Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Japan’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), has issued a business suspension order to FTX Japan, the Japanese subsidiary of FTX.com. The financial watchdog has also ordered the crypto exchange to submit a business improvement plan by Nov. 16. Japanese Regulator Takes Action Against FTX Japan Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) announced Thursday that the Kanto Local Finance Bureau has taken action against FTX Japan, the Japanese subsidiary of Sam Bankman-Fried’s embattled crypto exchange FTX.com. Three orders have been issued against the crypto exchange: a business suspension order, an order to hold assets domestically, and a business improvement order. FTX Japan must suspend operations from Nov. 10 to Dec. 9 and the exchange cannot accept new assets from clients during that time. The regulator has also ordered the company to submit a business improvement plan by Nov. 16. The FSA announcement explains that FTX Japan’s decision to halt customer withdra...

The White House and members of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee have called for proper cryptocurrency regulation following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. “Without proper oversight of cryptocurrencies, they risk harming everyday Americans, and this is something that clearly we monitor and we see as an important issue,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. White House on Crypto Regulation Following the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, the White House and several U.S. lawmakers have called for stricter crypto regulation. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a press briefing Thursday in response to the FTX crisis: The administration has consistently maintained that without proper oversight of cryptocurrencies, they risk harming everyday Americans, and this is something that clearly we monitor and we see as an important issue. She added: “The most recent news further underscores these concerns and highlights why prudent regulation of ...

The chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, has outlined two paths the agency is taking to regulate the crypto industry. Meanwhile, a U.S. congressman is investigating whether Gensler helped FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and his bankrupt crypto exchange on legal loopholes to obtain a regulatory monopoly. SEC Chair Gensler on FTX’s Undoing The chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, talked about crypto regulation and the undoing of cryptocurrency exchange FTX in an interview with CNBC Thursday. Without confirming whether the SEC is investigating FTX, the chairman explained that when crypto exchanges “mix together a bunch of customer money” without disclosure and “leverage borrowing against it,” investors get hurt. He was also asked about the watchdog going after Kim Kardashian which, on a relative basis, is a much smaller case than FTX. Gensler replied: Look, I think that investors need better protection in t...

Lionel Messi, one of the biggest Argentine soccer superstars, has announced his participation as an investor and brand ambassador in Sorare, an NFT (non-fungible token) game. Sorare hopes that Messi’s presence will improve the way in which the company relates to users, setting new standards in this regard. The economic details of the deal were not disclosed. Lionel Messi Partners With NFT Game Sorare Lionel Messi, one of the biggest soccer superstars and current player on the PSG soccer club, is now a brand ambassador and investor in the NFT card trading game Sorare. The presence of the player is directed to grow Sorare’s brand and improve the quality of the interactions the brand has with its users. As part of this partnership, Sorare announced that Messi took a stake in the company, without disclosing the numbers behind this transaction. To Sorare, Messi’s partnership is a milestone for the company, which had previously seen interest from another Spanish soccer player, Gerard Piq...

Law enforcement and judicial authorities from Russia and Turkey are joining forces in the fight against cybercrime, including the use of cryptocurrencies for illegal purposes. The collaboration has been agreed upon during a visit by Russia’s Prosecutor General to Ankara. Russia, Turkey Arrange Cooperation on Countering Crime Involving Digital Space and Assets The Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Igor Krasnov and the Turkish Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdag have signed a new, two-year program for cooperation between their departments, the Tass news agency reported. The high-ranking officials met in the Turkish capital. One of the areas where the sides plan to coordinate efforts is the fight against cybercrime, including cases involving criminal use of cryptocurrencies and other virtual assets, the report revealed. After sealing the agreement, Krasnov highlighted Russian experience in the field: In Russia, the relevant judicial and investigative practice has been develo...

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren says the implosion of crypto exchange FTX shows that the crypto industry needs “more aggressive enforcement.” She stressed: “I’m going to keep pushing SEC to enforce the law to protect consumers and financial stability.” However, many people pointed out that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has failed to provide clear crypto regulation, leading to U.S. investors using offshore exchanges like FTX. Senator Elizabeth Warren Wants Tougher Crypto Regulation Following the crisis at cryptocurrency exchange FTX, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) stressed that the crypto industry needs more aggressive regulation. She tweeted Wednesday: The collapse of one of the largest crypto platforms shows how much of the industry appears to be smoke and mirrors. We need more aggressive enforcement and I’m going to keep pushing SEC to enforce the law to protect consumers and financial stability. Many people on Twitter disagreed with the senator from Massach...

