Binance pledges $2 billion for distressed crypto projects, the IMF cautions Africa on crypto adoption and Miami nightclubs mourn the absence of crypto entrepreneurs. These stories and more this week in crypto.
Binance to Help Distressed Crypto Projects
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, is committing up to $2 billion to help crypto firms facing hardship following the bankruptcy of FTX. The recovery fund is looking to back companies and projects over the next 6 months that, through no fault of their own, are facing significant, short-term, financial difficulties. The fund has already received 150 applications from companies seeking help.
CoinMarketCap Launches Proof-of-Reserves Reporting
CoinMarketCap, a leading tracker in the crypto industry, announced a new feature called proof of reserves (PoR) that audits active cryptocurrency exchanges for transparency on liquidity. The tracker details the total assets of the company and its affiliated public wallet addresses, along with the balances, current price and values in the wallets and is updated every five minutes.
IMF Warns African Nations Against Crypto Adoption
The IMF believes the FTX collapse should serve as a warning to African nations that the widespread use of crypto could also undermine the effectiveness of the monetary policy, creating risks for financial and macroeconomic stability. The IMF says the risks are that much greater if crypto is adopted as legal tender, as the Central African Republic recently did.
Turkey Authorities Seize SBF’s Assets
Amidst a probe into FTX, the Financial Crimes Investigation Board of Turkey has opened an investigation against FTX Turkey, the Turkish subsidiary of the exchange, and seized digital currencies related to the exchange; its CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, and other affiliates. The Turkish agency wants to launch a thorough investigation of FTX and Bankman-Fried to determine his role in the exchange’s collapse.
Bank of Japan to Test Digital Yen
The Bank of Japan will begin testing its digital yen in partnership with top banks and institutions. The pilot program, estimated to last two years, will focus on testing the currency via several transaction scenarios and experimenting with its functionality even in environments without internet connections.
Deloitte: Metaverse Could Add Trillions to Asia’s GDP
Financial services firm, Deloitte, estimates that the metaverse could add $1.4 trillion to Asia’s annual GDP by 2035. Noting that the metaverse market could be as large as $13 trillion by 2030, Deloitte said the metaverse is no longer science fiction and early metaverse platforms are already being used by millions.
Almost One Million Wallets Hold at least One Bitcoin
According to blockchain analytics company Glassnode, the number of wallets holding at least 1 BTC has reached 950,000, which is a new all-time high. The trend also coincides with the billions of dollars of Bitcoin and crypto exiting exchanges to be held in self-custody for the long term.
Miami Nightclubs Miss Crypto Entrepreneurs
One of the biggest clubs in south Florida, which processed $6mn worth of crypto last year when crypto entrepreneurs had flocked to Miami, revealed that it only took in $10000 in crypto in the past quarter. Most of the partygoers were young men with “nerdy style”, ordering bottles of expensive champagne only to shower in it. However a year later these partygoers have completely disappeared following the collapse of FTX.
That’s what’s happened this week in crypto, see you next week.
