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 …

The Japanese subsidiary of the now-defunct FTX crypto exchange has come out with a roadmap to resume withdrawals, after confirming that its customers’ assets are not part of FTX's bankruptcy proceedings. The firm provided an update on Dec. 1, stating it has been able to confirm that its customers’ assets "should not" be part of FTX Japan's estate due to Japanese regulations which mandate that crypto exchanges must separate client funds from their own assets. This was according to Landis Rath & Cobb LLP, the law firm representing FTX Group in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. FTX Japan was only …

RNS.id, a digital Web3 identity platform developed to support the application and issuance of sovereignty-backed IDs, announced on Nov. 30 that it is integrating with zkSync for on-chain KYC. RNS.ID indicated in a release shared with Cointelegraph that its on-chain KYC solution is designed on a “privacy engine” to encrypt users' identity attributes or properties into different “hashed slices” with multiple signature verifications. RNS.ID aggregates users’ fragmented identity properties data and uses ZK-proofs to generate encrypted proofs from metadata. Additionally, the company stated that RNS.ID enables users to create their own "minimal disclosure identifying information system" for constrained usages, thereby …

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, with trading set to end on Dec. 8. In the investment warning issued Oct. 27, DAXA alleged that there was considerably more WEMIX in circulation than Wemix had …

Polkadot, a protocol that connects blockchains, has announced its latest initiative to help its ecosystem fight scams. According to the company, relying on security-minded individuals within its community to fight scams has proven to be an effective method of safeguarding its ecosystem. To incentivize the members of its community to continue to do the work, Polkadot consistently rewards them with bounties paid in USDC. Polkadot shared that its bounty is currently managed by the general curators, which for now, consists of three community members, and two people from the W3F Anti-Scam department. However, in the long term, Polkadot hopes that …

Proof-of-stake blockchain platform, Cardano, has partnered with COTI, a DAG-based Layer 1 protocol, to launch what it refers to as an over-collateralized algorithmic stablecoin. The project said in an announcement provided to Cointelegraph that the stablecoin will be backed by excess collateral in the form of cryptocurrency stored in a reserve. It's official! $Djed will launch on the Cardano Mainnet in January 2023! $Coti $Ada #Djed pic.twitter.com/cu8ryW6Lo7 — Djed Stablecoin (@DjedStablecoin) November 21, 2022 According to the release, Djed is set to go live on the mainnet in Jan. 2023, pending a successful audit and a series of rigorous stress …

Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has appointed restructuring administration firm Kroll as its agent to track all claims against FTX and ensure interested parties are notified of developments throughout its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. Known as the “claims and noticing agent,” Kroll was appointed to the role on Nov. 12 with the news made public on Nov. 17, and aims to compile a database of all claims against FTX Trading and 101 affiliated companies. Press Release: FTX Group has established Kroll as its claims agent, and all official documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court can be found online at https://t.co/7Bsn9Ggckf. …

Australia’s financial markets regulator has suspended FTX Australia’s financial license following the appointment of a voluntary administrator to help nearly 30,000 Australians and 132 Australian companies get their funds back from tFTX. The announcement was made by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) on Nov. 16 local time, which suspended the Australian Financial Services (AFS) license of FTX’s local entity until May 15, 2023. Before its suspension, FTX Australia’s AFS license permitted it to create a market for derivatives and foreign exchange contracts to Australian-based retail and wholesale clients. Australian traders who signed up to trade digital assets were …

Crypto lender BlockFi has halted client withdrawals on its platform as part of a broader limit to activity in the wake of FTX’s collapse. pic.twitter.com/zNF1uP6evl — BlockFi (@BlockFi) November 11, 2022 The company said in the Nov. 11 tweet that a “lack of clarity on the status of FTX.com, FTX US and Alameda” has prevented it from being able to operate as normal. As a result, it has limited platform activity until there is further clarity on the developing situation, it said. The firm has also requested that clients do not deposit to BlockFi wallets or Interest Accounts at this …

Crypto exchange Coinbase saw a huge fall in its transaction revenues in the third quarter after activity fell amid a broader market downturn, but managed to cut its losses in half compared to the prior quarter. In its shareholder letter released Nov. 3, the company shared that transaction reven had fallen from $655.2 million in the second quarter to $365.9 million, representing a decline of 44%. The company cited poor macro conditions with daily average crypto market capitalization falling 30% and trading volumes shifting away from the United States due to the lack of regulatory clarity as reasons for the …

The third quarter earnings for business intelligence firm MicroStrategy revealed a narrowed net loss of $27.1 million for the quarter, while it continues to grow its Bitcoin (BTC) portfolio despite poor crypto market conditions. The world's largest publicly traded corporate Bitcoin owner confirmed it still owns 130,000 BTC at the end of Q3 2022. That amount represents 0.62% of all Bitcoin that will ever be owned, which it says was acquired for a total cost of around $4 billion, or $30,639 per BTC. The company reported on Nov. 1 impairment charges for the quarter of $727,000, far less than the …

Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Christy Goldsmith Romero has pointed to the collapse of the Terra ecosystem and its flow-on effects as an example of how contagion risks within crypto markets are similar to those experienced by the traditional financial (TradFi) system during the global financial crisis (GFC) of 2008. Romero suggested in a speech given at the International Swaps and Derivatives Association’s (ISDA) Crypto Forum on Oct. 26 that increased links between crypto markets and TradFi increases the risk posed by crypto to overall financial stability, noting: “The digital asset market remains relatively small and contained from the level …