Circle denies blaming SEC for shuttered $9B plan to go public

January 26, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Circle denies blaming SEC for shuttered B plan to go public

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A Jan. 25 report from the Financial Times which was widely shared characterized Circle as having "blamed" the SEC for its "jettisoned" public listing plan.

A spokesperson for USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle has denied reports that it blames the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its failed $9 billion plan to go public in December.

The stablecoin issuer representative was responding to a Jan. 25 Financial Times article which characterized Circle as having “blamed” the securities regulator for its “derailed” listing as a result of dragging its feet on the approval of a merger agreement.

However, a Circle spokesperson clarified to Cointelegraph that was not the case and that it doesn’t hold any blame over the SEC for the termination of its merger agreement.

“Circle has not and does not blame the SEC for anything related to the mutual termination of our SPAC merger agreement with Concord, and any statements to the contrary are inaccurate."

Circle’s listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) was pegged on them being able to combine with Concord, a company set up by banker Bob Diamond via a Special Purpose Acquisition Company arrangement, also known as a SPAC deal.

However, according to the FT, Circle said the merger failed to be consummated as a result of the SEC not declaring the related S-4 registration effective in time, which would cause the agreement to lapse on Dec. 10.

Circle’s spokesperson however referred to previous statements made by the company in December, noting that “the deal simply termed out.”

Concord had not publicly disclosed a reason for the failed business combination, but filed an 8-K form with the SEC on Dec. 5 — the same day the deal was announced as terminated — which revealed that it was being delisted by the NYSE due to “abnormally low trading price levels.”

Indeed, in a Dec, 5 tweet Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire had nothing but positive words regarding the SEC, and noted that while it was disappointing that they were unable to complete qualification in time it was still planning on becoming a publicly-listed company.

2/ From my perspective, I believe that the SEC has been rigorous and thorough in understanding our business and many novel aspects of this industry. This kind of review is necessary to ultimately provide trust, transparency and accountability for major companies in crypto.
— Jeremy Allaire (@jerallaire) December 5, 2022

As Cointelegraph had previously reported, the deal was first announced in Jul. 2021 at a valuation of $4.5 billion, before doubling in Feb. 2022 when it was revised up to $9 billion.

Crypto exchange WonderFi confirms merger talks with Coinsquare

January 13, 2023 Coin Telegraph

bitbuy

The exchanges are yet to finalize a potential merger, with WonderFi releasing a public statement in response to market speculation and a surging share price.

Crypto exchange WonderFi, which is backed by crypto investor and billionaire Kevin O’Leary, has confirmed it is in preliminary discussions with fellow Canadian crypto exchange Coinsquare for a possible merger.

In a statement on Jan. 12, WonderFi responded to a Bloomberg report suggesting the two exchanges were in "advanced merger talks" to "create a Canadian crypto giant."

WonderFi clarified that the discussions were "preliminary" at this stage, adding that it cannot guarantee that an agreement will be reached.

"In response to the press speculation, the Company acknowledges that it has held preliminary discussions with various third parties with respect to both potential acquisitions and the Company being acquired, which is consistent with past practice and the Company's general acquisition strategy."

"These discussions are preliminary in nature and are ongoing, and no assurance can be given that any agreement or agreements will be reached, or that the terms of a transaction will be agreed upon or that a transaction will be completed," it said.

WonderFi is a crypto exchange headquartered in Vancouver Canada.

Coinsquare is also a crypto exchange operating in Canada and is based in Toronto. A Bloomberg report on Jan. 12 said that although Coinsquare does not disclose assets under management they are estimated to have 500,000 users on its platform.

*WonderFi’s corporate overview from November 2022. Source: WonderFi Q3 2022 investor deck.*

A potential merger of the two could see the combined entity serving 1.15 million users, making them the argest exchange in Canada.

WonderFi is one of the few publicly traded exchanges in Canada and has seen its share price increase by nearly 30% over the last 24 hours following press speculation of a merger.

