Demond Cureton

Australia Surpasses El Salvador to Become 4th-Largest Global Crypto Hub Spot

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Australia has edged up a further spot on the list of the world’s largest cryptocurrency hubs, surpassing El Salvador in total numbers of automatic teller machines (ATMs), data has revealed. 

The Oceanic country reached 216 ATM by the end of the year, CoinATMRadar found in its most recent figures. Currently the country stands at 225 ATM locations, with the United States, Canada, and Spain topping the list at 33952, 2649, and 273 spots, respectively. 

El Salvador, once a leading country for cryptocurrency cashpoints, has slipped two places after Poland and Australia overtook the Central American nation. 

According to reports, Australia’s crypto ATM installations consist of 0.6 percent of total units. Globally, the world currently has 38,614 ATMs across locations

The news comes as Australia steps up its efforts to regulate cryptocurrencies, namely after the FTX scandal which rocked crypto markets worldwide. 

Australia’s Treasury recently pledged to develop a plan for regulating digital currencies due to the ongoing bankruptcy, which saw FTX, Alameda Research, and 130 affiliates file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in mid-November. 

Canberra aims to protect investors with the new regulations and has vowed to monitor the ongoing crisis and additional “spillovers into financial markets.”  

Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX’s former and disgraced chief executive has been released on $250 million bail and awaits his first hearings on his role in corruption in the company.  

Charges against himself, Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, and others, include fraud, misappropriation of funds, and many others. 

Is Solana Set to Rebound after Facing the 2022 Bear Market? 

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Solana (SOL) has recently recouped some of its losses after nosediving to its lowest price since February last year. 

The cryptocurrency spiked to roughly $10.25, or 20 percent, from the day before, where it remained at around $8 USD.  

The ongoing crypto bear market has seen SOL plummet from its top price of $267.50 in November 2021 – a 97 percent drop – along with other poor-performing cryptos such as Terra/LUNA and FTT. 

Despite this, SOL could potentially jump to new levels in 2023 due to an upward trend in its performance. This is marked by a Doji, or candlestick trend after assets open and close roughly the same, and in a set timeframe, with Solana’s noted on 29 December. 

This could see SOL reach around $15 USD, or a rise of 50 percent, which it reached on 13 November.  

High Hopes for 2023

The news comes amid several severe challenges in the cryptocurrency industry, including the collapse of three major cryptocurrency exchanges – FTX, Three Arrows Capital, and Voyage – sending crypto prices plummeting and eroding trust in the crypto market. 

Additionally, Solana faced federal crackdowns on digital coins and a massive hack, with the latter costing the company roughly $200 million USD.  

According to a 21 December Solana Solstice report, the crypto platform wrote that there had “been the highs of Breakpoint and the lows of the volatile market.”  

It said at the time: “Throughout it all, the Solana community has only gotten stronger — and kept their heads down to keep on building.” 

It cited numerous accomplishments such as its Solana Mobile Stack and Solana Mobile’s Saga device for conducting activities via dApps.

It also noted growing adoption from tech giants such as Google Cloud, who supported a “block-supporting Solana validator.” It also backed a “Blockchain Node Engine to Solana” to allow users to run cloud-based validators.

Crypto Enthusiast Nic Carter Ranks Exchanges on Proof of Reserves Health

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Bitcoin cheerleader Nic Carter has published data detailing proof-of-reserves (PoR) activity from major centralised cryptocurrency exchanges.  

According to his analysis, Carter monitored attestation to assets held, liabilities, third-party auditors, among others, to determine the top exchanges for PoR.  

Crypto exchanges Kraken and BitMex were ranked the highest on the list. His analysis found that Kraken hired Armanino for its PoR and offered clients a “good level of confidence” against hidden liabilities while re-evaluating its operations every six months. 

BitMEX, the second-highest crypto platform, utilised transparent operations models for assets, liabilities, and PoR verification. 

Regarding assets, it listed its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings along with liquidity data verified by the BitMEX multisignal. It also published full Merkle tree data of user wallets. 

Binance Ranking, Rebuttal to FUD Claims 

Conversely, Binance scored lower on the rankings chart, indicating the Chinese-owned cryptocurrency exchange’s data was not complete. 

