Category: Crypto News

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Burger Swap Crypto News Market Analysis Mina Trading VeChain

Top 3 Coins to Watch Today: BURGER, VET, MINA – July 13 Trading Analysis

Let’s take a closer look at today’s altcoins showing breakout signals. We’ll explain what the coin is, then dive into the trading charts and provide some analysis to help you decide.

1. Burger Swap (BURGER)

BurgerSwap BURGER is one of the first democratised, decentralised automated market makers (AMMs) on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC). It was built without the control of any centralised authorities through the use of smart contracts. BURGER token staking allows any user to create proposals and influence the adjustment of transaction fees, block rewards, and other system parameters of the Burger Swap exchange via voting.

BURGER Price Analysis

At the time of writing, BURGER is ranked the 299th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$3.23. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:

Source: TradingView

After an 85% retracement from its May highs, BURGER found a temporary low near $0.8244. A recent move above $3.10 could be the first sign of a bullish shift but could also be a stop run before the next drop lower. 

If the market adopts a more bullish tone, the price could run through the most recent swing high. If this bounce occurs, it would likely find some resistance near $4.23, possibly reaching up to $5.74.

However, a move below the closest support near $2.85 makes stop runs on the swing lows near $2.55 and $2.34 likely. A confluence of several levels near $2.10 could provide a temporary bounce. Still, a sustained bearish market will likely target $3.42 and even $3.50.

2. VeChain (VET)

VeChain VET is a blockchain-powered supply chain platform. VeChain aims to use distributed governance and Internet of Things (IoT) technology to create an ecosystem that solves some of the major problems with supply chain management. The platform uses two in-house tokens, VET and VTHO, to manage and create value based on its VeChainThor public blockchain. The idea is to boost the efficiency, traceability and transparency of supply chains while reducing costs and placing more control in the hands of individual users.

VET Price Analysis

At the time of writing, VET is ranked the 31st cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$0.02167. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:

Source: TradingView

VET‘s 50% move during late Q1 ran into resistance near $0.08240, at the 35% extension of the Q1 swing.

An old high and the 18 EMA have provided support near $0.02083 and may give support again on a retest. This area also has confluence with the 55% and 68.9% retracements of November’s swing.

Just below, near $0.01843, the 50.8% retracement of the current Q1 swing might also mark an area of support. 

If the market turns bearish, $0.01632 is unlikely to be revisited but could see interest from bulls during any deeper retracement.

An area near $0.02848, at the 50% extension of the last week swing, could see some profit-taking if bulls break the current resistance near $0.03378. Above, old consolidations near $0.03925 and $0.04272 may also provide some resistance before another round of price discovery.

3. Mina (MINA)

MINA Protocol is a minimal “succinct blockchain” built to curtail computational requirements in order to run DApps more efficiently. Mina has been described as the world’s lightest blockchain since its size is designed to remain constant despite growth in usage. Furthermore, it remains balanced in terms of security and decentralisation. The Mina network has a size of only 22 KB, minuscule when compared to Bitcoin’s 300 GB blockchain.

MINA Price Analysis

At the time of writing, MINA is ranked the 80th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$0.6470. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:

Source: TradingView

MINA‘s 85% pump during Q1 ran into resistance near $3.26. Since then, the price has been consolidating between $0.5248 and $1.12.

Just below the monthly open, $0.6139 is the first level likely to provide substantial support. If the price breaks down through this level, overlapping levels near $0.5972 may cap a run on the lows near $0.5746 and $0.5308.

The higher-timeframe analysis points to the area near $0.7389 as the next substantial resistance. Significant selling has been occurring here on the daily chart. If this level breaks, the swing highs near $0.7928 and $0.8750 may be the next targets.

Learn How to Trade Live!

Join Dave and The Crypto Den Crew and they’ll show you live on a webinar how to take your crypto trading to the next level.

Where to Buy or Trade Altcoins?

These coins have high liquidity on Binance Exchange, so that could help with trading on AUD/USDT/BTC pairs. And if you’re looking at buying and HODLing cryptos, then Swyftx Exchange is an easy-to-use popular choice in Australia.

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Aave Crypto News DAO DeFi Stablecoins

DeFi Giant ‘Aave’ Announces Plans to Launch Own Stablecoin ‘GHO’

DeFi lending platform Aave plans to launch its own stablecoin, GHO, issued on the Ethereum network, the company announced in a blog post.

