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Wealthy London Residents Reportedly Use Cryptocurrency for High-End Property Rent Payments

Wealthy London Residents Reportedly Use Cryptocurrency for High-End Property Rent PaymentsSome of London’s wealthy residents are reportedly using cryptocurrency to pay for luxury home rentals. High interest rates and a dampened real estate market have led the city’s affluent residents to opt against buying properties. The acceptance of payment in cryptocurrency demonstrates the real estate agency’s openness and its eagerness to become “a leader within […]

Omnity introduces cross-chain transactions for Bitcoin Runes

Binance Australia suspends AUD fiat services, citing issues with third party

Australian dollar deposits and withdrawals have been impacted due to a decision made by its third-party provider, it said in an announcement.

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance Australia has informed users it has suspended Australian dollar services as its local payment services provider has seemingly stopped support for the exchange.

On May 18, Binance Australia tweeted that AUD PayID deposits were suspended and bank transfer withdrawals will also be impacted "due to a decision made by our third-party payment service provider."

"We understand from our third party payment service provider that Bank Transfer withdrawals will also be impacted and we will advise users on timeline when this is confirmed," it added.

Binance said it is now working to find an alternative provider to continue offering AUD deposits and withdrawals to its users.

The ability to buy and sell crypto using credit or debit cards is still available, it added.

"Notably, you can still buy and sell crypto using credit or debit card and our Binance P2P marketplace will also continue to operate as usual. Rest assured that your funds are safe through the Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), an insurance fund that offers protection to Binance users and their funds in the event of extreme situations," it added.

Related: Australia marks first FX transaction using a CBDC as eAUD pilot continues

AUD withdrawals are seemingly still able to be undertaken for now. Cointelegraph's Australian staff wereable to withdraw AUD into an Australian bank account at the time of writing.

The suspension comes a month after the Australian securities regulator cancelled the financial services license of Binance Australia Derivatives after it reviewed Binance's local operations.

Asia Express: Alameda’s $38B IRS bill, Do Kwon kicked in the assets, Milady frenzy

Omnity introduces cross-chain transactions for Bitcoin Runes

Swiss State-Owned Banking Giant Postfinance to Offer Crypto Services

Swiss State-Owned Banking Giant Postfinance to Offer Crypto ServicesPostfinance, one of Switzerland’s largest retail banks, will offer customers access to major cryptocurrencies and related services. The state-owned financial institution will be using the banking platform developed by the Swiss-licensed digital asset bank Sygnum. Postfinance Partners With Sygnum to Provide Digital Asset Products and Services The financial services unit of the national postal service […]

Omnity introduces cross-chain transactions for Bitcoin Runes

Binance to lose its GBP on-and-off ramp provider in 9 weeks

Binance has also had problems with SWIFT, its banking partner for USD transfers over the last few months.

Binance is scrambling to find a new service partner to process British Pound (GBP) transfers on its trading platform after its current partner, Skrill Limited announced it will soon cease providing services to the crypto exchange. 

Binance explained in a Mar. 13 email to “Binancians” that Skrill would stop processing GBP deposits and withdrawals via bank transfer with its “Faster Payments Service” and card in May. 22.

“We regret to inform you that our GBP fiat partner, Skrill Limited, has informed us that it will stop offering GBP fiat services, namely deposits and withdrawals via Faster Payments and card, to Binance users,” the statement read.

Binance's email to users regarding GBP service suspension. Source: Twitter

The trading platform added that they are “working hard to find an alternative provider” to provide GBP on and off-ramp services to users as soon as possible.

It has about nine weeks to find an alternative before Skrill terminates its services.

Binance however confirmed that the change would not impact Binance Accounts or any Binance.com products or services.

Steps to deposit GBP on Binance. Source: Binance.

This isn’t the only service provider dilemma that Binance has dealt with of late either.

