Day: June 20, 2023

Flashbots Confirms Top Strategy Researcher Obadia to Depart Amid ‘Strategic’ Hiring Push

Flashbots has added 13 team members in the past six months, bringing the total size of the team above 50. Also joining Flashbots are Danning Sui, formerly head of data science at the decentralized finance infrastructure firm 0x; and Daniel Marzec, previously an engineer at Blocknative, another major MEV industry player. Sui will lead Flashbots’ data science team and Marzec joins as a research engineer. Source

Crypto Exchange Gemini Announces New Expansion Into Asian Region To Capture ‘Next Wave of Growth’

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A major American crypto exchange is announcing a new expansion into one of the world’s biggest market regions. In an announcement, crypto exchange Gemini says it is expanding into the Asia Pacific (APAC) region in addition to growing their engineering base in India. “We’re expanding in the Asia Pacific region! Our Singapore office will serve as a hub for our larger APAC operations and we plan to increase our headcount to 100+ in Singapore. In addition to our expansion plans in APAC, we are rapidly growing our engineering base in…

Australia’s NDIS faces fallout from crypto-ransomware attack on HWL Ebsworth

Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)  is on high alert following a high-profile ransomware attack on law firm HWL Ebsworth, where sensitive client information may have been compromised and released on the dark web. Russian ransomware group ALPHV/Blackcat responsible  Sensitive client information is at risk following a massive cyberattack on the law firm HWL Ebsworth, with the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) agency expressing concerns. The hack was reportedly carried out by ALPHV/Blackcat ransomware group, and the criminals have posted some of the stolen data on the dark web.  Per…

Tech giant Alibaba announces crypto-friendly chair following Daniel Zhang stepping down

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Joe Tsai, the soon-to-be former executive vice chair of China-based technology giant Alibaba, will replace Daniel Zhang as company chair. In a June 20 announcement, Alibaba said Zhang would be stepping down as chair of the company and CEO effective Sept. 10, whereupon he will continue to serve as the chair and CEO of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group. Tsai, through wealth manager Blue Pool Capital, has been behind investments in several crypto firms, including FTX, Polygon’s $450-million funding round in February and Web3 firm Artifact Labs. I like crypto —…

Five US enforcement agencies form new digital currency anti-crime task force

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A diverse group of United States enforcement agencies has made official its cooperation on crimes related to the darknet and digital currency with the announcement of the Darknet Marketplace and Digital Currency Crimes Task Force on June 20. The new organization will target “cryptocurrency-enabled crimes” such as drug trafficking, money laundering, theft of personal information and child exploitation. Representatives of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Arizona, the Office for U.S. Attorneys, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Postal Inspection Service signed a memorandum of understanding…

Polygon co-founder proposes zkEVM ‘validium’ upgrade to improve security

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Polygon co-founder Mihailo Bjelic has proposed upgrading the Polygon proof-of-stake (PoS) network to a “zkEVM validium” version, according to a June 20 forum post. If the upgrade is implemented, the new version will rely on zero-knowledge proofs to increase security. HUGE UPDATE ON #Polygon Polygon may go through some huge changes in near future. @MihailoBjelic shared a polygon improvement proposal few hours ago which discussed to upgrade polygon POS to zkEVM Validium. According to the proposal, Polygon POS is facing three key challenges… — Hitesh Malviya (@hmalviya9) June 20, 2023…

New Crypto Exchange Backed by Fidelity, Schwab and Citadel Launches With Additional Investors

One thing that separates EDX Markets from other crypto exchanges is that it doesn’t custody customers’ digital assets. Instead, users will have to go through financial intermediaries to buy and sell crypto assets, similar to how trades are executed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or the Nasdaq (NASDAQ). Regulators like the different approach, Nazarali said, because they think it’s important that there’s separation between the exchange function and the broker dealer function. Source

EU Commission Brushes Off Data Act Fears by Crypto Industry

The letter, signed by companies such as Fujitsu, Ledger and Ripple and lobbying organizations the European Crypto Initiative and Blockchain for Europe, says that the law would jeopardize smart contracts written on blockchains such as Ethereum, Avalanche, Cardano, NEAR and Polkadot, potentially conflict with recently agreed Markets in Crypto Assets law, and damage the European economy. Source ActbrushesCommissionCryptodataFearsindustry CryptoX Portal

Lack of bipartisan support on crypto regulation could make US ‘less attractive’ to firms: Moody’s

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The investors’ service of credit ratings agency Moody’s has reported that without support from United States lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle for legislation focused on digital assets, investors and companies could turn to other crypto-friendly jurisdictions. In a June 20 report, Moody’s pointed to key differences in the way Democrats and Republicans have handled crypto-focused legislation in the U.S., specifically competing language in a bill on stablecoins and a bill aimed at providing a comprehensive framework for digital assets. Many of the issues between lawmakers concern whether…

What Can You Do With a Blockchain Token That Is Classified as a Security?

In a way, this is likely the clearest example of what you could expect if any token is found to be a security: It will likely be inaccessible to U.S. users, given the current exchange ecosystem, but be available for trading around the world to anyone with a Bithumb, Bitstamp or KuCoin account (and in the U.S., if you have a VPN). Astute readers might note I left Binance – the largest U.S. exchange, by far – off that list. That’s not only because it’s currently being sued by the…