Schlagwort: crypto business

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Genesis Trading prepares to return $3B to customers, transfers 32,256 BTC

  • Genesis transferred $2.12B in BTC and $838M in ETH as part of bankruptcy restructuring.
  • Genesis will return $3B to creditors, covering 77% of customer claims.
  • Digital Currency Group will not receive any payout from Genesis’s bankruptcy plan.

Over the past three days, Genesis Trading has moved approximately 32,256 BTC, valued at around $2.12 billion, and 256,775 ETH, worth about $838 million, to various addresses.

This substantial transfer of assets is seen as part of the company’s efforts to manage creditor repayments under its ongoing financial restructuring plan.

Genesis Trading settlement plan has been approved

The turmoil for Genesis began in November 2022 with the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange, which severely impacted the firm’s derivatives business.

Genesis halted withdrawals and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2023 due to substantial losses linked to the FTX debacle and the failure of Three Arrows Capital.

At that time, the company owed over $3.5 billion to its top creditors.

Amidst this challenging backdrop, Genesis has recently reached a court-approved settlement plan, aimed at returning $3 billion to its customers. This plan will cover approximately 77% of the total value of customer claims.

In the immediate aftermath of Genesis’s bankruptcy filing, claims were trading at only 35% of their value on claim trading platforms. However, current trading prices for claims are significantly higher, with claims over $10 million trading between 97-110% of their value and smaller claims trading between 74-94%.

Digital Currency Group (DCG) to miss out on this settlement

Digital Currency Group (DCG), the parent company of Genesis, will not benefit from this settlement. The court has ruled that there is insufficient value in Genesis’s estate to provide DCG any recovery as an equity holder.

This decision was influenced by DCG’s failed attempt to cap customer claims at January 2023 cryptocurrency values, which would have allowed for full repayment to customers and potentially a recovery for DCG.

Additionally, DCG had assumed $1.1 billion of Genesis’s debt from the Three Arrows Capital collapse, but this obligation did not cover the losses.

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Top Microsoft Engineer Predicts Blockchain Vertical Upscale: Which Industries Might Lead the Charge?

  • Chris Li predicts blockchain will shift from horizontal to vertical scaling soon.
  • Vertical scaling could enhance efficiency in online casinos and improve user experience.
  • Advanced solutions like atomic swaps may replace wrapped assets, preserving decentralisation.

Chris Li, a former Microsoft engineer and the founder and CTO of Ava Protocol, has made a bold prediction for the future of blockchain technology. 

According to Li, the focus of blockchain development is set to shift from horizontal scaling towards vertical scaling within the next five years. This transition is anticipated to redefine how various industries utilise blockchain technology, particularly in terms of efficiency, user experience, and decentralisation.

Horizontal scaling solutions reach saturation

Horizontal scaling, which involves increasing the number of nodes or expanding network capacity, has been the primary method for improving blockchain performance. However, Li suggests that this approach has reached its limits. 

The saturation of horizontal scaling solutions, such as Ethereum’s layer-2 solutions and zk-rollups, indicates a pressing need for new strategies. 

Vertical scaling, on the other hand, aims to enhance the capabilities of individual transactions, making them faster and more cost-effective while maintaining decentralisation.

Online gaming set to benefit significantly from vertical scaling

One industry poised to benefit significantly from vertical scaling is online gaming, specifically online casinos.

The integration of blockchain technology in online casinos has already shown promise in terms of transparency, security, and fair play. 

Vertical scaling could further revolutionise this sector by enabling more complex transactions and interactions within gaming platforms. Enhanced smart wallets and multi-signature solutions could streamline the user experience, making it easier for players to manage their assets and engage in secure, instant transactions.

Li highlighted the limitations of wrapped digital assets, which, despite their utility in bridging assets across different blockchains, reintroduce centralisation risks and trust dependencies. 

For online casinos, this means that the current reliance on custodians for asset management could be replaced by more decentralised solutions such as atomic swaps and cross-chain bridges. 

These technologies promise to preserve the decentralised ethos of blockchain while enhancing functionality and security.

Balancing between security, scalability and decentralisation

Moreover, vertical scaling could address the blockchain trilemma — balancing security, scalability, and decentralisation. 

By allocating resources more efficiently and enhancing transaction capabilities, vertical scaling could provide industries like online casinos with robust, scalable solutions that do not compromise on security or decentralisation.

Vertical scaling offers a promising future, transforming how blockchain technology is applied across various sectors and paving the way for more efficient and user-friendly applications.

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Bitcoin miner CleanSpark expands with first site acquisition in Wyoming

  • CleanSpark said in a press release on Thursday that it has acquired its first Bitcoin mining site in Wyoming.
  • The company executed 75 megawatts of power contracts, with 30 MW for the first site expected online by end of 2024. 
  • A second site will bring the next 45 MW to CleanSpark’s Wyoming hashrate.

CleanSpark has announced that it executed 75 megawatts of power contracts and added to its growing capacity with the acquisition of a new 30 megawatts Bitcoin mining site in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

This is the company’s first site in the location. When it becomes operational, it will add more than 2 exahashes per second to the Nasdaq-listed BTC miner’s hashrate, CleanSpark said in a press release.

Meanwhile, the company also eyes a second site in the area, with closing of a deal for the real estate set to see the rollout of an additional 45 MW to the Wyoming operations. This second site coming online will add 3 EH/s to CleanSpark’s hashrate.

