Cefi news-Page 2
BlackRock CEO: FTX Token caused downfall, but tech still revolutionary
The CEO of the worlds largest asset management firm, BlackRock, believes that the reason why FTX failed is because it created its own FTX Token (FTT), which was centralized and therefore at odds with the “whole foundation of what crypto is.” Larry Fink, who serves as chairman and CEO of the $8 billion investment company — made the remarks during New York Times’ 2022 Dealbook Summit held on Nov. 30, and added that despite his belief that FTX's own-created token caused its downfall, he believes that crypto and the blockchain technology which underpins it will be revolutionary. Centralized exchange tokens, …
Blockchain / Dec. 1, 2022
Bankruptcy court told FTX and Alameda owe BlockFi $1B... but it's complicated
A lawyer for BlockFi told the first day hearing of its bankruptcy proceedings that the crypto lender has $355 million stuck on FTX and that the collapsed exchange’s sister company Alameda Research has defaulted on a $680 million loan. BlockFi filed 15 motions on Nov. 28 which were approved by the court in the first day hearing on Nov. 29, including the redaction of personal details of its 50 largest creditors, and the appointment of Kroll Restructuring Administration as its claims and noticing agent — the same firm chosen by FTX for its chapter 11 bankruptcy case. In a message …
Business / Nov. 30, 2022
FTX names Kroll as claims agent, to update users on bankruptcy developments
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. …
Regulation / Nov. 18, 2022
Sam Bankman-Fried says he regrets filing for bankruptcy: Report
The former CEO of FTX Sam Bankman-Fried has expressed deep regret over filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, calling it his “biggest single fuckup.” In a wide-ranging interview with VOX which was published on Nov. 16, Bankman-Fried reportedly answered questions on a number of topics such as the Nov. 11 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, his thoughts on regulators, ethics, how FTX and Alameda “gambled with customer money,” and the FTX hack. According to screenshots of the Twitter conversation between VOX reporter Kelsey Piper and Sam Bankman-Fried, the former FTX CEO said that although he has made multiple mistakes, the …
Regulation / Nov. 17, 2022
FTX downfall was a turning point for citizen journalism: Coinbase CEO
Coinbase CEO and co-founder Brian Armstrong have applauded the work of citizen journalists and blockchain analysts surrounding the unfolding FTX crisis and its former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. In a Nov. 16 tweet that has been retweeted over 9,000 times at the time of writing, Armstrong suggested that it has been regular citizens, rather than traditional media that has uncovered many of the developments associated with the liquidity crunch and subsequent bankruptcy filing of FTX. Commenting on a recent New York Times "puff piece," Armstrong said it: "Feels like a turning point for citizen journalism and loss of trust in MSM" …
Business / Nov. 16, 2022
Payments company Curve bids for BlockFi's 87,000 credit card customers
Payments company Curve is in active discussions to acquire crypto lender BlockFi's more than 87,000 credit card customers — whose credit cards have been suspended since Nov. 11. A Curve spokesperson told Cointelegraph that “outreach and negotiations” started on Nov. 12 and are still in the process with Banking as a Service (BaaS) company Deserve, which services the BlockFi card program. My BlockFi credit card has officially stopped working. R.I.P 2021-2022 — Portland.HODL (@PortlandHODL) November 11, 2022 "Terms are being negotiated actively between Curve and Deserve, but a sale or partnership, if agreed to, is pending the conclusion of due …
Blockchain / Nov. 14, 2022
Judge orders probe to investigate whether Celsius was a Ponzi
The judge overseeing the Celsius bankruptcy case has ordered the examiner and the official committee of Celsius creditors to determine who will head a probe into whether the firm was operating like a Ponzi scheme. The order during the Nov. 1 hearing comes in response to allegations from customers that Celsius had used assets of new users to pay yields and facilitate withdrawals to existing users, and as a result, fits the legal definition of a Ponzi scheme. The judge had approved the appointment of an independent examiner on Sep. 9 to look into aspects of Celsius’ business following calls …
Business / Nov. 2, 2022
Celsius bankruptcy case Trustee slams $3M employee bonus motion
The U.S. Trustee overseeing the Celsius chapter 11 bankruptcy case, William Harrington, has objected to a Celsius motion that would see 62 of its 275 employees paid a retention bonus totaling $2.96 million. The Trustee has blasted Celsius in its supporting statement for the objection filed on Oct. 27, noting: “It defies logic, not to mention the Bankruptcy Code, that a company where the majority of its functions are no longer providing services, would now propose a multi-million dollar bonus scheme.” For the “bonus motion”, as it is aptly named, to receive approval, the Trustee claims that Celsius must show …
United States / Oct. 28, 2022
Maple Finance CEO: Separating risk from lending saved DeFi from market crash
Maple Finance co-founder and CEO Sid Powell says that transparency has been the saving grace of decentralized finance (DeFi) amid the prolonged crypto market slump. Speaking to Cointelegraph on the sidelines of Converge22 conference in San Francisco, Powell noted that throughout the crypto winter, DeFi has continued to operate as intended while centralized finance (CeFi) has become “pretty inactive.” Powell suggested that during the market crash, CeFi lenders hadn't properly "battle-tested" and weren’t “prepared to liquidate clients," wanting to maintain client relationships. “As the price of Bitcoin was tumbling, they didn’t want to be sending out margin call letters or …
Decentralization / Sept. 29, 2022
GEM Digital commits $50M to ParallelChain Lab for L1 protocol development
Digital asset investment firm GEM Digital Limited (GEM) has committed $50 million to finance ParallelChain Lab following the launch of its mainnet and native token listing, XPLL, in Q4 2022. As a proof-of-stake (PoS) layer-1 protocol, ParallelChain aims to bridge the infrastructure divide between centralized (CeFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi). The soon-to-be-launched ParallelChain Mainnet is open source and based on a PoS consensus mechanism dedicated to maintaining a fair distribution of power. The permissioned ParallelChain Enterprise, on the other hand, will ensure the secrecy of transactions using a patented Proof-of-Immutability mechanism. The two platforms, together, intend to deliver an architecture …
Adoption / Sept. 22, 2022
Crypto insurance market expands with decentralized and centralized options
Insurance is key for financially securing important assets. Yet, the cryptocurrency sector — which is predicted to reach a global market size of $4.94 billion by 2030 — may be lagging behind when it comes to insuring digital assets. For instance, it’s been noted that less than 1% of all crypto investments are currently insured. This statistic is alarming, considering the rapid growth and high-risk profile associated with today’s cryptocurrency market. Ben Davis, team lead for digital assets at Superscript — a British startup and Lloyd’s of London-licensed insurance broker — told Cointelegraph that crypto has been marginalized when it …
Decentralization / Sept. 20, 2022
Voyager Digital assets auction set for Sept. 13 after being rescheduled from August
Bankrupt centralized crypto lender Voyager Digital filed a notice Tuesday with United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York informing the court of its intention to hold an auction of its remaining assets. The auction is proposed to take place on Sept. 13 at the Manhattan office of Digital Voyager’s investment banker Moelis & Company, with a hearing to approve the results on Sept. 29. Offers for the lender’s assets have already been submitted. Voyagers, we want to let you know that multiple bids were submitted as part of the company’s restructuring process. As a result, an …
Business / Sept. 7, 2022