Author: Ibiam Wayas

Ibiam is an optimistic crypto journalist. He loves to associate with like-minded individuals and collaborate with them on similar projects. He spends much of his time honing his writing and critical thinking skills.

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Coinbase Crypto Exchange Crypto News Regulation

Coinbase Shares Plunge as SEC Threatens to Sue for its Lending Product

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has threatened to sue cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase if it proceeds to launch its planned Lend program. Following the development on September 8, the price of the NASDAQ-listed shares of Coinbase ($COIN) dropped markedly. 

SEC Says Coinbase Lend is a Security

Coinbase planned to launch the Lend program to the public in a few weeks. Lend is an interest-earning service that will enable qualified users to lend USDC stablecoin and passively earn about four percent APY. “But today, all we know is that we can either keep Lend off the market indefinitely without knowing why or we can be sued,“ the exchange wrote in a recent blog post.

In a bid to maintain its proactiveness with the regulator, Coinbase reached out to the SEC, providing information about the product before launch. However, the SEC concluded that Lend was a security “but wouldn’t say why or how they’d reached that conclusion”. 

Coinbase Receives Wells Notice from SEC

Coinbase continued to slowly prepare Lend for public launch while also trying to engage the SEC on how it concluded the offering to be a security. This caused the SEC to issue a Wells notice, which is an official way it notifies a company that it is planning to bring an enforcement action.

Shutting these down would arguably be harming consumers more than protecting them, and by preventing Coinbase from launching the same thing that other companies already have live, they’re creating an unfair market.

Brian Armstrong, Coinbase CEO

Coinbase shares slumped by 4.1 percent to US$256 on NASDAQ following the development. At the time of writing, COIN was down 0.69 percent to US$256.42.

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Bitcoin Crypto Exchange Crypto News Ethereum Trading

Over $3.7 Billion Liquidated as Bitcoin Tanks Below $46,000 – What Happened?

Over US$3.7 billion worth of crypto positions were suddenly liquidated this week as Bitcoin (BTC) and major altcoins tanked. The market downturn was preceded by a flash selloff mostly in bitcoin, which resulted in an 11.6 percent drop in the overall cryptocurrency market capitalisation, down to US$2.16 billion over the past 24 hours.ย 

According to data from Bybt, US$3.71 billion worth of crypto futures positions were liquidated in 24 hours. A total of 375,824 traders were forced out of the market as they got overleveraged due to the sudden drop in crypto prices. The single largest liquidation (US$43.7 million) happened on the Huobi-BTC market.ย 

The total value of bitcoin liquidated at the time was US$1.39 billion. Within two hours, the price of BTC tanked by 11 percent, from US$51,101 to $45,299 on Coingecko. However, major crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase recorded as low as US$42,900 and U$42,850, respectively.

Major altcoins that were significantly affected in the flash crash include Ether (US$928.7 million), Ripple ($223.78 million), Solana ($95.1 million) and Cardano ($84.28 million).

This incident comes as a reminder of how risky leveraged trading can be, noting that it can amplify profits and losses in trading.

What Happened?

The flash crash on September 7 came as a shock to many crypto investors, given the day was supposed to be bullish as El Salvador officially legalised bitcoin. In addition to market volatility, many experts said bitcoin dropped because the El Salvador news was already priced in. Crypto researcher Larry Cermak also pointed out one possible reason was that the funding rates for altcoins were spiking too much:

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Bitcoin Crypto News

El Salvador Government Buys the Dip as Citizens Start Spending Bitcoin

On the day El Salvador legalised Bitcoin (BTC), the crypto and major altcoins were hit with a flash crash driven by a cascade of liquidations on the derivatives market. However, the incident didn’t deter the government’s stance on bitcoin. Rather, the market dip provided it an opportunity to accumulate more cheap coins.

In a tweet, the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, revealed that the country bought an additional 150 BTC yesterday, worth over US$6.9 million at the time of writing. By accumulating more bitcoin in dip, the president said the government “saved a million in printed paper”:

El Salvador currently holds a total of 550 bitcoin in its reserve. The Central American republic is the first nation to officially recognise and adopt bitcoin as a legal tender, in addition to the US dollar. 

Critics Warn the Dip Could Become a Plunge

Some people criticised the country’s decision to acquire more bitcoins in the dip. “Be careful what you wish for. The dip may end up being a much larger plunge than you expect,” said economist and long-term gold proponent Peter Schiff. 

