FTX customer seeks help after mistaken deposit allegedly results in $1M in fees

October 7, 2021 Coin Telegraph

FTX customer seeks help after mistaken deposit allegedly results in M in fees

DeFi blog Rekt claims that FTX failed to adhere to its own terms and conditions by imposing the fee.

A crypto hodler is outraged after allegedly copping a $954,135 fee from centralized exchange FTX. The trader claims the fee was charged over a mistaken deposit they believe was the exchange’s fault.

On Oct. 6, the Rekt Blog published screenshots of correspondence that suggest the problems began when the customer deposited around $6.3 million in USDP, the stablecoin token for DeFi borrowing platform Unit Protocol, in late September.

Unfortunately, the Paxos stablecoin has also rebranded to USDP and the exchange changed the PAX ticker to USDP in late August. So the user apparently deposited $6.3 million of unsupported USDP tokens into the exchange’s address for the Paxos stablecoin.

This is a customer service announcement.

Will FTX please comply with their own terms and conditions?

An unhappy @ftx_app user came to us for help after they were overcharged ~$954,135 in fees.

Is this how @SBF_FTX got into @Forbes?https://t.co/DJ1jnxaBh6
— rekt (@RektHQ) October 6, 2021

FTX compensated the user for the mistaken deposit by returning around $5.4 million in stablecoins but deducted a 15% fee. The disgruntled user fired back:

“You have deducted more than $1m off my initial deposit amount. This does not align to your "Wrong Address or Chain" policy. I did not deliberately deposit USDP to your FTX exchange, I was misled. I wish to appeal please.”

Rekt reported that FTX did not abide by its own terms and conditions which state a fee up to 5% will be charged in such circumstances.

However, when Cointelegraph checked, the conditions currently state that a minimum of 5% may be levied if the exchange has to recover deposits to incorrect addresses.

Rekt said it had verified the deposits on the blockchain and contacted FTX for comment but had not received a response. It called on the exchange to rectify the problem.

“As decentralized exchanges grow in popularity, trust becomes the most valuable feature that a CEX can offer. In this case, FTX has broken that trust, and they must now take action to fix it.”

The claims were also posted on the FTX Official subreddit but had been deleted late last month. One respondent to Rekt's tweet claimed he had posted the blog in the FTX Telegram group and got banned instantly.

Cointelegraph has contacted FTX for comment. There had been no response at the time of writing.

Celer (CELR) gains 400% after traders embrace its multi-chain ‘cBridge 2.0’ solution

September 29, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Altcoin Watch

CELR soars to a new all-time high following the launch of its cross-chain bridge that allows traders to jump back and forth between various layer-1 and layer-2 platforms.

High transaction costs have been a thorn in the side of investors and developers for more than a decade and the issue became worse in 2021 after the emergence of decentralized finance (DeFi) and nonfungible tokens (NFT) led to record-high levels of activity across the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Since the completion of Ethereum's London hard fork, cross-chain bridges and layer-2 solutions have been revised as options for mitigating the high fees on the Ethereum network. In the past two weeks, Celer, a layer-two scaling solution that utilizes off-chain transaction handling to help increase the throughput capacity of its network, has seen an uptick in user activity.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that since hitting a low of $0.0398 on Sept. 8, the price of CELR has surged 400% to reach a new all-time high at $0.199 on Sept. 26 as its 24-hour trading volume spiked to $1.27 billion.

*CELR/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView*

Three reasons for the price rally in CELR are the release of the protocols cross-chain software cBridge, new integrations that have led to the expansion of its ecosystem and the increase in overall strength and demand for layer-two solutions.

Cross-chain connections through the cBridge

Arguably the biggest development to come out of the Celer protocol in 2021 has been the release of its cBridge cross-chain bridging solution, which went live on the mainnet on July 22.

At the time of writing, the cBridge supports the transfer of assets between 10 different protocols, including Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Polygon, Fantom and Avalanche.

*Networks supported by cBridge. Source: Celer Network*

Data provided by Celer shows that in the two months since the launch of cBridge, the protocol has facilitated the transfer of more than $242 million worth of value between networks as it continues to rise in popularity amongst the crypto community.

*Daily transaction volume on cBridge. Source: Celer Network*

Celer's ecosystem expands

A second reason for the gains seen in CELR over the past month has been the expansion of the project's ecosystem.

The launch of Optimism and Arbitrum and Celer's cross-bridge integration to the layer-2 solutions are likely the primary factors backing the rally in CELR price.

