The biggest news in the Cryptoverse on January 18th was rumors circulating suggesting that Genesis was preparing a pre-packaged bankruptcy filing. Meanwhile, Ethereum developer ConsenSys has announced it will lay off about 11% of its workforce.
eElsewhere, Hong Kong-based exchange Bitlavo has been seized, the Bank of Spain has approved a euro-pegged stablecoin, the SEC has ramped up cryptocurrency trading, and Coinbase has suspended operations in Japan. Tucker Carlson suggests that Bitcoin price spikes may be due to demand for ransomware. Additionally, a study on Bitcoin spot-to-future ratios.
CryptoSlate Top Stories
Genesis is rumored to be preparing to file for bankruptcy as soon as next week
Digital Currency Group (DCG)-owned institutional trading platform Genesis Trading is reportedly preparing a “pre-packaged” bankruptcy filing for its creditors.
January 18, Bloomberg report, “Genesis Global Capital is laying the groundwork for a bankruptcy filing earlier this week.” The news clarifies the timeline for creditors to be repaid. But on January 17, he said DCG investors stopped paying dividends, which was perhaps the most important indicator that things were dire within the group.
ConsenSys CEO Confirms Layoffs, Company Focuses on Scaling Core Products
ConsenSys CEO Joseph Lupine said in a Jan. 18 email: letter The company, which is focusing on expanding its core products, will furlough 96 employees, or 11% of its workforce, to “adapt to a difficult and uncertain market.”
CEO said: Each affected employee will be notified by their manager today. “
The CEO said ConsenSys will offer a “generous package” to help laid-off employees. This includes tenure-based retirement packages, extended option exercise periods from 12 to 36 months, customized placement assistance, and medical benefits in certain jurisdictions.
Hong Kong exchange Bitzlato seized.founder arrested
Anatoly Legkodymov, founder of Hong Kong-registered cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato, was arrested in Miami on Wednesday for running an unregistered money transfer business that flouted anti-money laundering laws and facilitated illegal fund transfers. The U.S. Department of Justice said he was indicted on suspicion of announced January 18th.
Russian citizen Reg Kodimov was a majority shareholder in Biturat and controlled the exchange.
Additionally, French authorities working with Europol, as well as authorities in Spain, Portugal, and Cyprus, dismantled Bitzlato’s digital infrastructure.
Spanish Central Bank Approves Digital Euro Token EURM
El Banco de España (Spanish Central Bank) Licensed Testing of the digital euro token EURM.
The token was issued by Spanish fintech company Monei and was developed within the central bank’s digital “sandbox” program.
Spanish news site Cinco Dias report The project should initially be limited to a small group of test applicants. The applicant must enter a phone number, go through her video-based KYC process, and then load traditional euros into his wallet digitally through Spanish payment app Bizum.
SEC Crypto Enforcement Action to Increase by 50% in 2022 – Nearly Half Oppose ICOs
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought 30 enforcement actions against cryptocurrency market participants last year. This is his highest number since 2013, according to Cornerstone Research. report.
According to the report, the number of SEC enforcement actions in 2022 has increased by 50% from the 20 actions initiated in 2021.
Fox News host credits Bitcoin pump to ransomware hackers
fox news host Tucker Carlson We theorized that the recent bullish market move was due to the US government buying Bitcoin to pay ransomware attackers.
Specifically, Carlson linked the recent grounding of flights by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to cyberattacks, hypothesizing that “nearly all such ransoms are paid in Bitcoin.”
January 11th, Federal Aviation Administration A “computer outage” has halted national departures and delayed thousands of flights.
Coinbase suspends operations in Japan
Coinbase has announced that it will suspend operations in Japan due to the current market conditions.
The exchange will open on January 18th Presentation He said he was forced to make a “painful decision” to suspend operations in Japan and completely overhaul its business in Japan.
The decision comes just days after the company announced it was beginning to scale back its operations in the country. He said he was not interested and would not sell the Japan unit.
1 in 3 members of Congress received funding from FTX
Of the 535 members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, 196 were found to have received cash donations from FTX.
Members of Congress Largely Identified by CoinDesk Journalists research Efforts to shed light on Congress’ relationship to failed exchanges.
Journalists asked all 196 members for comment and received responses from just 53 campaigns.
About 64% of respondents said they had decided to donate to a nonprofit, and 38% said they were keeping the money and waiting for guidance on how to return it.
research highlights
Study: Bitcoin Spot-to-Futures Ratio Shows Retailers Push Prices Above $20,000
Data analyzed by crypto slate Bitcoin and Ethereum spot-to-futures volume (SFV) trends show a strong contrast, with the former continuing its upward trend.
The spot to future volume metric looks at the ratio of spot volume to futures volume for a given cryptocurrency.
Spot prices refer to current quotes for immediate purchases of cryptocurrencies and form the basis of all derivatives markets. High spot volume equates to healthy accumulation, leading to sustained price increases.
While individual buyers typically use the spot market, institutional investors and experienced and well-funded traders tend to trade derivatives.
crypto market
Bitcoin (BTC) has fallen over the last 24 hours -2.75% Ethereum (ETH) trades at $20,770.04 while falling -3.75% $1,525.85.
Biggest Gainers (24 hours)
- Hippopotamus (KAVA): 10.58%
- Galze (GAL): 8.48%
- Shiba Inu (SHIB): 7.19%
Biggest Loser (24h)
- Serum (SRM): -14.95%
- FTX Tokens (FFT): -13.69%
- Magic (magic): -12.46%