#FTX Digital Markets refunds

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The chilling winds of crypto winter proceed to sting initiatives, prompting a number of of them to take a tough take a look at downsizing or ceasing operations completely. A decentralized content-sharing and publishing platform – LBRY – is the most recent one to succumb to the market situation. The corporate behind the LBRY blockchain mentioned that “there isn't a escaping this.” LBRY Shuts Store In a somber announcement, LBRY weighed in on shedding judgment to the federal authorities and mentioned it has money owed to the US Securities and Trade Fee (SEC), its authorized crew, and a personal debtor that it can not pay. Consequently, its property, together with Odysee, at the moment are underneath receivership. On the time of this assertion, all executives, staff, and board members of LBRY have resigned. They're dedicated to fulfilling any excellent authorized obligations however won't be concerned past these necessities. The corporate now fears that the LBRY blockchain, which is decentralized, may die, too. “Decentralization isn’t magic – it solely works if sufficient individuals use it. Might LBRY nonetheless swallow all digital publishing like we supposed? Might this be the start of a descent to obscurity? Who is aware of? It’s not like we’re LBRY consultants.” LBRY mentioned it won't be persevering with its enchantment towards the monetary regulator. The blockchain firm had beforehand disclosed its intention to conclude operations in July following a last SEC judgment. The regulator had initially pursued a penalty of $22 million however subsequently revised it all the way down to $111,000 upon recognizing LBRY’s monetary incapacity to fulfill the bigger sum. In September, LBRY filed an enchantment with the US Court docket of Appeals for the Second Circuit looking for to problem the ultimate judgment, arguing that the SEC’s verdict was flawed. Tasks Shut as Winter Bites Earlier this week, SuperDao, the platform facilitating community-driven decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), revealed its choice to stop operations and refund any remaining funds to buyers. It cited “lack of profitability” as the explanation behind its choice. In its 2021 seed spherical, the corporate secured $10.5 million in funding, backed by SignalFire, Circle, and One Block Capital. SuperDao initially aspired to safe promoting area on the 2022 Tremendous Bowl, however opponents comparable to FTX and Crypto.com secured multi-million greenback offers forward of them. Decentralized finance platform Yield Protocol additionally announced shutting operations, citing low demand along with regulatory hurdles. It had revealed coming to a conclusion after intensive deliberation with varied stakeholders. The bear market didn't spare NFT platform RECUR, which known as its quits after $50 million in an funding spherical almost two years in the past. Unfavorable market circumstances and monetary challenges additionally claimed Nifty’s, a platform devoted to Web3 creators, which declared winding down operations in August. The crew had strategically shifted its focus in the direction of crafting a platform designed for Web3 creators and, to that extent, was actively looking for the required capital to maintain its efforts. Nevertheless, the funding prospects they pursued did not materialize, pushing the corporate to the sting of its monetary capabilities. SPECIAL OFFER (Sponsored) Binance Free $100 (Unique): Use this link to register and obtain $100 free and 10% off charges on Binance Futures first month (terms).PrimeXBT Particular Provide: Use this link to register & enter CRYPTOPOTATO50 code to obtain as much as $7,000 in your deposits.

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Top Stories This Week Paxos confirms it’s responsible for paying a $500K Bitcoin transaction fee The Bitcoin miner who received 19.8 BTC in fees from blockchain infrastructure firm Paxos has returned the funds following Paxos’ claim that it made a mistake in paying over $500,000 in transfer fees. On Sept. 10, Paxos paid the six-figure fee to move $2,000, with the average network fee typically being around $2. The company later acknowledged the mistake, confirming the transfer came from its servers. Almost a day after Paxos’ claims, the Bitcoin miner who received the funds went on X (formerly Twitter) to express frustrations after agreeing to refund the amount to Paxos. The funds were returned on Sept. 15. Court approves sale of FTX digital assets A bankruptcy court has approved the sale of FTX digital assets in weekly batches through an investment adviser and under preestablished guidelines. The sale does not include Bitcoin, Ether and “certain insider-affiliated tokens,” which can be sold through a separate decision by FTX after 10 days’ notice. FTX sales are not expected to have a heavy impact on markets. According to a recent shareholder update, the bankrupt exchange has $833 million worth of Bitcoin and Ether. A total of $3.4 billion is held in Digital Assets A — the top 10 assets the company holds — which include Solana, Bitcoin, Ether, Aptos and others. Gemini Earn users could recover all funds in new DCG remuneration scheme Digital Currency Group has proposed a new agreement plan for the creditors of the now-bankrupt Genesis Global. The plan estimates unsecured creditors will receive “a 70–90% recovery with a meaningful portion of the