Emily Tonelli

South Korea has become a hot spot for crypto activity. Image: Shutterstock.

South Korean Authorities Officially Void Do Kwon’s Passport

The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced yesterday that the passport of Terra’s Do Kwon would be canceled in 14 days. The Ministry also ordered that the passport be returned to authorities. The statement read, “if you [Kwon] keep the passport, the validity of your passport will be invalidated (administratively invalidation).” Kwon, if he chooses not to surrender his documents, will not be allowed to use them and will be restricted from a reissuance, making it difficult for him to

Resignations and layoffs are common during bear markets. Image: Shutterstock.

Co-Founder of Bankrupt Crypto Firm Celsius Daniel Leon Resigns: Report

Co-founder of the troubled crypto lender Celsius Daniel Leon has stepped down from his role as chief strategy officer, according to Bloomberg. Celsius, a now-defunct crypto lending firm, confirmed the information on Tuesday, saying that Leon was “no longer part of the organization.” On September 27, co-founder and CEO Alex Mashinsky also resigned, noting how he had become a “distraction” to the company and any additional work to recover what is left of the battered crypto lending platform. A w

Celsius Network is a crypto lending company. Image: Shutterstock

Alex Mashinsky Withdrew $10M From Сelsius Before Freezing Customer Accounts: Report

Former CEO of Celsius Alex Mashinsky allegedly withdrew $10 million from the company’s account back in May, just weeks before the now-defunct crypto lending firm froze customer withdrawals, according to the Financial Times. A source close to the matter told the FT that “the withdrawal had been pre-planned and was linked to Mashinsky’s estate planning.” Leading up to the hefty withdrawal, Mashinsky would reportedly withdraw small amounts of crypto for taxes, the source said, and “he consistentl

Crypto Exchange FTX Wins Bid to Buy Out Bankrupt Voyager for $1.4B

On Monday, cryptocurrency exchange FTX.US won the bid to buy out Voyager Digital, a crypto investment firm that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July. Voyager has accepted the exchange’s $1.4 billion bid to be bought out, according to the announcement, beating out Binance and Wave Financial in a race to buy the bankrupted firm. “Voyager received multiple bids contemplating sale and reorganization alternatives, held an auction, and, based on the auction’s results, has determined that the sale

The FTX CEO said that the “core driver” of the current crypto recession is the Federal Reserve's tightening fiscal policy.

Sam Bankman-Fried: FTX Has $1 Billion to Spend on Acquisitions

Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of crypto derivatives exchange FTX, said in an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box that the exchange has at least $1 billion to deploy on acquisitions and bailouts. Although he wouldn’t commit to a specific figure, Bankman-Fried said that, “You get to definitional issues here, of how much should we really feel comfortable deploying. Saying that there's another ballpark billion that is completely unencumbered, certainly will get you within a factor of two of the right ans

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele. Image: Wikimedia

El Salvador’s Bitcoin-Loving President Bukele to Run for Re-Election

President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele announced that he will seek re-election after his term ends in 2024, according to Reuters. El Salvador is among the countries that prohibited presidents from serving consecutive terms, a ban that was overruled by the country's supreme court in September 2021. “Developed countries have re-election, and thanks to the new configuration of the democratic institution of our country, now El Salvador will too,” President Bukele said in a speech on Thursday. A keen

South Korean Authorities Seek to Void Terra Co-Founder Do Kwon's Passport: Report

The Korean Ministry of Finance announced that it is working on voiding the passport of Terra co-founder Do Kwon along with five other members connected to the now-defunct crypto project, according to Korean news source Munhwa Ilbo. The director of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office for Financial and Securities Crimes, Dan Sung-han, asked the finance ministry to expedite the search by voiding their passports. An official from the Ministry of Finance said that “among the six arrest

NFT Renting Platform Shuts Down, Citing 'Close to Zero Traction'

The founder of Rentable, the non-fungible token (NFT) protocol that lets users rent out their jpegs, announced today that the protocol will be shutting down after failing to find “product market fit.” While withdrawals are still possible, rentals are now disabled, and users have until October 13 to finish withdrawals. After that date, the protocol will launch emergency withdrawals and send the tokens to their respective owners. The project’s founder Emiliano Bonassi launched Rentable to target a

Abra to Launch US Chartered Bank, Crypto Yield Accounts

Abra, a financial services company and crypto trading firm, announced the launch of three new products: Abra Bank, Abra International, and Abra Boost. Abra Bank will be a U.S. charted bank that’s expected to offer crypto on- and off-ramps to fiat, with Abra International offering the same for clients living outside the U.S. The third product, Abra Boost, will offer interest-bearing deposits for cryptocurrencies. International customers can begin earning interest on their holdings from October 3

WazirX is India's largest crypto exchange. Image: Shutterstock.

Crypto Exchange WazirX Sees Assets Unfrozen Amid Indian Regulator’s Investigation

India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) has unfrozen the accounts of crypto exchange WazirX, according to the exchange’s update. The exchange’s bank accounts were unfrozen following “active cooperation” with the ED via active anti-money laundering (AML) checks which blocked “suspicious accounts,” read today’s announcement. The exchange, one of India’s largest with a $2.9 million 24-hour trading volume, has had $8.14 million in assets frozen for more than a month. The financial watchdogs accused t

Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Image: Shutterstock.

