Author: Karikari Daniel

Article written by Karikari Daniel

Hong Kong Crypto Layoffs: Singapore’s Amber Group Downsizes Workforce

January 19, 2023 1 min read

Singapore-based digital asset management firm Amber Group has reportedly cut its Hong Kong staff by half, from 80 to 40 people. According to a report by the South China Morning Post, Amber has cut its compliance workforce in Hong Kong to just five people from 20, and made its entire auditing team redundant. The report also states that payments to many of the company’s third-party vendors have been delayed, in

Digital Currency Group puts dividends on hold to preserve cash reserves

January 18, 2023 1 min read

Digital Currency Group (DCG), a venture capital firm, has announced that it will be halting its quarterly dividend payments in an effort to preserve liquidity. This decision is in light of the financial troubles faced by its subsidiary, crypto broker Genesis Global Trading. Genesis currently owes creditors over $3 billion, and DCG is considering selling some of its assets to mitigate these issues. Customers of Genesis have been unable to

Monex Group Among Potential Buyers for FTX Japan: Bloomberg

January 17, 2023 1 min read

Monex Group, a Tokyo-based online brokerage company, is interested in joining the bidding for the Japan subsidiary of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, according to a report by Bloomberg. Monex Group’s CEO, Oki Matsumoto, stated that “Generally speaking, we naturally are interested.” He also noted that it would be a “very good thing” for Monex to reduce the number of crypto exchanges it competes with. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware

China’s Digital Currency Makes its Debut in Securities Trading

January 17, 2023 1 min read

Soochow Securities is the first financial institution to use the central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the securities market. Through the firm’s mobile app, investors can now purchase wealth management products with the digital yuan. This marks an important milestone in the adoption of the e-CNY and its use in the financial sector. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has been piloting the e-CNY in several cities since 2020. Last

Hong Kong to Release Official List of Cryptocurrencies for Public Trading

January 16, 2023 1 min read

Regulators in Hong Kong are taking steps to ensure the safety of retail investors in the cryptocurrency market. The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) is creating a list of approved crypto assets for non-professional investors to trade in. SFC’s CEO, Julia Leung Fung-yee, stated that the whitelisted crypto tokens will be highly liquid and deemed safe enough for retail traders. The list will only include major virtual assets, as the

International Crypto Scammers Busted by Authorities

January 13, 2023 1 min read

In a coordinated effort, European law enforcement agencies have successfully taken down a cross-border cryptocurrency fraud network that spanned across Serbia, Germany, Cyprus, and Bulgaria. The network, which was using call centers to defraud international victims out of tens of millions of euros, was uncovered during an online scam investigation that was launched in 2021. The European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation and Europol arrested 14 people in Serbia

LBank Exchange Shares Bullish Thesis for 2023

January 13, 2023 2 mins read

INTERNET CITY, Dubai, 12th January, 2023, Chainwire LBank Co-Founder Johnason Chan has shared a bullish thesis for 2023, tipping the crypto industry to reach new milestones this year. Chan predicts a resurgence in the NFT market, further growth of Web3 through layer 2 solutions and the convergence of TradFi and DeFi. “Web3 will be a big opportunity for the next wave of blockchain applications, but more solid blockchain platforms are

El Salvador approves bill for digital securities, including Bitcoin bonds

January 12, 2023 1 min read

El Salvador has made history by passing a digital securities bill that will allow the country to issue bonds based on Bitcoin. The bill, which was first introduced to parliament in November, was approved by the legislative assembly on January 11th, with 62 votes in favor. The digital securities bill aims to establish a legal framework for the transfer of digital assets, including Bitcoin, in the context of public offerings.

Former Coinbase Manager’s Brother Receives 10-Month Sentence

January 11, 2023 1 min read

The brother of a former Coinbase product manager, Nikhil Wahi, has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for insider trading of crypto tokens, in which he leveraged his familial connection to his brother, Ishan Wahi. The Wahi brothers were arrested in July 2022, after Ishan was accused of passing on confidential information about upcoming Coinbase listings to his brother, allowing him to invest large amounts of money into those

Coinbase cuts 20% of workforce in latest round of layoffs

January 10, 2023 1 min read

Coinbase has announced another round of layoffs, which will affect 950 employees and reduce its operating expenses by 25%. The company CEO Brian Armstrong said that, while the decision was difficult, it was necessary in order to reduce expenses and increase the chances of doing well in every scenario. This is the latest round of layoffs, after the company cut 1,100 jobs, or 18% of its workforce, in June 2022

Astar Network unveils XVM on public testnet

January 10, 2023 1 min read

Astar Network, a smart contract platform for multichain, announced the launch of its Cross-Virtual Machine (XVM) on the public testnet Shibuya. Astar Network claims that the XVM allows for interoperability between different smart contract environments such as the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and WebAssembly (WASM). This allows for seamless communication between smart contracts, regardless of the language they are written in or the environment they are in. This is the

US authorities issue subpoenas to hedge funds as part of Binance investigation

January 9, 2023 1 min read

US federal prosecutors have reportedly issued subpoenas to several hedge funds as part of an ongoing investigation into potential money laundering violations by Binance Global Inc., according to the Washington Post. The US attorney’s office for the Western District of Washington in Seattle is seeking records of the subpoenaed firms’ communications with Binance, according to sources familiar with the matter. It is not yet clear if the subpoenas will lead