Hi Stackers,
Here’s the top news this week put together by our team.
BlockFi Files for Bankruptcy, Bitfront Shuts Down, and Kraken to Cut 1,100 Global Jobs
The cryptocurrency lender known as BlockFi has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection because the exposure to the collapse of the FTX exchange hurt it. The filing in New Jersey court came as crypto prices plummeted.
"BlockFi's Chapter 11 restructuring underscores significant asset contagion risks associated with the crypto ecosystem," said Monsur Hussain, senior director at Fitch Ratings. BlockFi also sued a holding company for Bankman-Fried, seeking to recover shares in Robinhood Markets Inc. pledged as collateral before BlockFi and FTX filed for bankruptcy protection.
A US base cryptocurrency exchange, Bitfront, backed by the Japanese social media firm Line Corp, said that it has suspended new sign-ups and credit card payments and will cease operations within the next few months, despite efforts towards overcoming the challenges of the industry.
"However, despite our efforts ... we have regretfully determined that we need to shut down BITFRONT in order to continue growing the LINE blockchain ecosystem and LINK token economy," the company said in a statement on its official website.
The cryptocurrency exchange known as Kraken announced that it would cut its global workforce by 30%, which is around 1,1000 employees, due to the tough market conditions which have decreased the demand for digital assets. The higher interest rates and worries of an economic shutdown have also made cryptocurrencies seem like risky assets for investors, with recent bankruptcies adding to this worry. Kraken has seen a decrease in trading volume alongside fewer client sign-ups, adding that the layoffs will take the total size to where it was 12 months ago.
Fidelity Opens Retail Bitcoin Trading Accounts, Brazil’s Congress Moved Towards Regulating Crypto Payments, and Animoca Brands Plans to Launch $2B fund for Metaverse Business Investments
Fidelity, one of the largest financial service providers globally, began opening retail Bitcoin trading accounts. Specific users, typically those on the waiting list, had received an email detailing the release, stating, “The wait is over.”.
Brazil’s Congress passed a bill that would regulate the use of cryptocurrency as a means of payment throughout the country, which can potentially boost the adoption of digital assets in the nation. Brazil's Chamber of Deputies approved a new regulatory framework, which has been signed under code PL 4401/2021 and will include digital currencies and frequent traveler rewards from airlines in the definition of "payment agreements" under the supervision of the country's central bank.
Animoca Brands also announced plans towards the launch of a fund that will have up to $2 billion, aiming to invest in Metaverse-related businesses. Animoca Brands has made 66 investments throughout the first half of 2022, a majority of which are in the cryptocurrency space.
Coinbase Wallet Will End Support for BCH, ETC, XRP, and XLM; and Apple Blocked the App Due to the NFT Feature
Coinbase Wallet has announced that it will no longer support numerous cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), XRP Ledger (XRP), and Stellar (XLM), beginning from December 5, citing low usage.
Furthermore, Coinbase Wallet also made an announcement on Twitter on December 1 that users cannot send NFTs on the iOS application because Apple blocked the last app update until the team disabled the feature.
Telegram Announced Plans Towards Building a Dex After FTX’s Failure and Solana-Based Market Maker Integrated Stripe for FIAT-to-Crypto Transactions
Pavel Durov, who is the founder of the messaging platform Telegram, and is its current Chief Executive Officer (CEO), announced that the company would begin the creation of non-custodial wallets and decentralized exchanges that can let millions of users safely trade cryptocurrencies.
One of Solana's leading automated market makers (AMMs), Orca, has announced a new integration. Specifically, Orca will integrate with Stripe to power the new FIAT-to-crypto on-ramp, which as a result, will make Decentralized Finance (DeFi) a lot more accessible to users that are inside and outside of the ecosystem.
Thanks for reading,
James