Infinity RUNZ & #FastCrypto [12.19 — 12.23]

Infinity RUNZ & #FastCrypto Weekly Recap

Infinity RUNZ - 23 December 2022

[1] DXY / VIX / MOVE

104.43 / 20.92 / 119.92

[2] FFR / UST1 / UST10 / UST30 / STETH (Lido)

4.25-4.50 / 4.64 / 3.69 / 3.75 / 4.80

[3] Crypto - BTC  / ETH / BTC:ETH / Crypto / USDC+T

16,803 / 1,217 / 13.80 / 810.91B / 110.45B

[4a] BTC FR USD-m 1d ann (%)

Binance / OKX / dYdX / ByBit

10.95 / 16.50 / 15.26 / 10.95

[4b] BTC FR Coin-m 1d ann (%)

Binance / OKX / Deribit / ByBit

10.95 / 15.26 / -0.07 / 10.95

[5a] CME BTC Futures - CM / +1 / +2 / +3

16,755 / 16,575 / 16,505 / 16,485

[5b] CME ETH Futures - CM / +1 / +2 / +3

1,214 / 1,205 / 1,212 / 1,167

[6a] Aave L|B - ETH / WBTC / USDC / USDT

2.14|4.32 / 0.18|1.67 / 1.19|2.40 / 2.22|3.15

Spread: 50.5% / 89.2% / 50.4% / 29.5%

[6b] Compound L|B - ETH / WBTC / USDC / USDT

0.17|3.46 / 0.06|3.24 / 0.98|2.61 / 0.98|2.61

Spread: 95.1% / 62.5% / 98.1% / 62.5%

FastCrypto 12.19.2022

Bitvavo to prefund locked DCG assets worth $296.7M amid liquidity crisis

The Digital Currency Group which manages deposits and digital assets of crypto exchange Bitvavo for off-chain staking services, suspended repayments citing liquidity problems amid the bear market. However, Bitvavo announced to prefund the locked assets, preventing DCG-induced service disruption for users.

International banking regulatory body backtracks on stablecoins

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, published a new version of proposed guidance for banks to follow around the handling digital assets, including “tokenized traditional assets, stablecoins and unbacked cryptoassets.” The draft incorporates stakeholder feedback like the algorithmic stablecoin crash, and retracts an effort to allow stablecoins to be stress-tested based on whether they could be sold for an amount that closely tracks its peg value.

SEC Rejects Grayscale ETF as Hong Kong Debuts See Gains

The SEC has reaffirmed its decision to reject Grayscale for a Bitcoin ETF. The federal regulator reiterated that it believes such products are prone to fraud and manipulation. The extent of these consumer safeguards is the reason why authorities in Hong Kong have also approved them. Hong Kong’s first crypto-based ETFs debuted, finishing their first trading day higher.

No withdrawals on OKX for almost seven hours amid cloud failure

Crypto exchange OKX didn’t process withdrawals for seven hours owing to a failure with its cloud provider. The cause was an issue with Alibaba's cloud service in the Hong Kong area, where Alibaba found an "equipment anomaly" and that engineers were working to fix the issue.

Dragonfly leads 'crypto super app' Utorg's $5 million raise

Utorg is aiming to build a "super app" that merges the old and new worlds of finance. Alongside modern web3 functions, such as a non-custodial wallet, swaps, NFT integration, portfolio and yield-saving accounts, the app will also provide regular banking features, such as credit cards and IBAN numbers.

FastCrypto 12.20.2022

Ren Protocol's imminent shutdown likely, $15 million still at risk

Ren Protocol may shut down at any moment. The team doesn’t know when the network will stop functioning because the wrapped bitcoin-focused project was acquired by Alameda who was controlling the infrastructure behind the network — separately from its node operators.

Binance.US agrees to buy Voyager's assets

Binance.US’ bid "Sets a clear path forward for Voyager customers' funds to be unlocked as soon as possible, and returned to them in the form of the cryptocurrencies previously held in their accounts.” Binance.US' bid beat other industry players, such as CrossTower, Wave Financial and INX.

Decentralized market maker Arrakis Finance raises $4 million

Investors included Uniswap Labs Ventures, Accel, Polygon Ventures and Robot Ventures.  Arrakis launched V2 of which can be "thought of as an abstraction layer on top of concentrated liquidity automated market makers (AMMs) like Uniswap V3, It enables central limit order book (CLOB) like interactions."

a16z crypto funds still have billions to deploy, says co-founder Chris Dixon

The latest $4.5 billion fund, known as "Crypto Fund 4," launched in May and dedicated $1.5 billion to seed investments and $3 billion to venture investments. "We've deployed less than 50%, so we have the majority of our recent fundraise left."  said Chris Dixon.

CME Group, CF Benchmarks launch new DeFi reference rates for Aave, Curve and Synthetix

The reference rates and real-time indices are not tradeable products, but transparent pricing for the three DeFi tokens will help users accurately mark crypto specific portfolios and develop structured products with greater confidence. "These three new benchmarks, together with Uniswap launched earlier this year, will capture more than 40% of the total value locked in DeFi protocols on the Ethereum blockchain.”

Silvergate shares slide after lawsuit accuses the bank of playing an 'integral' role in FTX fraud

Silvergate shares slumped 9% following the announcement of a lawsuit against the bank for its alleged "integral" role in Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX exchange. The stock is trading near an all-time low.

