Teererai Mukonavanhu
I'm a crypto, blockchain, and tech writer. I spend my time researching and writing about cryptocurrency, NFT, AI, and new technology.
Articles by Teererai Mukonavanhu
1 year ago
1 min read
The revenue of bitcoin miners fell to $9.55 billion in 2022, according to The Block’s statistics. This decline in revenue was due to the downward trend in the cryptocurrency market, including the drop in the value of bitcoin from over $48,000 to a low of $15,590 by the end of 2022. In 2021, bitcoin miners earned around $15 billion, a 206% increase from the previous year. The growth in the value of bitcoin in 2021 played a significant role in this increase. However, since reaching a record high of $68,789 in November 2021, bitcoin’s value has decreased by 75.69%. Many
1 year ago
1 min read
Lido Finance, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, has seen its total value locked (TVL) rise to the top since Ethereum’s merger in September. As of now, Lido’s liquid staking protocol has a total market cap of $5.96 billion in TVL, surpassing both MakerDAO’s $5.91 billion and AAVE’s $3.26 billion, according to DeFiLlama. Lido’s approach eliminates the need for users to put up the standard 32 ETH minimum to participate in liquid Ether staking, which has made it popular in the wake of Ethereum’s move to proof-of-stake. Data analytics firm Nansen found that staking solutions like Lido’s have been in high
1 year ago
1 min read
The collapse of FTX crypto exchange has had a significant impact on the cryptocurrency market, causing a bearish trend and a decline in prices of all cryptocurrencies and related businesses. After the collapse, FTX filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to address the ongoing crisis. Shortly after filing for bankruptcy, almost $372 million worth of tokens were stolen from the exchange. In response to these events, the CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman, informed the Bahamian Securities Commission, which then took control of all the digital assets worth $3.5 billion that belonged to FTX customers. The assets will be held under
1 year ago
1 min read
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is expected to enter a plea deal on fraud charges related to the collapse of the Bahamas-based exchange. The case will be heard in the Manhattan federal court on January 3, 2023, and will be presided over by Judge Lewis Kaplan, who took over the case after the original judge recused herself due to her husband’s law firm advising FTX before its collapse. Bankman-Fried is accused of using customer deposits to fund his crypto trading firm Alameda Research, buy real estate, and make political contributions in a years-long fraud scheme. Two of
1 year ago
1 min read
Former customers of the now bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX have filed a class action lawsuit against the company and its executives, including Sam Bankman-Fried, seeking priority rights to repayment before non-customer creditors. The plaintiffs allege that a group of FTX executives failed to put in place adequate controls to protect customer assets, leading to the misappropriation of billions of dollars in customer funds and digital assets. According to bankruptcy filings, FTX Trading Ltd. and its affiliates owe their 50 largest creditors around $3.1 billion. The US Department of Justice has also launched a criminal probe into the $372 million stolen
1 year ago
1 min read
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced the arrest of Avraham Eisenberg, the suspected perpetrator of the $110 million Mango Markets crypto exchange exploit that took place in October. Eisenberg has been charged with commodities fraud and commodities manipulation in the Southern District Court of New York and was arrested in Puerto Rico. Furthermore, Eisenberg has previously admitted to being the mastermind behind the hack and argued that the exploit was legal under the protocol of Mango Markets. The DOJ alleges that Eisenberg manipulated the price of the MNGO token, artificially inflated prices by up to 1,300%, and
1 year ago
1 min read
Acquisition talks between Vauld and its potential buyer, Nexo, have reportedly broken down. Vauld, a cryptocurrency lending and borrowing company, suspended withdrawals in July due to a liquidity crisis and filed for creditor protection. Nexo, a competitor of Vauld, had been in talks to acquire and rescue the company, but Vauld stated in an email obtained by Bloomberg that these talks have “unfortunately not come to fruition.” Nexo, however, claimed that it submitted a revised acquisition proposal on Dec. 2 and is dedicated to “offering creditors the most favorable path forward.” Vauld is required to present a restructuring plan by
1 year ago
1 min read
Samsung has committed to investing more than $35 million in the Latin American market to bolster its metaverse presence. This is part of the company’s effort to reach out to younger generations and enhance its digital presence. A multitude of businesses, such as Samsung, Sony, and Microsoft, have already started to incorporate metaverse-based advertising into their promotional campaigns. For example, Samsung released the “House of Sam” virtual reality attraction on Decentraland in October and the Space Tycoon metaverse experience on Roblox in July, giving users the chance to construct Samsung items using raw materials within a space station. Industry professionals
1 year ago
1 min read
Hackers linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group have reportedly been running a large-scale phishing campaign targeting non-fungible token (NFT) investors, using almost 500 phishing domains. Blockchain security firm SlowMist released a report revealing that the group, known as an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT), has been using decoy websites disguised as various NFT-related platforms and projects to dupe victims into thinking they are minting a legitimate NFT by connecting their wallet to the site, when in fact the NFT is fraudulent and the victim’s wallet is left vulnerable to the hacker. SlowMist said the campaign has been ongoing for several months
1 year ago
1 min read
Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, admitted in court in New York that she lied to lenders about how much money her company was borrowing from the failed FTX crypto exchange. Ellison knew that her actions were wrong and agreed with the former CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, to create false financial statements to hide the borrowing arrangement. “From 2019 through 2022, I was aware that Alameda was provided access to a borrowing facility on FTX.com, the cryptocurrency exchange run by Mr. Bankman-Fried,” Ellison said, according to the transcript cited by Bloomberg. “In practical terms, this arrangement permitted
1 year ago
1 min read
According to Mike Alfred, an investor and Bitcoin advocate, Binance, a crypto trading platform, has no single person serving as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Instead, Alfred claims that Binance has a “decentralized CFO” consisting of a group of over 20 employees in the company’s Treasury, as the CEO, Changpeng Zhao, allegedly does not want a centralized CFO. Alfred also alleges that Binance is in talks with potential investors, including Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, about an equity round that would provide support and credibility to the company. It should be noted that these claims have not been confirmed.
1 year ago
1 min read
Binance has published a blog post in Chinese to address seven issues that have caused fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) among its users. The first issue addressed was the temporary suspension of USDC withdrawals earlier this month, which Binance explained was due to a “token swap” conversion period. It also confirmed that it has sufficient reserves for withdrawals, and that its financial status is healthy due to its profit from transaction fees. In response to reports that auditing firms Mazars and the “Big Four” had refused to work with crypto companies, Binance stated that encrypted on-chain verification is a new
