Withdrawals

Ether hits 11-month high as post-Shapella withdrawals pass 1M ETH

Since the Shapella hard fork on April 12, Ether has seen a price gain of nearly 10%.

Over 1 million Ether (ETH) worth $2.1 billion has now been withdrawn from Ethereum’s Beacon Chain within the first four days of the Shapella hard fork and Ether has pushed over $2,100 for the first time in 11 months.

The 1.03 million ETH withdrawals have come from 473,7000 withdrawal requests, with Saturday, April 15 the largest withdrawal day at 392,800 ETH, according to data from beaconcha.in.

Of the active validators, nearly 87% or 469,000 of the 540,000 are now able to withdraw their staked Ether.

April 15 to 16 saw the largest Ether withdrawals processed so far, with 392,800 and 280,400 Ether withdrawn, respectively. Source: beaconcha.in

While members of the Ethereum community were split on what impact Shapella would have on the price of Ether, the first four days have produced close to a 10% rise.

ETH has increased about 9% since the Shapella upgrade took effect late on April 12. Source: CoinGecko

The figures are of little “surprise” to Lachlan Feeney, chief executive of blockchain consulting and development firm Labrys, who told Cointelegraph that many validators are re-staking Ether back onto the Beacon Chain:

“Much of the stake that has been withdrawn over the last few days is actually going straight back into The Beacon Chain as validators are looking to compound their interest. So much so that net stake is currently increasing.”

Given the current macroeconomic climate, Feeney said that many early stakers wanted to liquidate after what has been nearly a 30-month wait for some.

Over the mid to long-term, Feeney believes the Shapella hard fork will only increase the amount of Ether staked, which of course will only strengthen Ethereum at the consensus level:

“Because Shapella is a massive de-risking event, over the medium to long-term more, not less, ETH will be staked. We anticipate that in the not too distant future, we will reach a record high of Ether being staked.”

Markus Thielen, the head of research at digital asset platform Matrixport, told Cointelegraph that the closure of crypto exchange Kraken’s staking services may have contributed to the higher figures:

“It appears largely due to the Kraken’s staking business being unwound. This will only have a temporary effect as we are also seeing a significant demand from investors who now are able to stake with more visibility on the liquidity of staked positions.”

Thielen said he expects a large amount of un-staked Ether from Kraken to be “recycled” back into the Beacon Chain through other entities.

While Thielen anticipates the positive price action to cool off this week amid increased selling pressure, he thinks Shapella will ultimately attract more institutional investors to stake on Ethereum.

Related: 4 strategies for staking Ethereum

The 1 million milestone is a 500% increase from an April 11 prediction by blockchain intelligence firm Glassnode, which estimated only 170,000 Ether would be un-staked after the first week of Shapella.

On-chain analytics firm Nansen slightly overshot the mark, predicting 1.4 million Ether would be withdrawn after the first few days of Shapella.

Magazine: ‘Account abstraction’ supercharges Ethereum wallets: Dummies guide

Australian ‘Big Four’ bank ANZ halts cash withdrawals from many branches

The move comes as Australians continue to reduce their usage of cash and bank branches, but has sparked fears that the death of cash is near.

ANZ, one of Australia’s “Big Four” banks, will cease facilitating withdrawals and deposits from a number of its Australian branches as it looks to push its customers toward using an ever-dwindling number of ATMs and deposit machines.

The decision has received pushback, with critics such as Patricia Sparrow, CEO of the Council on the Ageing, telling The Australian that the change could disproportionately affect older people who are less capable of going digital. Others have suggested it would make fiat users more susceptible to technical issues. The move has also renewed fears of a push to eliminate cash and that cash could soon be replaced by central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

In response to questions from Cointelegraph, an ANZ spokesperson said that the affected branches are all metropolitan branches that have ATMs and deposit machines nearby and that the move was partially prompted by in-branch transactions decreasing by more than 50% over the past four years.

The development comes as Australia gradually transitions to a cashless society, with the percentage of retail payments made with cash falling from 59% in 2007, to just 27% in 2019, according to a March 16 bulletin from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

The RBA noted that the results from its 2022 survey will be available later this year, but added that the COVID-19 pandemic had only accelerated the trend, with businesses also contributing to the shift:

“Furthermore, a substantial share of merchants indicated plans to discourage cash payments at some point in the future.”

