The Crypto Currier by the Crypto Curry Club June 14th

This week in the Crypto Currier:

 A tumultuous week in crypto with the US inflation rates, crypto lender Celsius stopping and exchange Binance pausing withdrawals all conspiring to crash crypto prices to an 18 month low. The market has gone below $1 trillion. EU citizens have unsurprisingly reacted negatively to EU plans to launch a central bank digital currency. And on a happier note, a Philadelphia pharmacist uses crypto donations to feed 5,000 homeless people.

EU Faces Citizens’ Opposition in Race for Digital Euro

The European Commission today (Tuesday 14th June) closes a public consultation on the digital euro, after overwhelmingly negative feedback from EU citizens indicating that a central bank digital currency (CBDC) will unsurprisingly not be as welcomed as regulators had hoped for. By Monday, regulators had received 16,299 responses, 98% of which from EU citizens, and just 0.3% from companies. The overwhelming majority of comments from EU citizens opposed the adoption of a digital euro, with many seeing that with a CBDC citizens ‘would lose privacy in their transactions and the government would have more control over their finances and eventually over their lives.’ Others questioned the need for additional digital money led by governments when private companies and banks already offering digital alternatives. Those responses that weren’t entirely negative requested more information to have a better understanding of the CBDC. It would be optimistic to hope that we will be safe from having government controlled CBDCs forced on citizens, given how much data and control a CBDC would give governments. (Pymnts) Read More

Crypto lender Celsius pauses all withdrawals and transfers as markets plummet

Crypto lender Celsius, which has recently caused concern to investors about its liquidity levels, on Monday froze all withdrawals and transfers, causing panic and seemingly much of the slump in the crypto markets. Celsius said in its blog ‘Due to extreme market conditions, today we are announcing that Celsius is pausing all withdrawals, Swap, and transfers between accounts. We are taking this action today to put Celsius in a better position to honor, over time, its withdrawal obligations.’ Celsius’ CEL token tanked about 49% on the news. Celsius had been widely used by crypto investors for the high yields it offers for token deposits, which it lends to other crypto companies. The platform had recently come under fire for lending out investor funds to the recently collapsed platform Terra. (Celsius) and (Business Insider) and (The Block Crypto)

Binance stops Bitcoin Withdrawals for a few hours on Monday

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, has paused Bitcoin withdrawals ‘due to a stuck transaction causing a backlog’ – according to a tweet by CEO CZ. CZ originally tweeted that the problem was expected to be fixed in around 30 minutes. A few minutes later he said the problem would take longer to resolve. CZ had said that funds are SAFU – referring to Secure Asset Fund for Users and a play on words of safe. CZ then tweeted a few hours later to say that BTC withdrawals would again start. Investors are now watching to see if other exchanges also stop withdrawals. (Coindesk) Read More

More crypto exchanges and lending platforms lay off staff

The CEO of crypto exchange Crypto .com has said the exchange will lay of 260 employees representing 5% of its workforce, and crypto lending platform BlockFi has said it will reduce its headcount by 20%. This is the latest exchange to follow Gemini in laying off 10% and Coinbase in freezing hiring and rescinding job offers amidst the crypto market slump, which has meant less revenue from trading fees for the exchanges. (Bloomberg) Read More

Binance.US faces class-action lawsuit over LUNA and UST sale

Binance.UK is facing a class-action lawsuit from a group of investors who lost money from the now collapsed LUNA and TerraUSD (UST) tokens. The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of California on Monday, alleges that Binance sold unregistered securities in the form of LUNA and UST to investors and mislead them into buying them, and that ‘Binance.US is not registered as a broker-dealer in the United States and thus clearly violates U.S. securities laws’. The plaintiffs accused the exchange of ‘knowingly promoting a flawed project in which the parent company had invested earlier’ and alleged that it ‘not only supported and promoted the security token, but its parent company also listed the second version of LUNA 2.0 after the failure of the first.’ This could be the first of many such lawsuits for U.S.-listed crypto exchanges that offered LUNA or UST to customers. (Cointelegraph) Read More

SEC Investigating Company Behind TerraUSD Stablecoin: Report

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating if Terraform Labs – the Singapore-registered firm that created the TerraUSD (UST) stablecoin and Luna (LUNA) token that collapsed dramatically last month losing billions of investors' money - violated U.S. laws regarding how it marketed the crypto coin and whether investor protection rules were broken. (Coindesk) Read More

Terraform Labs Probed for Alleged Bitcoin Embezzlement Following UST Collapse

South Korean authorities are investigating Terraform Labs for alleged Bitcoin Embezzlement, saying the implosion of the company's tokens affected about 280,000 citizens, according to a report by the Financial Times. Co-founder of Terraform Labs, Daniel Shin, has denied allegations of fraud. (Coindesk) This follows rumours that founder Do Kwon had been trying to get as much funds as possible before Terra collapsed, with interviewed employees allegedly confirming that Do Kwon had allegedly been taking around $80 million a month from company funds to secret crypto wallets and foreign bank accounts before the collapse. This also follows reports that Do Kwon and Terraform Labs were allegedly aware of design flaws but ignored warnings, and raised interest from 3.6% to 20% a week before launch, making UST crash. (The Crypto Basic)