GHO would be a US dollar-pegged stablecoin over-collateralised by a diversified set of cryptocurrencies of users’ choice against their collateral. The proposal was submitted to the Aave DAO (Decentralised Autonomous Organisation) last week.

Stani Kulechov, founder of Aave, said the community would have to “start from a conservative angle and expand the new facilitators as the strategies become proven and battle-tested in DeFi“:

Interest Payments to Aave DAO Treasury

Users would have to borrow the stablecoin against their crypto funds and over-collateralise it just like any other Aave loan. According to the proposal, all interest payments generated by GHO minters would be transferred to the Aave DAO treasury:

If approved, the introduction of GHO would make stablecoin borrowing on the Aave Protocol more competitive, provide optionality for stablecoin users, and generate additional revenue for the Aave DAO by sending 100 percent of interest payments on GHO borrows to the DAO.

Aave governance proposal

Aave is one of the largest DeFi lending platforms, currently boasting US$6.76 billion in total value locked (TVL). The idea of launching a crypto-backed stablecoin is just one of the safer approaches taken by other cryptocurrency platforms instead of launching algorithmic stablecoins.

One protocol that has decided to back its algorithmic stablecoin is Tron Network, which over-collateralised its USDD stablecoin to prevent a TerraUSD-like collapse.

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Crypto News DeFi Hackers NFTs

NFT Lender ‘Omni’ Exploited for $1.4m in Reentrancy Attack

In circumstances similar to early May’s US$80 million exploit of DeFi platform Rari Capital, NFT money market platform Omni lost 1300 ETH (about US$1.43 million) in a flash loan reentrancy attack last weekend:

According to a tweet from blockchain security firm PeckShield, the July 10 attack took the form of a hacker using NFTs from a collection called Doodles as collateral to borrow wrapped ETH (WETH). The hacker exploited the reentrancy vulnerability by withdrawing all but one of the Doodle NFTs. This triggered a malicious callback function enabling the hacker to use the borrowed funds to buy even more Doodles before liquidating the loan position.

Hacker Uses Borrowed WETH to Buy More NFTs

The remaining NFT was never going to cover the debt position, which is where the reentrancy came in – the attacker was able to use the borrowed WETH to buy more NFTs prior to liquidating the loan.

According to a statement from Omni, the exploit did not impact any customers as only internal testing funds were affected, since the platform is still in beta testing mode and has since paused all operations pending a thorough investigation:

Data from Etherscan shows the hacker has already laundered the funds via Tornado Cash. This increasingly common modus operandi was also deployed when MM.Finance, the largest DeFi exchange on Cronos, had a vulnerability in its Domain Name System exploited in May, less than a week after the Rari Capital hack.

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Bitcoin Crypto News Hackers

Mt. Gox Exchange Finally To Release 150,000 BTC to Users After 8 Years

The end may finally be in sight for creditors of the infamous Mt. Gox heist. Authorities were only able to recover an estimated 150,000 of the 850,000 stolen BTC. Creditors, forced to HODL through multiple cycles have seen their stash soar in value, and now need to decide whether to take their respective proceeds in Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash or US dollars.

Mt. Gox Recap

Mt. Gox was originally founded in 2006 as an exchange to trade “Magic: The Gathering Online” cards, hence the acronym MTGOX. In 2010, it transformed into a Bitcoin exchange to provide an easy platform for users to buy and sell BTC.

At one stage, it handled over 70 percent of all bitcoin transactions globally, however through a combination of ignorance, naivety and security mismanagement, around 850,000 BTC were stolen between 2011 and 2013, the vast majority belonging to its customers.

According to blockchain analytics firm Glassnode, the Mt. Gox stash represents 0.72 percent of total supply and 1.03 percent of long-term-holder supply:

Mt Gox supply. Source: Glassnode

For a compelling account of the entire saga, crypto analyst Miles Deutscher’s Twitter thread is well worth reading:

The End is Nigh

In October last year, the rehabilitation trustee for Mt. Gox released a formal rehabilitation plan to which 99 percent of creditors agreed. Although planned distribution of the proceeds has been somewhat delayed, an email sent by Mt. Gox trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi indicates that creditors now have an important decision.

According to Kobayashi, “rehabilitation creditors” have the following choices at their disposal:

Extract from Trustee email. MtGox.com

Twitter users joked that Bitcoin Cash was even an option:

Impact on Price Action?

