Several crypto firms are facing a probe from the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over possible deceptive or misleading advertisements relating to cryptocurrencies. According to a Dec. 6 report from Bloomberg, FTC spokeswoman Juliana Gruenwald said the watchdog is investigating “several firms for possible misconduct concerning digital assets.” Gruenwald did not provide further details about which firms were the subject of the investigation or what had triggered the probe. However, deceptive advertising and promotion have been a trending topic in the U.S. this year. In October, reality TV star Kim Kardashian was fined by the United States Securities and …

Bitcoin (BTC) price is showing notable resilience at the $17,000 level, and according to data from Glassnode, a number of metrics that track the pace of selling and the on-chain behavior of investors are beginning to show a reduction in the factors that trigger sharp sell-offs. The FTX bankruptcy fueled a historic sell-off resulting in $4.4 billion in realized Bitcoin losses. By analyzing realized losses with the daily weighted average metric, Glassnode analysts found that the on-chain losses are subsiding. According to Glassnode, Bitcoin hit an all-time low in the realized profits versus losses ratio. Toward the end of the …

It’s the final month of the year and analysts are out with their projections for the next year. In a note to investors, Standard Chartered suggested that “The financial-market surprises of 2023” will include Bitcoin (BTC) price diving to $5,000 at some point in the year. The fall will be triggered by a liquidity crunch, which could result in more bankruptcies and a fall in investor confidence in the crypto sector. If this feels like an extreme, venture capitalist Tim Draper went in the opposite direction and predicted that Bitcoin could skyrocket to $250,000 by the middle of 2023. While …

Blockchain-based institutional capital marketplace Maple Finance announced on Dec 5 that it plans to cut all ties with Orthogonal Trading due to alleged misrepresentation of finances following the collapse of FTX. According to Maple Finance, it decided to cut all ties with the trading firm because it misrepresented its finances over the last four weeks and only recently admitted on Dec. 3 that it could not meet loan repayments. This means the company had been “operating while effectively insolvent,” making it impossible for it to continue operating without outside intervention. Maple Finance shared that it refuses to work with “bad …

Crypto exchange KuCoin hired the international accounting firm Mazars for a third-party audit of its Proof-of-Reserves (PoR). According to an announcement on Dec. 5, the verification will provide the exchange customers additional transparency and reporting on whether their in-scope assets are collateralized, along with details on main, trade, margin, robot and contract accounts for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), as well as for the stablecoins USDT and USDC. The report should be available on KuCoin's official website within a few weeks. CEO of KuCoin Johnny Lyu said the move is the next step in the exchange efforts to provide transparency …

Australian-based crypto exchange Swyftx has laid off a total of 90 staff members, which it said was in preparation for a “worst-case scenario” caused by the fallout of FTX and a potential fall in global trading volumes next year. The news was shared by Swyftx co-CEO Alex Harper in a Dec. 5 statement, noting that despite not having any exposure to FTX, the company was “not immune” to the fallout over the bankrupt exchange, adding: “As a result, we have to prepare in advance for a worst-case scenario of further significant drops in global trade volumes during H1 next year …

Nigerian customer's of the crypto exchange AAX reportedly attacked the company's office in Lagos and harassed its employees, in a response for the recent halt of withdrawals, according to local reports from Dec. 3. Although it's unclear when the assault happened, the Nigerian Blockchain Technology Association Stakeholders (SiBAN) confirmed the storm in an announcement on Nov. 28, urging angry users to be patient with the exchange's workers, who were also impacted by the issues. SiBAN noted: "Therefore, we appeal to and discourage any dissatisfied or angry user or investor from harassing or victimizing the AAX Country Manager (Nigeria), other local …

2022 is nearing an end and might go down as one of the most eventful years for the crypto industry owing to the prolonged winter that had wiped more than 70% of the market cap from the top and the barrage of crypto firms imploding. This was mainly due to internal mismanagement and unchecked decision-making process. Among all the ups and downs, one thing has remained clear — retail customers have lost a significant amount of money due to a lack of regulatory oversight. While lawmakers in the United States promised to bring crypto under regulatory purview many times this …

Yes, the bear market weeds out the bad actor, but it also forces the existing players to rethink their business strategies to offset resultant losses. In this effort, crypto exchange Bybit announced mass layoffs for the second time in 2022. Ben Zhou, the co-founder and CEO of Bybit, announced a reorganization plan amid a prolonged bear market, which involves a steep reduction in the workforce. The “planned downsizing” will affects employees across the board: “We are all saddened by the fact this reorganization will impact many of our dear Bybuddies and some of our oldest friends.” Independent reporter Colin Wu …

Crypto lender Genesis and its parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG) allegedly owes $900 million to Gemini's clients, according to a Financial Times report disclosed on Dec. 3 citing people familiar with the matter. The issue derives from the FTX dramatic collapse in November. Crypto exchange Gemini operates a product called Gemini Earn in partnership with Genesis, offering investors the opportunity to earn 8% in interest by lending out their crypto, including Bitcoin and stablecoins pegged to fiat currencies. On Nov. 16, Genesis announced it had temporarily suspended withdrawals citing “unprecedented market turmoil, days after disclosing around $175 million worth …

Non-farm payrolls in the United States rose by 263,000 in November, exceeding economists’ expectations of an increase of 200,000. Analysts believe that the numbers remain hot and do not allow much scope for the Federal Reserve to slow down its aggressive rate hikes. This is contrary to Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks delivered at the Brookings Institution where he said that the central bank could reduce the pace of rate hikes “as soon as December.” That triggered a sharp rally in risk assets. After the latest jobs report, the market participants will closely watch the Fed’s comments and decision in …

The Former CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, known also as SBF, has seemingly begun to embark on an apology tour to redeem his image a month after the sudden implosion of FTX, which revealed the exchange’s improper use of customer and investor funds. OnNov 30, Bankman-Fried made his first live public appearance since the collapse of FTX — answering a number of questions during the DealBook Summit in New York. In the interview, Bankman-Fried claimed to have “unknowingly commingled funds” between Alameda and customer funds at FTX. He shared: “I unknowingly commingled funds. [...] I was frankly surprised by how …