Binance temporarily suspended USD bank transfers on Feb. 8 but did not provide an explanation as to why, other than that it would work to restart the feature as soon as possible. At the time, the halt did not apply to the U.S.-based independent entity, Binance.US.

On Jan. 21, Binance also announced that its primary banking partner, SWIFT would ban U.S. Dollar transfers below $100,000 on the trading platform. This service ceased on Feb. 1.

Related: Binance banking problems highlight a divide between crypto firms and banks

Binance then announced on Jan. 23 that Binance users of 143 countries would no longer have access to the SWIFT USD bank deposit and withdrawal channel at all.

The United States, United Kingdom, Australia, France and Germany were some of the few countries that made the cut.

Cointelegraph reached out to Binance and Paysafe, the parent company of Skrill, but did not receive an immediate response.

Omnity introduces cross-chain transactions for Bitcoin Runes

Lawyers’ picnic: FTX counsel and advisers rake in $34M in January

Millions have been invoiced from a host of law firms, investment bankers, consultants and financial advisers in FTX’s bankruptcy case.

The law firms, investment banks and consulting companies working with FTX on its bankruptcy case billed the crypto exchange a combined $34.18 million in January, court documents reveal.

FTX’s chief restructuring officer and new CEO, John J. Ray III, also received a hefty pay package, charging $1,300 an hour to a total of $305,000 in February according to a March 6 filing.

Fee breakdown of FTX CEO John J. Ray III over the month of February. Source: Kroll

Separate court filings on March 6 show United States law firms Sullivan & Cromwell, Quinn Emmanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Landis Rath & Cobb invoiced $16.9 million, $1.44 million and $684,000, respectively, for their services and expenses in January.

Lawyers and staff of Sullivan & Cromwell billed a total of 14,569 hours for their work, which equates to over 600 days. Some partners received up to $2,165 per hour, while the firm’s paralegals and legal analysts were being billed out at $425 to $595 per hour.

The highest-priced billables were discovery ($3.5 million), asset disposition ($2.2 million) and general investigation work ($2 million).

Sullivan & Cromwell’s fee statement as counsel to FTX Trading for the month of January. Source: Kroll

It submitted another hefty $7.5 million bill to FTX for the first 19 days of February.

Ray played a crucial role in keeping Sullivan & Cromwell on board as legal counsel, having filed a court motion on Jan. 17 arguing that the white-shoe law firm had been integral in taking control over the “dumpster fire” that was handed to him.

His filing came in response to an objection to the retention of the law firm on Jan. 14 by U.S. Trustee Andrew Vara, who claimed that Sullivan & Cromwell had failed to sufficiently disclose its connections and prior work for FTX.

FTX special counsel Landis Rath & Cobb spent much of its working hours attending court hearings and litigation procedures. For its efforts, the firm billed the FTX administrators $684,000, including expenses.

Between the three law firms, over 180 lawyers and over 50 non-lawyer staff worked on the case, most of who came from Sullivan & Cromwell.

Forensics consulting firm AlixPartners billed $2.1 million for January. Almost half of the firm’s hours were spent on forensic analysis of decentralized finance products and tokens in FTX’s possession.

Consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal invoiced for $12.5 million for over 17,100 hours it committed to avoidance actions, financial analysis and accounting procedures.

A breakdown of Alvarez & Marsal’s monthly fee statement by project, hours and fees for the month of January: Source: Kroll

Related: Breaking down FTX’s bankruptcy: How it differs from other Chapter 11 cases

Investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners billed a monthly service fee of $450,000 plus more than $50,000 in expenses for planning a restructuring strategy and engaging in correspondence with third parties.

With FTX’s trial set for October, there are at least another six months of legal work to do for the law firms involved. Recent reports have estimated that the fees could reach in the hundreds of millions by the time the case is over, which could potentially rival the $440 million in fees that New York-based law firm Weil Gotshal made from the infamous Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in 2008.

