Day: May 31, 2024

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Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has confirmed reports of an executive reshuffle following complications with the Notcoin launch, which led to $23 million in compensation being distributed to 320,000 users.

The news, initially reported by Wu Blockchain, indicated that several executives had “voluntarily resigned” and that Bybit had hired new technical and spot managers. A Bybit spokesperson told CoinDesk, “Bybit regularly updates its organizational structure to align with our strategic goals. The affected team members are not leaving the company but have taken up other internal roles.”

Notcoin, a game based on the Telegram instant messaging platform, is one of the largest cryptocurrency gaming projects, boasting 35 million users. Early adopters earned in-game balances that could be converted to a Notcoin airdrop at a 1000:1 ratio.

On May 16, users experienced delays in depositing the newly issued Notcoin to Bybit, resulting in financial losses as they were unable to sell the asset immediately. Bybit received 370,000 on-chain transactions, with 70% of deposits credited before the market went live.

“We prioritized customer interests and conducted a thorough internal review to enhance the customer experience for the future,” the Bybit spokesperson added. “This improvement led to some leadership role changes, which we believe are essential.”

Notcoin is currently trading at over $0.0115, more than doubling from a low of $0.0047 last week, according to CoinMarketCap.

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Bitcoin’s price has maintained a remarkably tight trading range near $68,000 following the U.S. Memorial Day holiday, with a slight dip approaching the week’s low in Friday’s morning trading hours.

At 11:45 am ET, bitcoin was priced at $67,300, down 1% over the past 24 hours and 2% from its peak two hours earlier at $69,000. The broader CoinDesk 20 also saw a 1.1% decline over the last day.

Despite this, May has been a positive month for Bitcoin, with an 11% increase since starting around $60,000. However, this growth pales in comparison to the CoinDesk 20’s 20% surge, largely driven by a 31% rise in the price of ether following renewed optimism for a spot ETF.

The recent subdued activity in Bitcoin coincides with struggles in other risk assets, particularly U.S. stocks, amid concerns about stagflation. Economic indicators have shown mixed signals, with the bond market rallying on news of softening economic conditions.

Looking ahead to June, upcoming U.S. economic reports could provide clarity and potentially act as a catalyst for Bitcoin’s price action. If economic data suggests weakening conditions and lower interest rates, bitcoin may attempt to breach its all-time high above $73,000 set in March. Conversely, strong economic data could lead to a retest of May’s lows.

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Japanese cryptocurrency exchange DMM Bitcoin has disclosed a significant breach resulting in the loss of 4,502.9 BTC, equivalent to $305 million, to hackers. The stolen funds were reportedly divided into 10 wallets, with each holding batches of 500 BTC, according to data provided by security firm Blocksec.

In response to the breach, DMM Bitcoin has assured customers that it will cover the full amount lost by procuring an equivalent sum of BTC with the support of its group companies. Additionally, the exchange has implemented measures to prevent further unauthorized outflows of funds.

To mitigate the impact of the hack, DMM Bitcoin has temporarily restricted all spot buys on its platform. Furthermore, customers withdrawing Japanese yen may experience delays, as indicated by the exchange.

This incident marks one of the largest cryptocurrency hacks in Japan since the notorious Coincheck breach in 2018, which saw losses totaling 58 billion yen. With over $473 million lost to cryptocurrency hacks in 2024 before this incident, the security of digital assets remains a pressing concern within the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

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Immutable’s Guild of Guardians Avatars overtook NodeMonkes to claim the top spot on CryptoSlam’s daily non-fungible token sales charts on Thursday.

The Immutable game-linked collection led NFT sales with a daily volume of $828,697, representing a 19% increase from $696,862 the previous day.

NodeMonkes, a Bitcoin-based collection that topped Wednesday’s sales, fell to third place with sales dropping to $756,950 from $935,770. Earlier this week, NodeMonkes became the 26th best-selling collection in the industry, surpassing $228 million in all-time sales.

DMarket, a Mythos collection for in-game items from popular online games, secured second place with $774,176 in sales, reinforcing the dominance of game-related NFTs on the weekly charts.

Bored Ape Yacht Club, the second-best selling NFT collection of all time, maintained the fourth spot with $567,631 in daily sales, pushing its all-time sales volume to $3.15 billion.

Polygon’s Unstoppable Domains soared to the fifth position with a daily sales volume of $491,535, up from just $1,075 the day before. This surge followed the announcement of a new self-custody wallet in collaboration with digital asset custodian Fireblocks.

New entries to the top 10 include the Validat3rs collection, debuting with a daily sales volume of $362,942 on Solana.

Despite NodeMonkes dropping from the top spot, the Bitcoin network led the daily blockchain sales for the second consecutive day with $5.51 million, a 9.86% increase from the previous day’s $5.01 million.

Meanwhile, Ethereum’s monthly blockchain sales total stands at approximately $159 million, on track to end the month with the lowest NFT sales since October 2023.

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Stablecoin issuer Tether Holdings Ltd. has acquired a $100 million stake in Bitdeer Technologies Group (NASDAQ:BTDR), a US-listed Bitcoin miner owned by Chinese billionaire Jihan Wu, with an option to buy an additional $50 million in shares within a year.

The companies signed a subscription agreement for a private placement of 18.6 million Class A ordinary shares, raising $100 million in gross proceeds, according to Bitdeer’s statement on Friday. The agreement also includes a warrant to purchase up to five million more shares at $10 each. The private placement was completed on Thursday, with Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. serving as the placement agent.

This investment will support Bitdeer’s data center expansion, the development of ASIC-based crypto mining equipment, and other corporate purposes. The percentage of Bitdeer now owned by Tether was not disclosed. Tether did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

This acquisition marks a significant advancement in Tether’s strategy to become a prominent Bitcoin miner, following the initiation of its mining facilities in Uruguay, Paraguay, and El Salvador last year. Tether, which is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands and issues the widely-used cryptocurrency USDT, announced in November its plan to invest half a billion dollars in this effort within six months.

Bitdeer, one of the largest public crypto miners listed in the US with a market capitalization of around $670 million, is headquartered in Singapore and operates data centers in the US, Norway, and Bhutan. Bitdeer’s shares, which had dropped over 40% this year, rose approximately 6.5% to $6.20.

In March, Bloomberg News reported that Bitdeer was in discussions with private credit firms to secure about $100 million in financing. It is unclear if those talks are ongoing following Tether’s investment.

Bitcoin mining, which involves running energy-intensive computers to secure the blockchain and earn new tokens as rewards, became less profitable in April due to a programmed network upgrade known as “the halving,” which reduces rewards by half every four years.

Conversely, Bitcoin’s price reached a record high in March, partly driven by optimism around newly-launched spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the US. On Friday, Bitcoin traded up around 0.7% at $68,800.

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