Day: October 12, 2023

NFTs aren’t dead — they’re just resting

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Headlines predicting the death of Bitcoin are nothing new. Over the past decade, we’ve seen every permutation of why “Bitcoin is dead” imaginable, yet the current crypto winter has brought very few of these dire proclamations.  It seems a little different this time. Maybe it’s hard to pen such a eulogy with Bitcoin (BTC) hovering around $28,000, and a spot Bitcoin ETF on the horizon. Doesn’t seem like Ethereum’s dead either. But the blockchain industry and its commentators still need a corpse to poke at, and that’s what they’ve found…

BitVM wasn’t created to make Bitcoin a pseudo-Ethereum, says developer

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One of the developers working on “BitVM” — a Bitcoin-based virtual machine — reiterates the tech is intended to scale Bitcoin rather than launching Ethereum-like decentralized finance applications on the network. BitVM’s whitepaper was released by ZeroSync’s project lead Robin Linus on Oct. 10 with technical support provided by pseudonymous developer “Super Testnet” — implementing BitVM’s first proof-of-concept and working on expanding BitVM’s capabilities. Upon its release, some industry pundits formed the impression that BitVM would bring DeFi to Bitcoin like what the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) did for Ethereum.…

CEO admits to manipulating crypto futures in cherry-picking scandal

Former CEO of Systematic Alpha Management LLC Peter Kambolin has pleaded guilty to a “cherry-picking” scheme involving cryptocurrency futures contracts, marking a first-of-its-kind case. In an unprecedented case, Peter Kambolin, ex-CEO of Systematic Alpha Management LLC (SAM), has admitted guilt in a “cherry-picking” scheme involving cryptocurrency futures contracts. This practice, known as “cherry-picking”, involves investment managers purposefully allocating lucrative or unprofitable trades to select accounts, allowing them to garner significant profits. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed that Kambolin manipulated the allocation of profits and losses from these futures…

House committee chairman threatens SEC chair with subpoena, but not over crypto

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James Comer, chair of the United States House of Representatives Oversight and Accountability Committee, has threatened Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler with a subpoena. He wrote in the letter dated Oct. 12, that the committee will have “no choice” but to use compulsory measures to obtain documents if the SEC does not start cooperating with it. Comer also expressed concern about SEC “actions taken to circumvent Congress to further an agenda that harms American taxpayers.” Cryptocurrency proponents in Congress have often complained about Gensler in similar terms,…

Stocks fall, yields rise as inflation data comes in hotter than expected

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Stocks fell in the United States on Oct. 12 as newly released inflation data overshot expectations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 173.73 points (0.51%) to 33,631.14. The S&P 500 declined by 27.34 points (0.62%), ending the day at 4,349.61. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index lost 85.46 points (0.63%), declining to 13,574.22. One-day S&P 500 chart for Oct. 12. Source: MSN Money At 8:30 am Eastern Time, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released Consumer Price Index data for the month of September. It showed that prices increased 0.4% over…

How This Investment Firm Lost $465,000 In An ARB Trade

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Recent transactions by Arca, a prominent investment firm, involving Arbitrum native token ARB, have again put them under the spotlight. According to on-chain tracking platform Lookonchain, the firm has suffered a substantial loss nearing half a million recently. Arca’s Arbitrum Shipment to Binance Lookonchain reported earlier today that Arca transferred roughly 1.49 million ARB tokens to Binance. With a value of around $1.21 million, this transaction indicates a possible liquidation of Arca’s holdings in Arbitrum (ARB). If this were the case, according to Lookonchain, it would translate into a significant…

Changpeng Zhao’s tweet ‘contributed’ to collapse of FTX, claims Caroline Ellison

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According to former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, a single tweet from Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) contributed to the failure of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Testifying in Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial on Oct. 12, Ellison reportedly placed part of the blame for the collapse of FTX on CZ’s social media activity. In the now famous tweet on X (formerly Twitter) from Nov. 6, 2022, CZ announced that Binance would be liquidating its holdings of FTX Token (FTT) “due to recent revelations that have came [sp] to light”. As part…

MetaMask and Stripe join forces to streamline U.S. crypto-fiat transactions

MetaMask will collaborate with Stripe to offer U.S. users an effortless way to transition between fiat and digital currencies, further simplifying the crypto experience. A strategic alliance between leading crypto wallet MetaMask and payment solution provider Stripe aims to make it more straightforward for U.S. users to transition between fiat and crypto. The new feature will significantly enhance MetaMask’s mobile application, browser plug-in and portfolio platform. This upgrade allows MetaMask’s U.S. customer base—largely centered on Ethereum—to more easily funnel traditional money into their digital wallets. The initiative capitalizes on Stripe’s…