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Solana Surges Nearly 83% in a Week As SOL’s Decentralized Exchange Volumes Now Rank Second After Ethereum’s

Solana Surges Nearly 83% in a Week As SOL’s Decentralized Exchange Volumes Now Rank Second After Ethereum’s

New data from decentralized finance (DeFi) tracker DeFiLlama reveals that surging altcoin Solana (SOL) is now the top traded digital asset on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) behind Ethereum (ETH). Solana’s trading DEX volume has soared by more than 25% in the past week for a total of $5.6 billion, catapulting it into the second highest traded digital […]

The post Solana Surges Nearly 83% in a Week As SOL’s Decentralized Exchange Volumes Now Rank Second After Ethereum’s appeared first on The Daily Hodl.

Gemini won’t hire MIT grads unless university drops ex-SEC chair Gensler

Paxos Becomes Multi-Chain Stablecoin Issuer, Expands to Solana (SOL) Blockchain

Paxos Becomes Multi-Chain Stablecoin Issuer, Expands to Solana (SOL) Blockchain

Stablecoin issuer Paxos is expanding into the Solana (SOL) network, becoming the first multi-chain platform to be regulated across multiple jurisdictions. In a new press release, the New York-based crypto firm says that after exclusively working with top smart contract platform Ethereum (ETH), it will now be releasing its dollar-pegged crypto asset, Pax Dollar (USDP), […]

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Gemini won’t hire MIT grads unless university drops ex-SEC chair Gensler

Paxos receives in-principle approval to issue stablecoins in Abu Dhabi

The approval followed a similar move by regulators in Singapore, where Paxos said its local entity would launch a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin.

Crypto firm Paxos has secured in-principle approval from Abu Dhabi’s regulator on two fronts: to issue stablecoins and conduct digital asset services.

In a Nov. 29 announcement, Paxos said the Financial Services Regulatory Authority in the Abu Dhabi Global Market had granted in-principle approval for the company to issue United States dollar-backed stablecoins as well as “offer crypto-brokerage and custody services” in the emirate. The approval followed a similar move by regulators in Singapore, where Paxos said its local entity would launch a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin.

“Our IPAs from the FSRA, on the heels of our IPA from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, solidify our commitment to pursuing international growth through regulated frameworks,” said Paxos head of strategy Walter Hessert. “Paxos is unique in the industry for this approach and we will continue expanding our regulatory licensing to serve global enterprises as a trusted, innovative partner.”

Related: Iota launches $100M Abu Dhabi foundation for Middle East expansion

According to Paxos, it will continue to expand the use of its stablecoins upon full approval. The firm reiterated transparency regarding its stablecoin reserves as “stable, safe, and reliable.” PayPal launched its PYUSD stablecoin issued by Paxos in August.

On Nov. 1, the Abu Dhabi Global Market introduced comprehensive regulations related to distributed ledger technology. The region began preparing regulations on cryptocurrency in 2018.

Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom

Gemini won’t hire MIT grads unless university drops ex-SEC chair Gensler

Someone Just Paid $3,140,000 in Bitcoin Fees for a Single BTC Transaction: On-Chain Data

Someone Just Paid ,140,000 in Bitcoin Fees for a Single BTC Transaction: On-Chain Data

A Bitcoin address was spotted paying a whopping $3.14 million in fees for a single BTC transaction, according to on-chain data. First reported by blockchain tracking firm Lookonchain, the address starting with “bc1qn” paid over 83 BTC to miners while sending coins to another entity beginning with “bc1qyf.” “Wallet ‘bc1qn’ paid a transaction fee of […]

The post Someone Just Paid $3,140,000 in Bitcoin Fees for a Single BTC Transaction: On-Chain Data appeared first on The Daily Hodl.

Gemini won’t hire MIT grads unless university drops ex-SEC chair Gensler

Paxos to issue USD stablecoin in Singapore, wins initial approval

The USD-backed token will comply with Singapore’s upcoming stablecoin laws and be issued through a new local Paxos entity that’s received initial approval.

Crypto infrastructure firm Paxos has secured in-principle approval from Singapore’s regulator for a new entity that’s planning the launch of a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin.