Omnity introduces cross-chain transactions for Bitcoin Runes

BitFlyer founder seeks to reinstate self as CEO, leading firm to IPO: Report

Despite stepping down as CEO for three years, Yuzo continued to have a significant influence on the company being the firm’s largest stakeholder.

Yuzo Kano, the co-founder of Japan-based cryptocurrency exchange bitFlyer, is seeking to reinstate himself as CEO in a shareholders meeting next month, in an apparent bid to reinvigorate what he claims is a stagnating firm. 

Kano resigned in 2019 following a series of management disputes but is now determined to reinvigorate the crypto firm and lead it toward an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the coming months, according to a Feb. 26 report by Bloomberg.

The former CEO also said he also wants to put Japan back on the map in the world of cryptocurrency.

“I will make it capable of fighting on the international stage,” the bitFlyer co-founder said in a recent interview.

Kano shared the Bloomberg post on Feb. 27 to his 111,500 Twitter followers. Source: Twitter.

According to the interview, if reinstated, he intends on introducing stablecoins to the trading platform, build a token-issuance operation, and open-source bitFlyer’s “miyabi” blockchain to the public, along with pursuing an IPO in the coming months.

Kano — who retained a 40% stake in the company despite stepping down — explained that during his time away as CEO, bitFlyer stopped innovating and launching new products and services, which he intends on changing.

It is “a company that produces nothing new,” he claimed.

With over 2.5 million accounts, bitFlyer is one of the larger cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan. Some of its competitors, such as Kraken, recently announced the closure of its Japan business on Dec. 28, 2022, while Coinbase halted its operations in the country on Jan. 18, 2023. 

Related: Japanese Exchange bitFlyer Blockchain Arm Launches Consulting Service

Much of the management issues experienced at the firm came in part due to regulatory pressures imposed by Japan’s Financial Services Agency in 2018 as a means to adopt more stringent money laundering policies.

He added that multiple CEOs have come and gone since then because they Kano, being bitFlyer’s largest shareholder, pointed out where they were falling short:

“It’s my responsibility to point out issues and demand improvement [...] I reprimand people when they cause problems, make false reports or fail to do whatever they are supposed to do.”

Nonetheless, the former CEO believes the “very strict regulations” set in place can serve as a “model for the rest of the world.”

Omnity introduces cross-chain transactions for Bitcoin Runes

Bill Allows Russian Financial Platforms to Operate Blockchains, Issue Digital Assets

Bill Allows Russian Financial Platforms to Operate Blockchains, Issue Digital AssetsA draft law filed in the Russian parliament permits operators of platforms providing financial services to also run blockchain platforms. The legislation will allow them to combine their regular activities in the traditional financial market with issuing digital assets. New Law Opens Door to Blockchain Space for Russian Financial Service Providers The State Duma, the […]

Omnity introduces cross-chain transactions for Bitcoin Runes

Metamask Launches Ethereum Staking Services via Lido and Rocketpool

Metamask Launches Ethereum Staking Services via Lido and RocketpoolOn Friday, the Web3 wallet firm Metamask, a subsidiary of the Ethereum-centric company Consensys, announced the beta launch of ethereum staking features will be made available via Lido’s or Rocketpool’s liquid staking services. Users who want to stake ethereum and earn staking rewards can select one of the staking providers within the Metamask Web3 wallet’s […]

Omnity introduces cross-chain transactions for Bitcoin Runes

Ava Labs Partners With Amazon Web Services to Accelerate Blockchain Adoption, AVAX Jumps 16%

Ava Labs Partners With Amazon Web Services to Accelerate Blockchain Adoption, AVAX Jumps 16%Ava Labs, the team behind the layer one (L1) smart contract platform network Avalanche, has partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS), according to an announcement made on Jan. 11, 2023. Founder and CEO of Ava Labs, Emin Gün Sirer, said the collaboration was a “big deal” and, in comparison with other blockchain announcements that involved […]

Omnity introduces cross-chain transactions for Bitcoin Runes