The Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) in the state of California announced on Nov. 10 that it will open up an investigation as to the “apparent failure” of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX. California regulators said in the announcement that the DFPI takes this oversight responsibility “very seriously” and that the department expects all entities offering financial services in the state to comply with local financial laws. It also encouraged anyone in the state who has been affected by the events of the ongoing FTX saga, to call a dedicated hotline. The state of California is one of many …

Tron-based tokens such as JUST (JST) have surged as much as 1000% on FTX, as users scramble to find ways of extracting locked-up liquidity from the beleaguered exchange. At the time of writing, Tron’s native token TRX is trading at roughly $0.33 on the FTX exchange, more than five times its current market price, according to CoinGecko. Meanwhile, BitTorrent (BTT), JUST (JST) and the Sun Token (SUN) are trading on the exchange at premiums ranging from 525% to 1,196% compared to the market price. As it stands, the prices are extremely volatile and constantly changing. The overinflation of Tron-related tokens …

Amid the FTX and crypto market chaos, Cathie Wood-led Ark Investments has increased its Coinbase (COIN) holdings with a purchase of 237,675 COIN shares worth about $12.1 million on Nov. 9. Of the 237,675 COIN shares, Ark Investment Management added 207,527 shares to its ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), 22,416 shares to its ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW), and another 7,732 shares to its ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF). The tech-focused investment firm’s purchase came after Coinbase stated in response to FTX’s liquidity crisis that it has “minimal exposure” to the now cash-strapped cryptocurrency trading platform with only $15 million …

Events are unfolding fast as the cryptocurrency market is rocked again, this time by FTX. Facts and non-facts are hard to sort out under these conditions, especially since both seem to be depegged from believability at times. Where’s the money and who’s to blame are popular talking points. Some of the information appearing is indisputably false, or at least highly speculative. The situation has given rise to the opportunity to tell wild tales, such as this tweet that appeared (and disappeared) on Nov 10: A very fake tweet, which has since been deleted. Note the username. Rumors are not alwaysharmless, …

Bitcoin (BTC) crashed below $16,000 on Nov. 9, driving the price to its lowest level in two years. The 2-day correction totaled a 27% downtrend and wiped out $352 million worth of leverage long (buy) futures contracts. To date, Bitcoin price is 65% down for 2022, but it's essential to compare its price action against the world's biggest tech companies. For instance, Meta Platforms (META) is down 70% year-to-date, and Snap Inc. (SNAP) has dropped 80%. Furthermore, CloudFare (NET) lost 71% in 2022, followed by Roblox Corporation (RBLX) and Snapchat (SNAP), both down 70%. Inflationary pressure and fear of a …

In one of his first public statements since rumors and concerns about FTX’s insolvency flooded the crypto market, CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, or SBF, has said: “I’m sorry.” In a Nov. 10 Twitter thread, SBF admitted to investors he “should have done better” in providing transparency on the situation with FTX. The CEO reported the exchange was experiencing a “liquidity crunch” caused by user withdrawals and requested financial assistance from Binance — a potential deal that later fell apart. According to SBF, the exchange saw roughly $5 billion in withdrawals on Nov. 6. The total market value of FTX International’s assets …

In light of the FTX liquidity crisis and the almost-acquisition by Binance, Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao assured his community that his network would provide full transparency on asset holdings. On Nov. 10, Binance published a new page titled “Proof of Assets” on which all details are available of its on-chain activity for its hot and cold wallet addresses. This comes only two days after the initial tweet from CZ on Nov. 8, in which he pledged to create a proof of reserve mechanism to ensure “full transparency” to the community. Binance released an official statement on the new page, …

In April 2022, the Tron network launched USDD, a token pegged to the U.S. dollar, as an "over-collateralized stablecoin," meaning its likelihood of slipping below $1 should be lower due to excessive reserves backing its valuation. USDD stablecoin slips below $1 peg But it was not enough to keep USDD's price anchored to $1 on Nov. 8 when some whales dumped over 11 million USDD tokens to seek exposure in rival stablecoins Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC). A day later, USDD's price fell to as low as $0.96, followed by a modest recovery to $0.98 on Nov. 10. The …

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong was not delighted with the news about the United States regulators looking into FTX.US along with Coinbase and Binance.US in the wake of the FTX crisis. Armstrong said that the enforcement action against U.S.-based companies for the irregularities committed by an offshore crypto exchange that fall out of the jurisdictions of U.S. regulators makes no sense. Armstrong’s comments came in response to Senator Elizabeth Warren’s call for “aggressive enforcement” in the wake of the FTX crisis. The Coinbase CEO blamed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the lack of regulatory clarity in the U.S., which …

Following the FTX bank run, which accelerated by Nov. 7, Bitcoin (BTC) price started to buckle and, by press time, lost 21% in five days. Among the victims of the swift market meltdown is the world’s largest institutional Bitcoin fund, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). On Nov. 9, the GBTC closed at a record discount of 41%, with a price per share standing at $8.76. Overall, the GBTC has been gradually declining for almost a year since its peak position of $51.47 per share on Nov. 12, 2021. A structural problem of GBTC lies in the fact that it’s an …

All dates are Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Nov. 2 — Reports SBF-founded company held significant amounts of FTT The saga kicked off on Nov. 2 after reports that a leaked balance sheet from the Sam Bankman-Fried-founded trading firm Alameda Research suggested the company held a significant amount of FTX Token (FTT), the native token of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange. A large trading firm holding so much of one asset concerned the crypto community and brought questions regarding the relationship between Alameda and FTX. Nov. 5 — Trackers pick up significant FTT movement to Binance On Nov. 5 the Twitter account …

Sam Bankman-Fried has reportedly asked investors for $8 billion in emergency funding to cover a shortfall caused by the flood of withdrawal requests to his crypto exchange in recent days. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) citing "people familiar with the matter,” the CEO reportedly made the request to investors in a Nov. 9 call where he outlined ways to help solve FTX's financial woes. The source suggests that Bankman-Fried is looking to raise $3 billion to $4 billion in equity and that the exchange could raise some debt to cover the shortfall. Bankman-Fried has also …