The RBA also pointed to a reduction in ATMs and bank branches around the nation, with the number of bank branches falling by 30% since 2017 while ATMs numbers fell by 25% since 2016.

One of the major concerns with CBDCs replacing cash is how they might affect individual freedom and privacy, as cash transactions offer anonymity and the ability to make transactions without leaving a record.

A CBDC pilot program is currently underway in Australia, with an update expected around the middle of 2023, and one of the ramifications identified by the RBA was that it could displace the cash Australian dollar.

Related: Ted Cruz and Ron DeSantis take on the ‘digital dollar’: Law Decoded, March 20–27

In an emailed response to questions from Cointelegraph, a spokesperson for another of the Big Four banks, NAB, allayed these fears somewhat, saying:

“NAB still handles cash at our branches and we have no plans to change. Cash will continue to play an important part in Australian society for as long as our customers want it to.”

The other two banks in the Big Four, CBA and Westpac, did not respond to questions from Cointelegraph by the time of publication, but Westpac told The Australian that it also had no plans to wind back access to cash through its branches. A CBA spokesperson was slightly more ambiguous in their response, however.

Asia Express: US and China try to crush Binance, SBF’s $40M bribe claim

Celsius Custody customers finally begin withdrawals 263 days after freeze

Celsius users with funds held in its custody program have finally begun to withdraw funds, but users report delays due to a backlog of requests.

Some Celsius customers have reported being able to withdraw funds from the bankrupt crypto firm for the first time, some 263 days after the lender froze withdrawals in the lead-up to its bankruptcy filing.

According to numerous social media posts, as of March 2, certain customers who held funds in Celsius’ Custody accounts have been overjoyed that they were finally able to withdraw their funds from the lender.

Customers report they received an email a few weeks ago listing those who were eligible to remove their funds, before receiving another on March 2 noting withdrawals could be processed.

An email sent from Celsius to eligible customers on March 2. Source: Twitter

While some users who whitelisted wallets ahead of their withdrawal attempt received their funds within minutes, others pointed to large delays.

Celsius customers discussing withdrawal processing times on Reddit. Source: Reddit

A backlog of withdrawal attempts seems to have built up, however, with some claiming that withdrawal requests are being converted into support tickets that could take some days to process as a result of “too many requests and not enough staff.”

A Reddit user claimed they were told their request could take days to process. Source: Reddit

On Jan. 31, Celsius published details on who was eligible to withdraw, with customers who had only ever held funds in custody accounts able to currently withdraw 94% of their original funds.

The custody accounts were only available to United States residents. The withdrawals are restricted to these customers, much to the disappointment of customers with funds in other accounts offered by Celsius.

Related: Wrapped Bitcoin supply drops to negative after 11,500 wBTC burn linked to Celsius

Custody account holders may yet be able to get back the other 6%, pending future court hearings.

Customers who had transferred funds from the earn or borrow programs to a custody account are apparently able to withdraw 72.5% of their funds at this point in time, up to a maximum of $7,575.

The lender had first announced they would be freezing withdrawals on June 13, citing “extreme market conditions,” before filing for bankruptcy on July 13.

Binance withdrawals and BUSD redemptions surge post Paxos crackdown

Net outflows at the cryptocurrency exchange hit $788 million over the last 24 hours, however, Binance told Cointelegraph that “Funds are SAFU.”

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has seen a surge of withdrawals over the last 24 hours as investors appear to be spooked over recent news of regulatory action against Paxos and its stablecoin Binance USD (BUSD).

At the same time, the BUSD token has recorded significant redemptions, with 342 million BUSD burned over the last 24 hours according to Peckshield.

On Feb. 12, news broke that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission gave notice of potential enforcement action against Paxos. It alleged the stablecoin is an unregistered security, an assertion that Paxos denies.

Data compiled from the blockchain intelligence platform Nansen show that Binance recorded 24-hour multichain token net outflows of $788.5 million, caused by outflows of $2.7 billion exceeding inflows of around $1.97 billion.

According to Dune analytics data, it’s the largest 24-hour net outflow since Dec. 17, when Binance’s ​​proof-of-reserve audits were removed from auditor Mazars’ website.

