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Withdrawals flood out of Binance, CZ warns of “bumpy” road ahead

Key Takeaways

  • Binance has seen $3 billion of funds leave the platform in the last week
  • USDC withdrawals were halted but are now back up
  • Flood of outflows highlights how low confidence in the space is

Binance is in the thick of it once more.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange is facing an unprecedented surge in withdrawals from its platform. Over $3 billion in funds has fled the platform in the last week, according to on-chain data.

This follows several stories which have spooked investors. The first was the report that criminal charges could be filed against CEO Chengpeng Zhao, in relation to a years-long investigation into money laundering.

Then there was the halting of withdrawals of the USDC stablecoin, which was due to an unexpectedly high outflow taking place outside of banking hours (the swaps had to be routed through New York-based banks). The withdrawals of USDC have since been resumed as normal, with a total downtime of about 8 hours.

Customers in panic after FTX collapse

But the real reason for the flood of withdrawals is that FTX’s spectacular collapse, for which former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested Monday, has severed trust in the crypto industry. 

This is not necessarily fair to the honest firms out there, but it makes sense. Customers need to look after themselves first, and it is only logical to withdraw right now until the dust settles, as there really is no downside to doing so. 

Binance’s official proof of reserves address shows that outflows in Bitcoin have also been significantly elevated over the last 48 hours:

Binance is also not helping itself with its shoddy attempt at proof of reserves, which has done nothing to quell concern in the industry. The disclosures do not show liabilities, meaning they are redundant when it comes to making a fair assessment of whether all assets are backed.

The concern around the halted USDC withdrawals and lack of transparency with proof of reserves ultimately was the straw that broke the camel’s back in terms of trust, and investors flooded for the exits. 

Zhao warns of “bumpy” road ahead

Of course, funds flowing out is perfectly OK. That is, assuming everything is above board, for which there is no reason to believe is not the case. Nonetheless, the fact that customers cannot verify themselves and must trust the word of a CEO is not exactly reassuring. 

Especially when, you know, a certain other CEO burned the entire industry last month. 

But this is not the same situation as FTX. 

“You’re definitely seeing larger than normal withdrawals from Binance. And so it is definitely worth keeping an eye on but as far as I can tell at this point in time, this is very different from the FTX situation“, said Alex Svanevik,  CEO of blockchain analytics company Nansen, in an interview with CNBC.

Binance CEO Zhao affirmed that while there are challenges ahead, Binance will be just fine. “While we expect the next several months to be bumpy, we will get past this challenging period – and we’ll be stronger for having been through it”, Zhao wrote in an internal memo seen by Bloomberg. 

Industry must change

The bottom line is that, despite what you may believe about Binance, the reality is that there is a lack of transparency here and investors are paranoid given the slew of scandals that have rocked the industry this year. 

Whatever semblance of trust was left after the LUNA fiasco, which felled numerous firms such as the crypto lender Celsius, is now broken, following the staggering scale of the FTX debacle. 

Binance has an obligation to hold itself to a higher standard, now that it holds such a dominant share of the market. Thus far, its efforts around proof of reserves have been lacking, with the crypto world again relying on the tweets of a CEO to assure them everything is going just fine. 

The post Withdrawals flood out of Binance, CZ warns of “bumpy” road ahead appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Top useless cryptocurrencies to avoid at all cost

  • FTX Token still has a market value of over $450 million.

  • Tribe and FEI ceased operations a few months ago.

  • Celsius Network is still going through bankruptcy.

Cryptocurrency prices remain under intense pressure this month as the FTX implosion continued. Bitcoin remained at $17,800 while the total market cap of all digital coins remains at about $850 billion. With cryptocurrencies being too cheap, it is possible to be attracted to buy the dip. Here are some of the most useless cryptos to avoid at all cost.