In a Nov. 15 statement, Paxos said it received an initial nod from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for its new entity Paxos Digital Singapore Pte. Ltd. The new firm can offer digital payment token services and plans to issue a USD stablecoin cleared under the MAS’ proposed stablecoin regulations.

Upon receiving full approval, Paxos said it will be able to partner with enterprise clients to issue the stablecoin in Singapore.

“Global demand for the U.S. dollar has never been stronger, yet it remains difficult for consumers outside the U.S. to get dollars safely, reliably and under regulatory protections,” said Paxos head of strategy Walter Hessert. “This in-principle approval from the MAS will allow Paxos to bring its regulated platform to more users around the world.”

On Aug .15, MAS announced its final framework for regulating stablecoins aimed at non-bank issued tokens pegged to the value of the Singapore dollar or G10 currencies such as the euro, British pound and U.S. dollar and whose circulation exceeds 5 million Singapore dollars ($3.7 million).

Related: Tether credits USDT growth surge to ETF excitement, emerging markets

On Aug. 7, PayPal launched its USD-backed stablecoin — PYUSD — issued by Paxos. 

Paxos formerly minted Binance’s now-defunct BUSD stablecoin but was ordered by the New York Department of Financial Services to cease issuance of the token after the agency declared the stablecoin an unregistered security. 

Paxos clarified that all of its stablecoins are fully backed by the U.S. dollar and cash equivalents, adding that it issues monthly attestations and reserve reports to ensure compliance. 

Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom

Gemini won’t hire MIT grads unless university drops ex-SEC chair Gensler

Crypto.com to become preferred exchange for PayPal USD

PayPal launched its U.S. dollar-backed, Ethereum-built stablecoin in August 2023.

Singapore-based exchange Crypto.com has teamed up with PayPal and Paxos to become a preferred platform for PayPal USD (PYUSD). 

According to a press release from Sept. 28, Crypto.com currently possesses the deepest liquidity for PYUSD trading pairs globally. The exchange has listed PYUSD for retail and institutional users, with “trading features coming soon.” This move builds on PayPal and Crypto.com’s previous partnership, such as an option to use PayPal to top up the Crypto.com Visa Card, according to the press release.

In his commentary, Joe Anzures, the Senior Vice President of Americas and Global Head of Payment Partnerships at Crypto.com, called Paxos “a market-leading issuer of stablecoins” and expressed the company’s excitement about the collaboration:

“Connecting our more than 80 million users to the latest crypto innovations, as well as supporting PayPal’s global network of consumers and merchants, will be pivotal in our continued pursuit of crypto to every wallet.”

PayPal launched its stablecoin in August 2023. The U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin is built on Ethereum and fully backed by U.S. dollar deposits, short-term Treasurys and similar cash equivalents. 

Related: PayPal’s stablecoin opens the door for crypto adoption in traditional finance

PYUSD is present on major exchanges including Bitstamp, Coinbase and Kraken, and is supported as a payment option by BitPay and Metamask. In September, the stablecoin became available to Venmo users. The New York State Department of Financial Services has also included PYUSD on its green list of coins approved by the regulator.

Magazine: Blockchain detectives: Mt. Gox collapse saw birth of Chainalysis

Gemini won’t hire MIT grads unless university drops ex-SEC chair Gensler

Bitcoin miner mulls refunding 20 BTC reward to Paxos

Chun’s reservations about whether to return the funds to Paxos stems from him being “annoyed” that “the person claiming it (the funds) kept saying EST instead of EDT/UTC.”

A Bitcoin (BTC) miner who mistakenly received 20 BTC — worth over $500,000 — from crypto exchange Paxos for settling a 0.008 BTC ($200) transaction is now reconsidering their decision to return the jackpot to its rightful owner.

On Sept. 13, Paxos revealed to Cointelegraph that it overpaid the BTC network fee on Sept. 10, to a miner who goes by the pseudonym Chun. While confirming that the event did not impact the traders' funds, the platform admitted that a system bug resulted in the disbursement of 20 BTC in mining rewards on one transaction.

While Chun initially agreed to refund the reward, he decided to reconsider his decision and reached out to the crypto community for advice.

Chun’s unwillingness to return the funds to Paxos stems from him being “annoyed” that “the person claiming it (the funds) kept saying EST instead of EDT/UTC.”

