Altcoin News by Thebittimes.Com

The move is part of a phased termination of BUSD support by February 2024. Crypto exchange Binance will cease borrowing and lending services for its native stablecoin Binance USD (BUSD) by October 25. According to the October 3 announcement, the exchange will close all outstanding BUSD loan and collateral positions by the end of the month. Users would still be able to borrow and lend on Binance using stablecoins such as Tether (USDT), Dai, TrueUSD (TUSD), and USD Coin (USDC). Currently, users can lend their BUSD on Binance at an estimated annual percentage yield of 3%.  On August 31, Cointelegraph reported that Binance will cease all services related to its BUSD stablecoin by 2024. Previously, on February 13, New York fintech firm Paxos, the issuer of the BUSD stablecoin, said it would end relations with Binance due to the latter's ongoing litigation with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Paxos said it would end redemptions from BUSD to underlying U.S. cash and Treasu...

Users can trade ETH/FDUSD with zero maker fee, while the standard taker fee will apply based on the user's VIP level. Crypto exchange Binance, on Thursday, August 3, announced that it would be opening trading for the Bitcoin/First Digital USD (BTC/FDUSD) and Ethereum/ First Digital USD (ETH/FDUSD) trading pairs alongside an updated zero-fee Bitcoin and Ethereum trading with newly added FDUSD stablecoin spot and margin pairs . As per the announcement, starting from 08:00 UTC on August 4, users will benefit from zero maker and taker fees for BTC/FDUSD spot and margin trades through the Zero-Fee Bitcoin Trading Program. Additionally, users can trade ETH/FDUSD with zero maker fee, while the standard taker fee will apply based on the user's VIP level. The trading volume for BTC/FDUSD spot and margin trading pairs is not included in the VIP tier volume calculation or the Liquidity Providers programs, enhancing the trading experience for users. “BNB discounts, referral rebate...

During a Twitter Space on July 5, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao delivered his forecast for the next Bitcoin bull run. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has delivered his prediction for the next Bitcoin (BTC) bull market. Speaking in a July 5, “ask me anything” session on Twitter, CZ explained how the price of Bitcoin has historically moved in four-year bull cycles. https://t.co/OENe6Ul4ag — Binance (@binance) July 5, 2023 While he admitted that he can’t see the future, Zhao emphasized the up coming Bitcoin halving event in 2024 and declared 2025 to be the most likely year for the next bull market, stating: "The year after Bitcoin halving is usually the bull year." CZ addresses BlackRock and Bitcoin ETFs Asked whether he was concerned about BlackRock’s recent entry into the spot Bitcoin ETF arena, CZ welcomed the idea saying it is “hugely beneficial” for the crypto industry. Since the firm’s June 15 filing, many have raised concerns that the intention of major TradFi firms stand in ...

The scheduled launch date for these futures contracts is set for July 31, pending regulatory review. On June 29, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group announced its plans to introduce Ether/Bitcoin Ratio futures . The launch of these futures contracts is slated for July 31, subject to regulatory review. Efficiently capture the relative value of ether and bitcoin in a single trade with Ether/Bitcoin Ratio futures , launching July 31. https://t.co/WDFhIt5rJ7 — CME Group (@CMEGroup) June 29, 2023 According to the announcement, the settlement of Ether/Bitcoin Ratio futures will be in cash, based on the final settlement price of CME Group’s Ether (ETH)  futures divided by the final settlement price of CME Group's Bitcoin (BTC) futures . Moreover, this new contract will adhere to the identical listing cycle observed in CME Group’s Bitcoin futures and Ether futures contracts. Giovanni Vicioso, CME Group’s global head of cryptocurrency products, emphasized the potential for...

During a panel at the Australian Blockchain Week, executives from Australia’s major banks explained why they added restrictions on payments to local crypto exchanges. Australia’s cryptocurrency industry banking woes will likely continue, with the government and major banks signaling no intention to back down against scams that “touch” crypto. During a panel at the Australian Blockchain Week on June 26, Sophie Gilder, managing director of blockchain and digital assets at Commonwealth Bank (CBA) shed light on the bank's restrictions on crypto exchange payments, noting it was put in place after seeing an alarming rate of scams that ended up involving cryptocurrency. “One in three of the dollars that are scammed from Australians touch crypto, one in three. So it's the single largest lever that we have to reduce this impact on our customers,” she said. Commonwealth Bank's Sophie Gilder speaking in a panel during Australian Blockchain Week. Source: Cointelegraph Nigel Dobson, ba...

The request was denied by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who characterized it as a "fishing expedition" lacking justification. Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder of FTX, has been denied his request to obtain documents from a Silicon Valley law firm, Fenwick & West LLP, as part of his defense strategy in his ongoing federal fraud case, Bloomberg reported. Bankman-Fried had hoped to use these documents to support his claim that he relied on legal advice while engaging in the activities for which he is currently facing prosecution . In a recent development, Bankman-Fried's legal team approached the judge overseeing the case, urging the prosecution to hand over the documents obtain ed from Fenwick & West or to allow them to be obtain ed directly through a subpoena. However, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan dismissed the request, calling it as "fishing expedition" that would not be justified. In preparation for his defense, Bankman-Fried's legal tea...

