Crypto Currency

BMW and Porsche have both recently ramped up their own Web3 plays, while Baby Shark is dipping into the blockchain gaming sector, but just for kids. Porsche to launch 7,500 NFTs for use in a ‘virtual world’ German luxury car manufacturer Porsche has suggested it will be significantly ramping up its Web3 efforts after unveiling an upcoming NFT project consisting of 7,500 customizable tokenized vehicles. In a Nov. 29 announcement , Porsche stated that the NFTs will be launched in January, and users will be able to customize various aspects of the cars in relation to performance and appearance. The NFT art itself is being designed by designer and 3D artist Patrick Vogel, with all pieces revolving around the famous Porsche 911 model. Notably these virtual assets will be designed in Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 5, suggesting that gaming integrations are afoot. NFT car designs: Porsche The company gave a sneak peek into the project at the Art Basel conference in Miami on Nov. 30. Whil...

Two other associates that helped run the U.S.-based fraudulent crypto platform EmpiresX left the country early this year and are believed to be in Brazil. One of the leading figures convicted of being behind the $100 million crypto “Ponzi” scheme, EmpiresX, has just been handed an over four-year jail sentence by a United States court. The sentencing was handed to Joshua David Nicholas, the “head trader” of purported crypto platform EmpiresX, who is nowset to serve a 51-month prison sentence along with three years of supervised release for his role in the fraudulent scheme. It follows a Sept. 8 guilty plea from Nicholas for conspiracy to commit securities fraud. According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), over a two-year period, Nicholas made claims the platform would make daily “guaranteed” returns using a trading bot that utilized “artificial and human intelligence” to maximize returns. In reality, the “bot” was fake, and Nicolas and his associates, Emerson Pires and Flavio...

Despite Facebook’s new name, focus and billions in investment, the metaverse will emerge drastically different from its vision. In changing the name of its parent company to Meta , Facebook put a stake in the ground: It would be the symbol of the evolution of the internet, the metaverse. Whether we liked it or not. According to Meta, the metaverse is “a set of digital spaces to socialize, learn, play and more.” Its first true attempt came in the form of Horizon Worlds, a virtual reality universe so lifeless and devoid of content that it has people asking if the metaverse is a step forward or backward. Thankfully, it won’t matter. The metaverse , a term from long before Facebook existed, is happening. Its potential and draw are found in existing places — games like Fortnite, platforms like Roblox and online hubs like Discord. There will be no launch of the metaverse, no switch that turns it on. You’ve been experiencing parts of it whether you’ve realized it or not. More and more of...

Investors in the round included Ripple, SIX Fintech Ventures, and Middlegame Ventures. Digital asset market maker Keyrock has raised $72 million in a Series B round of funding, according to an announcement on Nov. 30. Ripple, SIX Fintech Ventures, and Middlegame Ventures are among the investors in the round. Funds are planned to be used on Keyrock infrastructure development, scalability tools, as well as regulatory licensing across Europe, the United States and Singapore. Keyrock CEO Kevin de Patoul said the company has been focused on a long-term perspective for its business in the past five years. He also noted that: “The new round of funding allows us to expand on that and dramatically accelerate executing our vision to provide liquidity solutions for all digital assets. By doubling down on our focus on clients and scalability, we will be looking to expand into new markets with targeted services.” Founded in 2017, Keyrock was also co-founded by Jeremy de Groodt and Juan David ...

Although the TradeLens platform will officially go offline in Q1 2023, Maersk said it's not given up its effort to digitize the supply chain industry. United States technology company IBM and Danish logistics firm Maersk have decided to discontinue their co-developed blockchain-backed supply chain platform, TradeLens, citing a lack of “global industry collaboration” as a key reason behind the decision. Maersk stated on Nov. 29 that it has begun taking immediate action to cease operations on the platform which should take full effect by Q1 2023: “The TradeLens team is taking action to withdraw the offerings and discontinue the platform [...] During this process all parties involved will ensure that customers are attended to without disruptions to their businesses.” While the blockchain-based shipping solution was introduced by the two firms in August 2018 to help industry participants adopt more efficient international supply chain practices, Maersk stated the platform didn’t...

Cybercriminals will flock to the Metaverse next year to prey on unsuspecting virtual world participants according to a report by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky. Malware, ransomware attacks and phishing are not the only scourges of the crypto industry as the Metaverse could become a big target next year, according to cybersecurity experts. In its “Consumer Cyberthreats: Predictions for 2023” report on Nov. 28, cybersecurity firm Kaspersky forewarned that there will be greater exploitation of the Metaverse due to lacking data protection and moderation rules. Kaspersky acknowledged there are currently only a handful of metaverse platforms, but the number of metaverses is set to expand in the coming years and the market could even top $50 billion by 2026 . That expansion will entice cyber criminals to the ecosystem seeking to exploit unwitting virtual world participants. “As the metaverse experience is universal and does not obey regional data protection laws, such as GDPR, this might ...

