FTX collapse hearing: Kevin O’Leary says Binance caused the FTX implosion

  • Investor Kevin O’Leary is a hired FTX spokesperson in the ongoing FTX hearing.
  • O’Leary has asserted that Binance was behind the collapse of FTX.
  • Kevin however told the committee that that was an opinion and didn’t have records.

Kevin O’Leary, a hired FTX spokesperson, on Wednesday told the US Senate Committee hearing on the collapse of FTX that Binance was the cause of the FTX problems.

Kevin told the committee that when he inquired about Sam Bankman-Fried’s usage of customer funds, he was told that more than $3 billion were used in repurchasing the FTX shares that Binance held. When pressed by Senator Patrick Toomey on why FTX failed, Kevin said he only had an opinion but didn’t have the records.

Binance move to sell FTX tokens hurt FTX’s balance sheet

Kevin claimed that Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao’s move to sell the FTX tokens that it held was made to hurt FTX’s balance sheet. In Kevin’s words:

“In my view, my personal opinion, these two […] in an unregulated market […] with this incredible business in terms of growth were at war with each other, and one put the other out of business, intentionally.”

Kevin further added:

“Maybe there is nothing wrong with that, maybe there is nothing wrong with love and war, but Binance is a massive unregulated global monopoly now, and they put FTX out of business.”

Last week on Friday, Changpeng Zhao and Sam Bankman-Fried engaged in a Twitter feud defending the legality of their business empires and former remarks by Kevin O’Leary in a previous interview with CNBC were brought up in the argument.

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Will XLM recover from its recent dip after MoneyGram announced support for Stellar Aid Assist?

  • XLM has lost more than 3% of its value in the last 24 hours.

  • MoneyGram has announced support for the Stellar Aid Assist

  • The total crypto market cap could fall below $800 billion soon.

MoneyGram announces support for Stellar Aid Assist

Payment service provider MoneyGram announced on Thursday that it now supports the Stellar Foundation’s Stellar Aid Assist. MoneyGram said it is the first-of-its-kind blockchain-powered aid disbursement system that delivers relief funds quickly, affordably and efficiently to individuals in crisis.

Despite this latest cryptocurrency news, XLM, the native token of the Stellar blockchain, has been underperforming. The price of Stellar Lumens now stands at $0.0793, down by 3.5% in the last 24 hours.

The broader cryptocurrency market has also been underperforming over the past 24 hours. The total crypto market cap stands at $827, down by more than 3% so far today. The market cap could decline below $800 billion if the bearish trend continues.

Bitcoin is also underperforming today and could drop below the $17k support level before the end of the day.

Key levels to watch

The XLM/USD 4-hour chart is bearish, as Stellar Lumen has been underperforming over the past few days. The technical indicators show that XLM could dip lower soon.

The MACD line is below the neutral zone, indicating that the bears are currently in charge of the XLM market. The 14-day relative strength index of 34 shows that XLM could enter the oversold region soon.

If the bearish trend continues, XLM could drop below the first major support level at $0.07300 before the end of the day. With the bears still in charge, XLM could drop below the $0.0700 psychological level over the next few days.

However, the MoneyGram news could push XLM’s price higher in the near term. If that happens, XLM could push past the $0.08566 resistance level.

Where to buy Stellar Lumen now

eToro

eToro is a global social investment brokerage company which offers over 75 cryptocurrencies to invest in. It offers crypto trading commission-free and users on the platform have the option to manually invest or socially invest. eToro even has a unique CopyTrader system which allows users to automatically copy the trades of popular investors.

Buy XLM with eToro today

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 XLM with OKX today

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FTX seeking to auction its functioning businesses including LedgerX

  • FTX lawyers are seeking permission from a US bankruptcy court to be allowed to sell their businesses.
  • The businesses that FTX seek to auction were only acquired recently.
  • FTX wants to auction the businesses before they lose too much value or have their licenses permanently revoked.