Blockfi, a cryptocurrency lending platform, has announced that it is limiting the operations of its platform and pausing customer withdrawals. The company issued a letter where it states that this decision was caused by the “lack of clarity” on the current state of FTX, which had previously announced an investment of $250 million in the platform to bolster its balance sheet. Blockfi Limits Platform Activity, Pauses Customer Withdrawals Blockfi, one of the leading cryptocurrency lending platforms, announced on Nov. 10 at 8:16 p.m. (ET) it was limiting the activity on its platform and pausing customer withdrawals as a result of the liquidity crunch that FTX has been experiencing. The company cited the “lack of clarity” of the status of the exchange as the main reason behind this resolution. In an announcement , the company explained they found out about the FTX situation on Twitter, feeling “shocked and dismayed” by the development of this issue. Furthermore, the company declared th...

On Thursday, at approximately 12:48 p.m. (ET), the embattled exchange FTX revealed that it has created a special facility with Tron. The deal allows holders of specific Tron-based coins to withdraw the tokens to external wallets on a 1:1 ratio. While coin market aggregation sites say tron tapped a high of $0.06 per token on Thursday, tron reached a high of $2.49 per coin against the U.S. dollar on FTX. Tron Exchange Rate Balloons on FTX After Special Facility Established The troubled crypto exchange FTX has been the center of a lot of confusion and speculation since the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance explained it would be dumping all of its ftx (FTT) tokens. Four days later, FTX International has effectively paused withdrawals and the community suspects the exchange is insolvent. However, on Nov. 10, 2022, Tron founder Justin Sun said his team was working around the clock to help alleviate the situation with FTX. Sun also remarked that he is taking steps to help FTX. T...

Global investment bank JPMorgan has warned of the crypto market facing weeks of deleveraging stemming from the crisis at Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange FTX.com and trading platform Alameda Research. The firm’s analysts also predicted that the price of bitcoin could fall to $13,000. JPMorgan on FTX and Bitcoin’s Price JPMorgan Chase’s analysts, led by global market strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, provided their analysis of the FTX situation and a price prediction for bitcoin in a note Thursday. The analysts explained that fewer players in the crypto space are now able to rescue weaker players, stating: What makes this new phase of crypto deleveraging induced by the apparent collapse of Alameda Research and FTX more problematic is that the number of entities with stronger balance sheets able to rescue those with low capital and high leverage is shrinking. Facing a liquidity crunch, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly asked several major crypto exchanges, including Coinb...

PRESS RELEASE. Fiat-crypto payment provider, Alchemy Pay , is bringing its mainstream-friendly services to Europe’s foremost crypto conference – London Token2049. The Singapore-based company has taken its payment network infrastructure and pivoted to direct-to-customer (D2C) services, with its highly versatile and customisable NFT Checkout and On & Off Ramp Solutions . Europe’s Premier Crypto Event TOKEN2049 is known for its industry-leading events held annually. Founders, CEOs, and projects come together to build relationships and share developments. It showcases sectors like DeFI, Gaming, Social Fi, NFTs, Metaverse, and DAOs, and brings together more than 3,000 attendees, 100+ sponsors, and around 150 speakers. Alchemy Pay On & Off Ramp After years providing business-to-business (B2B) fiat-crypto gateway services, Alchemy Pay’s ramp is now serving users on crypto platforms and dApps across multiple sectors. Alchemy Pay now boasts 300+ fiat payment channels worldwide. ...

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are reportedly investigating cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The crypto firm is suspected of mishandling customer funds and breaking securities laws. Regulatory probes are among the key reasons why Binance walked away from the acquisition of FTX. U.S. Regulators and DOJ Investigate Crypto Exchange FTX Several U.S. authorities are reportedly probing FTX, the embattled cryptocurrency exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are looking into the turmoil surrounding FTX.com and its liquidity crisis, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing a person familiar with the matter. The Justice Department prosecutes criminal violations, such as fraud, while the SEC focuses on securities law violations. Moreover, the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are investigating whether FTX.com mishandled customer funds, the...

