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• Chinese banks are showing interest in partnering with Hong Kong-based digital asset firms.
• These potential partnerships could benefit from Hong Kong’s more liberal regulatory environment.
• Julia Pang, head of banking relations at OSL, welcomes the partnership and sees it as an encouraging sign for the crypto industry.

Chinese Banks Showing Interest in Hong Kong Crypto Firms

According to a recent report from Bloomberg, Chinese banks are now showing interest in Hong Kong crypto firms. This has surprised the broader crypto community, given that China had once restricted digital currency transactions in the country.

China’s Regulatory Challenges

In 2021, China imposed a strict law stating that anyone associating with these digital assets is at risk of going to jail. However, digital currency transactions in Hong Kong have risen despite China’s regulatory challenges. Several companies are even leveraging the city’s position due to its proximity to mainland China and as a financial hub.

Potential Partnerships

The report revealed the major financial institutions in the category, which include Bank of China Ltd., Bank of Communication Co., and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, are either offering their services to digital currency firms or showing interest in providing financial services to them. It also cited that some of the banks’ representatives have already taken a step further to visit the main office of a crypto firm.

Julia Pang’s Statement

Julia Pang, head of banking relations at OSL, a Hong Kong-based digital asset trading platform, stated that her company welcomes interest and partnership with Chinese banks. She added that the latest development encourages a good level of understanding between digital asset companies and traditional financial institutions.

Impact on Crypto Market

As the crypto market continues to evolve, it’ll be interesting to see how the partnership between Hong Kong-based digital asset firms and Chinese banks will grow, including its impact on the broader industry.

• Microsoft Edge might get a crypto wallet feature according to screenshots on Twitter.
• The wallet would be built-in to the browser and non-custodial, meaning Microsoft wouldn’t have access to passwords or recovery keys.
• Coinbase and MoonPay are reportedly integrated platforms for buying and depositing crypto into the wallet.

Microsoft Edge May Soon Offer Crypto Wallet Feature

Screenshots circulating on Twitter suggest that Microsoft Edge users may soon have access to a crypto wallet feature. The integration of a digital asset wallet directly within the popular web browser has yet to be confirmed by Microsoft themselves, but speculation is already growing about the potential impact it could have on the cryptocurrency market.

Wallets User Interface

Software documenter Albacore posted early screenshots of what appears to be the Web3 wallet’s user interface (UI). It includes a cryptocurrency wallet, an explorer for decentralized applications, a news feed, and an option for purchasing cryptocurrencies using Coinbase and MoonPay. According to Albacore, newer versions of Microsoft Edge have this feature “already baked in,” but users cannot see or use it since it is hidden. Screenshots also show that users can swap, send, and buy crypto assets through Coinbase and MoonPay as “integrated platforms.”

Non-Custodial Wallet

If confirmed by Microsoft, their new crypto wallet will be embedded in Edge rather than being its own separate plugin that needs installation. Furthermore, it will be non-custodial meaning that Microsoft will not have access to any passwords or recovery keys stored within the wallet itself. However Albacore points out that many features developed and tested by them never make it out of the lab so there is no guarantee that this one will either.

Microsoft’s Foray Into Web 3

Microsoft has been actively pursuing initiatives related to Web 3 which is essentially an evolution of the internet focused on decentralizing data while giving users more control over their online experiences. One such key initiative includes developing their own decentralised applications (dApps).

Conclusion

The potential introduction of a built-in crypto wallet in Microsoft Edge could mark a significant milestone for both mainstream adoption of digital assets as well as for Web3 technology as a whole if it does indeed make its way into public releases. Until then however we can only speculate about what impact this new development could bring about if released at all.

• The US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware recently revealed the agreement between Alameda Research and N Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund to sell Alameda Research’s interest in Sequoia Capital.
• The court also approved a $445 million claim by Alameda Research on Voyager Digital regarding loan repayments.
• FTX could recover more than $5 billion in liquid crypto assets and cash due to asset sales approved by the judge John Dorsey.

FTX Exchange and Alameda Research Bankruptcy Proceedings

The saga of the FTX exchange, its sister company Alameda Research, and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried continues following bankruptcy proceedings. Various discoveries, rejected pleas, and sales of assets have been made as part of this case.

Alameda Research’s Sale Of Interest In Sequoia Capital

Recently, a court document by the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware revealed an agreement between Alameda Research and N Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund to sell Alameda Research’s interest in Sequoia Capital. The Purchaser was chosen due to its offer being superior to four other prospective buyers and speed of execution in closing the deal worth $45 million.