*WonderFi share price from Jan. 5 to Jan. 12. Source: TradingView.*

News of the two exchange's potential merger comes just days after Coinsquare terminated an agreement to acquire all the outstanding shares for a subsidiary of Canadian crypto exchange CoinSmart, in a deal which CoinSmart announced on Sep. 22 would see them receive $3 million cash and over $26 million in Coinsquare shares as payment.

WonderFi also had a busy year of acquisitions in 2022, announcing on Jan. 4 that they would be acquiring fellow Canadian crypto exchange Bitbuy’s parent company for $162 million, before it continued its Canadian expansion by acquiring crypto exchange Coinberry for $38 million on Apr. 18.

Both of the acquisitions have since been finalized.

In an interview at the time O’Leary had mentioned that there would be”several more and even bigger” acquisitions on the way.

It most recently acquired North American blockchain development firm Blockchain Foundry on Sep. 1, 2022, which recently launched a nonfungible technology (NFT) minting platform and marketplace, in addition to a Web3 learning platform.

Blockchain fintech GammaRey signs $320M merger agreement

January 3, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Blockchain fintech GammaRey signs 0M merger agreement

Coin Telegraph

GammaRey said it has nearly $800 million in consumer assets.

According to an announcement on Jan.3, blockchain fintech firm GammaRey signed a merger agreement with financial e-commerce and consumer data analytics company GoLogiq. Both companies are based in the U.S., while GoLogiq focuses on customers in Southeast Asia.

As stipulated by the terms, GoLogiq will issue $320 million in common stock to acquire 100% of GammaRey's outstanding shares. The transaction is anticipated to be completed within the next few weeks, subject to conditions. As told by the two parties, the merger aims to "focus on the high-growth market of wealth management for Generation Z and Millennials." Regarding the transaction, Brent Suen, chairman of GoLogiq, commented:

"Through this highly synergistic merger, we will have achieved our goal for GoLogiq to become a comprehensive fintech platform for underserved businesses and consumers that is generating strong revenue growth and cash flow."

Suen also disclosed that GoLogiq is in the late stages of completing a new acquisition target with more than $9 billion in managed assets introduced by GammaRey. The two parties have set a guidance of more than $50 million in annualized revenue for 2023 upon deal completion.

Based in New York, GammaRey focuses on consumer digital wallets and developer software. The private company said it is "profitable business with strong cash flow." with nearly $800 million in consumer assets. Following the merger, GoLogiq stock would continue to trade over the counter under the ticker GOLQ.

"GoLogiq also plans to apply for an uplisting to a listed exchange, such as Nasdaq or the NYSE. Such an application would be subject to approval based on several factors, including satisfaction of minimum listing requirements."

Superhero cans merger with Swyftx citing regulatory scrutiny

December 21, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Superhero assured its users that their funds are safe and that neither their personal data nor assets were provided to Swyftx.

With more regulators eyeing the crypto space as the FTX debacle continues, the $1.5 billion merger of online investing platform Superhero with the Australian crypto exchange Swyftx was shelved.

In an email to its customers, Superhero highlighted that it will not be proceeding with its merger with the crypto exchange. According to the company, this is because of heightened regulatory scrutiny within Australia and globally. They wrote:

“As a result of the current environment, we have decided that the best thing for our Superhero customers is to unwind the merger and move forward as a separate, unrelated company.”

The firm also assured its users that their funds are safe, as neither their data nor their assets were provided to Swyftx.

The companies first announced the merger on June 8 and revealed plans to enable trading between traditional and crypto assets. Back then, Swyftx co-CEO Ryan Parsons told Cointelegraph that the long-term goal for the merger is to explore interoperability between asset classes. However, things did not work out as planned.

Months later, the crypto exchange announced several layoffs. On Aug 19, the firm cut its staff by 21%, citing the bear market, inflation and a recession as its reasons. On Dec. 5, the firm announced that it has laid off another 35% of its employees, saying that while it wasn't exposed to FTX, it was also affected by the fallout.

