Coinbase Adds Nano Ether Futures to Derivatives Platform for Retail Traders (CoinDesk)
"Crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) is adding what it calls nano ether futures contracts to its derivatives platform on Monday. 'While still in its early stages, we believe that product innovation and an accessible entry point for the retail market have contributed to its success,' Boris Ilyevsky, head of Coinbase’s derivatives exchange, said in a blog post Thursday. The addition of nano ether (ETH) futures comes just two months after Coinbase began offering nano bitcoin (BTC) futures to its retail clientele."
Cboe To Add Slate of Partners to Grow Digital Asset Business (Blockworks)
"Cboe Global Markets is bringing aboard a slate of equity partners to help grow its digital assets business, just months after closing its acquisition of ErisX. The company is seeking to build out its crypto spot and futures capabilities to fill what executives called “a massive gap” in the space of offering market intermediaries a trusted venue for its retail and institutional clients. ErisX operates a US-based digital asset spot market, as well as a futures exchange and clearinghouse regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Cboe, which owns the world’s largest options exchange, closed its acquisition of the company in May as a way to enter the digital asset spot and derivatives marketplaces and is set to rebrand ErisX to Cboe Digital."
Singapore Steps Up Crypto Questioning as Firms Brace for Changes (Bloomberg)
"Singapore is intensifying its scrutiny of cryptocurrency-related firms in the city-state ahead of planned regulatory changes, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Monetary Authority of Singapore has sent a questionnaire to some applicants and holders of its digital-payments license seeking highly granular information about their business activity and holdings, the people said, asking not to be identified as the process isn’t public. The questions, which were sent over the last month, focus on gauging the financial soundness of the firms and their interconnectedness, they said, with some adding they’re expected to respond promptly."
Animoca Brands' Japan Unit Raises $45M for NFT Licensing, Investment (CoinDesk)
"Animoca Brands Japan, a unit of non-fungible token (NFT) and metaverse investor Animoca Brands, has raised $45 million to secure local licences and investments, the company said on Friday. The investment has taken the firms' pre-money valuation to $500 million. NFTs represent the digital ownership of physical or digital assets. The $45 million investment came in equal parts from its parent company Animoca Brands and one of Japan's oldest and largest bank, MUFG Bank."
FTX Ventures Denies Report That It's Merging With Alameda Research's Crypto VC Business (CoinDesk)
"Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX Ventures denied a Bloomberg report Thursday that the venture capital arm of FTX and the VC operations of sister company Alameda Research would be merging. The report said the move was made to consolidate parts of Bankman-Fried's empire during the extended decline in crypto prices, but both FTX Ventures chief Amy Wu and Bankman-Fried said it was inaccurate that the two groups were merging."
Ethereum Foundation Confirms September Dates for the Merge (The Block)
"Ethereum's developers have officially confirmed September 6 as the date for Ethereum's long-anticipated transition from proof of work to proof of stake, known as The Merge. 'Following years of hard work, Ethereum’s proof-of-stake upgrade is finally here!' the Ethereum Foundation wrote in a blog post on Wednesday. 'The successful upgrade of all public testnets is now complete, and The Merge has been scheduled for the Ethereum mainnet.' The Merge will be split into two upgrades, called Bellatrix and Paris. Bellatrix is timed to occur at 11:34 AM UTC on September 6 and Paris will be triggered sometime between September 10 and September 20, according to the blog post, which provided the image below."
Coinbase Unveils Liquid Staking Token for Ethereum Ahead of the Merge (The Block)
"Coinbase will launch its own liquid staking token, called cbETH, which users can get in exchange for ETH that Coinbase will stake on the proof-of-stake version of Ethereum. The exchange revealed cbETH, which stands for Coinbase Wrapped Staked ETH, in a tweet on Wednesday and released a detailed white paper explaining the rationale. Users will be able to transfer for cbETH as early as August 25 at 12:00 p.m. EST, provided that necessary liquidity conditions are met."
Tether Says It’s Not Freezing Tornado Cash Addresses Until Government Tells It To (The Block)
"Tether is upholding its decision not to freeze sanctioned wallet addresses with ties to Tornado Cash because it has not received any requests from US law enforcement or regulators to do so, the company said in a statement today. The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash on August 8, saying that criminals had used the service to launder more than $7 billion worth of virtual currency."
