Aditya Baradwaj, a former engineer at the bankrupt cryptocurrency trading firm Alameda Research, has revealed that the company was behind bitcoin’s 87% plunge in 2021.
Baradwaj explained the events that led to the sudden drop, saying the incident was a result of a work philosophy established by Alameda’s co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), which maintained that the utility gained by moving fast outweighed the occasional costs paid due to a poor risk management system.
Alameda Behind BTC’s 87% Drop 2 Years Ago
On October 21, 2021, BTC experienced a flash crash after skyrocketing to $67,000. While the leading digital asset had plummeted by a small amount on several exchanges, Binance.US, the American arm of the world’s largest crypto exchange, saw the worst of it.
On trading

Rich Dad, Poor Dad’s Robert Kiyosaki has once again voiced his support for bitcoin (BTC), gold and silver.
This time, the author noted that he considers questions he has received about the future prices of BTC, gold, and silver to be silly and that the most important one should be how much of the assets investors own today.
Kiyosaki Calls to Buy BTC Again
In a recent X post, the American businessman said BTC, gold, and silver are “bargains” today and might not be tomorrow, so worrying about their prices in 2025 is silly. He believes the best time to buy the assets is now, as they are cheaper.
Kiyosaki mentioned America being broke as his reason why people should purchase the leading crypto asset and the precious metals today. He wants them to be prepared for the impending

A weekly market report by America’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, has outlined several reasons why the forthcoming mass token liquidation by its bankrupt rival FTX is unlikely to cause market shocks in the ecosystem.
The research report, written by Coinbase head of institutional research David Duong, disclosed that analysts at the exchange found some factors that should mitigate the risks of market shocks when the assets are eventually sold.
FTX’s Forthcoming Crypto Liquidation
On September 13, Judge John Dorsey of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware approved FTX’s motion to sell its crypto assets worth $3.4 billion, which included Solana (SOL), bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), Aptos (APT), and other tokens.
FTX’s top holdings are $1.16 billion

Movement Labs, a community-driven technology company, has completed its pre-seed fundraising round and the launch of a tool from the Movement software development kit (SDK) on the Avalanche blockchain.
According to a press release sent to CryptoPotato, Movement Labs raised $3.4 million through the pre-seed round to enable the advancement and adoption of Move, a smart contract development language with safeguards that protect against attack vectors like reentrancy and DoS.

Movement Labs’ pre-seed round was led by several industry leaders, including Blizzard — The Avalanche Fund, dao5, Borderless Capital, and Varys Capital.
The round also involved angel investors like the co-founders of web3 infrastructure provider Ankr, dao5’s George Lampeth, and Eigenlayer’s Calvin Liu,

The dYdX Foundation, a non-profit organization behind the decentralized crypto exchange dYdX, has released its semi-annual report detailing its ecosystem growth and milestones reached in 2023.
According to the report, the foundation fostered the development of the dYdX protocol and grew the community in preparation for the release of the v4 open-source software – the dYdX Chain.
The Journey So Far in 2023
The foundation said the regulatory challenges of the crypto industry, corporate failures, and the aftermath of the crypto exchange FTX bankruptcy highlighted the role of decentralized finance with a focus on self-custody, transparency, and eliminating intermediaries.
Since dYdX announced its plans to become a fully decentralized protocol in January 2022, the exchange has

The United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it will extend the deadline for crypto firms to implement the strict marketing rules created to protect consumers.
According to an official release, the core rules will still come into effect from October 8, 2023, while measures that require greater technical development, like the 24-hour cooling-off period, can be implemented from January 8, 2024.
FCA Extends Deadline for New Crypto Rules
The FCA has labeled cryptocurrencies as high-risk investments and warned people to be prepared to lose all their money if they purchase such assets. The regulator has instructed that crypto marketing materials must be clear and labeled with risk warnings to protect UK investors.
An authorized firm must approve all public

