The Crypto Roundup: 10 June 2024

Latest price and news from the crypto space

Latest price from our hand picked list of digital assets

The U.S. Department of Justice has said in a Delaware bankruptcy court hearing that it has taken custody of $450 million in Robinhood shares from the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The shares were purchased in May 2022 through a holding company called Emergent.

Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has reached a $100 million settlement with the New York Department of Financial Services following investigations into failures to scale its compliance program.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a limited objection to Binance.US’s proposed $1.02 billion purchase of the assets of bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Voyager.

Sponsored: B2BinPay, a crypto payment processing provider, has announced several updates to its platform and services to improve accessibility and affordability for businesses of all sizes.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

DOJ Seizes Robinhood Shares From FTX
Coinbase Reaches $100 Million Settlement Over Failure to Scale Compliance Program
SEC Raises Concerns Over Binance.US’s $1 Billion Deal for Voyager Assets
Crypto Spot Trading Volumes Dip to 2019 Levels
Sponsored: B2BinPay Announces Modernized Website, Updated Pricing, New Tokens, and Merchant Models

DOJ Seizes Robinhood Shares From FTX

In an affidavit filed in December, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and co-founder Gary Wang said they used funds taken in loans totaling $546 million from Alameda Research to fund the purchases.

A lawyer for FTX has noted that the owner of the shares is unclear. A likely claimant for them – besides FTX creditors, is bankrupt crypto lender BlockFi, which said they were promised to it by Bankman-Fried and is suing to obtain the pledged shares. U.S. Attorney Seth Shapiro said:

The next court hearing is scheduled for January 20, 2023. The presiding judge has blocked out the entire days’ calendar to focus on the case.

Coinbase Reaches $100 Million Settlement Over Failure to Scale Compliance Program

The NYDFS fined Coinbase $50 million and required the firm to invest an additional $50 million into its compliance program in a settlement, after the regulator found holes in the exchange’s review of customer identities and alerts on transactions. The settlement reads:

"Coinbase lacked sufficient personnel, resources, and tools needed to keep up with these alerts, and backlogs rapidly grew to unmanageable levels. By the end of 2021, Coinbase had a backlog of unreviewed transaction monitoring alerts grow to more than 100,000 (many of which were months old), and the backlog of customers requiring enhanced due diligence ('EDD') exceeded 14,000.”

The exchange has had a digital asset business license with the NYDFS, known as a BitLicense, since 2017. The license is seen as the most rigorous regulatory regime in U.S. crypto and entails ongoing examinations.

SEC Raises Concerns Over Binance.US’s $1 Billion Deal for Voyager Assets

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a limited objection to Binance.US’s proposed $1.02 billion purchase of the assets of bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Voyager.

The regulator questioned the adequacy of the information in Binance.US’s disclosure statement, specifically details on the exchange’s ability to “consummate a transaction of this magnitude,” as well as how it plans to secure customer assets.

The SEC said it has communicated its concerns to the exchange’s counsel and was told that a revised disclosure statement will be filed ahead of the next hearing.

The Texas State Securities Board and the Texas Department of Banking also filed an objection to the sale of Voyager's assets to Binance.US, claiming that both companies are "not in compliance with Texas law and are not authorized to conduct business in Texas."

Crypto Spot Trading Volumes Dip to 2019 Levels

In December 2022, total spot trading volumes decreased by 48.4% to $544 billion. Top-tier spot volumes, which represent 92.6% of total spot volume, decreased 47.2% to $504 billion, while lower-tier spot volumes decreased 59.7% to $40.2 billion.

This marks one of the lowest periods of spot volume recorded since December 2019. This also represents the highest market share that top-tier exchanges have ever recorded.

Read more in CryptoCompare’s December 2022 Exchange Review.

B2BinPay Announces Modernized Website, Updated Pricing, New Tokens, and Merchant Models

B2BinPay, a crypto payment processing provider, has announced several updates to its platform and services to improve accessibility and affordability for businesses.

The company has lowered fees for outgoing transactions and the onboarding charge for Enterprise clients, providing cost savings for customers. The B2BinPay website has undergone a redesign with an improved user interface (UI) and new sections, including information on On-Chain and Off-Chain transactions, a list of supported currencies, and a frequently asked questions (FAQ) page.

B2BinPay has also expanded its support for additional tokens and cryptocurrencies, including Cardano (ADA). The company has introduced a new Merchant (Crypto Settlement) model, allowing users to create BTC, USDT, or USDC wallets.

The platform includes an Application Programming Interface (API) that enables businesses to easily integrate blockchain technology into their payment systems. B2BinPay's internally developed technology allows for Off-Chain transactions to be processed instantly and at no cost, making it a convenient option for businesses accepting crypto payments.