BTC traders are cautiously optimistic due to Bitcoin traditional assets, but there are still some macro headwinds to be aware of. Bitcoin (BTC) price has finally broken the $30,000 level after the key price zone lasted as a ten months resistance level. BTC price rallied 6.5% on April 10 and the much-awaited price gain ended an agonizing 12-day period of extremely low volatility, which saw the price hovering close to $28,200. Bulls are now confident that the bear market has officially ended, especially considering the fact that BTC price has gained 82% year-to-date. Another interesting note is, Bitcoin's decoupling from traditional markets has been confirmed, after the S&P 500 index presented a mere 0.1% gain on April 10, and WTI oil traded down 1.2%. Bitcoin traders are likely anticipating the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy to reverse sooner than later. Stagflation risk could be behind the decoupling Higher interest rates make fixed-income investments more a...

On-chain data and technical analysis shows strength in ARB price, even after a weekend filled with rumors and sell-offs. Arbitrum suffered a big blow during the April 1 to April 2 weekend due to a conflict between the ARB token holders and the Arbitrum Foundation on the allocation of $750 million ARB tokens worth around $900 million. Data from on-chain analysis firm Arkham Intelligence shows that the transfer of $50.5 million out of the disputed allocation of 750 million ARB tokens. They shared with Cointelegraph that, “Only 50.5 million of those tokens have been moved. 10 million tokens have been sent to be sold on exchanges, 40 million have been loaned to Wintermute and the remaining 500K remain untouched in a multisig wallet (labeled Gnosis Safe Proxy).” On April 3 morning, the Arbitrum Foundation conceded to the community's opposition and decided to break up the said proposal in question into multiple proposals for allocating the funds for the project's ecosystem growth. ...

Major crypto platforms are gearing up for the upcoming ARB token listing on March 23. As the countdown to the Arbitrum (ARB) token airdrop continues, crypto enthusiasts on Twitter are abuzz with speculation about its listing price. While the community is busy forecasting the price trajectory and benchmarking against other Layer-2s on Ethereum (ETH), several major crypto platforms have proudly announced their plans to list ARB. With the airdrop just around the corner, investors and traders are eagerly anticipating the listing of the new ARB token on various crypto platforms. This article provides an in-depth look at the confirmed listing venues where enthusiasts can acquire ARB token s after the March 23 airdrop, exploring what each platform has to offer. Huobi and MEXC Following the official announcement of the Arbitrum token airdrop on March 16, Huobi and MEXC wasted no time in revealing their plans to list ARB, and were the first to announce their listing on March 17. Both platfor...

Christmas dinner could get awkward for crypto advocates who were adamant about their families investing last year — Cointelegraph compiled a small recap of what happened in crypto this year. After a lackluster rise of crypto in 2021, which saw many new crypto millionaires and several crypto startups attain unicorn status, came the dramatic fall in 2022. The industry was plagued by macroeconomic pressures, scandals and meltdowns that wiped out fortunes virtually overnight.  As 2022 comes to a close, many crypto proponents are perplexed about the state of the industry, especially in light of the recent FTX collapse and the contagion it has caused, taking down several firms associated with it. Many who couldn’t stop talking about crypto and recommending their family to invest in it last year at Christmas dinner could see the tables turn this year, with them having a lot of explaining to do about the state of crypto today. While as awkward as that conversation is going to be, Cointel...

Corporate structure, Bitcoin liabilities and internal control quality are among the points of concern. Binance's efforts to improve transparency of its reserves also exposed red flags in the crypto exchange's finances, according to accounting and financial specialists consulted by The Wall Street Journal.  As noted by a former Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) member and investment manager, the report released by the audit firm Mazars does not bring investors confidence about the exchange's finance as it lacks information related to the quality of internal controls and how its systems liquidate assets to cover margin loans. Another red flag raised by the newspaper's sources is regarding the lack of information about Binance's corporate structure. As per the report, Binance’s chief strategy officer, Patrick Hillmann, was unable to provide the name of Binance’s parent company since it has been going through a corporate reorganization for almost two years. ...

The 2022 bear market is impacting BTC miners in more extreme ways than previous downturns, especially with so many publicly listed miners struggling with their debt obligations. Bitcoin (BTC) mining is the backbone of the BTC ecosystem and miners’ returns also provide insight into BTC’s price movements and the health of the wider crypto sector. It is well-documented that Bitcoin miners are struggling in the current bear market. Blockstream, a leading Bitcoin miner recently raised funds at a 70% discount. Current mining activity shares similarities to historic BTC bear markets with a few caveats. Let’s explore what this means for the current Bitcoin cycle. Analysis shows that based on previous cycles the bear market may continue Bitcoin mining profitability can be measured by taking the miner’s revenue per kilowatt hour (kWh). According to Jaran Mellerud, a Bitcoin analyst for Hashrate Index, a BTC mining bear market has a sustained period of revenue per kWh of less than $0.25. Under h...

