

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CFTC May Become Primary Regulator of Crypto Markets – Top Crypto Updates

CFTC may become primary regulator of crypto spot markets

Three different bills have been introduced in the U.S. to empower the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to be the primary regulator of the crypto spot markets. It will lead to more safeguards for consumers, market integrity, and innovation in the digital commodities space. The bill would allow the CFTC to regulate all crypto assets that are not classified as securities by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin, ETH up 3%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $23,754.8, an increase of 3.24% over the previous day. Ethereum rose 3% over the last 24 hours to $1,734.6. Solana rose 6.6% to $42.6, while Cardano is trading higher by 5.1% at $0.542. Avalanche (AVAX) jumped 9.85% to $28.57. The global crypto market cap stands at $1.12 trillion, a 2.91% increase over the previous day.

Crypto, rupee withdrawals being processed normally: WazirX after ED raids

Crypto exchange WazirX said crypto and rupee withdrawals are being processed normally after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided one of its directors and froze bank balances to the tune of Rs 64.67 crore. ED conducted searches on one of the directors of Zanmai Lab Pvt Ltd, which owns WazirX. It has issued the freezing order of Wazirx’s bank balances as part of an ongoing money laundering probe against some fraudulent smartphone-based loan apps backed by Chinese funds.

North Korean hackers behind attempted deBridge Finance attack: Co-Founder

Alex Smirnov, the co-founder of deBridge Finance, reported that his company was the target of an attempted cyberattack by the North Korean Lazarus Group. deBridge provides a cross-chain interoperability and liquidity protocol for transferring data and assets between blockchains. The attack came via a spoofed email received by several deBridge team members that contained a PDF file named “New Salary Adjustments”.

Zipmex to start releasing Bitcoin, Ether for customers

Crypto exchange Zipmex will release Ethereum and Bitcoin tokens this week, allowing 60% of its customers to retrieve their digital assets after a suspension of withdrawals from its Z Wallet product. In July, Zipmex halted withdrawals from Z Wallet, which it said had $53 million worth of cryptocurrencies exposed to Babel Finance and Celsius.

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ED Probing WazirX For Money Laundering – Top Crypto Updates

ED probing WazirX for money laundering of Rs 2,790 crore

Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing alleged money laundering of Rs 2,790 crore through crypto exchange WazirX. An investigation has revealed that Wazirx, operated by Zanmai Labs Pvt Ltd, has been using the walled infrastructure of Cayman Island-based exchange BINANCE. All crypto transactions between these two exchanges were not recorded on the blockchain.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin up 0.9%, ETH rises 3.5%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $23,040.86, an increase of 0.92% over the previous day. Ethereum rose 3.57% over the last 24 hours to $1,635.67. Solana fell 4.72% to $38.67, while Cardano is trading higher by 2.37% at $0.505. Avalanche (AVAX) rose 4.28% to $23.48. The global crypto market cap stands at $1.07 trillion, a 1.71% increase over the previous day.

Solana, USDC drained from wallets in attack

An unknown attacker drained thousands of wallets containing Solana and USDC worth at least $4 million late Tuesday night. The hack seemed to originate on the Solana browser wallet Phantom and is believed to have compromised user keys. “We are working closely with other teams to get to the bottom of a reported vulnerability in the Solana ecosystem,” said Phantom in a tweet. 

Magic Eden expands NFT marketplace to Ethereum

Magic Eden, the most popular NFT marketplace on Solana, will add support for Ethereum this month. The platform will offer “go-to-market” benefits for Ethereum NFT creators, including its popular minting toolkit, whitelisting tools, and marketing support. It is also launching a “cross-currency trading product” to allow users to purchase both Ethereum and Solana NFTs in either blockchain’s native currency.

TaxCryp to launch tax computation platform for crypto investors

TaxCryp Technologies announced the launch of a software as a service (SAAS)-based solution to tackle India’s complicated crypto taxation regime. The software aims to simplify tax computation, compliance, and reporting requirements. India imposed a 30% flat tax on all crypto income from April 1. The govt also introduced a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) on the sale and transfer of crypto assets in excess of Rs 10,000.

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Panama’s President Vetoes Crypto Bill – Top Crypto Updates

Panama’s President vetoes crypto bill

Panama’s President Laurentino Cortizo has partially vetoed a ‘crypto bill’, saying it requires more work to better fit the country’s financial regulations. Cortizo had previously warned that he would not sign the bill unless it included additional Anti-Money Laundering rules. If passed, the new law would allow Panamanians to buy everyday goods with crypto. 

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin down 3%, ETH falls 5%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $21,105.2, a decline of 3.13% over the previous day. Ethereum is down 4.9% over the last 24 hours to $1,111.26. Solana fell 5.68% to $31.69, while Cardano is trading lower by 1.3% at $0.502. Avalanche (AVAX) fell 2.8% to $16.62. The global crypto market cap stands at $901.88 billion, a 4.05% decline over the previous day.