A spokesperson for Binance told Cointelegraph that “funds are SAFU” — backed by a Secure Asset Fund for Users — echoing what Binance chief Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said earlier on Feb. 13.

The spokesperson added that the exchange recently had a sell-off with “more than $1 billion” withdrawn in a 12-hour period, which it claims “was managed with ease.”

“We run a very simple business model — hold assets in custody and generate revenue from transaction fees,” Binance said, adding:

“We take our responsibility as a custodian seriously and maintain 1:1 backing for every user asset.”

Following the SEC’s action and a reported tip-off from USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) ordered Paxos to halt the issuance of BUSD on Feb. 13.

Related: Are stablecoins securities? Well, it’s not so simple, say lawyers

The outflows and token burns seemingly are a response to those events, with crypto users cashing out of the stablecoin over fears of further regulatory action.

Binance’s reserves harbor the largest amount of BUSD, holding $14.4 billion worth of the stablecoin, or around 90% of the $16.1 billion current market cap.

The crypto exchange also has around $60 billion worth of reserves, with 22% of that made up of BUSD.

Crypto payments platform Wyre lifts 90% withdrawal cap

Just five days after imposing them, Wyre has removed all limits on account withdrawals.

Crypto payment platform Wyre has lifted the 90% withdrawal limit it placed on users earlier this week after securing additional funding. 

On Jan. 13, the San Francisco-based fintech firm announced that it had received financing from a “strategic partner” that allows it to continue the normal course of operations, including re-accepting deposits again.

“As a regulated financial institution, we’re proud that we were able to continue delivering our services in a safe and sound manner without pausing withdrawals,” it added.

Wyre set withdrawal limits on Jan. 8, restricting customers from emptying their accounts entirely.

The limits were imposed just two days after former employees hinted at the possibility of the firm’s shutdown. Explaining the withdrawal cap then, Wyre said it was in “the best interest of our community,” without divulging further.

However, as of the latest update, Wyre says it has now removed that cap and full withdrawals and deposits are permitted again after receiving “additional capital” from an unnamed “strategic partner.”

“We will resume accepting deposits and lift the 90% withdrawal limit effective immediately.”

“This additional capital will help us continue to deliver on our mission to simplify and revolutionize the global financial ecosystem,” it added.

Cast your vote now!

Wyre provides real-time payouts, same-day transfers, direct-to-bank transfers, and cross-border payments in fiat and crypto. The company was acquired by fintech firm Bolt for $1.5 billion in April.

Related: Cryptocurrency is headed toward surviving its first age

The company, founded in 2013, has been feeling the squeeze like many others in the crypto bear market. It laid off 75 employees earlier this month, according to reports.

Furthermore, concerns have been raised over insolvency as reports circulated regarding a potential shutdown in early January. However, the company has denied them and today’s announcement suggests that its current situation has improved.

Popular crypto wallet MetaMask severed ties with Wyre on Jan. 5 when it announced the removal of the platform from its mobile aggregator and browser extension.

FTX Japan drafts plan to return client funds

The Japanese subsidiary is one of 134 companies caught up in FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings but has been drafting a plan to return client funds.

The Japanese subsidiary of the now-defunct FTX crypto exchange has come out with a roadmap to resume withdrawals after confirming that its customers’ assets are not part of FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings.

The firm provided an update on Dec. 1, stating it has been able to confirm that its customers’ assets “should not” be part of FTX Japan’s estate due to Japanese regulations, which mandate that crypto exchanges must separate client funds from their own assets.

This was according to Landis Rath & Cobb LLP, the law firm representing FTX Group in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

FTX Japan was only launched in June this year after acquiring Japanese crypto exchange Liquid on Feb. 2. It was aimed at serving the exchange’s Japanese customers.

However, with liquidity issues experienced by its parent company in early November, withdrawals were halted at FTX Japan on Nov. 8, similar to its parent company.

Days later, the Financial Services Agency of Japan announced on Nov. 10 it had taken administrative action against FTX Japan and ordered it to suspend other business operations such as accepting new deposits and to comply with a business improvement order.

The company was then listed as one of the 134 companies that formed part of FTX Trading’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on Nov. 11.

Since then, FTX Japan has claimed its primary focus is to re-enable withdrawals and is reportedly aiming to do so by the end of 2022.

