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BlockFi announces deal with FTX US, including ‘option to acquire’ for $240M

According to CEO Zac Prince, BlockFi signed agreements with FTX US totaling $680 million — for a company that had a $5 billion valuation in June 2021.

FTX US has inked a deal with BlockFi that will give the crypto derivatives exchange the option to purchase the lending firm.

In a Friday Twitter thread, BlockFi CEO Zac Prince said the crypto lending firm had signed agreements with FTX US for a $400-million revolving credit facility as well as the option to acquire BlockFi “at a variable price of up to $240 million based on performance triggers.” According to the CEO, the deal was reached as part of an effort “to bolster liquidity and protect client funds” at BlockFi.

The agreements are still subject to shareholder approval. Prince said volatility in the crypto market, “particularly market events related to Celsius and 3AC,” which had a negative impact on BlockFi, led to the decision. The crypto lending platform suffered roughly $80 million in losses the week following Celsius pausing withdrawals, and, after considering “​​various unattractive options” for recovery, partnered with FTX US.

“All of our products and services — including funding and withdrawals, our trading platform, credit card and global institutional services — continue to operate normally, with incremental capital strength behind them,” said Prince.

In a Friday blog post, BlockFi criticized reports from Thursday claiming FTX intended to purchase the firm for $25 million. According to the CEO, the $400 million credit facility, $240 million acquisition price and “other potential consideration” totaled $680 million — for a company that had a $5 billion valuation in June 2021. Prince hinted the report was due to “an inappropriately leaked call” and “purely personal conjecture by a single party.”

Related: FTX US acquires Embed Financial subsidiary for stock trading platform

BlockFi was one of the first firms to liquidate some of Three Arrows Capital’s positions in June after the company reportedly failed to meet margin calls from its lenders. Amid the market downturn and extreme price volatility, the crypto lending firm announced that it would be laying off 20% of its 850-strong staff, retaining roughly 600 people. It’s unclear if a FTX US acquisition would change this decision.

Ignite CEO announces departure after seven years

Peng Zhong stepped down as CEO roughly a month after former company head Jae Kwon said he would be leading NewTendermint, part of Ignite’s split to two firms in May.

Peng Zhong, the chief executive officer of Ignite — formerly Tendermint and backer of the Cosmos ecosystem — has announced he will be leaving the firm.

In a Friday tweet to his more than 20,000 followers, Zhong said Friday will be his last day at Ignite, where he has been working as CEO since May 2020. Prior to that, the now-former Ignite CEO was chief design officer at the firm’s Kuala Lumpur and Toronto offices since he started in 2015. It’s unclear what led to his decision to leave the company.

Ignite, formerly known as Tendermint, is a core contributor to the Cosmos ecosystem. During Zhong’s time at the firm, many knew him for developing the first Cosmos crypto wallet, Voyager, later renamed Lunie, and helping facilitate the introduction of liquid staking to the ecosystem.

Co-founded by software developers Jae Kwon and Ethan Buchman in 2014, Cosmos allows interoperability between blockchains by making information flow and transactions seemingly easier to execute. Kwon left his position as Tendermint CEO in 2020, but returned following the company’s rebrand in May creating Ignite and NewTendermint — he is now CEO of the newly branched firm.

Related: ‘We’ll see about 200 chains connected through Cosmos’ IBC next year,’ says Tendermint CEO Peng Zhong

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro, the price of Cosmos (ATOM) is $8.09 at the time of publication, having risen more than 3.5% since Zhong’s announcement.

Cointelegraph reached out to Jae Kwon and Peng Zhong, but did not receive a response at the time of publication. This story may be updated.

June roundup: Who’s hiring and who’s firing in the crypto space

Binance, Ripple and Kraken are hiring, while Coinbase, Gemini, and Crypto.com have announced staff cuts.

Amid the recent volatility in the crypto market affecting investments and stock prices, many firms made significant staff cuts in the last month while others continued hiring.