recovery in digital currencies.” Additionally, the remuneration plan says the recovery of claims for Gemini Earn users would be projected at “approximately 95–110%” without any contribution from Gemini. According to the filing: “If Gemini were to agree to provide $100 million to Gemini Earn users under the Proposed Agreement, as it previously did, there would be little doubt Gemini Earn users would receive more than full recovery.” Franklin Templeton files for spot Bitcoin ETF Asset manager Franklin Templeton applied with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). According to the application, the fund would be structured as a trust. Coinbase would custody the BTC, and The Bank of New York Mellon would be the cash custodian and administrator. Franklin Templeton has $1.5 trillion in assets under management and joins a long list of asset managers waiting for regulatory approval. The SEC recently delayed decisions on spot ETF applications from WisdomTree, Valkyrie, Fidelity, VanEck, Bitwise and Invesco on Aug. 31. Two more top executives depart Binance.US amid layoffs, SEC action The exodus of executives from crypto exchange Binance has reached the firm’s offshoot in the United States, as at least three top employees left Binance.US over the past few days. This week’s departures included the exchange’s CEO, Brian Shroder, alongside legal head Krishna Juvvadi and chief risk officer Sidney Majalya. The mass exit is believed to be tied to the ongoing U.S. investigation into Binance and Binance.US. The SEC sued Binance.US, Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao in June for allegedly engaging in unregistered securities operations and other improprieties. On Aug. 28, the agency requested to file sealed documents in the case, fueling concerns about a criminal probe by the U.S. Department of Justice. Winners and Losers At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $26,465, Ether (ETH) at $1,628 and XRP at $0.50. The total market cap is at $1.05 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap. Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Toncoin (TON) at 21.30%, VeChain (VET) at 11.94% and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) at 11.36%.  The top three altcoin losers of the week are ApeCoin (APE) at -16.82%, Astar (ASTR) at 14.47% and Flare (FLR) at 12.61%.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis. Most Memorable Quotations “I think my generation and younger than me are the ones that are really going to change that narrative for investing, whether it’s in cryptocurrency or other investments moving forward.” Scotty James, Australian snowboarder “The only country I would not encourage you to start a company right now is in the U.S.” Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple “We’re still in the fax era of global payments.” David Marcus, former PayPal executive and co-founder Lightspark “I don’t think everybody in D.C. actually fully realizes how powerful the crypto voting community block is.” Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase “You cannot get 100% transparency and 100% privacy.” Alex Svanevik, CEO of Nansen “Climate change is still a systemic threat to our species. I think as a society, we kind of owe it to ourselves to do anything that we can.” Marek Olszewski, CEO of Celo Prediction of the Week  Bitcoin price all-time high will precede 2024 halving — New prediction Bitcoin has a $250,000 target for after its next block subsidy halving — but new all-time highs will come sooner, according to the latest BTC price prediction from BitQuant, a popular social media commentator who sees a rosy future for the largest cryptocurrency. On Sept. 15, the pseudonymous “central banker and Bitcoiner” revealed a pre-halving target above $69,000. “No, Bitcoin is not going to top before the halving,” he wrote in part of the commentary. Bitcoin has just over six months before the halving, the event that cuts miner rewards earned per block by 50% every four years. “No, BTC is not going to $160K because the magnitude of every pullback is large,” he wrote, adding that “this means it will peak after the halving, in 2024. And yes, the target price is around $250K.” FUD of the Week  SEC charges company behind Stoner Cats NFT series with unregistered securities sale Stoner Cats 2 LLC (SC2), the company behind the animated web series, has agreed to a cease-and-desist order and other measures imposed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after being charged with conducting an unregistered offering of crypto-asset securities in the form of nonfungible tokens (NFTs). According to the SEC, SC2 sold more than 10,000 NFTs for about $800 apiece. The sale took 35 minutes and occurred on July 27, 2021, and the proceeds were used to fund the series. Besides agreeing to the cease-and-desist order, SC2 will pay a civil penalty of $1 million. OneCoin co-founder Greenwood gets 20 years in US jail for fraud, money laundering Karl Greenwood, co-founder of OneCoin with Ruja Ignatova, was sentenced in the United States to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $300 million on Sept. 20. Ignatova remains at large. Greenwood, who is a citizen of the United Kingdom and Sweden, was sentenced in a court in New York. In a statement by the Justice Department, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams called OneCoin “one of the largest fraud schemes ever perpetrated.” The multilevel marketing and Ponzi scheme