Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Alex Atallah, Co-Founder of OpenSea, to Retire at the End of July

Alex Atallah, who was one of the co-founders of OpenSea and helped create the largest Non-Fungible Token (NFT) marketplace in the Web3.0 ecosystem, recently made the announcement that he will be stepping down from his role as an active manager at the firm by the end of July.　　Atallah, who along with CEO Devin Finzer built OpenSea in 2017, has been a very important part of the progression of the firm, having played a wide range of positions, including roles in the community and marketing, as well as roles in Product development and other related areas.　　Atallah has stated that he is optimistic that the executives that the company has onboarded to take over all of the functions that he was directing previous to this time would be able to do so after the deadline that he has set for his final day to be July 30. Attalah reaffirmed that he has faith in new leaders, including Ryan Foutty, who is in charge of business development and partnerships, and Whitney Steele, who is in charge of marketing, amongst others, and he mentioned that while they got off to a good start, he is excited about the plans they have for the future.　　Back

2022-07-06Deep Dive

Voyager Digital Halts Crypto Trading, Deposits, and Withdrawals

On Friday of last week, cryptocurrency brokerage business Voyager Digital made the announcement that it has temporarily halted all customer trading as well as deposits, withdrawals, and loyalty awards.　　“This was a tremendously difficult decision, but we believe it is the right one given current market conditions. This decision gives us additional time to continue exploring strategic alternatives with various interested parties while preserving the value of the Voyager platform we have built together. We will provide additional information at the appropriate time,” said Stephen Ehrlich, CEO of lending firm Voyager Digital.　　Voyager has been experiencing significant financial difficulties, which have had a negative impact on the companys operations. The lending company disclosed on the 22nd of June that it had a significant exposure to the cryptocurrency hedge fund firm Three Arrows Capital (3AC). The crypto hedge fund that is having financial difficulties received a notice of default from Voyager last week for failing to repay its loans.　　The total amount of the loans came to approximately $665 million and was comprised of 15,250 BTC, which is equivalent to $294 million, and $350 million in USDC. Voyager stated that it had demanded that Three Arrows Capital reimburse $25 million in USDC by the

2022-07-05Deep Dive

Meta to Discontinue the Novi Crypto Wallet in September

Meta Platforms Inc, previously Facebook Inc, has stated that its Novi cryptocurrency digital wallet will be discontinued on September 1st.　　According to the Meta, the most recent announcement continues by asking users to remove their funds as quickly as possible.　　Users will be unable to contribute dollars to their accounts beginning July 21, according to the social technology company. Users will lose access to their transaction history and other data once the Novi wallet test program expires. Novis WhatsApp account and the Novi app would also be deactivated, according to the business.　　However, Meta stated that it will make every effort to transfer any remaining funds to consumer debit cards and bank accounts after Novis last day of business.　　The closure of the Novi wallet will mark the end of the Libra stablecoin experiment, which began three years ago when Facebook announced its ambitious goals.　　Despite the fact that Meta opted to discontinue the Novi pilot project, the company stated that it intends to repurpose the technology for future products, including its metaverse endeavor.　　In an emailed statement, Meta said: “We are already leveraging the years spent on building capabilities for Meta overall on blockchain and introducing new products, such as digital collectables. You can expect

2022-07-05Deep Dive

Singapore Regulator May Limit Retail Participation in Crypto

Tharman Shanmugaratnam – leading Minister of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) – says the regulator may restrict retail investment in the crypto sector through new consumer protection safeguards. These could include limits on leverage trading – a trading strategy thats caused numerous crypto traders and firms to go bust in recent weeks.　　Crypto: Unsuitable for Retail　　The minister‘s statement on Monday was in response to Murali Pillai, an MP representing Singapore’s right-leaning Peoples Action Party. The politician asked whether MAS had plans to place greater restrictions on crypto trading platforms to protect “unsophisticated persons” from entering “highly risky” crypto trades.　　The minister reiterated the MASs view that cryptocurrencies are “not suitable investments for the retail public,” due to their exceptional price volatility. “Recent events have vividly demonstrated the risks, with prices of several cryptocurrencies falling drastically,” he added.　　Last month, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies plummeted to lows unseen since the crypto market top in 2017. Market panic was largely spurred by an ongoing threat of hawkish central bank policy, with rising inflation only motivating the Fed to hasten its interest rate hikes.　　The collapsing market, combined with Terras downfall in May, has kicked off a domino effect of failing crypto institutions struggling to stay

2022-07-05Deep Dive

Tether Purposes to Increase Transparency by Reducing Commercial Paper Holdings

Tether announced that it would reduce its commercial paper portfolio by $5 billion by the end of July as part of ongoing efforts to increase transparency.　　Tether Holdings, the creator of USDT, the worlds largest stablecoin, stated in a statement:　　“Currently, Tether has 8.4B of these holdings, of which 5B will expire on July 31. This will result in a significant reduction in commercial paper assets to a low of 3.5B, which is on track with Tethers commitment to the community. The goal remains to bring the figure down to zero.” 　　As a result, Tethers long-term goal is to reduce commercial paper holdings to zero as a stepping stone toward a diverse portfolio. According to the report:　　“This is part of a larger strategy to ensure that Tether has a diversified portfolio with limits to exposure on individual issuers or assets. It demonstrates a commitment by the company to reduce its commercial paper investments and validates the business, as part of its ongoing push towards an increased transparency for the stablecoin industry.”　　Following the unexpected collapse of the algorithmic UST stablecoin in May, the stablecoin sector has faced widespread criticism.　　Things began to go awry after UST on the Terra network was de-pegged from its