Given that bitcoin is 35 times higher than it was at the time of the hack, some have argued that it would be “realistic” to expect a flood of BTC sold, resulting in further price capitulation. Others have argued the opposite, suggesting that those who bought in early are likely to have had their conviction strengthened over the years, and probably wouldn’t sell into a bear market.

Time will tell how things play out, though as Ark Invest analyst David Puell notes, 2022 has thrown the proverbial kitchen sink at Bitcoin.

If Bitcoin navigates this period as proponents expect, it is likely to emerge stronger and more antifragile on the other end:

Categories
Crypto News Social media

Elon Musk Wants Out of $44 Billion Twitter Deal, Twitter Likely to Sue

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, has retracted his US$44 billion offer to buy Twitter. A notice of termination was filed through the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleging that Twitter had breached multiple provisions of its initial agreement with Musk:

‘Misrepresentations’ Made by Twitter

Just three months after Musk’s April announcement that he would purchase Twitter, the billionaire has declined to finalise the deal citing various breaches of the initial agreement, according to an SEC filing from his attorneys:

Twitter … appears to have made false and misleading representations upon which Mr Musk relied when entering into the merger agreement, and is likely to suffer a company material adverse effect.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

The SEC filing also suggests Musk had sought the necessary data to independently assess the prevalence of fake or spam accounts on Twitter’s platform. Twitter had reportedly failed or refused to provide this information:

Despite Musk’s change of heart, Twitter has no intentions to go down quietly. Bret Taylor, one of its chairmen, has shared that the company’s board seeks to close the transaction as per the original agreements. The social media giant says it will be pursuing legal action.

Initial Promise All About ‘Free Speech’

Musk initially purchased Twitter with the intention of privatising the social media giant. The billionaire touted the notion that freedom of speech would reign supreme, tweeting that he hoped that “even [his] worst critics remain on Twitter because that is what free speech means”. However, the decision was met with a sizeable backlash suggesting the move would be “dangerous for democracy”.

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Crypto News Cryptocurrency Law Solana

Solana Labs Hit With Class-Action Lawsuit Alleging SOL is an Unregistered Security

A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Solana Labs by an investor who claims the layer-1 blockchain is an unregistered centralised security.

According to the July 1 filing in a California district court, Solana investor Mark Young alleges that Solana cannot fit the definition of “decentralised” when nearly half of its supply is retained by people close to the project.

As of May 2021, insiders held 48 percent of the total SOL supply, supporting the argument that the network is highly centralised:

The suit represents Young and all investors who bought SOL tokens from March 24, 2020, forward. It accuses Solana Labs, Solana Foundation co-founder and CEO Anatoly Yakovenko, Multicoin Capital Management, Kyle Samani, and FalconX of selling the unregistered tokens.

Defendants made enormous profits through the sale of SOL securities to retail investors in the US in violation of the registration provisions of federal and state securities laws, and the investors have suffered enormous losses.

Class-action lawsuit filed against Solana Labs

Suit Invokes Howey Test

The lawsuit mentions that Solana is in violation of US law pertaining to the sale of unregistered securities and invokes the Howey Test – a four-part metric established to determine whether a transaction qualifies as an investment contract.

The suit outlines: “The sale of SOL securities constituted the sale of unregistered securities under controlling federal law. SOL securities exhibit the following particular hallmarks of a security under the Howey Test:

  • in order to receive any SOL securities, an investment of money was required;
  • the investment of money was made into the common enterprise that is Solana; and
  • the success of the investment and any potential returns were entirely reliant on Solana and [Anatoly] Yakovenko’s ability to create the promised network.”

Crypto Market Plagued by Class Actions

As regulations remain deficient, many digital platforms are finding themselves in hot water. Earlier this year, one of the world’s leading digital exchanges, Coinbase, was named in a class-action lawsuit that claimed the platform sold 79 different digital assets that constituted “unregistered securities”. US-based decentralised exchange Uniswap was also hit by a lawsuit claiming it too was selling “unregistered securities”.

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CEEK VR Crypto News Filecoin GMT Token Market Analysis Trading

Top 3 Coins to Watch Today: CEEK, FIL, GMT – July 12 Trading Analysis

Let’s take a closer look at today’s altcoins showing breakout signals. We’ll explain what the coin is, then dive into the trading charts and provide some analysis to help you decide.

