Weekly Update: 1 Dec 2022

1) BlockFi files for bankruptcy as FTX Contagion Spreads [Coindesk]

– Executives estimate the company has between $1 billion and $10 billion in both assets and liabilities while BlockFi has about $257 million in cash on hand.

2) Binance has allocated another $1 billion for its industry recovery fund, effectively increasing the size of the fund to over $2 billion. [Coindesk]

– Aptos Labs, Jump Crypto, along with other prominent crypto companies joined Binance’s initiative and will contribute $50 million to the fund.

3) Assets under management in crypto investment products have hit a two-year low as investors have increasingly moved toward offerings that short bitcoin and ether. [Blockworks]

– The $22 billion of assets under management in crypto investment products, as of last week, is its lowest level in nearly two years, according to CoinShares.

4) Dominica works with Huobi for digital identity program on the TRON network [Cointelegraph]

– Dominica’s government will partner with Huobi to issue Dominica Coin (DMC) and digital identity documents (DID) with DMC holders set to be granted digital citizenship in the country.

5) Coinbase Wallet to end support for Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic, Ripple’s XRP and Stellar’s XLM [Coindesk]

– Coinbase cited “low usage” as a reason for delisting the four coins.

6) Fidelity has started opening retail crypto trading accounts after announcing a waiting list earlier this month. [The Block]

– Fidelity brokerage account was needed to be able to fund a new Fidelity Crypto account.

7) Ledger Rolls Out ‘Crypto Life’ Debit Card Across UK and Europe [Blockworks]

– Ledger’s card differs slightly in that users can directly transfer crypto from cold storage for spending and back again, rather than from centralized entity to card.

8) Matrixport, led by Jihan Wu, is looking to raise $100 million at a $1.5 billion valuation. [Coindesk]

– They already have commitments for $50 million from lead investors at the sky-high valuation, but are still looking for investors for the other half of the round.

9) Singapore Central Bank defends red-flagging Binance, not FTX [Blockworks]

– The MAS said Binance failed to comply with MAS’ anti-money laundering standards, claims the exchange has denied. “While both Binance and FTX are not licensed here, there is a clear difference between the two: Binance was actively soliciting users in Singapore while FTX was not.”