Bitcoin miner Chun asks crypto community for opinion on return of Paxos funds. Source: X 

Adding to Chun’s dilemma, the crypto community on X (formerly Twitter) shared mixed opinions — each supported by solid reasonings. However, most people believe Chun has no obligation to return the 20 BTC reward and agree that instead, it should be distributed among the Bitcoin mining community.

Related: Marathon’s Bitcoin mining rate fell 9% in August

Depending on one’s physical location, Bitcoin mining business can have a varied profit margin. A recent report from CoinGecko showed that only 65 countries are profitable for solo Bitcoin miners, based solely on household electricity costs.

The most unprofitable countries to mine 1 BTC. Source: CoinGecko

Based on the data shown above, mining 1 BTC in Lebanon is 783x cheaper than Italy, where it costs $208,560 to produce 1 Bitcoin.

Magazine: Are DAOs overhyped and unworkable? Lessons from the front lines

Gemini won’t hire MIT grads unless university drops ex-SEC chair Gensler

Paxos confirms it’s responsible for $500K mistaken Bitcoin transaction

The account that paid $500,000 to move $2,000 worth of Bitcoin was a Paxos server, the company stated.

The account that overpaid $500,000 in fees on Sept. 10 for a Bitcoin transfer belonged to Paxos, according to a Sept. 13 statement from the company. Paxos claimed that end users have not been affected and all user funds are safe. Paxos is most well-known as the issuer of stablecoins, including PayPal USD (PYUSD) and Pax Dollar (USDP), but also runs a crypto brokerage firm that carries Bitcoin (BTC).

The statement comes after users on X (formerly Twitter) were speculating that PayPal may have been responsible for the transaction due to a related wallet account that had been identified by analytics platform OXT as belonging to PayPal. A Paxos representative told Cointelegraph that PayPal was not responsible, as the error was its own, stating:

“Paxos overpaid the BTC network fee on Sept. 10, 2023. This only impacted Paxos corporate operations. Paxos clients and end users have not been affected and all customer funds are safe. This was due to a bug on a single transfer and it has been fixed. Paxos is in contact with the miner to recoup the funds.”

The mistaken transaction was first discovered on Sept. 10, shortly after it had occurred. According to blockchain data, the sender paid fees of approximately 20 BTC (over $515,000 worth at the time) to send just 0.07 BTC (worth less than $2,000 at the time). At the time, Casa wallet co-founder Jameson Lopp declared that the sending account “looks like an exchange or payment processor with buggy software,” as it had made over 60,000 transactions from the same address.

The block that contained the transaction was confirmed by Bitcoin mining pool F2Pool. On Sept. 10, the pool’s management offered to return the funds to whoever sent the transaction if a claim was made within three days. Otherwise, the exorbitant fee would be paid out to the pool’s hashing power contributors.

Before Paxos made its statement, Bitcoin enthusiast Mononaut declared on X that PayPal was responsible for the transaction.

According to Mononaut, the sending account, bc1qr35hws365juz5rtlsjtvmulu97957kqvr3zpw3, had exhibited behavior that “closely matches the behavior of a now inactive wallet [bc1qhs3gptkxem5y7yaq2yg0un2m8hae6wt87gkx4n].” This inactive address was labeled “Paypal” by blockchain analytics platform OXT.

To add further evidence for their hypothesis, Mononaut pointed out that this old wallet address transferred its funds to the new address through an intermediate account. Bitcoin blockchain data shows that the old address labeled “Paypal” by OXT transferred approximately 18.5 BTC to address bc1qlm0xlahpysq2v9yh5rhcc430xjz3xknqqnyvaf on June 19. That account then sent ‎around 5.37 BTC to the new address that later made the mistaken transaction. Lopp shared the thread, wondering aloud if PayPal would request the funds back.

Related: Coinbase to integrate Bitcoin Lightning Network: CEO Brian Armstrong

Paxos later issued its statement confirming that the mistake had been its own, not PayPal’s.

Paxos isn’t the first crypto user or company to potentially pay thousands of dollars in fees because of a mistake. In 2019, one Ethereum user lost over $300,000 when they mistakenly pasted values into the wrong fields. Luckily for them, the mining pool agreed to return 50% of the funds lost. In 2020, another Ethereum user mistakenly paid $9,500 for a $120 trade. The user claimed that the mistake had “destroyed [their] life.”

