CryptoSlate Wrapped Daily: More Bitcoin leaves Coinbase; Kraken CEO deems Binance’s proof of reserves ‘pointless’ CryptoSlate Wrapped Daily: More Bitcoin leaves Coinbase; Kraken CEO deems Binance’s proof of reserves ‘pointless’
Coinbase reserve declined by 50,000 BTC daily between Nov. 23 and Nov. 27-equating to roughly $3 billion, JP Morgan said that the coming regulation may lead to convergence of crypto and TradFi, and much more in this edition of CryptoSlate Wrapped Daily.
4 min read
Updated: Sep. 11, 2023 at 2:29 am UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
The biggest news in the cryptoverse for Nov. 28 includes Kraken CEO saying Binance Proof-of-Reserve is pointless without proof of liabilities, Coinbase losing Bitcoin worth $2 billion over the weekend, and BlockFi filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
CryptoSlate Top Stories
Another $2B worth of Bitcoin withdrawn from Coinbase over weekend
According to Glassnode, crypto exchanges have lost over $15 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC) in the past five days, with Coinbase losing the most.
Between Nov. 24 and Nov. 25, about 100,000 BTC (totaling $1.5 billion) was reportedly withdrawn from Coinbass. The trend continued over the weekend of Nov. 26 and Nov. 27, which saw some $2 billion worth of Bitcoin leave the exchange’s reserve
Consequently, Coinbase has lost $3.5 billion over the past five days, while Binance has topped its reserve with roughly $1.2 billion worth of Bitcoin.
Kraken’s Powell says Binance Proof-of-Reserve is pointless without liabilities
Kraken CEO Jesse Powell argued that Binance’s proof of reserve (PoR) was insufficient as it failed to highlight its liabilities. He added that implementing a Merkle Tree without an external auditor is not enough to prove that the exchange did not boost its reserve with accounts having negative balances.
In response, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said that his exchange was working to involve external auditors soon while maintaining that the PoR did not include negative balances.
Jokes about wrapped ETH depeg cause brief panic on Twitter
With insolvency rumors taking over the crypto community, prominent Ethereum advocates including Vitalik Buterin made a joke that wrapped Ethereum (WETH) was about to become insolvent.
To avoid further panic in the community, Ethereum developer Hudson Jameson called out the joke and clarified that WETH will technically not face insolvency as it is a smart contract that is as decentralized as Ethereum and cannot face a bank run.
However, the WETH joke caused ETH’s price to decline by roughly 4%, with some community members cautioning that such jokes may get “the silliest of users” rekt.
BitBoy alleges O’Leary was key player in Celsius collapse along with FTX
Crypto YouTuber “Bitboy” while speaking on Altcoin Daily called out Kevin O’Leary for strongly supporting Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). Bitboy alleged that SBF targeted competing platforms such as Celsius and contributed to its collapse to amass more liquidity for FTX.
Bitboy added that SBF-supporter O’Leary had publicly called for Celsius to go down to zero, prior to the crypto lender’s fallout.
Texas wants to be the centerpiece of Bitcoin innovation, says Governor Abbott
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has called on Bitcoin companies to set up their offices in Texas, as it was advancing pro-Bitcoin/blockchain agenda that will make the state “more inviting” for Bitcoin innovation.
Abbott added that Texas was improving its legislation to be “kind of anti-regulation”, while providing the needed infrastructure for Bitcoin to succeed.
Germany has the second highest concentration of ETH nodes in the world
According to CV VC Labs’s 2022 Blockchain report, about 22.8% of all Ethereum validators operate from Germany. This makes the European nation have the second-highest concentration of ETH nodes, only behind the United States which leads with 45.3%.
Additionally, the report highlighted that German blockchain projects raised approximately $8 billion across 220 funding, with about 34 startups becoming unicorns.
JP Morgan believes regulation will lead to convergence of crypto, TradFi
In the wake of the FTX collapse, JP Morgan & Chase highlighted possible changes it believes will help crypto and traditional finance coverage. The banking giant said it anticipates the approval of regulatory frameworks like the European Union’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) bill in 2023, which will focus largely on customer protection and self-custody regulation.
It added that crypto exchanges may be required to improve transparency by publishing a regular reserve, assets, and liabilities audit. Also, it predicts a shift away from centralized exchanges (CEX) to decentralized exchanges (DEX).
