THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO
- The Merge upgrade will not reduce gas fees. The Ethereum Foundation wrote: "Gas fees are a product of network demand relative to the network's capacity. The Merge deprecates the use of proof-of-work, transitioning to proof-of-stake for consensus, but does not significantly change any parameters that directly influence network capacity or throughput." Read more here.
- Fed says banks that jump into crypto must do legal homework. The central bank on Tuesday released a supervisory letter recommending steps that lenders overseen by the Fed should take before getting involved in the digital asset industry. As a starting point, the Fed said, firms should notify the regulator prior to engaging in crypto-related activities and ensure that they comply with rules. Read more here.
- Genesis slashes 20% of the workforce and announces CEO exit after loans soured. Michael Moro, who joined Genesis in 2015 and took over as CEO the following year, is leaving the company. The company lost money that it loaned to hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, which filed for bankruptcy. Derar Islim, Genesis’ operating chief, will take over as interim CEO while the company searches for a permanent replacement.
- Crypto funds weigh market data options as correlations grow. In a sign of how close digital and traditional markets have become, cryptocurrency traders can no longer live without knowing what’s happening on stock exchanges. Tightening links between price moves in US equities and cryptocurrencies are forcing digital asset hedge funds to consider shelling out for expensive data from stock exchanges and other traditional markets. Read more here.
- Galaxy Digital ends deal for crypto acquisition. Galaxy Digital Holdings is terminating an agreement to acquire BitGo, a processor of Bitcoin transactions. digital-asset financial-services company said in a news release Monday that it was terminating the pact following BitGo’s “failure to deliver audited financial statements for 2021” that comply with the requirements of the agreement by July 31.
- Animoca is assembling a vast portfolio of finance, gaming, and social media companies, more than 340 in all. The goal, says Yat Siu, is to give people ownership over their virtual properties and break up the empires of Meta Platforms Inc. and Microsoft Corp. Yat Siu, the head of Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands Corp., is on the offensive. as the so-called crypto winter has wiped out $2 trillion in the digital currency market.
- Tether drops Cayman Islands firm in BDO Italia attestation deal. Tether Holdings Ltd. has signed an agreement with the Italian subsidiary of accountancy firm BDO LLP to issue quarterly attestations on the stablecoin operator’s reserves, shifting course as global regulators crack down on digital asset services. Tether started working with BDO Italia, an independent subsidiary of the fifth largest accounting network globally, in July, the company said in a press statement on Thursday.
- Coinbase to suspend all ETH transactions during the Ethereum merge upgrade. After success across three testing networks, programmers have tentatively set Sept. 15 for the "go live" launch on the actual Ethereum blockchain. While that launch will be transparent to ETH holders, Coinbase is taking these steps for a smoother transition. Coinbase is also warning users to be vigilant against scammers and calls to upgrade to bogus "ETH2" tokens.
- Celcius received liquidity injection offers. Additionally, news that Celsius has received court approval to sell its mined Bitcoin, appears to have many investors believing Celsius may be able to make it through its restructuring with less damage than initially thought. Right now, crypto investors appear to be banking on the idea that a resumption of normal lending and borrowing activity can be achieved at Celsius.
- Solana wallet wants to burn spam NFTs out of existence. Solana-based wallet provider Phantom has launched a new burn feature allowing users to remove spam nonfungible tokens (NFTs) sent by scammers. According to a Thursday blog post from the Phantom team, the new feature is accessible via the Burn Token tab in the Phantom wallet app, allowing users to receive a minuscule deposit of Solana (SOL) each time they use it.