Switzerland’s SEBA Bank Launches Institutional Ethereum Staking

SEBA bank, a crypto-friendly bank in Zug, Switzerland, announced the launch of Ethereum (ETH) staking for its institutional investors. The move “caters to growing demand from institutions to manage a range of digital asset yield use cases from staking to decentralized finance (DeFi)” by providing flexible rewards and adjustable lock-up periods following Ethereum’s merge event, the bank said. The merge, anticipated as early as next week, will transition Ethereum from a proof-of-work (PoW) to a pr

South Korea is embracing crypto. Image: Shutterstock

Crypto Could Pose ‘Major Threat’ to Financial Stability: Korea Institute of Finance

A new report from the Korea Institute of Finance (KIF) indicates that growing mainstream adoption of crypto in South Korea could make the traditional financial system “unstable.” KIF’s senior researcher Lee Dai-gi suggested that the growing number of firms investing in volatile cryptocurrencies could experience a loss in profit, which may lead to a “deterioration of asset quality” and risk damaging the firms’ reputations. While crypto’s impact in South Korea “is still insignificant,” the resear

Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Image: Shutterstock.

Elon Musk Says 90% of Twitter Comments Are Bots—Binance CEO CZ Agrees

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said yesterday that “90% of [his] comments are bots,” sharing a screenshot of various fake accounts of Binance boss Changpeng Zhao replying to Musk. “Twitter please, I see enough of my boss already,” responded Binance’s official Twitter account. “Can you help so I don't have to see him 99x more each day?” Zhao joined soon after, stating that while he’s the real one below the tweet, 90% of Musk’s comments are indeed bots. And 90% of my comments are bots 🤖 pic.twitter.com/A

Cryptocurrencies in the United Kingdom have come under fire from regulators. Image: Shutterstock

UK Agency Warns Crypto Exchanges to Report Any Sanctions’ Breaches

The United Kingdom Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) of Her Majesty’s Treasury ruled that cryptocurrency exchanges must report any suspected cryptocurrencies that may be used to evade Russian sanctions. In an August announcement, the OFSI stated that exchanges must report the suspected breach to the agency and freeze the assets or face criminal charges or financial penalties. The sanctions agency added that “any other payment instruments” and assets that are “used to obtain fu

ConsenSys to Launch 'Sustainable' NFTs Celebrating the Ethereum Merge

“The merge is cause for celebration,” ConsenSys announced on Thursday. And to kick off the festivities, the blockchain firm will release “one of the first sustainable NFT drops on the Ethereum mainnet” called Regenesis. Inspired by the merge, Ethereum’s transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS), Regenesis will include various editions of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) of “elaborately detailed worlds that embody the benefits of the Merge: sustainability, security, and scalability.” C

Compass Mining is a Bitcoin mining service provider. Image: Shutterstock.

Bitcoin Mining Firm Compass Mining Has Georgia Sites Shuttered, Citing High Energy Costs

Compass Mining, a Bitcoin (BTC) mining rig service, was notified that the owner of lucrative mining hubs 2 and 3 located in Georgia would shut down amid rising energy costs. Since Compass sells Bitcoin mining hardware and contracts for facilities, it did not have an influence over the decision. According to a company-wide email on Thursday, Compass was not aware of this decision until Wednesday. And @compass_mining loses its best facility. @MiningScandals pic.twitter.com/iIeriyiSjz — Sac_flys

Ethereum keeps fork at bay. Image: Shutterstock

Any Ethereum Forks ‘Won’t Be Supported’, Says NFT Market OpenSea Ahead of Merge

OpenSea, the largest nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace, will be exclusively supporting proof-of-stake (PoS) NFTs on Ethereum, tweeting on Wednesday that “we are committed to solely supporting NFTs on the upgraded Ethereum PoS chain.” The NFT behemoth added that any Ethereum forks, a technical term for when a blockchain network splits, will not be supported on OpenSea to provide the smoothest transition possible following the merge. 3/ While we won’t speculate on potential forks–to the extent

Ukrainian authorities have cracked down on a crypto scheme. Image: Shutterstock.

Ukraine’s National Police Exposes Crypto Cybercrime Group Targeting Europeans

The National Police of Ukraine (NPU) successfully took down a network of "call centers" on Tuesday that targeted Ukrainian and European Union citizens who had been victims of crypto scams. The fraudulent call center allegedly offered to help those affected by crypto scams as well as recommending investment packages in crypto, gold, oil, and other securities, according to the NPU official announcement Ukraine’s national police stated that this group spoofed countries’ national banks and used web

Crypto investing can be done from a smart phone or a brokerage account. Image: Shutterstock.

Reddit Co-Founder Ohanian's Firm Launches $177M Crypto Fund

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian’s venture capital firm Seven Seven Six is planning to raise $177.60 million for a new crypto-focused fund called Kryptós. “Now is potentially a unique opportunity to invest in strong founders at a discount,” read the fund’s marketing materials seen by The Information. Kryptós scoop up popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) at a discount, citing the crypto market downturn as a way to get into the industry. “It’s on sale. Everything is on

Singapore has been a popular location for many crypto firms. Image: Shutterstock.

Crypto Lender Hodlnaut Granted Judicial Management to Organize Restructure

Singapore-based crypto lender Hodlnaut has been granted judicial management by the Singapore High Courts today. Interim managers Angela Ee and Aaron Loh of EY Corporate Advisors Pte. have been appointed as Hodlnaut’s interim managers, according to the official statement. Hodlnaut stated in its official Telegram channel that it is not providing any additional details nor has any fixed date for further updates. The firm first filed for judicial management on August 13 as it sought temporary prot

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Stories by Emily Tonelli