Month: June 2023

Mick Mulvaney-Linked Astra Protocol (ASTRA) Faces Investor Backlash Over ‘Severely Deficient Communication’

The investors highlighted movements of the ASTRA tokens they characterized as suspicious. “Our most pressing concern, however, pertains to token movements. The address associated with the creation of the Astra token repeatedly transfers substantial sums to CEXs, suspiciously timed just prior to new announcements and invariably followed by a significant drop in token price. The explanations thus far provided for these events are nebulous and unsatisfactory,” wrote the consortium in the letter addressed to Astra Protocol co-founders Damien O’Brien, Jez Noah Ali, Arthur Ali and the broader Astra team. Source

U.S. Crypto Policy Needs to Accomplish These 3 Things

The digital asset sector can be volatile, and the safety and soundness of digital asset players rests on their ability to manage a range of risks. Some of these risks are common across businesses, such as the exposure to asset price shocks, redemption surges and counter-party failure. Others are unique to the digital asset space, such as operational and technological risk relating to the operation of the underlying blockchain and smart contracts. Source

Crypto Lender Abra Has Been Insolvent for Months, State Regulators Say

“At least as of the date of the interview, parties collectively operating as Abra were or were nearly insolvent,” the filing said. “Notwithstanding the forgoing, Plutus Financial Holdings, Inc., or an affiliate or subsidiary thereof, posted information in an official social media platform that represents: ‘There is no truth that Abra is bankrupt or about to be. It continues to operate normal like it always has throughout multiple bear markets since its launched [sic] back in 2014.’” Source

EU regulator will launch MiCA consultation starting in July

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The European Union’s financial watchdog will launch a 3-part consultation process for the recently adopted Markets in Crypto Assets framework, or MiCA. In a notice posted to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) website on June 12, regulators said the consultation packages would cover the authorization, governance, conflicts of interest, and complaint handling procedures of MiCA starting in July 2023. The measures will be subject to approval by the European Commission, European Parliament, and European Council. The first consultation package will include technical standards on the application of crypto…

Do Kwon heading into extradition custody in Montenegro after receiving bail: Report

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Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon will reportedly be taken into extradition custody in Montenegro, according to a report by the regional edition of Radio Free Europe (RFE). He also faces questions about ties to a local political figure. A spokesperson for the High Court of Montenegro told RFE that Kwon was ordered into custody for six months while the court decides on South Korea’s extradition request for him. A Seoul court issued an arrest warrant for Kwon in September. His case has been called “the largest financial fraud or financial securities…

Crypto Exchange Binance.U.S. Cuts Staff After SEC Sui

“As part of this transition, and because of our preparation for a multi-year and very costly litigation process, the Board has asked Management to shrink the size of our teams across the company and reduce our burn rate,” read the documents. “Unlike every other U.S. crypto company, we have been working to avoid this scenario, but circumstances have now shifted. This was a very hard decision – one that we didn’t take lightly. We are sad to see our colleagues depart, but we wish them the best and will do…

Hong Kong Regulator Admits to Pressuring Major Global Banks to Onboard Crypto Exchanges As Clients: Report

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A Hong Kong regulatory agency is reportedly admitting to pushing global banks operating in its jurisdiction toward accepting crypto exchange platforms as clients. According to a new report by Reuters, The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the body that regulates banks in the region, says that it had asked major financial institutions to “try and meet the business needs of licensed crypto exchanges.” Blue-chip institutions HKMA had asked to onboard crypto exchanges include UK-based lenders HSBC and Standard Chartered, and the Bank of China, a Chinese state-owned bank. Last month,…

Curve’s (CRV) price hits a 1-year low amid looming liquidation threat

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Curve DAO’s governance token CRV dropped 12% on June15 after reports surfaced of risky loans taken by its founder, Michael Egorov, on Aave. The token recorded its lowest trading level against ether (ETH) at 0.00035010 ETH on June 15. According to on-chain analytics outlet LookOnChain, Egorov deposited 431 million CRV (worth around $246 million) across multiple decentralized lending protocols and borrowed $101.5M of stablecoins on multiple platforms. The deposits by Egorov account for 50.5% of CRV’s circulating supply. DeFiLlama data shows that CRV faces a liquidation threat of $107 million…