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Biweekly crypto round-up for November 2022 (Part 2)

The FTX nightmare continues, dragging down BlockFi and the wider market.

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Zyane Tan
Updated .
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The dust from FTX’s implosion has yet to settle, but with Binance stepping up to take on the role of industry white knight, perhaps we can expect brighter days ahead. Scroll down for your biweekly wrap-up of all things crypto.

Quick take

  • El Salvador to buy 1 Bitcoin daily, said president Nayib Bukele.
  • BlockFi conducted a mass lay-off and filed for bankruptcy. The crypto lender owes approximately $1.3 billion to 50 of its largest creditors.
  • New documents revealed that Sony filed a patent for tracking in-game digital assets with NFTs, indicating the electronic giant’s move into Web3.
  • Assets of Sam Bankman-Fried and other affiliates seized.
  • Cathie Wood’s investment firm Ark Invest bought another $1.4 million worth of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) fund amid the dip.
  • Binance to commit an initial $1 billion for its “industry recovery initiative”, which will be used to scoop up distressed digital assets.

Key events

We’ve hand-picked some of the most relevant emerging stories in the crypto space to help you stay ahead of the curve.
Nayib Bukele

Government announcements and regulations

  • 17 Nov: El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele announced that the country will begin purchasing 1 Bitcoin every day.
  • 22 Nov: Kenya proposed a crypto taxation bill that classifies crypto as security and establishes reporting, tax and other requirements.
  • 23 Nov: El Salvador proposed digital securities bill to press ahead with plans to issue Bitcoin-backed “volcano bonds”.
  • 23 Nov: New York signed a 2-year moratorium on new proof-of-work (PoW) mining.
  • 23 Nov: The Bank of Japan collaborated with 3 megabanks to trial digital yen.
  • 25 Nov: Uzbekistan issued the first crypto licences to 2 local crypto service providers.
  • 29 Nov: Israel’s Ministry of Finance published new guidelines for the regulation of digital assets.
Cardano

Blockchain and tokens

  • 16 Nov: Major US financial institutions – including HBSC, Mastercard and Wells Fargo – collaborated with the Federal Reserve to launch a digital dollar blockchain pilot.
  • 18 Nov: Cardano-based, regulated and fully fiat-backed stablecoin USDA will be launched in early 2023.
  • 18 Nov: Sui network, a layer-1 blockchain created by ex-Meta engineers, unveiled its testnet.
  • 19 Nov: The firm behind Cardano is launching Midnight, a new privacy-focused blockchain and a token called Dust.
  • 21 Nov: Cardano to launch new over-collateralized algorithmic stablecoin known as Djed in 2023.
Sony NFT

NFTs, GameFi and metaverses

  • 16 Nov: New documents reveal that Sony filed a patent for tracking in-game digital assets with NFTs.
  • 17 Nov: NFT projects from major brands, including Coachella and Tomorrowland held in FTX, are now stuck on the platform.
  • 18 Nov: Musician Justin “3LAU” Blau’s Web3 music startup Royal debuted a marketplace for music NFTs.
  • 19 Nov: Ethereum NFT marketplace X2Y2 to follow OpenSea‘s move to enforce creator-set royalties on all NFT collections.
  • 19 Nov: Pharrell’s NFT artwork platform GODA held its Hilma af Klint NFT art auction despite complaints from the late artist’s family.
  • 19 Nov: Sorare agreed to amend the rules for its NFT soccer trading game and expand free access upon pressure from the French National Gambling Authority (ANJ).
  • 22 Nov: The Sandbox collaborated with popular brands including Playboy and Snoop Dogg to launch a 3-part LAND sale.
  • 22 Nov: NFT marketplace Magic Eden announced plans to add support for Polygon NFTs.
  • 28 Nov: Game7, a Web3 gaming-focused DAO, unveiled a $100 million grant program to accelerate blockchain-enabled game development.
  • 28 Nov: Deadmau5’s music metaverse startup Pixelynx unveiled its Pokémon GO-like augmented reality (AR) NFT game.
  • 29 Nov: Gary Vee’s sports and entertainment NFT startup Candy Digital – previously valued at $1.5 billion – conducted a mass lay-off.
Matter Labs

Investments

  • 16 Nov: Matter Labs, the development team behind Ethereum-scaling solution zkSync, raised $200 million to scale the technology.
  • 17 Nov: Market maker B2C2 offered to purchase loans from troubled lender Genesis.
  • 17 Nov: Crusoe Energy scooped up $1.55 million in assets from bankrupt mining operator Compute North.
  • 21 Nov: Binance to make a strategic investment in the hardware wallet industry by leading Ngrave’s upcoming series A funding round.
  • 21 Nov: Mobile-focused blockchain Celo partnered with Ethereum software firm ConsenSys to scale its network with the latter’s Infura infrastructure.
  • 22 Nov: Cathie Wood’s investment firm Ark Invest purchased another $1.4 million worth of GBTC fund.
  • 23 Nov: Onomy, a Cosmos blockchain-based ecosystem, garnered $10 million in its latest funding round to further the development of its new protocol.
  • 23 Nov: Singapore-based Foresight Ventures unveiled a $10 million Web3 startup fund.
  • 25 Nov: Cryptocurrency trading and lending firm Matrixport aimed to raise $100 million in a new funding round that will increase the company’s valuation to $1.5 billion.
  • 28 Nov: Ethereum staking startup Kiln raised $17.6 million in a series A funding round.
BlockFi