Meanwhile, its bitcoin exposure could also see the country become an equity-based society with one of the fastest-growing GDPs.

Bitcoin Adoption Spreads in El Salvador

By legalising Bitcoin, the Salvadorean government grants citizens the freedom to freely transact, send and receive payments in the digital currency. Already, some Salvadoreans and local businesses have started accepting bitcoin for payments, including McDonald’s. Bitcoin Magazine journalist Aaron van Wirdum confirmed this as on September 7, the day after the currency officially became legal tender, he requested to pay for his breakfast in bitcoin:

Following El Salvador’s example, Panama is also introducing a law to recognise and regulate the use of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the country. More Central American nations are likely to follow suit.

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Crypto News NFTs

eBay to Allow the Sale of NFTs on its Platform

E-commerce giant eBay has dipped its toe into the burgeoning non-fungible token (NFT) market. In a blog post, the company said it’s updating its policy to include sales of NFTs ranging from digital collectibles such as trading cards, video clips to images and art.ย 

eBay is reportedly the first e-commerce company to allow such a service. As per the announcement, the initial rollout of the NFT service only involves a selected number of trusted sellers who were able to meet eBay’s standards “across categories like trading cards, music, entertainment and art“. This is more like a pilot launch aimed at enabling eBay to understand what’s important to their community.

In coming months, eBay will launch new functionalities to allow blockchain-driven collectibles. This will enable its audience to buy and sell NFT content directly on the platform.

Expect to see programs, policies, and tools that will allow our audiences to buy and sell NFTs with greater ease and confidence, across a broader range of categories.

Jordan Sweetnam, eBay senior vice-president

NFTs are Gaining Broad Support 

As Crypto News Australia reported, eBay began considering supporting crypto and NFTs early in May. The NFT frenzy is only getting stronger as other big-name corporations such as Facebook join the fray. Recently, the head of Facebook financial services, David Marcus, disclosed the social media giant is considering enabling support for NFTs on the Novi digital wallet. 

Fractionalised NFTs are also breaking out in the market. This follows the recent listing of the official Dogecoin meme NFT as fractionalised tokens, raising the initial US$5.5 million cost price to over US$300 million. Some market participants say this will be the next big trend in the NFT sphere.

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Blockchain Coinbase Crypto News DeFi

Fantom Token Surges 35% Amid Coinbase Wallet Support Announcement

Fantom announced on September 1 that its network is now supported on Coinbase Wallet, which means users can access and interact with the decentralised applications (DApps) available on the Fantom mainnet. The price of Fantom token (FTM) surged by over 35 percent amid the announcement.

Fantom’s Transaction Count Up 2400% Since May 

Given the high performance and scalability of the Fantom network, it has attracted lots of decentralised projects, including Sushiswap, Curve and C.R.E.A.M (aka Cream Finance). The transaction count and value of digital assets locked on the network have also increased by 2,400 percent to over US$750 million since May. 

With Coinbase Wallet, users are provided more options to easily participate with the fast-growing Fantom DeFi ecosystem. Additionally, the wallet can be synched with Fantom fWallet to enable users to stake and earn FTM rewards. 

To set up the Coinbase Wallet, users need to:

  • Select Fantom Opera as Active Network on Coinbase Wallet mobile app.
  • Download Coinbase Wallet extension on desktop and scan the QR code using the mobile app.
  • Deposit FTM or supported coins to the extension. 
  • Connect the extension to Fantom fWallet or supported DApps to explore the opportunities.   

Following the announcement, the price of FTM surged from A$0.9638 to A$1.3035, which represents a +35 percent increase. 

What is Fantom Token About?

Fantom is a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) platform that aims to address the scalability issues facing smart contract platforms. The Fantom token makes up a significant part of the network. FTM serves as the governance, staking and transactional currency of the Fantom network.

The price and market capitalisation of FTM has more than doubled over the past seven days, following a series of announcements from the team. Recently, Fantom declared a US$370 million incentive program for developers to build and grow DeFi protocols on the network. 

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Coinbase Crypto Hardware Wallets Crypto News

Coinbase Offers Affected Users $100 in BTC Following 2FA Errors

The NASDAQ-traded cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase says it will disburse individual compensation payments of US$100 in bitcoin to some of its customers who were affected by the recent erroneous 2FA notifications: “We recognise that issues like this can hurt [users’] trust,“ the exchange said in a post on Reddit.

