The Disrupt

“With weekly stablecoin outflows topping $451 million, investors appear to be taking their tokens off FTX just as Binance dumps its FTT.

Hot on the heels of Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao declaring that Binance is liquidating its stash of FTX’s native exchange token FTT, mass withdrawals from FTX have accelerated, with weekly stablecoin outflows from FTX reaching a whopping $451 million. Conversely, Binance has seen net inflows of more than $411 million over the same period. In additional transactions, around $94 million worth of cryptocurrencies, including about $73.9 million in Ethereum, was sent from FTX to crypto lending firm Nexo.

This mass exiting of tokens from the FTX exchange comes amid reports that Alameda Research, the trading firm founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, held as much as $5.8 billion in the exchange’s native FTT token—$3.66 billion in “unlocked FTT” and $2.16 billion in “FTT collateral.”

Given such large exposure to FTT, some have speculated that this could mean a liquidity crisis for Alameda should the markets move against FTT. Shortly after these reports hit the market, CZ took to Twitter to announce that he would be offloading the firm’s FTT holdings.”

See Also: FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Denies Insolvency Rumors as Binance Liquidates FTT Token
See Also: Solana Falls and Speculation Centers on Links to Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX, Alameda

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“Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin published a technical infographic Friday sharing the updated roadmap for planned upgrades to the network. It includes an addition to the verge—a new milestone for the merge—and the creation of a new stage called the scourge, to name a few.

The scourge aims to ensure that transactions are neutral and centralization is avoided. This may also include in-protocol pre-confirmations and frontrunning protections. The scourge also includes PBS, or Proposer Builder Separation, which is the idea that constructing and proposing blocks in a blockchain should be delegated to different entities to increase network security and prevent MEV-related attacks.

The goal of the scourge is to ensure reliable and fair credibly neutral transaction inclusion [and] solve MEV issues.

Beyond the scourge, Buterin emphasized the addition of “single-slot finality” as a part of the second stage of the merge. Single-slot finality is the idea that Ethereum could be engineered to take just a single “slot” to finalize a block instead of the current time of roughly 64-95 slots.”

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“The Polygon blockchain has emerged as the leading gateway for moving Web2 consumers to Web3, Bernstein said in a research report Friday. The system has been chosen by Starbucks (SBUX), NuBank, Reddit, DraftKings (DKNG), Robinhood Markets (HOOD) and Facebook parent Meta Platforms’ (META) Instagram.

This has put Polygon in the unique position to be the Web3 on-ramp for millions of users.

Polygon’s native cryptocurrency, MATIC, rallied 30% in two days last week after Meta said it would introduce a toolkit allowing Instagram users to mint and sell Polygon-powered non-fungible-tokens (NFTs).”

See Also: Crypto hits the main stage at Web Summit in front of record crowds

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“Republicans are increasingly confident they will take control of the U.S. Congress and it could be bullish for crypto, according to some analysts and traders.

If the Republicans win the House or both chambers, that should be positive for risky assets, especially cryptos. A Republican sweep would be most bullish for Treasurys and put pressure on the dollar. It won’t be a long-lasting trend as a Republican sweep increases the odds that debt ceiling talks could provide unwanted pressure on every risky asset.

A win by the Republican Party would be considered positive for crypto on two different fronts. First, a split leadership is considered to be positive for the markets as the fear of legislation through reconciliation dissipates, and there will be more debate on fiscal policy moving forward. The second positive would be that we have seen many bills on crypto regulation stall out over the last 12 months. The change in leadership in Congress and Senate could lead to more cooperation and coordination between the parties providing a more conducive atmosphere to get some legislation passed.”

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“OpenSea appears to have taken a position in the NFT royalties debate — launching a new “on-chain” tool helping creators enforce royalties.

It’s clear that many creators want the ability to enforce fees on-chain; and fundamentally, we believe that the choice should be theirs to make — it shouldn’t be a decision made for them by marketplaces.

Finzer described the tool as a “simple code snippet,” which allows creators to enforce royalties on new and future NFT collection smart contracts and existing upgradeable smart contracts. The code will also restrict NFT sales to only marketplaces that enforce creator fees.“

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“Crypto startup LBRY violated securities laws by selling its native LBC tokens without registering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a New Hampshire judge ruled on Monday. LBRY [had] pushed back, claiming that the SEC did not give it fair notice that its sale of LBC was subject to securities laws, thus violating the company’s right to due process.

No reasonable trier of fact could reject the SEC’s contention that LBRY offered LBC as a security, and LBRY does not have a triable defense that it lacked fair notice.

LBRY founder Jeremy Kauffman has long maintained that the outcome of the case could have sweeping implications for the wider crypto industry. Kauffman said the facts in LBRY’s case would “basically apply to every company” in the crypto industry.

Much like LBRY, Ripple Labs’ defense has hinged on its claim that its native token XRP is not a security, and that, by failing to provide clarity on whether XRP was a security, the SEC did not provide fair notice that Ripple Labs’ conduct was unlawful.”

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“UK bank Santander is set to block real-time payments to crypto exchanges next year. [Until then], from November 15 onwards, payments to cryptocurrency exchanges using mobile and online banking will be limited to £1,000 per transaction with a total limit of £3,000.

We want to do everything we can to protect our customers and we feel that limiting payments to cryptocurrency exchanges is the best way to make sure your money stays safe..

Santander’s policy seems to be in line with the FCA’s cautious recent approach to crypto. Santander isn’t exactly unique among the British High Street banks in taking a prohibitive approach to crypto transfers. Almost half—47 percent—of the UK’s major banks do not support cryptocurrency.

But not all UK banks are pulling back from crypto. Neobank Revolut, which has been operating in the UK since 2015, recently launched a card that allows users to pay in crypto for their goods and services.”

See Also: Crypto Exchange Gemini Expands to 5 More European Countries
See Also: CBDCs May Need Global Regulation, EU Commissioner Says

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“The coins were found at an address in Georgia connected with James Zhong. Zhong pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud in 2012.

Zhong manipulated Silk Road’s withdrawal system by triggering 140 transactions in rapid succession, fooling the system into crediting several external wallets with the bitcoin, according to the Justice Department. The bitcoin was valued at $3.36 billion at the time it was discovered.

The Silk Road was an illegal marketplace on the darknet that operated between 2011 and 2013 and that primarily used bitcoin as a method of payment. The site collapsed following the arrest of its operator, Ross Ulbricht, who is serving a double life sentence and 40 years in prison.”