After hearing about the layoffs, crypto community members reacted with various sentiments. One believed that it was bound to happen and more bankruptcies may follow. However, a user also gave Swyftx some encouragement, saying that good things are coming.

Meanwhile, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who is currently in jail, has signed extradition papers. This means that the former FTX CEO will be turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation to face criminal charges in the United States.

Bitcoin Depot says SPAC merger will continue as planned after solid revenue growth

December 1, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Depot

The firm's revenue increased by 25.25% to $497.2 million in the first nine months of 2022.

According to a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 1, crypto ATM operator Bitcoin Depot said it "remains on track to complete its previously announced business combination with GSR II Meteora Acquisition Corp."

The merger with the special purpose acquisition vehicle, or SPAC, is scheduled to occur in the first quarter of 2023, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. Bitcoin Depot estimates that the deal will infuse the company with up to $170 million in cash proceeds net of debt repayment.

In its earnings report for year-to-date financials that ended Sept. 30, released the same day, Bitcoin Depot disclosed that its revenue grew by 25.25% year over year to $497.2 million. However, the company barely broke even with $4.622 million in net income compared to $9.587 million for the first nine months of 2021, partly due to a sharp increase in interest expense. Commenting on the results in the context of the recent market turmoil, Brandon Mintz, CEO, and founder of Bitcoin Depot, stated:

"We believe we stand apart from the industry with limited direct crypto exposure, robust compliance procedures and secure transactions that give users control of their purchased crypto, compared to other methods of transacting in crypto where users rely on third parties to custody their crypto."

Founded in 2016, Bitcoin Depot is currently the largest Bitcoin ATM operator in North America, with over 7,000 kiosks and a 19% market share in the U.S. On August 24, 2022, Bitcoin Depot and GSR II Meteora Acquisition Corp announced their merger to take Bitcoin Depot public on the U.S. Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol BTM.

Ripple to consider deals for FTX assets: Brad Garlinghouse

November 20, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Acquisition

Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, said the company would be interested in companies owned by FTX that serve business customers.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse is reportedly interested in buying certain parts of collapsed crypto exchange FTX.

On the sidelines of Ripple’s Swell conference in London — was held on Nov. 16 and 17 — Garlinghouse told The Sunday Times that former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried called him two days before the company filed for bankruptcy as he sought to round up investors to rescue the business.

Our 6th annual #RippleSwell is underway! I took the stage this morning with @cnbcKaren to discuss all things Ripple, crypto utility, macroeconomic factors affecting crypto, and much more. A thread… pic.twitter.com/EDHW3nyka8
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) November 16, 2022

The Ripple CEO said that during the call, the two discussed if there were FTX-owned businesses that Ripple “would want to own.”

“Part of my conversation was if he needs liquidity, maybe there’s businesses that he has bought or he has that we would want to own [...] Would we have bought some of those from him? I definitely think that was on the table,” he said.

However, Garlinghouse admits that now that FTX has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States, a potential transaction for an FTX business will be “very different than it would have been one-to-one.”

“I’m not saying we won’t look at those things – I’m sure we will. But it’s a harder path to transact,” he added.

Approximately 130 companies affiliated with FTX, including FTX.US, were included in the bankruptcy filing in Delaware.

Some subsidiaries not included in the proceedings include crypto clearinghouse LedgerX, FTX Digital Markets, FTX Australia Pty, and payments processor FTX Express Pay.

Garlinghouse said he would be interested in buying the parts that served business customers.

Cointelegraph has reached out to Ripple for additional comment but has not received a response by the time of publication.

It appears that Ripple’s executives, like many in the industry, are following the latest developments of the FTX saga.

On Nov. 10, Ripple chief technology officer David Schwartz directed a message on Twitter toward employees of FTX, suggesting that there would be room at Ripple for them, so long as they aren’t involved in compliance, finance or business ethics.”

