The operator of crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX has announced a sweep of its top leadership, after United States authorities charged its founders with failing to prevent money laundering and operating an unregistered trading platform illegally. On Oct. 8, BitMEX’s operator, 100x Group, announced that the exchange’s three co-founders, all of whom were charged in the case, will no longer hold executive roles at 100x: Arthur Hayes, Samuel Reed and Ben Delo. Greg Dwyer, the fourth executive to be charged, will take a leave of absence from his role as head of business development. To…
Category: Exchanges
Former Morgan Stanley exec joins Gemini crypto exchange
Major American cryptocurrency exchange Gemini is expanding the company’s business in the Asia-Pacific region with a new high-profile hire. Andy Meehan, a former executive at major American investment bank Morgan Stanley, has joined Gemini as chief compliance officer of the APAC region. Announcing the news on Oct. 7, Gemini executives noted that Meehan will work with regulators to promote smart regulations that drive adoption. Formerly head of legal for Morgan Stanley’s global financial crimes division in the APAC, Meehan will now shape strategy, product and operations of Gemini in the…
Coincheck exchange to help CryptoKitties go mainstream in Japan
Coincheck, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan, is expanding its push into non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, with a new partnership with the developer of CryptoKitties. According to an Oct. 6 announcement, Coincheck has partnered with Dapper Labs, which developed one of the world’s most popular decentralized applications launched on the Ethereum blockchain. Coincheck said that the new partnership will bring NFTs to a mainstream Japanese audience by providing exposure to millions of its users. Coincheck plans to integrate the CryptoKitties app into its upcoming NFT marketplace. The exchange is also…
Hacked crypto exchange KuCoin resumes crypto deposits and withdrawals
The KuCoin cryptocurrency exchange is partly restoring deposits and withdrawals following a major hack. As KuCoin officially announced on Oct. 7, the platform has completed the wallet security upgrade for major cryptos like Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Tether (USDT). Following the upgrade, KuCoin has resumed the deposit and withdrawal service of BTC, ETH, and ERC-20-based USDT. According to the announcement, USDT running on other blockchains like EOS, Tron, and Omni is not yet available for withdrawals. KuCoin stated: “KuCoin is gradually restoring the deposit and withdrawal services of all…
Japanese financial giant SBI acquires TaoTao crypto exchange
Japan’s largest on-line financial conglomerate, SBI Holdings, now owns two licensed cryptocurrency trading platforms with its new acquisition of TaoTao exchange. According to an official announcement on Oct. 7, SBI’s foreign exchange and derivatives arm SBI Liquidity Market has acquired all shares of TaoTao, making it a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company. Formerly 40% owned by internet giant Yahoo! Japan’s YJFX, TaoTao launched its crypto trading service in May 2019. With the new acquisition, SBI now has two crypto trading platforms as the company is already offering crypto trading services…
75 crypto exchanges have closed down so far in 2020
As least 75 crypto exchanges have closed down due hacks, exit scams or simply disappeared for unknown reasons so far this year. According to the Crypto Wisser Exchange Graveyard five of the exchanges, including Hotbit, FinexBox, and WCX, were labelled as scams, and four including Altsbit, and Nerae, were flagged as being hacked. In total 31 were shut down voluntarily while 34 were labeled as ‘MIA’ for disappearing with no explanation. Dutch exchange NLexch, and Chilean Chilebit were the only two flagged as being shut down by their respective governments…
Crypto exchange refuses to name names for Belarusian government
Ukraine-based crypto exchange Kuna.io is refusing to provide personal information about individuals who could potentially be labeled as dissidents by the government of Belarus. According to an Oct. 5 Facebook post from Belarus Solidary Foundation, or BYSOL, founder Andrej Stryzhak, Kuna has stated it will not comply with an official request sent on Sept. 30 by Belarus’ Department of Financial Investigations, or FDI, under the country’s Committee of State Control. The department requested personal information on Belarusians who had received funds through BYSOL, insinuating that they may have been involved…
Venezuela trials ‘decentralized stock exchange’ that’s open to the world
Venezuela’s National Securities Superintendency has given the go-ahead for a 90-day pilot of a crypto-powered “decentralized stock exchange” in the country that aims to have a global reach despite international sanctions. Cointelegraph Espanol reports that news of the Decentralized Stock Exchange of Venezuela’s authorization to operate was published in the country’s official gazette, issue 6,578, Sept. 29. The exchange is known as BDVE and its website claims that the platform comprises “the first decentralized stock exchange in the world.” It highlights that users will be able to access the exchange…
More than half of all crypto exchanges have weak or no ID verification
More than half of all exchanges worldwide have weak KYC identification protocols — with exchanges in Europe, the U.S. and U.K. among the worst offenders, according to a new study by blockchain analysis firm CipherTrace CipherTrace analyzed more than 800 decentralized, centralized, and automated market maker exchanges and found 56% of them did not follow KYC guidelines at all despite anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. The highest number of such exchanges are in Europe — a region renowned for stricter regulations. However, 60% of European Virtual Asset Service Providers have deficient…
Bittrex Global gets cleared to run crypto exchange from Bermuda
Crypto exchange Bittrex Global received the green light from Bermuda’s financial watchdog to run its operations under the supervision of local authorities. According to the official announcement, the company got a full “Class F Digital Assets Business Act” license from the Bermuda Monetary Authority, or BMA, which will allow them to offer crypto services such as futures, subject to further approval by the watchdog. Bermuda’s positive regulatory stance towards crypto comes within the context of the Digital Assets Business Act approved in 2018. This established the first legal framework for…