CEEK is an award-winning developer of premium social virtual and augmented reality experiences. Its mission is to empower creators with the tools needed to generate new revenue streams from their artistry digitally. Ceek is helping music artists, athletes, event creators and makers create content direct to fan experiences that drive long-term sustainable engagement within existing and emerging virtual worlds.

At the time of writing, CEEK is ranked the 106th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$0.3247. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:

Source: TradingView

CEEK has bounced 320% from its early June low and is now filling in an area of inefficient trading formed from April to June.

The price is testing possible support near $0.2889. This area shows inefficient trading on the daily chart. It also overlaps with old swing lows, an old swing high, and the low end of inefficient trading on the weekly chart.

If this level fails to hold, the price might resume its bearish trend. The consolidation near the June monthly open could provide a speedbump for bears. This zone is between the recent rally’s 61.8% and 78.6% retracements. It also shows inefficient trading on the weekly and daily charts. 

For now, an area near $0.3376 offers the closest resistance. This level overlaps with the recent swing high. It’s also near the top of an inefficiently traded area on the weekly chart.

If this level breaks, bulls may be targeting $0.3850 next. Here, the price broke down in late April from its consolidation. As it broke down, it formed an area of inefficient trading on the weekly and daily charts.

If the rally continues, $0.4445 might offer the next resistance. The 9, 18 and 40 EMAs flipped bearish near this level. It’s also near the midpoint of April’s consolidation range. This midpoint is near the 61.8% retracement of the late April and early May drop.

2. Filecoin (FIL)

Filecoin FIL is a decentralised storage system that aims to “store humanity’s most important information”. The project was first described back in 2014 as an incentive layer for the Interplanetary File System (IPFS), a peer-to-peer storage network. Filecoin is an open protocol backed by a blockchain that records commitments made by the network’s participants, with transactions using FIL, the blockchain’s native currency. The blockchain is based on both proof-of-replication and proof-of-space-time.

FIL Price Analysis

At the time of writing, FIL is ranked the 39th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$5.37. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:

Source: TradingView

FIL has dropped 83% from its April high. It found support near $5.080 before starting a consolidation range.

This level, near the lows, could continue to provide support. A year-long consolidation from 2019 to 2020 pivoted around this level many times. It’s also near the middle of the last down candle before 2020’s massive rally. A retest of this level would run bulls’ stops under swing lows formed in late June and early July.

The price is testing a closer area of possible support near $5.3010. Bulls rejected bears many times in early July at this level. It’s also in the upper part of June 18’s swing low candle.

The closest resistance is likely near $5.485. This area, up to $5.680, shows inefficient trading on the daily chart. It also contains the 9 and 18 EMAs.

If the price breaks through this level, it may aim for bears’ stops above $5.9250. Even if it doesn’t reach these stops, the area between $5.8210 and $5.9525 could provide a bearish setup. Here, bears rejected bulls near the bottom of an area of inefficient trading on the weekly chart.

If the market turns more bullish, a rally beginning in this range may be aiming for the June monthly open, near $7.990. This level is near the bottom of an area of inefficient trading on the monthly chart. The daily chart also shows that bears rejected bulls here before June’s drop.

3. STEPN (GMT)

Stepn GMT is a self-styled “Web3 lifestyle app” with GameFi elements on the Solana blockchain. It combines aspects of a play-to-earn game with a fitness app to create a new category called “move-to-earn”. Users buy NFT sneakers, which they can use to earn in-game currency while walking, running, or jogging. STEPN aims to revolutionise the market of fitness applications by incentivising millions of users to follow a healthier lifestyle. The app solves several problems like “proof of movement” – proving that users really exercised – and a functioning GPS system. Moreover, STEPN incentivises users financially and plans to introduce social rewards elements and successfully contribute to carbon neutrality. 

GMT Price Analysis

At the time of writing, GMT is ranked the 69th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$0.8755. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:

Source: TradingView

GMT has retraced much of 2022’s parabolic run. It dropped 87% from its April high before rallying in mid-June.

Bulls are testing $0.8718 to see if it can hold as support. This area shows inefficient trading on the daily chart. It’s also near the top of early July’s accumulation before the most recent rally.

Even if the price eventually moves higher, it may first drop under the July monthly open to an area near $0.8099. Bulls rejected bears in early July at this level. It also overlaps with an area of accumulation in late June.

If the market sees it as bearish, a retest of $0.9514 could prove this level as resistance. Bears already rejected bulls once here. This level also contains the 40 EMA and is inefficiently traded on the daily chart.

