Kategorie: Crypto Business

Celsius Network CEO Alex Mashinsky has stepped down from his position at the troubled crypto lending platform, with the resignation effective immediately.

A statement from Celsius, accompanied with Mashinsky’s resignation letter said the ex-CEO informed Celsius’ Special Committee of the Board of Directors of his decision today. 

The Celsius Network co-founder also tweeted a link to a press release announcing his exit.

The letter to the special committee reads:

“Effective immediately, please accept my resignation as CEO of Celsius Network Ltd, as well as my directorships and other positions at each of its direct and indirect subsidiaries, with the exception of my director position at Celsius Network Ltd. I regret that my continued role as CEO has become an increasing distraction, and I am very sorry about the difficult financial circumstances members of our community are facing. Since the pause, I have worked tirelessly to help the Company and its advisors put forward a viable plan for the Company to return coins to creditors in the fairest and most efficient way. I am committed to helping the Company continue to flesh out and promote that plan, in order to help account holders become whole.”

Celsius filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July this year following the contagion that started with the collapse of Terra Luna and then Three Arrows Capital – the latter’s $75 million loan from the crypto lender among the reasons it paused customer withdrawals before announcing bankruptcy.

Mashinsky mentioned his role since the events of July, and noted his exit does not mean he’ll not support the recovery plan.

“I elected to resign my post as CEO of Celsius Network today. Nevertheless, I will continue to maintain my focus on working to help the community unite behind a plan that will provide the best outcome for all creditors – which is what I have been doing since the Company filed for bankruptcy,” he said.

The post Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky resigns appeared first on CoinJournal.

• Nexo has reportedly acquired a stake in Hulett Bancorp (DBA Mode Eleven), the bank that owns Summit National Bank.
• The deal with the US federally chartered bank offers Nexo an opportunity to further serve its US customers in a regulated environment.

Nexo, a leading regulated digital assets platform with more than $4 billion in assets under management, has announced an industry-changing deal that sees it acquire a stake in a regulated US bank.

The crypto lender revealed the transaction on Tuesday, noting in a press release sent to CoinJournal that it had taken a stake in Summit National Bank, the US federally chartered arm of Hulett Bancorp (DBA Mode Eleven).

The deal makes Nexo the preferred digital assets partner for Summit and is part of Nexo’s growing footprint in the US market. 

With it, the crypto exchange and lending company provide its services to both retail and institutional clients, including bank accounts, asset-backed loans, custodial solutions and card programs among others, Nexo said in the release.

Nexo expands amid need for further compliance

The acquisition announcement comes just a day after multiple US states filed enforcement actions against Nexo, with claims the platform was offering its interest-bearing account product without the requisite registration approvals.

The New York Attorney General Letitia James said she had sued the crypto company for failing to register and lying about this to investors. 

Given the cease-and-desist orders from the US state regulators for Nexo to end its yield product, today’s announcement that the platform has acquired a stake in a local US bank could suggest a response of sorts from Nexo to growing regulatory challenges.

As CoinJournal reported yesterday, eight state regulators have filed actions against the crypto company.

Indeed, Nexo co-founder and managing partner Kalin Metodiev hinted at this “evolving regulatory landscape’ in a statement, noting:

“This investment marks another landmark in Nexo’s relentless drive to better serve our US customers in compliance with the constantly evolving regulatory landscape.”

Metodiev, who recently joined the Summit National Bank board as a member, added:

“We care deeply about our customers and are thrilled that this development will grant them access to some of the most innovative products at the intersection of traditional finance and blockchain technology.”

In its press release, Nexo says that the deal will allow its customers to benefit from top quality services even as they enjoy appropriate legal safeguards available via its banking partner’s federally regulated lending and payments infrastructure.

Nexo also has long-term ambitions of securing global expansion for its banking capabilities, including through the Summit National Bank partnership and via additional banking licenses across other jurisdictions.

The post Nexo acquires stake in a US-federally chartered bank appeared first on CoinJournal.

• Phuture’s Earn Product for USDC is powered by DeFi protocol Notional Finance.
• Users can deposit the stablecoin USDC and earn income on the assets saved in the USDC Savings Vault.

Decentralised crypto platform Phuture has formally introduced its first yield earning offering via the recently announced ‘Saving Vault’ product.

The first crypto asset on offer is USDC Savings Vault, or “USV”, the DeFi protocol’s first Savings Vault that will see customers earn reliable interest on their USDC holdings.