Alameda Co-CEO Trabucco Steps Down From Crypto Trading Firm (Bloomberg)
"Alameda Research Co-Chief Executive Officer Sam Trabucco is stepping down, saying he’s chosen 'to prioritize other things' and that he couldn’t 'continue to justify the time investment' of being an integral part of the crypto trading firm. Caroline Ellison, the co-CEO, will lead the company and Trabucco will serve as an adviser, he announced in a series of tweets Wednesday. Alameda, the trading affiliate of FTX crypto exchange controlled by Sam Bankman-Fried, confirmed the changes. FTX is one of the world’s largest platforms for trading digital-assets."
Crypto Developer Platform Thirdweb Gets Katie Haun's Backing at $160M Valuation (CoinDesk)
"Thirdweb, a platform for Web3 app developers, raised $24 million in a Series A round at a $160 million valuation. The funding was led by Haun Ventures, the investment firm launched earlier this year by former Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) partner Katie Haun. Thirdweb offers pre-built, audited smart contracts that serve as a quick-start guide for developers who want to create and safely deploy applications to blockchains then manage the related analytics. Potential uses include blockchain games and non-fungible token (NFT) drops."
Three Arrows Liquidators Get Singapore Nod to Probe Crypto Fund (Bloomberg)
"Three Arrows Capital Ltd.’s liquidators secured a key court decision in Singapore that may give them greater insight into the collapsed crypto hedge fund’s remaining assets in a major jurisdiction, people with knowledge of the matter said. The Singapore High Court on Monday granted a petition by advisory firm Teneo, which in June was appointed by a British Virgin Islands court to liquidate Three Arrows, to recognize the liquidation order in the country, the people said, asking not to be named as the proceedings were private. Teneo is trying to round up and preserve the hedge fund’s assets."
Uniswap Community Behind DEX Establishes Foundation to Support Open-Source Development (CoinDesk)
"Community members of decentralized exchange Uniswap have voted to create the Uniswap Foundation, an organization aiming to support open-source development and community governance within the protocol. The voting, which concluded Tuesday evening, overwhelmingly supported creating the foundation. The foundation aims to streamline its grants process and reduce friction in governance around the protocol’s community treasury support developers in the Uniswap ecosystem, and bolster the community. The foundation is requesting $74 million from the DAO treasury, which currently holds over $3 billion in UNI, the protocol’s native token. $14 million of the funds will support the foundation’s team, and $60 million will be used for developer grants."
Ontario Securities Regulator Warns Against Kucoin in Latest Alert (The Block)
"The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has issued another consumer alert calling out a swath of crypto firms, including Kucoin and its affiliates, for not being registered to deal in the Canadian province. The OSC issued a similar alert earlier this month that also named Kucoin as an unregistered entity. Today's alert names 13 firms, many of them crypto businesses, as companies that are not registered to deal or advise in securities in Ontario. The list includes subsidiaries of Kucoin, which the commission took aim at earlier when it successfully barred the firm from operating in Ontario with a courtroom win – one that also included a $1.6 million fine."
Coinbase Faces Class Action for Crashing During Volatility, Listing Securities (The Block)
"A Coinbase user is suing the exchange for failure to provide the secure crypto wallet access that it advertises. The plaintiff, George Kattula, filed the class action on behalf of all Coinbase wallet and account holders saying that the company doesn't employ standard practices to secure accounts and it ‘improperly and unreasonably locks out its consumers from accessing their accounts and funds.’ The complaint, filed in a district court in Georgia on Aug. 15, also said Coinbase 'does not disclose that the crypto assets (or 'cryptocurrency') on its platform are securities.'"
Metaverse Avatar Platform Ready Player Me Raises $56 Million From a16z and Others (The Block)
"Ready Player Me, a platform that allows people to create virtual avatars that can be used across the metaverse, has raised $56 million in a Series B funding round amid the crypto funding slump. Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) led the round, with Konvoy Ventures, Collab Currency, Taavet Hinrikus and Sten Tamkivi's Plural Platform and comedian Kevin Hart's Hartbeat Ventures participating. High-profile angel investors, including Roblox co-founder David Baszucki, Twitch co-founder Justin Kan and Punk6529, also backed the round."
