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Crypto users react to Satoshi Nakamoto’s 48th birthday

Once again, the Bitcoin creator’s age increased by one year on their P2P Foundation profile — suggesting a birthday of April 5, 1975.

The legendary creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, turned 48 years old today, at least according to information provided to the global network P2P Foundation when they registered.

Though the identity of the Bitcoin (BTC) creator and thus their birthday remains unknown to the public, crypto enthusiasts took note of when Satoshi’s age increased by one year on their P2P Foundation profile — suggesting a birthday of April 5, 1975. Crypto users have suggested that the date — since Satoshi may represent a group of people rather than an individual — may come from a day in 1933 when United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt started taking the country off the gold standard, issuing an executive order for all U.S. citizens to return gold coins and gold certificates worth more than $100 to the Federal Reserve.

Screenshot of Satoshi Nakamoto’s profile page on P2P Foundation — April 5, 2023.

Speculating as to the true identity of the person or persons who helped create the original cryptocurrency has been a popular pastime among many users on social media and in online forums. Among the names proposed are ​​computer scientist and Bit Gold creator Nick Szabo, early BTC contributor Hal Finney — who regrettably passed in 2014 — cryptographer Adam Back, and Japanese-American engineer and physicist Dorian Nakamoto.

Though Satoshi’s face remains unknown, members of the crypto space continue to honor them using their likeness in other ways. A bronze depiction of the Bitcoin creator went on display for visitors of Graphisoft Park in Budapest in 2021, and many people pitch Satoshi as a recipient for the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences every year.

Related: Could Bitcoin have launched in the 1990s — Or was it waiting for Satoshi?

Other notable dates for BTC fans include the publication of the Bitcoin white paper on Oct. 31, 2008, as well as Bitcoin Genesis Day on Jan. 3, 2009, marking the time Satoshi mined the first BTC block leading to the minting of the first coins. There are many more to come: the next Bitcoin halving expected in 2024 along with the mining of the 21 millionth coin.

At the time of publication, the price of Bitcoin was $28,296, having risen more than 26% in the last 30 days.

Magazine: Satoshi may have needed an alias, but can we say the same?

Stablecoin issuer Tether accessed US banking system using Signature: Report

At the time New York regulators took control of Signature in March, there was reportedly a system in place for Tether clients to send dollars through the bank’s Signet platform.

Tether, the firm behind the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, reportedly allowed its clients to send funds through Signature Bank’s payments platform — granting the firm access to United States banks.

According to an April 4 Bloomberg report, Tether had a pathway to the U.S. banking system by instructing its users to send dollars though Signature’s Signet to its Bahamian partner Capital Union Bank. The report cited “people with knowledge of the situation,” who added this system was in place at the time regulators took control of Signature in March.

While the arrangement between Tether and Signature reportedly would not have been illegal, failing to disclose such information to the investing public would suggest high-risk practices. According to a Tether spokesperson, banks used by the stablecoin issuer “always had access to several banking channels and counterparties,” and associate entities “wouldn’t be affected by either direct or indirect exposure to Signature.”

The New York Department of Financial Services announced the shutdown of Signature on March 12, saying at the time the decision had been made with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in an effort to “protect the U.S. economy.” Stablecoin issuer Paxos reported at the time it had $250 million tied to Signature, while Tether’s chief technology officer Paolo Ardoino said the firm didn’t have any exposure to the failed bank.

Related: Signature’s crypto clients told to close their accounts by April 5: Report

U.S. lawmakers continue to look into the collapse of the crypto-friendly bank, the third in a chain starting with Silvergate and Silicon Valley. At a March 28 hearing of the Senate Banking Committee, FDIC chair Martin Gruenberg said Signature had not adequately managed traditional banking risks. Though Signature had reduced its exposure to digital assets in the wake of the collapse of the FTX exchange, one user has filed a lawsuit alleging the bank “aided and abetted” fraud facilitated by former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. 

The bank plans to sell its roughly $38 billion worth of deposits and $13 billion in loans to Flagstar Bank, a subsidiary of New York Community Bancorp. Gruenberg said $4 billion in crypto deposits would likely be returned to users sometime this week.

Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom

Crypto exchange backed by 3AC founders launches with claims trading plans

OPNX CEO Leslie Lamb said the exchange planned to launch claims trading aimed at helping users from bankrupt crypto platforms including FTX and Celsius.

Su Zhu and Kyle Davies, founders of the collapsed hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), have announced the launch of the crypto project Open Exchange, or OPNX.