Related: US Senate committee hearing on FTX fail brings gaps in regulatory authority to light

With the recent confirmation that its users’ assets are not considered part of FTX Japan’s estate, this would effectively provide them with a pathway to resume withdrawals for its users.

“Japanese customer cash and crypto currency should not be part of FTX Japan’s estate given how these assets are held and property interests under Japanese law,” the firm noted. 

FTX Japan said its management is in regular dialogue with Japanese regulators and has sent through the first draft of their plan to resume withdrawals, suggesting regular consultations will occur “as key milestones are met.”

Fear of ‘angry people’ drove Bankman-Fried to open withdrawals for Bahamians

The former FTX CEO has explained why the exchange only reopened withdrawals for Bahamian citizens shortly before filing for bankruptcy.

FTX’s former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has divulged what really went on in the days before it filed for bankruptcy when the exchange selectively reopened withdrawals — only for Bahamian users. 

In a telephone interview with crypto blogger Tiffany Fong, dated Nov. 16, Bankman-Fried claims to have made the decision to reopen withdrawals to Bahamian citizens as he did not want himself, nor the exchange, to be in a country “with a lot of angry people in it.”

“The reason I did it was it was critical to the exchange being able to have a future because that’s where I am right now, and you do not want to be in a country with a lot of angry people in it and you do not want your company to be incorporated in a country with a lot of angry people in it,” he said.

Bankman-Fried claims he gave Bahamian securities regulators a “one-day heads up” that FTX was going to do it, but said the regulator neither responded with a “yes or no,” before he ultimately decided to go ahead with allowing withdrawals.

“So it was realistically speaking, it’s shitty, but […] the pathway for FTX involved Bahamians not being pissed at it.”

The now-defunct crypto exchange initially halted all withdrawals on Nov. 8 as a result of liquidity issues.

On Nov. 10, only a day before it filed for bankruptcy, the exchange noted it had begun to facilitate withdrawals of Bahamian funds. At the time, it claimed that it was in compliance with the demands of the country’s regulators — leading to millions of dollars worth of funds extracted from the exchange.

However, the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB) threw a wrench into FTX’s narrative, stating on Nov. 12 that it had neither instructed nor authorized FTX to prioritize withdrawals of Bahamian clients.

They also warned that any withdrawal of funds could be clawed back as part of the firm’s liquidation proceedings.

Cointelegraph contacted the SCB for confirmation on if it had received communication from FTX prior to the exchange’s withdrawals reopening, and what its response was at the time. The SCB did not immediately respond.

In his most recent interview with Fong, Bankman-Fried denied the move was to facilitate withdrawals by people within FTX after Fong suggested that this is how it was being seen.

“Oh it wasn’t insider withdrawals, this was trying to create a regulatory pathway forward for the exchange.”

SBF was hot on FTX hacker’s trail

The former FTX CEO also noted during the Nov. 16 interview that he was close to finding out the identity of the FTX hacker, who is understood to have stolen over $450 million worth of assets soon after the exchange filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11.

“I don’t know exactly who because they shut off all access to the systems when I was halfway through exploring it. I’ve narrowed it down to eight people. I don’t know which one it was but I have a pretty decent sense.”

Bankman-Fried said he believes it was “either an ex-employee or somewhere someone installed malware on an ex-employee’s computer.”

Related: ‘I never opened the code for FTX’: SBF has long, candid talk with vlogger

In a separate, more recent interview with Sam Bankman-Fried by Axios on Nov. 29, the former FTX CEO has revealed he only has around $100,000 left in his bank account as of today.

This is despite Bankman-Fried being worth an estimated $26 billion at his peak.

Bankman-Fried claims that he had “basically everything” tied up in the now-bankrupt company.

“I mean, I have no idea. I don’t know. I had $100,000 in my bank account last I checked,” he said.

Fear of ‘angry people’ drove Bankman-Fried to open withdrawals for Bahamians

The former FTX CEO has explained why the exchange only reopened withdrawals for Bahamian citizens shortly before filing for bankruptcy.

FTX’s former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has divulged what really went on in the days before it filed for bankruptcy when the exchange selectively reopened withdrawals — only for Bahamian users. 