He accused Binance’s Changpeng Zhao (CZ) of urging exchanges to post PoR but had not “yet risen to his own challenge.” 

He added: “Binance’s first PoR doesn’t grant strong assurances. It only covers Bitcoin, which only represents 16.5% of their client assets.” 

Binance Rebuttal to FUD Claims 

Despite the accusations, Binance posted a seven-point rebuttal to accusers stating the company failed to live up to transparency and PoR expectations. 

The world’s largest crypto platform hit back at such claims, citing accusations on its stablecoin consolidation, liquidity, and reserves, among others. It later verified in a CryptoQuant audit that its reserves were 99 percent accurate. 

FTX’s Bankman-Fried Reportedly Withdraws $684K from Crypto Accounts Post-Bail

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Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced former chief executive of the now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange, has reportedly withdrawn a huge sum of digital coins from an offshore account. 

According to on-chain data from decentralised finance (DeFi) watchdog BowTieIguana, the FTX founder has taken out $684,000 of his cryptocurrency funds from a crypto exchange in Seychelles despite remaining under house arrest. 

The crypto analyst tweeted on Thursday that several wallet transactions had taken place, which Bankman-Fried allegedly withdrew at the time. This could indicate that he had violated his bail conditions to avoid spending over $1,000 without court approval. 

The analysis also found that SBF transferred all remaining Ether (ETH) from his public address (0xD5758) to a new account (0x7386d), BowTiedIguana revealed. 

Sushiswap had formerly owned the new account in August 2020, which received up to $367,000 from 32 Alameda Research crypto wallets.  

It also received a further $322,000 from additional wallets and later transferred it to the Seychelles-based wallet exchange and a second to crypto bridge RenBridge. 

BowTiedIguana also found a further five transactions at 51 ETH each, totalling ($61,000), moved to new wallets and later to the “Seychelles-based exchange.”  

SBF’s wallet at address 0x64e9B later sent over three transactions of Tether (USDT) at 200,000 each to cryptocurrency exchange FixedFloat.  

BowTiedIguana said in a tweet: “As the Ethereum blockchain is an immutable public ledger, this on-chain evidence is permanently available to law enforcement and the courts,”  

The watchdog later urged authorities from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and others to look into the matter. 

The Usual Suspects? 

According to Conor Grogan, Coinbase’s strategy chief, the transactions were linked to previous Sushiswap activities.  

He said in a tweet: “These wallets — assuming they all belong to him — were heavily involved with LPing Sushi early on, well before Chef Nomi handed off the project to SBF.” 

Despite this, SBF had previously stated in September 2020 he had nothing to do with building the Sushiswap platform, contradicting Grogan’s statement.  

Additionally, Bahamian authorities announced on 12 November that they had taken possession of $3.5 billion USD in FTX cryptocurrency to avoid an “imminent dissipation” of funds linked to alleged cybersecurity attacks on the FTX exchange. 

Fiji’s Pro-Bitcoin Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka Takes Office

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A Pacific Island nation has adopted a pro-Bitcoin prime minister.

Tongan native Lord Fusitu’a assumed office on 24 December and tweeted support for Fiji’s Bitcoin adoption. In the recent past, Tonga set new regional records by using Bitcoin as a legal tender.   

According to the new prime minister, he believes that “Fiji can do bitcoin legal tender like Tonga” and that there would be two “Legal Tender Bills for the Pacific in 2023.” 

Due to economical and geographical differences, Tonga and Fiji face challenges to building their economies and national development agendas. Bitcoin adoption aims to boost financial inclusivity to eliminate high poverty, crime, and fossil fuel reliance rates. 

Similar countries such as El Salvador and the Central African Republic (CAR) have passed similar measures for crypto to become a nationally-recognised legal tender.   

One of the advantages to Fiji is its use of geothermal and volcanic power, which the nation can use for its Bitcoin mining activities, offering a competitive advantage over Tonga. 

Lord Fusitu’a continued: “Like Tonga, how to do nationalized Bitcoin mining, specifically how we were going to do geothermal volcano mining so they could both do the same but also make use of their massive hydro and other renewable stranded energy they have, which we don’t.” 

