FTX’s former general counsel, Can Sun, and former Alameda Research software developer Armani Ferrante have teamed up to start Trek Labs, a Dubai-based company that recently obtained a license from the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, or VARA, which regulates digital assets in the emirate, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. Source
Taiwan cryptocurrency exchange Bitgin is under investigation by the country’s police force for money laundering. According to local news reports early this week, Yuting Zhang, the firm’s COO, was arrested by Taiwanese police for his alleged role in the “Eighty-Eight Guild Hall” money laundering incident. Previously Zhemin Guo and Chengwen Tu, two local businessmen, were accused by police of operating a multi-billion-dollar money laundering scheme by using their foreign exchange offices and crypto exchange accounts to launder proceeds of crime obtained via wire fraud from overseas. Chengwen Tu is also…
The IPO would mark the first such listing by a Korean crypto exchange. There were reports in 2020 that Bithumb was considering a share sale, though it denied them at the time. Bithumb is aiming to boost its market share and close the gap on fellow exchange Upbit, which has more than 80% of the South Korean market. Source
South Korea’s Bithumb is preparing to become the first cryptocurrency exchange in the country to be a publicly listed company, according to multiple local media reports. Interestingly, the listing aims not to raise funds but to enhance market trust in its operations. “Our IPO is not about raising funds,” a Bithumb official said today (Monday). “Many people have doubts about cryptocurrency exchanges because they perceive them as not being transparent [and the aim is to tackle that].” Indeed, the crypto exchange had over 400 billion won ($302 million) in financial…
Crypto exchange Bithumb plans to become the first digital asset company to go public on the South Korean stock market. Local news outlet Edaily reported on Nov. 12 that Bithumb is getting ready for an initial public offering (IPO) on the KOSDAQ — South Korea’s version of the United States Nasdaq — with an expected listing date set for sometime in the second half of 2025. Bithumb declined to confirm whether the IPO was going ahead but admitted they had recently selected an underwriter, a company tasked with guaranteeing the…
Former FTX executives, including a witness against Sam Bankman-Fried, have launched a new crypto platform called Backpack that pledges transparency. According to the Wall Street Journal report, Can Sun, the former general counsel for FTX and a key witness in the trial of founder Bankman-Fried, is behind the new venture. A beta version of Backpack is expected to launch soon. A group of former FTX executives, including one who served as a key witness against Sam Bankman-Fried, are teaming up to build a new cryptocurrency exchange that aims to solve…
Several former FTX executives have teamed up to help build a new cryptocurrency exchange in Dubai with a specific focus on what FTX failed to do — secure customer funds. Ex-FTX lawyer Can Sun is leading the way with Trek Labs, a Dubai-based startup that received a license to offer cryptocurrency services in the region in late October. Backpack Exchange is the name under which Trek Labs will offer those services. Sun will receive support from ex-FTX employee, Armani Ferrante, who serves as CEO of Trek’s holding company in the British…
Nearly 50 nations including the US are collaborating to enable automatic information exchange between crypto trading firms and tax agencies. In a new press release, the government of the United Kingdom (UK) says that the coalition of jurisdictions is partnering up to create the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) as a means of ensuring tax compliance and combating tax evasion. “To keep pace with the rapid development and growth of the crypto-asset market and to ensure that recent gains in global tax transparency will not be gradually eroded, we welcome the…
Tron (TRX) founder Justin Sun is offering a 5% white hat bounty to the hacker who exploited the exchange Poloniex for $125 million in crypto. Sun, who acquired Poloniex in 2019, says that the hacker has a week to accept the offer and return the assets to the wallets he took them from, otherwise, law enforcement will have to get involved. “We are offering a 5% white hat bounty to the Poloniex hacker. Please return the funds to the following ETH/TRX/BTC wallets. We will give you seven days to consider…
A crypto wallet belonging to the digital asset exchange Poloniex has experienced suspicious outflows, as seen on blockchain explorer Etherscan. Blockchain security firms believe that the company was breached, leading to as much as $100 million in crypto being drained by the attackers. On Nov. 10, millions of crypto assets were transferred from an account labeled Poloniex 4 on Etherscan. Initial estimates of the losses were around $60 million. However, it was later determined that over $100 million was taken by the attackers. According to blockchain security firm CertiK, the…