After the collapse of Terraform Labs’ cryptocurrency, Terra (LUNA), and its stablecoin, Terra (UST), the notion of “algorithmic stabilization” has fallen to a low point in popularity, both in the cryptocurrency world and among mainstream observers. This emotional response, however, is strongly at odds with reality. In fact, algorithmic stabilization of digital assets is a highly valuable and important class of mechanism whose appropriate deployment will be critical if the crypto sphere is to meet its long-term goal of improving the mainstream financial system. Blockchains, and other similar data structures for secure decentralized computing networks, are not only about money. …

2022 was a near-unprecedented year of extremes and black swan events for the crypto market, and now that the year is about to wrap up, analysts are reflecting on the lessons learned and attempting to identify the trends which may point to bullish price action in 2023. The collapse of Terra Luna, Three Arrows Capital and FTX created a credit crunch, a severe reduction in capital inflows and an increased threat that additional major centralized exchanges could collapse. Despite the severity of the market downturn, a few positives have emerged. Data shows long-term hodlers and smaller-sized wallets are actively accumulating …

Minnesota Senator Tom Emmer ha slammed United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler for his flawed “crypto information-gathering efforts” and insisted Gensler should appear before Congress to explain the cost of his “regulatory failures.” Emmer’s comments came from a Dec. 10 tweet to his 67,500 Twitter followers, where he made reference to a bipartisan Blockchain Caucus letter he co-authored to the SEC Chairman on Mar. 16. Emmer said, “we now know Gensler's crypto information-gathering efforts were ineffective” citing the collapses of the Terra ecosystem and bankrupt crypto platforms Celsius, Voyager and FTX. He declined to provide Congress with …

It is understood that Terraform Labs’ controversial founder and CEO Do Kwon is currently located in the Southeast European nation of Serbia after leaving Singapore in September. According to a Dec. 11 report from Chosun Media, South Korean authorities followed a tip-off concerning Do Kwon's whereabouts suggesting he is now in Serbia and has been able to confirm it. "Recently, we obtained intelligence that CEO Kwon was in Serbia, and it was found to be true," an official told the outlet. The report also states that South Korea’s Ministry of Finance “is in the process of requesting cooperation from the …

A former top crypto regulator in the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will represent Caroline Ellison, ex-Alameda Research CEO, in an ongoing federal probe, according to a report from Bloomberg on Dec. 10. Caroline will be represented by Stephanie Avakian and a team of attorneys from WilmerHale. Avakain is currently chair of the Securities and Financial Services department at the law firm. At the SEC, where she was a director at the Enforcement Division and responsible to expand cryptocurrency oversight, bringing cases against Robinhood and Ripple Lab. According to the law firm website, "Ms. Avakian oversaw the Division’s …

In May 2022, Terraform Labs’ LUNA cryptocurrency and TerraUSD (UST) stablecoin collapsed, triggering a massive shock in the crypto industry. Six months later, the bruised industry took another hammering as one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, FTX, filed for bankruptcy protection and billions of dollars of user assets went missing. The FTX empire, once valued at more than $30 billion, fell to zero in fewer than 10 days. FTX reportedly has more than 1 million creditors, most of whom are retail investors who were convinced that FTX would not collapse and had been keeping their assets on the exchange. Taking …

Crypto price action has been rough over the past few months, but a few green shoots are finally beginning to emerge. While Bitcoin (BTC) remains in a downtrend, its price has recently found support at the $17,000 level, and ping-pong price action in the $16,700–$17,300 range appears to be allowing traders to pursue some interesting setups in a few altcoins. Let’s take a quick peek at some enticing patterns showing up on the weekly time frame. Time for Litecoin’s halving hopium? As a fork of Bitcoin, Litecoin (LTC) tends to turn bullish several months before its reward halving takes place, …

United States federal prosecutors have reportedly begun investigating whether the collapse of the Terra ecosystem was in fact triggered by market manipulation tactics by former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. According to a Dec. 7 report from The New York Times (NYT), the prosecutors — as part of a broader inquiry into FTX’s own collapse — are investigating whether Bankman-Fried’s empire intentionally caused a flood of “sell” orders on Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin TerraClassicUSD, USTC (formerly UST). The sudden increase in UST sell orders were said to make it difficult to match them with corresponding “buy” orders, which in turn forced more …

A new CNBC survey suggests that only 8% of Americans have a favorable view of cryptocurrency as of the end of November, down significantly from the 19% recorded in March. CNBC’s All-America Economic Survey was conducted between Nov. 26 and Nov. 30. It, however, should be taken with a grain of salt as, despite its name, it had a relatively small sample size of 800 respondents across the U.S. in total, with a margin error of +/- 3.5%. The survey was published on Dec. 7, and alongside the declining number of crypto friendly respondents, CNBC highlighted that the number of …

After passing its landmark legislation on stablecoins in June, Japanese regulators are considering complementing it by restricting the algorithmic backing of stablecoins. The intention comes as a recommendation from the Financial Service Agency (FSA) and was repeated by the country’s Vice Minister for International Affairs, Tomoko Amaya. During his speech on crypto assets at a roundtable hosted by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), Amaya laid out Japan’s regulatory framework, emphasizing the factors of financial stability, user protection, and anti-money laundering/ combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT). The speech was originally held in November, but the FSA published …

A federal judge overseeing Three Arrows Capital’s (3AC’s) bankruptcy proceedings has signed an order approving subpoenas to be delivered to 3AC’s former leadership, including co-founders Su Zhu and Kyle Davies. The subpoenas require the founders to give up any “recorded information, including books, documents, records, and papers” in their custody that relates to the firm’s property or financial affairs. The infamous hedge fund, worth $10 billion at its peak, filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy on Jul. 1 with its troubles tied up in too much leverage and the collapse of Terra Luna (LUNA), known now as Terra Classic (LUNC), and …

A judge with the Seoul Southern District Court has reportedly set aside arrest warrants for Terra co-founder Shin Hyun-seong along with those of 3 Terra investors and 4 developers. According to an Dec. 3 report from South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, Judge Hong Jin-Pyo said there was little risk of Shin or the Terra associates destroying evidence related to the case against the crypto firm, and dismissed warrants that the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office issued on Nov. 29. The report added that Terra co-founder Do Kwon, also facing legal action in South Korea for his role in the firm’s …