A break through this resistance could retest an old area of inefficient trading, near $1.0832. The target would likely be bulls’ stops above highs at $1.1130 and $1.0557. 

If the price reaches this level, it may go one step further and retest the June monthly open near $1.1651. This level is at the low end of inefficient trading on the monthly chart. It’s also the origin of early June’s sudden breakdown.

Yet, while the market remains bearish, traders may want to focus on bearish scenarios. Rejection from any resistance might reach near $0.6813. This area shows inefficient trading on the daily chart. Bulls also rejected bears here on the weekly chart before starting June’s rally.

Below this level, $0.5346 may be the next target if the bearish trend continues. This area shows inefficient trading on the daily and weekly charts. It’s also just below relative equal lows, formed in mid-June. Bulls’ stops under these lows offer attractive targets to bears.

Learn How to Trade Live!

Join Dave and The Crypto Den Crew and they’ll show you live on a webinar how to take your crypto trading to the next level.

Where to Buy or Trade Altcoins?

These coins have high liquidity on Binance Exchange, so that could help with trading on AUD/USDT/BTC pairs. And if you’re looking at buying and HODLing cryptos, then Swyftx Exchange is an easy-to-use popular choice in Australia.

Categories
ChainLink Crypto News ICP Market Analysis NEAR Protocol Trading

Top 3 Coins to Watch Today: NEAR, LINK, ICP – July 11 Trading Analysis

Let’s take a closer look at today’s altcoins showing breakout signals. We’ll explain what the coin is, then dive into the trading charts and provide some analysis to help you decide.

1. Near Protocol (NEAR)

NEAR Protocol is a decentralised application platform designed to make apps usable on the web. The network runs on a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism called Nightshade, which aims to offer scalability and stable fees. NEAR uses human-readable account names, unlike the cryptographic wallet addresses common to Ethereum. NEAR also introduces unique solutions to scaling problems and has its own consensus mechanism, called “Doomslug”.

NEAR Price Analysis

At the time of writing, NEAR is ranked the 25th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$3.57. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:

Source: TradingView

During Q2, NEAR retraced 70% from its highs to support at the retracement of around $3.09.

The price shifted market structure to run to the consolidation lows near $3.40, just under the monthly open. A continued bearish trend in the market may create support just below, between $3.00 and $2.76.  

On the other hand, if the current resistance breaks, the price may find resistance near $4.23 and $5.14, whereas mid-Q2 buyers might still be trapped in longs.

The Chainlink Network LINK is driven by a large open-source community of data providers, node operators, smart contract developers, researchers, security auditors, and more. The company focuses on ensuring that decentralised participation is guaranteed for all node operators and users looking to contribute to the network. Chainlink allows blockchains to securely interact with external data feeds, events, and payment methods, providing the critical off-chain information needed by complex smart contracts to become the dominant form of digital agreement.

At the time of writing, LINK is ranked the 23rd cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$6.20. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:

Source: TradingView

LINK‘s early Q2 trend retraced near $5.80 into the consolidation that began the impulse before bouncing to $8.92. This consolidation could provide support again, although bears would first have to push the price through possible support near $6.10.

The market’s structure may be shifting bearish, with $7.40 likely to provide some resistance if this is the case. A sustained bearish move could reach the swing low near $6.00 before finding support near $5.87.

However, the bullish higher-timeframe trend may prevail, with relatively equal highs near $7.27 potentially giving an attractive target to lure the price over the monthly open. If so, the price could reach for the midpoint of the Q1 wick near $9.18.

3. Internet Computer (ICP)

The Internet Computer ICP is the world’s first blockchain that runs at web speed with unbounded capacity. It also represents the third major blockchain innovation, alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Internet Computer scales smart contract computation and data, runs them at web speed, processes and stores data efficiently, and provides powerful software frameworks to developers. By making this possible, it enables the complete re-imagination of software, providing a revolutionary new way to build tokenised internet services, pan-industry platforms, decentralised financial systems, and even traditional enterprise systems and websites.

ICP Price Analysis

At the time of writing, ICP is ranked the 34th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$6.51. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:

Source: TradingView

ICP has dropped 53% from its most recent Q2 high as it continues its nine-month downtrend. The edge of the recent swing’s lower candle bodies could provide the closest support, near $5.12. This level overlaps with the 100% extension of June’s opening rally.

