Day: October 12, 2023

Federal Reserve Officials Maintain Cautious Stance on Interest Rates

Following the September meeting, the 10-year Treasury yield had risen to approximately 4.66% as of October 10, reflecting the expected rate increases that policymakers had indicated earlier. Federal Reserve officials have opted to maintain their cautious approach to monetary policy, leaving interest rates unchanged during their September meeting. Minutes from the September 19-20 meeting revealed a consensus among policymakers that the US economy faced mounting uncertainties. Most meeting participants believed a further increase in the target federal funds rate would likely be necessary, while some argued against additional hikes. However,…

WEMIX and Mirana Ventures Fuel Chinese Blockchain Gaming with $30M Fund

In a concerted move to bolster the blockchain gaming sphere in China, Singapore-based WEMIX PTE. LTD., a subsidiary of WEMADE, has strategically invested in five Chinese game developers, according to GlobeNewswire. This investment was channeled through a specialized blockchain gaming fund, established in collaboration with Mirana Ventures, on October 11, 2023. The fund, valued at $30 million, is a joint initiative with Mirana Ventures, an investment arm of the global digital asset exchange, Bybit. Financial Allocation and Future Endeavors A notable portion, $6.4 million to be precise, of the $30 million…

Paul Arnold at PDP’s Data Protection Compliance Conference 2023

Thank you for such a warm welcome. It’s great to be with you today and a privilege to be opening today’s Data Protection Compliance Conference. I’m conscious that at least some of you may have been amongst the 8,000 plus people who registered for the ICO’s DPPC event yesterday. If so, then you’re having quite the conference week. And extra kudos to you if you braved today’s rail disruption to be here in person. Many of my ICO colleagues have spoken at the DPCC over the years, and looking back…

ARK Invest’s Updated Spot Bitcoin ETF Prospectus ‘Good Sign’ for Future Approval

One notable adjustment pertained to the Net Asset Value (NAV) calculations, which ARK Invest acknowledged were not aligned with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), the accounting standard endorsed by the SEC.  Eric Balchunas, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg, recently took to the social media platform X to reveal that ARK Invest’s latest amendment to its spot Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) filing may signify a positive step toward future approvals for a Bitcoin ETF. It’s worth noting that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had sent comments and questions to…

EV Charging Operator ChargePoint Announces $232 Million Raise, CHPT Stock Tanks 15%

ChargePoint stock comes under severe selling pressure as the company liquidates equity for another major fundraise. On Wednesday, October 11, EV charging network operator ChargePoint Holdings (NYSE: CHPT) announced its plans to raise a staggering $232 million through the stock sale. This was enough to send the ChargePoint stock spiraling downwards by 15%. ChargePoint announced that a consortium of institutional investors will acquire $175 million in fresh shares. The firm further revealed it secured an additional $57 million in the current fiscal quarter through its existing “at-the-market” stock offering program. Thus,…

Standard Chartered Expects Ethereum Price to Hit $8,000 by 2026 End

While Standard Chartered gives a bullish outlook on Ethereum, JPMorgan Chase analysts ask to maintain caution amid declining Ethereum network activity. Amid the current macro developments, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency Ethereum has come under significant selling pressure. Earlier this week, ETH price came crashing under $1,600 with the Ethereum Foundation selling $2.7 million worth of ETH. Despite this, some of the big market players continue to remain bullish on Ethereum. According to a recent report by multinational bank Standard Chartered, the price of Ethereum is projected to potentially reach $8,000…

Did Caroline Ellison and SBF Cook Alameda’s Books to Save the World?

Ultimately the truth did come out, killing FTX, Alameda, their lenders, investors and customers, and sparking criminal investigations into Caroline and the other members of Sam’s inner circle. She said her house was raided by the FBI before she began cooperating with prosecutors – a contrast to the quiet coder Gary Wang, who volunteered himself to the government barely a week after the companies’ demise. Deputy court clerk Andy Mohan slid Caroline a baby blue tissue box as she tearfully called out to “the people that trusted us,” people she…

Did Ethereum Bribe The SEC To Go After XRP?

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Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson recently gave his thoughts on whether the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had given Ethereum a regulatory free pass as recent rumors suggest.   Cardano Founder Alleges Favoritism Toward Ethereum In an AMA session shared on X (formerly Twitter), Hoskinson mentioned that the Himman emails and other revelations expose the thought process of the SEC and show that there was unequal application, which he doesn’t see anything wrong with. Furthermore, he believes that none of the Commission’s actions presupposes corruption but only favoritism.  It is worth…

SBF bribed Chinese officials for $150M to unfreeze funds

boss

Caroline Ellison, the former romantic partner of embattled FTX founder Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried and the former CEO of Alameda Research, has claimed in her courtroom testimony that SBF bribed Chinese officials for millions of dollars to unfreeze funds locked in local exchanges.  In her Oct. 11 testimony, Ellison said there was $1 billion in funds locked up in China and that to access them, Alameda paid a $150 million bribe to Chinese government officials. AUSA: How much was frozen in China?Ellison: $1 billion. Sam wanted to find ways to address it.…

Crypto Bank Xapo Granted European License to Trade Stocks

Xapo is also expected to expand beyond its Bitcoin-only by allowing customers to trade Ether as well. Crypto-friendly bank Xapo has been granted a securities broker license that allows it to offer its European clients the ability to trade S&P 500 stocks like Apple along with its crypto asset management offering. Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) license will enable the bank to expand beyond the speculative trading strategies used in crypto into more long-term investment strategies. Commenting on the news, Xapo CEO Seamus Rocca said in an interview: “Our…