In June, major crypto exchange Gemini was among the first to reportedly cut 10% of its employees amid the bear market, saying conditions were “likely to persist for some time.” Coinbase and Crypto.com followed, announcing plans to reduce staff by 18% and 5%, respectively. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong cited the so-called crypto winter as part of the reason for the cuts, but also stated the firm had been growing “too quickly.”

Market conditions largely have not changed following many decisions to downsize, and other firms have been forced to make cuts. Crypto lending firm BlockFi announced it would be reducing staff by roughly 20% on June 13, and Cointelegraph reported on Thursday that FTX was in the process of finalizing a deal to purchase the platform’s remaining assets for $25 million. BlockFi CEO Zac Prince denied reports of the sale.

Austrian crypto and stock trading platform Bitpanda announced on June 24 a mass layoff as it aims to “get out of it financially healthy” amid the current bear market, bringing the company to a “​​size of about 730 people.” At the time of publication, the crypto firm has no current job openings on its website.

However, many companies in the crypto space are continuing to operate as normal, seemingly prepared to weather the storm — at least one is even picking up the slack. Cointelegraph reported that the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority was open to hiring terminated employees from crypto firms in an effort to “bulk up” its capabilities.

Related: How to start a career in crypto? A beginner’s guide for 2022

Globally, Binance and Ripple offered thousands of jobs to replace the ones that were recently dissolved from major crypto exchanges and firms. Kraken also stood out as one of the major cryptocurrency exchanges announcing plans to continue hiring for more than 500 roles in various departments amid the market downturn. Sergey Vasylchuk, CEO of Ukraine-based decentralized staking provider Everstake, announced on June 15 that the firm was “not firing anybody.”

According to data gathered by blockchain jobs site Crypto Jobs List, companies have listed more than 3,000 jobs related to the crypto space in the United States in the last seven days — roughly 37% of all jobs posted in the last 30 days. The United Kingdom and India similarly saw a large number of crypto jobs advertised in the last seven days — 562 and 183, respectively — suggesting the industry still has room for staff.

“Kraken and Binance have shown that they plan to stay around for a long time by looking to grow their headcount during a bear market,” a spokesperson for Crypto Jobs List told Cointelegraph. “The market downturn has meant that individuals who don’t plan to stick around for long are deterred, and only serious candidates that are interested in a long-term career are left to apply, and hiring managers recognise this.”

At the time of publication, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) is under $20,000, having fallen more than 37% in the last 30 days according to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro.

Citi calls out potential risks of crypto-backed mortgages and benefits of metaverse property

“Ultimately, the cryptocurrency may be liquidated if the collateral value falls below a certain threshold, such as 35% of the property value,” said the report.

Investment banking giant Citigroup has released research on how property technology could affect the housing market, mentioning virtual estate in the metaverse and cryptocurrency-backed mortgages.

In a report released Wednesday titled, “Home of the Future: PropTech — Towards a Frictionless Housing Market?” Citi said crypto, blockchain and property in the metaverse had the “potential to transform the traditional real estate market.” While crypto-backed mortgages could streamline the process of purchasing a home, many individuals have seen investments in metaverse property grow in the last two years.

Citi reported that property loans linked to crypto assets could allow investors to “utilize their investment gains” without incurring capital gains taxes, but commented on the potential for risk in a volatile market. While many standard loans linked to fiat have regulatory procedures in place to assess the ability of a borrower to repay, crypto holders could be forced to pay significantly more should the price of tokens fall during a bear market.

“If the value of the cryptocurrency declines, the borrower may be subject to margin calls and ultimately the cryptocurrency may be liquidated if the collateral value falls below a certain threshold, such as 35% of the property value,” said the report. “Introducing cryptocurrency exposure into the credit profile arguably increases the overall risk of the loan.”

