Andrew Asmakov

Thailand is a growing hub for crypto firms. Image: Shutterstock.

Binance Expects to Launch New Thai Crypto Exchange in Q4 2023

Binance today announced its joint venture with Gulf Innova Co., Ltd. has received digital asset operator licenses from the Ministry of Finance of Thailand, opening the way for the launch of a crypto exchange and broker. Crypto operators are overseen by Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), meaning the new platform will be regulatory compliant, said Binance. The new platform is expected to open in Q4 2023, with more details to be revealed closer to the launch, Binance said. “We are

The Winklevoss twins co-founded the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini. Image: Shutterstock

Crypto Exchange Gemini Turns to Ireland for European Headquarters

Gemini, the cryptocurrency exchange run by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, announced it has chosen the Republic of Ireland as its new European home. The announcement followed a meeting between the crypto co-founders, the Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, and the representatives of the Industrial Development Agency (IDA), the body responsible for foreign investment into Ireland. “We’re grateful for the support of the Irish government and the IDA as we embark on the next, exciting steps in our jour

US Treasury Department. Image: Shutterstock

Government Sanctions on Tornado Cash Don't Fit The Law: Coinbase Legal Officer

In a new court filing in support of the ongoing legal action against the U.S. Department of Treasury, individuals seeking to overturn the decision to sanction Ethereum mixing service Tornado Cash presented key arguments for the case. Per the plaintiffs, “this case is not about carving out special rules for new technology,” but rather holding the Treasury “to the basic requirements of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the

Crypto Consortium Fahrenheit Wins Bid to Acquire Bankrupt Celsius' Assets

Crypto consortium Fahrenheit has emerged as the winning bidder in the acquisition of the insolvent lender Celsius Network, court filings published Thursday revealed. The consortium, backed by mining company US Bitcoin Corp., Arrington Capital, Proof Group, Steven Kokinos, and Ravi Kaza, will take ownership of Celsius's institutional loan portfolio, staked crypto assets, the firm’s Bitcoin mining unit, and other cryptocurrency-related investments. Fahrenheit will also provide the capital, managem

Coinbase is the leading crypto exchange in the U.S. Image: Decrypt/André Beganski

'SEC Has No Intention' of Providing Clear Rules for Crypto: Coinbase

Coinbase accused the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of deliberately ignoring its petition for adopting clear rules for the crypto industry, even though the decision has not been made public. In its latest filing to the Third Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Coinbase also pointed to public comments previously made by SEC Chair Gary Gensler, saying that "the SEC’s and its Chair’s words and actions leave no doubt of the agency’s plans." Coinbase sent the SEC its so-called “petit

FTX CEO Charged $1,040 to 'Review And Finalize 2.0 Reboot of Exchange Material'

FTX CEO John J. Ray III spent at least several hours last month working on devising a reboot plan for the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX, a recent court filing revealed. The monthly staffing report and compensation details for John Ray III, who leads the FTX restructuring efforts, showed that during this period the exchange CEO engaged in several activities that may facilitate the revival of the crypto exchange. Ray explored the subsequent steps required to restart the crypto exchange, while al

Gemini Says DCG Missed $630M Genesis Loan Payment

Crypto exchange Gemini said Digital Currency Group (DCG) of missing out on a $630 million payment that was due last week. The payment relates to a loan Gemini made to the now-bankrupt crypto lender Genesis, which is the subsidiary of DCG. Earlier this month, the firm warned that in the event DCG is unable to make the required payment or restructure its debt, the digital assets conglomerate would be at risk of defaulting on its obligations. Gemini Warns Barry Silbert's Digital Currency Group of $

Ethereum has merged. Image: Shutterstock

DeFi Projects Built on Ethereum Scaling Solution Starknet Hit $10M

Starknet, an open-source framework that aims to bring scalability and privacy to decentralized applications (dApps) built on Ethereum, has seen dramatic growth in various DeFi apps on the network over the past few months, with its total value locked (TVL) recently hitting a new all-time high As of today, Starknet TVL stands at $10.49 million, a whopping ten-fold increase from $1.449 million at the beginning of March, according to DefiLlama. TVL is a metric commonly used in decentralized finance

The Australian Securities Exchange building in Sydney, Australia. Image: Shutterstock

Australia’s Stock Exchange ASX Axes Blockchain Initiative—for Good

After seven years of development, Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has finally abandoned plans to use blockchain technology or related distributed ledger technology (DLT) for revamping its existing Clearing House Electronic Subregister System (CHESS) At a May 17 meeting, ASX exchange project director Tim Whiteley said that while the exchange continues to explore all the options, “certainly we will need to use a more conventional technology than in the original solution in order to achieve th

Ripple Rolls Out CBDC Platform for Governments, Financial Institutions

Ripple is rolling out a proprietary platform for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), enabling central banks, governments, and financial institutions to create their own digital currencies. Described as “a frictionless end-to-end solution,” the Ripple CBDC Platform builds on Ripple's Private Ledger, which was first introduced in 2021 for CBDC issuance. It's based on the same blockchain technology as the XRP Ledger (XRPL), which was also designed primarily for payments. A Ripple spokesperson

Voyager Digital was a crypto lending firm that has went bankrupt in 2022. Image: Shutterstock.