American financial services giant JP Morgan is exploring a new type of token that will speed up its cross-border payments and settlements.
People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the multinational financial services firm has developed most of the underlying infrastructure needed to launch a deposit token. However, the firm is waiting for approval from U.S. regulators.
JP Morgan to Launch Deposit Token
A deposit token is a digital coin that serves as a deposit claim against a commercial bank. They act as digital versions of the deposits held in customers’ accounts. The token may first be denominated in dollars and then become available in other fiat currencies over time.
JP Morgan does not intend to use the token as a replacement for stablecoins or for the

Blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence has found that on-chain wallets tied to the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) hold more than $16 billion in BTC.
In a recent tweet, the crypto data tracking platform said that the trust’s issuer, Grayscale Investments, is the second largest global bitcoin holder, with the assets spread across more than 1,750 different addresses.
Grayscale Holds Over $16B in BTC
Arkham noted that Grayscale has refused to identify GBTC’s on-chain addresses for security reasons, although the digital currency asset management company publicly reports its balances. The analytics firm said each wallet holds no more than 1,000 BTC, totaling $16.15 billion.
In November 2022, Grayscale disclosed that all digital assets underlying its products are in the

A recent study by blockchain and Web3 software company Consensys has found Nigeria to be leading in cryptocurrency awareness across all continents, with 99% having heard of the asset class and 91% willing to invest.
The survey was taken by 15,158 people online across 15 countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Argentina, France, India, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, the Philippines, and Nigeria, from April 26 to May 18, 2023. Together with market research and data analytics firm YouGov, Consensys weighted the data collected based on gender and region to ensure appropriate representation of the national populations.
Nigeria Emerges as Global Leader for Crypto Awareness
Consensys found that almost everyone in Nigeria has heard of cryptocurrencies, and four in every five

Portuguese soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo has taken a lie detector test for the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, an activity he called one of his hardest challenges.
The lie detector test stirred mixed reactions and speculation from the crypto community regarding Binance’s aim for subjecting the soccer megastar to such activity.
Ronaldo’s Partnership With Binance
Ronaldo’s lie detector challenge comes barely two months after he launched his second non-fungible token (NFT) collection called “Forever CR7: The GOAT” on Binance.
The duo signed an exclusive multi-year partnership in June 2022 to create NFT collections that would attract Ronaldo’s fans to the Web3 space. As one of the greatest players in soccer history, Ronaldo has five Ballon d’Ors, 850 career goals,

A few days ago, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in favor of digital asset management company Grayscale Investments in its lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The court ordered the agency to review its rejection of Grayscale’s application to turn its flagship Grayscale Bitcoin Trust fund (GBTC) into a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). This caused an uproar in the community as crypto assets, including bitcoin (BTC), surged with glee, and GBTC narrowed its discount to less than 20%.
Grayscale sued the SEC in June 2022 after the agency rejected its application filed in October 2021 despite multiple delays. The Commission had claimed that the asset manager failed to disclose how it would prevent market manipulation but

Bitcoin (BTC) has slid back to the $26,000 price level, where it was before a U.S. court ruled in favor of digital asset management company Grayscale Investments in its lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Crypto analytics firm Santiment noted that on-chain data shows that the digital asset has retraced its steps after plenty of push and pull by news of the Grayscale win.
BTC Declines After Grayscale Win
On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturned the SEC’s rejection to review Grayscale’s application to turn its flagship fund into a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The ruling ordered the securities regulator to vacate its decision to reject the asset manager’s application.
Recall that Grayscale filed an application