Both Zhu and Davies retweeted the April 4 launch announcement from OPNX chief executive officer Leslie Lamb, who said the exchange was open to “trade spot and futures immediately.” According to the CEO, the launch of the exchange was aimed at wanting to “help the industry” amid the collapse of platforms including FTX and Celsius.

“Claims trading will be the next thing that we launch, so that these claimants can have an opportunity to be made whole again,” said Lamb.

The exchange, a brainchild of the 3AC co-founders as well as higher-ups from crypto investment platform Coinflex — currently subject to a restructuring plan approved in Seychelles — launched its website in February. Three Arrows Capital, the crypto-friendly hedge fund that once held $10 billion worth of assets, went bust amid the 2022 market crash.

Related: 3AC, Coinflex founders collaborating to raise $25M for new claims trading exchange

Following the collapse of 3AC, Coinflex CEO Mark Lamb and co-founder Sudhu Arumugam later said they would be working with Zhu and Davies to build a new platform, reportedly originally pitched as “GTX” before the team settled on OPNX. Authorities in the United States have also issued a subpoena to Davies via Twitter regarding his alleged role in 3AC’s collapse.

At the time of publication, both Davies’ and Zhu’s whereabouts were unknown. However, both 3AC co-founders have continued to be active on social media channels.

Magazine: $3M OKX airdrop, 1-hour due diligence on 3AC, Binance AI — Asia Express

Bitcoin white paper makes its F1 racing debut on Kraken-sponsored car

The Kraken logo on the car includes the entirety of the abstract and introduction of “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System,” and has its next race in Australia.

The Formula 1 car for the Williams Racing team will feature an excerpt from the Bitcoin white paper as a result of a sponsorship deal with United States-based crypto exchange Kraken.

In a March 31 tweet, Kraken showed its sea monster-shaped logo containing text from the opening of the 2008 document released by its creator Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. The Kraken logo appeared to include the entirety of the abstract and introduction, as well as the sections on transactions and timestamp server of “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.“

The crypto exchange announced on March 28 that it would partner with the Williams Racing F1 team as part of a sponsorship and Web3 deal. The arrangement marked one of the first times a crypto company had sponsored an F1 team since many similar deals fell apart amid the 2022 market crash.

Related: Formula One files ‘F1’ trademarks covering crypto, NFTs and Metaverse

Practice for the next Formula One event is currently underway at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, with the main race scheduled for April 2. In 2022, roughly 420,000 people reportedly attended the four-day event in person.

Magazine: Billions are spent marketing crypto to sports fans — Is it worth it?

Crypto news site The Block gets new CEO and reported staff layoffs following admitted ties to SBF

The Block reportedly laid off roughly 33% of its staff, including interim CEO Bobby Moran, to stabilize the platform following loans it received from Sam Bankman-Fried.

Larry Cermak, vice president of research at The Block, has announced that he will be taking the reins at the crypto and blockchain news website from interim CEO Bobby Moran — the second change in leadership since reports surfaced that former CEO Mike McCaffrey financed the platform through loans from Alameda Research. 

In a March 31 tweet, Cermak said he would be stepping up as CEO after roughly five years at the crypto news site. Axios also reported that The Block laid off roughly 33% of its staff — including Moran — to stabilize the platform following the controversial loans it received from former FTX and Alameda Research founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

“We are not immune to the contraction of the crypto market, and the economy more broadly,” the company reportedly said. “We grew too quickly to capitalize on a bull market in crypto. Now, we must shift our strategy and recalibrate our teams to align with the reality of the current market.“

In December 2022, Moran revealed that McCaffrey had used two loans totaling $27 million from Alameda in 2021 in his efforts to restructure the crypto news site. McCaffrey failed to disclose the loans to The Block’s leadership team, which led to his resignation as CEO. The Block’s editor-at-large Frank Chaparro, who previously referred to McCaffrey as “literal scum” who betrayed the platform’s staff, lauded Cermak’s advancement to CEO, saying the site was “returning to our crypto native roots.”

Cermak reportedly said he had received no direction from McCaffrey to cover stories about FTX or Bankman-Fried “in any particular way,” despite the platform’s financial ties. All news stories on the website include a disclaimer with details about the loans from SBF.

Related: FTX presentation shows ‘massive shortfall’ in firm’s assets

Since FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Nov. 11, 2022, many news outlets, lawmakers, and organizations reported financial ties to the defunct crypto exchange or directly to Bankman-Fried. In February, the firm’s leadership announced that it planned to recover all political donations, reporting in March that a research team had determined there had been roughly $25 million as of November 2022.

Magazine: Can you trust crypto exchanges after the collapse of FTX?