The news comes amid the archipelagic country’s National Development Plans to provide only renewable energy to all islands by 2030. The country must generate an additional 120 megawatts to reach its goal, which authorities aim to achieve with Bitcoin mining. 

Almost 75% of Unregulated Exchange Transactions are Fake

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Roughly three of four transactions across unregulated exchanges are fakes, new research has revealed amid the ongoing FTX collapse.

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research’s (NBER) Crypto Wash Trading working paper, more than 70 percent of 29 studied exchanges were wash trades. 

Researchers categorised each exchange in the findings with statistical and behavioural studies. It explained that wash trading on some tier-2 exchanges had reached up to 80 percent of total trading volumes. 

The report read: “These estimates translate into wash trading of over 4.5 trillion USD in spot markets and over 1.5 [trillion] USD in derivatives markets in the first quarter of 2020 alone.” 

Research from the paper also explained the short-term incentivisation of wash trading, adding fake transactions impacted exchange rankings for websites like CoinMarketCap. It also hit cryptocurrency prices in the short term on such exchanges. 

Explaining further, it said that exchanges established over longer periods and with larger numbers of users wash traded less.  

It read: “We find that an exchange’s wash trading is positively correlated with its cryptocurrency prices over the short term. We also find that exchanges with longer establishment histories and larger userbases wash trade less. Less prominent exchanges, in contrast, have short-term incentives for wash trading without drawing too much attention. Moreover, wash trading is positively predicted by returns and negatively by price volatility. 

The news comes amid the ongoing FTX bankruptcy, where the exchange platform, its research wing Alameda Research, and 130 affiliate companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November.  

Its disgraced former chief executive, Sam Bankman-Fried, has been extradited to the United States following the platform’s collapse. He has been released on $250 million bail and awaits multiple charges involving misappropriation of funds and monetary fraud, among many others. 

Alameda Research Loaned FTX over $546m for Robinhood Shares

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Former FTX chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly borrowed more than $546 million from subsidy research firm Alameda Research to buy Robinhood shares, later used for collateral to receive a loan from bailout provider BlockFi. 

The Antigua and Barbuda High Court received Bankman-Fried’s affidavit on 12 December was publicised on 27 December. The document showed that he and Zixiao “Gary” Wang had received loans via four notes from April to May. 

The firm received the four loans valued at $316.6 million, $35.1 million, $19.4 million, and $175 million. Bankman-Fried and Wang received the first two on 30 April and latter two on 15 May, respectively. 

Bankman-Fried later funded Emergent Fidelity Technologies Ltd, his shell company based in Antigua, used to buy 7.6 percent of total shares from Robinhood, totalling $648 million, in May.  

The news could cause troubles as the company battles for its acquired Robinhood shares worth more than 56 million, worth roughly $430 million. 

Conversely, BlockFi has launched a countersuit against Emergent, stating the firm had used the loans money for collateral for its BlockFi loans on 9 November. 

In a plea deal, former Alameda chief executive Caroline Ellison said in a 23 December testimony that Alameda had been “borrowing funds that FTX’s customers had deposited onto the exchange.” 

The news comes after FTX requested US judges to block BlockFi from receiving the money, just shortly after Sam Bankman-Fried’s two main firms filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November. FTX argued in the case that laws protected it from debt collectors. 

Mark Cuban Blasts Gold Buyers on Bill Mahar Podcast as ‘Dumb AF’ as He Backs Bitcoin

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Several debates over the value of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and gold have erupted across media. One discussion involved Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Bill Mahar on his 26 December Club Random podcast. 

In the talks, he staunchly backed Bitcoin over gold, stating he was “rooting for Bitcoin.”  

He said: “I want Bitcoin to go down a lot further so I can buy some more [..] If you have gold, you’re dumb as fuck.” He concluded that people should “just get Bitcoin.” 

Despite some lauding his comments, others voiced outrage on social media, slamming him for his alleged lack of knowledge of virtual currencies. 

Peter Schiff, chief economist and global strategist for Euro Pacific Asset Management, hit back at his comments. He said:  

“After Bitcoin crashes I hope [Mark Cuban] does buy more as he told [Bill Mahar] he would. It’ll give others an opportunity to sell. His lack of understanding of Bitcoin is only exceeded by his lack of understanding of #gold. He proves that you don’t have to understand money to make it.” 

