Schlagwort: crypto business

• Cameron accused Silbert of misrepresenting statements to Gemini on how the company was capitalized  
• DCG’s responsibility for Genesis restructuring and bankruptcy based on non-callable $1.1b promissory note

The feud between Gemini crypto exchange cofounder Cameron Winklevoss and Digital Currency Group (DCG) CEO Barry Silbert continues to escalate, with Winklevoss calling for Silbert’s removal from the company. David Hollerith reports on Yahoo Finance. 

Winklevoss demanded Silbert step down 

Cameron Winklevoss filed the second of two open letters. In the first one, which came last week, Winklevoss wrote:

There is no path forward as long as Barry Silbert remains CEO of DCG.

He demanded Silbert step down so DCG and Gemini can settle their ongoing dispute out of court. 

Misrepresenting statements 

Most recently, Cameron accused Silbert of misrepresenting statements made to Gemini in relation to how the company was capitalized after an earlier loss in the summer. 

Silbert responded in a letter to investors. The key point of contention is about how culpable the company DCG is for Genesis’ current restructuring and potential bankruptcy. It boils down to this $1.1 billion promissory note, which is not callable now. That means DCG would not have to return those funds in the event of bankruptcy. 

What does this mean for Genesis?

There still isn’t much debate there, but the war of words will go on according to Hollerith. Silbert has claimed that his company never took out a $1.675 billion loan from Genesis, adding that the company is current on all outstanding loans and never missed an interest payment. He suggested the next interest payment on the loan would be made in May.

The background 

The Winklevoss twins turned to Genesis when the company introduced its Gemini Earn program, which offered a yield of up to 8% on crypto assets. Gemini paid the interest partially by loaning customer money to Genesis Global Capital, owned by DCG, which then loaned the funds to institutional clients.

After FTX’s collapse, Genesis suspended customer redemptions, leaving Gemini unable to pay back Earn clients. 

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• The exchange wants to reduce operating costs by 25%.
• It is the second crypto exchange after Huobi to confirm layoffs in 2023.
• Coinbase CEO has however confirmed that the exchange is well capitalized.

The American-based cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase has announced through its website that it is cutting down on its operating expenses by 25%. The move includes laying off 950 employees, which accounts for about 20% of the company’s workforce.

The exchange’s CEO, Brian Armstrong, has listed the ongoing bear crypto market and the broader macroeconomy as the main reasons to reduce the company’s expenses.

Hard times for the exchange

While announcing the laying off, the CEO also assured the public that the crypto exchange is well capitalized and added that crypto is not going anywhere.

Nevertheless, the CEO noted that while the exchange has gone through multiple crypto bear markets, the current bear market is proving to be a real struggle for Coinbase. He said that it is the first time a global economic meltdown has aligned with a bear crypto market. He said:

“As we examined our 2023 scenarios, it became clear that we would need to reduce expenses to increase our chances of doing well in every scenario. While it is always painful to part ways with our colleagues, there was no way to reduce our expenses significantly enough without considering changes to headcount.”

2023 has already seen several layoffs

Coinbase joins several other companies that started the year 2023 by announcing layoffs. Huobi exchange also recently confirmed 20% layoffs.

For example, Salesforce announced it is planning to reduce its workforce by 10%, which would translate to laying off about 8,000 people. Amazon also confirmed that it is carrying out its second round of layoffs that will see it lay off about 18,000 people from its workforce.

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• NFT sales jumped 26% as trading volume rose across major blockchains.
• Ethereum accounted for the most NFT sales, while Bored Ape Yacht Club dominated among collections.
• The broader crypto industry has started 2023 slightly higher, with notable rallies for coins such as Cardano, Solana and Ziliqa.

The NFT market size is expected to grow over the next several years, and 2023 has begun with a significant jump in sales on top NFT marketplaces. It is one of the interesting NFT statistics for the year.

According to data from Cryptoslam.io, NFT sales increased by 26% in the first week of the year. The platform showed the metric rose by the margin as 1.2 million NFT transactions registered across 400,740 NFT buyers.

As for the NFT collection with the highest transaction volume, the honour fell to the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC). The collection registered $19,052,102 in sales, with trading volume rising by 53% in the week.

BNB Chain records 71% spike in NFT sales

Per the data, the most sales occurred on the Ethereum blockchain – where NFT sales accounted for $164 million of $209 million. Overall, the sales rose across all major blockchain networks. BNB Chain saw the largest jump in sales, with a 71% spike just higher than the 70% growth on Theta grew.

Solana remains a top NFT ecosystem despite recent upheaval following the collapse of FTX and saw its NFT sales increase by 28.8% last week.

Crypto prices up early in 2023

Cryptocurrencies entered 2023 on the back of major losses in the previous year, with Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market having recorded massive dips from their all-time highs.

However, the first week of the year has seen crypto mirror broader market movements with gains pushing BTC above $17,000 and Ethereum to $1,340. While Bitcoin is up more than 4% in the past week, Ethereum has notched double figures with over 10%.

Among the most impressive performers include Cardano that’s up 28% and Solana that has rallied by more than 45% this past week. SOL’s surge came after the BONK  meme coin airdrop to the Solana NFT community. Ziliqa has soared over 50% amid major network upgrades and integrations – including with esports loyalty programs.

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