Operations at first site expected before year end

According to CleanSpark, the Cheyenne-based facility is a fully immersion-cooled site – the second such facility in the company’s growing portfolio. The miner expects operations to go live before the end of the year.

“On the heels of the University of Wyoming announcing the launch of its Bitcoin Research Institute and Senator Lummis introducing the Boosting Innovation, Technology and Competitiveness through Optimized Investment Nationwide (BITCOIN) Act, we are thrilled to expand in a state so publicly supportive of our industry. Working together with local, state and national leaders, CleanSpark plans to grow its footprint beyond Cheyenne, throughout the beautiful state of Wyoming,” Zach Bradford, CEO of CleanSpark, said in a statement.

CleanSpark will deploy the new S21 immersion XPs at the new site, tapping into the latest Bitcoin mining machines. The XPs are currently the most powerful and efficient of BTC mining machines.

CleanSpark recenty acquired GRIID Infrastructure

With the addition of Wyoming, CleanSpark now increases its presence into three states. The miner’s portfolio includes data centers in Georgia, Mississippi, and Wyoming, as well as co-locations in Tennessee and New York.

The company also disclosed its acquisition of Tennessee-based miner GRIID Infrastructure.

Once the all-stock deal worth $155 million at the time finalizes, CleanSpark will adds about 100 MW of power in 2024. It targets reaching 200 MW by end of next year and 400 MW by end of 2026 for the Tennessee facility.

CleanSpark is one of the US-based Bitcoin mining companies that recently met with former US president Donald Trump, a meeting that saw the 2024 presidential candidate say America needs to be at the forefront of mining BTC.

Trump also spoke at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee in late July.

 

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DeFi Protocol Convergence hit by major hack, CVG token collapses

  • Decentralized governance hedge fund platform Convergence exploited.
  • 58M CVG tokens minted and swapped.
  • CVG token value plunged 99% from $0.12 to $0.0004 following the hack.

On Thursday, the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Convergence experienced a severe breach, resulting in a dramatic collapse of its CVG token.

The exploit involved the creation of 58 million CVG tokens, which were then exchanged for approximately $200,000 worth of wrapped Ether (wETH) and crvFRAX stablecoin.

Hacker exploited a vulnerability in Convergence’s codebase

This malicious activity was carried out using a vulnerability within the protocol’s codebase, according to web3 security firm QuillAudits.

The attacker leveraged this flaw to mint a massive amount of CVG tokens, subsequently swapping them for wETH and crvFRAX through Curve’s liquidity pools. Following the token exchange, the attacker converted the funds into Ether (ETH) and transferred them to Tornado Cash, a privacy tool designed to obscure transaction trails.

This breach led to an estimated $210,000 in financial losses, while CVG token holders faced a catastrophic decline in the token’s value.

Before the attack, CVG had a fully diluted valuation of $17 million. However, the token’s price plummeted by 99% in the Curve liquidity pools, dropping from $0.12 to a fraction of a cent, trading at $0.0004.

Convergence asks users to pause activities on the platform

In response to the incident, Convergence has advised users to refrain from interacting with the protocol to avoid further risk.

The protocol’s team and security experts are currently investigating the breach to prevent future vulnerabilities and mitigate the damage caused by the exploit.

This incident underscores the ongoing risks associated with DeFi protocols and the importance of robust security measures in safeguarding digital assets.

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Bitcoin falls to $62k as crypto mirrors stocks crash

  • Bitcoin price dropped to its lowest level since mid-July with a dip to near $62k on August 1.
  • Stocks also plummeted as investors reacted to latest economic data and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

Bitcoin price crashed 10% to trade to near $62k on Thursday as August began on a painful footing for cryptocurrencies and stocks.

On August 1, the global cryptocurrency market cap fell to $2.3 trillion amid an overall 5.7% dump. BTC fell to lows of $62,300 across major crypto exchanges. The declines also hit Ethereum, which traded to lows of $3k and Solana that retreated sharply to touch $160.

XRP, Dogecoin and Pepe also experienced sharp declines.

Why did Bitcoin, crypto prices fall today?

Losses across the crypto market came as the stock market nosedived, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average shedding more than 600 points and the S&P 500 falling 1.5%. According to CNBC, the bloodbath across stocks follows fresh investor jitters around possible economic contraction on weak data released on Thursday.

Markets’ reaction also follows Wednesday’s Federal Reserve FOMC meeting, although analysts say the market has fully priced in a September cut. Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East was also on investors’ minds.

What next for BTC, crypto?

Commenting on the overall outlook ahead of the sharp sell-off, analysts at Singapore-based firm QCP Capital noted:

“Crypto experienced a broad sell-off overnight and into this morning. The market remains on edge as traders pay close attention to daily ETH ETF outflows and further supply pressures from Mt Gox and US government.”

According to QCP, the long term picture remains bullish for Bitcoin. Key catalysts could be the upcoming US election and direction of the quest for a sovereign Bitcoin reserve for the US.

“The establishment of a U.S. or sovereign “put” on BTC prices may have significant implications, potentially making accumulation on dips a strategic investment approach,” QCP Capital added in the note posted on Telegram.

BTC traded around $63,007 at 2:40 pm ET on Thursday, up from intraday lows.

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