Monday August 7, 2023
◾ New York’s Attorney General is investigating the financial dealings between Digital Currency Group and its bankrupt subsidiary Genesis Lending. (Bloomberg)
◾ UK fintech Revolut is suspending US customers access to cryptocurrencies due to “the evolving regulatory environment and the uncertainties around the crypto market in the US.” (Reuters)
◾ Elon Musk tweeted that X will never issue a crypto token. (X)
Government & NGO Actions
◾ Russia legally recognized digital currencies issued by foreign countries. (News.bitcoin)
◾ China’s Communist Part plans to crack down on overseas crypto, metaverse and AI related telecom fraud. (Globaltimes)
◾ The FBI issued a warning that criminals are positing as NFT developers and attempting phishing schemes. (Ic3.gov)
◾ A member of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council wants to drive web3 between Hong Kong and Shanghai like the relationship with the between the tradefi Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges. (Cryptopolitan)
◾ Miami Mayor Francis Suarez pledged to accept bitcoin donations for his Presidential campaign. (Coindesk)
Public Company Releases
◾ Mogo (MOGO) announced a $250 million shelf prospectus fining. (Businesswire)
◾ Cipher Mining is offering up to $250 million in new stock through a sales agreement with Canaccord Genuity, Needham, Cantor Fitzgerald and Compass Point. (Sec.gov)
◾ DMG Blockchain (DMGI) mined 45 bitcoin (0.61 EH/s) selling 29 last month. (Globenewswire)
◾ Ault Alliance (AULT) subsidiary Sentium mined 909 bitcoin over the first seven-months of 2023. (Ault)
◾ BitDigital (BTBT) generated 133 (1.78 EH/s) bitcoin in July. (Bit-digital)
Restructuring, Losses and Legal News
◾ A Manhattan state court judge ruled that Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky must face a lawsuit filed by the NY AG claiming he defrauded investors. (Reuters)
◾ Advisors for Sam Bankman-Fried are fighting to have his court-imposed gag order removed. (Theblock)
◾ A class action suit against Tether and Bitfinex was dismissed after a court found the plaintiffs’ complaint lacked any “plausible allegations of injury” because it includes no facts showing that “USDT had a diminished actual value at all.” (Tether)
◾ A hearing has been set on August 11th to discuss whether Sam Bankman-Fried’s bail should be revoked. (Theblock)
AI Announcements
◾ The publisher behind Role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons will not allow artists to use AI to draw characters in its publications. (APnews)
Protocols, Applications & Business News
◾ Reports claim executives at Huobi were arrested as part of a gambling investigation last week causing the total value locked on the Seychelles-based Chinese exchange to drop from $3 to $2.5 billion over the weekend. (Cointelegraph)
◾ OPNX, a digital asset exchange linked to the founders of defunct Three Arrows Capital is bidding to acquire crypto lender Hodlnaut. (Bloomberg)
◾ Valkyrie Investments is converting its bitcoin futures ETF into a dual bitcoin and ether ETF. (Crypto.news)
◾ Global X has filed for an ETF that will systematically allocate between bitcoin futures contracts and the Global X 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF. (FT)
◾ The author of Devil’s Coins, a story of a victim’s efforts to expose the OneCoin crypto scam, has received threats forcing her to cancel book launches in her native Scotland. (Thetimes.co.uk)
◾ Tether is releasing bitcoin mining software to improve operations. (X)
Market Data
◾ A PwC survey on Global Asset and Wealth Manageement finds ≈90% of institutional investors believe that the use of disruptive technologies (including big data, AI and blockchain) will lead to better outcomes and returns from their portfolio. (PwC)
◾ 21e6 Capital is reporting that 13% of crypto hedge funds have been shut down in 2023 due to weak performances and difficulties accessing banking services. (Bloomberg)