FTX lawyers have filed for permission from a US bankruptcy court to be allowed to auction four of its active businesses. According to the filing made on December 15, FTX seeks to auction its Japanese and European FTX branches, stock-clearing platform Embed, and recently acquired derivatives exchange LedgerX.

According to the lawyers, the mentioned businesses have been under pressure since the collapse of FTX which is the main reason they seek auctioning. They note:

“The longer operations are suspended, the greater the risk to the value of the assets and the risk of a permanent revocation of licenses.”

FTX Japan and FTX Europe currently suspended

FTX Europe currently has its licenses and operations suspended while FTX Japan is currently under business suspension and improvement orders.

Besides the businesses’ suspensions, the lawyers argue that the businesses have lost customers and employees since FTX filed for bankruptcy. The lawyers also argue that selling the businesses now would enable them to resume operations and maximize value for the FTX estate.

The lawyers also point out that the four businesses were recently acquired by FTX and had been operating relatively independently of FTX which would make their auction process less complicated.

Set auction dates

If their prayers were to be allowed by the US court, the auctioning of the businesses would start on February 21 2023 assuming there is more than one bidder.

Embed would be the first to be auctioned on February 21, followed by Ledger which would be auctioned on March 7. FTX Japan and FTX Europe would both be auctioned on March 21.

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CryptoQuant confirms Binance reserves are accounted for

  • Binance has faced a FUD storm in the past few days about its reserves.
  • Binance has also been in the spotlight amid the ongoing FTX collapse hearing.
  • Blockchain analytics provider CryptoQuant has verified Binance reserves in its new audit report.

Blockchain analytics provider CryptoQuant has verified Binance’s proof of reserve in its recently released audit report analyzing the recently released proof-of-reserves by Binance. This settles the FUD storm that has been circulating within the internet especially following the recent surge in withdrawals.

Over the past few days, Binance has seen crypto assets worth as much as $3 billion leave the exchange in a span of 24 hours making investors worry about the future of the exchange seeing that FTX’s troubles started in a similar manner.

Binance scrambling to reassure customers

Amid the heightened customer worries after reports of increased outflows from Binance, the crypto exchange has been scrambling to reassure its customers and investors that it has sufficient reserves that are fully backed.

Earlier this month, Binance released a proof-of-reserves report for transparency purposes but it ended up being criticized for not being a full audit but rather an “agreed-upon procedure.” The tussle led to some customers withdrawing their crypto assets; something that sent shock waves throughout the crypto space since FTX’s fall started in a similar manner.

However according to CryptoQuant, the liabilities that Binance reports are close to audit firm Mazars’ estimation of 99%.CryptoQuant notes:

“The report shows Binance’s BTC liabilities (customers’ deposits) are 97% collateralized by the exchange assets. Collateralization increases to 101% when the BTC lent to customers is accounted for.”

CryptoQuant also added that Binance’s stablecoin and Ether reserves don’t show an “FTX-like” behaviour. The firm reported:

“Additionally, Binance has an acceptable ‘Clean Reserve,’ which means its own token, BNB, is still a low proportion of its total assets.”

According to data provider Nansen, only about 10% (Approx. $6.2 billion) of Binance’s reserves ($60.2 billion) are held in its native token BNB.

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Should I buy Metacade (MCADE) during the crypto market crash of 2022?

Crypto market crashes are full of prime buying opportunities. It’s often said that great projects are on sale, as 90% price reductions during the bear market mean you can buy a much bigger stack of tokens for the same initial investment cost.

Great projects never stop building, even during a crypto market crash. A project that looks set to do big things in the space is Metacade, and it’s only just getting started. If it’s still an unknown, then make sure to keep reading!

What is Metacade?

Metacade is a next-generation gaming platform that is being built on the Ethereum blockchain. Through leveraging the advanced smart contract functionality of Ethereum, Metacade can create a more secure and efficient experience for gamers from all over the world, as well as secure itself during a crypto market crash, with a stable audience.

