Daily Crypto News | December 21st, 2022
Daily Crypto News | December 21st, 2022
Welcome to Barmy’s Daily Crypto News – December 21st, 2022
1. Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network has attracted 30 potential bidders for its various assets
More than 125 parties have reportedly been approached since September, and 30 prospective bidders have signed non-disclosure agreements, which are legal contracts that are normally required during discussions and are meant to protect sensitive information about a company or the bidding terms.
Celsius stated that it has already received several bids outlining various prospective business arrangements and deals to buy its assets, such as moving Celsius customers to the acquirer’s platform in exchange for a haircut of their assets.
According to the most recent presentation, as of Nov. 25, the company possessed cryptocurrency worth about $2.6 billion. However, even when all of its non-crypto assets are added up, Celsius is still $1.2 billion shy of being able to pay off all debts.
However, Celsius claims that its continuous mining activities have been profitable and that despite adding more mining rigs to its fleet this year, it has achieved positive operating cash flow every month.
2. Customers will be able to use debit and credit cards to purchase cryptocurrencies through Uniswap
In order to enable customers to purchase cryptocurrencies on its web app via debit cards, credit cards, and bank transfers, Uniswap has teamed with fintech firm Moonpay. Users in the majority of U.S. states, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and the Single Euro Payments Area, or SEPA, are now able to use the bank transfer option.
Uniswap said on December 20 that its users would soon be able to quickly change money to cryptocurrencies on the Ethereum mainnet, Polygon, Optimism, and Artibrum.
The company acknowledged that despite the dangers involved, customers still prefer CEXs and that the onboarding process for decentralized finance (DeFi) has been a significant barrier to adoption. With “no spread costs on USDC, lowest processing fees in the market, and rapid access,” Uniswap anticipates that its most recent deployment will enhance the onboarding process.
3. Binance has joined the Chamber of Digital Commerce
According to a press release issued by the exchange on December 20, Binance has joined the Chamber of Digital Commerce, a lobbying organization for the US cryptocurrency market. The action was taken in response to complaints that Binance was unregulated.
The Chamber of Digital Commerce, according to its website, supports a range of public policies, such as tax parity for digital assets, anti-money-laundering and know-your-customer rules for cryptocurrency exchanges, improved regulatory clarity for security tokens, and studies on central bank digital currencies.
Binance has made available an audited proof-of-reserve in order to demonstrate its reliability and financial stability. The proof-of-reserve has drawn criticism for omitting information on Binance’s internal processes and corporate structure.
In 2020, the global trading platform’s subsidiary exchange, Binance.US, joined the Chamber of Digital Commerce. The company’s rival, FTX, gave money to American lawmakers as well. However, it appears that this is the first time the global Binance organization has formally affiliated with a U.S. lobbying organization.
4. South Korean authorities continue to investigate and freeze the funds of persons involved in Terra
Shin Hyun-Seong, a co-founder of Terra, had 140 billion won ($108 million) seized from him in November, and the Seoul Southern District Court has just decided to seize more Terra-related assets.
According to The Korea Economic Daily, on December 20, a South Korean court ordered the assets of the current and past CEOs of Terraform Labs’ affiliate company Kernel Labs to be frozen at 120 billion won ($92 million).
The Seoul Southern District Court has granted the prosecution’s motion to take the property of seven people who were involved in selling pre-issued Terra LUNA tokens for enormous profits, the latest report claims.
One of the parties in the case is Kernel Labs CEO Kim, who is said to be in possession of the highest amount of unlawful Terra earnings. Kim’s illegal earnings were worth at least 79 billion won ($61 million), according to the prosecution. Additionally, prosecutors discovered that a previous CEO of Kernel Labs earned around 41 billion won ($31 million) in unlawful proceeds from Terra.
In 2021, Kim reportedly made a number of significant real estate purchases in South Korea. He paid 35 billion won ($27 million) for a building in Gangnam-gu, the priciest district of Seoul, in November. He also paid almost 9 billion won ($7 million) for an apartment in Seongdong-gu in June.
The news comes as international law enforcement agencies continue to look for controversial Terraform Labs founder and CEO Do Kwon. The most recent sources indicate that South Korean authorities think Kwon was hiding in Serbia as of mid-December after departing from Singapore a few months ago.
5. Coinbase CEO has pushed for stricter regulations on centralized crypto
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, has argued for stronger rules on centralized crypto operators but believes decentralized protocols should be allowed to grow since they represent “the ultimate form of disclosure” because to open-source software and smart contracts.
However, the Coinbase CEO highlighted that decentralized protocols are not a factor in that calculation.
Because people are engaged, Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, stated that “extra transparency and disclosure” checks are required for centralized actors. Armstrong expressed the hope that the fall of FTX “will be the trigger we need to finally get new legislation approved.”
Armstrong suggested that the United States begin by regulating stablecoins in accordance with general financial services rules and that regulators enforce the application of a state trust charter or an OCC national trust charter.
Armstrong thinks that once stablecoin regulation is established, regulators focus on cryptocurrency exchanges and custodians.
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