Defaults, exploits and lawsuits

  • 16 Nov: Esports giant TSM suspended its $210 million partnership – the largest sponsorship deal in history – with FTX.
  • 16 Nov: Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius owed $12 million by Alameda Research.
  • 17 Nov: Several celebrities and athletes including Larry David, Tom Brady and Kevin O’Leary were caught up in a class action lawsuit for allegedly promoting FTX’s failed business model.
  • 17 Nov: Voyager reopened the bidding process for its distressed assets following FTX’s sudden collapse.
  • 17 Nov: The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) shelved its 7-year blockchain project and wrote off a $170 million loss.
  • 17 Nov: Analytics firm Chainalysis was identified as one of the creditors in FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings.
  • 18 Nov: Solana NFT protocol Metaplex announced mass lay-offs in the wake of FTX’s collapse, which indirectly impacted its business.
  • 18 Nov: Troubled crypto exchange Zipmex applied for creditor protection extension as it remains in talks with an investor over a takeover deal.
  • 21 Nov: Investors sued Nexo for allegedly blocking $126 million worth of assets and intimidating them into selling back to the platform at a 60% discount in March 2021.
  • 22 Nov: Nasdaq-listed crypto services firm Eqonex filed for voluntary debt restructuring in Singapore.
  • 23 Nov: Mango Market hacker Avraham Eisenberg lost millions in failed Aave scheme.
  • 23 Nov: Bo Shen, the founding partner of VC firm Fenbushi Capital, lost $42 million worth of crypto in a personal wallet hack.
  • 23 Nov: The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) sued Block Earner for allegedly offering unlicensed financial services.
  • 24 Nov: Hodlnaut faced probe from Singapore authorities for “possible cheating and fraud”.
  • 25 Nov: Assets of FTX’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried and other affiliates seized by Turkish authorities.
  • 28 Nov: Crypto lender BlockFi conducted major lay-offs and filed for bankruptcy. Initial bankruptcy filings reveal that the crypto lender owes $1.3 billion to its 50 largest creditors.
Exchanges

Digital banks and exchanges

  • 16 Nov: Crypto lender SALT halted withdrawals following FTX’s implosion.
  • 16 Nov: Crypto broker Genesis suspended client withdrawals from its lending arm, citing exposure to FTX collapse. It was later revealed that the platform had attempted to seek a $1 billion bailout from investors to avoid a liquidity crunch before pausing withdrawals.
  • 16 Nov: Singapore-based crypto exchange Bitget launched operations in Brazil and integrated with the country’s payment system to allow crypto purchases with Brazilian reals.
  • 17 Nov: Gemini faced a brief service outage shortly after warning its customers of a likely delay in withdrawals for its Earn program after its lending partner Genesis paused withdrawals. Although the service was quickly restored, Gemini suffered a $485 million rush of outflows caused by contagion fears.
  • 17 Nov: MakerDAO‘s new technology Maker Teleport is now available to Ethereum-scaling networks Arbitrum and Optimism. The DeFi protocol also claimed that it can now handle faster transactions and withdrawals for its stablecoin, DAI.
  • 21 Nov: Japanese crypto exchange Liquid suspended all trading and withdrawals after FTX’s bankruptcy filing.
  • 22 Nov: Crypto exchange Bitget registered in Seychelles and planned to set up more regional hubs as part of its expansion roadmap.
  • 23 Nov: Bitpanda secured an operating licence in Germany.
  • 23 Nov: Binance’s mining pool added Ravencoin (RVN) to its list of supported tokens.
  • 24 Nov: Bybit, the world’s third most-visited crypto exchange, launched a $100 million fund to support institutional clients and market makers.
  • 24 Nov: Binance announced an initial $1 billion recovery fund to purchase distressed digital assets in the wake of FTX’s collapse.
  • 25 Nov: Binance released its proof-of-reserve (PoR) system to foster transparency and trust. Its PoR will start with Bitcoin at launch with more tokens added in the coming weeks.
  • 29 Nov: Crypto exchange Kraken agreed on a settlement with the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) over alleged violations of Iran sanctions.

Images: Getty Images

Top crypto news

CZ to the rescue: Binance to commit $2 billion for distressed crypto assets

25 November 2022

CZ Zhao Binance

Image: Finder

Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao announced on Thursday that his exchange has set aside 1 billion Binance USD (BUSD) in initial capital to establish an industry recovery initiative. This will be used to scoop up distressed digital assets and help rebuild the industry. A day later, CZ tweeted that Binance would add another $1 billion to the fund, raising the total allocation to $2 billion.

The recovery fund will also be open to contributions from other industry players. So far, the big names that have confirmed their participation include Polygon Ventures, Aptos Labs, Animoca Brands and GSR. Binance said the recovery fund is “expected to last for around 6 months and has already received over 150 applications”.

The move comes as the crypto market is rattled from the collapse of FTX – one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world – which has also implicated other companies such as BlockFi, Genesis, Galaxy Digital and Sequoia Capital.

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