Turkey sees rise in adult crypto investors, report reveals

A recent report by the crypto exchange KuCoin reveals that more than half of the adult population in Turkey invests in cryptocurrencies. The report, titled “Into The Cryptoverse: Understanding Crypto Users in Turkey,” discloses that 52% of the country’s adult population was engaged in crypto investments as of May 2023. This rate was 40% in November 2021. Moreover, this indicates a remarkable 12% increase over the past 18 months. The surge brings to light the growing prominence of the crypto industry within Turkey despite prevailing market conditions. Turkish nationals’ desire…

$16M in crypto lost to hacks in August — Report

A total of $15.8 million in cryptocurrencies were lost to hacks or exploits in the month of August. According to an Aug. 31 report by blockchain security firm Immunfi, a combined $23.4 million in crypto was lost to a combination of hacks and fraud, a significant decrease compared to the $320.5 million lost in July. All exploits consisted of attacks against decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, and not a single incident affected centralized finance entities.  Of the 21 security incidents reported, five took place on the Ethereum blockchain, while four occurred…

Judge says Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyers have until Sept. 1 to request a trial postponement: Report

Lawyers representing former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, or SBF, have reportedly not asked for a different trial date in order to prepare, but a federal judge has offered a limited window to do so. According to an Aug. 30 thread on X (formerly Twitter) from Inner City Press, Judge Lewis Kaplan said the deadline for requesting a jury based on Bankman-Fried’s trial start date was Sept. 7. SBF’s lawyers reportedly said they “chose an aggressive date” in which the former FTX CEO would have the opportunity to clear his name but…

Sensitive data leaked in Kroll cybersecurity breach — Report

It appears that a data breach involving FTX bankruptcy claims agent Kroll has resulted in the leak of sensitive information, contrary to earlier reports.  In an alleged Kroll Q&A Summary published on Aug. 30, FTX users’ email addresses, mailing addresses, account numbers, unique bankruptcy identifiers, account balances, phone numbers, and other claim details were all reportedly breached in a cybersecurity incident that took place on Aug. 25. Previously, FTX wrote that Kroll “experienced a cybersecurity incident that compromised non-sensitive customer data of certain claimants in the pending bankruptcy case.”  Kroll…

76% of Vietnamese crypto holders invest based on referrals — Report

Over three-quarters of Vietnamese crypto holders make investment decisions through friends’ referrals. That’s according to an Aug. 30 report by Vietnamese venture capital firms Kyros Ventures and Coin68, alongside Animoca Brands. In the 3,300-participant survey, 75.5% of participants admitted being “influenced by recommendations or referrals” regarding crypto investing. The amount is 2.5 times higher than reported in the United States. Self-study, community groups and media news were the biggest sources of information for Vietnamese crypto investors, with nearly one in two electing such methods. The “Vietnam Cryptocurrency Market Report” for…

Tether adds Bahamas-based private bank Britannia as partner: Report

Tether, the stablecoin issuer behind USDT, has reportedly added Britannia Bank & Trust, a private bank based in The Bahamas to process dollar transfers on its platform. It is understood Tether has instructed clients to send money to Britannia’s bank account over the last few months, according to an Aug. 29 report by Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter. However, it isn’t clear when Tether’s banking relationship with Britannia Bank started, but its other reported banking partners include Deltec Bank and Capital Union Bank. In recent months, United States-based…

JPMorgan forecasts limited downside for crypto markets: Report

The cryptocurrency market’s recent downtrend appears to be coming to an end, as JPMorgan’s latest research suggests that most long-position liquidations have been completed. According to a Bloomberg report, analysts for the American bank estimate that the liquidations are “largely behind us.” The prediction is based on the open interest in Bitcoin (BTC) futures contracts on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) indicating that the selling trend might soon decelerate. Open interest, which refers to active futures contracts, serves as an indicator of market sentiment and the strength of price trends.…

Hong Kong regulator eyes tokenization for bond market improvement: Report

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) released a report on Aug. 25 detailing the findings of its Project Evergreen study which analyzed the market impact of bond tokenization.  In a 24-page overview, the Hong Kong regulator laid out use cases, benefits and any challenges faced during the study. The concluding sentiment being that tokenization provides improvement for the bond market. Eddie Yue, the chief executive of the HKMA, said the study highlighted the potential of deploying distributed ledger technology (DLT) to real capital markets transactions with the current legal framework…

Mastercard and Binance end crypto card partnership in Latin America: Report

Global payment giant Mastercard is reportedly ending its cryptocurrency card partnership with Binance crypto exchange next month, according to a Bloomberg report. The report didn’t divulge the reason for the change, but implied it might be due to increased regulatory scrutiny of the beleaguered crypto exchange. Mastercard and Binance will end their four crypto card programmes in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia starting Sept. 22, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 24. The decision to end the program will not impact any of Mastercard’s other crypto card programmes, the firm reportedly said. The wind-down…

Vessel Capital secures $55M to invest in Web3 infrastructure: Report

Venture capital firm Vessel Capital has announced a $55 million fund to invest in Web3 infrastructure and applications, TechCrunch reported. According to the founders, their goal is not to scale, but rather to assist crypto founders working on early-stage startups to launch and grow their projects. “Crypto has become more global, so it’s not the same circle and group you might have seen in 2018-2020, and we want to be able to help more people,” Mirza Uddin, one of the co-founders, said. Aside from Vessel, Uddin is also head of…