Kategorie: Crypto Markets

• Nexo says the investigations tarnished its reputation and hampered its growth.
• Bulgarian authorities dropped the Nexo case in December 2023, citing a lack of evidence.

In one of today’s biggest cryptocurrency news, Nexo, a leading crypto lender that is reportedly seeking $3 billion in damages from Bulgaria.

Specifically, as Reuters reported on Wednesday, Nexo AG, a Swiss arm of Nexo Capital, says last year’s aborted criminal investigation completely destroyed the company’s expansion plans, including a potential US listing.

Nexo files for arbitration with ICSID

Nexo, in a filing with the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), says Bulgaria’s investigation tainted its reputation. It also wrecked shareholder value.

As CoinJournal highlighted in December 2023, the Bulgarian prosecutor’s office announced a termination of the criminal investigations against Nexo and four of its executives, citing a lack of evidence.

The prosecution’s move followed nearly a year of investigations, with police having raided Nexo’s offices in the country’s capital Sofia in January 2023. Among the allegations levelled against the crypto lender and its top executives were money laundering, computer fraud and unauthorised banking activities.

Despite the dropped case, Nexo contends the damage from the raids and allegations was immense. It filed for arbitration with the ICSID on January 18. Reuters reports that Bulgaria’s finance ministry has acknowledged receipt of an arbitration request from the ICSID.

While officials say an inter-departmental committee will review this request and propose next steps, this does not constitute an “admission as to the substance of any claims or as an acceptance of any arbitral jurisdiction.”

ICSID, based in Washington, USA, is an international arbitration institution that handles disputes between countries and international investors. Some of the countries ordered to pay significant damages to companies include Pakistan, Ecuador, and Venezuela.

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• The federal appeals court in Philadelphia ordered that an independent examiner be appointed to scrutinize the FTX collapse.
• Bankruptcy court judge John Dorsey had earlier denied the trustee’s request.

A federal appeals court has ordered following a three-judge bench decision that an independent examiner should scrutinize FTX’s bankruptcy case.

Federal court orders for appointment of an examiner in FTX case

The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that the appeals court in Philadelphia has reversed an earlier ruling denying a US bankruptcy trustee’s request for an independent examiner. US bankruptcy judge John Dorsey dismissed the trustee’s request in February last year.

Judge Dorsey had agreed with FTX’s argument that an examiner’s involvement would only duplicate what new CEO John Ray III, federal agencies and the committee of unsecured creditors was doing. 

FTX also argued that having an independent examiner was too costly.

But in its ruling last Friday, the appeals court agreed with the bankruptcy trustee’s position that FTX’s collapse, which followed allegations of massive fraud, warrants an independent review rather than rely on an internal investigation.

Judge Luis Felipe Restrepo, writing for the appeals court panel, noted that the trustee’s case raised “straightforward issues” and that the bankruptcy code provides for an independent examiner’s appointment.

An examiner, judge Restrepo said, will make public all findings. Debtor or creditors’ committees do not have such an obligation.

FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 and its founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is awaiting sentencing after he was found guilty on all charges, including fraud. The sentencing is scheduled for March 2024. 

Earlier this month, US prosecutors hinted at not pursuing a second trial for Bankman-Fried.

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• OKX and Web3 technology company HashKey Group are eyeing a strategic alliance targeted at promoting virtual asset innovation and adoption in Hong Kong.
• Elsewhere, the OKB token plummeted on Tuesday, dipping more than 25% to $39.

Crypto exchange OKX and Web3 technology firm HashKey Group, are looking to partner to promote virtual asset innovation and adoption in Hong Kong.

The companies said in a press release on Tuesday that the partnership will focus on various crypto related programs, including blockchain infrastructure, product development and education initiatives around virtual asset investment. 

OKX and HashKey Group’s efforts will target initiatives that comply with the Hong Kong regulatory framework, according to the announcement.

Notably, OKX and HashKey Group will look to tap into their respective company’s strengths and resources to drive growth across Hong Kong, one of the fastest growing crypto hubs in the world. 

Today’s news comes days after OKX revealed it had secured a VASP license from Dubai’s market regulator VARA.

What is happening with the OKB token?

On Tuesday, the price of OKB, the native token of the OKX crypto exchange, nosedived from above $52 to hit lows of $39. The early morning flash crash pushed the OKB market valuation down by more than $700 million.

While the OKX token has recovered some of the losses, it remains below $50. At the time of writing, it’s trading near $45 and at risk of further declines amid the broader crypto market bleeding.

Regarding the flash crash, OKX CEO Star Xu said in an earlier post on X that the exchange was investigating the crash. He has promised to give an update to the crypto community.

The post OKX and HashKey Group eye partnership to promote crypto innovation in Hong Kong appeared first on CoinJournal.

• Masa raised $3.5 million in a pre-seed round in 2022, and the seed funding brings the total to $9.2 million.
• Masa will use these funds to build its decentralised zk network for personal data on Avalanche.

Masa Network, a platform building a zero-knowledge (zk) data network and marketplace, has raised $5.4 million in its seed round, according to an announcement on Tuesday, January 23.

Anagram, a venture capital platform co-founded by Lily Liu (Solana Foundation President) and Joe Eagan (former Polychain President), led the seed round. Other participants include Digital Currency Group, Avalanche Blizzard Fund, GoldenTree, and OP Crypto among others.

The seed round adds to the $3.5 million Masa raised in a pre-seed funding round closed in 2022. With this funding, the platform has now raised a total of $9.2 million.

Masa plans to use the new capital injection to build its decentralized network for personal data, which it dubs a “decentralized Google.” Per details published today in a Medium post, Masa expects to launch the network as a subnet on Avalanche.

“Masa lets you control and monetize your data on a decentralized marketplace. Own your data, control its use, get paid. The future is data sovereignty. The power is yours with Masa,” Calanthia Mei, co-founder of Masa Network, said.

Since its launch in August 2022, Masa’s zero-knowledge powered data network has been integrated by top crypto projects such as Avalanche, Injective, Celo and QuickSwap.

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