THIS WEEK - A great AMA with the CEO of Binance
- Starbucks invests in a crypto exchange Bakkt
- Pantera Capital raises $125M for new fund
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This is a great AMA with CZ on delisting, DEX, and more
Binance has been on a roll as of late, and in this long-form interview, CEO Changpeng Zhao dives deep on a number of meaty topics. In the interview, Zhao explains how Binance's delisting process works, and why the exchange doesn't give out warnings before delisting. There's also some interesting commentary on Binance Launchpad, which is a way for the exchange to help other projects raise funding and increase their exposure within the crypto ecosystem.
The QuadrigaCX plot thickens, as its missing funds are now gone from cold storage
There was already skepticism about what really happened to Quadriga founder Gerald Cotten after he allegedly died earlier this year, and now the saga has taken another turn. After reviewing the exchange's cold storage, EY found that the funds are now entirely missing. There were other issues too - the exchange apparently kept limited accounting records and had never filed any financial reports. Now the hunt is on to find out where the funds went next - and with some suspecting the exchange was a front for money laundering, it's likely this mystery won't be solved for some time.
Here's why crypto companies still can't open checking accounts
Evan as crypto companies transform the financial markets, they still need the help of traditional financial institutions in the form of banking services. But many crypto companies are finding it difficult to even open a bank account with the likes of HSBC and others, primarily due to regulatory uncertainty. That said, groups of boutique lenders have popped up to serve this growing market. Some, like Silvergate Bank, are specifically targeting the crypto industry for clients.
What will Starbucks do next after acquiring equity in Bakkt?
Earlier this week Starbucks acquired a significant amount of equity in crypto exchange Bakkt, and will be helping Bakkt develop its first merchant-based crypto payments platform. Some, though, think this could end up creating a giant headache for the retailer as it could end up struggling to deal with onerous tax regulations set in place by the IRS.
Coinbase has cut ties with hacking team following a spyware backlash
After a significant amount of backlash following its acquisition of Neutrino, Coinbase has agreed to part ways with all members of the team. After receiving verified evidence that some members of Neutrino were part of a hacking team that sold spyware to authoritarian governments, CEO Brian Armstrong decided the acquisition went against the company's values, and then decided to let go all staff associated with the project.
Past, Present, and Future: from co-ops to cryptonetworks
As Jesse Walden of a16z points out in this insightful piece, crypto platforms share many of the same network effects as their social networking peers. Cryptonetworks are a fairly new phenomenon that allows users and platforms alike to cooperate to achieve the shared goals of the network - and this kind of cooperation generally makes it much easier to scale. Although these networks open up some exciting use cases (particularly in cooperative governance), a sturdy security architecture is still paramount.
Niall Ferguson on why a big tech digital coin could end up being a nightmare
Perhaps the most prominent historian of money, in this interview, Niall Ferguson shares his thoughts on crypto. Despite being bullish on Bitcoin, he's in favor of it acting as a form of digital gold, rather than true currency. Conversely, Ferguson believes that fiat-backed stablecoins will eventually die out, given that their basic structure precludes them from becoming a true replacement for fiat.
Here's what's next for Fidelity's digital asset trading service
Fidelity launched its digital asset custody and trading branch earlier this quarter, but it'll take its time adding Ethereum to its stable of supported cryptocurrencies. This is because another hard fork is expected later this year, in addition to several other technical changes. The financial services giant is planning for its digital asset trading service to cover 90% of the US by the end of the year, and secure the necessary regulatory approvals in the process. | | COMMUNITY NEWS - Here are 50 must-follow journalists covering crypto and blockchain. Link
- Pantera Capital has just raised more than $125M for its next crypto fund. Link
- Binance's BNB is no longer tracking with Bitcoin, and that's a big deal. Link
- Etoro is launching its crypto wallet and trading services in the US. Link
- South Korea has just created a special task force for fighting crypto crimes. Link
- EY just made it a lot easier for you to pay taxes on your crypot this year. Link
- ConsenSys is hoping for increased privacy and adoption with its latest investments. Link
- Japan financial group Nomura has invested in smart contract auditing startup Quantstamp. Link
- MakerDAO token holders approve fee increase for Ethereum stablecoin. Link
- Circle is reportedly seeking an additional $250M in its latest funding round. Link
- EOS-powered StrongBlock has just raised $4M in funding from Pangaea Capital. Link
- Kraken has poached a Sony Studios executive for its next marketing push. Link
- This is a great discussion on the future of crypto with Eva Kaili, Mike Novogratz and Charles Noyes. Link
- This week we added 40 new crypto companies to CryptoList. Link
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