FTX Denies It’s Buying Robinhood, MakerDAO’s USD 500M Vote, Dfinity Sues New York Times + More News
Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
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Investments news
- Crypto exchange FTX told Reuters that it is not in talks to purchase app-based brokerage Robinhood following a report that it was exploring such a deal. However, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said that the exchange is “excited about Robinhood’s business prospects and potential ways [they] could partner with them.”
- MakerDAO, the issuer of the Dai (DAI) stablecoin, announced that it is voting on how to allocate DAI 500m (USD 500m) of treasury funds into investments in US Treasury bills and bonds.
- Crypto custody solution Anchorage said it launched staking on Ethereum (ETH) for institutions.
- Blockchain investment company Cypherpunk Holdings announced it has sold around ETH 205.82 for CAD 293,000 (USD 277,530) and BTC 214.72 for CAD 6m (USD 4.66m), and that its treasury currently holds neither ETH nor bitcoin (BTC). The move was done “in the interest of all shareholders” due to the current risk in the crypto market, according to Moe Adham, Chief Investment Officer of Cypherpunk Holdings.
- The issuer of crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) 21Shares AG announced its Crypto Winter Suite – a set of products “designed to help investors weather the bear market.” The first product introduced is the 21Shares Bitcoin Core ETP (CBTC), which launched today on the SIX Swiss Exchange, designed to offer “low-cost” exposure to bitcoin.
- Zigazoo, a social network for kids that recently launched an NFT collection, raised USD 17m in a Series A funding round led by Liberty City Ventures.
- Digital asset infrastructure provider PolySign raised USD 53m in a Series C funding round, along with securing a USD 25m credit facility with Boathouse Capital.
- Blockchain project Linera raised USD 6m in a seed funding round led by a16z crypto, with participation from investors including Cygni Capital, Kima Ventures, and Tribe Capital.
Legal news
- The Dfinity Foundation, the startup behind blockchain project The Internet Computer (ICP), has filed a lawsuit against news outlet The New York Times, their reporters Andrew Ross Sorkin and Ephrat Livni, crypto intelligence firm Arkham Intelligence, their founder and CEO Miguel Morel, and other current or former Arkham officers, agents, and employees, for defamation and unfair business and trade practices. They claim that the defendants have published a false and defamatory story about a “hit piece” report in 2021 which harmed the Internet Computer ecosystem’s operations and reputation.
Regulation news
- Crypto lender BlockFi announced that they have received their Money Services License in Iowa, USA. This means that Iowa residents can now trade stablecoins on their platform.
Mining news
- Marathon Digital announced that, on Tuesday, the company’s mining operations in Montana, USA, were left without power due to a recent storm.
Career news
- Crypto miner Compass Mining announced that their Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Whit Gibbs and Chief Finance Officer (CFO) Jodie Fisher have resigned, effective immediately, and the company is starting the search for new CEO and CFO.
- Jamil Nazarali, the global head of business development at market maker Citadel Securities, is leaving to head a joint venture the firm is building that’s intended to increase investors’ access to crypto, Bloomberg reported, citing an internal memo.
- Bitcoin applications ecosystem builder Trust Machines announced that banking giant BNY Deputy General Counsel Manas Mohapatra and social network Reddit engineer Igor Sylvester will join the Trust Machines team, while crypto exchange Coinbase veteran Asiff Hirji will operate as an advisor to the project.