In a telephone interview with crypto blogger Tiffany Fong, dated Nov. 16, Bankman-Fried claims to have made the decision to reopen withdrawals to Bahamian citizens, as he did not want himself nor the exchange to be in a country “with a lot of angry people in it.”

“The reason I did it was it was critical to the exchange being able to have a future because that’s where I am right now, and you do not want to be in a country with a lot of angry people in it and you do not want your company to be incorporated in a country with a lot of angry people in it,” he said.

Bankman-Fried claims he gave Bahamian securities regulators a “one-day heads up” that FTX was going to do it, but said the regulator neither responded with a “yes or no,” before he ultimately decided to go ahead with allowing withdrawals:

“So it was realistically speaking, it’s shitty, but […] the pathway for FTX involved Bahamians not being pissed at it.”

The now-defunct crypto exchange initially halted all withdrawals on Nov. 8 as a result of liquidity issues.

On Nov. 10, only a day before it filed for bankruptcy, the exchange noted it had begun to facilitate withdrawals of Bahamian funds. At the time, it claimed that it was in compliance with the demands of the country’s regulators — leading to millions of dollars worth of funds extracted from the exchange.

However, the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB) threw a wrench into FTX’s narrative, stating on Nov. 12 that it had neither instructed nor authorized FTX to prioritize withdrawals of Bahamian clients.

They also warned that any withdrawal of funds could be clawed back as part of the firm’s liquidation proceedings.

Cointelegraph contacted the SCB for confirmation on if it had received communication from FTX prior to the exchange’s withdrawals reopening, and what its response was at the time. The SCB did not immediately respond.

In his most recent interview with Fong, Bankman-Fried denied the move was to facilitate withdrawals by people within FTX after Fong suggested that this is how it was being seen.

“Oh it wasn’t insider withdrawals, this was trying to create a regulatory pathway forward for the exchange.”

SBF was hot on FTX hacker’s trail

The former FTX CEO also noted during the Nov. 16 interview that he was close to finding out the identity of the FTX hacker, who is understood to have stolen over $450 million worth of assets soon after the exchange filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11.

“I don’t know exactly who because they shut off all access to the systems when I was halfway through exploring it. I’ve narrowed it down to eight people. I don’t know which one it was but I have a pretty decent sense.”

Bankman-Fried said he believes it was “either an ex-employee or somewhere someone installed malware on an ex-employee’s computer.”

Related: ‘I never opened the code for FTX’: SBF has long, candid talk with vlogger

In a separate, more recent interview with Sam Bankman-Fried by Axios on Nov. 29, the former FTX CEO has revealed he only has around $100,000 left in his bank account as of today.

This is despite Bankman-Fried being worth an estimated $26 billion at his peak.

Bankman-Fried claims that he had “basically everything” tied up in the now-bankrupt company.

“I mean, I have no idea. I don’t know. I had $100,000 in my bank account last I checked,” he said.

CoinList addresses ‘FUD’ on withdrawals, cites technical issues for delays

CoinList blamed “custodian issues” with one suffering an outage affecting “many tokens” on the platform as the reason for reported withdrawal problems.

Cryptocurrency exchange and initial coin offering (ICO) platform CoinList took to Twitter to address “FUD” after a blogger tweeted that users reported being unable to withdraw funds for over a week, sparking fears the company was having liquidity issues or w insolvent.

“There is a lot of FUD going around that we would like to address head-on,” CoinList said in a Nov. 24 Twitter thread that stated that the exchange is “not insolvent, illiquid, or near bankruptcy.” It said, however, that its deposits and withdrawals are affected by “technical issues.”

Crypto-focused blogger Colin Wu had earlier tweeted to his 245,000 followers that “some community members” using CoinList have been unable to withdraw for over a week due to maintenance.

CoinList has a $35 million creditor claim with bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital which Wu said in his tweet was a “loss,” that likely triggered concerns the company was insolvent or illiquid.

Looking to dampen fears that have seen bank runs on other platforms, CoinList explained that an upgrade to its internal systems and a migration of wallet addresses that involves “multiple custodians” is being undertaken.

The company cited unexplained “custodian issues” as the reason a selection of cryptocurrencies “are taking longer than anticipated to migrate,” with one of its unnamed custodian partners suffering from an “outage […] unrelated to the migration” on Nov. 23, which impacted tokens on the platform.

