Coinbase has hired a former vice president of product at Google to be its chief product officer. Surojit Chatterjee spent 11 years at Google, where he worked on payments, adtech and commerce. He most recently led the continuing development of Google Shopping, a service available in more than 90 countries. Prior to that, he was the head of product at Indian e-commerce site Flipkart. Chatterjee is Coinbase’s first chief product officer since the departure of Jeremy Henrickson in December 2018, the company confirmed. In his new role Chatterjee will focus…
Month: January 2020
Literally No One Is Trading Bakkt’s Bitcoin Options
Trading volumes in bitcoin options listed on the Intercontinental Exchange’s Bakkt platform have completely dried up, even while CME’s options product is seeing strong interest. As per Bakkt’s data, not a single bitcoin options contract was traded last week on Bakkt, withactivity last registered on Jan. 17, when 20 lots had changed hands. This is happening while the price of bitcoin has rallied to three-month highs, raising the cryptocurrency’s volatility. Demand for options tends to rise with a spike in volatility, the standard deviation of an asset’s returns that is…
While CME Shines, Literally No One Is Trading Bakkt’s Bitcoin Options
Trading volumes in bitcoin options listed on the Intercontinental Exchange’s Bakkt platform have completely dried up, even while CME’s options product is seeing strong interest. As per Bakkt’s data, not a single bitcoin options contract was traded last week on Bakkt, withactivity last registered on Jan. 17, when 20 lots had changed hands. This is happening while the price of bitcoin has rallied to three-month highs, raising the cryptocurrency’s volatility. Demand for options tends to rise with a spike in volatility, the standard deviation of an asset’s returns that is…
Most of MakerDAO’s Asset Value Is in Only a Few Addresses
The decentralized finance (DeFi) market saw a massive upswing in 2019 and its growth is expected to continue in 2020. Yet, only a handful of accounts are responsible for much of the industry’s value. DeFi is the movement to transform old financial products into trustless and transparent protocols that run on decentralized applications built using smart contract platforms like ethereum. The most popular DeFi protocol right now is MakerDAO’s multi-collateral Dai system, where users create “collateralized debt positions” (CDP) by putting up ether or other ERC-20 tokens as collateral to…
Most of MakerDAO’s Asset Value Is in Only a Few Addresses
The decentralized finance (DeFi) market saw a massive upswing in 2019 and its growth is expected to continue in 2020. Yet, only a handful of accounts are responsible for much of the industry’s value. DeFi is the movement to transform old financial products into trustless and transparent protocols that run on decentralized applications built using smart contract platforms like ethereum. The most popular DeFi protocol right now is MakerDAO’s multi-collateral Dai system, where users create “collateralized debt positions” (CDP) by putting up ether or other ERC-20 tokens as collateral to…
Crypto News Roundup for Jan. 29, 2020
With bitcoin set for its best-ever January, Markets Daily is back with today’s crypto news roundup. For early access before our regular noon Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Stitcher, RadioPublica or RSS. Source
Alleged Launderer of $4B in BTC Vinnik Charged in France After Extradition
French authorities have charged former operator of now-shuttered crypto exchange BTC-e and Russian national Alexander Vinnik. Bloomberg reported on Jan. 28 that Vinnik’s lawyers said that he will remain in France to face his charges following his recent extradition from Greece. According to an unspecified official at the prosecutor’s office, Vinnik was charged with extortion, aggravated money laundering, conspiracy and harming automatic data-processing systems. The legal shuttle One of his lawyers said that after his trial in France has run its course, authorities are expected to send him back to…
SEC Tells Telegram Its Crypto Is Worth Less Than Donuts
On Jan. 27., the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fortified its case against Telegram, saying its Gram token is worth less than donuts. The SEC’s counter In the latest in their battle with Telegram and the Telegram Open Network (TON), the SEC argued in a memo to the Southern District Court of New York: “Telegram offered and sold Grams as securities when it promised to deliver them in exchange for funds pursuant to the Purchase Agreements. That reality will not have changed if the Court permits Telegram to deliver Grams…
Former Coinbase COO Joins Blockchain-Based Lending Firm Figure
Asiff Hirji, the former president and chief operating officer of Coinbase, is the new president of Figure Technologies, the blockchain-based lending firm backed by Morgan Creek Digital. Figure announced Hirji’s addition Wednesday, saying the longtime financial executive will oversee the company’s growth. Figure CEO Mike Cagney said in a statement that the company would be creating a new merchant bank with Hirji’s help. Cagney is perhaps best known for being the co-founder and former CEO of SoFi, the digital consumer finance company. “Asiff has already been a critical advisor to…
Binance’s US Trading Platform to Introduce Staking Rewards
Binance.US, the U.S. cryptocurrency trading platform of major crypto exchange Binance, will introduce stacking rewards in February. According to an announcement published by Binance.US on Jan. 29, staking rewards will be made available for Algorand (ALGO) and COSMOS (ATOM) starting next month. Staking support for more coins to come Furthermore, the exchange announced plans to add other Proof-of-Stake (PoS) coins later. The announcement explains that an easy way to access staking “allows more people to earn rewards for contributing to the network by promoting network security, reducing validation costs.” Furthermore,…