More than 40 cryptocurrency firms have pledged aid to Turkey after two powerful earthquakes, and multiple aftershocks claimed thousands of lives and damaged large parts of cities in the country.

An attorney for the bankrupt crypto lender, Genesis, announced that the firm had reached a tentative agreement on a restructuring plan backed by Digital Currency Group, its parent company, and its primary creditors, including Gemini.

Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance has said it would temporarily halt U.S. dollar transfers on February 8, in a move the firm said will affect a “small proportion” of its users. Its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, said USD bank transfers are “leveraged by only 0.01% of our monthly active users.”

 Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Crypto Industry Pledges Aid to Turkey After Deadly Earthquakes
• Genesis and DCG Reach Initial Deal with Creditors, Including Gemini
• Binance to Temporarily Halt USD Transfers
• Chart of the Week: BTC, ETH, Stablecoins Total Market Cap Dominance

Crypto Industry Pledges Aid to Turkey After Deadly Earthquakes

More than 40 cryptocurrency firms have pledged aid to Turkey after two powerful earthquakes, and multiple aftershocks claimed thousands of lives and damaged large parts of cities in the country.

The earthquakes have so far claimed over 4,000 lives in both Turkey and Syria, and have seen various organizations throughout the world offer support, while the countries established an air corridor to allow search and rescue teams to reach disaster zones faster.

Cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance, BitMEX and Bybit, have said they are looking to send support or have started preparing aid packages. Cryptocurrency exchange BitGet has already pledged 1 million Turkish Lira ($53,000) in aid, while Huobi Global promised 2 million lira.

Crypto communities have been known to respond quickly to humanitarian crises, with millions of dollars pouring into Ukraine in donations following Russia’s invasion last year, and in COVID-19 relief to India, as the country struggled with a deadly outbreak two years ago.

A group of over 40 blockchain industry and research organizations in Turkey have signed a petition calling on the authorities to allow crypto-based donations. The petitioners want the creation of "official crypto asset wallets" and for them to be distributed through official channels, similar to what was done in Ukraine after the war started in February 2022, to prevent "malicious aid schemes."

Genesis and DCG Reach Initial Deal with Creditors, Including Gemini

An attorney for the bankrupt crypto lender, Genesis, announced that the firm had reached a tentative agreement on a restructuring plan backed by Digital Currency Group, its parent company, and its primary creditors, including Gemini.

During a court hearing, attorney Sean O'Neal informed a U.S. bankruptcy judge that the company is in the process of finalizing a restructuring agreement that could either result in the sale of Genesis or transferring its equity to creditors.

The agreement was supported by Gemini, which offered its users an Earn program supported by lending through Genesis. Earn attracted $900 million in deposits from 340,000 users, who saw Gemini freeze withdrawals in November after Genesis halted them as well.

Under the new restructuring agreement, Gemini will provide up to $100 million to repay Earn users with frozen assets.

Binance to Temporarily Halt USD Transfers

Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance has said it would temporarily halt U.S. dollar transfers on February 8, in a move the firm said will affect a “small proportion” of its users. Its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, said USD bank transfers are “leveraged by only 0.01% of our monthly active users.”

Zhao acknowledged the move is “still a bad user experience” and added his team is “working on quickly resolving this issue.” He added:

"While some banks withdrawing support for crypto, other banks are moving in. Some setbacks were expected from last year's incidents. Long term, keep building,"

Binance noted every other method of buying and selling crypto remains unaffected. The restriction will not affect Binance.US.

Chart of the Week: BTC, ETH, Stablecoins Total Market Cap Dominance

This week’s chart of the week shows a 2.7% drop in the combined market cap dominance of  BTC, ETH, and stablecoins, now making up 69.8% of the total cryptocurrency market cap.

This decrease in dominance indicates a shift in market sentiment among participants, as this is the largest month-on-month fall since August 2021. The decline is mostly attributed to a fall in stablecoins’ market share, down from 16.6% at the start of the year to 12.3% at the end of January.

State of the Crypto by Top Tier Exchange Volume

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