Hey @FTX_Official employees not involved in compliance, finance, or business ethics:@Ripple is always hiring.
— David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) November 10, 2022

FTX has recently appointed restructuring administration firm Kroll as its agent to track all claims against FTX and ensure interested parties are notified of developments throughout its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.

Further BTC mining consolidation as Crusoe acquires peer mining firm

October 13, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Acquisition

Crusoe Energy Systems has just acquired the operating assets of Great American Mining, a sign that further consolidation could be ahead.

Amid soaring Bitcoin (BTC) mining difficulty and sinking mining profitability, Colorado-based Bitcoin miner Crusoe Energy Systems has announced the acquisition of the operating assets of portable BTC mining operator Great American Mining (GAM).

The deal will see GAM’s operations integrate into Crusoe’s, adding over 10 megawatts (MW) to its mining output and around 4,000 application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) crypto mining rigs — increasing Crusoe’s capacity by about 9% according to the company.

GAM builds and deploys portable BTC mining facilities — vehicle trailer-mounted containers enclosed with ASIC miners — with the goal of helping oil and gas companies take advantage of stranded or otherwise wasted natural gas by using it to power the facility to mine BTC.

Crusoe will have roughly 125 of these waste gas-powered containers deployed and operating following the acquisition, which it says could reduce an annual CO2-equivalent emission of around 170,000 cars.

The consolidation of these two mining operations comes as the sector faces pressure from both the traditional and crypto markets, along with an all-time high BTC mining difficulty all of which is negatively affecting miner profitability.

Markus Thielen, head of strategy for digital asset services platform Matrixport told Cointelegraph the majority of the mining hashrate moving to the United States over the last two years had “significant consequences” on how the industry was positioned into the wider economic downturn.

“Around 20 Bitcoin mining companies raised additional capital through IPOs where shareholders demanded a high correlation to the underlying Bitcoin price,” he said, explaining orders for new mining machines were placed a year in advance, which was expected to come online in the third quarter of 2022.

“The result was that mining companies bought Bitcoin directly from the market at higher costs than their mining operations and were negatively exposed to further capital expenditure investments as they placed equipment orders a year in advance.”

As miners waited for the equipment some sold significant parts of their BTC reserves to recoup expenditures, but Thielen says “this has not been enough,” and expects an “outright industry restructuring.”

Crypto miners such as CleanSpark have already shown to be interested in snapping up cheap assets amid tough market conditions, purchasing over 1,000 ASIC mining rigs at a “substantially discounted price” in July, and 1,800 Antminer S19 XP rigs the month prior.

In September CleanSpark went on to purchase a $33 million facility in the U.S. from Australian-based miner Mawson, spending an extra $9.5 million buying the firms’ 6,468 ASIC mining rigs.

Rising energy costs and the crypto bear market caused mining hosting firm Compute North to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September, with the company owing $500 million to 200 creditors with assets worth anywhere between $100 million and $500 million.

Bitcoin Mining Industry Reveals Mergers, Hashrate Increases, and New Facilities Amid Market Downturn

September 29, 2022 Bitcoin.com

Crypto-stock trade pairs in the cards as Swyftx inks $1.5B merger with Superhero

June 8, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Crypto-stock trade pairs in the cards as Swyftx inks .5B merger with Superhero

Coin Telegraph

Speaking to Cointelegraph on Wednesday, Swyftx co-CEO Ryan Parsons revealed that its long-term plans are to explore ways to offer trading between traditional and crypto asset classes.

Australian crypto exchange Swyftx wants to eventually offer seamless trading between traditional and crypto-asset classes, with its first step being the completion of its $1.5 billion merger deal with online investing platform Superhero.

The deal to combine the two was revealed on June 8, with the merged entity set to become the first in Australia to offer both decentralized and traditional finance.

We're teaming up with equities trading platform & fellow Aussie fintech @superheroaus, to give you the opportunity to invest in digital and traditional assets - all in one place!

