Month: June 2023

Atomic Wallet hacker sends crypto to mixer used by Lazarus Group: Elliptic

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Illicit funds gained from the $35 million Atomic Wallet hack have been moving to a crypto mixer known to be favored by North Korea’s most notorious cyber-hacking group. On June 5, blockchain compliance analytics firm Elliptic reported that its Investigations Team has traced funds from the $35 million Atomic Wallet hack to crypto mixer Sinbad.io. It claims the mixing service was previously used to launder more than $100 million in crypto assets stolen by North Korea’s Lazarus Group. Elliptic did not specify how much was sent to the mixer but…

Cboe Digital receives nod for margin trades on its crypto futures exchange

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Cboe Digital, a major options exchange in the United States, has had its application to offer margined futures contracts for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) approved by the United States commodities regulator. While Cboe has offered crypto futures contracts since December 2017, margin trades were not available to users. With the new approval, users will be able to trade Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) futures with a fraction of what they initially had to put upfront.  The approval has also been seen as a positive step for Cboe as it…

Coinbase aims at institutional investors with larger BTC and ETH futures

Share Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share on Telegram Copy Link Link copied Coinbase derivatives exchange is set to launch its institutional-sized bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) futures contracts. The company says the financial instruments will come with enhanced risk management features and lower fees. Exposing  institutional investors to advanced crypto derivatives Coinbase derivatives exchange, a CFTC-regulated derivatives platform, has announced the introduction of institutional-sized futures contracts for bitcoin (BTI) and ether (ETI) which will go live on June 5. With a surge in institutional interest and the demand…

Crypto sentiment index dips back to March ‘fear’ levels amid Binance lawsuit

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The Crypto Fear and Greed Index — a tool that measures broader market sentiment towards Bitcoin and the broader crypto market — has dipped to a level of “fear” not witnessed since March 11 this year, when Circle’s USD coin (USDC) briefly lost its dollar-peg.  The stumble in market sentiment on June 5 comes in the wake of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission filing a lawsuit against Binance, its U.S. arm of operations and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao. The SEC pressed a total of 13 charges against the exchange…

Coinbase, Robinhood, CFTC to testify in Congress over draft crypto bill

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Coinbase, Robinhood, and representatives from the United States commodities regulator are set to testify before Congress on June 6 to discuss a newly proposed crypto bill.  The trio will be sharing their firm’s, or agency’s views on a proposed bill that could see certain crypto tokens classified as digital commodities, among other things. “Tomorrow I have the honor of testifying on Capitol Hill before the House Committee on Agriculture to share Coinbase’s views on the Digital Asset Market Structure Discussion Draft […] released last week,” said Coinbase Chief Legal Office…

SEC sues Binance and CZ for securities violations

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is taking legal action against Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ). The SEC lawsuit claims that Binance “unlawfully solicited” customers from the U.S. to trade assets on unregistered platforms. Also, the securities regulator alleged that contrary to what the defendants claimed, Binance and CEO Zhao were directly involved in Binance.US operations.  Meanwhile, the latest development comes shortly after another federal regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), also sued Binance for operating without proper registration, thereby violating the Commodity Exchange Act.  Meanwhile, Binance…

Meme Coins On Bitcoin Blockchain Under Threat As Coders Seek Removal

Meme coins may be facing a daunting threat to their existence. The coders and validators of the Bitcoin blockchain, the very foundation on which these meme coins operate, are contemplating their removal.  This pivotal decision comes in the wake of a significant surge in Bitcoin blockchain gas prices witnessed in May, a surge fueled by the relentless growth of Bitcoin-based meme coins.  But what does this mean for the future of meme coins? Is this the end of their wild and unpredictable journey? Bitcoin Blockchain Faces Threat From Surging Meme…

61 cryptocurrencies are now seen as securities by the SEC

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The total number of cryptocurrencies the United States securities regulator has accused to be a “security” has now reached an estimated 61, after adding a few more from its lawsuit against crypto exchange Binance. The 61 cryptocurrencies accused obeing a “security” comes from years of various litigation undertaken by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which has outlined what cryptocurrencies it deems securities. In its most recent case against Binance, the SEC introduced 10 cryptocurrencies into the securities classification: BNB (BNB), Binance USD (BUSD), Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC),…

Swarovski submits trademark application for potential metaverse assets

Swarovski may take a leap into the metaverse with recent trademark applications on a range of products filed on May 30. The application covers numerous products, including cosmetics and NFT verified media, signaling the brand’s ambitions to establish a presence in the virtual realm. Another one may join the metaverse In a move that may signal its expansion into new domains, Swarovski, the Austrian company known for designing, manufacturing and marketing crystals and other gemstones, recently filed a trademark application on May 30. The announcement was initially unveiled by Michael…

Apple’s Vision Pro headset reveal swaps metaverse for ‘spatial computing’

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Apple’s newly revealed mixed-reality headset, the Apple Vision Pro, has both turned tech-enthusiast heads and raised eyebrows after its unveiling at the WWDC on June 5. There was however, one glaring omission from the launch — a single mention of the word “metaverse.” Apple Vision Pro is everything we hoped for and then some. But at $3,499 you’re either an early adopter or a AR/VR developer. Yet two things change after today: 1. “Metaverse” will stop being a bad word (even though Apple didn’t use the word) – sparking a…