Saylor calls SBF the “poster child of the crypto world” while breaking down his antics, which ultimately brought the downfall of his empire. In a recent interview Michael Saylor, the MicroStrategy executive chairman and major Bitcoin (BTC) bull, shared his perspective on the fall of the FTX empire. Saylor said that for years there has been a low-grade “boiling Guerrilla war” between the BTC community opposite the crypto community over industry practices such as, what he repeatedly calls, “shitcoinery." In Saylor’s perspective, Sam Bankman-Fried was “the poster child” of the latter. “There is something ethically broken about being able to issue your own unregistered security. Sam and most of the people in the crypto world were always guilty of the sin of shitcoinery.” He attributes such behavior to his perceptions of the crypto community’s inherent problems, which are greed, arrogance and foolishness. From there, Saylor forayed into what he calls “the diabolical twist” in the FT...

From giving encouragement to trying to recruit the laid-off staff, crypto community members posted various responses to recent crypto layoffs. As more crypto companies have cut off their staff to weather the effects of the bear market, crypto community members have posted various reactions from giving encouragement to trying to hire the professionals that were recently let go.  Just over the weekend, two prominent crypto exchanges announced layoffs as the effects of the crypto winter continue to be felt. Bybit has laid off 30% of its workforce which marks the second time the exchange conducted layoffs in 2022. On the other hand, Australia-based exchange Swyftx has also cut around 40% of its staff as it weathers the waves caused by the FTX fallout. In response to the Bybit layoff , a Twitter user who claimed to have worked with Bybit CEO Ben Zhou, opined that the exchange was making the correct decision and vouched for the members of the organization. On the other hand, another com...

The Australian crypto exchange said while it had no exposure to FTX, it was "not immune" to its fallout. Australian-based crypto exchange Swyftx has laid off a total of 90 staff members, which it said was in preparation for a “worst-case scenario” caused by the fallout of FTX and a potential fall in global trading volumes next year.  The news was shared by Swyftx co-CEO Alex Harper in a Dec. 5 statement, noting that despite not having any exposure to FTX, the company was “not immune” to the fallout over the bankrupt exchange, adding: “As a result, we have to prepare in advance for a worst-case scenario of further significant drops in global trade volumes during H1 next year and the potential for more black swan-type events.” A Swyftx spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the 40% staff cut was also in anticipation of a fall in trading volumes, despite these figures increasing in November. “We have let go of staff in expectation of a potentially sharp fall in global trade volum...

Binance has managed to expand its services throughout the past year by either acquiring an operating license or buying a stake in a regulated entity. Cryptocurrency exchange Binance plans to reenter the Japanese market after acquiring a 100% stake in a licensed crypto service provider in the country, Cointelegraph Japan reported. In an official public announcement on Nov. 30, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said the crypto exchange was committed to re-entering the Japanese market under regulatory compliance. The acquisition of Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC), a Japan Financial Services Agency-licensed business, would mark the re-entry of global exchange in the Japanese market after four years. #Binance Acquires JFSA Registered Sakura Exchange BitCoin, Committed to Enter Japan Under Regulatory Compliancehttps://t.co/xfdnaY2hiO — CZ Binance (@cz_binance) November 30, 2022 Talking about the importance of the latest acquisition, a Binance spokesperson told Cointelegraph: “We can sa...

DAXA claimed that the circulating number of WEMIX exceeds what has been disclosed by Wemix, much to the chagrin of the issuers. South Korea’s largest crypto exchanges have announced they will delist WEMIX (WEMIX) — the native token of gaming company Wemade’s Blockchain platform Wemix — alleging the firm provided “false information” in response to an investment warning it was issued. Bithumb, Upbeat, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax — which are part of a collective called the Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA) — announced on Nov. 24 that they would terminate contract support for WEMIX (WEMIX), with trading set to end on Dec. 8. In the investment warning issued on Oct. 27, DAXA alleged that there was considerably more WEMIX in circulation than Wemix had disclosed, and Wemix had pledged to work with DAXA to alleviate these concerns. After news of the decision to delist broke, WEMIX Communication released a statement, claiming it had sincerely responded to requests and concerns raised by...

Digital Financial Exchange (DIFX) is a centralized exchange set on creating a new financial order aimed to merge the world of digital and traditional assets in a fully insured comprehensive cross-asset ecosystem. Launched on September 6th, 2021, the exchange employs full data encryption and Bitcoin storage to protect activities. Along with its web version, the exchange has released a DIFX Mobile Application for iOS and Android to assist its users. DIFX is a blockchain-based cryptocurrency exchange platform that brings significant and long-lasting disruptive alternatives to the trading of financial products by creating the first fully-insured cross-asset trading platform that will connect individuals, prime brokers, corporations and solve real-world payment problems by providing simple, effective, and secure payment and trading solutions across borders. Digital Financial Exchange Ultimate Goal DFIX’s prime objective is to optimize the use of blockchain technology to make fin...