Coinbase Erroneously Sent 2FA Message to 125,000 Users

Two-factor authentication (2FA) serves as an extra layer of security for users’ digital assets on the platform. It’s a security system that requires two separate authentications in order to gain access to something – in this case, cryptocurrency.

On August 27, Coinbase erroneously passed a message to about 125,000 customers, informing them that their 2FA settings had been changed. Due to the false alarm, some of the affected users began panicking that their accounts had been compromised.

Comment from discussion Film2021’s comment from discussion "Erroneous 2FA Notifications".

Shortly after the notification, however, the Coinbase team recognised and halted the issue. Given this can impact users’ trust, the exchange opted to send US$100 in bitcoin as compensation to some of the affected users. 

We are crediting a small number of users who were adversely affected by this incident with $100USD worth of BTC.

Coinbase, Reddit post

It remains unknown how many users will receive the free money. It would cost Coinbase about US$12.5 million to compensate all 125,000 affected users. 

A Timely Reminder to Hold Your Own Keys

The Coinbase incident comes as a timely reminder as to why people should HODL their own cryptocurrencies rather than entrusting them to third-party companies. It is possible for an exchange’s security or data to be breached, which leaves users at the risk of losing their coins either through hacks or phishing, as seen with Coinbase early in July. 

HODLing with hardware wallets keeps your digital assets off the internet, thus safeguarding them from cyber attacks.

This incident was the last thing Coinbase needed. As reported by Crypto News Australia in late July, the exchange is already staring down the barrel of a class-action lawsuit in relation to its NASDAQ listing.

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Banking CBDCs Crypto News Nigeria Payments

Nigerian Central Bank Reveals ‘Speed Wallet’ Ahead of October e-Naira Launch

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is set to release its official digital “Speed Wallet” to facilitate next month’s launch of the e-Naira, the central bank digital currency (CBDC).

The Nigerian apex bank has been researching CBDCs since 2017 and recently revealed it has contracted fintech company Bitt Inc as a technical partner overseeing the development of the planned digital currency.

Speed Wallet Will Aid in Transacting Digital Value

According to the CBN, Speed Wallet will not compete with or replace banks in the country. However, it will be primarily used to transact value in the soon-to-be-launched e-Naira until the existing financial institutions in Nigeria establish their own compatible wallets. No transaction fee will be charged for the wallet users. 

However, the central bank has placed daily transfer limits to the three tiers of accounts available with the Speed Wallet:

  • A 50,000 Naira (US$100) limit for first-tier users without a local bank account;
  • About 200,000 Naira (US$400) for second-tier users; and
  • And 1,000,000 Naira (US$2,000) for third-tier wallet users.

The Nigerian digital currency is scheduled to launch on October 1 to commemorate the African nation’s Independence Day. The e-Naira is being designed as a non-interest-bearing asset and will function as legal tender. 

Among other features, the e-Naira will enable increased cross-border trade, cheaper and faster remittances, monetary policy effectiveness and accelerated financial inclusion, according to the central bank. 

In its August 30 press release, the CBN confirmed it is working with Barbados-based blockchain startup Bitt Inc to oversee the introduction of the e-Naira. 

In choosing Bitt Inc, the CBN will rely on the companyโ€™s tested and proven digital currency experience, which is already in circulation in several eastern Caribbean countries.

CBN press release

Crypto Adoption in Nigeria on the Rise

In February, the CBN published a circular prohibiting local banking institutions from dealing or serving crypto-related companies in the country. This hit the Nigerian crypto market at the time, as both home and foreign companies operating in the country were affected. 

However, due to the quest to hedge against the declining value of the Naira, Nigerians switched to a peer-to-peer market. Since the ban, more Nigerians have got to learn about and join the cryptocurrency market, which coincides with the growing rate of crypto adoption in the nation.

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Crypto Exchange Crypto News Crypto Wallets Hackers

Hong Kong Crypto Exchange Bilaxy Hacked for $450 Million

Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency trading platform Bilaxy has suffered a serious attack that resulted in the loss of several hundred ERC-20 tokens on its hot wallet. It’s estimated that the exchange lost about US$450 million, though Bilaxy is yet to confirm the total amount of digital assets lost to the attacker. 

Users are advised not to send any funds to their Bilaxy accounts until further notice. 

What Happened to Bilaxy?