Official announcement here https://t.co/ygmeaS3wuq pic.twitter.com/Ivhsa2lybI
— Swyftx (@SwyftxAU) June 7, 2022

Speaking to Cointelegraph on Wednesday, Swyftx co-CEO Ryan Parsons revealed that one of its longer-term goals is to explore “greater interoperability between asset classes.”

“You can imagine customers trading their Bitcoin or other digital assets for equities in listed companies like Tesla, and vice versa.”

Parsons said that its first priority will be to work with regulators and set up appropriate customer protections:

“But it’s important to be clear that we’re working through all the regulatory requirements in what is already a quickly evolving regulatory landscape. We’re extremely keen to ensure that whatever we do, is done properly with appropriate customer protections in place.”

While the merger news appeared to come without any prior warning, Parsons said it was “no surprise” that a number of equity trading platforms have been looking to offer crypto trading and vice versa, and that discussions with Superhero about a merger had been underway for several months prior:

“The two teams have been actively talking for a few months, with the merger following out of initial discussions around the potential for a crypto-equities partnership opportunity. It just made more sense to join forces than to be partners.”

Co-founded by Alex Harper and Angus Goldman in 2018, Swyftx is an Australian crypto exchange, offering 320 digital currencies and crypto interest-earning products. The company’s exchange saw a banner year in 2021, growing its investor base by nearly 1,200% to over 600,000 retail and corporate investors.

Superhero, an online broker, was founded in the same year, but launched only in late 2020. Over the last 12 months, the company has grown its investor base by more than 600% to over 200,000 investors, allowing them to trade Australian and U.S. stocks, as well as manage their Superhero superannuation (Australia’s version of 401K) a product launched in July 2021.

In a statement on June 8, Swyftx said the completed merger would create a combined customer base of 800,000 when it's completed around mid-2023.

The combined platform will allow customers to trade and invest across cryptocurrencies, equities and superannuation. Later, Parisons said the company wants to build out its product offerings, which could include banking-type services or other traditional finance products and services.

Following the merger, Swyftx co-founder Alex Harper and current Swyftx CEO Ryan Parsons will become co-CEOs of the combined entity. John Winters will head up the traditional financial services arm and take a position on the board of directors.

Winters told the Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday evening that there was a possibility of listing the combined entity on the Australian stock exchange once the merger is tied off, but said there would be “a lot of work to be done before we get to that stage.”

Winters stated that, for the time being, the two platforms will continue to operate independently of each other, and no job losses are expected as part of the merger.

Bitcoin mining company PrimeBlock to go public via $1.25B SPAC merger

April 1, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin mining company PrimeBlock to go public via .25B SPAC merger

Coin Telegraph

The company forecasts it will generate up to $98 million in annual revenue.

On Friday, Bitcoin (BTC) mining company PrimeBlock announced that it is merging with special purpose acquisition vehicle (SPAC) company 10X Capital Venture Acquisition Corp II. The deal places PrimeBlock at an enterprise value of $1.323 billion and is expected to close in the second half of the year.

The company has installed 1.8 exahash per second of BTC self-mining equipment, accounting for approximately 0.89% of the Bitcoin network's overall hash rate. According to PrimeBlock, its break-even price for mining is $9,000 per coin. Back in 2020, up to 59% of its energy sources were carbon-free. The firm seeks to become carbon-neutral on a net-zero basis by the year 2050.

Last year, PrimeBlock brought in $21.8 million in revenue through mining 356.8 BTC. But in 2022, the firm expects to generate $220.1 million in revenue, or a forecasted 3,629 BTC, partly via rapidly expanding its mining capacities to over 10 exahash per second. It also has a small Ethereum (ETH) mining operation, extracting 699 of such digital assets in 2021.

Regarding the business agreement, Hans Thomas, chairman and CEO of 10X Capital, commented:

"Gaurav and the leadership team [...] have successfully deployed over 110 megawatts of data center capacity and generated more than $24 million of revenue in the fourth quarter. They have built strong relationships with key partners [...] with a commitment to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050."

Merger

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