Blockfi becomes another victim of the FTX collpase with bankruptcy filing
Barely two weeks after pausing customers’ withdrawals, crypto lender BlockFi has filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to its massive exposure to FTX. It reportedly owes about 100,000 creditors including the Securities and the Exchange Commission (SEC) which it owes some $30 million.
BlockFi added that it has roughly $256 million in cash to go through the restructuring process, with the aim of “maximizing values for all clients and stakeholders.”
LINE-founded cryptocurrency exchange BITFRONT announces closure
Asia-based crypto exchange BITFRONT announced plans to cease operation effective March 31, 2023. After the date, it will halt withdrawals and go on to delete all personal files of users from its system.
VP of AAX speaks out against handling of company bankruptcy decision
The bankruptcy trend has hit Hong Kong exchange AAX, which disclosed it cannot pay employees’ salaries beyond November, while its customers will receive about 50% of their funds.
AAX Vice President Ben Caselin moved to quit his role and expressed dissatisfaction over the bankruptcy process.
Research Highlight
Binance led 2017 ‘dumb money’ Bitcoin investment; FTX leads 2022 cycle
Back in 2017 when Binance was established, it served as a haven for dumb money investors who FOMOed into Bitcoin trades based on hype and withdrew their holdings even at loss after the price peaked.
Fast forward to 2022, Binance has grown to become the leading crypto exchange, making it a home for smart money investors, while exchanges like bankrupt FTX housed the dumb money investors.
News from around the Cryptoverse
Gam7 launches $100M grant program
Web3 gaming DAO Gam7 has established a $100 million grant program for game developers to build tools and scaling solutions that will lead to the global adoption of Web3 games.
Kraken to pay $363K to U.S. Treasury
The U.S. Department of Treasury announced that it has levied a $362,158 on crypto exchange Kraken for failing to implement sanctions against Iran.
Kraken reportedly failed to block the IP addresses of Iranian users who transacted on the exchange at a time when the Treasury placed a ban on Iran.
Crypto Market
In the last 24 hours, Bitcoin (BTC) decreased slightly by -1.87% to trade at $16.243, while Ethereum (ETH) decreased by -3.44% to trade at $1,172.
Biggest Gainers (24h)
- RSK Infrastructure Framework (RIF): +109.29%
- BrainTrust (BTRST): +18.59%
- ApeCoin (APE): +8.1%
Biggest Losers (24h)
- LINK (LN): -10.63%
- Huobi Token (HT): -10.47%
- Render Token (RNDR): -9.62%
Mentioned in this article
Posted In: Wrapped
Author 
Christian Nwobodo
Christian is a crypto-curious nerd who loves to investigate how protocols work under the hood. Christian is interested in DeFi protocol research, token economics, and on-chain analytics.
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In this article
Bitcoin, a decentralized currency that defies the sway of central banks or administrators, transacts electronically, circumventing intermediaries via a peer-to-peer network.
Ethereum
$3,469.85
Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform that enables the creation of smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps).
Braintrust
$0.41025
Braintrust is the first decentralized talent network that connects skilled, vetted knowledge workers with the world’s leading companies.
ApeCoin
$1.22110
ApeCoin is an ERC-20 governance and utility token used within the APE Ecosystem to empower and incentivize a decentralized community building at the forefront of web3.
LINK
$36.7258
The LINK project was launched by LINE, a global messenger company, to create a blockchain platform and token economy for mainstream consumers.
HTX Token
$1.13678
HTX Token(formerly HT or Huobi Token) is a decentralized digital asset based on Ethereum, with a limited total supply of 500 M, issued by Huobi Group.
Render
$7.51778
Rendertoken is a decentralized economy of 3D assets utilizing the global network of GPU devices through its cloud rendering technology.
FTX
FTX is a defunct cryptocurrency exchange, currently in bankruptcy proceedings, that was founded by Sam Bankman-Fried and Zixiao “Gary” Wang in May 2019.
BlockFi
BlockFi is a defunct cryptocurrency lender company which is currently in bankruptcy proceedings.
Kraken
Kraken is a San Francisco-based digital asset exchange in euro volume and liquidity that trades various currencies, including Canadian dollars, US dollars, British pounds, and Japanese yen.
Binance
Binance is a global cryptocurrency exchange that provides a platform for trading more than 100 cryptocurrencies.