STABLECOIN DIGEST #6/2023

Your guide into the summary of last week’s events in the crypto

The crypto realm grows by leaps and bounds. Our weekly news bulletin is here to inform you of the most impactful of last week’s events. Read about the essential news and analytics of the stablecoin market, DeFi, NFTs, and the crypto regulation sector.

With each passing week, spring is coming. Will the bull trend start earlier? Last week’s end was all but green for most cryptocurrencies, and it looks like a new week is going to be red as a rose.

First, the interview with the head of the Fed, Jerome Powell, in the Washington Economic Club was a definitive factor that triggered volatility in the crypto markets. After a short breakthrough of $23,000 on the night of February 8, Bitcoin began to get down.

At the same time, Glassnode analysts noted a cyclic transition in the Bitcoin market, which occurred against a sharp change in total profits and losses ratio.

Almost all digital assets from the TOP-10 on capitalization closed a week in the Red Zone, with the exception of the Polygon (Matic) token — it experienced a price increased by 2.5%.

The total cryptocurrency market cap was dancing around the $1.07 trillion mark, with the bitcoin dominance index decreasing to 39.5%. The total volume of the transferred cost through the Bitcoin blockchain exceeded $103 trillion.

One of the most controversial news came from never-ending FTX saga. The compensation of the new FTX head John Ray from November 11 to December 31, 2022, amounted to $690,000. This follows from the documents for the court of bankruptcy of the platform, notes Business Insider.

Based on the hourly rate of $1300, he devoted 75 hours on average in every working week to this work. His duties include participating in the FTX bankruptcy process to return funds for payments and creditors.

This is evidenced by the relevant applications, which different companies submitted. SULLIVAN & CROMWell requested the most significant amount — $ 9.5 million for work from November 12 to 30, 2022, as well as $ 105,000 for other expenses.

Meanwhile, for all wealthy traders, a new rehab has been opened. The Balance Rehabilitation Center has begun to provide special treatment for crypto traders, stated by BBC. The luxury Swiss-based center with the main branch in Mallorca and units in London and Zurich offers complex treatment. One of The Balance, who spent up to $ 200,000 on crypto trading weekly, told the BBC about the course that helped him “wean from cryptocurrency” told.

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MetaMask, a popular Ethereum wallet & browser extension, issued a scam alert after a hacker gained access to a domain registered with Namecheap and sent unauthorized emails to users with a link to a phishing website designed to steal users’ private keys and other sensitive information. All users are advised to ignore the email and only use the official website and app. Namecheap has stated that it is working with MetaMask to investigate the incident and prevent further unauthorized access.

• Kraken to pay $30M in SEC settlement and limit staking for US users

Kraken, a major cryptocurrency exchange, has reached a $30 million settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over allegations of selling securities without proper registration. The SEC claimed that Kraken offered and sold security-like instruments called “Staking Rewards” to customers without registering with the SEC as a securities dealer. As part of the settlement, Kraken has agreed to pay a $17 million fine and to register with the SEC as a securities dealer. This settlement marks the first enforcement action by the SEC against a cryptocurrency exchange for offering security-like instruments without proper registration.

• New York regulator launched an investigation into Paxos

The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has launched an investigation into Paxos, a stablecoin issuer, for potential violation of state banking laws. The investigation is reportedly focused on the company’s operations and compliance with regulations related to money transmission and virtual currency. Paxos, which operates several stablecoins pegged to the US dollar, has faced similar investigations in the past, including a probe by the New York Attorney General’s office into its anti-money laundering practices. The company has stated that it fully cooperates with the NYDFS and is committed to ensuring compliance with all applicable regulations.

• South Korea imposed sanctions against bitcoin extortionists

South Korea is taking steps to combat cryptocurrency theft and cybercrime, as it reportedly loses over $2 billion annually to these crimes. To combat the issue, the South Korean government is preparing a set of measures to enhance the security of digital assets, including stricter regulations for cryptocurrency exchanges and mandatory reporting of suspicious transactions. The proposed sanctions would likely target North Korean individuals and organizations involved in hacking and stealing cryptocurrencies, as well as any countries or companies supporting these activities.

• Aave developers have launched the GHO stablecoin

As for another tech news, Decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Aave has deployed its native stablecoin, GHO, on the Ethereum testnet. GHO is designed to be a decentralized, algorithmic stablecoin, the first fully integrated with Aave’s platform, allowing users to access a range of DeFi services, such as lending, borrowing and liquidity provision, without the need for intermediaries. The stablecoin is also designed to provide a more efficient and cost-effective means of executing transactions within the Aave ecosystem compared to other stablecoins that rely on centralized intermediaries.

• ChatGPT fueled a rise in prices of AI-driven cryptos

According to CoinMarketCap, from February 6 to February 7, the price of the most significant coins like GRT, AGIX, FET and OCEAN increased by 20% or more. Moreover, Google invested $300 million in competitor ChatGPT and introduced the Bard chatbot. Due to the growing popularity of ChatGPT, the total market capitalization of artificial intelligence and big data tokens has reached $5 billion.

• DeFi platform dYdX traded $466 billion in 2022

DeFi adoption is ongoing, according to CoinMarketCap, as the decentralized exchange Dydx saw users trade $466 billion worth of crypto derivatives in 2022. This marks a significant increase from the previous year, reflecting the growing popularity of decentralized exchanges and the rise of decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. Dydx, which is built on the Ethereum blockchain, offers a range of cryptocurrency derivatives products, including perpetual swaps, options, and futures, and has emerged as one of the leading DeFi platforms in the space. The platform’s success can be attributed to its decentralized and trustless nature, allowing users to trade crypto derivatives without intermediaries, thereby reducing counterparty risk. The continued growth of Dydx and other DeFi platforms is expected to drive further the adoption of decentralized finance and the growth of the crypto derivatives market.

• A16z rejected launching Uniswap V3 on BSC

Venture Capital firm voted against Uniswap deployment on BNB Smart Chain. A vote ended, with Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) on the losing side. This movie would have allowed the platform to integrate with the Binance ecosystem and expand its reach. Still, the proposal was opposed by a16z and other community members who expressed concerns about the centralization of the Binance network. Ultimately, the proposal failed to receive sufficient support, and Uniswap will not be deploying BSC at this time. The outcome of the vote highlights the tension between the decentralization and centralization aspects of the cryptocurrency ecosystem and the challenges DeFi platforms face in balancing these competing interests as they seek to expand their reach and impact.

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