- Crypto Dominates the Worst ETF Debuts: FT
Cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) account for five for the worst seven debuts in ETF history, according to Morningstar Direct data, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
The five funds were all linked to the performance of crypto or blockchain. The worst performer was France-based Melanion BTC Equities Universe fund, which invests in companies such as bitcoin miners Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) and Riot Blockchain (RIOT). The fund, which launched October 2021, has seen its value slide 76.9% in the past 12 months.
Many ETFs started during the heady days of the last crypto bull market, enjoying an initial boom at the end of 2021 before crashing as valuations tanked this year.
https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/10/28/crypto-dominates-the-worst-etf-debuts-ft/
- Singapore Police Received 631 Cryptocurrency Scam Reports in 2021, Government Says
Singaporean government has revealed the number of reports related to cryptocurrency scams the police received in the past three years.
In a written reply to a parliamentary question about crypto scams in Singapore, published last week, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law K. Shanmugam wrote:
In 2019, the police received 125 reports related to cryptocurrency scams. This increased to 397 in 2020, and 631 in 2021.
“The vast majority of cryptocurrency scams are perpetrated by scammers based outside Singapore. As such, there is a limit to how much law enforcement agencies in Singapore can do,” Minister Shanmugam added, elaborating:
Our ability to solve these cases will depend on the level of cooperation from overseas law enforcement agencies, as well as their ability to track down these scammers. Nonetheless, we have stepped up our investigation efforts.
- Crypto Exchange Binance Confirms $500M Investment in Musk’s Twitter Takeover
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, confirmed its participation as an equity investor in Elon Musk’s $44 billion deal to purchase Twitter.
“We’re excited to be able to help Elon realize a new vision for Twitter. We aim to play a role in bringing social media and Web3 together in order to broaden the use and adoption of crypto and blockchain technology,” Binance CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao told in an emailed statement to Decrypt.
Earlier this week, CZ confirmed Binance would stick to its earlier promise to commit $500 million towards Musk’s bid to buy Twitter, emphasizing that the deal would present a chance to help bridge social media and news into Web3.
Zhao took to Twitter late on Thursday to say Binance had already wired the said amount as part of the deal.
https://decrypt.co/113052/crypto-exchange-binance-confirms-500m-investment-musks-twitter-takeover
- Celsius Trustee Rejects Motion For $3 Million Employee Bonus
The Trustee has opposed to the retention bonus, claiming that there is insufficient evidence in the motion to support such a significant payout and that it is unclear which individuals could be regarded as insiders.
William Harrington, the U.S. Trustee in charge of the Celsius chapter 11 bankruptcy case, has objected to a move by the company that would have paid 62 of its 275 employees a retention bonus worth $2.96 million.
The Trustee has blasted Celsius in its supporting statement for the objection filed on Oct. 27, noting:
It defies logic, not to mention the Bankruptcy Code, that a company where the majority of its functions are no longer providing services, would now propose a multi-million dollar bonus scheme.
The Trustee asserts that Celsius must demonstrate that the incentives are reasonable in light of the case’s facts in order for the “bonus motion,” as it is appropriately dubbed, to be approved.
https://www.binance.com/en/news/flash/7253152
- Solana-based protocol seeking to decentralize ride-sharing raises $9M
The ride-sharing industry is poised for another paradigm shift, with Web3 protocols allowing new companies and drivers to bid for rides using a matching algorithm, according to the Decentralized Engineering Corporation (DEC) — the company behind the Solana-based protocol TRIP that enables mobility-based applications.
According to DEC, on the TRIP platform, companies and riders can collaborate and compete in a shared marketplace. The protocol also rewards the most active participants with a stake in its governance for both drivers and customers.
The first service set to operate on TRIP is Teleport, a decentralized ride-sharing application planned to be launched in December and run by parent company DEC. On Oct. 27, DEC announced a $9 million seed round co-led by Foundation Capital and Road Capital.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/solana-based-protocol-seeking-to-decentralize-ride-sharing-raises-9m
- Crypto Markets Remain Stable Following GDP Release, Bitcoin Stays Over $20K
Crypto markets paused their recent two-day ascent, following an unexpectedly strong GDP report in the U.S. that failed to shake investors from underlying concerns about inflation and a potential steep recession.