Bankrupt Crypto Broker Voyager Cleared to Repay $1.3B to Creditors

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York has cleared the way for the bankrupt Voyager Digital to begin reimbursing its creditors. As reported by Reuters, Judge Michael Wiles approved the firm’s liquidation plan, allowing Voyager to return approximately $1.33 billion in crypto to customers. “At today’s hearing, the Court approved the liquidation procedures. We are working with Voyager to go effective under the plan as soon as possible (as early as this Friday),” Voyager’s O

The Bank of Korea Prepares for CBDC Launch. Image: Shutterstock

Samsung, Bank of Korea to Deepen Offline CBDC Payments Research

Samsung Electronics announced its partnership with the Bank of Korea (BOK) to jointly conduct research aimed at developing an ecosystem for a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Both parties signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at Samsung's headquarters in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, according to a Korea Herald report. Under this agreement, Samsung and the BOK will be conducting further research into the CBDC issued by the BOK, as well as collaborating in the offline payment sector. A CBDC

OpenAI CEO's Crypto Project Worldcoin Eyes $100M in Fresh Funding: Report

Worldcoin, the iris-scanning crypto project helmed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, continues to attract investors despite yet having left beta. Citing three people with knowledge of the deal, the Financial Times reported that Worldcoin is "in advanced talks" on a new round of financing worth around $100 million. The round is backed by both existing and new investors, according to one of the people. Worldcoin’s previous investment round included funding from venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz (a

Terraform CEO Do Kwon to Be Released on Bail in Montenegro

Terraform Labs’ co-founder Do Kwon is set to be released from custody in Montenegro after the Basic Court in Podgorica agreed to a €400,000 ($436,000) bail, according to the official announcement. The court also agreed to release Terraform’s former chief financial officer Chang-joon Han on the same conditions. The two men will be placed under house arrest. The collapse of the Terra ecosystem in May 2022 was among the key factors that contributed to the crypto industry’s slide into a lengthy cryp

Tom Brady, Giselle Bundchen, and Larry David. Images: Shutterstock

Former FTX Exec Cooperating in Lawsuit Against Celebrity Promoters

Celebs caught in the crosshairs of promoting FTX have been dealt another blow. Daniel Friedberg, the former Chief Regulatory Officer at FTX and the Chief Compliance Officer of FTX US, moved to provide evidence that promotional activity for FTX had indeed originated in Florida. The evidence, which Friedberg provided “under penalty of perjury,” could undermine a defense argument from some of the defendants that the Miami court lacks jurisdiction and that the claims have no connection to Florida. A

Texas Lawmakers Vote to Include Use of Digital Currencies in State's Bill of Rights

Texas lawmakers on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of an update to the state’s Bill of Rights to include the right of the people to own, hold, and use digital currencies. Introduced by State Representative Giovani Capriglione, Bill HJR 146 states that “the right of the people to own, hold, and use a mutually agreed upon medium of exchange, including cash, coin, bullion, digital currency, or scrip, when trading and contracting for goods and services shall not be infringed.” “No government

Fred Thiel is the chairman and CEO of crypto mining firm Marathon Digital. Image: Stephen Graves/Decrypt.

SEC Serves Bitcoin Mining Firm Marathon Digital With Subpoena, Again

Bitcoin mining firm Marathon Digital Holdings said it received a subpoena from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) related to alleged violations of securities laws. “The Company received an additional subpoena from the SEC on April 10, 2023, relating to, among other things, transactions with related parties,” Marathon said in a filing Wednesday. “We understand that the SEC may be investigating whether or not there may have been any violations of the federal securities law.” Maratho

Bitcoin miners help to keep the network running. Image: Shutterstock

Cipher Strikes Deal With Canaan to Purchase 11,000 New Bitcoin Miners

Cipher Mining, a U.S.-based Bitcoin mining company, aims to bring its total hash rate capacity to over 7.2 EH/s following the addition of 11,000 new A1346 model machines that it has purchased from Canaan, the Chinese manufacturer of cryptocurrency mining equipment. With this purchase, the company’s machine fleet has increased to over 70,000 mining rigs, Cipher said in a press release. “We are excited to formally begin our collaboration with Canaan, a pioneer in the ASIC high-performance computin

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. Image: FTX

SBF’s Defense Seeks to Dismiss Most Criminal Charges Against FTX Founder

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has released his first comprehensive legal argument in response to fraud charges leveled against him by prosecutors. In Monday's filings in a Manhattan federal court, SBF sought to dismiss several allegations and asserts that the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, which represents FTX in the bankruptcy proceedings, has acted as an agent of the federal government in constructing the criminal case against him. The FTX founder, wh

Liechtenstein has emerging as a hub for crypto activity. Image: Shutterstock.

Bitcoin Payment Option 'Is Coming', Says Liechtenstein's Prime Minister

Liechtenstein is planning to accept Bitcoin (BTC) as payment for state services, Prime Minister Daniel Risch said in an interview with German business daily Handelsblatt. "A payment option with Bitcoin is coming," said Risch, who also serves as Liechtenstein’s finance minister. Although there isn't a specific timeframe for the implementation of this payment option, Risch said the plan is to accept Bitcoin deposits and exchange them immediately for the Swiss franc, Liechtenstein’s national curren

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