Bitcoin (BTC) Falls 18% in 24 hours to $22,000, Sets 18-Month Low

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics which on Friday announced that the consumer price index - also known as the inflation rate - increased 8.6% in May compared to May 2021 sent stock and digital asset prices tumbling. This, combined with other factors in Crypto including Celsius pausing withdrawals sent crypto markets to their lowest in 18 months with Bitcoin on Tuesday morning going to just above $21,000. (Nasdaq) Read More

In happy news: Pennsylvanian pharmacist feeds thousands of homeless using crypto

A Pennsylvania-based pharmacist has used crypto donations to feed thousands of homeless people with his New Jersey registered non-profit organisation Crypto for the Homeless (CFTHL). Kenneth Kim said he got the idea of using crypto to feed the homeless from science fiction movies such as the 2017 Blade Runner 2049 and In Time which have different futuristic forms of currency. He said he had always “wanted to do something with crypto” that could “make the world a better place.” He founded the non-profit in 2019 – when he delivered his first four meals in Philadelphia, since which he has fed more than 5,000 around the world through crypto donations and a volunteer network. (Cointelegraph) Read More

Bloomberg Terminal supersizes its crypto coverage: 40 more coins

Bloomberg Terminal has added coverage of 40 crypto assets to the existing 10 cryptocurrencies it has covered in its terminal since 2018. This gives its institutional investor client base of financial professionals and institutions real-time financial market data and the ability to place trades. The is Bloomberg's largest expansion of its crypto data since it began tracking BTC in 2013. (Cointelegraph) Read More

Bermuda's Crypto Companies Are Launching an Industry Association

14 digital asset companies that have been licensed by the Bermuda Monetary Authority including Apex Group, Bittrex, BlockFi, Circle and the newly licensed digital asset bank Jewel have come together to form the jurisdiction’s first digital asset industry association called Next. Bermuda’s Premier David Burt “The formation of Bermuda’s first trade association for licensed digital asset businesses is a significant milestone in the development of Bermuda’s fintech industry”. Bermuda has sought to establish itself as a digital asset hub including last year testing a digital dollar and now approving a license for its first digital asset bank as part of its plans to build a comprehensive crypto ecosystem. (Coindesk) Read More

Anonymous hacker served with restraining order via NFT

A law firm has served a defendant in a hacking case with a restraining order dropped into their wallet via an NFT that was created and airdropped by its asset recovery team. The stolen funds had been laundered through a crypto mixer but were tracked down through “algorithmic forensic analysis," which allowed the company to find the wallets linked to the hacker, and then freeze the wallets. The fact of dropping court order via an NFT bears no relation their ability to freeze funds. A good PR stunt? (Cointelegraph) Read More

Top 5 Most-Popular Methods Hackers Use to Steal NFTs 

The top five most popular methods hackers are currently using to steal NFTs: 1) Phishing - ie duplicating a legitimately operating website/marketplace 2) Discord Scams- basically don't click on links 3) Copycat NFTs - Mining similar NFTs to those held by celebrities and influencers 4) Fake social media accounts, imitating those held by influencers5) Stolen social media accounts (VR Soldier) Read More

Quit if you're not happy, Coinbase boss Armstrong tells workers in wake of petition

 Coinbase's CEO Brian Armstrong has told - unhappy employees to quit the cryptocurrency exchange platform - in a Twitter thread- after a petition calling for the removal of 3 top executives was leaked. Armstrong said the "Operation Revive COIN" petition was "really dumb on multiple levels". He said "First of all, if you want to do a vote of no confidence, you should do it on me and not blame the execs. Who do you think is running this company? I was a little offended not to be included :)," adding "Second, if you have no confidence in the execs or CEO of a company then why are you working at that company? Quit and find a company to work at that you believe in!" Valid points. This comes after its shares have collapsed this year and it has been withdrawing job offers. (Business Insider) Read More

Lithuania aims to tighten crypto regulation and ban anonymous accounts

Lithuania has decided to tighten its crypto regulation and ban anonymous accounts in advance of upcoming EU regulations that could effectively ban noncustodial wallets, as well as in a bid to fight money laundering risks and the possibility of Russian elites circumventing financial sanctions. The new regulations would also increase demands on exchange operators as of Jan. 1, 2023. The senior management of such companies would also have to be permanent residents of Lithuania. This announcement follows the swift rise of crypto companies in the country after a regulatory tightening in neighboring Estonia. 2020 saw eight new crypto companies in Lituania, while 2021 saw 188 new entities. (Cointelegraph) Read More

Scotcoin to go global with ProBit listing

Scottish cryptocurrency Scotcoin is being listed on ProBit Global exchange meaning people around the world will be able to buy and sell the token. Scotcoin - which calls itself a cryptocurrency with a social purpose and has been around since 2013- aims to tackle things such as poverty and environmental issues. It currently has a few thousand holders but is aiming for the circa 10 million Scots worldwide who may want to send money through its system, where transactions happen instantaneously and without payment of gas fees. Scotcoin has applied to be registered with the FCA but hasn't yet achieved this- alongside the majority of other crypto companies that applied. (Finextra) Read More

Mastercard partners NFT marketplaces on card purchases

Mastercard has partnered with a number of non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces to make it easy for people to buy NFTs with their cards. Mastercard has already partnered with Coinbase on its NFT marketplace. Mastercard recently filed 15 NFT and metaverse trademark applications as part of a plan to extend its payment processing system, slogans and branding into the new virtual economy. (Finextra) Read More