welcome back to Chain reaction.
Earlier this week, Binance.US pulled out of its $1.3 billion deal to buy the assets of cryptocurrency broker Voyager Digital due to a “hostile and uncertain regulatory climate.”
The announcement comes about nine months after Voyager. declared bankrupt. At the time, the US-based firm, and its two subsidiaries, said in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in the Southern District of New York that it had between $1 billion and $10 billion in assets and more than 100,000 creditors.
in a court presentation On Tuesday, Voyager’s lawyers said the company reserves all rights to Binance.US’s $10 million good faith deposit to Voyager, plus a reverse termination fee owed by the US-based crypto exchange. .us
“While our hope throughout this process was to help Voyager customers access their in-kind crypto, the hostile and uncertain regulatory climate in the United States has introduced an unpredictable operating environment that impacts the entire American business community. ”, said Binance.US in a Tuesday statement.
This setback is the latest headache for Voyager, which has been trying to raise capital through asset sales so it can pay off creditors after filing for bankruptcy last year. The company also settled with FTX, which agreed to buy Voyager’s assets but then collapsed in November (and also filed for bankruptcy).
Following the termination of the asset purchase agreement by Binance.US, Voyager saying the “development is disappointing,” but its Chapter 11 plan allows the company to return cryptocurrency and cash directly to customers through its platform.
“According to the plan, we will now move quickly to return value to customers through direct distributions. We will provide more information on next steps and any actions customers need to take in the coming days,” Voyager added.
This week on web3
OpenSea’s next journey is to help Web 2.0 brands break into web3 (TC+)
OpenSea, one of the largest NFT marketplaces, is known for its trading platform, which allows users to buy and sell digital assets. But the company continues to expand the presence of its products to appeal to other audiences such as Web 2.0 brands, said Shiva Rajaraman, OpenSea’s business director.
Crypto wallet Phantom to launch public multi-chain support for Ethereum and Polygon
Phantom, a crypto wallet for users of the Solana blockchain, will begin supporting the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains in a public rollout across browsers, iOS, and Android on Monday, May 1 at 9 a.m. EST, the company said in a statement. exclusive to TechCrunch. Support for the two new blockchains was originally scheduled for Q1 2023, but has been delayed. The multi-chain integration will be available to its 3 million users, Brandon Millman, CEO and co-founder of Phantom, told TechCrunch.
Cryptocurrency Exchange Coinbase Sues SEC Over Rulemaking Request
Coinbase has filed a petition to force the US Securities and Exchange Commission to respond to a months-old petition asking whether the securities regulator would allow the industry to be regulated using existing SEC frameworks, the company said. exchange firm on Monday, escalating its tensions with the regulator that has stepped up enforcement actions and warnings against crypto firms, including the US giant.
What happens to your crypto when you die? (TC+)
As the crypto industry matures, one consideration that is often ignored is estate planning for your assets when you die. Since a large number of crypto assets are held in hot and cold wallets and are protected by private keys (among other security elements), these funds could be lost virtually forever without a plan in place. “The call to action is to do it,” said Jaime Herren, an attorney for Holland & Knight. “Don’t think you are too young to put a plan in place for your assets.” (Of course, this advice also applies to people with traditional assets.)
Coinbase Layer 2 Blockchain Base Plans for Mainnet Launch in 2023
The Coinbase blockchain has been active on the testnet, which is a testing phase of the blockchain network, since the end of February. He’s not sharing “official timelines,” but Jesse Pollak, Base leader and head of protocols at Coinbase, exclusively revealed to TechCrunch that Base is planning to launch its mainnet in 2023. “It’s coming soon, we’re hard at work.” on it,” Pollak said. “It’s our number one priority along with decentralization goals and the rest of the year is really about making sure we get there as quickly as possible.”
the last pod
for the past week episode, jaquelyn interviewed Jesse Pollack, Base leader and head of protocols at Coinbase. Base is an Ethereum-focused Layer 2 blockchain launched by Coinbase in February of this year.
Pollak previously led all retail engineering at Coinbase, including building Coinbase, Coinbase Pro, and Coinbase Wallet. In a past life, Pollak started Clef, a 2FA mobile app, and was an engineer at BuzzFeed.
Several cryptocurrency companies, platforms, marketplaces, and infrastructure companies have committed to building on Base. Those planning to participate include Blockdaemon, Chainlink, Etherscan, Quicknode, Aave, Animoca Brands, Dune, Nansen, Magic Eden, Pyth, Rainbow Wallet, Ribbon Finance, The Graph, Wormhole, and Gelato, to name a few.
We talked a lot about Base and where it’s headed in the future, as well as how regulation could affect blockchain and the timeline for its mainnet launch; Pollak shared his goal for 2023.
We also dive into:
- Decentralizing Base
- Developers growing internationally
- Coinbase’s role in Base
- Developer Tips
subscribe to Chain reaction in apple Podcast, Spotify or your favorite pod platform to keep up with the latest episodes, and please leave us a review if you like what you hear!
follow the money
- Now valued at $500 millionCosmose leaves Stripe to adopt Near’s crypto solution
- Digital Asset Custody Provider zodia custody grossed $36 million
- Izumi Finance raised $22 million for its multi-chain DeFi protocol
- tasting laboratories raised $4.2 million for its blockchain-focused liquidity protocol
- Animoca Brands TinyTap raised $8.5 million for its educational games
This list was compiled using information from Messari as well as TechCrunch’s own reporting.
To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and biggest crypto stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday at 12pm PT, subscribe here.
follow me on twitter @Jacqmelinek for breaking crypto news, memes, and more.
—————————————————-
Source link