In addition to purchasing physical property, the Citi report commented on the potential benefits of owning and monetizing “digital real estate” in the metaverse. Specifically, researchers detailed how individual and corporate owners of the virtual property in The Sandbox (SAND) — called LAND — have treated the metaverse as an investment akin to property in the real world, with prices rising from roughly $100 per LAND in January 2021 to as high as $200,000 a year later:

“Given the nascent nature of the virtual real estate environment, many of the purchasers of LANDs lack concrete plans to cultivate the properties and are simply speculating on the platform’s future growth and thus LAND price appreciation.”

Related: Propy partners with Abra to provide crypto-backed real estate loans

The banking giant is not the first to consider the risks in crypto-backed mortgages. Prior to the recent bear market, Florida-based ratings and research firm Weiss Ratings warned investors that the falling price of Bitcoin (BTC) in addition to the performance of stocks, rising interest rates and the Federal Reserve’s policy changes could potentially make crypto mortgages a losing bet.

Roger Ver denies CoinFLEX CEO’s claims he owes firm $47M USDC

Not mentioning CoinFLEX by name, Roger Ver said he had not “defaulted on a debt to a counter-party,” and alleged the platform owed him “a substantial sum of money.”

Roger Ver, an early Bitcoin investor and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) proponent, has pushed against claims from crypto investment platform CoinFLEX regarding an alleged $47-million debt.

In a Tuesday tweet, Ver — not mentioning CoinFLEX by name — said he had not “defaulted on a debt to a counter-party,” and alleged the crypto firm owed him “a substantial sum of money.” The denial followed rumors on social media that the BCH proponent was involved in the platform halting withdrawals due to “a high-networth client who has holdings in many large crypto firms” not covering their debts.

CoinFLEX CEO Mark Lamb took to Twitter shortly after the statement to claim the company had a written contract with Ver “obligating him to personally guarantee any negative equity on his CoinFLEX account and top up margin regularly.” According to Lamb, CoinFLEX served Ver with a notice of default and was “speaking to him on calls frequently about this situation with the aim of resolving,” claiming the firm did not owe him anything.

“It is unfortunate that Roger Ver needs to resort to such tactics in order to deflect from his liabilities and responsibilities,” said the CoinFLEX CEO.

Related: Su Zhu’s cryptic statement as rumors swirl of 3AC liquidations and insolvency

Cointelegraph reported on Tuesday that a CoinFLEX account — held by a “high-integrity person of significant means” — incurred $47 million in losses after being allowed to reach negative equity without being liquidated. The platform planned to fix its liquidity shortage by issuing a new token, Recovery Value USD (rvUSD), starting on Tuesday, with user withdrawals expected to resume on June 30.

The price of CoinFLEX’s native token (FLEX) has fallen more than 84% in the last 30 days, dropping from $1.19 to $0.80 following Lamb’s and Ver’s statements on Twitter.

Cointelegraph reached out to Roger Ver and Mark Lamb, but did not receive a response at the time of publication. This story may be updated.

Switzerland-based crypto mining firm expands operations to Texas

The company reported its operations in the United States will have an initial capacity of 3 megawatts, aiming for the firm’s total hashrate to be more than 1.6 EH/s.

White Rock Management, a cryptocurrency mining company based in Switzerland, said it will be expanding its operations to the United States, starting with Texas.

In a Tuesday announcement, White Rock said it will be partnering with Natural Gas Onsite Neutralization, or NGON, a company that captures natural gas that would otherwise be burned and converts it to energy for use in the firm’s Bitcoin (BTC) mining operations. White Rock said it will be operating out of NGON’s facility in the Brazos Valley region, mining BTC using “environmentally responsible” methods.

According to White Rock CEO Andy Long, the move into Texas was just the first in the firm’s plans to expand its BTC mining operations to areas capable of providing energy from natural gas outside the scope of the state’s power grid. The company began mining crypto at data centers in Sweden in November 2021 and reported its operations in the United States will have an initial capacity of 3 megawatts, aiming for the firm’s total hashrate to be more than 1.6 EH/s.

