Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Residents of the United States, South Korea and the Russian Federation have been the most frequent users of centralized exchanges this year, according to a new study. The finding comes after the spectacular crash of FTX, one of the largest such platforms, amid tightening regulations and fewer new users. U.S. Leads by Number of CEX Users, Turkey and Japan Are Also in the Top in Terms of Traffic The U.S., South Korea and Russia together account for 22% of all visits to centralized exchanges (CEX) for cryptocurrencies, according to the 2022-2023 “Global Crypto Industry Overview and Trends” annual report produced by Huobi Research. The estimate is based on data from the top 100 CEXs on active users, trading depth, trading volume, and reliability. With a share exceeding 9%, the United States is the pronounced leader in terms of absolute number of crypto users generating CEX traffic. South Korea, Russia, Turkey, and Japan are next with 7.4%, 6.1%, 5.6% and 3.8%, respectively. The driv...

Angel investor Balaji Srinivasan says the collapse of crypto exchange FTX should be treated as “a preview of state failure.” He warned that one day U.S. dollar bank accounts “may be frozen or inflated to worthlessness,” emphasizing that the authorities “will show no interest in prosecuting.” Srinivasan cautioned: “That world is coming and we need alternatives.” Balaji Srinivasan on FTX, State Failure, and U.S. Dollars Becoming Worthless Angel investor Balaji Srinivasan commented on the collapse of crypto exchange FTX in a series of tweets Saturday. Formerly the CTO of crypto exchange Coinbase and a general partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Srinivasan is also the author of The Network State, a WSJ bestseller. “Treat FTX as a preview of state failure,” he wrote, adding: One day, your USD bank account balance may be frozen or inflated to worthlessness. The authorities will show no interest in prosecuting — they’re the ones who ordered it in the first place....

Rock band Kiss’ lead singer Gene Simmons has confirmed that he is still holding crypto despite the crypto winter and the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. “I’m deep in crypto. I believe in it,” the rock legend affirmed. Noting that he has several cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and ethereum, Simmons stressed: “Personally, I’m holding, but everybody should do their own due diligence.” Gene Simmons Says He’s ‘Deep in Crypto’ Rock legend Gene Simmons confirmed Thursday that he is still holding cryptocurrencies despite the crypto winter and the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. Simmons is an Israeli-born American musician, singer, songwriter, actor, and producer. He was the frontman, bassist, and co-lead singer of Kiss, the rock band he co-founded with lead singer and guitarist Paul Stanley. Responding to a question from Crypto Housewife at his Moneybag Vodka launch event in Alberta, Canada, about whether he is “still hodling” his cryptocurrencies, Simmons said: “Well, I’m no...

It’s been another wild week in crypto, with a claimed FTX insider revealing a controversial document related to former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison’s account at FTX. In related news, Elon Musk has been criticized for suggesting that former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) probably donated much more than publicly admitted to Democrats. Morgan Creek Capital CEO Mark Yusko has suggested that SBF was a “pawn” used by higher-ups to punish crypto. These stories and more in this latest edition of the Bitcoin.com News Week in Review. Document Claims Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison’s FTX Margin Position Was Negative $1.3B in May 2022 In a number of recent interviews, the former co-founder of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), explained that he “wasn’t running Alameda” and he “didn’t know the size of their position.” In a more recent discussion with The Block’s Frank Chaparro, SBF explained that auditors were looking at FTX’s corporate financials, but the auditors were “not looking at custom...

Law enforcement authorities in the United Arab Emirates have detained a top Finiko representative, sought for his role in the crypto Ponzi scheme which defrauded thousands of investors around the world. This is the second arrest in the Gulf state of a high-ranking member of the pyramid announced in the past month. Finiko Fraudster Caught by Interpol in UAE, Russia Seeks His Extradition Another individual involved in organizing Russia’s largest financial pyramid in recent years, Finiko, has been placed under custody in the UAE. The detention of Edward Sabirov in the Arab country comes after last month’s news of the arrest of the Ponzi scheme’s co-founder, Zygmunt Zygmuntovich. Both have allegedly played key roles in the embezzlement of millions from the fraud’s victims. Sabirov was put on an international wanted list on Nov. 12, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office told the RIA Novosti news agency. The National Bureau of Interpol of the United Arab Emirates announced his arrest ...

Ethereum is almost universally credited for kickstarting the Web3 revolution after it brought to life the concept of smart contracts. However, some in the Web3 community, like Astar Network’s Sota Watanabe, believe the protocol cannot “build the innovative future of blockchain alone.” In addition, some critics point to the language obstacle which they argue makes the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) a less-than-ideal place to build. Webassembly Smart Contracts ‘Will Accelerate the Adoption of Web3’ It is this and other limitations of the EVM that led to the creation of an alternative known as Webassembly (WASM). This alternative is said to be a virtual machine of choice for developers, engineers and academics that are frustrated with the EVM. According to Watanabe, for Web2 developers that want to migrate to Web3, WASM seems like a logical choice because it “supports a wide range of languages with native performance and high portability.” To learn more about WASM, Bitcoin.com News re...