Tribe | $TRIBE

First on this list is Tribe, a token that has a market cap of more than $105 million, according to data by CoinMarketCap. Tribe is a useless crypto to invest because Tribe DAO and Fei Protocol ceased development a few months ago. They recommended that holders in Tribe DAO-related contracts should withdraw them after the Rari hack that we wrote on here.

FEI, the network’s stablecoin is still trading and has maintained its peg at $1. It has a market cap of over $400 million. Therefore, with Tribe DAO not being under development, it is not recommended to invest in it since it lacks any utility.

How to buy Tribe

Binance

Binance is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. It is better suited to more experienced investors and it offers a large number of cryptocurrencies to choose from, at over 600. Binance is also known for having low trading fees and a multiple of trading options that its users can benefit from, such as; peer-to-peer trading, margin trading and spot trading.

Buy TRIBE with Binance today

KuCoin

Kucoin is a cryptocurrency exchange which offers over 200 cryptocurrencies. Kucoin has a wide range of services, such as; a built-in peer-to-peer exchange, spot and margin trading, bank level security and a wide range of accepted payment methods. Users can benefit from a beginner-friendly interface and relatively low fees.

Buy TRIBE with KuCoin today

FTX Token | $FTT

FTX Token is another useless crypto to invest in. As you are aware, FTX was the official token for the FTX ecosystem. Unlike other exchange tokens like BNB and CRO, it did not have any utility other than offering staking rewards to holders.

Now, FTX has collapsed and its founder is facing decades in prison. Activity within FTX has died as the company navigates bankruptcy proceedings. Still, despite all this, FTT is still valued at over $450 million. 

There are other reasons why FTT is not a good investment. First, unlike Voyager Digital, it is unlikely that the company will be acquired out of bankruptcy. Second, it serves no utility right now. Finally, it is a hyperinflationary token since 100% of FTT have been unblocked. Therefore, it is relatively difficult to recommend to buy FTX.

Celsius | $CEL

Celsius is another useless crypto to avoid. According to CoinMarketCap, it has a market value of over $140 million despite the collapse of Celsius. It remains about 213% above the lowest level this year. 

Celsius, like FTX Token, was used to provide incentives for borrowers and lenders in its ecosystem. Holders also received discounts in its platform. 

Celsius is currently going through bankruptcy in the US. Just last week, the judge overseeing the case ordered the company to pay $44 million to customers. In the end, it is unclear whether Celsius will be acquired from bankruptcy. As such, CEL is still a useless, low-volume token to invest in.

How to buy CEL

OKX

OKX is a top cryptocurrency exchange which offers over 140 cryptocurrencies to invest in. OKX takes customer security very seriously, they store almost all of their clients‘ funds in cold storage, and the exchange is yet to be hacked. On top of this, the exchange offers very low fees and customers can even use their crypto as collateral for loans on the platform.

Buy CEL with OKX today

Bitfinex

Bitfinex is a bitcoin exchange platform that provides advanced services for digital currency traders and liquidity providers.

Buy CEL with Bitfinex today

The post Top useless cryptocurrencies to avoid at all cost appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Judge approves the sale of GK8 to Galaxy Digital

  • Galaxy Digital is set to finalise its acquisition of crypto self-custody platform GK8.

  • Mike Novogratz’s company won the auction for GK8 earlier this week.

  • GK8’s sale is part of the ongoing Celsius bankruptcy proceedings.

Galaxy Digital to finalise its acquisition of GK8

Judge Martin Glenn approved the sale of the crypto self-custody platform GK8 to Galaxy Digital on Tuesday, December 13th. This latest development is part of the bankruptcy proceedings of crypto lender Celsius Network. 

Galaxy Digital, the company owned by Mike Novogratz, provides crypto-focused financial services. The firm won the auction for GK8 earlier this month.

At the moment, the terms of the deal were not disclosed. However, Galaxy spokesman Michael Wursthorn revealed earlier that the price the firm is paying for GK8 is materially less than what Celsius paid for it a year ago.