Solana’s new gas fees won’t make the network ‘expensive’: Co-Founder

Solana is planning to launch a new fee prioritization model and other network upgrades aimed at stability. The model will charge an additional fee during times of congestion, but only for on-demand apps and services. Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko has claimed that the model would not punish users with high fees across the entire network.

Crypto exchanges seek meeting with NPCI to restore UPI services

CoinSwitch Kuber, WazirX, CoinDCX, and other top crypto exchanges have written to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), asking them to restore UPI services for crypto players. Members of the Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council have sought a meeting to discuss the regulator’s concerns regarding UPI usage for trade in cryptocurrencies.

Elon Musk, Tesla sued over allegations of running Dogecoin pyramid scheme

Elon Musk has been sued for $258 billion by a Dogecoin investor who accused him of running a pyramid scheme to support the meme coin. In a complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, plaintiff Keith Johnson accused Musk, Tesla Inc, and SpaceX of racketeering. He claims that Musk hyped up Dogecoin and drove up its price, only to let the price tumble later.

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Binance US Sued For Promoting UST, LUNA – Top Crypto Updates

Binance US sued over promoting, selling UST and LUNA

A class-action lawsuit was filed against Binance.US, alleging that the crypto exchange misled consumers about the safety of Terra’s stablecoin UST and native token LUNA. The lawsuit also claims Binance violated federal law by selling UST and LUNA. Plaintiffs noted that the digital assets should have been registered with the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin crashes 12%, ETH down 8.6%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $22,331.84, a decline of 12.13% over the previous day. Ethereum fell 8.6% over the last 24 hours to $1,218.9. Solana is up 8.8% to $30.46, while Cardano is trading higher by 5.6% at $0.492. Avalanche (AVAX) rose 5.27% to $17.07. The global crypto market cap stands at $957.92 billion, a 6.15% decline over the previous day.

NFT floor prices fall amid crypto crash

Values of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are plunging alongside traditional crypto. The floor price (lowest price NFT can be purchased) of the blue-chip NFT Bored Ape Yacht Club has dropped 14% in the last 24 hours. Mutant Ape’s floor price is down 16%. However, NFT trading volume has risen sharply over the past 24 hours, up 54% over the previous period.

WazirX partners with MoEngage to boost customer engagement

WazirX has partnered with insights-led customer engagement platform MoEngage to boost the adoption of Web3 and crypto in India. The crypto trading platform will use AI-driven insights to offer course corrections to its customers whenever needed. WazirX aims to boost its customer onboarding and app promotion with respect to the crypto industry in India.

BlockFi, Crypto.com lay off hundreds as digital coins crash

Crypto trading and lending exchanges BlockFi and crypto.com have laid off hundreds of employees amidst the crash in the crypto markets. BlockFi CEO Zac Prince said that the company is reducing its headcount by roughly 20%. Coinbase has announced slow hiring and reportedly revoked over 300 job offers.

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Crypto Exchanges Block Deposits via State-Backed System – Top Crypto News

Crypto exchanges block deposits via state-backed system

Crypto exchanges CoinSwitch Kuber and WazirX have disabled rupee deposits for the purchase of cryptocurrency using UPI, a state-backed transfer system. The decision follows a statement last week by the National Payments Corporation of India saying it was not aware of any crypto exchange using its United Payments Interface (UPI) framework to conduct transactions.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin up 0.1%, ETH rises 1.3%

Bitcoin is currently trading at $40,148, a 0.1% increase over the previous day. Ethereum is up 1.3% over the last 24 hours to $3,054.84. Solana rose 1.46% to $103.93, while Cardano is trading higher by 0.84% at $0.94. Avalanche (AVAX) rose 0.15% to $77.2. The global crypto market cap stands at $2.03 trillion, a 9.43% increase over the previous day.

Over one-third of Nigerians are invested in Bitcoin, other cryptos: Report

As per a Bitcoin Magazine report, nearly 35% or 33.4 million Nigerian adults have owned or traded Bitcoin or some form of crypto over the past 6 months. The report cited a report ‘Into The Cryptoverse’ released by KuCoin, which looked at the penetration of cryptos in various country demographics. Meanwhile, the Nigerian currency Naira has depreciated 209% over the past six years. More than 37% of crypto investors have entered the space over the past three years.

Crypto firm MoonPay raises $87M from high profile celebs

Crypto payments startup MoonPay has raised $87 million from more than 60 high-profile investors, including singer Justin Bieber, rapper Snoop Dogg, tennis player Maria Sharapova, and actor Bruce Willis. The investments are part of the firm’s Series A round, which valued the company at $3.4 billion. MoonPay provides payment infrastructure for crypto and NFT transactions.

Coinbase loses bid to force arbitration in crypto theft lawsuit

Crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) has lost its bid to force arbitration in a lawsuit over the theft of a user’s crypto worth over $31,000. Abraham Bielski was contacted by a scammer last year claiming to be a PayPal representative. Bielski gave the individual remote access to his Coinbase account from which assets worth $31,039 were transferred.