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands has outlined multiple benefits central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) could bring, particularly in the area of financial inclusion. “Governments could use a digital euro to channel financial support to low-income households. This would deepen longer-term inclusion, and act as a gateway to other financial services,” she said. Queen Maxima Envisions a Better Future With CBDCs Queen Maxima of the Netherlands talked about central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) Monday at the “Towards a legislative framework enabling a digital euro for citizens and businesses” conference. She is the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA). The conference was jointly organized by the European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB). Focusing on financial inclusion and how a digital euro might “benefit underserved groups,” Queen Maxima explained that “Traditional financial services have created roadblocks fo...

The European Commission is going to present a legislative proposal for a digital euro in the near future, President of European Central Bank Christine Lagarde has indicated. EU legislators are expected to define the new currency’s legal tender status and determine its privacy features. EU Commission to Propose Legislation for Eurozone’s Digital Currency Authorities in the euro area have already made good progress in exploring the rationale and the potential benefits and risks of a central bank digital currency ( CBDC ), the head of the European Central Bank (ECB) noted during a conference devoted to the digital version of the common currency. In a video message, Christine Lagarde said that the focus of their efforts is now shifting to the concrete design of the digital euro and its embedding into a legal framework. This is an area where EU legislators will play an important role, the top executive stressed and revealed: I’m therefore very much looking forward to the legislative ...

According to a report published on Nov. 9, 2022, Temasek Holdings, the Singaporean state holding company owned by the government of Singapore is allegedly engaging with FTX amid Binance’s plans to bail out the crypto trading firm. Singapore’s state investor has been known to have invested in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry for quite some time now. Singaporean State Holding Company Temasek Helped Fuel FTX’s Series B and C Funding Rounds, Spokesperson Says Company Is Engaging With FTX On Nov. 9, 2022, The Straits Times (TST) business correspondent Claire Huang reported that a spokesperson from Temasek Holdings has been engaging with FTX. Temasek is Singapore’s state-owned holding company that was established in 1974. Temasek’s assets under management (AUM) as of 2022 are estimated to be worth around S$403 billion . “We are aware of the developments between FTX and Binance, and are engaging FTX in our capacity as a shareholder,” the Temasek spokesperson reportedly told Hua...

Following the issues surrounding FTX, the publicly-listed firm Galaxy Digital published its third-quarter earnings report and noted it has an “exposure of approximately $76.8 million of cash and digital assets to FTX.” The news follows a great number of exchange executives announcing that they had zero material exposure to the troubled exchange. Galaxy Digital Has Close to $77 Million in FTX Exposure After Galaxy Digital was dealt with a blow from the Terra blockchain fallout and UST depegging event, the company has revealed exposure to the embattled crypto exchange FTX. It started on Nov. 6, when Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) told the public his exchange would dump FTT, the FTX-built exchange token. Then, after a couple of days of confusion, CZ and FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried revealed Binance would be acquiring FTX, with details to be announced in the near future. However, Binance revealed on Nov. 9 that it has officially backed out of the deal to acquire FTX. The news has rat...

Whistleblower and former NSA contractor, Edward Snowden, has been very vocal about the crypto economy in recent times. After publishing a copy of Bitcoin’s white paper on Twitter on the document’s 14th birthday, Snowden had some words with Craig Wright, the man who claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto. Following the news tied to the troubled crypto exchange FTX, Snowden added his two cents and said “custodial exchanges were a mistake.” After Feuding With the Self-Proclaimed Satoshi, Edward Snowden Blasts Troubled Crypto Exchange FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried’s Now-Deleted Tweets Edward Snowden has been tweeting often about the crypto sector and on Oct. 31, 2022, the whistleblower published a copy of Bitcoin’s white paper on the document’s 14th anniversary . While the tweet received over 46,000 likes and close to 10,000 retweets, it started an online tiff between Snowden and Craig Wright. Snowden's tweets are why I am on Twitter https://t.co/1pBlEORKFo — Shashank Bhardwaj (@bhardwajsha...