It comes after months of window shopping by CrossTower as crypto companies are still looking to expand despite the crypto market downturn. Cryptocurrency exchange CrossTower Inc has agreed to buy digital asset trading platform BEQUANT, which comes after months of window shopping by CrossTower for crypto companies, including a recently revised offer for Voyager Digital's assets. The Nov. 28 acquisition agreement will provide CrossTower with over 600 new professional exchange clients in addition to its existing clientele. The incoming clients are based across the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America and are collectively making over $400 billion annually. The purchase agreement comes as CrossTower CEO Kapil Rathi stated on Nov. 24 that CrossTower has long been on the lookout to buy digital asset companies with a “good set of customers” and a “good balance sheet,” which included a second look at the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency lending platform Voyager, who is back on t...

The former FTX CEO has explained why the exchange only reopened withdrawals for Bahamian citizens shortly after it filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 10. FTX’s former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has divulged what really went on in the days before it filed for bankruptcy when the exchange selectively reopened withdrawals — only for Bahamian users.  In a telephone interview with crypto blogger Tiffany Fong, dated Nov. 16, Bankman-Fried claims to have made the decision to reopen withdrawals to Bahamian citizens as he did not want himself, nor the exchange, to be in a country “with a lot of angry people in it.” “The reason I did it was it was critical to the exchange being able to have a future because that’s where I am right now, and you do not want to be in a country with a lot of angry people in it and you do not want your company to be incorporated in a country with a lot of angry people in it,” he said. Bankman-Fried claims he gave Bahamian securities regulators a “one-day heads up” tha...

Speculative investing led people to FTX. Now that we’ve seen the consequences, let’s hope they start looking for value-based propositions. The FTX collapse marks more than just the failure of another crypto exchange. It signals the time has come for the industry to grow up and embrace value. The value schism is here.  FTX was the world’s second-largest crypto exchange. Now, it is a meme for the death rattle of absurd amounts of money being poured into refurbished centralized business models whitewashed in faux decentralization. As legendary investor Warren Buffet famously said, “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.” It seems there were more than a few nude bathers in this last cycle. But we’ve seen this before, right? Actually, not quite. Bitcoin ( BTC ) emerged at the start of the longest financial market bull run in history. The industry it spawned proliferated, literally, in the best of times. But all good things must end. Crypto is now fac...

Taran’s death is the third to shake the crypto world in recent weeks, following Amber Group’s Tiantian Kullander and MakerDao’s Nikolai Mushegian. Russian billionaire Vyacheslav Taran, president of Libertex Group and founder of Forex Club, died Nov. 25 in a helicopter crash in France while en route from Lausanne to Monaco, Switzerland. He was 53. The helicopter pilot, the only other person aboard the craft, also died. Libertex has confirmed Taran’s death, stating: “It is with great sadness that Libertex Group confirms the death of its co-founder and Chairman of Board of Directors, Vyacheslav Taran, after a helicopter crash that took place en route to Monaco on Friday, 25 November 2022.” Taran, who was trained as a radio engineer, founded the foreign exchange trading platform Forex Club in Russia in 1997. Forex Club became one of the three leading exchanges in the country before the Russian Central Bank closed it and a number of other exchanges in December 2018 for irregularities...

The chief economist said the Supervisor of Financial Service Providers and the Israel Securities Authority should be granted more powers to oversee the industry. Israel's chief economist has laid out a list of recommendations as to how policymakers should tackle digital asset laws in the country in order to safely drive up crypto adoption. In a 109-page report  submitted to the Minister of Finance on Nov. 28, Shira Greenberg, Chief Economist at the Ministry of Finance, called for a more comprehensive regulatory framework that would bring trading platforms and crypto issuers in line and would expand the powers given to its financial regulators.  Greenberg recommended Israel should improve investor certainty and protection by imposing stricter licensing requirements on trading platforms and issuers of cryptocurrencies, as well as ensuring funds originating from digital assets are more safely managed. She also recommended the Supervisor of Financial Service Providers ha...