In its statement, Paxos claimed that it had contacted the mining company that confirmed the transaction and is attempting to recover the lost funds.

Gemini won’t hire MIT grads unless university drops ex-SEC chair Gensler

PayPal PYUSD stablecoin is 100% backed: Paxos transparency report

The total assets held in PayPal USD custody “meet or exceed the token balance,” with total tokens outstanding amounting to $44.4 million as of Aug. 31, Paxos report states.

Stablecoin issuer Paxos has published the first transparency report for the Ethereum-based stablecoin PayPal USD (PYUSD), stating that the coin is fully backed by assets.

According to the report, the total assets held in PayPal USD custody “meet or exceed the token balance,” with total tokens outstanding amounting to $44.4 million as of Aug. 31, 2023. The total notional position value amounted to $44.5 million.

The biggest share of PYUSD assets is backed by the U.S. Treasury reverse repurchase agreements held in custody by Paxos for the benefit of PYUSD holders. According to the data, as much as $43 million — or nearly 97% of total assets in PYUSD custody — are held in Treasury reverse repurchase agreements.

Data from Paxos’ PYUSD transparency report. Source: Paxos

A reverse repurchase agreement is a contractual arrangement between two parties, where one party agrees to sell securities to another party at a specified price with a commitment.

“Our repurchase agreements are overnight maturity with reputable financial institutions and overcollateralized with the U.S. Treasuries,” Paxos said, adding:

“In the event of a default by the counterparty, Paxos is able to liquidate the U.S. Treasury collateral to make itself whole. As all trades are overcollateralized, the risk of loss is not deemed to be material.”

As of Aug. 31, Paxos also held $1,500,146 of fiat currency at insured depository institutions, referred to as cash deposits. Paxos provided a link to the IntraFi network, or a full list of insured depository institutions at which funds may be placed.

“Paxos currently does not have any active private uninsured deposit insurance policies. Not all deposits are covered by the FDIC or private insurance, and Paxos may still incur losses in the event of a bank insolvency,” the firm added.

Related: PayPal’s new PYUSD stablecoin faces legal headwinds and ‘less functionality’

The report comes weeks after Paxos and PayPal debuted PYUSD on Aug. 7. By late August, 90% of PayPal USD was reportedly held in wallets of Paxos, while about 7% was distributed among exchanges like Kraken, Gate.io and Crypto.com.

On Sept. 12, the major cryptocurrency payment firm BitPay adopted PYUSD as a payment option on its platform, in addition to already supported USD-pegged stablecoins like USD Coin (USDC).

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Gemini won’t hire MIT grads unless university drops ex-SEC chair Gensler

Binance pushes new stablecoin as it confirms plan to cease BUSD support

Paxos has earlier said it will halt support of Binance's stablecoin by February 2024, now the exchange has said it will also stop support by that time.

Crypto exchange Binance has encouraged users to start converting their Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin holdings into a newly listed stablecoin amid plans to wind down support for BUSD. 

In an Aug. 31 statement from Binance, the crypto exchange confirmed prior speculation that it will gradually stop support for BUSD by February 2024 — a decision in line with Paxos' plans to end BUSD redemption at that time. 

The official statement is the first time Binance has addressed the subject after several users shared screenshots of a pop-up on their mobile app about the planned support halt.

In its statement, Binance said it is encouraging users to trade or convert their BUSD balances for First Digital USD (FDUSD) — a stablecoin launched in June by the Hong Kong-based trust company First Digital Group which had its debut listing on Binance in late July.

The exchange added BUSD to FDUSD trades and conversions are fee-free, and on Aug. 30 delisted eight BUSD pairs. The exchange has previously incentivized users to use the stablecoin with zero-fee trading pairs for FDUSD with Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).

Related: Binance sold USDC for another stablecoin — Coinbase CEO

Binance's decision to halt BUSD support appears to follow the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on Feb. 13 alleged BUSD was an unregistered security in a wells notice it issued to Paxos.

The same day, the New York Department of Financial Services ordered Paxos to halt the issuance of BUSD.

Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom

Gemini won’t hire MIT grads unless university drops ex-SEC chair Gensler