Stalwart Crypto Supporters  

The news comes after

In late November, US lawmaker Cynthia Lummis doubled down on her support for including Bitcoin and other currencies in her 401(k) retirement plans, despite backlash from other Senators. 

In a Semafor article, she stated that she was “very comfortable” with allowing people to include Bitcoin in retirement funds, adding, “it’s just different than other cryptocurrencies.” 

Pershing Square Capital Management founder Bill Ackman also tweeted support for cryptocurrencies amid the ongoing aftermath of the FTX scandal. 

In late November, he said the “crypto is here to stay” but added regulators should tighten restrictions and remove “fraudulent actors.” 

He added: “I am making the case that crypto can facilitate potentially useful and important businesses that heretofore could not exist. That said, the success of any individual project is a function of the ultimate.” 

BTC Miners Sell-Off Nearly All Holdings for 2022 – Messari Report

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Bitcoin (BTC) miners publicly listed on exchanges have sold nearly their entire mined BTC in 2022, sparking discussion on the gains for Bitcoin prices previously stated in media reports. 

According to Tom Dunleavy, an analyst for Messari, a blockchain research company, cryptocurrency miners sold roughly 40,300 out of 40,700 BTC mined in the crypto space.

Involved crypto miners include Riot, Core Scientific, Marathon, Hive, Bit Digital, and others, with transactions taking place from 1 January to 30 November this year. 

This has significantly lowered reserves in the second half of the year, with lows peaking in November due to the ongoing FTX collapse. This has caused Bitcoin prices to slump, Dunleavy added. 

Despite this, numerous reports have evidenced Dunleavy’s claims, with Bitcoin Visuals noting on 26 December that Bitcoin’s daily trade volumes topped $12.2 billion. Conversely, CryptoQuaint figures showed outflows reached $15.35 million the same period, or 0.13 percent of total trading volumes

December saw miner reserves recover by roughly 1 percent despite ongoing challenges such as skyrocketing electricity costs, a turbulent crypto market, several collapsed cryptocurrency platforms such as FTX, and increasing difficulty mining digital coins.

Core Scientific Sell-Off 

The news comes after numerous mining firms were forced to sell reserves for their operations and expansion plans, namely due to declining hash rates, reports have shown.   

Core Scientific, one of the biggest firms to date, sold 9,618 in Bitcoin in April 2022 to cover the costs of plummeting revenues.

It reportedly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy despite efforts to bail out the embattled company. While facing its earnings crisis, it stated it would continue cryptocurrency mining operations. 

B Riley proposed a $72 million non-cash lifeline as Core Scientific nosedived from $4.3 billion USD in July 2021 to $78 million as of December. 

Ethereum Bid for Major Exchanges Triggering Censorship, Data Shows

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Ethereum (ETH) has provided investors with substantial capabilities to determine levels of compliance amid current efforts to regulate cryptocurrency markets, reports show.

Sanctions in the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) have forced compliance for roughly 60 percent of Ethereum blocks after the Merge update.  

This major compliance rate has allowed Ether to receive a high degree of compliance. Data shows that 67 out of 100 Ethereum blocks had forced compliance with OFAC regulations.  

Miner’s Remorse?

Ethereum’s censoring capacity on miner extractable value (MEV) relays has caused speculators to question the blockchain ecosystems’ neutrality, reports show.  

Currently, Binance, Coinbase, Kraken and others use MEV relays, which mediate between block producers and builders, on their platforms. Censorship in the blockchain ecosystem has sparked other cryptocurrency platforms to develop non-censoring MEV-boost relays to mitigate the issue. 

Non-censoring platforms for validators and relay operators include Aestus, Ultra Sound Money, BloxRoute Ethical, Manifold, and others. 

Ethereum ‘Scourge’ Combats Censorship

The news comes after Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin announced in November he would add his Scourge technical roadmap to the cryptocurrency. 

The update aimed to boost the platform’s proof-of-stake network to provide “reliable and credibly neutral transaction inclusion” while avoiding protocol risks from MEVs. This hopes to combat miners exploiting transactions on the network and censoring investors, reports showed at the time.

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