Currently, the price is testing possible resistance near $7.00. This level has confluence with the 9 EMA. It is unclear if it will hold as resistance, but it’s reasonable to anticipate a run above bears’ stops at $7.30.

If the price breaks through this resistance, it may find its next resistance near $7.69. This level is near the midpoint of May 12’s swing low and the midpoint of an inefficiently traded area on the weekly chart.

A rally this high may reach slightly higher, near $8.32. This area formed the base of the June opening rally, shows inefficient trading on the daily chart, and is at the low end of May’s accumulation range.

Below, there is no historical price action to suggest possible support. The next downside targets may be near $4.70 and $3.95. These approximate levels are near the 150% and 200% extensions of June’s opening rally.

Learn How to Trade Live!

Join Dave and The Crypto Den Crew and they’ll show you live on a webinar how to take your crypto trading to the next level.

Where to Buy or Trade Altcoins?

These coins have high liquidity on Binance Exchange, so that could help with trading on AUD/USDT/BTC pairs. And if you’re looking at buying and HODLing cryptos, then Swyftx Exchange is an easy-to-use popular choice in Australia.

Categories
Blockchain Crypto News Ethereum

ETH Devs Activate ‘Sepolia’ on Testnet, Inching Closer to ‘The Merge’

Ethereum is officially one step closer to “The Merge”, a long-awaited move to a proof-of-stake blockchain from its current proof-of-work consensus mechanism.

On July 6, Ethereum test network Sepolia moved over to proof of stake, leaving only one step remaining before the entire network completes the transition, expected to happen later this year:

Two Testnets Down, One to Go

Developers have now tested the merge on two public testnets: Ropsten, which successfully merged with the original proof-of-work mechanism on June 8, and now Sepolia. The next step in the process will be for a test to take place on the Goerli testnet. When that is completed, the entire network will securely use a proof-of-stake blockchain:

Ethereum developers also agreed to delay the Ethereum ‘difficulty bomb’, which is designed to intentionally increase block difficulty exponentially over time. After a certain period, it becomes almost impossible for validators to mine a new block, thereby discouraging miners from remaining in the proof-of-work consensus.  

Ethereum’s journey to a proof of stake has been a long time coming, with the process suffering many delays. The Merge is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.

Categories
Crypto News Cryptocurrency Law USD Coin Voyager Token

Crypto Broker ‘Voyager’ Files for Bankruptcy Amid Three Arrows Default

In a move that will surprise no one even remotely invested in the digital assets space, crypto exchange Voyager Digital has this week filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as a result of exposure to failed hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) and a foundering crypto market.

Voyager’s Voluntary Petition for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Source: Southern District Court of New York

Voyager ‘Has a Plan’

Said to be owing anywhere from US$1 billion to $10 billion in assets to more than 100,000 creditors, Voyager pleads that its voluntary bankruptcy move is part of a “reorganisation plan” that, once implemented, would enable clients to re-access their accounts. In so doing, Voyager says it would “return value to customers”.

Detailing the plan, Voyager CEO Stephen Ehrlich said customers with crypto in their accounts would receive a combination of crypto, proceeds from the 3AC recovery, common shares in the newly reorganised company, and Voyager tokens:

Ehrlich added that customers with US dollars in their accounts would be able to access those funds after a “reconciliation and fraud prevention process is completed with Metropolitan Commercial Bank”.

However, the bank has since clarified that its FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) cover does not apply in the event that Voyager fails:

FDIC insurance coverage is available only to protect against the failure of Metropolitan Commercial Bank. FDIC insurance does not protect against the failure of Voyager, any act or omission of Voyager or its employees, or the loss in value of cryptocurrency or other assets.

Metropolitan Commercial Bank statement

SBF to the Rescue?

Voyager’s announcement comes after trading firm Alameda Research, founded by FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (aka SBF), led a US$60 million fundraising round for the crypto lender in May. Less than a fortnight ago, SBF warned that some “third-tier” crypto exchanges were secretly insolvent. Surely he’d seen the writing on the wall for Voyager?

Earlier this month, Voyager halted all trading and withdrawals on its platform, citing 3AC’s default on a US$650 million loan. In response, Alameda extended to Voyager a massive credit line made up of nearly US$200 million in cash and 15,000 bitcoin. Good money after bad?

Voyager says it intends to pay its employees in the usual manner and continue its “primary benefits and certain customer programs without disruption”. Trading, deposits, withdrawals and loyalty rewards, however, will remain suspended.