Asset Sales Approved By Judge John Dorsey

Judge John Dorsey has been involved in FTX legal proceedings throughout this process so far. He has allowed asset sales including those from LedgerX, Embed, FTX Europe, and FTX Japan which is expected to raise more than $5 billion in liquid crypto assets and cash for FTX.

Claim By Alameda Research On Voyager Digital

On March 8th, 2021 Judge Dorsey also approved a claim by Alameda Research on Voyager Digital regarding loan repayments worth 445 million dollars. This move is another attempt by FTX to raise enough funds to pay creditors through asset sales approved by Dorsey priorly .

Conclusion                  Overall , these developments have allowed for an agreement between purchasing parties as well as increased liquidity for creditors owed money from FTX exchange’s bankruptcy proceedings .

• Miami has retained its status as one of the most crypto-friendly markets in the US, despite competitive pressure from other cities.
• A new report from Telstra Ventures found that investments in blockchain-based projects have seen only a slight decrease compared to 2021, despite bear market conditions.
• Miami Mayor Suarez was an important ambassador for the city’s commitment to innovation and cryptocurrency last year, but FTX’s departure late in the year was a major setback.

Miami Remains Crypto-Friendly Despite Competition

The Miami region has long been known as one of the most crypto-friendly markets in the US, and recent data suggests that this position has held up despite competition from other cities. A new report from Telstra Ventures shows that investments into blockchain technology have only seen a slight decrease despite bear market conditions.

Investment Into Blockchain Projects Holds Steady

The report pulled data from over 40,000 startups that received funding during 2021 – 2022 across 28 regions. It showed that while investments into other comparable categories decreased by significant margins (31% decrease in media & advertising; 32% decrease in SaaS and enterprise / fintech), there was still plenty of interest in blockchain-based projects with only a 5% decline.

Miami Mayor Leads Innovation Push

Mayor Suarez was integral to Miami’s efforts to champion innovation and cryptocurrencies last year – he became almost a public ambassador for these causes – but FTX’s departure late into the year caused a major setback for these plans. Despite this, however, Miami remains at the top of many investors’ lists when it comes to investment opportunities relating to blockchain technology and cryptocurrency.

Competing Markets Making Moves In Crypto Space

Even though Miami is still firmly at the top when it comes to crypto friendly markets in America, other cities are making moves too – San Francisco and Austin both saw significant growth when it came to blockchain related investments during 2021 – 2022. This increased competition certainly makes things more interesting for potential investors who are looking for where best place their money within this space.

Conclusion

Despite unfavorable market conditions throughout much of 2022, Miami continued its reign as one of America’s premier crypto hubs due largely in part to its innovation efforts led by Mayor Suarez and its overall appeal as an attractive destination for tech investment opportunities. While competing markets like San Francisco and Austin are making moves too, there is little doubt that Miami still commands respect amongst those looking for good returns on their crypto investments.

• ZenGo security team released a dashboard to detect, track, and monitor potential NFT hacks using offline signatures on the OpenSea marketplace.
• The dashboard flags up to $25 million worth of NFTs hacked via offline signatures as potential hacks.
• ZenGo is also collaborating with Ethereum Foundation and other wallets to support its drafted Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) aimed at solving potential hacking issues.

ZenGo Security Team Releases Dashboard

As the non-fungible token (NFT) market continues to increase adoption, bad actors have also crept in to prey on the developing market. To help investors detect, track and monitor potential NFT hacks using offline signatures on the OpenSea marketplace, Crypto wallet ZenGo security team earlier today released a dashboard.

Detection Logic

The underlying method for the dashboard built by the ZenGo security team involves comparing data. It compares the listing amount of an NFT to the trade amount of the NFT collection floor price. If a valuable NFT was traded through OpenSea for a very low amount compared to its estimated value, then it’s highly likely that it is a scam. The dashboard leverages data from crypto data analytics platform Dune in order to initiate this comparable detection logic.

Searchable & Sortable Charts

Apart from being an NFT hack detector, the dashboard provides searchable and sortable charts that include an online updating table of a particular hack with many details and relevant links to Etherscan as well as top attackers, victims, and hacked NFT collections.

Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP)

The ZenGo team also mentioned collaborating with Ethereum Foundation, several decentralized applications (dApps), and other wallets to support its drafted Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP). This EIP aims at solving potential hacking issues related to offline signatures used for authorizing transactions with private keys kept offline.

