Bitcoin | $18,464 | 7 day: +12.6% | Ethereum | $600 | 7 day: +30.4% | All crypto | $550b | 7 day: +17.5% | Bitcoin dominance | 62.4% | 7 day: -2.5% | Prices as of 10 a.m. EST | |
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (left) Binance has sued Forbes, and two of its writers, for defamation in U.S. Federal Court over an October article that accused the cryptocurrency exchange of misleading regulators. Binance claims Forbes should not have relied on a leaked document, "Tai-Chi," regarding Binance Holdings Ltd. and its corporate structure. More: - The Forbes article outlined alleged schemes by the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange to bypass U.S. regulatory obligations and profit from U.S.-based investors.
- The two writers, Michael del Castillo and Jason Brett, reported that according to the Tai-Chi scheme, Binance aimed to set up a U.S.-based subsidiary to act as a decoy for U.S. regulators.
- The report notes that Binance could have ulterior motives for its U.S. operation, Binance.US, which generates negligible liquidity relative to Binance.com.
- Binance.US generates $20M in daily transactions, "perhaps just enough to be a distraction to regulators," according to Forbes. In contrast, Binance.com claims to process over $9.4B.
- Forbes claimed that Harry Zhou, co-founder of a San Francisco based company called Koi Trading, in which Binance invested, created the leaked document.
- Binance's complaint suggests that Zhou was never an employee, despite his relationship with Binance's investors.
- Forbes updated the article, replacing Zhou's name with "senior executive" following the suit. However, a Forbes spokesperson says that they stick to their reporting.
- Binance has assured Coindesk that despite the lawsuit, it still believes in freedom of the press. "We and any leading industry players need media to keep us accountable and reporting information to the public.”
For more analysis, we dedicated an entire edition to Forbes' landmark investigation here at Inside Cryptocurrency. Law360 | |
Which party will win in court: Forbes or Binance? | | | | |
Bangkok, Thailand Thailand's SEC has amended regulations regarding net capital to accommodate digital asset trading. - A local news report indicates that Thailand's government aims to support digital asset trading.
- Liquidity more than tripled on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) this year.
- With the help of newly-revised net capital rules, the Thai SEC would consider digital assets as capital funds.
- In consideration of the substantial volatility in the value of digital assets, the maximum mark-to-market valuation of a digital asset would be 50% of its market capitalization.
Bangkok Post | |
Andy Haldane, Bank of England Executive Director Bank of England's Chief Economist speaks in favor of digital currencies. - Bank of England's (BoE) Chief Economist and Executive Director, Andy Haldane, gave a speech during the TheCityUK 10th Anniversary Conference on Nov. 18, 2020, stating that digital currencies could be a useful tool for mitigating the damage of negative interest rates and other negative consequences of central banking.
- Haldane said that the role of any central bank digital currency (CBDC) in overcoming the zero-lower bound (ZLB) requires more attention and discussion.
- Haldane told delegates that for U.K. policymakers, ZLB on interest rates is an urgent monetary issue.
- BoE's Haldane suggests that digital currencies may also encourage innovation in payment technologies like banknotes, cheques, and ATMs.
- The BoE is considering a cut to the base rate of ZLB, meaning that banks would begin charging their customers for deposits. Europe already has a prevailing negative interest rate system.
The Block Crypto | |
VMware Founder Diane Green Dell-owned (NYSE:DELL) blockchain services are now available for enterprise customers from VMware. - VMware is owned by Dell and announced new enterprise services such as Byzantine state machine replication, fault-tolerance, and ordered transaction consensus.
- VMware's blockchain started in August 2018 as Concord.
- VMware's announcement mentions that its enterprise-grade blockchain platform utilizes a smart contract language named "DAML," developed by Digital Asset.
- VMware suggests that its blockchain platform fulfills the critical requirements of a business-level multi-party app. Through the VMware blockchain launch, the company expects to find key customers in various sectors such as healthcare, retail, financial services, and manufacturing.
The Block Crypto | |
OKEx claims that withdrawals will resume on Friday, Nov. 27. - We covered the facts related to billions of dollars of frozen funds at the troubled exchange in a previous edition here at Inside Cryptocurrency.
- The Malta-based cryptocurrency exchange (that derives a substantial portion of its revenue from China and its diaspora) processes billions of dollars in daily transactions.
- Most activities on the exchange stopped on Oct. 16, 2020, as Chinese police reportedly detained the founder and private key holder, Mingxing "Star" Xu. Recently, a news report surfaced claiming some aspects of that story were fake.
- The announcement resulted in a 25% rally in the price of OKEx's exchange token, OKB.
- Rumors of Xu's release from police detention began spreading on Chinese media platforms as early as Nov. 18, 2020.
OKEx | |
The crypto industry has lost at least $7.7b to fraud and hacks. - Crystal Blockchain detailed in a report the amounts of various hacks and frauds since 2011.
- Crystal's report does not include infrastructure maintenance fees, altcoins that have declined over 95% in value, or other failed businesses. Had these losses been included, losses would be significantly higher.
- Crystal itemized just 136 breaches in its analysis and the report covers incidents in over 40 different countries.
- The Mt. Gox incident, Coincheck, OneCoin, and PlusToken are among the largest losses.
- Harvest Finance's recent DeFi loss of $34m on Oct. 26, 2020, was the most recent addition.
Crystal Blockchain | |
QUICK HITS: - Hackers gained control of domains for bitcoin mining giant NiceHash, as well as cryptocurrency exchange Liquid. Other possible victims include Bibox.com, Celsius.network, and Wirex.app.
- The Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training will record university and high school diplomas onto a blockchain.
- Lukka, a crypto company holding AICPA SOC 1 Type 2 and SOC 2 Type 2 certifications, will distribute its pricing data over IHS Markit.
- Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency futures exchange CoinFLEX announced the launch of an interest-bearing stablecoin, flexUSD, paying interest every eight hours for lending in CoinFLEX's repo market.
- Coinbase published a transparency report, noting 1,914 government information requests on its customers.
- An algorithm that analyzes Twitter comments and invests in crypto is beating the S&P.*
*This is a sponsored post. | |
| | Written and curated by wide-eyed bitcoin watcher since $1, Aaron Wise. Streaming headline junkie, Associated Press fanboy, eye-strained news terminal watcher, 2017 founder of Cryptocurrency Newsfeed. Temporarily based in Florida while awaiting the construction of cryptopia. | | Editor | Alexander Huls is a Toronto-based journalist. He has contributed articles about true crime and pop culture to The New York Times, Men's Health, Popular Mechanics, and other fine publications. Follow him on Twitter @alxhuls. | |