Coin Hebdo, back to this week’s crypto, NFT, Metaverse & Web3 news. On the program: Bittrex withdraws from the US market, SBF accused of corruption, Kraken x Williams Racing.

Bittrex exchange withdraws from the US market

Bittrex leaves the United States and blames it on Uncle Sam. The exchange cited the lack of clarity of regulatory requirements and their application without proper discussion and input as the main reason for its departure.

Regulatory clarity is an issue for the industry. crypto currencies in the USA. Exchanges such as Coinbase, Kraken and Binance all subject to legal scrutiny by multiple regulators, the sector has called for clear regulations.

However, as an election year approaches, the issue begins to take a political turn and the sector is under attack from American regulators.

The CEO of Galaxy Digital, Michael Novogratzrecently said he thought the operation “Choke Point 2.0” was real. This term is used by some to speculate on the possibility of a broader and coordinated crackdown. Gary Gensler, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said he did not believe additional legislation was needed for the sector.

Bittrex had a market share of nearly 23% at the start of 2018, but it crashed to less than 1% in 2021 and hasn’t recovered since. Bittrex’s decision to leave the country has caused concern among many customers. However, the exchange has assured its customers that their funds are safe and that withdrawals from users who have met verification requirements will be processed until April 30.. The company’s spokesperson said customers outside of the United States would not be affected by the decision.

Learn more: Bittrex Crypto Exchange Ends US Operations

Safemoon Cash Pair Gets Tapped For $9 Million

The Safemoon liquidity pair has been compromised and it appears that almost $9 million has been withdrawn from the liquidity reserve. The hack was made possible by a recent update which may have introduced a bug allowing the hacker to artificially increase the price of SFM tokens using a code function.

The Safemoon community is in shock at the news, but security experts are already working to determine the extent of the damage.

According to Peckshield, a security company, the hacker exploited the bug of ‘burn publicc’, resulting in burning most of the SFM tokens in the pair, causing the price of SFM to rise. The hacker then sold the SFM tokens back to the liquidity pool in the same transaction, which effectively drained the WBNBs from the smart contract.

Safemoon reacted quickly to the hack and is currently taking action to limit the damage.

Sam Bankman-Fried again accused of corruption

The former CEO of FTXSam Bankman-Fried, allegedly bribed one or more Chinese officials to unblock Alameda Research accounts, according to a new indictment in his criminal trial.

The 13-count indictment was released on Tuesday morning. It includes a new count of conspiring to violate the anti-corruption provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. According to the indictment, Sam Bankman-Fried and others allegedly directed and caused the transfer of approximately $40 million in cryptocurrency for the benefit of one or more representatives of the Chinese government.

Bankman-Fried and others have agreed to pay cryptocurrency to one or more foreign officials in China to influence them into unblocking the accounts to help Sam Bankman-FriedAlameda and others to obtain and retain business for Bankman-Fried, Alameda and others, and to direct business to Bankman-Fried, Alameda and others“, states the indictment.

The former boss of FTX has not yet been summoned to appear on five of the 13 counts in the new indictment.

As a reminder, Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested in December 2022, a month after his cryptocurrency exchange was placed under bankruptcy protection. The founder of FTX is accused of mishandling his clients’ funds, among other misdeeds, and could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted on all counts. He has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges and is awaiting trial in October.

Kraken joins forces with F1 team Williams Racing

Kraken, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, has teamed up with Williams Racing to become the team’s first-ever official cryptocurrency and web3.

As part of this partnership, Kraken placed an excerpt from the “whitepaper” of bitcoin on the nose of the Williams Racing car which will take part in the Australian Grand Prix this weekend.

THE White Bookwhich describes a “purely peer-to-peer version of electronic money“, will be affixed to the car to raise the profile of the crypto ecosystem in a sport that attracts billions of viewers during a racing schedule that takes it through 20 countries a year.

According to Mayur Gupta, Marketing Director of Kraken, the presence of the white book of the bitcoin on the Williams car is a symbol of their faith and commitment to the cryptocurrency mission.

“It’s an opportunity to showcase the original document that brought this whole movement to life through a sport watched and loved by hundreds of millions of fans around the world.“said Mr. Gupta.

This initiative is also part of Kraken’s broader efforts to promote the adoption of cryptocurrencies and technology. blockchain. The company plans to give certain holders of NFT Kraken a chance to see their digital collectibles displayed on the rear fender of the Williams Racing car.

Learn more: Kraken becomes official sponsor of the F1 team Williams Racing

Voyager transfers $150 million to Circle

On-chain data shows another step in Voyager Digital’s efforts to get rid of its assets crypto, as the exchange transferred $150 million in USDC stablecoin to Circle.

During the month of February, Voyager transferred approximately $154.4 million USDC from Coinbase to the wallet Ethereum “Travel 1“ company, publicly labeled. Today, it appears that she is trying to convert those funds into US dollars.

However, the regulatory authorities have openly opposed this project. In February, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the New York Department of Financial Services, and the New York State Attorney General all opposed Binance.US’ amended plan to acquire cryptocurrency lender Voyager. , arguing that Voyager’s attempt to sell its cryptocurrency could violate securities laws.

Justin Sun loses diplomatic status

Justin Sunfounder of the Tron blockchain, announced on Friday that his term as Grenada’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is coming to an end. The announcement came just hours after he shared screenshots of an internal recording system and said he remained a diplomat.

“In the coming months, I will focus on the smooth transition of my functions to my successor“, he wrote on Twitter. “Afterwards, I plan to take some time off before continuing my career as a civil servant, with a particular focus on the digital economy and cryptocurrency regulation.“

The Grenada Broadcasting Network reported earlier this week that Sun was stripped of his ambassadorial status sometime after elections were held in June, when the New National Party, which gave Sun the job, was ousted by the National Democratic Congress. Mr. Sun, who introduces himself as “His excellence” on social media, was appointed Ambassador to the WTO by the Government of Grenada in December 2021.

Mr. Sun said he made “significant progress” during his tenure on different fronts, including negotiations and policy advocacy. Recently rumors of the sale of Huobi were reported by Bloomberg who claimed that Justin Sun wanted to sell part of the exchange for an undisclosed sum. The report also claimed that Sun researched potential buyers and had initial conversations with investors.

Learn more: Rumors of sale of Huobi shares: Justin Sun denies

The news in brief:

• Circle’s stablecoin USDC sees its capitalization stock market fall by $10 billion in the last two weeks
• The volume of options on ETH hits its highest level since May before the Shapella update.
• Fetch.ai announces new funding with a valuation of $250 million.
• The Unicorn Ledger concludes a fundraising of 100 million euros.

The article Crypto news for the week of March 27, 2023: Coin Hebdo #91 appeared first on Corner Academy

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