When the cBridge was first released, it supported Polygon, Ethereum, BSC, Arbitrum and Optimism. In the two months following the initial launch, it added support for Fantom, xDAI, Avalanche, OKExChain and Heco, effectively doubling its reach and the number of users interacting with the token.

The functionality of the protocol has also led to a handful of integrations such as being added to the TokenPocket and ONTO cryptocurrency wallets. CELR token was also listed on WOO Network and BarterTrade exchanges recent.

Increased demand for layer-2 solution

A third reason for the overall strength of CELR has been the increase in demand and activity on layer-two protocols and data from Etherscan shows that the gas price continues to spike higher as Ethereum network activity increases.

*Average Ethereum gas price. Source: Etherscan*

Arbitrum and Optimism had their full launches within the past few months following years of development and users have now begun the process of migrating assets to these scaling solutions as DeFi protocols slowly integrate this new technology.

As a way to further capture some of the energy generated following the release of Arbitrum, Celer's cross-chain bridge offers a work-around to the seven-day withdrawal period required when users want to migrate assets from Arbitrum back to Ethereum.

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro, market conditions for CELR have been favorable for some time.

The VORTECS™ Score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historical and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity.

*VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. CELR price. Source:* *Cointelegraph Markets Pro*

As seen on the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for CELR began to pick up on Sept. 7 and climbed to a high of 75 on Sept. 8, around 48 hours before the price increased by 275% over the next two weeks.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Ethereum alternatives and layer-1 solutions see steady gains in September

September 26, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Celo

Multi-million dollar incentive programs and the ease of cross-chain transfers are boosting the value of L1 and L2-based tokens and raising the total value locked in their associated DeFi platforms.

The competition among layer-one (L1) smart contract platforms has been on the rise in the past couple of months as traders and developers continue to embrace Ethereum (ETH) network alternatives that offer faster transaction times and lower fees.

According to a recent report from Delphi Digital, the price of Ether has remained relatively flat over the past month while competitors like as Solana (SOL) and Fantom (FTM) have seen their prices rally more than 200% during the same time.

*Relative performance of L1 tokens over the past 30 days. Source: Delphi Digital*

One of the drivers of the rallies seen in Fantom (FTM), Avalanche (AVAX) and Terra (LUNA) is the fact that each has launched a variety of mulit-million dollar funding initiatives designed to attract developers, investors and new liquidity to their ecosystems.

These initiatives sparked a flurry of new activity and cross-chain transfers from the Ethereum network to the layer-1 projects and to date, Solana has seen the biggest gains.

*Total USD value locked in the top layer-one protocols. Source: Delphi Digital*

When it comes to individual applications located on the different blockchains, the Avalanche-based Trader Joe DeFi protocol has seen the biggest gain in terms of TVL over the past seven days as the value locked on the protocol has increased by 57%.

*Total value locked on Trader Joe vs. exchange trading volume. Source: Token Terminal*

Layer-2 platforms increase their gas consumption

It’s not just Ethereum’s layer-one competitors that have seen an uptick in activity in the past few months. The launch of several new layer-two solutions and an airdrop by the decentralized derivatives exchange dYdX (DYDX) have led to an increase in gas consumption by layer-two protocols.

*Layer-two vs. Layer-one gas spend as a percentage of total gas. Source: Delphi Digital*

Data from Delphi Digital shows that the percentage of gas used by layer-two solutions is now above 1% after spiking as high as 2% in early September.

DYdX protocol was one of the earlier adopters of layer-two technology thanks to a collaboration with Starkware, and the protocol has seen a new level of activity in recent weeks following the release of its DYDX governance token which was airdropped on Sept. 8 to users who had previously used the protocol.

*Total value locked on dYdX vs. trading volume. Source: Token Terminal*

Since the airdrop release, the TVL locked on the dYdX has increased from $422 million to $554 million, and its 24-hour training volume has climbed from $700 million to as high as $2.4 billion.

Ethereum After 1559: Network Participants Burn Over 300,000 Ether Worth More Than $1 Billion

September 16, 2021 Bitcoin.com

3 reasons why REN price is up 340% from its July swing low

September 16, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Altcoin Watch

A cross-chain bridge to Arbitrum, protocol upgrades and a steady surge in network activity back REN’s 340% rebound off its July 20 swing low.

Interoperability has become one of the driving themes within the crypto market and as the blockchain ecosystem evolves into an interconnected web of layer-one protocols, the importance of communication and efficiency among decentralized applications (dApps) will also increase.

Ren (REN), a blockchain protocol designed to provide interoperability and liquidity between different blockchain platforms, has recent started gaining traction over the past month and a half as activity in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector has been on the rise.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that after reaching a low of $00.41 on Aug. 9, the price of REN has climbed 185% to a daily high at $1.16 on Sept. 15 as its 24-hour trading volume spiked 443% to $673 million.

