Prosecutor seek to restrict Bankman-Fried’s bail terms after apparent attempts to influence witnesses

U.S. Attorneys want to restrict FTX founder and ex-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s access to encrypted messaging services and bar communication with former FTX and Alameda employees, after prosecutors suggested he was trying to influence witnesses, according to court documents. U.S. prosecutors contend Bankman-Fried’s messages were “suggestive of an effort...

4h

Crypto tax unicorn CoinTracker lays off 19 employees, citing industry gloom, ‘over-hiring’

Crypto tax unicorn CoinTracker laid off about a fifth of its staff due to market conditions. A total of 19 employees were let go from the San Francisco-headquartered crypto tax company as its leadership cited headwinds from crypto winter alongside bringing on too many people, according to an email sent to workers that was seen by The Block. "Today...

5h

BH Digital didn’t just get Dragonfly’s head of liquid strategies, it got the whole team

Brevan Howard Digital didn't just hire Dragonfly's head of liquid strategies — it scooped up the whole team.  The firm said on Thursday that Dragonfly’s Kevin Hu, a former general partner and head of the liquid strategies, had joined Brevan Howard's crypto arm and would focus on listed digital assets. But BH Digital also acquired Hu's former liquid...

5h

Azuki says Twitter account compromised after posts promote virtual land scam

The blue-chip NFT project Azuki said Friday that its Twitter account had been compromised, with apparent hackers posting two tweets that prompted users to claim virtual land. One tweet was pinned to the top of Azuki's timeline for maximum visibility.  [caption id="attachment_206380" align="alignnone" width="421"] The post scammers made on Azuki's...

9h

Ether below $1,600, Silvergate down on dividend deferral, Coinbase pops 10%

Crypto prices remain relatively steady, with most of the major coins flat or marginally higher. Silvergate sank after suspending a preferred dividend. Bitcoin was trading at $23,000  by 11:50 a.m. EST, up 0.5% over the past day, according to TradingView data. The leading cryptocurrency by market cap has been trading within this range throughout the...

12h

Bankruptcy judge approves BlockFi’s employee retention program

A New Jersey bankruptcy court judge has approved BlockFi’s request to offer bonuses to top staff. “It offers the debtor and the employee an opportunity to move forward and maximize the estate,” Judge Michael Kaplan said in a hearing on Friday. “I’m happy to approve it going forward.” The failed crypto lender previously said it is losing employees...

13h

Bitcoin miner Gryphon going public via deal to buy cannabis software company Akerna

Gryphon Digital Mining is going public in a deal to buy Akerna Corp. in an all-stock transaction. Privately-held Gryphon, which claims to be a carbon neutral bitcoin miner, will buy the publicly-traded cannabis software company, which in turn will sell its software business to POSaBIT Systems Corporation. The latter is a cannabis infrastructure payments...

13h

Virtu continues to see crypto as a ‘long-term growth opportunity’

Trading giant Virtu Financial is still committed to the crypto market, chief executive Doug Cifu said during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call.  The market-making firm has traded across several exchanges and acted as a designated market maker for bitcoin exchange-traded funds in Canada.   The meltdown of FTX and Alameda Research has not...

13h

Gains makes splash in derivatives niche on Arbitrum

Crypto derivatives exchange Gains Network has recorded $1.6 billion in trading volume on the Arbitrum blockchain one month after launch. Initially deployed on the Polygon network, Gains Network runs gTrade, a decentralized margin trading protocol.  The Gains platform enables users to trade financial derivatives of various assets, including crypto...

13h

Marathon forms Abu Dhabi bitcoin mining JV; initial project of 250MW

Crypto miner Marathon Digital is forming a joint venture with FS Innovation in Abu Dhabi to create and operate mining facilities.   The company said in a filing the initial project will consist of two digital asset mining sites comprising 250 MW. The new entity will be 80% owned by FSI and 20% owned by Marathon, and will cost an initial $406 million. ...

13h