BlockFi is demanding Bankman-Fried’s investment company turn over its shares in Robinhood as collateral it agreed to pay as part of a pledge agreement. Newly-bankrupt crypto lending platform BlockFi has filed a lawsuit against Sam Bankman-Fried’s holding company Emergent Fidelity Technologies seeking his shares in Robinhood that were pledged as collateral earlier in November. The suit was filed on Nov. 28 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey just hours after BlockFi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the same court. As per the filing, BlockFi is demanding Emergent turnover collateral as part of a Nov. 9 pledge agreement that saw Emergent agree to a payment schedule with BlockFi that it has allegedly failed to pay. BlockFi names the collateral as “including certain shares of common stock.” In May, Bankman-Fried acquired a 7.6% stake in the online brokerage firm Robinhood, buying a total of $648 million in Robinhood shares through his Emergent inve...

Mainstream media outlets just can’t seem to stop drooling over the disgraced FTX founder. Nearly three weeks have passed since FTX founder Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried announced that his exchange was facing a deep liquidity crisis, was unable to find a last-minute bailout, and was forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The insolvency impacted millions of investors, leaving many portfolios completely wiped out. Bankman-Fried has openly admitted that FTX loaned customer deposits to Alameda Research, FTX’s sister hedge fund, although he has characterized this as a mistake that was caused by “confusing internal labeling.” FTX’s terms of service explicitly state that customer funds will never be lent to other financial institutions or used by FTX for proprietary trades. Sam publicly stated in a now-deleted tweet, “We don’t invest client assets (even in treasuries).” The broader crypto markets have bled red in response, and other industry stalwarts now face insolvency risk with the contagi...

Bankruptcies, shrinking profit margins and traders realizing hefty losses are all signs of capitulation from various market participants. Being three weeks removed from the FTX collapse, Bitcoin ( BTC ) analysts are combing through data to decipher whether more selling will continue or if a bear market floor has been reached.  One thing miners, short-term and long-term holders have in common is they are losing in the Bitcoin market right now. According to on-chain analysis from Glassnode, the scale of both realized and unrealized losses amongst Bitcoin holders is one of the heaviest capitulation events in BTC’s history. Capitulation is hindering all groups from the increasing number of bankruptcies and dwindling miner revenue. Bitcoin’s realized losses fourth largest on record while unrealized losses increase November recorded $10.8 billion in 7-day realized losses for Bitcoin. The largest recorded realized loss in Bitcoin’s history is June 2022 when $19.8 billion was recor...

Former AAX executive Ben Caselin said that his role in the firm became hollow and that the trust in the brand is broken. Weeks after the AAX exchange started halting its withdrawals, its vice president for global marketing and communications announced that he has resigned from his role at the cryptocurrency exchange.  In a Twitter thread, Ben Caselin confirmed that he has left the firm and highlighted reasons as to why he decided to leave his post at the crypto exchange. According to Caselin, despite his efforts in fighting for the community, the initiatives that they came up with were not accepted. The executive described that his role in communications became “hollow.” The former AAX executive also expressed his disagreement with the way that AAX is handling the issue. Caselin described the actions of the exchange as “without empathy” and “overly opaque.” In the midst of the withdrawal halt, the former executive also highlighted that many people, including some of his famil...

In November, the crypto community investigated and found SBF guilty of manipulating and misappropriating users’ funds, ultimately leading to the fall of the empire built around FTX. The fall of FTX seemingly had the biggest impact on the crypto ecosystem as Google searches for the CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) hit the roof over in November 2022. Some of the biggest drivers for this trend include mainstream media attention, colossal losses and political ties. On Nov. 2, SBF lost his credibility after his company Alameda Research was found holding a large amount of FTX Token ( FTT ), an asset issued by FTX. Over the following two weeks, the crypto community investigated and found SBF guilty of manipulating and misappropriating users’ funds, ultimately leading to the fall of the empire of roughly 130 companies built by SBF. On the one hand, the crypto community openly criticized SBF and his accomplices, including Caroline Ellison. But, on the other hand, mainstream media published ‘puf...

The fall of FTX appears to have brought back certain crypto "villains” out from hiding, one even wants to start a new podcast series. Three Arrows Capital co-founder Su Zhu looks like he may be attempting a comeback amid the fallout over FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried — seen by some as the crypto industry’s newest supervillain. After months of radio silence, Su Zhu remerged on Twitter on Nov. 9, the day after FTX revealed it was suffering from a “liquidity crunch.” As the FTX saga has unfolded, Zhu has continued to post on Twitter, offering sage advice through poetic metaphors, while tweeting veiled criticism of Sam Bankman-Fried and his handling of FTX. That being a better swimmer led to her death felt bizarre yet obvious The better she could swim the more she underestimated nature, how the difference between people is like the difference between grains of sand, just as theres no mighty grain there is also no mighty person — Zhu Su (@zhusu) November 10, 2022 In his latest ...