*REN/USDT 1-day chart. Source:* *TradingView*

Three reasons for the price growth seen in REN include the steadily increasing activity and total value locked on RenVM, the launch of a bridge to Arbitrum and the release of RenVM Greycore on the network's testnet.

Rising volume and total value locked

REN's bullish momentum can be found in the data for the total network volume and total value locked (TVL).

*Total network volume and total value locked on Ren. Source: Ren Project*

As 2021 progressed, new chains were added to the list of bridges supported, which now includes Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Solana, Polygon, Fantom, Avalanche and Arbitrum.

Each new bridge has helped increase the volume and TVL on the Ren network, which has coincided with moves seen in REN p.

REN price follows the Bridge to Arbitrum

The spike in price seen on Sept. 15 was in large part due to the release of the Arbitrum bridge, an Ethereum (ETH) layer-two scaling solution Arbitrum, which is designed to host popular decentralized applications in a fast, low-fee environment.

The Ethereum network has been plagued by high fees and delayed transaction times which have hampered the ability of many users to use DeFi or nonfungible token (NFT) related protocols on the network.

Arbitrum’s low-cost environment has proven to be an attractive DeFi environment for BTC holders who are now able to migrate to the layer-two solution and interact on the network with renBTC.

The total value locked on Arbitrum via the Ren protocol was $7.75 million as of Sept. 15 and is represented by the green line in the value locked chart above.

REN marches toward decentralization

A third reason behind the increase in activity for REN was the release of RenVM Greycore on the network’s testnet on Sept. 13, a move that was done as the project works toward its goal of full decentralization.

Greycore is a semi-decentralized validator set of nodes that are operated by reputable DeFi projects and it helps add an additional layer of protection for the protocol.

The first project to join Greycore was BadgerDAO, a DeFi project focused on building projects that bring BTC to DeFi.

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro, market conditions for REN have been favorable for some time.

*VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. REN price. Source:* *Cointelegraph Markets Pro*

As seen on the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for REN turned green on Sept. 13 and climbed to a high of 71 on Sept. 14 just as the price of REN began to increase 72% over the next two days.

Dogecoin Rival Shiba Inu Spikes in Value While DOGE Prices Flounder, SHIB Jumps 21% in 24 Hours

September 16, 2021 Bitcoin.com

Bitcoin Wallet Charged $0.80 in Fees To Transfer More Than $2,000,000,000 in BTC

September 14, 2021 The Daily Hodl

Sen. Warren goes after Ethereum network fees in committee hearing

September 14, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

"High, unpredictable fees can make crypto trading really dangerous for people who aren’t rich," said Senator Warren.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, known by many as an outspoken cryptocurrency skeptic in the U.S. government, criticized outages at exchanges and high transaction fees during periods of price volatility.

In a Tuesday hearing of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs with Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler, Warren claimed the crypto industry had fallen short on providing solutions for financial inclusion in the United States. She mentioned the price drops among cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) last week, saying “$400 billion in market value disappeared” while many users reported problems accessing major exchanges like Coinbase.

Warren hinted that investing in decentralized finance, or DeFi, projects was “pretty risky” given the fact many have not registered with the SEC and aren’t necessarily within its regulatory umbrella. In addition, she highlighted some of the high transaction fees during periods of volatility — in this case, on Sept. 7, when the BTC price fell from $52,920 to an intraday low of $42,843.

“The fee to swap between two crypto tokens on the Ethereum network was more than $500,” said Warren, referring to trading a hypothetical token worth $100. “In the face of these high, unpredictable fees, small investors could easily get jammed and wiped out entirely.”

She added:

“Advocates say crypto markets are all about financial inclusion, but the people who are most economically vulnerable are the ones who are most likely to have to withdraw their money the fastest when the market drops [...] high, unpredictable fees can make crypto trading really dangerous for people who aren’t rich."

Gensler addressed several questions from U.S. lawmakers during the two-hour hearing regarding a policy framework on cryptocurrencies, requiring companies to disclose climate risks to investors, and other issues potentially affecting the SEC. In a prepared statement for his testimony released yesterday, he encouraged crypto projects to meet with SEC officials regarding securities the platforms may be offering in the form of digital assets.

Senator Warren has often criticized cryptocurrencies as being tied to many illegal activities including “unreliable tech,” scams, and the industry’s impact on climate change. Last month, she proposed banning U.S. banks from holding the reserves to back private stablecoins.