The Department of Justice for the Eastern District of New York unsealed a criminal complaint on Jan. 5 against Mutant Ape Planet developer Aurelien Michel for defrauding investors. Michel was arrested at JFK Airport on Jan. 4 and will stand before a magistrate within 24 hours. This is the first time such charges have been…
Crypto winter continues to hit the industry from all angles, forcing some of its biggest players to scale back their expansion plans resulting in layoffs. Approximately 23,600 employees lost jobs in the crypto sector as of Dec. 9, 2022. This figure represents the industry’s highest number of layoffs ever recorded within a year. As reported,…
Beleaguered crypto lender Genesis sacked 30% of its workers on Jan. 5, The Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter. Genesis previously laid off 20% of its workforce in August 2022, citing market conditions. In a Jan. 4 statement, the embattled lender’s CEO Derar Islim gave hints about this new development. Islim wrote…
Singaporean crypto exchange Pionex announced that it removed Huobi’s market-making funds from its platform due to the gradually declining trading activity on the exchange. The announcement states: “Huobi Exchange’s trading activity on the platform has gradually decreased in recent months, and Pionex’s security team has also gradually reduced the aggregated market-making funds on the platform…
Officials at Dec. 13-14 FOMC meeting agreed to continue increasing the cost of credit in 2023 but gradually to limit economic growth risks. The FOMC meeting declared: “No participants anticipated that it would be appropriate to begin reducing the federal funds rate target in 2023.” According to the minutes of the meeting, released on January…
Genesis interim CEO Derar Islim pleaded for more time to sort the financial situation of its lending arm, according to a Jan. 4 statement. Islim said the firm was currently involved in “a very complex process that will take some additional time.” He added that the firm remains committed to solving its current situation. Islim…
A new update regarding the Celsius bankruptcy case came on Jan. 4 as Judge Martin Glenn ruled that the funds deposited to Earn Accounts, which amount to $4.2 billion, are the property of Celsius, not the investors. The ruling document states: “The Court concludes, based on Celsius’s unambiguous Terms of Use, and subject to any reserved…
The World Economic Forum (WEF) recently published an article outlining its future vision for crypto. It mentioned JPMorgan and other “major financial institutions” in the context of 180’ing from their initial skepticism on digital assets. While also advocating for “breakthrough technologies” to be handed over to “responsible actors.” “The more enduring approach with all breakthrough…
Crypto startups raised $660 million in VC funding in December 2022 – down 21.5% from November (2022) and 82.5% from December 2021 ($3.76 billion), according to a report by Wu Blockchain. The number of crypto VC public investment projects in December 2022 was 50 – a 23% decline from November 2022 (65 projects) and a…
The Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) is trading at a record-low discount rate of 59%, according to the data shared by the crypto influencer DB. Source: @tier10k The Grayscale trust gathers money from institutions that wish to invest in various cryptocurrencies but want to avoid the challenges of buying, storing, or safekeeping their crypto. The funds…