Crypto mining firm White Rock Management’s operations in Texas. Source: White Rock

The recent market downturn — the price of Bitcoin has fallen more than 28% in the last 30 days — may be impacting crypto miners’ profits. Cointelegraph reported on June 10 that the “raw” costs for miners in North America were roughly $22,000 per Bitcoin, with additional costs potentially bringing the total to more than $30,000. Many mining firms in the region including Bitfarms have reported selling some of their BTC holdings amid the bear market.

It’s unclear how the recent volatility may affect White Rock’s operations in the Lone Star State. Long told Cointelegraph the firm was “able to mine profitably in bear and bull markets” due in part to having the latest generation of rigs. 

“Our U.S. facility perfectly compliments our Swedish 100% hydroelectric powered sites and we see a great deal of opportunity in the current turbulent market conditions,” said Long. “In particular we expect there to be attractive opportunities for [mergers and acquisitions] and consolidation between public and privately held miners.”

Related: Bitcoin miners sold their entire May harvest: Report

Prior to the market downturn, Argo Blockchain said it was planning to launch operations in Texas’ Dickens County almost a year after first breaking ground — the 200-megawatt data center started mining in May. In April, the City of Fort Worth also launched a pilot program to mine BTC using three rigs in its city hall building.

Ukraine-based blockchain firm announces ‘we’re still hiring’ amid market downturn, war

According to the CEO, Everstake had made preparations for a “special fund” to tide the firm over in the event of a bear market.

Sergey Vasylchuk, the chief executive officer of Ukraine-based decentralized staking provider Everstake, has said the company will continue to hire crypto professionals amid a market downturn and ongoing conflict in the country. 

In a Wednesday Twitter thread, Vasylchuk said Everstake had hired 30 people since the Russian war against Ukraine started in February, and the firm still had more than 10 positions in marketing and development to fill. According to the CEO, Everstake is “not firing anybody” and had made preparations for a “special fund” to tide the firm over in the event of a bear market.

“An important part of doing business is assessing and addressing all potential risks,” said Vasylchuk. “We couldn’t help but expect another market crash simply because risk management dictates that one must always expect things to go south.”

The Everstake CEO hinted that part of this preparation was due to the possibility Russian forces would invade Ukraine. Vasylchuk said similar precautions taken in the event of a market downturn had allowed the firm to avoid letting employees go — “though I must admit we underestimated the risks of Terra,” he added — and turn the crisis into an opportunity.

Many firms operating in the crypto space from the United States and across the world have reported downsizing as trillions of dollars have vanished from the market in the last 30 days. Coinbase, Gemini, and Crypto.com announced that between 5-20% of their workers would be cut amid the bear market, while Kraken said it would continue hiring for more than 500 roles in various departments.

Related: FINRA may hire employees terminated from crypto firms: Report

Along with Kuna, Everstake is a Ukraine-based company in the crypto space that has coordinated with the local government to launch a crypto donation website aimed at military and humanitarian aid amid the conflict with Russia. Since the war began in February, the firm has helped accept more than $100 million in donations in the form of nonfungible tokens and major cryptocurrencies.

Ukraine-based blockchain firm announces ‘we’re still hiring’ amid market downturn, war

According to the CEO, Everstake had made preparations for a “special fund” to tide the firm over in the event of a bear market.

Sergey Vasylchuk, CEO of Ukraine-based decentralized staking provider Everstake, has said the company will continue to hire crypto professionals amid a market downturn and ongoing conflict in the country. 

In a Wednesday Twitter thread, Vasylchuk said Everstake had hired 30 people since the Russian war against Ukraine started in February, and the firm still had more than 10 positions in marketing and development to fill. According to the CEO, Everstake is “not firing anybody” and had made preparations for a “special fund” to tide the firm over in the event of a bear market.

“An important part of doing business is assessing and addressing all potential risks,” said Vasylchuk. “We couldn’t help but expect another market crash simply because risk management dictates that one must always expect things to go south.”

The Everstake CEO hinted that part of this preparation was due to the possibility that Russian forces would invade Ukraine. Vasylchuk said similar precautions taken in the event of a market downturn had allowed the firm to avoid letting employees go — “though I must admit we underestimated the risks of Terra,” he added — and turn the crisis into an opportunity.