According to Phuture, the crypto savings product targets offering users a new way to generate passive income on their USDC, which will be accessible at dependable and predictable rates.

Heard the news from @decryptmedia? 🗞️$USV, our first Savings Vault, will allow users to earn dependable interest on their $USDC.📈

Powered by @NotionalFinance, the leading fixed rate borrowing protocol, $USV is the smart way to put your money to work.https://t.co/MwJfVyL4e0

— Phuture Finance 🐳| Exposure to crypto, simplified (@phuture_finance) September 27, 2022

The USV will be powered by Notional Finance, an Ethereum-based protocol that offers a platform where users can borrow or lend crypto assets at a fixed rate.

Commenting on the product and the partnership with Phuture, Notional CEO Teddy Woodward noted:

“Interest rates in crypto can swing wildly. Notional’s focus is to bring fixed-rate opportunities from tradfi to DeFi so users can plan for the future and depend on predictable rates. We’re proud to partner with Phuture to provide their users an even simpler way to access Notional’s fixed rate yields.”

The vault will leverage smart contracts to offer an automated yield generating product. Users can access this product via the Phuture app, with equivalent vault shares allocated to represent the USDC deposits.

The post DeFi protocol Phuture launches USDC earn product appeared first on CoinJournal.

• FTX US’ successful bid for Voyager Digital’s is reported at $1.422 billion.
• Voyager says FTX US’ bid provides the best route to returning value to customers.

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX US has won the bid to acquire the assets of bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital, according to a press release on Monday.

As per the news update, the winning bid by West Realm Shires (FTX US’s parent company) was $1.422 billion. An estimated $1.311 billion of the bid amount comprises a fair market value of Voyager’s crypto assets- which the announcement noted would be priced at a later date.

There’s also an additional consideration of $111 million in incremental value, while the bankruptcy estate will retain the claims against Three Arrows Capital – which they would be able to distribute upon recovery to creditors.

FTX US provides a clear path for chapter 11 plan

Voyager Digital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July, after pausing customer withdrawals amid a crypto market contagion triggered by the collapse of Terra Luna and later crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.

“FTX US’s bid maximizes value and minimizes the remaining duration of the Company’s restructuring by providing a clear path forward for the Debtors to consummate a chapter 11 plan and return value to their customers and other creditors,” Voyager noted in a statement.

With the auction done, the next step is for the purchase agreement to receive approval from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. 

Before the court gets to it on Wednesday, 19 October, 2022, any objection to the deal has a deadline of 12 October, 2022 at 4:00 pm Eastern Time.

The sale will then close following the Bankruptcy Court’s approval, a creditor vote and other relevant closing conditions.

The post FTX US wins bid to acquire Voyager Digital’s assets appeared first on CoinJournal.

Automata Network, a decentralised middleware service protocol in the Polkadot ecosystem, has introduced a free to use private Remote Procedure Call (RPC) relay designed to align privacy protection for Web3.

The platform’s 1RPC announced today is a free-to-use private RPC relay Automata Network says will help protect end-users from potential threats amid Web3 growth.

3/ Careless exposure of metadata means your IP address, device information, and diff wallets associated with the same account can be deduced 😩

These can give away your off-chain identity 👉🏻 and makes it easier for you to be a target of phishing scams/social engineering attacks

— Automata Network | We’re hiring! (@AutomataNetwork) September 26, 2022

1RPC and Web3 privacy protection

That Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs) are critical in the blockchain space is no doubt. 

Decentralised applications (dApps) communicate with the blockchain via RPC nodes, with users then able to access and interact across the network for actions such as viewing balances or creating a transaction. But the requests getting shared via the RPC provider can leave a user’s metadata exposed.

The threats to user data are possible across any of the interactions within the space, including bidding for NFTs. Automata Network’s 1RPC could prove critical in embedding crucial privacy for users.

Mainly, 1RPC offers a shielded technical design for protections like ‘do not track’ and ‘anti-phishing’ – key benefits for users in terms of safeguarding personal data and self-sovereignty.

“The radical thing about Web3 is that you can build a better alternative to the status quo any time. It’s why we launched 1RPC as a free relay to bring more users into the privacy-conscious culture we want to foster for the industry…,” said Deli Gong, co-founder at Automata Network.

1RPC will offer one-click privacy protection, with support across numerous leading blockchain platforms. 

As per Automata Network, the technology is supported on AltLayer, Arbitrum, Avalanche, BNB Chain, Gear, Kusama, Polkadot, and Polygon among others.

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