Conclusion

The release of this dashboard by ZenGo is a great step towards creating more transparency in the marketplace so that investors can be better informed when making their decisions around purchasing or trading digital assets like non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

• Bitcoin Taproot utilization has hit a new all-time high, thanks to the emergence of Ordinals on the network.
• Glassnode’s weekly report shows both Taproot adoption and utilization have hit all-time highs recently.
• The “Taproot adoption” indicator quantifies adoption based on the percentage of total Bitcoin transactions that include at least one Taproot input involved in them.

Bitcoin Taproot Utilization Reaches All-Time High

What is Taproot?

Taproot is a Bitcoin upgrade that introduced changes to how transactions are processed in order to make them faster and more efficient. It went live back in November 2021.

The Problem with Adoption Metrics

Glassnode’s report on SegWit adoption from last year pointed out how the metric used for monitoring SegWit adoption only cares about how many transfers include at least one such input, ignoring the finer details of the transactions. To solve this issue, Glassnode came up with a “utilization” metric which actually counts all the spent outputs involved in a transfer and calculates the value based on their total.

How Does This Relate to Taproot?

This same methodology was applied to measure Taproot adoption and utilization, resulting in an all-time high of 4.2%. This indicates that more users are taking advantage of this upgrade and its benefits, making Bitcoin transactions faster and more secure.

Conclusion

The recent surge in Taproot utilization indicates that people are taking advantage of this upgrade, making Bitcoin transactions faster and more secure than ever before. As it continues to gain traction among users, we can expect even higher levels of utilization going forward.

• FTX is facing an independent bankruptcy investigation over its collapse last year.
• U.S. Bankruptcy judge is considering approval of the investigation.
• FTX is opposed to the idea and demands a refund from former donor recipients.

FTX Collapse

The FTX exchange initially portrayed itself as a trustworthy platform, but eventually collapsed when news broke that its chief executive and founder Sam-Bankman Fried aka SBF was reportedly using customer funds inappropriately.

Independent Bankruptcy Investigation

A U.S. bankruptcy judge is looking to consider the approval of an independent bankruptcy investigation into the FTX collapse, revealed in a court hearing in Delaware which took place earlier today. Though the bankrupt company admitted its actions in the past calls for a probe relating to mismanagement and fraud, it is convinced that another round of investigation from an examiner will result in more cost and delay to the company’s aim to refund victims of the collapse. State securities regulators in Texas, Vermont, and Wisconsin backed the proposal and said an unprejudiced version of the report would be advantageous to both the creditors and customers.

FTX Opposes Investigation

As a response to the appointment of an independent examiner into its case, FTX condemned the idea saying approval of an investigator would only replicate work already being done by FTX, its creditors, and law enforcement agencies, according to Reuters. The official creditors’ committee supported FTX noting that considering another investigation is unnecessary and not needed at this time.

FTX Requests Refund

As cases of the FTX collapse continue to heat up, it was reported that FTX requested a refund from former donor recipients on Monday with a press release published on Sunday stating their intentions for such action.

Conclusion

The fallout from last year’s bankruptcy filings involving FTX continues as today’s court hearing has revealed plans for an independent examination into proceedings surrounding its collapse while simultaneously demanding refunds from former donors who received money prior to its downfall. It remains unclear whether or not these requests will be granted or if this latest development will have any impact on future procedures involving this particular case; however, one thing is certain: only time will tell what other surprises lay ahead for those involved with this tumultuous situation!

• Ethereum on-chain activity has recorded a new high following the crypto market revival.
• Network usage in terms of addresses has also surged, with an all-time high of 92.5 million addresses over the weekend.
• With the transition into proof of stake (PoS) mechanism, Ethereum is expected to become a deflationary token.

Ethereum On-Chain Activity Records New Highs

The crypto market revival has caused various metrics under the Ethereum network to show steady increases over the past few months. According to data from Etherscan, the total number of ETH transferred daily on the network surpassed 1 million once again in recent years, indicating that the network activity has not had any significant decline over the past three months.

Network Usage in Terms of Addresses Surges

In addition to increased daily transfers, another metric known as network usage in terms of addresses has also seen growth. According to PrimeXBT’s recent report on Ethereum, there was an all-time high of 92.5 million addresses recorded over the weekend – a 10% increase from its previous levels.