PRESS RELEASE. Hong Kong, 9th Nov 2022 – Bitget, the leading global crypto exchange with a core focus on social trading, launches another innovative social trading feature, Strategy Plaza. The new feature provides users with the option to follow a series of automated trading strategies and allows the system to automatically execute the strategies after subscription, facilitating trades with convenience and flexibility. Strategists could create their unique automated trading strategies and share them on Strategy Plaza. At the same time, regular users could review each strategist’s profile and performance contributed by their strategies, and choose to subscribe to their favourite strategists and follow those strategies. After subscribing to strategists, the trading strategies will be automatically executed for the users over the following 30 days, including the actions to start and end strategy taken by the strategists, as an addition to copy trading with manual ordering. Strategy Pl...

The Central Bank of Russia is proposing to introduce tax incentives for long-term holders of digital financial assets. The idea has been circulated with a consultation paper published for public discussions on the development of the digital asset market in the Russian Federation. Bank of Russia Talks Regulation in New Report Devoted to Digital Assets Market Russia’s monetary authority has published a report on the future of the Russian digital asset sector. The document explores the development of the market for digital financial assets (DFAs) and utility digital rights (UDRs), and legal terms partially covering cryptocurrencies and tokens — those with an issuing entity, in particular. The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) believes that additional regulations are needed to improve the DFA framework and harmonize it with the rules that govern the traditional financial industry. According to the regulator, this would increase investment, circulation, and liquidity while ensuring better in...

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian and boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. reportedly won a tentative court ruling in a class-action lawsuit involving the Ethereummax token. Investors have accused the celebrities of hyping Ethereummax and pumping the EMAX crypto token. Judge’s Tentative View U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald gave his “tentative view” Monday in a class-action lawsuit filed in January against Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather Jr. over their promotion of the Ethereummax token, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. Former NBA star Paul Pierce is also a defendant in the proposed class-action suit. The lawsuit alleges that the reality television star and ex-boxing champion scammed investors by hyping the Ethereummax token, causing investors to have to buy EMAX at “inflated prices.” The plaintiffs detailed that the token’s price surged 1,370% soon after its launch in May last year but then hit an all-time low in July — “a 98% drop from which it has not been able to recover.” In...

PRESS RELEASE. INTERNET CITY, DUBAI, Nov. 7, 2022 – LBank Exchange, a global digital asset trading platform, will list Byepix (EPIX) on November 10, 2022. For all users of LBank Exchange, the EPIX/ USDT trading pair will be officially available for trading at 13:00 UTC on November 10, 2022. As the world’s most exclusive web3-based super-metaverse platform, Byepix (EPIX) is developing its own layer 2 metaverse blockchain, super metaverse protocol, P2E protocol, and metaversification app. Its native token EPIX will be listed on LBank Exchange at 13:00 UTC on November 10, 2022, to further expand its global reach and help it achieve its vision. Introducing Byepix Byepix is the most exclusive web3-based all-in-one super-metaverse platform. It’s also a technological laboratory working on its own layer 2 metaverse blockchain to solve scaling, communication, boundary, and incompatibility problems between all metaverse projects. This layer 2 metaverse blockchain solution is to be merge...

Bloomberg Intelligence senior commodity analyst, Mike McGlone, recently wrote that “cryptos could regain [an] edge” when he discussed bitcoin and ethereum in a report published on Bloomberg’s terminal on Nov. 3, 2022. McGlone detailed that volatility in bitcoin and ethereum has dropped to low levels in comparison to traditional assets, and this trend could “tilt risks against those not accumulating partial crypto exposure.” Mike McGlone Thinks Bitcoin and Ethereum May Have Bottomed, Says ‘Cryptos Could Regain an Edge’ According to Mike McGlone, Bloomberg Intelligence’s senior commodity strategist, the top leading crypto assets like bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) may have found bottoms in terms of traditional risk investments. McGlone published his perspective of the crypto market on Nov. 3, 2022, and he noted that ethereum will likely stay within the $1K to $2K range but could outpace bitcoin’s market performance. “Migration into the mainstream is our takeaway, and once the dus...