Crypto Weekly Roundup: Bittrex Declares Bankruptcy And More

After suspending its US operations, on Monday, crypto exchange Bittrex finally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Let’s find out more.

Bitcoin

Amid all the banking carnage, Bitcoin is having some issues of its own and heading back down to the $25,000 support level at least. 

The SEC has subpoenaed the prominent Bitcoin mining company Marathon Digital over alleged violations of securities laws. 

U.S. bankruptcy judge Brendan Shannon has approved cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex’s request for a $7 million loan in Bitcoin from its parent company, Aquila Holdings.

Ethereum

Ethereum’s Beacon Chain recently experienced a temporary issue, halting transaction finalization for roughly 25 minutes. 

With the Shanghai upgrade in the rearview mirror,  Ethereum staking numbers have reported a sharp increase, outpacing ETH withdrawals by $189 Million.

Decentralized application provider and crypto wallet MetaMask has announced a partnership with payment service provider PayPal. 

DeFi

The Uniswap decentralized exchange community is deliberating on a proposal to switch on Liquidity Pool Fees, which would see money being funneled into Uniswap’s treasury and token holders. 

DeFi pioneer MakerDAO has announced the launch of its lending and borrowing protocol, Spark. 

Altcoins

Aragon, a framework designed to facilitate the launch of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), has shuttered plans to give ANT token holders voting rights. 

Business

Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX will begin interim distributions to some of its affected users, with Ernst & Young (EY) acting as trustee for some users. 

Sports Illustrated’s ticketing affiliate, SI Tickets, launched its new “Box Office” platform, a self-service ticketing service based on the Polygon blockchain.

After being offline for more than 30 days, peer-to-peer crypto marketplace Paxful has announced the relaunch of its platform, emphasizing enhanced safety and security for users.

Stock trading app Robinhood reported that its crypto business brought in $38 million in Q1 for 2023, down 30% from $54 million in Q1 2022.

Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has declared that it will cease operations in Canada due to an unfavorable regulatory climate.

The US Chamber of Commerce has criticized the SEC for its “haphazard” approach to regulating the cryptocurrency industry. 

Some BlockFi users have suffered a major setback after a judge denied them the possibility of recovering their funds.

Stablecoin issuer Circle has reportedly adjusted its treasury reserves of USDC to mitigate the risk of US debt defaults.

Binance.US, the American subsidiary of the world’s largest crypto exchange, is reportedly exploring ways to reduce the stake of its owner and founder, Changpeng Zhao. 

The IRS has filed 45 claims worth $44 billion against bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX and its subsidiaries.

Crypto asset manager Grayscale Investments has announced the launch of Grayscale Funds Trust, a new entity managing its growing funds.

 SEC commissioner Hester Peirce recently said that Europe’s new regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, ‘MiCA,’ could be a model the US could follow.

Crypto exchange Bittrex Inc filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday. The filing comes after the exchange suspended its US operations.

Global crypto exchange Coinbase is considering establishing an international Web3 hub in the United Arab Emirates.

China’s Supreme Court has, in recently issued guidelines, ruled that virtual currencies can be used to settle a debt, provided that both parties agree to it. 

NFT

As he has for cryptocurrencies such as Dogecoin, Elon Musk sent the value of Milady Maker NFTs soaring after sharing a gif of the NFT on his Twitter handle. 

Peace Inside Live, a Web3 mental health collective, has launched an NFT collection to promote the joy of missing out (JOMO) over the fear of missing out (FOMO).

Binance has announced plans to support Bitcoin Ordinals inscriptions on its NFT marketplace later this month. 

Web3

Alibaba Cloud, the cloud division of Chinese tech giant Alibaba, has announced that it is building a metaverse launchpad on the Avalanche blockchain called Cloudverse.

In a new global ad campaign, OKX appears to take a shot at Coinbase’s earlier message, suggesting that the financial system needs more than just an update. 

Financial infrastructure firm Stripe has announced expanded access to its crypto on-ramp by introducing a new hosted option for Web3 companies, making it easier for US-based customers to purchase cryptocurrencies.

The transition to remote work has created untold challenges for the cybersecurity industry, IT departments, and distributed teams, particularly regarding private and secure communications. 

DeFi protocol Deus Finance has lost over $6 million due to a security breach on its stablecoin DEI.

Deloitte has announced its integration with Polkadot-based parachain, KILT Protocol, to enhance its Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) verification processes

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.