The FTX-owned Japanese crypto exchange Liquid has announced plans to begin the process of returning customer assets in 2023. According to the Dec. 29 statement issued on its blog, the exchange is preparing to return assets entrusted by both customers from FTX Japan and Liquid Japan, and is working on a report for January 2023 that would further outline the details. A statement from the team read: “For the assets entrusted to us by our customers at FTX Japan and Liquid Japan, we are proceeding with system development so that withdrawals will be possible from the Liquid Japan web version.” …

On Dec 29, the state-owned China Academy for Information and Communications Technology, or CAICT, published a document titled "2022 Blockchain Whitepaper." According to the paper, more than 1,400 blockchain firms are currently based in Mainland China. Together with the U.S., the two countries represent a 52% market share in terms of global blockchain enterprises. The CAICT also disclosed that around 48 post-secondary institutions across China have introduced "blockchain engineering" related degrees and certifications. In the report, the institution detailed four types of blockchain technologies with high application potential. First, "settlement chains" would allow transparent publication of telecom fees for firms …

According to a report published by state-owned daily news program Xinwen Lianbo on Dec. 29, Xiao Yi, former Communist Party Secretary of the City of Fuzhou, pleaded guilty to corruption charges in the Zhejiang Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court. During his tenure as director from 2008 to 2021, Yi was accused of accepting over 125 million CNY ($18 million) in bribes related to construction programs and illicit promotions. In addition to the aforementioned counts, Yi also pleaded guilty to charges related to business transactions between himself and Bitcoin (BTC) miners from 2017 to 2021. It is unclear if the series of …

The largely disputed Robinhood shares might be transferred to a neutral broker or an escrow account while the courts determine the rightful owner. Digital asset lender BlockFi recently sued former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to claim the shares that were supposedly pledged as collateral for the more than $600 million that BlockFi loaned to Alameda Research. The 56 million Robinhood Markets shares, which are currently frozen, are worth around $450 million. These are owned by Sam Bankman-Fried's holding company called Emergent Fidelity Technologies which was formed in Antigua and Barbuda and held by a brokerage company called Marex Capital Markets. …

With exchanges becoming a focus as the FTX fiasco continues, a new research paper suggested that almost three out of four transactions in unregulated exchanges are fake. A working paper titled “Crypto Wash Trading” was recently published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Using statistical and behavioral patterns to determine which transactions were legitimate or not, the paper studied 29 unregulated exchanges and came to a conclusion that, on average, more than 70% of the volume within the platforms are wash trades. The researchers found that some exchanges’ wash trading volume goes as high as 80% of the …

Software analytics company MicroStrategy recently added more Bitcoin (BTC) to the firm’s holdings. Members of the crypto community had mixed reactions to the move. In a recent tweet, MicroStrategy’s executive chairman Michael Saylor announced that the firm had made another Bitcoin purchase. The move puts the firm’s total BTC holdings at 132,500 BTC, purchased for a total of $4.03 billion but worth only around $2.1 billion at the time of writing. Many commended the move, while some brought up some potential negative effects. Michael Saylor, you are a rock star. Your mission Jim aka Michael Saylor, if you choose to …

Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network is planning to file a motion that would extend the deadline for users to submit their claims by another month. The crypto community has started to grow impatient, noting that Celsius’ lawyer fees have continued to stack up and are eating away at the lender's estate. In a Dec. 29 Twitter post, Celsius announced that it would be seeking an extension that would extend the current deadline for claims from Jan. 3, 2023 to early Feb. 2023. The bankruptcy court is set to hear the motion on Jan. 10, and according to Celsius, the Jan. …

Victims of the 3Commas API leak are calling for refunds and an apology from the crypto trading platform for being gaslighted over the whole ordeal. The past couple of months have seen an ongoing back and forth between 3Commas and supposed victims of unauthorized trades coming from their accounts. 3Commas and its CEO Yuriy Sorokin had strongly denied any hack or breach had taken place and had refuted there could have been an inside job from an employee gone rogue. Instead, it suggested any leaked APIs were the result of customers being phished. you gonna delete these? pic.twitter.com/BwbJkJy8oC — Daniel …

Sam Bankman-Fried has reportedly been leading a decent lifestyle while under house arrest in his parent’s home in Palo Alto — with daily jogs, a security detail, and a couple of in-home visits. However, it's not exactly a life of endless luxury either. The former FTX CEO is reportedly required to wear an ankle monitor and is only allowed to leave the house under certain circumstances, among other restrictions. The aforementioned Palo Alto home, located on the border of Stanford University’s campus is understood to be a $4 million property equipped with 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and a pool according …

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) warned his 8 million Twitter followers on Dec. 28 that he is “reasonably sure” that API key leaks are taking place at the cryptocurrency trade management platform. I am reasonably sure there are wide spread API key leaks from 3Commas. If you have ever put an API key in 3Commas (from any exchange), please disable it immediately. Stay #SAFU. — CZ Binance (@cz_binance) December 28, 2022 The disclosure by CZ followed an incident on Dec. 9, when Binance cancelled the account of a user who complained about losing funds a day earlier. That user claimed …

The crypto world is still developing at lightning speed. The adoption of projects built on blockchain technology has increased tremendously in 2022, and this is partly due to the celebrities who have contributed to it. Thanks to these well-known people, crypto-related projects have reached a large audience, through their social media accounts and the many news outlets that wrote about them. The developments in cryptocurrencies, nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and metaverse platforms have led to new ways people can make money and alternative methods to consume art and entertainment. They have also led to innovative ways people can communicate and interact …

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is scheduled to appear in court on the afternoon of Jan. 3 to enter a plea on two counts of wire fraud and six counts of conspiracy against him in relation to the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, Reuters reported Dec. 28 citing court records. Bankman-Fried will appear before District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan. Judge Kaplan was assigned to the case on Dec. 27 after the original judge on the case, Ronnie Abrams, recused herself due to connections between FTX and the Davis Polk & Wardwell law firm, where her husband is a …