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PAYBACK TIME: Crypto exchange Bitfinex said Tuesday that it had begun repaying a loan from its sister company Tether. Bitfinex borrowed as much as $700 million from the stablecoin issuer through a line of credit in early 2019, according to legal filings by the New York Attorney General (NYAG)’s office. The exchange said it needed the cash to make up for an $850 million hole which resulted from its payment processor, Crypto Capital, having its funds seized by authorities in three separate nations. On Tuesday, the exchange said it had transferred $100 million from its account to Tether’s. Full story
GEMINI ATS? The Winklevoss-owned cryptocurrency exchange Gemini will apply for a broker-dealer license from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), CoinDesk has learned.This is the first step toward becoming an approved Alternative Trading System, where customers can lawfully swap digital securities. Gemini previously partnered with tokenized securities platform Harbor, which allows institutional investors to buy securities with Gemini’s GUSD stablecoin and to also receive dollar-denominated dividends via GUSD. A source with knowledge of Gemini’s operations told CoinDesk the plan is to permit securities from external platforms such as Harbor to eventually trade on Gemini. However, winning the necessary approvals may take time. Full story
BINANCE TO THE FUTURES: Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, is soon to launch crypto futures trading. During a presentation at the Asia Blockchain Summit, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, founder and CEO of the exchange, showcased a working futures trading interface, saying it will be launched “very soon.” CZ further indicated that Binance might offer 20 times leverage on futures, which will be available for bitcoin initially. Also announced today, the operator of Binance’s upcoming U.S. crypto exchange, BAM Trading Services, has hired a former Ripple executive as its CEO. Catherine Coley will be responsible for rolling out the new platform. Full stories here and here
CFTC APPROVED: Binance isn’t the only firm with bitcoin futures on the way. ErisX has just been cleared to offer futures contracts thanks to a derivatives clearing organization license approval from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday. While no firm timeline was provided, ErisX said it would launch its futures contracts – which would be physically-settled, meaning customers receive real bitcoin and not the cash equivalent – “later this year.” Full story
‘DISAPPOINTED’: Masterchain, the bank blockchain project developed under the auspices of the Russian central bank, is missing the mark, the project’s key participant told CoinDesk. Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, has decided to wind down its participation in Masterchain, said Oleg Abdrashitov, head of the institution’s blockchain lab. Calling the system inefficient, insecure and slow, Abdrashitov said his bank will shift its blockchain work to other, more widely used enterprise platforms. Full story
HUOBI GOES DEFI: Huobi Group is building a “regulator-friendly” public blockchain specifically designed for use cases within decentralized finance (DeFi). In a press release Tuesday, the blockchain services firm and cryptocurrency exchange operator, said the planned offering – for now dubbed Huobi Finance Chain – will allow financial institutions, businesses and exchanges to launch their own blockchains, tokenized assets and DeFi services. “Among other applications, the project will have the potential to host lending services, debit services, stablecoins, security token offerings (STOs) and other means of asset issuance, decentralized exchanges (DEXs), real-world payment services, and more,” Huobi said. Full story
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DEEPER DROP? Bitcoin has fallen below $10,000 on the back of high sell volumes, reinforcing signs of buyer exhaustion on the weekly chart. Further, the short-term technical indicators have turned bearish. As a result, a deeper drop toward the former resistance-turned-support of $9,100 looks likely. The bearish case would weaken if the price violates resistance at $11,100 on the back of high volumes. Full story |
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| BLOCKCHAIN HUB? Ohio businessman Bernie Moreno has revealed plans for a blockchain hub to be developed in Cleveland, Cleveland.com reports. The new “City Block,” to be built in a converted shopping mall, will act as a hub for entrepreneurs both within and outside the blockchain space. However, while initial plans saw the facility being entirely dedicated to blockchain development, the actual plans have a broader focus. Moreno said, “I started with a mindset that this could be a blockchain hub, and as we got more and more people engaged in the community and heard feedback, we adapted the mission to be much more focused on, what does the community really want?” |
WHO WON #CRYPTOTWITTER  |
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