Ethereum’s Transition into Proof Of Stake Mechanism

With Ethereum’s transition into proof of stake (PoS) mechanism, it is expected for it to become a deflationary token and eliminate sell pressure from miners. This could help further solidify its position in being second largest crypto by market cap and rival Bitcoin for top spot in future years ahead.

Rapid Adoption and Birthing Of New Ecosystems In Web3

The rapid adoption and birthing of new ecosystems in Web3 have only pushed potential blockchains such as Ethereum forward with no significant retracement or declines seen so far in its metrics or native token price holds steadily throughout bear markets according to crypto YouTuber Lark Davis’ analysis on January 29th 2021 tweet post.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Ethereum continues to amass new highs pushing forward despite current market conditions which have only continued to push its network activity even higher than before with various metrics showing steady increases over time – making this blockchain one that could potentially compete with Bitcoin for top spot soon enough if everything continues progressing positively overall!

• Floki Inu, a meme coin birthed by fans and the SHIB community, has seen tremendous performance after its governing DAO issued an important proposal.
• The proposal called for a burn of nearly $55 million worth of FLOKI tokens to reduce the tax that users pay for transacting on the network and to address potential safety hazards associated with bridges.
• After the proposal was issued, FLOKI saw a massive price increase of 25%.

The cryptocurrency world has been abuzz lately with the performance of a surprisingly popular meme coin that has been captivating the attention of investors and traders alike. Floki Inu, a meme coin birthed by fans and the SHIB community, has joined the class of rising coins and recently seen tremendous performance over the past few hours. This impressive performance has been attributed to a developmental proposal issued by its governing DAO.

As a strict Shiba Inu competitor, this meme coin has earned the nickname “Shiba Inu-Killer” and has been rapidly gaining attention from the crypto-world. The proposal issued by the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) governing Floki called for a burn of nearly $55 million worth of FLOKI tokens. This proposed change was intended to reduce the tax that users pay for transacting on the network as well as to address potential safety hazards associated with bridges.

Reports had indicated that over $2 billion alone had been either misplaced or stolen from cross-chain bridges in the year 2022. Taking this into consideration, the developers of Floki Inu felt that it was necessary to take extra precautions and address the safety risks associated with bridges. This token burn was meant to reduce the total circulating token supply and, in turn, increase the asset’s value, provided demand does not change.

The proposal was met with much enthusiasm and Floki saw a massive price increase of 25%, making it one of the fastest-growing coins on the market. As a people’s cryptocurrency, Floki Inu has been a huge success and the proposal to burn tokens has only added to its popularity. This meme coin is proving to be a serious competitor to the already established Shiba Inu coin and is likely to continue to attract more attention from the crypto-world.

• Chainalysis released a report showing that ransomware attack revenue fell by 40.58% in 2022 compared to 2021.
• The total funds from ransomware that hackers received from victims plummeted to $456 million in 2022 from $765.6 million in 2021.
• The decrease in ransomware revenue is due to organizations increasingly refusing to pay attackers, rather than the hackers limiting their efforts.

The cryptocurrency industry has experienced a surge in popularity in recent years, and with that has come an increased risk of cybercrime. According to a recently released report by on-chain analytics firm Chainalysis, the revenue of ransomware attacks has fallen by 40.58% in 2022 compared to 2021.

Ransomware is a type of malicious software that infects computers and locks them, preventing users from accessing their data until they pay a ransom. The report found that the total funds from ransomware that hackers received from victims plummeted to $456 million in 2022 from $765.6 million in 2021. However, Chainalysis cautioned that this number could be even higher, as not all addresses linked to attacks have been identified.

It appears that the decrease in ransomware revenue is not because the hackers are limiting their efforts, but rather, because organizations are increasingly choosing to stand up to criminals instead of paying them. This is likely due to the increased regulatory focus on the crypto industry, which has pushed organizations to apply stricter cybersecurity measures.

The report is a welcome sign of progress, showing that the global clampdown on cybercrime is having an effect. However, it is important to remember that this does not necessarily mean that ransomware attacks are down, as the drastic drop in payments could be attributed to organizations refusing to pay attackers. It is also possible that hackers are simply becoming more sophisticated, making it more difficult for law enforcement to track them.

Regardless of the reason, the decrease in ransomware revenue is a positive step forward in the fight against cybercrime. It is essential that organizations remain vigilant and continue to apply appropriate cybersecurity measures, as hackers are likely to continue to look for new ways to exploit the system.