Schlagwort: crypto business

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Crypto exchange Kraken completes acquisition of Staked

The deal marks the fifth of Kraken’s acquisitions this year, which have contributed to the 950% growth seen this year, according to the company

Crypto exchange Kraken said on Tuesday that it had completed the acquisition of Staked, a US-based non-custodial staking platform. Though the company did not reveal further details on the financials around the deal, it held that it was “one of the largest crypto industry acquisitions to date.”

With this new venture, Kraken plans to expand support for proof-of-stake networks and avail new innovative products on its platform for its customers.

Staked employees will remain onboard

Further, Staked CEO Tim Oglivie and his entire team would continue to work as part of the business.  Kraken’s CEO and co-founder Jesse Powell spoke of the deal, voicing his excitement on Staked as one of the standout yield products as it has seen significant uptake from a considerable portion of crypto investors.

Welcoming Staked’s client base to its new home, he explained that Staked offered a highly complementary addition to Kraken’s business model. As such, it would facilitate the crypto exchange in reinforcing its product offering for customers that would keep hold of their staked assets.

“We’re excited to welcome Staked’s clients to Kraken and believe that they will benefit from access to our wider portfolio of products as they seek to broaden their engagement with digital assets.”

Staked offers customers non-custodial staking by which users can earn yield from their crypto assets without the need to necessarily relinquish them. Its incorporation would therefore complement Kraken’s custodial staking. Moreover, Staked gets to join an exchange with world-class infrastructure that optimizes user experience and eliminates the weighty barriers of entry.

Kraken has been adding crypto entities to its portfolio

Kraken’s staking business has seen some significant growth over the course of the year, recording a more than 950% growth in the period reaching November.  The exchange’s staking business clocked $16 billion, with its clients receiving staking yields worth more than $500 million.

Noteworthy, Kraken’s endeavors into acquisitions and investments have played an enormous part in this growth. Over the last few years, the company has added Bit Trade, Circle Trade, CryptoFacilities, CryptoWatch, and other crypto companies onto its portfolio. Staked being  the company’s fifth acquisition this year, Powell said that the company’s business has now evolved to offer something more to customers than just the custodial and trading services.

“We’ve become a holistic crypto platform with a diverse range of products that serves the needs of retail, professional, and institutional clients. Heading into the second decade in our company’s history, I’m excited about the future and Kraken’s continued support of the world’s shift to Web3 and DeFi.”

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CBDCs are ‘a strong validation of blockchain technology,” says Binance CEO

  • Changpeng “CZ” Zhao also says CBDCs may have positives and an option, but governments shouldn’t seek to regulate them independently.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, one of the most prominent figures in crypto, has cautioned that governments should not seek separate regulatory oversight for cryptocurrencies and for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

He also says that while CBDCs have several positives, there are “few caveats.”

Notably, the Binance chief says he sees central bank-issued digital currencies as the biggest validation of blockchain technology.

Changpeng “CZ” Zhao believes central banks digital currencies (CBDCs) have the potential to benefit the broader crypto ecosystem but says governments should not look to oversight the sector in its usual “walled-garden nature.”

The Binance chief made the comments in a blog post published Tuesday, where he responded to the question of CBDCs as part of his CZ’s FAQs Series.

He says there are positives and negatives to the issue of central bank digital currencies, but one of the most obvious things to note about the continued focus on and issuance of these by governments is that it provides a “strong validation of the blockchain technology” underpinning cryptocurrencies.

“As recently as 2 years ago, we heard newcomers worry that the technology may be a fad. Now with central banks adopting it, we don’t hear those concerns anymore,” he wrote.

CBDCs can help educate people about Bitcoin

He also sees CBDCs as key to the crypto industry as through them, the masses can learn about blockchain and crypto. He notes that educating the masses about blockchain also educates them about Bitcoin.

According to him, learning about Bitcoin exposes people to the “valuable fundamental properties of money – scarcity, freedom to transact, and low fees.”

Among risks he associates with CBDC developments, the Binance CEO highlights a possibility that some governments “ban[s] Bitcoin” in order to promote their own CBDC.” CZ, however, clarifies that so far no country has banned Bitcoin and that so far, bans have only affected crypto exchanges in those countries.

Several countries are aggressively pursuing CBDCs, while at the same time seeking to introduce regulations that might hinder the broader crypto industry.

Zhao says governments should not put forth different regulatory environments for CBDCs and for cryptocurrencies. According to him, adopting “restrictions and barriers” will likely stifle the very innovation and technology governments rely upon for the development of the national digital currencies.

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FTX CEO says crypto doesn’t need oversight that ‘gums’ the industry

  • FTX chief executive officer, 29-year old Sam Bankman-Fried says that the US would do well as one of the major crypto markets if authorities aimed at regulatory clarity.

  • He also commented on the existing regulatory environment, noting that crypto doesn’t need oversight that ‘gums’ up the industry.

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried says markets regulation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and asset issuance regulation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) already “makes a ton of sense.”

But there are lots of “nasty points” within the regulatory framework and that is something that needs to be worked on, he added.

Bankman-Fried, one of the several crypto exchange executives to recently testify before Congress, said this during an interview on CNBC’s “Mad Money” show on Monday.

Asked whether it would be better to have just the CFTC regulate the crypto industry, the FTX chief offered:

“I think it will make a ton of sense for some combination of the CFTC and the SEC to regulate the crypto industry.”

But at its core, the FTX boss noted, markets regulation by the commodities watchdog and asset issuance regulation by the securities agency is okay. He says this approach makes a lot of sense and is clearer to the crypto industry.