U.S. economic growth expanded 2.6% in the third quarter, versus expectations for 2.4% growth.
The economic expansion is a reversal from the 1.6% and 0.6% contractions in the first and second quarters. But consumer spending and the once-hot housing market have been slowing as rising prices and interest rate hikes have an increasing impact on the economy.
BTC declined 1% during the 13:00 UTC hour, but rose 0.92% in the following hour. ETH performed similarly, decreasing 1.72% immediately following the GDP release but then rising 1.17%.
Traditional markets were mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) started the day up 1.5%, trading immediately higher at the 9:30 a.m. ET open. The S&P 500 opened 0.64% higher following the GDP report. The Nasdaq composite, to which bitcoin remains strongly correlated, fell 0.30%.
- US Judge Orders Bitcoin Ponzi Operator Imprisoned for Ignoring Court Order to Pay SEC $40 Million
Judge Amos L. Mazzant of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas said earlier this week that a bitcoin Ponzi operator will be arrested and imprisoned for civil contempt unless he immediately provides overdue documents and payments, Bloomberg reported.
Trendon Shavers, a resident of McKinney, Texas, owes the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) more than $40 million after pleading guilty in September 2015 to one count of securities fraud. However, he has repeatedly disregarded court orders, Judge Mazzant said, adding:
Shavers’s flagrant disregard for the court’s orders on multiple occasions leads to only one conclusion: Shavers will only comply with the court’s orders if he is incarcerated.
- Top DeFi Tokens in Maker, Uniswap Slip as Ethereum Sheds Gains
Following a broader market downturn, leading decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens, including Uniswap (UNI), Maker (MKR), and Compound (COMP), have posted significant losses over the past 24 hours.
UNI, the token powering the leading decentralized exchange (DEX) Uniswap, is down 4.4% over the past 24 hours, according to data from Coingecko.
As of this writing, UNI changes hands at around $6.60 apiece with a 28.17% increase in daily trading volumes to $272.93 million. On a weekly note, UNI is still up 8.6% despite today’s hefty blow.
https://decrypt.co/113056/top-defi-tokens-maker-uniswap-slip-ethereum-sheds-gains
- CZ: Google Still Promoting Crypto Phishing Sites
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has warned that Google search results are still promoting crypto phishing and scamming websites.
Despite Google’s strict policies on crypto marketing for its ads service, scammers have still been slipping through the cracks over the past few years. At times, scam websites have even been displayed higher than legitimate crypto and blockchain projects.
In an Oct. 27 tweet, CZ warned that when searching CoinMarketCap on Google, phishing sites with an “ad” tag were showing up in front of the actual website.
“This affects users adding smart contract addresses to MetaMask using these phishing sites. We are trying to contact Google for this, and in the meantime alerting users about this through social channels,” he said.
Google displays phishing sites when users search CMC. This affects users adding smart contract addresses to MetaMask using these phishing sites. We are trying to contact Google for this, and in the meantime alerting users about this through social channels.
https://www.binance.com/en/news/flash/7253051
- October sees lowest-ever daily trading volume for crypto products: Report
As the crypto market shows signs of a gradual recovery, with Bitcoin (BTC $20,160 ) holding above the psychologically important $20,000 level after its initial crash to $17,600 in June, this month still sets a record low for an average daily aggregate product volume across all digital asset investment products.
According to the report from CryptoCompare, published on Oct. 27, the average daily trading volume of institutional crypto products had fallen 34.1% — to $61.3 million in October. Almost all the products covered in the report recorded a large decline in average daily volumes, ranging from -24.3% to -77.5%.
The downward trend in daily trading is not limited to the recent market turmoil but dates back to November 2021, with a slight exception for May 2022. This October became the second month since September 2020 in which average daily volumes have fallen under $100 million.