2022-07-05Deep Dive

Cosmos Blockchain Developer Ignite Fires Employees, CEO Peng Zhong Resigns

On Friday, Peng Zhong, CEO of Ignite, the firm behind the Cosmos blockchain ecosystem, announced his departure. Zhongs retirement comes only a few months after the companys name was changed from Tendermint to Ignite as part of a reorganization strategy.　　Tendermint renamed to “Ignite” in February to bring about new change and activity within the firm.　　Ignite was further divided into two businesses in late May: Ignite and NewTendermint. During that month, the company was split into two business entities due to the return of Jae Kwon, the original co-founder of Ignite.　　Mr. Kwon, Ignites original co-founder, rejoined his old team as CEO of NewTendermint, while Mr. Zhong, Ignites current CEO, remained CEO of the newly restructured Ignite.　　Kwons return to the organization is thought to have prompted Zhongs resignation.　　In 2014, Kwon co-founded Ignite and its parent business, All In Bits Inc. After bitter disagreements with some of Tendermints employees, the executive stepped down as CEO in 2020, but he retained a seat on the parent company.　　With the split, NewTendermint was formed with the intention of contributing to the core technology of the Cosmos blockchain ecosystem, while Ignite remained focused on blockchain-based product development.　　Peng, who has a background in interaction design and front-end engineering,

2022-07-04Deep Dive

CBN gives new guidelines on Cybersecurity for Other Financial Institutions in Nigeria

Following the rapid increase in the rate of attacks against the other Financial sectors in Nigeria, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been compelled to take actions geared toward curbing the rate of threats posed against Cybersecurity endangering safety of Other Financial Institutions (OFI) in the country.　　According to the recent Circular released by the CBN which was disclosed by Mrs. Nkiru Asiegbu - the Supervisor of OFI in Nigeria, “it has become mandatory for Other Financial Institutions to strengthen their cyber defenses if they are to remain safe and sound...,” in fulfilling their financial obligations to their clients.　　This clarion call, is all the more very urgent at this point “as a result of the recent increase in the number and sophistication of Cybersecurity threats against the Nigerian Financial Institutions, especially Other Financial Institutions...,” operating in Nigeria.　　Further, the CBN proceeded to issue a new Risk-Based Cybersecurity Framework and Guidelines for OFIs in the country, which stated the requirements and standards to be followed by all OFIs operating in Nigeria.　　This guideline demands that all OFI must establish a proper Cybersecurity strategy capable of minimizing their exposure to attacks from “ransomware, targeted phishing attacks, and Advanced Persistent Threats (APT)” which have become

2022-07-04Deep Dive

NFT Sales Plunge to a 12-Month Low Due to Crypto Crash

According to crypto analytics firm Chainalysis, the crypto markets bloodbath has contributed to sales in the non-fungible token (NFT) sector falling to a 12-month low.　　In June, NFT sales surpassed $1 billion for the first time since June 2021, when they totaled $648 million.　　When sales reached an all-time high (ATH) of $12.6 billion in January of this year, NFTs were the talk of the town, but a slow start is expected in the second half of 2022.　　Chainalysis economist Ethan McMahon pointed out:　　“This decline is definitely linked to the broader slowdown in crypto markets.”　　Tightened macroeconomic conditions have not been kind to the cryptocurrency market, which has seen its value plummet to less than $1 trillion from around $3 trillion in November of last year.　　For example, the US Federal Reserve recently raised interest rates by 75 basis points (bps), the largest increase in 28 years.　　As a result, McMahon believes that consolidation in the crypto sector, including NFTs, will continue. He mentioned:　　“Times like this inevitably lead to consolidation within the affected markets, and for NFTs we will likely see a pullback in terms of the collections and types of NFTs that reach prominence.”　　Despite the fact that NFT sales have exceeded $42 billion so far

2022-07-04Deep Dive

Facebook Begins Integration Tests for Digital Collectibles

Facebook has apparently begun experiments for the integration of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on its platform. The Meta Platforms Inc subsidiary has restricted the testing to a small number of users in the United States.　　According to TechCrunch, people with privileged access will be able to add their NFTs to their accounts under a new tab. According to the article, a digital collectibles tag would be added to the NFTs, similar to how it is on Instagram.　　The decision to add NFT support to Facebook appears to be yet another deliberate attempt by the internet giant to strengthen its position in the digital currency ecosystem and the future Web3.0 world. Last week, Meta Platforms Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook will soon add support for NFTs.　　Navdeep Singh, a product manager at Meta, tweeted a screenshot of the new NFT capability. According to the screenshots, when a visitor clicks on the NFTs on a users Facebook profile, it displays information about the digital collectible, such as its name and the artists who created it.　　Meta Platforms initially introduced NFT support on Instagram in May, a move that has received widespread praise and acceptance. The popularity of Instagram NFTs may be fueling the new

2022-07-04Deep Dive

Meta Platforms to End Digital Wallet Novi Pilot on Sept. 1

Meta Platforms Inc., the parent of Facebook, said that its Novi pilot will no longer be available for use after Sept. 1.　　Novi, the companys digital wallet designed around its Libra digital currency, will no longer be available on the app or through WhatsApp starting in September. When the pilot ends, users will not be able to log in and access their account. Users also cant add money to their account starting July 21.　　Users withdrawing from the digital wallets account can choose to transfer their balance to their bank account or withdraw it as cash where applicable, the social media giant said on its website.　　“We have notified Novi pilot participants that we are ending the pilot program at this time. We will be taking forward the technology we developed and what we have learned from the program into future products across the company as we focus on building for the metaverse,” a Meta spokesperson said Friday in an emailed statement.　　Bloomberg first reported the news.　　The Wall Street Journal reported in January that the Diem Association, the consortium Facebook founded in 2019 to build a futuristic payments network, is winding down and selling its technology to a small California bank that serves bitcoin

2022-07-04Deep Dive

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