The liquidators of Alameda Research continue to encounter obstacles in their efforts to recover funds for creditors. Crypto analytics firm Arkham disclosed in a thread on Twitter that Alameda Research liquidators lost $72,000 worth of digital assets on the decentralized finance (DeFi) lending platform Aave while trying to consolidate funds into a single multi-sig wallet. Liquidators were attempting to close a borrow position on Aave, but instead removed extra collateral used for the position, putting the assets at risk of liquidation. Arkham reported that over nine days, the loan was liquidated twice for a total of 4.05 WBTC, which creditors …

Blockchain use cases have expanded far beyond cryptocurrency in the past years, with multiple industries embracing the technology in a wide range of fields, including healthcare, logistics, and financial services. The hype has many reasons behind it. Blockchains are decentralized, transparent, and increase the capacity of a whole network, opening a window for solutions that require significant computational power. More importantly, it gives users the capacity to control their assets, including their data, without relying on third parties. As blockchain evolves, companies across the world are working to find the best ways to implement the technology on a range of …

The monumental collapse of FTX didn’t just destroy a crypto exchange and wipe out billions in customer deposits — it also exposed accounting irregularities at Barry Silbert’s empire, the Digital Currency Group, or DCG. That’s according to Bitcoin (BTC) billionaire and Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss. The FTX blow-up caused Genesis Global Trading, another DCG firm, to pause new loan originations and redemptions — a decision that directly affected Winklevoss’ Gemini Earn program. The pause on withdrawals has been active for nearly two months, prompting Winklevoss to pen two open letters addressed to Silbert and DCG’s board. The second open letter, …

Bitcoin (BTC) mining company Bitfarms has unveiled plans to modify an existing loan agreement with BlockFi — a move the company said would reduce its indebtedness amid the bear market. On Jan. 13, Bitfarm disclosed that it is working with creditors to modify a loan agreement for Backbone Mining Solutions, or BMS, which owns and operates Bitfarms’ 20-megawatt mining facility in Washington state. BMS received a $32 million equipment financing loan from Bitcoin lender BlockFi in February 2022. The loan was secured against existing BMS assets, including its miners and a certain percentage of BTC produced by its mining rigs. …

The mining arm of crypto lender Celsius Network has issued a notice for the sale of $1.3 million worth of mining equipment as part of its bankruptcy case. In a Jan. 11 filing with the United States Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York, Celsius said it will be selling 2,687 MicroBT M30S ASIC rigs to investment firm Touzi Capital. Touzi, which invests real estate and blockchain, will pay Celsius Mining more than $1.3 million for the miners, located at a Texas facility. According to Celsius, Touzi made the best offer for the miners following discussions with “several …

Investor sentiment has always been a critical driver in the crypto space. Both positive and negative sentiment influence ongoing trends — be they price movements, product launches or regulations. In 2022, sentiment worldwide suffered as major crypto firms and ecosystems collapsed, further straining investors amid an unforgiving bear market. While many showed resilience as Terraform Labs, Celsius and Voyager, among others, closed down, Sam Bankman-Fried’s alleged misappropriation of FTX customers’ funds drove even the most die-hard crypto investors to question the integrity of those running the show. A series of scams, crashes, bankruptcy filings and court cases have forced investors …

Amid Bitcoin (BTC) seeing significant price increase so far in 2023, one industry executive stressed that there are some features of Bitcoin that are far more crucial than its price. Matěj Žák, the newly appointed CEO of crypto hardware firm Trezor, believes that Bitcoin-enabled financial independence is the top benefit of the cryptocurrency and it’s more important than its market. “The year 2023 will be marked by a consolidation of the market and for us,” Žák said in an interview with Cointelegraph, adding that now Trezor has a great opportunity to improve its products to prepare for the upcoming bull …

The judge in charge of overseeing the FTX bankruptcy proceedings has given the embattled crypto exchange the approval to sell some of its assets to aid its efforts in repaying its creditors. According to a court filing, Delaware Bankruptcy Court Judge John Dorsey has approved the sale of four key units of FTX. This includes the derivatives platform LedgerX, the stock-trading platform Embed, and its regional arms FTX Japan and FTX Europe. Interested bidders can now contact investment bank Perella Weinberg, which is tasked to begin the sale process, representing FTX and its assets. Earlier this week, 117 parties have …

Troubled cryptocurrency firm Nexo is planning to sue the Bulgarian government in the aftermath of massive raids at the company’s offices in Sofia. Nexo has complained about the actions of the law enforcement authorities in response to the investigation against the firm, the Bulgarian News Agency reported on Jan. 13. The company is reportedly preparing to file a lawsuit against the authorities to seek compensation for damages caused by the abrupt police interruption. One report suggested that investigators did not provide a search warrant for hours, while inspectors had never identified themselves. Nexo believes that the raids conducted in its …

Financial technology firm PayPal's international money transfer service called Xoom has announced a new product that lets users in the United States send money directly to Visa debit card users. In a recent announcement, PayPal mentioned that Xoom partnered with financial services firm Visa to allow debit card holders to receive funds directly from Xoom. The feature is available in 25 countries including the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam. With the newly-launched function, users can access the funds within minutes, eliminating the need to wait for five business days, which is the average waiting time for wire transfers. …

As the crypto space continues to expand into the mainstream, bridging the gap between digital currencies and fiat currency is a priority for many legacy financial institutions. Cryptocurrency exchange Huobi announced its partnership with Solaris, a European financial services provider, to launch a crypto-to-fiat debit card. The program, which Visa has approved, allows Huobi users to use their digital assets at the point of sale globally. Users residing in the European Economic Area (EEA) will have access to the card beginning in the second quarter of 2023. The EEA comprises all 27 European Union member states, as well as Iceland, …

Hot on the heels of its Bitcoin (BTC) futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) in Hong Kong, Samsung Asset Management has indicated it's considering the launch of a spot Bitcoin ETF on the city's exchange if policies allow for it. In an interview with Bloomberg published on Jan. 13, Hong Kong chief executive for Samsung Asset Management, Sam Park, said: “It really depends on how policy is going to be developed,” adding that the Hong Kong administrators are “clearly” interested in developing the city into a crypto hub. An ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, Rebecca Sin, noted that “Hong Kong is well …