City of Busan to establish digital assets exchange: Report

According to local news outlet News1, Busan, South Korea will establish a decentralized digital commodities exchange. Officials said the platform is scheduled to start operations this year and will support local cultural content via digital assets. “Taking advantage of the strengths of Busan, such as the Busan International Film Festival, G-Star; [the exchange] will include tokenization of intellectual property rights in the film and game fields, as well as gold, precious metals, agricultural and livestock products, ships, real estate, etc.” As told by the Busan Digital Asset Exchange Establishment Promotion…

FTX CEO says he is exploring rebooting the exchange: Report

John Ray, who took over as CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX prior to bankruptcy proceedings, has reportedly set up a task force to consider restarting FTX.com. According to a Jan. 19 report from the Wall Street Journal, Ray said everything was “on the table” when it came to the future of FTX.com, including a potential path forward with rebooting the exchange. FTX Trading, doing business as FTX.com, was one of roughly 130 companies under FTX Group that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2022. Ray reportedly was considering reviving…

FTX profited from Sam Bankman-Fried’s inflated coins: Report

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of the FTX crypto exchange, used his influence in the crypto industry to inflate some coins prices through a coordinated strategy with FTX’s sister company, Alameda Research, a New York Times report claimed on Jan. 18. As a way to keep FTX and the companies under its umbrella profitable, Bankman-Fried allegedly approached developers behind projects, insisting that they make their trading debuts on the exchange’s platform. Following that, the report claimed, Alameda Research would buy some of these freshly listed coins to raise their value.…

Media startup says it will buy back $10 million SBF stake: Report

Media startup Semafor said on Jan. 18 that it will attempt to buy back former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s $10 million stake in the company, according to a Jan. 18 report from the New York Times. The report stated that Semafor will seek to raise money from other sources to make up what it is giving back. Scoop: Sam Bankman-Fried invested roughly $10 million of Semafor’s $25 million round, making him the company’s biggest outside investor. Semafor is buying back his interest and putting that money into a separate account…

Asian Traders Behind Bitcoin’s Recent Gains, Report Reveals

Data shows most of Bitcoin’s recent gains since November 27 have been observed during Asian trading hours, according to a report. Bitcoin Saw The Most Returns During Asian Trading Hours As per the latest weekly report from Arcane Research, Asian trading hours saw positive cumulative BTC returns of around 16% between November 27 and January 15. The report defines the three principal trading hours: between 0 to 8 Central European Time (CET) for Asian hours, 8-16 CET for European, and 16-24 for the US. Here is a chart that shows…

Spain’s central bank approves euro-linked token pilot as part of sandbox initiative: Report

The financial sandbox ar of the Bank of Spain, or Banco de España, has reportedly approved a project from fintech firm Monei testing a token linked to the euro. According to a Jan. 18 report from Spain-based news outlet Cinco Días, the Bank of Spain gave the green light to Monei to issue its EURM token as part of a testing phase expected to last between 6-12 months. The sandbox was aimed at establishing a controlled testing environment for financial innovations projects in Spain under the supervision of central bank…

Roblox Stock Jumps 12% as December 2022 Metrics Report Shows Increase in Bookings

The company’s stock has increased more than 30% since the year started and has grown 36.52% over the past month. Online game company Roblox Corporation (NYSE: RBLX) saw its shares jump following the release of its December 2022 metrics report. The company’s shares closed up 11.77% on Tuesday on news that its bookings for the year grew. According to the December 2022 key metrics, Roblox estimated bookings were between $430 million and $439 million, resulting in a 17% gain in the month. Notably, bookings is what the online game platform…