Crypto doesn’t need oversight that ends up ‚gumming‘ sector

According to Bankman-Fried, while the regulators already work within given frameworks, there are lots of aspects of regulation that need a lot more clarity to make sense when applied to the crypto ecosystem.

He also believes that proper regulation is what will bring cryptocurrencies to the mainstream and help the industry achieve global adoption, with consumer protection a key component.

“Let’s make sure that the regulatory oversight that needs to be there is there and oversight that doesn’t make sense isn’t gumming the industry,” he noted.

Regarding the last part of the above observation, Bankman-Fried says the solution lies in the removal of regulatory uncertainty; especially the back and forth regarding what is a security and what’s not. He also wants to see clarity for the stablecoin market.

There has been a lot of action (and talk) around crypto regulation, with some countries looking to ban aspects of the industry as part of a regulatory crackdown as did China earlier in the year.

In the US, the Federal Reserve and the SEC have indicated that they would not ban crypto, but regulatory oversight is high on the administration’s agenda. This week a Bank of International Settlements said 2022 is likely to see a global crypto regulation framework.

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FTX US seals four sports-crypto deals in Washington DC

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX has spent a bucket load of cash in sports deals across various leagues

Crypto exchange affliate FXT US has inked a new partnership with four different sports teams as per a Monday announcement from Monumental Sports and Entertainment (MSE). The leading sport and entertainment company based in Washington DC owns five professional teams in the city and manages the Capital One Arena, where its teams play.

Most notable is the deal with National Basketball Association’s team Washington Wizards. Also involved in the agreement are the National Hockey League’s Washington Capitals, the Women NBA’s Washington Mystic, and the Capital City Go-Go basketball team. 

„The integration of blockchain technology with the sports experience has only just begun, and together we are going to advance to an entirely new frontier, which will ignite fans beyond what they can even imagine today,“ MSE president of business operations and chief commercial officer Jim Van Stone said.

Official NFT and cryptocurrency partner

FTX US will be the official cryptocurrency partner for the MSE and its properties, i.e. the four teams, as part of the multi-year deal. The MSE noted in the release that the exchange’s NFT platform also gets the exclusive rights to upcoming token drops by any of the four teams. The exchange will also be a partner for Big Block-Chain the entertainment company’s in-game highlight series. 

„One of our key goals is to continue growing the awareness of digital assets. We are excited to bring the world of crypto to Washington, DC sports fans,“ FTX.US VP of Business Development Avinash Dabir stated. 

The move is one of the exchange’s approaches of extending its presence in the US Capital and wooing legislators. The respective partnerships were completed at undisclosed sums, and other specific terms are yet to be released as of writing. 

FTX’s previous partnerships in sports

This year, the Bankman Fried–led exchange has secured in its basket several mega-deals with different teams as well as sports leagues. Just recently, the cryptocurrency exchange announced a sponsorship deal with the NBA team Golden State Warriors at a reported sum of $10 million. 

In June this year, the National Basketball Association announced that the exchange operator FTX had acquired the Miami Heat’s arena naming rights. The home of the Miami Heat was rebranded to FTX Arena until at least 2040 as part of a $135 million agreement with the NBA outfit.

A similar deal followed this in August, this time involving Cal’s football stadium. UC Berkeley and the US exchange affiliate agreed on a 10-year deal worth $17.5 million, with the latter securing naming rights and taking on other obligations.

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Multichain closes $60 million seed round with participation from Binance Labs

The funding round comes a few days after the protocol rebranded from Anyswap

Newly-rebranded cross-chain protocol today wrapped up its seed round, raising $60 million. The funding featured several names, including Binance Labs, the venture capital subsidiary of cryptocurrency, and NFT marketplace Binance. 

Binance Labs investment director Peter Huo hailed Multichain, describing it as “a key contributor to the multi-chain future for crypto.”

Other venture capital firms that took part in the round include IDG Capital, Primitive Ventures, Three Arrows Capital, DeFiance Capital, and Circle Ventures. China-based capital market company Sequoia China also had a hand in the fundraising.

Multichain was launched mid-last year as a cross-chain decentralised platform called Anyswap. The project has since morphed into a cross-chain router protocol, officially taking the name Multichain last week. At the time of the announcement, the total value locked on the protocol was north of $5 billion. The protocol currently serves about 300,000 users, with this figure projected to continue growing.

Forging closer ties

It is worth noting that Binance’s input into the firm stretches beyond capital injection. The crypto exchange is looking to cultivate a good relationship with the protocol outside the investment. On Monday, the Binance Smart Chain promoted the cross-chain protocol as a recommended tool to move crypto-assets between blockchains.

The capital raised through the seed round will be directed toward developing the ecosystem and helping its teams see more growth through new hires. The firm specifically pinpointed the research and development teams as some of those that will benefit from the acquired funds.

Binance VC arm has incubated more than 100 projects

Binance Labs has made a number of moves to promote blockchain projects over the last few weeks. On November 23, the venture capital arm launched the third season of its incubation program. The program aims to support potential projects from various parts of the world. 

The nine (chosen from the latest edition of the Incubation Program) names involved in the program are play-to-earn game Block Ape Scissors, hedging protocol Tranching, decentralised oracle Bird, bridge protocol Raydius, gaming web GAT Network, Mint Club, DeFi farming protocol Copycat Finance, multi-chain stable swap project Wombat, and blockchain gaming studio SkyArk.

In a December 12th interview with CryptoPotato, Binance Labs director Chase Guo disclosed that the venture capital arm had supported more than 100 projects since it was launched about three years. Outside blockchain, the innovation incubation division spearheaded a $1.5 million seed round for decentralized Web3.0 public network Bulletin Board System (BBS) at the beginning of December. It also joined the League of Kingdoms table as a strategic investor at the end of last week. 

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