Celsius acquired the crypto self-custody platform for $115 million in November 2021, at the height of the bull market. 

Celsius has been struggling in recent months, resulting in the CEO, Alex Mashinsky, stepping down from his position in September. His resignation came after Celsius filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in July 2022.

Galaxy to expand its prime brokerage offering

Galaxy Digital revealed that its acquisition of GK8 would enable it to expand its prime brokerage offering. The acquisition would also see roughly 40 people from GK8 join the Galaxy Digital team, including blockchain engineers and cryptographers.

Although the judge has approved the deal, it is still subject to regulatory approval. The deal would help expand Galaxy’s global footprint with a new office in Tel Aviv, Israel, the firm added. 

Celsius put several of its assets up for sale since it filed for bankruptcy a few months ago. Last week, United States Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn ordered Celsius to return cryptocurrencies worth about $44 million to the lender’s custody program customers.

At the time, the judge said he wanted creditors to recover as much as they possibly could as soon as they possibly could. Celsius still owes billions of dollars to its creditors, and the sale of its assets could help settle some of the debt.

The post Judge approves the sale of GK8 to Galaxy Digital appeared first on CoinJournal.

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CFTC labels Ether (ETH) as a commodity in court filing

  • CTFC has on multiple occasions referred to ETH, BTC, and USDT among others as commodities under United States law.
  • The CTFC chief Rostin Behnam had earlier suggested that Bitcoin was the only cryptocurrency that should be viewed as a commodity.
  • The CTFC is suing Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX, and sister company Alameda Research.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in its lawsuit against Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX, and sister company Alameda Research has on multiple occasions referred to Ether, bitcoin, and Tether’s USDT as commodities under the United States law. The CFTC made the court filing on December 13.

The recent reference of the various cryptocurrencies as commodities comes about a month after the CFTC chief Rostin Behnam suggested that bitcoin was the only cryptocurrency that should be considered as a commodity.

In the court filing, CFTC noted:

“Certain digital assets are “commodities,” including bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), tether (USDT) and others, as defined under Section 1a(9) of the Act, 7 U.S.C. § 1a(9).”

Is Ether a commodity or security according to the CFTC?

Over the recent weeks, there seem to be some disagreements within the CFTC on whether Ether should be considered a commodity or not.

During a crypto event at Princeton University in November, CFTC chief Rostin Benham suggested that bitcoin was the only cryptocurrency that should be considered as a commodity, taking back previous comments that had asserted Ether as a commodity.

In June this year the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Gary Gensler in an interview with Jim Cramer during the hosts’ Mad Money show said Bitcoin was a commodity saying “That’s the only one I’m going to say.” Gensler has on previous occasions suggested that Ether was a security after its initial coin offering (ICO) but it has turned into a commodity after becoming more decentralized. But in September, his stance on Ether appeared to have shifted again after he suggested that most cryptocurrencies may be considered securities under the Howey test.

The designation of crypto assets in the US is important since the CFTFC regulates commodities futures while the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is in legal battles with a number of crypto startups, regulates securities.

The post CFTC labels Ether (ETH) as a commodity in court filing appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Wie Metacade (MCADE) im Dezember mehr anleger hatte als Litecoin (LTC)

Litecoin war eine der ersten Kryptowährungen, doch die Anleger beginnen, sich über die langsamen Fortschritte im Vergleich zu den Layer-1-Konkurrenten zu sorgen. Das Netzwerk kann nur eine kleine Anzahl von Transaktionen pro Sekunde verarbeiten und es hat keine Unterstützung für Web3.

Aus diesem Grund beginnen die Anleger, sich nach anderen Möglichkeiten umzusehen. Ein Token, der viel Aufmerksamkeit auf sich zieht, ist MCADE. Der Kurs des Tokens stieg während der Vorverkaufsphase um erstaunliche 100%.

Was ist Litecoin (LTC)?