Hindenburg Research reports Block short position, claiming fraud facilitation and inflated metrics

“Block has wildly overstated its genuine user counts and has understated its customer acquisition costs,” says the report.

A report following a two-year investigation from Hindenburg Research claims digital payments company Block has “systematically taken advantage of the demographics it claims to be helping,” alleging the firm inflated its user metrics and facilitated fraud.

In the March 23 report, Hindenburg Research says Block’s practices allowed users to set up fraudulent accounts, catering to many criminals who used the platform to steal funds. The report suggests that Block insiders — including co-founders Jack Dorsey and James McKelvey, chief financial officer Amrita Ahuja and Cash App manager Brian Grassadonia — had sold more than $1 billion of the firm’s stock, whose price rose “on the back of its facilitation of fraud.”

“The ‘magic’ behind Block’s business has not been disruptive innovation, but rather the company’s willingness to facilitate fraud against consumers and the government, avoid regulation, dress up predatory loans and fees as revolutionary technology, and mislead investors with inflated metrics,” said Hindenburg. “Even when users were caught engaging in fraud or other prohibited activity, Block blacklisted the account without banning the user.”

The report cited a shift in Block’s business starting during the early days of the pandemic in 2020, when many people activated Cash App accounts to receive stimulus and unemployment payments from the United States government. Interviews with former employees by Hindenburg suggested that roughly 40% to 75% of reviewed accounts were fake, involved in fraud, or tied to a single individual.

“Like traditional financial services companies, [Block’s] key focus seems to be on dressing up predatory loans and fees as revolutionary products, avoiding regulation and embracing worst-of-breed compliance policies in order to profit from its facilitation of fraud against consumers and the government,” said Hindenburg. “The company seems to be betting that the consequences will either be a ‘cost of doing business’ or at the very least, come later.”

Related: Jack Dorsey’s Block sues Bitcoin​.com for trademark infringement

In a blog post responding to Hindenburg, Block called the report “factually inaccurate and misleading,” adding it planned to explore legal action.

“Hindenburg is known for these types of attacks, which are designed solely to allow short sellers to profit from a declined stock price,” said Block. “We have reviewed the full report in the context of our own data and believe it’s designed to deceive and confuse investors.”

Hindenburg announced it had taken a short position in Block. At the time of publication, the price of Block’s stock has dropped more than 13% in the last 24 hours to $63.38.

Magazine: Fake employees and social attacks: Crypto recruiting is a minefield

Update (March 23 at 6:17 PM UTC): This article has been updated to include a response from Block.

‘No shortage of passion in the Parisian people’ for PBW amid protests — Animoca Brands CEO

As it hosts Paris Blockchain Week, France’s capital city has seen protests following the government pushing through a bill raising the national retirement age from 62 to 64.

Robby Yung, CEO of metaverse ecosystem developer Animoca Brands, seemed to suggest that, despite the recent attempts to debank crypto and protests on the streets of Paris, confidence in the space was undeterred.

Speaking to Cointelegraph on March 22 at Paris Blockchain Week, Yung said the local government had provided a “warm embrace” for crypto and blockchain enthusiasts amid many overflowing trash bins, protests and burned-out vehicles. France’s capital city has seen massive protests since the government pushed through a bill without a vote in the legislature that would raise the national retirement age from 62 to 64 years old.

“I see no shortage of passion in the Parisian people,” said Yung in reference to both Web3 and the protests.

The Animoca Brands CEO added that there were similarities between the 2008 financial crisis and the recent failures of crypto-friendly institutions, including Silicon Valley Bank and Signature:

“All of that stuff happening out there is why we’re here to begin with […] The reason that we decided that decentralization was a better way to do things was precisely because of our concern as to what might happen in the financial sector, which continues to be borne out.”

Animoca Brands CEO Robby Yung speaking to Cointelegraph’s Joe Hall at Paris Blockchain Week.

Some of the speakers at the Paris event have highlighted some regulators’ attempts to debank the services of crypto firms and address the 2022 market crash. In addition, brands with name recognition, including Gucci, were represented at the conference in what Yung called a positive sign for adoption.

“As the Web3 community, we need to embrace everybody, and to have these big multinational corporations, these major household name brands involved, is a fantastic seal of approval that we’re on to something here,” said the Animoca Brands CEO. “Brands themselves have power: They resonate with consumers, whether it’s gaming brands or handbag and luxury watch brands.”

Related: Paris Blockchain Week 2023: First day of the Summit kicks off

Paris Blockchain Week will be running from March 20 to 24 and feature a variety of speakers from the Web3 and crypto and blockchain space. Cointelegraph team members and staff will be reporting live on the ground to bring readers the latest developments at the event.