FastCrypto 12.21.2022

Auros bankruptcy protection filings show funds tied up on FTX

 A significant proportion of the Auros' assets — worth roughly $20 million — were held on the FTX. With those assets frozen, Auros was effectively rendered insolvent. Auros clarified that it had applied for a "light touch" Provisional Liquidation order, a "debtor in possession" restructuring mechanism where it's allowed to continue trading while a restructuring plan is developed.

BlockFi seeks to reopen withdrawals for certain users

Bankrupt lender BlockFi is seeking to reopen withdrawals for users who have crypto locked in wallet accounts. The lender filed a motion on Dec. 19 with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the District of New Jersey. The motion seeks to authorize the debtors to honor withdrawals from wallet accounts, update the user interface to reflect transactions and conduct ordinary course reconciliation of accounts.

Polygon co-founder launches web3 startup accelerator Beacon

Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon and Symbolic Capital, has launched Beacon, an accelerator that will support early-stage crypto projects through mentorship and financing. Beacon is part of Nailwal's Symbolic Capital, a crypto venture capital firm he launched in August with a $50 million fund. "Our ultimate goal is to build the greatest network of web3 founders in the world."

Dan Morehead of Pantera Says ‘DeFi Is Superior’ – Here’s Why

In Pantera’s latest letter, DeFi protocols lack the subjectivity and human fallibility that is present in traditional transactions conducted by CeFi systems. “DeFi, unlike opaque centralized finance, is not an empty house of cards. Its foundations are rock-solid, rooted in immutable code, and totally transparent. In some cases, DeFi removes human subjectivity entirely from, e.g., financing decisions."

FastCrypto 12.22.2022

Waves blockchain founder asks exchanges to disable futures trading for native token

Waves asked exchanges such as Binance, Kraken and KuCoin, to disable the waves token futures market. “They are a breeding ground for FUD and making money off short positions, profitable because of it.” The token has declined 40% from $2.37 to $1.54.

Core Scientific eyes sale of up to 1 gigawatt worth of facilities amid bankruptcy

Core filed for Chapter 11 with a prearranged deal and plans to turn most of its debt into equity. A large majority of it is from convertible notes. Other big creditors such BlockFi and B. Riley will also have the chance to convert to equity.

SBF in FBI custody, Ellison, Wang plead guilty and are cooperating

Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang have plead guilty to criminal charges, U.S. Attorney for the SDNY announced and are cooperating with prosecutors, and anticipates bringing more charges against other individuals. SBF is also now in FBI custody.

Polygon’s zkEVM launched its second testnet, the last step before mainnet goes live

The testnet will trial a new upgrade called recursion, which could result in exponentially scaling ETH but did not disclose a designated timeline for the mainnet.

Genesis and DCG creditor committee propose plan for asset recovery

Houlihan Lokey presented a liquidity resolution plan on behalf of the creditor committee for the crypto broker Genesis and its parent company, DCG. The update comes in an attempt for the firms to pay back Gemini Earn users. The program has been frozen since mid-November amid a liquidity crises from Genesis and DGC

Coinbase approved as Virtual Asset Service Provider by Irish central bank

Coinbase was granted approval by the Central Bank of Ireland to operate as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP). The registration means the company can continue to provide products and services to individuals and institutions in Europe and internationally from Ireland.

Market Maker Auros misses $7.5 million Maple Finance loan repayment

Auros failed to make a repayment on a $7.5 million from Maple . Auros borrowed these assets from Maple delegate M11. Auros filed for bankruptcy protection in the BVI last month after losing access to $20 million held on FTX. Previously, Auros also missed repayments after it borrowed 8,400 wrapped ether (WETH) worth $10.8 million.

FastCrypto 12.23.2022

Federal Judge Releases Bankman-Fried on $250M Bail

SBF’s release was secured by equity in his parents' Palo Alto home, and a long list of requirements was included for him to remain free while he faces charges. He's not allowed to make financial transactions for more than $1,000, can't open new lines of credit, can't leave the house except to exercise and must go through substance-abuse and mental-health treatment, according to the agreement.

Regulators Orders Halt to MyConstant’s Crypto Lending Services

The DFPI blocked the platform from conducting the sale of securities in the state of California, including its lending platform and its interest-bearing accounts. The DFPI alleged that MyConstant engaged “in the business of acting as a finance lender or broker” without the needed license. The regulator highlighted how many crypto-interest account providers may not have disclosed the risks faced by customers when depositing crypto assets onto their platforms.

Aave DAO Votes to Integrate Chainlink Proof of Reserves to Tighten Network Security

Aave will implement a “proof of reserve” system to protect bridged assets on Avalanche, a decentralized finance (DeFi) twist on the centralized exchanges racing to shore up customer confidence in the wake of FTX. The DAO approved Chainlink’s Proof of Reserve smart contract by a vote of 99%. It will specifically cover Aave versions (v)2 and v3 on the Avalanche blockchain.

Stani Kulechov offloads entire LDO bag over 12 months

Kulechov sold 715,000 LDO tokens on Dec. 21. The batch represented the last of the Lido DAO Token allocation Kulechov got as a seed investor in Lido Finance. In December 2020, Kulechov was allocated a total of 2 million tokens in exchange for his investment in Lido.