Many firms operating in the crypto space from the United States and across the world have reported downsizing as trillions of dollars have vanished from the market in the last 30 days. Coinbase, Gemini and Crypto.com announced that between 5-20% of their workers would be cut amid the bear market, while Kraken said it would continue hiring for more than 500 roles in various departments.

Related: FINRA may hire employees terminated from crypto firms: Report

Along with Kuna, Everstake is a Ukraine-based company in the crypto space that has coordinated with the local government to launch a crypto donation website aimed at military and humanitarian aid amid the conflict with Russia. Since the war began in February, the firm has helped accept more than $100 million in donations in the form of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and major cryptocurrencies.

FINRA may hire employees terminated from crypto firms: Report

“Anybody who is getting laid off from a crypto platform and wants to work for FINRA, give me a call,” said president and CEO Robert Cook.

The United States Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, reportedly plans to “bulk up” its capability to monitor crypto — a move that could include scooping up employees recently terminated from crypto companies.

According to a Tuesday Reuters report, FINRA president and CEO Robert Cook encouraged crypto workers who expect to be on the chopping block to reach out to the financial regulator as part of its efforts to increase resources related to the space. Major crypto exchanges in the United States including Coinbase and Gemini have announced plans to cut staff amid extreme market volatility, likely resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs.

“We are already having to be engaged in the space and we think that as a result it’s appropriate for us to bulk up our capabilities there,” said Cook. “Anybody who is getting laid off from a crypto platform and wants to work for FINRA, give me a call.”

Roughly 3,600 people currently work at FINRA, according to its website. Many firms registered with the financial regulator can trade stocks or crypto on their clients’ behalf. Cook reportedly said FINRA was working on developing digital asset verification techniques as well as cross-market surveillance on some blockchains.

Related: FINRA orders Robinhood to pay $70M due in part to ‘significant harm’ platform caused users

Some crypto firms based outside the U.S. including Crypto.com — headquartered in Singapore — have announced similar staff cuts during the market downturn. CEO Kris Marszalek said on June 10 that the exchange would be letting 260 employees go in an effort to “ensure continued and sustainable growth for the long term.” However, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao announced on Wednesday that the major crypto exchange had 2000 open positions for which it was hiring.

US trademark filing hints at Arizona State University planning classes in the Metaverse

The seven filings also suggested ASU could be exploring the use of NFTs to authenticate many documents, from diplomas to tickets for university events.

One of the largest public universities in the United States by enrollment may be planning to launch virtual classes in the Metaverse in the future. 

According to records submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, on June 7 and June 8, the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of Arizona State University filed seven applications for variations of its name — ASU, Arizona State, Arizona State University — as well as that of its football team, the Sun Devils, to be used in a virtual environment. The trademark filings included the university’s name as well as the Sun Devils’ pitchfork symbol and logo for use in “virtual environments in which users can interact for recreational, leisure or entertainment purposes” as well as for educational purposes.

For its fall of 2021 semester, ASU reported 77,881 students were enrolled at physical campuses in the U.S., while 57,848 people attended through “digital immersion.” It’s unclear whether the university’s potential move into the Metaverse may have been prompted by having more than 42% of its enrolled students in online classes. ASU senior director of strategic learner and program mobilization Casey Evans said digital immersion coursework was the school’s “best tool to enable students to continue learning during this time of physical separation,” likely referring to the ongoing pandemic.

Related: How to get a job in the Metaverse and Web3

The trademark filings also suggested ASU could be exploring the use of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, to authenticate many documents, from diplomas to tickets for university events. ASU has previously adopted blockchain technology for various uses within the university, including tracking the spread of  COVID-19 in November 2020 and sharing data from the academic records of its students in 2019.

Other universities have made similar initiatives to “go meta” in 2022. Cointelegraph reported in May that the University of Sao Paulo plans to conduct research on the effectiveness of virtual and augmented reality devices, as well as how their use could affect human behavior.