Senate Banking Committee Holds Hearing on Recent Bank Collapses, Calls for Tougher Regulations

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, also known as the Senate Banking Committee, held a hearing to discuss the recent bank collapses in the United States and the regulatory response. Throughout the testimonies, digital assets and crypto businesses were mentioned. Senate Banking Committee chairman Sherrod Brown claimed on Tuesday … Read more

Makerdao Issues Emergency Proposal to Address $3.1B in USDC Collateral After Stablecoin Depegging Incident

On March 11, 2023, the decentralized finance project Makerdao issued an emergency proposal following the USDC depegging incident that saw the stablecoin dip down to $0.877 per unit. At the time of writing, Makerdao commands $3.1 billion in USDC collateral that backs a portion of the project’s stablecoin, DAI. Makerdao Proposes Changes to Limit Exposure … Read more

Bybit Halts US Dollar Deposits via Bank Transfer Due to Service ‘Outages’ From Partner

On March 4, 2023, cryptocurrency exchange Bybit announced that it had suspended U.S. dollar deposits via bank transfer. Bybit cited “outages” from its partner as the reason for the suspension of USD deposits via bank transfers and the SWIFT network. Bybit Suspends USD Deposits, Wire Transfer Withdrawals Open Until March 10 The cryptocurrency exchange Bybit, … Read more

Massachusetts-Based Bankprov to End Loan Offerings Secured by Cryptocurrency Mining Rigs

The Amesbury, Massachusetts-based Bankprov, a subsidiary of Provident Bancorp, has announced that it will no longer provide loans secured by cryptocurrency mining rigs. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EX-99.1), Bankprov stated that revenue from its digital asset loan portfolio will continue to decrease as the company has discontinued new loan … Read more

Unredacted Financial Documents Show Blockfi’s $1.2 Billion Connection With FTX, Alameda Research 

Unredacted documents mistakenly sent to the bankruptcy court indicate that the now-defunct crypto lender Blockfi had more than $1.2 billion tied up with FTX and Alameda Research. The accidentally revealed documentation shows that Blockfi’s exposure to the bankrupt crypto firm FTX was more than what the company had previously disclosed. Unredacted Documents Reveal Blockfi’s $1.2 … Read more

Basel Committee Finalizes Rules for Bank Exposure to Cryptocurrency Assets

The Basel Committee, the organization in charge of setting global bank standards, has finalized its new rules related to banks and cryptocurrency exposure. The document establishes two different crypto asset classes, including tokenized real assets and stablecoins in one, and other cryptocurrencies in another, discriminating on the collateral and quantity that banks might hold for … Read more

2 More Crypto Platforms Pause Withdrawals as Liquid Global and Salt Lending Cite Exposure to FTX

On Nov. 15, 2022, the crypto exchange Liquid Global revealed that it has suspended fiat and crypto withdrawals “until further notice.” The same day, customers leveraging the crypto lending platform Salt were also informed that Salt has paused withdrawals and deposits. Furthermore, the crypto lender Blockfi is reportedly in the process of filing for Chapter … Read more

Galaxy Digital Reveals Update on Ties to FTX, Partnership Has ‘Exposure of Approximately $76.8 Million’

Following the issues surrounding FTX, the publicly-listed firm Galaxy Digital published its third-quarter earnings report and noted it has an “exposure of approximately $76.8 million of cash and digital assets to FTX.” The news follows a great number of exchange executives announcing that they had zero material exposure to the troubled exchange. Galaxy Digital Has … Read more