Leading cryptocurrency exchange OKX has released its tenth proof-of-reserves (PoR) report, becoming the first digital asset platform to release ten consecutive monthly PoR reports.
According to a press release, the latest numbers show balances of $10.4 billion in primary crypto assets like bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), and Tether (USDT).
OKX Publishes 10th PoR Report
The Seychelles-based exchange covered 22 digital assets, including USD Coin (USDC), Ripple (XRP), Dogecoin (DOGE), Solana (SOL), Polkadot (DOT), and OKB, in the latest audit. BTC, ETH, XRP, and SOL have reserve ratios of 102%, while USDT and USDC have ratios of 103% and 100%.
OKX’s August PoR report disclosed that the USD value of its reserves has dropped by roughly $1 billion from the $11.3 billion reported in

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a motion to dismiss seven expert witnesses proposed by the legal team of Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the disgraced founder and former CEO of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
According to a Monday filing with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the DOJ insisted on precluding all the witnesses because their opinions are inappropriate subjects for expert testimony, irrelevant to the trial, and may confuse the jury.
DOJ Moves to Dismiss SBF’s Proposed Witnesses
The proposed expert witnesses are Lawrence Akka, Thomas Bishop, Brian Kim, Joseph Pimbley, Bradley Smith, Peter Vinella, and Andrew Di Wu. If the court permits, they will offer opinions, which the DOJ described as

Data analyzed by the on-chain analytics platform Nansen shows that blue-chip non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are struggling, and their floor prices have plunged significantly.
According to the firm, the floor prices of most blue-chip NFTs crashed by more than 25% in the last 30 days. At the same time, the prices of a few collections recorded significant growth.
Blue-Chip NFTs are Struggling
Blue-chip NFTs are collectibles expected to have sustainable long-term value because of their cultural significance, historical trading activity, collector demand, rarity, and strong fundamentals.
An NFT floor price is the lowest amount for which an asset within a collection can be bought or sold. It is updated in real-time, recorded in ether (ETH), and gives insight into the activity and

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, announced the termination of its crypto debit cards for customers in the Latin America and Middle East regions from September 2023.
According to a response to inquiries by an X (formerly Twitter) user, the Binance crypto debit cards will no longer be available in the affected regions from September 21.
Binance Halts Crypto Debit Cards in Select Regions
A crypto debit card, just like similar products, enables users to handle their daily expenses. The difference is that this type is funded with cryptocurrencies.
Binance said the card termination affects a “tiny portion” of its customers – less than 1% of users in the select regions.
“Users of this product will have until September 21, 2023, when the card will no longer be

Cardano’s founder, Charles Hoskinson, believes the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will not come after the project’s native token, ADA.
During a recent YouTube interview on Corey Costa’s Crypto Coins, Hoskinson pointed out that there has been no enforcement action against ADA so far, and that would not change because the asset was mentioned as a security in a lawsuit against a crypto exchange.
SEC is Not Coming After ADA
In two recent lawsuits against the world’s leading crypto exchanges, Coinbase and Binance, the SEC classified roughly 12 tokens, including Cardano (ADA), Binance Coin (BNB), Solana (SOL), Polygon (MATIC), and Filecoin (FIL), as securities, insisting that they ought to be registered before being listed on exchanges.
Coinbase CEO Brian

The latest edition of the Bitfinex Alpha report revealed that cryptocurrency traders are bracing themselves for “choppy waters” ahead due to bitcoin’s sudden plunge after a languid period.
On-chain data analyzed by researchers at crypto exchange Bitfinex showed a surge and flatline in implied and historical volatility metrics, suggesting that traders have adjusted their strategies in preparation for impending volatility over the next month at least.
Choppy Waters Ahead
Last week, bitcoin’s sudden plunge toward the $25,000 mark left markets reeling with over $1 billion in futures liquidations. The asset had enjoyed an almost serene period before the decline as traders sought the next catalyst to trigger a sharp move in the market. This was evident in bitcoin’s open interest

