Kategorie: Crypto Business

Key takeaways

• Binance.US’s acquisition of Voyager Digital is on hold until the legal battle with the exchange has been resolved.

• Voyager wants the legal fight to be resolved by April 13, as creditors stand to lose $100 million due to the delay.

• Binance is facing a lawsuit in the United States after the CFTC accused it of improper compliance procedures and trading.

Voyager wants Binance.US’s legal fight resolved soon

Bankrupt cryptocurrency lending firm Voyager Digital wants the legal fight with Binance.US to be resolved by April 13th, or its creditors stand to lose $100 million. This is according to legal documents filed late Monday night. 

Binance.US and Voyager Digital had agreed to a $1 billion acquisition deal prior to Binance’s legal case in the United States. 

Last month, Michael E. Wiles, United States Bankruptcy Judge at the Southern District of New York court, denied the US government’s request to halt Binance.US’ acquisition of Voyager, citing the impact this is having on customers of the bankrupt crypto lender.

Voyager Digital now believes that the ongoing legal delays could see Binance.US pull out of the deal to acquire the firm. The embattled crypto lender’s creditors wrote;

“Consummation of the plan by April 13 is necessary to preserve massive creditor value. The evidence is uncontroverted that, if the deal is not completed, Voyager’s creditors will lose roughly $100 million in value.”

Voyager Digital stated in another filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that there would be a  price tag of $10 million per month if the delay continues. If that happens, over a million of its customers would not have access to their savings.

Binance.US could back out of the deal 

 According to the original terms of the agreement signed in December and approved by bankruptcy judge Michael Wiles in March, Binance.US can back out of the deal if it is not concluded within four months. 

However, the US government lawyers continue to argue that the detailed terms of the contract would effectively absolve the company from breaches of tax or securities law.

This resulted in District Judge Jennifer Rearden putting the deal on hold last week while the issue was settled. 

The legal battle also comes as Binance, the parent company of Binance.US and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), face another lawsuit in the United States.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit against Binance and CZ last week, accusing the exchange of offering crypto trading services of commodities (Bitcoin, Ether, Binance USD, Tether and Litecoin), without proper registration.

However, CZ rejected the allegations made against Binance and himself. He called 

CFTC’s claims incomplete recitation of facts.

On March 3, CZ tweeted that Binance.US could pull out of the deal to acquire Voyager Digital due to the legal delays.

We are still in support of the deal and helping returning funds to users as quickly as possible, if allowed to do so. 🙏

— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) March 3, 2023

The post Voyager wants Binance.US legal fight resolved by April 13 appeared first on CoinJournal.

• Gala Games says the partnership will help advance development across the Web3 gaming industry.
• Huobi will list Gala Games ecosystem coins and invest in top quality gaming projects.
• Huobi Token price was largely flat on Friday, trading around $3.66.

Web3 gaming company Gala Games has entered a strategic partnership with cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Global to boost development and investment in top notch gaming projects.

Huobi to list Gala Games tokens

The partnership will see Huobi Global integrate Gala Game’s highly scalable layer 1 blockchain and list Gala Games ecosystem tokens. The collaboration also allows the two platforms to co-invest in leading game projects and support other growth initiatives.

👏 Great News!#Huobi is happy to announce a strategic partnership with #Gala Games @GoGalaGames in ecosystem development.

Together, we will cooperate in the investment and listing of high-quality projects, including Layer1 integration, cobranding & community development. pic.twitter.com/LTqy8pXkF3

— Huobi (@HuobiGlobal) March 31, 2023

Jason Brink, President of Blockchain at Gala Games stated that the partnership is a key step towards mass adoption of Gala’s layer 1 blockchain.

“Integration of our layer 1 blockchain into popular exchanges like Huobi is absolutely crucial with the level of mass adoption we’re looking for. This partnership empowers tomorrow’s developers to create a more stable and secure web3 future,” he noted in a press release published on Friday.

Huobi was founded in 2013 and is one of the largest digital assets platforms in terms of daily trading volume. 

According to data from CoinMarketCap, Huobi is the 17th largest exchange in spot volume and the 10th largest in derivatives volume as of 31 March 2023. The exchange’s native token Huobi Token traded around $3.66 at the time of writing. The all-time high for HT was $39.66 reached on 12 May, 2021.

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• Ledger’s last round was at a €1.3 billion valuation.
• The startup will use the funds to develop a new generation of hardware wallets, building on its latest offer Ledger Stax.
• New investors in the series C extension round included VaynerFund and True Global Ventures.

Ledger, the leading cryptocurrency hardware wallet maker, has raised €100 million ($109 million) in its series C extension round.

As reported by Bloomberg on Thursday, the French startup was valued at €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion), which was the valuation during the previous financing round closed in June 2021.

Ledger is proud to announce our Series C extension fundraising round.

We continue our mission of bringing ease-of-use and uncompromised security to your digital value.