Magazine: Best and worst countries for crypto taxes — Plus crypto tax tips

Coinbase pauses support for Signature Bank’s Signet: Report

The U.S. crypto exchange was reportedly looking for another payment network provider and waiting on the outcome of the situation with Signature.

More than a week after New York regulators closed the crypto-friendly Signature Bank, Coinbase has reportedly stopped support for the institution’s Signet payment platform.

According to a March 20 report from The Wall Street Journal, Coinbase users won’t be able to use Signet to send funds outside of banking hours until further notice. The crypto exchange was reportedly looking for another payment network provider and waiting on the outcome of the situation with Signature.

The crypto-friendly bank was the third domino to fall following the failure of Silvergate Bank on March 8 and Silicon Valley Bank on March 10. Though financial regulators claimed they stepped in to “protect the U.S. economy by strengthening public confidence in our banking system,” reports have suggested that Signature had no issues with solvency at the time of its closure on March 12.

The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced that the bank’s deposits and loans — with the exception of roughly $4 billion in crypto deposits — would be sold to New York Community Bancorp’s Flagstar Bank. The government corporation said it planned to provide crypto deposits “directly to customers” with a digital banking account.

Coinbase, Celsius and Paxos all had funds tied to Signature at the time of the bank’s closure. Coinbase said it expected $240 million in corporate assets to be “fully recovered,” Paxos reported $250 million held at the bank, and Celsius announced some exposure but not the exact amount.

Related: Did FDIC ask Signature buyers to stop all crypto business?

The United State House Financial Services Committee will be conducting a hearing to explore the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank on March 29. FDIC chair Martin Gruenberg and Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr are expected to testify.

FTX debtors report $11.6B in claims, $4.8B in assets, with many crypto holdings ‘undetermined’

The presentation reported $25 million in donations — political and otherwise — from three of the FTX silos, but added “limited information” was available on crypto donations.

The debtors in FTX’s bankruptcy case have reported that the various company silos had more than $4 billion in scheduled assets as of November 2022, but said they were still investigating the firm’s crypto holdings.

In a March 17 filing with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, FTX debtors submitted a presentation to the committee of unsecured creditors on its statement of financial affairs, which also detailed the scheduled assets and claims of the company. According to the filing, the West Realm Shires silo — which includes FTX US and Ledger X — FTX.com, Alameda Research and FTX Ventures had roughly $4.8 billion in scheduled assets and $11.6 billion in scheduled claims.

The data was based on petitioning financials from the four silos in November 2022. According to the report, Alameda held the majority of the scheduled assets at roughly $2.6 billion but ​​had “potentially material claims that have been filed as undetermined.” FTX.com had more than $11.2 billion in scheduled claims, but claims from FTX Ventures were undetermined.

Much of the data surrounding cryptocurrency holdings or transactions in the debtors’ report was not available. The presentation reported $25 million in donations — political and otherwise — from three of the silos, but added that “limited information” was available on crypto donations.

Of the crypto-collateralized loans — largely in FTX Token (FTT) — made by the FTX companies, debtors reported more than 53 million tokens, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), XRP (XRP), and USD Coin (USDC). However, they said that “additional tracing of wallet and blockchain activity remains an ongoing matter.”

An investigation into crypto transactions as part of payments to FTX company insiders was also reported to be “ongoing.” Former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried received more than $2.2 billion of the payments. 

Related: FTX influencers face $1B class-action lawsuit over alleged crypto fraud promotion

FTX’s bankruptcy case has been ongoing since the firm filed for Chapter 11 protection in November 2022. In addition, Bankman-Fried faces both criminal and civil cases for his involvement in alleged fraudulent activities at the company.

Coinbase is planning to set up crypto trading platform outside US: Report

The reported move came amid many U.S. lawmakers and regulators taking aim at crypto firms for their perceived role in the failure of three major banks.

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is reportedly planning to set up a crypto trading platform outside the United States, where it is currently headquartered.

According to a March 17 Bloomberg report, Coinbase discussed setting up the non-U.S. platform with some of its institutional clients. The reported move came amid many U.S. lawmakers and regulators taking aim at crypto firms for their perceived role in the failure of Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank.

U.S. regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, have been cracking down on certain crypto companies in recent months, including Kraken for its U.S. staking services. Coinbase issued a notice to users in March that its staking program would continue despite the crackdown and “may actually increase.”

Related: The crypto industry has ‘already started’ moving outside US, says Ripple CEO

The new Coinbase venture would reportedly service global clients but does not yet have a confirmed location. Cointelegraph reached out to Coinbase but did not receive a response at the time of publication.