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Good morning!
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Binance is currently celebrating its sixth anniversary, with the giant crypto firm CEO, Changpeng Zhao, reflecting on past crypto winters and laying out key trends shaping up within the industry.
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However, a Wall Street Journal on Friday reported that the crypto exchange has laid off over 1,000 workers in recent weeks. Notably, this workforce downsizing is coming as regulatory pressure continues to mount on the exchange, which recently endured an exodus of senior executives.
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Around 50 employees working for Binance US have been booted out earlier this month. Which is indicative of uncertainty and upheaval in the world’s largest exchange.
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Here is our weekly newsletter roundup. Now get a bucket of popcorn and follow through. First, a summary….
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Summary of the news
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- Indonesia will launch a national crypto exchange soon
- Celsius founder pleads not guilty
- Binance layoff over 1000 staffs
- Multichain ceases operation
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Indonesia will launch a national crypto exchange soon
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A local news agency, Tempo, reported on Friday that the government of Indonesia will be moving forward with its plans to launch a national cryptocurrency exchange.
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The country’s Commodity Futures Trading Supervisory Agency (CFTRA), also known as Bappebti, plans to launch the national crypto exchange in the coming weeks (July 2023). Bappebti head Didid Noordiatmoko reportedly said all cryptocurrency transactions would be only allowed to take place using the national exchange.
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Didid also noted that trading on the exchange would be offered through an integrated application, which the CFTRA has already tested, per the news agency.
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Indonesia’s Ministry of Trade was aiming to launch the national cryptocurrency exchange in June 2023 although the previous target was December 2022.
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Celsius founder pleads not guilty
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The former CEO of bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network, Alex Mashinsky, has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges imposed on him by the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
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Recall that Mashinsky was arrested on Thursday in New York after the DOJ and several regulators accused him of luring Celsius’ customers by ‘falsely’ portraying the financial health of the business and artificially inflating the price of the company’s native token, CEL.
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Mashinsky faces seven criminal counts, including wire fraud, securities fraud, and commodities. However, CoinDesk, citing Mashinky's lawyers, reported that the Celsius Founder has rejected the 'baseless charges' and will 'vehemently' defend himself in court.
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Binance layoff over 1000 staff
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According to a source that spoke to Wall Street Journal, crypto exchange Binance has laid off over 1,000 people globally in recent weeks amid its ongoing legal investigation from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other regulatory challenges.
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Furthermore, the source says more than a third of the staff at Binance (total of about 8,000 prior to the layoffs) could eventually be affected by the job cuts. A spokesperson for Binance confirmed the layoffs to the WSJ without specifying the exact number.
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“As we prepare for the next major bull cycle, it has become clear that we need to focus on talent density across the organization to ensure we remain nimble and dynamic.”
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Additionally, a CNBC report later on Friday said the cuts will eventually eliminate 1,500 to 3,000 of Binance’s workers globally, and that the cuts would be carried out through the end of the year, citing a current Binance employee familiar with the company’s plans.
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Recall that several senior executives at Binance have opted to leave the company in recent weeks, with Fortune attributing the departures to CZ’s handling of the DOJ investigation.
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Multichain ceases operation
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In a Friday announcement, cross-chain protocol Multichain has announced that it is “forced to cease operations” due to a lack of operational funds. The team said that a “lack of alternative sources of information and corresponding operational funds” has forced it to shut down its business activities.
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Also, the announcement highlighted that the global Multichain team had not had contact with their CEO, known as Zhaojun, since he was detained by Chinese police. According to the team, they contacted the CEO’s family and learned that Zhaojun’s computers, phones, wallets and mnemonic phrases were seized by the authorities.
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This development follows a report from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis earlier this week saying that the reported $100 million exploit of last week appears to be a “rug pull” by insiders.
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Other stories we are following
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