Litecoin wurde entwickelt, um das Pendant zu Bitcoin zu sein. Litecoin wurde im Jahr 2011 als Abspaltung des Bitcoin Core Clients geschaffen und ähnelt Bitcoin in vielerlei Hinsicht. Beide Blockchains verwenden einen Proof of Work-Konsensmechanismus, um Token zu minen, aber Litcoin verwendet einen anderen Algorithmus, um zu entscheiden, wie viele Token in jedem Block gemined werden.

Litecoin hat eine schnellere Blockgenerierungsrate und ein höheres Gesamtangebot als Bitcoin. Es gibt insgesamt 84 Millionen Coins, verglichen mit 21 Millionen bei Bitcoin. Die Litecoin-Blockchain ist, im Gegensatz zu vielen neueren Versionen der Technologie wie Ethereum und Cardano, nicht Turing-komplett. Das bedeutet, dass Entwickler keine dezentralen Anwendungen (dApps) erstellen können, da es keine Smart-Contract-Kompatibilität gibt.

Trotzdem funktioniert Litecoin gut als Zahlungssystem, da sein Konsensmechanismus von Natur aus sicher ist. Litecoin ist genauso sicher wie Bitcoin, hat aber auf der Basisebene einen höheren Transaktionsdurchsatz. Litecoin wurde 2011 gegründet und gehört zu den Top 20 Kryptowährungen nach Marktkapitalisierung, da die Kryptowährung viele Funktionen erfüllt, die auch Bitcoin erfüllt.

Der größte Nachteil von Litecoin ist, dass sich die Blockchain viel langsamer entwickelt hat als viele der Layer-1-Konkurrenten. So haben die Bitcoin-Entwickler das Lightning Network geschaffen, um eine wesentlich höhere Anzahl von Transaktionen pro Sekunde zu verarbeiten, während Ethereum gerade auf ein Proof of Stake-Protokoll umgestiegen ist, das bis zu 100.000 Transaktionen pro Sekunde ermöglicht, verglichen mit den 56 von Litecoin.

LTC-Investoren suchen nach neuen Möglichkeiten

Litecoin gehört zwar immer noch zu den Top 20 der Kryptowährungen, verzeichnete aber in letzter Zeit ein langsames Wachstum. Zwischen April 2021 und Juni 2022 fiel der Kurs von LTC um über 90% – ein großer Verlust für das Netzwerk.

Die Anleger sehen sich deswegen nach Alternativen zu Litecoin um, um vor und während der nächsten Aufwärtsphase große Gewinne zu erzielen. Viele haben vielversprechende dApps entdeckt, die eine große Anzahl von Nutzern anziehen und einige wichtige Funktionen erfüllen können, die im Litecoin-Netzwerk nicht möglich sind. Ein bestimmtes Projekt hat dadurch große Gewinne erzielt.

Der Token-Vorverkauf von Metacade (MCADE) hat gerade begonnen, was bedeutet, dass es sich um eine erstklassige Gelegenheit in der Frühphase handelt. Das Projekt hat eine reichhaltige Roadmap mit vielen aufregenden Funktionen, da Metacade sich an der Kreuzung mehrerer wachstumsstarker Branchen positioniert.

Was ist Metacade (MCADE)?

Mehrwert für Spieler 

Das Thema Blockchain gehört heute zu den heißesten Bereichen des technologischen Fortschritts in der Spielewelt. Innovatoren aus der ganzen Welt entwickeln faszinierende digitale Landschaften, die die Nutzer in sensationelle Umgebungen eintauchen lassen, bis hin zu weitläufigen Plattformen, die den Spielern nie dagewesene Funktionen bieten. Play-to-Earn-Mechanismen ziehen Spieler aus der ganzen Welt an.