reaped $4 billion from 3.5 million victims, the statement said. Ignatova has not been seen since October 2017 and is on the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Ten Most Wanted List. North Korea’s Lazarus Group responsible for $55M CoinEx hack The attack on crypto exchange CoinEx, which drained at least $55 million, was carried out by the North Korean hacker group Lazarus, according to blockchain security firm SlowMist and pseudonymous on-chain investigator ZachXBT. The hacker group was identified after it inadvertently exposed its address, which was the same one used in the recent Stake and Optimism hacks. On Sept. 12, CoinEx saw large outflows of funds to an address without any prior history. Security experts immediately suspected that the exchange was breached, with initial estimates reaching approximately $27 million. Are DAOs overhyped and unworkable? Lessons from the front lines

Many contend that DAOs have failed to deliver on their promises, but developers are coming up with novel solutions. 6 Questions for Kei Oda: From Goldman Sachs to cryptocurrency Kei Oda spent 16 years trading bonds for Goldman Sachs — a life that eventually bored him. That was when he turned to cryptocurrency. Web3 Gamer: PUBG devs’ Web3 project, Animoca’s $20M raise, Shardbound review The company behind PUBG announces a new Web3 platform, monetization in Web3 and more. Source

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Nonfungible token sales reached a record high in January as the assets grew in favor of cryptocurrency investors, regular customers, and even celebrities. But as 2022 draws to a close, the situation is entirely different. According to blockchain data tracker CryptoSlam, monthly global NFT sales fell 89% in November compared to a record high of more than $4.9 billion in January. Marketplaces that sell the once-hot digital assets, such as those established by GameStop Corp. and Coinbase Global Inc., are in danger as a result of the fall. The collapse of the hedge firm Three Arrows Capital, the insolvency of the cryptocurrency lender Celsius, and the spectacular collapse of the digital asset exchange FTX also reflect a wider crypto downturn. Ian McMilan, chief growth officer of Mojito, a software firm that aids well-known businesses in developing NFT platforms, declared that confidence has been substantially shaken. According to data given by DappRadar, sales have been shaky since GameStop introduced the platform five months ago, despite the NFT marketplace setting a record of more than $2.1 million in daily volume on July 12. The day before GameStop started selling NFTs based on the ImmutableX protocol on October 30, the blockchain analytics company that followed GameStop NFT's blockchain transactions on the Loopring protocol recorded a little over $4,820 in transactions. Since DappRadar stopped reporting GameStop NFT sales on November 9, it's unclear how the platform is now doing. Because the data would be inaccurate without the ImmutableX volume, the firm and GameStop opted to suspend tracking, according to a DappRadar spokeswoman. However, the company intends to restore tracking "in the near future." On Nov. 11, the day FTX filed for bankruptcy, GameStop stopped its two-month pilot agreement with FTX US to sell the cryptocurrency exchange's gift cards, according to a tweet that stated it "will be offering full refunds to impacted customers. The NFT marketplace for FTX US, the crypto exchange's American affiliate, directs visitors to the crypto exchange's bankruptcy proceedings. When viewed on other NFT marketplaces such as Magic Eden, NFTs created or "minted" using the platform also link to the same bankruptcy web page or display an error message. The Coinbase platform, which had a rocky start when it first started in May, is also being impacted by the decline in interest in NFTs. According to blockchain tracker Dune Analytics, trading activity has considerably decreased since the market's all-time greatest day of sales in September. On Sept. 9, Coinbase NFT reported sales of over $533,500, but on Dec. 26, volume fell by 99% to just over $5,000. Since its launch, the site has generated total sales of $7.2 million, according to Dune Analytics. According to DappRadar, that is less than the $8.2 million OpenSea, the top NFT market based on trade volume, reported in the most recent 24 hours. However, even OpenSea has seen its 30-day revenues stay constant at $186 million. Max Branzburg, consumer product group lead at Coinbase, responded in a statement when asked about what the company was doing to increase sales of Coinbase NFT. He said that the company had modified its Drops program for NFT launches and added a way for NFT collectors to avoid paying high fees resulting from blockchain network congestion. Over 92% of their Drops on Coinbase NFT sold-out in less than 24 hours in Q3 of this year, he claimed. However, an NFT recovery may be more difficult to achieve given the industry's recent controversies, according to Catherine Flick, a reader at De Montfort University in the UK who researches the moral implications of NFTs. She wrote in an email, Now that we've experienced many crypto crashes, the sheer monetary worth of the NFT is no longer a selling factor - most people have lost money on them. During the market slowdown, some of Mojito's clients have pulled back from the assets, particularly if they are being used for novelty marketing campaigns, according to McMilan.

