Cryptocurrency

CoinSwitch Kuber's CEO Ashish Singhal said that the company's engagement with the ED was not related to any money laundering inquiry. "Enforcement Directorate-Bengaluru has been engaged with us with respect to functioning of our crypto platforms/exchanges. We are fully cooperating with them," he said in a tweet thread.

In Q2 2022, NFTs have been the topic of more debates than ever, although opinions have changed resulting in a decrease in optimism. "According to the most recent earnings announcements, this drop in confidence has been caused by discussions surrounding the cryptocurrency market decline," said Ekta Chourasia, business fundamentals analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

According to sources, the funding will take the valuation of Shardeum, which Shetty is building with his US-based Co-founder and Blockchain architect Omar Syed, to nearly $200 million. Shetty told IANS that the startup is raising seed funds, and will soon make it official once the round is completed.

Apart from FTX, Cryptonews.com, Cryptosec.info, SmartAsset.com, and FDICCrypto.com also received cease and desist letters on Friday, with the agency giving them 15 days to remove the "false and misleading statements" from their websites and social media accounts. The FDIC also mentioned a now-deleted tweet that FTX CEO Brett Harrison sent on July 20, that read "direct deposits from employers to FTX US are stored in individually FDIC-insured bank accounts in the users' names".

The proposed acquisition was the global crypto industry's first $1 billion deal. "Galaxy remains positioned for success and to take advantage of strategic opportunities to grow in a sustainable manner," said Mike Novogratz, CEO and Founder of Galaxy. "We are committed to continuing our process to list in the US and providing our clients with a prime solution that truly makes Galaxy a one-stop shop for institutions," he added.

Vauld, which last month suspended all withdrawals, trading and deposits on its platform owing to "financial challenges", said that despite extending its cooperation, "the Enforcement Directorate has proceeded to pass a freezing order, pursuant to which crypto assets in the pool wallets of the company have ordered to been frozen to the extent of approximately Rs 2,040 million".

The report by Blockchain analysis group Elliptic said one cross-chain bridge in particular -- RenBridge -- has been used to launder at least $540 million in crypto assets by hackers and fraudsters. Cross-chain bridges allow crypto assets to be transferred between blockchains, without going through a centralised service such as a crypto exchange. Billions of dollars in assets have been transferred between Bitcoin, Ethereum and other blockchains -- using bridge services such as Portal, cBridge and Synapse.

The prices of ethereum and other leading digital currencies have also rallied in the past two months, leading to hopes that this nascent market may have reached its bottom, CNN reported. But the optimism could be premature, and fleeting. Companies with direct ties to the crypto landscape continue to struggle. Coinbase reported a loss for the second quarter after the closing bell on Tuesday.

"Q2 was a tough quarter, with trading volume and transaction revenue each down by 30 per cent and 35 per cent sequentially, respectively. Both metrics were influenced by a shift in customer and market activity, driven by macroeconomic and crypto credit factors alike," the company said after reporting its Q2 results late on Tuesday.

The company has also informed the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to withdraw its licence application, no longer providing regulated digital payment token (DPT) services or token swaps. "To all users, we regret to inform you that we will be halting withdrawals, token swaps and deposits with immediate effect. We have reached this difficult decision due to recent market conditions," the company said in a statement.