What happened this week in the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies? The most relevant local and international events, along with engaging background reports, concisely summarized in the weekly review.
Selected articles of the week:
In October 2008, the famous Bitcoin whitepaper was published under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, followed by the first version of the Bitcoin Core reference implementation in January of the following year. The mysterious Bitcoin founder remained active in online forums for almost two years. Then he suddenly disappeared from the public eye. Since then, “revelations” of Satoshi’s true identity have been circulating again and again. This week, the US television channel HBO tried its hand at the mystery. However, the clues were meager after the one-week promotional phase for the documentary.
The evidence presented by HBO for Peter Todd as the identity behind Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto turns out to be meager.
First payouts for FTX customers
The story of FTX and Alameda Research began in 2017, when Sam Bankman-Fried founded a quantitative trading firm to exploit inefficiencies in the crypto markets. Shortly thereafter, the exchange FTX was founded. With well-known investors from the venture capital sector, the platform became one of the crypto trading platforms with the highest turnover. As a market maker, Alameda Research handled a large share of the trading volume. However, the public was unaware of one crucial detail: the trading firm had access to all of FTX’s customer funds and used them to place its own bets. After the onset of a new “crypto winter”, Alameda filed for bankruptcy, taking the exchange down with it. Almost two years later, former FTX customers are still waiting for their first payouts.
Two years after the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, the insolvency administrator is beginning repayments of up to 16 billion USD.
Hedge funds investing in digital assets
According to a new survey by the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) and PwC, almost half of all hedge funds focusing on traditional asset classes are now invested in cryptocurrencies. Of the more than 40 hedge funds surveyed that trade in traditional markets, 47% are invested in cryptocurrencies. Last year, only 29% had exposure. Of the hedge funds that have already invested, two-thirds plan to maintain their crypto allocation. The rest want to invest more by the end of 2024. Improved regulatory clarity and the approval of spot ETFs helped to drive the jump.
According to a recent survey, nearly half of all hedge funds focused on traditional asset classes are invested in cryptocurrencies.
FBI launches cryptocurrency
This week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has indicted three crypto companies and 15 individuals on charges of market manipulation and fraud. According to the indictments, the defendants were responsible for billions of fake trading volumes (“wash trading”) in over 60 cryptocurrencies. These fictitious transactions are designed to artificially create the appearance of trading activity in order to make the tokens in question appear to be good investments. The defendants are then said to have sold their tokens at artificially inflated prices. This is referred to as a classic “pump and dump” scheme, which falls under the category of fraud. To confirm the allegations, the FBI booked these services with the accused companies for a cryptocurrency it had created itself.
The FBI charged Gotbit, ZM Quant, and CLS Global, as well as 15 individuals, with market manipulation of the FBI’s own cryptocurrency NexFundAI.
Upgrade for the Fantom blockchain
In addition: Fantom is a smart contract blockchain that has been competing with Ethereum since 2019. The network is characterized by low-cost and fast transactions. Further efficiency gains through the “Sonic” upgrade should make Fantom competitive against the current market favorite Solana. A look at the blockchain’s fundamentals.
Fantom’s upcoming Sonic Boom upgrade aims to enhance scalability, performance, and developer incentives for its DeFi ecosystem.