Mojito has worked with companies like Sotheby's and the Milwaukee Bucks professional baseball team to develop NFT offerings. In the long run, he claimed that other businesses are still interested in employing NFTs, particularly when combined with more conventional goods like physical goods. People just want to wait it out and let the storm pass, he claimed. Source link

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Ethereum's native token, Ether (ETH), gained over 4.5% to reach $1,622 on Sep. 12 despite falling to its lowest level in six months the day before.ETH/USD daily Price chart. Source: TradingViewThe ETH price recovery on Sep. 12 occurred as worries about a potential FTX liquidation receded. Ethereum Market can absorb potential FTX dump New FTX court filings on Sep. 11 showed that it holds $3.4 billion worth of cryptocurrencies, including $1.16 billion in Solana (SOL), $560 million in bitcoin (BTC), and $192 million in Ether. The defunct crypto exchange has requested a New York court to sell its crypto holdings to refund creditors.FTX Digital Asset A Holdings screenshot. Source: FTXThe court will respond to the request on Sep. 12 as some believe that the approval to sell $3.4 billion worth of Crypto Assets could spark a Market crash. However, researchers at crypto analytics platform Messari argue that FTX will not negatively impact the crypto Market, noting that their holdings comprise mostly illiquid and locked Assets. For example, only $9.2 million worth of SOL gets unlocked per month, which is absorbable by the Market.Also, as Messari explained, FTX's $353 million BTC holdings are roughly 1% of the coin's weekly traded volume. That means the Market will likely absorb much of the bitcoin and Ether sell-pressureFTX crypto holdings and their weekly Trading volumes. Source: MessariThat perhaps explains why, as of Sep. 12, Ether Price has recovered the entire losses it suffered a day before.Short liquidations overpower longsThe Ethereum Market gains on Sep. 12 coincide with a run-up in the short liquidations across Ether-linked derivatives.ETH total liquidations chart. Source: CoinGlassNotably, Ether has liquidated $8.37 million worth of short positions versus $1.66 million in long positions on Sep. 12. Short sellers liquidate their positions by buying the underlying asset. Therefore, the combination to new Buyers and short liquidations have pushed up the Price of ETH. Oversold bounceEther's daily relative strength index (RSI) dropped below 30 on Sep. 11, which traditional analysts view as an "oversold" zone.ETH/USD daily Price chart. Source: TradingViewIn addition, ETH Price bounce has originated from an important locsupport level of $1,545. Ethereum technical analysis for September 2023Ethereum's latest bounce has brought its Price closer to testing its falling wedge's upper trendline for a potential breakout.Falling Wedges are bearish reversal patterns characterized by the Price consolidating  between two descending, converging trendlines. They typically resolve after the Price breaks above the upper trendline and rises by as much as the wedge's maximum height. As a result of this technical setup, Ether's decisive close above the upper trendline may lead to $1,740 in September, up over 8% from current Price levels. What's more, the level coincides with ETH's 50-day exponential moving average (50-day EMA; the red wave in the chart below).ETH/USD daily Price chart. Source: TradingViewConversely, a pullback from the falling wedge's upper trendline Risks dropping the ETH price near the lower trendline around $1,500 for a potenti 8% decline in September.This article does not contain Investment advice or recommendations. Every Investment and Trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision. This article is for general Information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or Investment advice. The views, thoughts, and Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and Opinions of Cointelegraph.

