According to a new document published on Dec. 7, South-African auditor Mazars confirmed that cryptocurrency exchange Binance possessed control over 575,742.42 of customers' Bitcoins (BTC) worth $9.7 billion at the time of publication. Through the process, Mazars stated that "Binance was 101% collateralized." The scope of the inquiry included customers' spot, options, margin, futures, funding, loan, and earn accounts for Bitcoin and wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC). Aside from the Bitcoin network, BTC wrapped on Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Binance Smart Chain were also included in the inquiry. As part of its proof-of-reserves pledge, Binance requested an agreed-upon-procedures (AUP), or an audit …

The Russian central bank continues to maintain an extremely negative stance on cryptocurrencies, proposing to ban local miners from selling coins to local people. The Bank of Russia has supported the idea of legalizing cryptocurrency mining in Russia as part of a draft bill introduced in mid-November 2022. However, the Russian central bank wants to allow miners to sell their crypto only on foreign exchanges and to non-residents of Russia, the local news agency Interfax reported on Dec. 7. “We believe that cryptocurrency obtained as a result of mining can be sold exclusively using foreign infrastructure and only to non-residents,” …

Bitcoin (BTC) hit new month-to-date lows on Dec. 7 as Asian markets fell during trading. $16,500 stands as support as BTC price wobbles Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD dipping to lows of $16,736 on Bitstamp, a level not seen since Nov. 30. The pair thus began to erase the ground it had reclaimed into the November monthly close, showing heavy influence from Asian equities prior to the Wall Street open. The mood was nervous on the day, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index down 3.2% at the time of writing and the Nikkei 225 and Shanghai …

The United States lawmakers have proposed an amendment to the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 that includes information on crypto rewards and payouts. The proposed amendment under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) requires the Department of State, an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations, to inform about any crypto payouts or rewards within 15 days of making it. The NDAA is the name for each of a series of United States federal laws specifying the annual budget and expenditures of the U.S. Department of Defense. The official document …

The depths of a bear market may not be the best time to raise funds but that is exactly what Blockstream is doing. The crypto infrastructure firm is seeking fresh funding, but at a much lower valuation than previous rounds, according to a Dec. 7 Bloomberg report. Blockstream was valued at $3.2 billion when it held its last Series B funding round raising $210 million in August 2021. Today that valuation may have fallen almost 70% to below $1 billion according to the report. The company, founded in 2014, has raised a total of $299 million in funding over four …

Fir Tree Capital Management has filed a lawsuit against Grayscale Investments demanding information that could be used to force changes to the way it runs its flagship Bitcoin Trust. According to Bloomberg, a Dec. 6 complaint was filed against Grayscale at the Delaware Court of Chancery and seeks to have Grayscale lower its fees, start redemptions and hand over documents relating to its relationship with the Digital Currency Group. The hedge fund also wants to stop Grayscale’s efforts in converting its $10.7 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF). In its complaint, the New York-based hedge …

After a whirlwind November for Bitcoin (BTC), certain on-chain and Bitcoin price metrics are suggesting that BTC’s bottom could occur in December. In Capriole Investments' latest report, they provide analysis on Bitcoin finding the bottom. When taking into realized value, miner capitulation, mining electrical costs, downdraw and record hodler numbers, a BTC floor of $16,600 - $16,950 seems formed. Here are five reasons why Edwards believes Bitcoin price is coming closer to a cycle bottom. SLRV Ribbons flash a buy signal The SLRV Ribbons track investment flows by combining the 30-day and 150-day moving averages to the SLRV Ratio which …

Bitcoin (BTC) and decentralized blockchains are “as strong as ever” in the wake of the FTX meltdown, ARK Invest says. In the latest edition of its monthly newsletter, “The Bitcoin Monthly,” the investment giant came out firmly bullish on BTC. ARK: FTX scandal may be "most damaging event" ever With BTC price volatility ebbing into December, the industry is still reeling from ongoing FTX contagion. As lawmakers only begin to get to grips with the events, when it comes to Bitcoin, ARK is doubling down on its conviction — and setting it firmly apart from centralized alternatives. “The fall of …

Hardware wallet provider Ledger, known for its cold-storage devices, announced its seventh crypto wallet in collaboration with the creator of the original iPod. Tony Fadell, the inventor of the iconic iPod Classic model, has partnered with Ledger to help the company design its latest wallet device known as Ledger Stax. The company broke the news on Dec. 6 at Ledger’s bi-annual Web3 developer event, Ledger Op3n, in Paris. Ledger’s upcoming new hardware wallet is a credit card-size device that features a large E Ink display, capacitive touch, Bluetooth support, wireless charging and more. For the first time in Ledger's product …

Tough market conditions continue to affect the Bitcoin (BTC) ecosystem as mining difficulty drops by its biggest margin since July 2021. A 7.32% difficulty adjustment took place on Dec. 6 at block height 766,080, marking the sharpest drop in difficulty in over a year. This coincided with a drop in average hashrate from 264.18 EH/s to 245.10 EH/s, according to data from BTC.com. Bitcoin’s mining difficulty automatically adjusts to the amount of hashing power available to the network, essentially controlling the rate at which new Bitcoin blocks are added to the chain to an average of 10 minutes. The difficulty …

A Bitcoin (BTC) advocate on Twitter known by the name of ShireHodl, or simply Shire, sent over 110 micropayments to first-time Bitcoin Lightning users in response to Michael Saylor's Lightning Network pool. Shire asked those new to Lightning to download a Lightning wallet from App Store or Google Play Store and to send him a QR invoice. To pay the invoice, Shire scanned the code with his camera, and the Bitcoin Lightning Network did the rest. In the Tweet, Shire said he’d send 1000 sats to as many people as he can be bothered before sleep. OK guys. Sent 76 …

In a recent interview Michael Saylor, the MicroStrategy executive chairman and major Bitcoin (BTC) bull, shared his perspective on the fall of the FTX empire. Saylor said that for years there has been a low-grade “boiling Guerrilla war” between the BTC community opposite the crypto community over industry practices such as, what he repeatedly calls, “shitcoinery." In Saylor’s perspective, Sam Bankman-Fried was “the poster child” of the latter. “There is something ethically broken about being able to issue your own unregistered security. Sam and most of the people in the crypto world were always guilty of the sin of shitcoinery.” …