Friday August 5, 2022
◾ Black Rock (BLK) announced Coinbase (COIN) will provide select customers with crypto trading and custody services. (Coinbase)
◾ The Bank of Thailand is extending the scope of its Retail CBDC development program to pilot real-life Retail CBDC applications in the private sector. (BOT)
◾ Democratic leaders sent letters to the nation’s largest web3 companies and leading sector VC firms asking them to provide data around their diversity and inclusion practices. (House.gov)
Government & NGO Actions
◾ Paraguay’s National Power administrator has proposed a new mining fee structure that would require crypto miners to pay in advance to secure its power needs using US dollars. (News.bitcoin)
◾ Spain’s securities regulator reported that 6.8% of its citizens have invested in crypto, and found that “40% [of investors incorrectly] consider cryptocurrencies to be regulated by law, and that 29% think they have the same risks as other investments.” (Coindesk)
◾ The Crypto and Digital Assets All Party Parliamentary Group, a bipartisan group in the UK parliament, is looking to establish the UK as a global home for crypto investments and want to receive feedback from industry participants about the need for regulation in the crypto sector. (Cryptouk)
◾ UN monitors reporting on North Korea’s nuclear development efforts accused Pyongyang of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars of crypto assets in at least one major hack. (Reuters)
Public Company Releases
◾ CompoSecure (CMPO) reported the Arculus cold storage wallet negatively impacted total EBITDA by $7 million during Q2 and highlighted continuing “progress on partnerships” and an “uptick in demand” but management refused to break out revenue units or provide any sales data. (CompoSecure)
◾ Block (SQ) reported bitcoin revenue of $1.79 billion, down 34% year over year, bitcoin gross profit of $41 million, 2% of bitcoin revenue, and a $36 million bitcoin impairment charge during the second quarter of 2022. (Block)
◾ Tomorrow Crypto Group, an unknown bitcoin and Ethereum mining company based in Nevada, agreed to be acquired by blank check stock company Globalink Investment (GLLI) for a combined enterprise value of $310 million. (Globenewswire)
Note: the announcement does not reveal if Tomorrow Crypto actually owns any mining rigs or has even acquired any for future delivery but states the company “plans to establish and provide critical mining infrastructure at mining facilities for prospective institutional-grade clients to mine Bitcoins/ETHs.”
◾ Hut 8 (HUT) minted 330 bitcoin (2.92 EH/s) in July ending the period with 7,736 BTC in reserves. (Cision)
◾ Hive Blockchain (HIVE) produced 279.9 bitcoin (2.2 EH/s) and 2,957 ether (577 TH/s) in July and is actively reviewing Ethereum’s impending move to proof-of-stake analyzing hash rate economics of ethereum classic and other GPU mineable coins. (Hive)
◾ Argo Blockchain (ARBK) mined 219 bitcoin during July but sold 887 bitcoin during the month to reduce outstanding debt and fund general operating expenses. (Accesswire)
◾ The CME (CME) is planning to launch euro-denominated bitcoin and ether futures by the end of the month. (Cision)
Restructuring, Losses and Legal News
◾ Voyager Digital received court approval to return $270 in customer cash held in custodial accounts at Metropolitan Commercial Bank (MCB). (WSJ)
◾ Voyager Digital has received multiple offers in excess of the originally reported bid by FTX to acquire the assets of the bankrupt crypto trading platform. (BloombergLaw)
◾ Cross-chain bridge Nomad has announced a 10% bounty for the return of “at least 90%” the hacked ≈$190 million in stolen funds. (Twitter)
Protocols, Applications & Business News
◾ The founder of South Korean VC firm Hashed lost $3 billion from Terra's (LUNA) collapse. (Bloomberg)
◾ Meta (META) is adding support wallet connections with the Coinbase wallet and Dapper Labs Dapper wallet for NFTs on Instagram. (Meta)
◾ Alexander Vinnik, the accused Russian operator of the BTC-e exchange that allegedly profited from various hacking and extortion schemes has been extradited from Greece to the US. (CNN)
◾ Binance is working with Mastercard (MA) to launch a prepaid debit card in Argentina allowing Binance users to make purchases and pay bills with cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and Binance’s native BNB token, at over 90 million Mastercard merchants worldwide. (Cision)
◾ UK-based fintech firm Revolut plans to increase its crypto headcount by 20% over the next six months. (Bloomberg)
Market Data
◾ Blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis estimates that $2 billion in cryptocurrency has been stolen from cross-chain bridges – 69% of all stolen funds – across 13 separate hacks in 2022. (Chainalysis)