Invesco Launches Metaverse Fund: Citywire (The Block)
"Global investment management firm Invesco is set to launch the Invesco Metaverse Fund, in a move that will see it invest in a range of companies globally from across the ecosystem. Registered in Luxembourg, it will focus on seven key areas, according to a report by Citywire on Monday. These include next generation operating and computer systems; hardware and devices that provide access to the metaverse; networks for hyper connectivity; immersive platforms developed with artificial intelligence; blockchain; interchange tools for interoperability; and services and assets facilitating the digitisation of the real economy."
Telegram Founder Floats New Auction Marketplace (The Block)
"Telegram may launch a new marketplace to allow users to transfer usernames via 'NFT-like smart-contracts,' founder Pavel Durov said in a message on the platform. 'Imagine how successful Telegram with its 700 million users could be if we put reserved @ usernames, group and channel links for auction,' Durov wrote on Monday. 'In addition to millions of catchy t.me addresses like @storm or @royal, all four-letter usernames could be made available for sale.'"
Seven S. Korean Brokerages Plan to Start Crypto Exchanges Next Year (CoinDesk)
"Seven large traditional brokerages in South Korea have started laying the groundwork for their own crypto exchanges in the first half of next year, local newspaper NewsPim reported on Monday. The firms have applied for preliminary approval and establishment of corporations to run virtual asset exchanges, the report said."
Hodlnaut Reports $193 Million Financial Shortfall as It Seeks Court Protection (The Block)
"Embattled crypto lender Hodlnaut reported a nearly $200 million financial shortfall in a court affidavit filed earlier this month and obtained by The Block. The affidavit supporting Hodlnaut’s application to be placed under judicial management — filed August 12 — lays out exactly what led the company to freeze withdrawals on August 8."
Wall Street Giant DTCC Launches Private Blockchain Platform to Settle Trades More Quickly (CoinDesk)
"New York-based post-trade financial services company, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC), which processes all trades in the U.S. stock market, has launched a private blockchain project aimed at settling trades more quickly for clients, according to a press release Monday. The DTCC acts as the counterparty for most trades in the U.S. and underpins the entire public securities market."
FTX Grew Revenue 1,000% During the Crypto Craze, Leaked Financials Show (CNBC)
"FTX rode the crypto craze to a billion dollars in revenue last year while expanding its global footprint through a flurry of acquisitions, according to internal documents seen by CNBC. The audited financials give a rare glimpse into the privately held company’s finances. FTX was profitable, quickly expanding across the globe and saw breakneck growth."
FDIC Issues Cease-And-Desist Letters to FTX US, Other Crypto Firms Over Deposit Insurance (The Block)
"The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has issued cease-and-desist letters to FTX US and four other crypto companies for allegedly making "false and misleading statements" about federal deposit insurance. FTX US, Cryptonews.com, Cryptosec.info, SmartAsset.com and FDICCrypto.com have been directed to ‘take immediate corrective action to address these false or misleading statements,’ the FDIC announced."
Tribe DAO Proposes a $157 Million Redemption for Token Holders, Rari Hack Victims (The Block)
"Tribe DAO is moving to close its doors and has outlined a multi-million dollar redemption plan that will see it distribute crypto assets to token holders as well as those impacted by the $80 million Rari hack earlier this year. Tribe DAO — which acquired Rari in the largest DeFi merger of all time last year — proposed a roughly $157 million redemption plan to distribute remaining DAO-controlled assets to TRIBE holders and compensate victims of the Rari hack that occurred in April. Any approval would need to come during a future DAO vote by token holders."
Latest Tether Disclosures Show $28.9 Billion in US Treasury Bills (The Block)
"Stablecoin issuer Tether on Friday published results of its latest quarterly assurance opinion, completed by public accounting firm BDO. A quarterly assurance opinion is a method used by stablecoin issuers to assure the market that their coins are backed by real assets. It involves assessing and analyzing different operations, processes, and procedures. The report reveals it holds $28.9 billion in US Treasury bills, $6.8 billion in money market funds, cash and bank deposits of $5.4 billion, reverse repurchase agreements of almost $3 billion and non-US Treasury bills of $397 million."
Australia to Map Crypto Tokens as Part of Regulatory Ramp-Up (Bloomberg)
"Australia is beginning a review of cryptocurrency assets in the country to help better understand and regulate the industry. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government will make ‘token mapping’ a priority this year to help identify which digital asset tokens are being used in Australia and how they should be regulated, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in a statement on Monday, adding that a public consultation paper on the matter would be released soon."