RECUR, a non-fungible token (NFT) company that raised $50 million in an investment round nearly two years ago, has become the latest victim of the current bear market.
Over the weekend, the NFT platform announced that it plans to gradually shut down its operations starting this month, with a full business closure slated for November.
RECUR Calls It Quit
At the time of the announcement, RECUR said it had halted primary and secondary sales on August 18. However, the firm will allow users to transfer their NFTs to external wallets and withdraw all redeemable balances accrued before August 31.
According to the company, RECUR will disable NFT deposits by November 9, 2023. Traders will have until November 16 to withdraw their remaining NFTs and USDC from the platform, and users

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has sentenced Melbourne-based cryptocurrency lending firm Helio for falsely claiming it held an Australian credit license (ACL) in August 2019.
According to an official release from the ASIC, Helio was sentenced to a non-conviction bond and entered into a recognizance of A$15,000 ($9,600) for 12 months on the condition of good behavior.
ASIC Sentences Helio
The Australian securities regulator charged Helio in April 2022, accusing the firm of falsely representing in a news article on its website that it held an ACL, whereas it did not. The lender also mentioned in an investor update that it obtained the license through the acquisition of CashFlow Investments.
However, on both occasions, Helio, which offered

A crypto wallet connected to the October 2022 BNB Chain $600 million exploit has lost roughly $63 million on the decentralized lending platform Venus Protocol due to liquidation that resulted from the massive bloodbath in the market yesterday.
According to a series of tweets by blockchain security firm PeckShield, the exploiter’s wallet was first liquidated of 1.1 million Venus BNB (vBNB) worth around $9.9 million with the asset’s price as $9.4. The second liquidation was approximately 5.6 million vBNB worth $52.3 million.
BNB Chain Hacker’s Loan Position Liquidated
During the 2022 BNB Chain hack, the attacker minted two million BNB tokens, using 900,000 to borrow roughly $150 million worth of Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) against Venus. As BNB’s price continued to

Blockchain analytics platform Santiment revealed that the increased short positions in the crypto market provide an opportunity for bullish investors to position themselves for an uptick in prices.
In a recent tweet, Santiment said traders have doubled down on their short positions due to the market’s current downturn.
Traders Bet Against Crypto Markets
With many traders betting against the market, the likelihood of liquidation increases and, possibly, the prices of assets too. The platform disclosed that the current signal is one that many bullish investors have been waiting for as they prepare for a rise in prices.

🧐 Traders are shorting now as #crypto market caps continue their downturn. When the crowd begins to bet against markets, it increases the likelihood of

Dante Disparte, the chief strategy officer and head of global policy of the second-largest stablecoin issuer Circle, has blasted crypto firms that create counterfeits of the U.S. dollar.
According to a Bloomberg report, Disparte called for relevant federal legislation around stablecoins to protect consumers and prevent investors from companies with fake USD.
Circle CSO Criticizes Firms That Counterfeit USD
Disparte said the several bank failures in the U.S. earlier this year drove investors into unsafe and opaque crypto assets overseas, showing the need for sound monetary policy in the United States. He questioned the ability of any company to forge the USD using cryptographic methods, insisting that setting relevant rules would maintain transparency and ensure investor

Investment products for XRP, the native crypto asset of the Ripple network, have recorded the 16th consecutive week of institutional inflows since the start of 2023.
According to data analyzed by CoinShares in its latest Digital Asset Fund Flows Weekly Report, XRP saw $0.5 million in inflows during the past week.
XRP Sees Inflows for the 16th Week
CoinShares found that digital asset investment products saw inflows of $29 million following three weeks of outflows. Bitcoin recorded the highest influx of $27 million, with its short funds experiencing outflows of $2.7 million.
Bitcoin’s dominance was followed by Ethereum’s, which led altcoins with inflows of $2.5 million, Uniswap with $0.7 million, XRP with $0.5 million, and Solana with $0.4 million. XRP’s inflows represent