In its official telegram channel, the Bilaxy team said they noticed the abnormal transactions from their ERC-20 hot wallet (online wallet) around 18:19 UTC on August 29. Some minutes later, they halted all services for emergency maintenance and also moved some of the tokens from the hot wallet to the cold wallet.

This was confirmed to be a security breach, and about 295 ERC-20 tokens had already been moved from the Bilaxy hot wallet to a single wallet controlled by the hacker. Hoge Finance disclosed that about one billion HOGE was stolen from the exchange, equivalent to US$145,000 at the time of writing. 

In the meantime, Bilaxy says while it’s working with third-party security and audit companies to investigate the attack, all services will remain suspended. “The time it will take to resume the platform depends on the progress of our work, [but] it will take at least two weeks or longer,” the Bilaxy team tweeted on August 30.

Crypto Exchange Attacks Are Rising

The rate of cyber attacks in the crypto space is becoming alarming. Also in August, Poly Network was drained of about US$600 million in digital assets, although the hacker has since returned all the stolen assets. 

Most recently, Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Liquid Global lost nearly US$100 million worth of cryptocurrencies in an attack that involved a hot wallet – basically any cryptocurrency wallet that functions online or requires an internet connection. Although more convenient to use, they are also more prone to attacks than cold wallets.

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Crypto News Payments TRON

TRON Partners with Shopping.io to Integrate TRX into E-Commerce

TRON (TRX) holders can now spend their cryptocurrency on items from major e-commerce companies like Amazon. This follows a recent collaboration between the TRON network and Shopping.io, a crypto-friendly e-commerce onboarding and fulfilment service. 

TRON Users Can Now Shop With TRX

Shopping.io is more like a shop aggregator that allows customers to shop everyday items from different e-commerce companies. Per the announcement, the company said TRX holders can now spend their cryptocurrency on items from Amazon, eBay, Walmart and Etsy.

They will also receive up to a 2 percent discount at checkout when they spend TRX on purchases for two weeks. The development adds value to the TRON ecosystem as investors can use their coins to pay for real-world items. 

We are thrilled to be partnering with Shopping.io to allow our community to use $TRX on major e-commerce websites like Amazon, eBay and Etsy. Shopping.io provides users with real-world applications for their portfolio.

Justin Sun, founder of TRON

Tron Launches USDC Stablecoin

TRON is one of the leading blockchains today, and it’s the host network to several cryptocurrencies, which recently included the second-largest US dollar stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC). The stablecoin went live on TRON early in July and is now supported in about five different blockchain networks. 

At the time of writing, about 103 million USDC were issued on the TRON network, all of which are currently in circulation with up to 307,030 holders. TRON is also the second-largest host blockchain for the largest stablecoin, Tether (USDT). Over 31.9 billion USDT have been released on the blockchain, while Ethereum sees around 33.8 billion USDT.

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Blockchain Crypto News NFTs

Unseen Photos of NBA Legend Kobe Bryant Auctioned as NFTs

Late basketball legend Kobe Bryant will be immortalised on the blockchain via NFT technology. According to reports, a collection of previously unseen photographs of Bryant is being auctioned as NFTs, with funds generated from the sales directed to his non-profit Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation.

Kobe NFTs Trades on Cryptograph

The collection consists of eight images of a young Bryant shot in a meatpacking facility in downtown Los Angeles by photographer Davis Factor in 1999. The black and white images were taken just prior to the peak of Bryantโ€™s career as a professional basketball player with the LA Lakers. 

I think this shoot is special because it’s one of his first fashion shoots. The purpose of this NFT drop, for me, is to raise as much money as humanly possible to give to Kobe Bryant’s foundation.

Davis Factor, Smashbox Studios

The NFT photos of Bryant, launched on August 24 to commemorate his death last year, are being auctioned on the NFT platform Cryptograph. One of the photo-NFTs (below) attracted a 3.5 ETH bid, equivalent to US$10,994, at the time of writing. The proceeds go to the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation, which supports young women athletes and deserving communities. 

Widespread Benefits of NFTs

Over the past 12 months, NFTs have grown in popularity in diverse industries, including basketball and sports in general. Recently, Crypto News Australia reported that Indian startup Rario would launch the worldโ€™s first cricket NFTs this month. 

The benefits of NFT technology go beyond swapping or trading for quick profits. As seen with the Bryant photo auction, NFTs can serve as another viable medium to raise funds in support of communities. Crypto News also reported this month on how NFTs are helping to preserve wildlife.