Metacade ist dabei, die größte On-Chain-Spielhalle aufzubauen. Die Plattform bietet eine ständig wachsende Auswahl an Play-to-Earn-Titeln, die den Spielern viele Möglichkeiten bieten, ihre Krypto-Bestände zu erhöhen und gleichzeitig Spaß bei Online-Wettbewerben zu haben. Darüber hinaus wird die Metacade-Welt die Heimat einer boomenden Spieler-Community sein, denn die Plattform bietet MCADE-Token-Belohnungen für die Spieler, die sich am meisten engagieren.

Web3, GameFi, Krypto und das Metaverse

Metacade befindet sich an der Schnittstelle zwischen verschiedenen Schlüsselbereichen in der Welt der Technologie – Web3, Metaverse und P2E-Gaming. Das Projekt treibt den Fortschritt voran, indem es eine zentrale Plattform entwickelt, auf der Menschen Zugang zu Krypto-Belohnungen haben, während sie online Arcade-Spiele spielen.

Damit spricht die Plattform eine enorme Anzahl potenzieller Nutzer auf der ganzen Welt an und wird mit der Zeit ein entsprechendes Investitionsinteresse auf sich ziehen. Im Gegensatz dazu sind die Nutzerzahlen von Litecoin nach wie vor rückläufig, was sich in seinem schwachen Kursverlauf in letzter Zeit widerspiegelt. Metacade mit seinen vielen einzigartigen Funktionen, die den Nutzern in mehreren wachsenden Sektoren angeboten werden, wird höchstwahrscheinlich eine ganz andere Form des Erfolgs erleben.

Eine einzigartige Erfahrung

Metacade ist Community-gesteuert und gibt den Spielern mehr Macht zurück, wenn sie Teil des Ökosystems werden. Die Plattform wird Turniere für engagierte Play-to-Earn-Spieler veranstalten sowie MCADE-Token-Belohnungen für Nutzer zur Verfügung stellen, die ihr Wissen über Blockchain-basierte Spiele teilen.

Die Plattform soll im Laufe der Zeit zu einer dezentralen autonomen Organisation (DAO) werden, die allen Token-Inhabern ein Stimmrecht im Ökosystem gibt. Darüber hinaus wird das Metagrants-Programm die nächste Welle von GameFi-Plattformen mit großem Potenzial finanzieren, da Metacade eine Plattform bereitstellen will, die den langfristigen Erfolg der Branche fördert.

Langfristiges Potenzial ist ein wichtiger Aspekt für Investoren

Da sich Litecoin in letzter Zeit nicht so gut entwickelt hat und einen wesentlich langsameren Iterationsprozess als viele Konkurrenten bietet, beteiligen sich immer mehr Menschen am Metacade-Vorverkauf, um von der starken langfristigen Positionierung von Metacade zu profitieren.

Metacade hat es sich zum Ziel gesetzt, eine Brutstätte für die Gaming-Community zu werden. Mit vielen einzigartigen Funktionen und einer Vielzahl von Play-to-Earn-Spielen, die angeboten werden, hat die Plattform das Potenzial, ein großer Name in der Welt der Kryptowährung zu werden.

Alternative GameFi-Investitionen wie Axie Infinity (AXS) und Decentraland (MANA) haben sich in den letzten Jahren extrem gut entwickelt, was nicht zuletzt an der Zahl der Nutzer liegt, die sie anziehen können. Metacade ist in seinem Kern community-basiert und bietet seinen frühen Anwendern eine große Chance.

Der MCADE-Token wird zu einem Preis von nur $0,008 eingeführt. Dieser Preis wird später auf 0,02 $ steigen. Es könnte sich also lohnen, jetzt einzusteigen, bevor der Token offiziell der Öffentlichkeit vorgestellt wird.

Sie können LTC auf eToro hier kaufen.

Sie können hier am MCADE-Vorverkauf teilnehmen.

The post Wie Metacade (MCADE) im Dezember mehr anleger hatte als Litecoin (LTC) appeared first on BitcoinMag.de.