Digital asset platform Bakkt Holdings is refocusing on its cryptocurrency custody solutions due to recent market events and increased client interest.
In a Q2 earnings report, Bakkt touted its “compliant and trusted” custody platform, citing the current need for multi-custodian access and self-custodial functionality due to clients’ difficulty in storing digital assets safely.
Bakkt Renews Focus on Crypto Custody
Bakkt Custody was a core part of the firm’s business before its public listing in October 2021. By May 2020, the company had expanded its institutional custody solution to serve over 70 clients and struck several partnerships with major financial institutions.
The platform also partnered with insurance broker Marsh to offer customers coverage of more than $500

Cryptocurrency trading platform Kraken dethroned its rival Coinbase to become the most liquid United States exchange for altcoins in July.
According to a tweet by Dessislava Laneva, a research analyst at crypto data platform Kaiko, by the end of July, Kraken had claimed 47% of the market depth in the US for the top 10 altcoins.
Kraken Claims Largest U.S. Market Depth for Altcoins
As of January 2023, Kraken had only a 39% share of the market depth of altcoins, while Coinbase had 45%. At the same time, Binance.US, the American arm of the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance, had a market share of 7% while six other platforms collectively accounted for 9%.
However, data analyzed by Kaiko researchers found that Kraken’s market share has increased to 47%, leaving Coinbase

The hackers behind the recent exploit of several pools on the decentralized exchange Curve Finance have returned approximately 73% of the stolen crypto assets, accounting for about $52.3 million.
Blockchain security firm PeckShield revealed Monday that Curve Finance lost $73.5 million in the hack. With the amount recovered so far, the exchange is looking to recoup the remaining $19.7 million.
Curve Finance Recovers $52M of Stolen Assets
Eight days ago, Curve Finance suffered a reentrancy attack that affected four pools using a certain version of the Ethereum Virtual Machine smart contract programming language Vyper. The hack extended to several decentralized finance protocols, including Metronome, Alchemix, and Ellipsis.
On August 3, Curve, Metronome, and Alchemix

Kenyan police officers have reportedly raided a warehouse belonging to the recently launched crypto project Worldcoin, carting away documents and machines for investigative purposes.
According to a report by local media KahawaTungu, police officers showed up at the Nairobi-based warehouse over the weekend with a search warrant and multi-agency officials. They left with equipment believed to store data collected by Worldcoin.
Worldcoin Nairobi Warehouse Raided
Recall that the Kenyan government ordered the suspension of all activities related to Worldcoin’s registration and the distribution of its native token WLD on August 2, less than two weeks after the project’s launch. Relevant agencies want to investigate the legality and authenticity of the project’s launch.
Worldcoin

Global payments giant PayPal has deepened its footsteps into the crypto industry by launching a dollar-backed stablecoin dubbed PayPal USD (PYUSD). The move makes PayPal one of the first large U.S. financial companies to launch its own stablecoin despite regulatory uncertainty around crypto assets in the country. 
As a USD-pegged stablecoin, PayPal USD maintains a fixed value to the U.S. dollar, and it will be issued by the popular white-label stablecoin maker Paxos Trust Co.
Like other USD-pegged stablecoins, PYUSD is backed by USD deposits, short-term treasuries, and other cash equivalents, according to a Fortune report on Monday.
For now, users can only use PYUSD for crypto and web3-related activities, such as in-game payments and exchanges with other crypto assets. But

Decentralized exchange Curve Finance has teamed up with Metronome and Alchemix to offer a 10% bug bounty to the attackers behind the recent exploit that saw more than $50 million siphoned off the platforms’ pools.
According to an on-chain message on one hacker’s Ethereum address, the protocols are willing to cease the pursuit of the case if the attackers return 90% of the stolen funds, keeping 10% for themselves.
Curve, Metronome, and Alchemix Offer Hacker 10% Bounty
Recall that four Curve Finance pools were exploited on July 30. The attackers were able to access the pools using Ethereum Virtual Machine smart contract programming language Vyper through a malfunctioning re-entrancy lock.
The exploit affected decentralized finance protocols like Metronome, Alchemix, and