MCADE is the platform’s native token. It’s used to power all blockchain transactions and is also used to provide crypto rewards to players while they enjoy a vast array of arcade-style games. The project is laying strong foundations during the 2022 crypto market crash, as it aims to become the single biggest arcade that you can find on the blockchain and will give gamers extensive opportunities to earn MCADE token rewards as a result.

The platform is committed to providing a fun and fair experience for all gamers and is community-driven at its core. Through building an advanced gaming hub on the blockchain, Metacade is helping to create a new era of gaming, where players are fully in control of their own data and can earn rewards while playing their favourite games.

More Games, More Rewards

By building the biggest arcade on the blockchain, players will be given more options than ever before. Metacade will be home to a seemingly endless list of arcade-style titles with some of the hottest names in the space for Metacade community members to enjoy.

With so much on offer, Metacade players will have unprecedented earning opportunities available after the market recovers from the recent crypto market crash. With the unique functionality being delivered in blockchain-based games, all players can earn while playing some amazing new titles. Metacade delivers this earning potential in a significant way.

Contribute-to-Earn

In addition to all the arcade games on offer at Metacade, the platform aims to become a hub for the crypto community to enjoy. Players can access the latest info for the best Play-to-Earn games in the space and connect with other blockchain gamers to share the latest insights.

Metacade connects players to the best opportunities and the most valuable alpha. Plus, users will earn MCADE token rewards for contributing insights to the community, which provides direct incentives for the community to grow and share the fun as they journey through the world of Play-to-Earn gaming.

Community-Governed

Metacade is committed to putting the needs of its players first and ensuring that their voices are heard, which is vital for finding stability during a crypto market crash. The Metacade community will have a direct say in how the project is governed and over time the project will become a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO). This DAO will allow MCADE holders to influence the direction taken by the project.

DAO voters will also be able to influence the growth of the wider GameFi industry. Up-and-coming projects will submit proposals to the community, who will then get the chance to vote on which they think are the best. After deciding, the community will be able to provide funding through the Metagrants program, supporting development teams in their early stages.

GameFi set to grow

Over time, it is widely expected that blockchain-based games can revolutionise the wider gaming industry. They offer some unique features that are unmatched by traditional titles, with the foremost being integrated earning opportunities for players. This is important to investors also, who currently seek investments that can offer more robustness, even during a heavy crypto market crash.

The gaming industry is currently dominated by a handful of large companies such as Electronic Arts (EA) and Activision Blizzard (ATVI). These companies control the development and distribution of games, which gives them a lot of power over gamers.

Blockchain games are important because they provide a decentralised alternative to this current system, regardless of price action during a crypto market crash. By giving power back to gamers, projects like Metacade have the potential to flip the $100 billion gaming industry on its head and move a large chunk of operations on to the blockchain.

The user experience for decentralised applications (dApps) has been improving year-on-year, as blockchains themselves have been getting faster, cheaper, and more secure. Metacade, built on Ethereum, gains all the benefits from a continually expanding ecosystem, and offers a long list of benefits to its community. It can grow to a massive scale as a result.

Should you buy Metacade?

Projects that launched during the market crash of 2018-2020 saw some insane percentage increases with some rising 40,000% or even higher. Now, during the 2022 bear market, MCADE has just launched its presale event, which is the earliest investment opportunity available in crypto and a fantastically low barrier for those looking to put some skin back in the game after the recent crypto market crash.

For a project with such high potential, these opportunities are rare. Often, high-potential projects are kept under wraps and only offered to a small number of institutional investors. Metacade is doing things differently and is launching its token directly to the crypto community.

These kinds of opportunities do not come around very often. While there is always a risk involved when investing in digital assets, and no token is guaranteed against a crypto market crash, the MCADE presale offers huge upside potential with limited downside. At this point, you can buy MCADE at just $0.008 per token with this number set to rise during the presale to $0.02. For sure, it could be worth including in your portfolio over the coming months.

You can participate in the MCADE presale here.

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