Author: Arijit Sarkar

FDIC pins Signature Bank’s failure on poor governance and illiquidity

Arijit Sarkar

The United States Federal Deposit Insurance Corp’s (FDIC) post-mortem assessment of Signature Bank of New York (SBNY) revealed poor management and inadequate risk management practices as the root cause for its collapse. Signature Bank was shut down by federal regulators on March 12 in a bid to protect the U.S. economy and strengthen public confidence in the banking system. FDIC was appointed to handle the insurance process. @federalreserve @USTreasury @FDICgov issue statement on actions to protect the U.S. economy by strengthening public confidence in our banking system, ensuring depositors’ savings…

Circle exec to join US Congressional committee hearing on stablecoin payments, legislation

Arijit Sarkar

The United States House Committee on Financial Services will hold a hearing on April 19 to discuss stablecoins’ position as a means of payment and whether the ecosystem needs supporting legislation. The committee issued a memorandum to announce an upcoming hearing titled: “Understanding Stablecoins’ Role in Payments and the Need for Legislation.” The hearing will include information collected by various federal government agencies over the last year. List of individuals testifying at the upcoming House Financial Services Committee hearing. Source: house.gov Participants testifying at the hearing include Circle’s chief strategy officer and…

Do Kwon to reportedly appeal against court’s decision to extend detention

Arijit Sarkar

Following his arrest in Montenegro while attempting to fly using fake documents, Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon will reportedly appeal the court’s decision to extend detention time for up to 30 days. A legal representative of Kwon confirmed the appeal against the Montenegrin court’s decision to detain the entrepreneur for longer than usual, according to local media Vijesti. The decision was made after Kwon was caught using fake documents at Podgorica airport while trying to fly to Dubai. Translation from Montenegro Minister of Interior Filip Adzic – “ONE OF THE…

NFT investor accidentally burns $135k CryptoPunk trying to borrow money

Arijit Sarkar

A nonfungible token (NFT) from the CryptoPunks collection worth 77 Ether (ETH) was sent to a burn address to be permanently destroyed. However, the collector’s intent was just to borrow some money against it to buy another NFT. NFT collector Brandon Riley added CryptoPunk #685 to his collection on March 13 by paying 77 ETH, hoping to hold it for the long term. Now feels like an appropriate time to introduce #BAYC 586 to #Punk 685 (acquired a week ago). Hope to hold both for a decade… LGF! pic.twitter.com/SLb68rY6MR —…

Sam Bankman-Fried to propose revised bail package ‘by next week’

Arijit Sarkar

The lawyer representing crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) in the ongoing FTX case will soon present a revised bail package to Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York. The move comes after Kaplan expressed displeasure about SBF’s use of encrypted-messaging apps and virtual private network (VPN) services while out on bail. Legal proceedings around FTX’s downfall led SBF to avoid possible jail time with a $250 million bail bond. However, while on bond, the entrepreneur used Signal, an end-to-end encrypted messaging service, to contact former FTX and…

Do Kwon had the right idea, banks are risk to fiat-backed stablecoins: CZ

Arijit Sarkar

The death spiral of the Terra (LUNA) and TerraUSD (UST) ecosystem served as a catalyst to the 2022 bear market — causing losses in the millions, damaging investor sentiment and intensifying the regulatory spotlight over cryptocurrencies. However, the recent depegging of Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) led Binance CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao to believe that traditional banks are a risk to stablecoins that are usually pegged 1:1 with fiat currencies, like the US dollar. On March 11, Circle disclosed that Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) did not process its $3.3 billion withdrawal…

Pakistan banks agree on blockchain-based KYC system development

Arijit Sarkar

The Pakistan Banks’ Association (PBA) — a group of 31 traditional banks operating in Pakistan — signed off on developing a blockchain-based Know Your Customer (KYC) platform.  On March 2, the PBA signed the project contract to develop Pakistan’s first blockchain-based national eKYC banking platform, as reported by the Daily Times. The move aims to strengthen Anti-Money Laundering capabilities while countering terror financing — an initiative led by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). The member banks include international establishments such as the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Citibank and Deutsche Bank.…

Voyager is selling crypto assets through Coinbase, suggests on-chain data

Arijit Sarkar

Voyager Digital, the centralized finance (CeFi) platform that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2022, is reportedly selling assets through the Coinbase crypto exchange. On-chain data suggest that Voyager received at least $100 million in USD Coin (USDC) in three days, starting Feb. 24. Since Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, Voyager has sent crypto assets to Coinbase on an almost daily basis, alleges on-chain analyst Lookonchain. The investigation shows that Voyager transferred millions of dollars using a mixed bag of cryptocurrency tokens, including Ether (ETH), Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Chainlink…

Understanding crypto bag holders and their mindset

Arijit Sarkar

For the first time since the 7th century, the paper-money economy found its true competition in the internet era. With Bitcoin’s (BTC) debut in 2010, the fiat ecosystem was not only challenged with proving its worth in day-to-day transactions but also safekeeping the investment ecosystem it helped build. Over the years, the crypto ecosystem attracted people from all walks of life — serving their unique financial needs while filling the gaps left wide open by the fiat ecosystem. While most of the world watched from the sidelines, trying to decipher…

Australia overtakes El Salvador to become 4th largest crypto ATM hub

Arijit Sarkar

El Salvador, the first country to legalize Bitcoin (BTC), has been pushed down yet another spot in total crypto ATM installations as Australia records 216 ATMs stepping into the year 2023. As part of El Salvador’s drive to establish Bitcoin as a legal tender, President Nayib Bukele had decided to install over 200 crypto ATMs across the country. While this move made El Salvador the third largest crypto ATM hub at the time after the United States and Canada in September 2021, Spain and Australia overtook the Central American country’s…