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This week, FTX initiated creditor settlement initiatives, as regulatory efforts commanded significant attention. Meanwhile, Stake fell victim to a multi-million-dollar exploit. FTX moving to settle creditor debt As part of a calculated aim to tackle its sizable debt exceeding $8 billion, FTX started streamlining its digital asset Portfolio this week. Their approach entails reconnecting Crypto Assets to their corresponding blockchain networks, alongside a scheme to relocate their Solana (SOL) and other Assets to BitGo.  This shift comes on the heels of the court’s selection of BitGo as the court-appointed custodian, which was prompted by FTX’s declaration of bankruptcy in November 2022. Reports surfaced this week suggesting that FTX is embarking on a mission to recover substantial sums previously distributed to celebrity endorsers. Among these luminaries are tennis sensation Naomi Osaka and NBA star Shaquille O’Neal. FTX’s financial advisors are currently exploring avenues to reclaim the substantial sums that were allocated for endorsement deals with these prominent sports figures. Meanwhile, during this week’s proceedings, Sam Bankman-Fried’s legal team contended that their client’s capacity to reach vital legal documents through laptops faces significant limitations. They pointed out the alleged inadequate conditions prevailing at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), asserting that these conditions are impeding Bankman-Fried’s ability to adequately prepare for his impending trial scheduled for October. Regulatory drama In what appears to be a weekly tradition, the regulatory scene in the U.S. witnessed another round of drama this week.  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reached a resolution with Linus Financial, a company based in Nashville, regarding the non-registration of their Linus Interest Accounts, a crypto lending product. The regulatory agency acknowledged Linus Financial’s cooperation and prompt corrective measures, leading them to decide against imposing penalties. Linus Financial introduced these accounts in March 2020, but the SEC identified them as unregistered Securities. In response, the firm voluntarily discontinued offering these accounts in March 2022 and refunded all investor funds. This week, the SEC unveiled the reason behind its intention to contest the recent court ruling that favored Ripple and XRP. The agency cited the presence of “knotty legal problems.” The SEC insists on challenging the court’s verdict, which established that XRP qualified as a Security when marketed to institutional investors but not when sold to retail investors. GOP Congressman aims to clip SEC’s wings  On Sept. 8, Republican Congressman Tom Emmer took to X (formerly Twitter) to disclose his plan to introduce an amendment aimed at curbing the U.S. SEC’s access to its crypto regulatory budget. Emmer expressed worries regarding what he views as an overreach of authority by SEC Chair Gary Gensler and seeks to impose restrictions on the allocation of funds for the enforcement of digital asset regulations. CFTC targets DeFi protocols The U.S. CFTC also grabbed attention this week when it initiated proceedings against three Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocols due to their non-registration of derivative Trading products. Opyn, ZeroEx, and Deridex, the implicated companies, were individually instructed to settle fines amounting to $250,000, $200,000, and $100,000, respectively. The charges leveled by the CFTC stem from breaches of customer regulations, Bank Secrecy Act stipulations, and the illicit provision of leveraged crypto-focused retail commodity transactions. Taiwan to restrict offshore exchanges Besides the drama witnessed in the U.S., regulatory affairs remained prevalent across the globe. News emerged on Sept. 7 revealing that Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission is poised to impose constraints on unregistered offshore exchanges conducting business within its territory. The regulatory body has developed

ten guidelines for local Cryptocurrency oversight concerning virtual asset service providers.  The agency will formally unveil these guidelines by the end of September. It will encompass criteria for listing and delisting, the segregation of platform and customer Assets, and the execution of anti-money laundering (AML) protocols. The need for unified global regulation This week, the heads of G20 countries gave their approval to the Financial Stability Board’s (FSB) proposals for overseeing the Cryptocurrency sector. This noteworthy development transpired at the New Delhi Leaders’ Summit on Sep. 9, where G20 countries reaffirmed their dedication to overseeing the ever-changing digital finance arena. The support from such a prominent global forum highlights the growing recognition of the need for coordinated and effective crypto regulation on an international scale. Meanwhile, Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s Finance Minister, called upon nations this week to work together on worldwide Cryptocurrency regulation during her speech at this year’s Global Fintech Fest. Sitharaman underscored the necessity for a harmonized regulatory structure to handle global Cryptocurrency matters. Her Appeal further underscores the increasing awareness of the requirement for concerted global endeavors in crypto regulation. Stake targeted in recent hack Amid the escalating calls for ample regulatory efforts, this week witnessed its fair share of hacks and scams. On Sep. 4, Beosin, a prominent on-chain monitoring system, detected suspicious activity on the crypto-based betting platform Stake. Beosin disclosed that the cumulative sum implicated in this breach reaches $41.35 million. The initial alert regarding this incident came from Cyvers Alerts, which flagged several dubious transactions to the tune of $16 million linked to Stake.  As the investigation unfolded, speculations emerged among some experts that the transactions might be linked to a potential Security breach within Stake’s wallet infrastructure. Subsequent reports confirmed that, of the stolen funds, a whopping $7.8 million in Polygon (MATIC) was lost. A few days later, on-chain data revealed that the hacker had moved $1.5 million worth of MATIC to Avalanche. The FBI ascribed the exploit to North Korean hackers, with up to $41 million estimated to have been stolen. On Sep. 8, Ed Craven, Stake’s co-founder, reassured users that the hack did not involve the compromise of users’ private data.  Whale loses $24 million in phishing attack Stake was not the only victim of a Security attack this week. blockchain surveillance platform Peck Shield disclosed on Sep. 7 that an unidentified crypto whale fell victim to a phishing attack, losing up to $24.24 million in Crypto Assets. According to Peck Shield’s disclosure, these funds included 4,851 Rocket Pool ETH (rETH) valued at $8.5 million as well as 9,579 Lido staked ETH (stETH) worth a whopping $15.6 million. Data suggests that the attack occurred over two transactions.