Read what our CEO @_pgauthier has to say:https://t.co/JSHyi5jKIQ pic.twitter.com/aGi2FhOXCs

— Ledger (@Ledger) March 30, 2023

“Today, Ledger announced our funding round. I’m grateful for our long-term investors’ continued support, and I welcome the new investors backing the current undeniable revolution of value and hardware. These funds will accelerate our mission to bring a new generation of secure consumer devices to hundreds of millions exploring critical digital assets and blockchain-enabled technology,” Ledger CEO & Chairman Pascal Gauthier said in a statement.

New backers for the round include VaynerFund, True Global Ventures, Cité Gestion SPV, and Digital Finance Group. Returning investors included Cathay Innovation, Draper Dragon, Morgan Creek, and Cap Horn.

Ledger eyeing next generation hardware wallet

The funding round comes amid growing demand from crypto holders for devices that offer next generation level storage and security for the digital asset industry.

According to Gauthier, the world is entering a new era of Internet of Value and billions of people will want access to devices that are built for the decentralised Internet of Value – in this case hardware wallets that go beyond the basic security features.

The recent launch of Ledger’s new hardware wallet Ledger Stax is the beginning of that journey into the future of “next-generation” hardware wallets. Stax’s designer is iPod and iPhone co-inventor & designer Tony Fadell.

Ledger was founded in 2014, and one of its most popular USB-type hardware wallets is the Ledger Nano S, Ledger Nano S Plus and Nano X. The company also offers Ledger Live on desktop and mobile.

The post Hardware wallet maker Ledger raises $109 million in series C round appeared first on CoinJournal.

• NFT Inspect is a web-based app and browser extension for Web3 and NFTs.
• JVH Technology Inc. has acquired full ownership of the Social Intelligence application.
• Co-founder Stefan Mai and Evan King have left the project to pursue other interests within the industry.

Blockchain technology firm JVH Technology Inc. has acquired web-based app and browser extension NFT Inspect, continuing its focus on advancing adoption of NFTs despite negative market conditions.

The acquisition marks a new chapter for NFT Inspect, with a new team taking over just over three months after the platform put brakes on plans to shut down amid the crypto winter. NFT Inspect teased the acquisition in a tweet on Monday.

We are thrilled to announce that NFTInspect has been acquired by a new ownership team. The new leaders boast deep roots in the NFT & Web3 space, this pivotal moment signals a promising resurgence for NFTInspect. pic.twitter.com/fZR4qOF7TT

— Inspect (@nftinspect) March 27, 2023

JVH to promote Web3 and NFTs adoption

NFT Inspect is a top Web3 social intelligence application and NFT hub with over 100,000 users, attracting a growing community as more people seek to tap into revenue-generating protocols.

“We are thrilled to have acquired such a remarkable and popular Web3 project,” said JVH Head of Business Allan Satim.

“Inspect has already established an exceptional community, and we are excited to integrate additional resources into the Inspect ecosystem while placing strong emphasis on community involvement and the fundamental principles of Web3,” he added in a press release.

Satim noted that Inspect is a major player within the NFT and SocialFi ecosystem, and the acquisition is an opportunity to expand on its growth. JVH plans to integrate other crypto, SocialFi and Web3 projects, bringing new revenue-generating opportunities and giving more value to the community.

According to the JVH, NFT Inspect founders Evan King and Stefan Mai will be transitioning to new projects.

The post Blockchain firm JVH acquires crypto platform NFT Inspect appeared first on CoinJournal.

• Gucci and Yuga Labs partner to bring Fashion NFTs to Otherside.
• The companies have entered a multi-year partnership as they explore the interconnection between Web3 and fashion.
• The BAYC floor price rose slightly following the news.

Gucci, a leading high-end luxury fashion brand, is looking to continue its march into the world of NFTs and the metaverse with a new partnership with Yuga Labs. Gucci is one of numerous fashion brands to enter the NFTs space, while Yuga Labs is the creator of popular NFT project Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC).

Gucci and Yuga Labs partner to explore Web3 and fashion

According to a news report published on Monday by Business of Fashion, the Italian fashion giant will use the deal with Yuga Labs to explore the convergence between fashion, Web3 and entertainment. Gucci also noted via its official Twitter account that the collaboration targets “blurring the boundaries between the physical and the digital.”

Continuing to explore the Metaverse, the House comes together with @yugalabs. Stay tuned as a new narrative takes shape, blurring the boundaries between the physical and digital. pic.twitter.com/v60mzcgqqY

— gucci (@gucci) March 27, 2023

With the multi-year partnership in place, Gucci is reportedly eyeing an “an active role” in Yuga Labs project Otherside and the 10KTF collection. Details of the collaboration indicate the luxury fashion house will begin its journey in the 10KTF this coming week, with the Otherside set to follow.

The news of Gucci and Web3 leader Yuga Labs helped push the floor price of the BAYC NFT collection higher. At the time of writing, the NFTs floor price was up 1.2% in the past 24 hours – going for about 60.697 ETH, or $104,850.

Yuga Labs was founded in 2021 and raised $450 million during its seed round in March 2022, with the company valued at $4 billion.

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