Its status page shows “degraded performance” for withdrawals, with four cryptocurrencies unavailable for withdrawal since Nov. 15 and one experiencing delayed deposits since Nov. 16.

“Once again, this is purely a technical issue, not a liquidity crunch,” CoinList said. It claimed to hold “all user assets dollar for dollar” and noted it plans to publish its proof of reserves.

Cointelegraph has contacted CoinList for more information but did not immediately receive a response.

Related: FTX illustrated why banks need to take over cryptocurrency

CoinList claimed on Nov. 14 that it had no exposure to the now-bankrupt FTX exchange, but users are increasingly nervous about centralized platforms and have rushed to ensure safe custody of their assets as evidenced by the surge in sales reported in mid-November by hardware wallet providers Trezor and Ledger.

Around the same time, outflows of Bitcoin (BTC) and stablecoins from exchanges hit historic highs, and a corresponding uptick in activity was seen on decentralized exchanges.

Crypto awakening: Researcher explains ETH exodus from exchanges

On-chain analytics show that ETH and stablecoins have been flowing out of centralized exchanges in the aftermath of FTX’s collapse.

Blockchain analytics carried out by a Nansen researcher has highlighted outflows of Ether (ETH) and stablecoins from centralized exchanges in the wake of FTX’s collapse.

Nansen research analyst Sandra Leow posted a thread on Twitter unpacking the current state of decentralized finance (DeFi), with a specific focus on the movement of ETH and stablecoins from exchanges.

As it stands, the Ethereum 2.0 deposit contract contains over 15 million ETH, while some 4 million Wrapped Ether (wETH) is held in the wETH deposit contract. Web3 infrastructure development and investment firm Jump Trading holds over 2 million ETH tokens and is the third largest holder of ETH in the ecosystem.

Binance, Kraken, Bitfinex and Gemini wallets feature in the largest ETH balances list, while the Arbitrum layer-2 roll-up bridge also holds a significant amount of Ether.

As Leow explained in correspondence with Cointelegraph, the percentage increase of ETH held in smart contracts can be seen as an indicator of ETH flowing into various DeFi products. This includes decentralized exchanges, staking contracts and custody services.

The recent collapse of FTX may have also led to fears for users holding assets with third-party custodians, like centralized exchanges. Leow highlighted the reality that the safety of funds held on exchanges may not be guaranteed:

“There is an amplification for the quote, ‘Not your keys, not your coins,’ and this is especially important given times like these.”

According to Nansen’s exchange flow dashboard, Jump Trading stands out as an entity with significant withdrawal volumes from exchanges in comparison to its deposits. Leow presented a number of possible reasons for Jump Trading’s token movements, noting the firm’s exposure to liquidity hub Serum (SRM) tokens:

“Due to their exposure to the FTX fallout, they had to offload some tokens out of exchanges in need of liquidity. In the last seven days, we’ve seen Jump Trading withdrawing ETH, BUSD, USDC, USDT, SNX, HFT, CHZ, CVX and various other tokens from multiple exchanges.”

A substantial amount of ETH has flowed out of a number of major exchanges over the past seven days as well. $829 million worth of ETH departed from Gemini, while Upbit saw $797 million of ETH moved from its account. $597 million of ETH flowed out of Coinbase, while Bitfinex also saw around $542 million worth of ETH withdrawn from its platform.

The past week also saw a significant amount of stablecoins moved off exchanges. Stablecoins worth $294 million flowed out of Gemini, while Bitfinex saw $173 million moved off its platform. KuCoin and Coinbase followed with $138 million and $108 million of stablecoins withdrawn from the two exchanges, respectively.

Leow also explained the movement of stablecoins, telling Cointelegraph that outflows typically indicate users are on the sidelines and capital is not flowing into the cryptocurrency space:

“Perhaps, the market contagion and prolonged bear market reduce the appetite for traders to be actively investing and involved in the space.”

Nansen has played its part in delivering key insights into major ecosystem events in 2022. The blockchain analytics firm delved into on-chain data to piece together the collapse of Terra in May 2022.

It then followed suit with a deep-dive into FTX’s collapse, with evidence suggesting collusion between the exchange and crypto trading firm Alameda Research. Both firms were created and controlled by Sam Bankman-Fried.