Kategorie: Crypto Markets

• KBW analyst now rates Block stock at market perform.
• Steven Kwok still sees upside in “SQ” to $75 a share.
• Block shares are currently down over 25% year-to-date.

Shares of Block Inc (NYSE: SQ) are trading down this morning after a KBW analyst downgraded the crypto company citing several “small risks”.

Block Stock could still climb to $75

Steven Kwok now rates the San Francisco-headquartered firm behind Cash App at “market perform”. His lowered price target of $75, though, still suggests about a 10% upside on its previous close.

The analyst finds Block stock a bit less attractive now that multiple risks are piling against it. His research note reads:

This big items revolve around rising competition within acquiring, and potential for regulatory scrutiny within its Cash App segment.

In February, Block Inc reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth financial quarter.

Hindenburg has a short position in Block Inc

Kwok is not convinced that the company’s income from instant deposit fees or unregulated interchange are very dependable. Rising competition, he said in his research note, could also weigh on take rates, volume growth, and profitability.

Strength in its seller business is rooted in its in-store offering, and as more goods are sold online, this could shift purchase volume to marketplaces and eCommerce focused platforms like Shopify.

Last month, short seller Hindenburg Research also took aim at the crypto company, alleging that its Cash App has a lot of fake/duplicate accounts, many of which were involved in criminal activities.

Year-to-date, Block stock is down more than 25% at writing.

The post KBW downgraded Block stock on Monday: find out why appeared first on CoinJournal.

• South Korean exchange GDAC reported the hack early Monday.
• The exchange said the hackers stole nearly 61 BTC, 350.5 ETH, 10 million WEMIX tokens and 220,000 USDT.
• On-chain data shows the hacker has swapped USDT for ETH and sent 461 ETH to a crypto mixer.

Crypto news out of South Korea is that hackers stole nearly $13 million from the crypto exchange GDAC. The exchange reported that the incident occurred on Sunday.

According to the exchange’s security update, the hackers transfered roughly 61 bitcoin, 350 ether, 10 million WEMIX tokens and 220,000 USDT from its hot wallet.

In total, the hack left GDAC with a $13 million or so hole in stolen crypto, with the lost funds accounting for 23% of the exchange’s total custodial holdings.

As a result of the hack, GDAC suspended its wallet system, pausing deposits and withdrawals. The exchange also announced it had reported the hack to the South Korea police, requesting for a cyber investigation.

Hacker sends 461 ETH to Tornado Cash

GDAC said the assets were taken from its hot wallet, with the hackers transferring the coins to an unknown crypto wallet. 

While GDAC says its working with Korean security experts and authorities in a bid to recover the funds, crypto market intelligence firm Arkham reports the hacker has swapped the USDT into ETH. 

The blockchain intelligence platform revealed on Monday that the attacker had already sent approximately 461 ETH to the crypto mixing platform Tornado Cash.

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• The recent failures of Silvergate and Signature Bank left Binance.US without banking services.
• Binance.US is looking for a new bank partner to serve as a fiat on-ramp and off-ramp for its clients in the US.
• A WSJ report has however indicated that the exchange is facing challenges in identifying the bank partner.

Binance.US, the United States arm of global crypto exchange Binance, is in the process of identifying a new bank partner that will serve as a fiat on-ramp and off-ramp. The crypto exchange was left with a bank partner after the collapse of the Silvergate and Signature Bank.

However, according to a report published by the WSJ on April 8, Binance.US has been facing challenges in establishing a new bank partner. According to the report, the exchange has been depending on middleman banks to store funds.

Currently, Binance.US is holding customer funds through the financial technology firm Prime Trust’s banking partners.

Regulatory crackdown on banks with crypto clients

Binance.US has had a number of attempts in establishing a direct banking relationship with the likes of Cross River Bank and Customers Bancorp, but they have all failed.

The regulatory crackdown in the US on banks with cryptocurrency clients is seen as a major factor contributing to the struggles the exchange is facing in identifying a new banking partner.

Binance has been the focus of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) investigation since 2021. The CFTC sued Binance Holdings and its CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, last month for alleged trading violations. And although CZ issued a statement refuting CFTC’s allegations, the lawsuit has had a significant effect on the exchange including leading to a drop in the exchange’s crypto market share.

The absence of a direct bank has greatly affected Binance.US customers, especially after Binance said that some US dollar deposit services would be temporarily affected as it transitions to new banking and payment service providers over the next few weeks.

The post Report showing Binance.US unable to find bank partners in the US appeared first on CoinJournal.

• Crypto projects are seeking non-US jurisdictions
• There has been a surge in crypto-targeted crackdowns by authorities in the US.
• On the contrary, East Asian countries have been making strides to promote crypto in the last few months.

Seychelles-based crypto exchange Bitget has launched a new $100 million Asia-Focused Web3 Fund. The cryptocurrency exchange aims to take advantage of the recent strides by a majority of Asian countries to promote cryptocurrencies over the last months as opposed to the recent crypto crackdowns in the United States according to recent crypto news.

The exchange seems to follow in the footsteps of the Huobi cryptocurrency exchange, which IN February intends to expand into Hong Kong by seeking a license to operate in the country.

Hong Kong is seemingly easing its crypto regulations while Japan recently approved a whitepaper for Web3 development.

In a statement sent to media outlets, Gracy Chen, the Managing Director of Bitget, said:

“Despite the bear run, Bitget has always been supporting promising and innovative projects and the development of the Web3 environment with a focus on BUIDL. The launch of Bitget Web3 Fund is a continuation of our ongoing efforts to drive the adoption of crypto and Web3, reflecting our ‘Go beyond derivative’ strategy in 2023.”

A self-funded fund

According to a spokesperson at Bitget, the newly unveiled fund will be self-funded. The spokesperson said:

“Bitget is debt-free with adequate cash flow, thanks to its steady development and fast-growing business.”

Bitget exchange seems to be on an investing spree since the launch of this fund comes days after the exchange made another $30 million investment into the decentralized multi-chain wallet BitKeep.

The post Bitget starts a new $100M fund targeting Asian Web3 startups appeared first on CoinJournal.

• The ASIC has been conducting a targeted review of Binance’s businesses in Australia.
• Binance Australia is an arm of Binance.
• Australian users will no longer be able to trade derivatives on Binance.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) on Thursday issued a press release announcing the cancellation of Binance Australia’s derivatives license.

Binance Australia is an arm of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume Binance.

Targeted review of Binance

The ASIC issued a notice of hearing on March 29 to consider whether the AFS license should be cancelled or suspended.

The press release by ASIC states that it:

“has been conducting a targeted review of Binance financial services business in Australia, including its classification of retail and wholesale clients.”

ASIC Chair Joe Longo said:

“It is critically important that AFS licensees classify retail and wholesale clients in accordance with the law. Retail clients trading in crypto derivatives are afforded important rights and consumer protections under financial services laws in Australia, including access to external dispute resolution through the Australian Financial Complaints Authority… Our targeted review of these matters is ongoing, including focus on the extent of consumer harms.”

Customers are to close positions by April 21

According to the ASIC press release, Australian users will no longer be able to increase derivatives positions or open new positions on Binance from April 14, 2023.

The crypto exchange requested action asking their clients to close any existing derivatives positions before April 21. Any remaining open positions will be closed by the exchange.

Binance Australia’s derivatives trading license was held by Oztures Trading Pty Ltd.

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