US Internal Revenue Service hits FTX with $44bn tax claims
FTX creditors may have to wait in line after the United States Internal Revenue Service hit the toppled exchange with close to $44 billion in claims, according to filings made in April.
The IRS classified the claims as Admin Priority, which allows the agency precedence over other creditors’ claims in the case.
The IRS levied 45 claims against FTX and associated firms, the largest of which are a whopping $20.4 billion and $7.9 billion pair of claims aimed at FTX sister firm Alameda Research related to unpaid partnership taxes.
The claim circulating CT is real and a few things to note:
— Mr. Purple 🛡️ (@MrPurple_DJ) May 10, 2023
1) Tax man does get paid 1st in a BK which is why it is filed under an Admin Priority status
2) FTX estate will defend against this claim
3) Calculation of their claim was not publicly filed but few things jump out:… https://t.co/psDGseeWgi
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Crypto derivatives dominate market share in April at almost 80% of trades
Crypto derivatives trading on centralised exchanges reached record market share in April, partially due to a 40% drop in spot volume trading.
Derivatives volumes declined during the period, but at a slower rate of just above 22%, pushing the derivatives market to almost 80% of the total market — its highest-ever dominance.
Much of the now-dominant derivatives market exists on exchange Binance, which claims over 60% of global activity.
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Robinhood beats Wall Street estimates despite 30% crypto drop
Robinhood beat Wall Street estimates for the first-quarter revenue, despite its crypto trading slipping by 30%. Loss in the quarter was 57 cents per share, below analysts’ average estimate of a loss of 61 cents, per Refinitiv data.
The online brokerage also had an interest income boost from the US Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes. Markets also welcomed news that Robinhood will launch 24-hour trading, Reuters reported.
At the same time, Robinhood reported a 30% decline in crypto trade revenues, down to $38 million from $54 million in the same quarter of 2022. The trading platform also reported digital assets under custody as down 42% to $12 billion held.
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Circle shuffles treasury reserves ahead of US debt ceiling issues
USDC stablecoin issuer Circle has adjusted its reserves to favour short-term US treasuries as a protective measure ahead of a possible US debt default.
In an interview with Politico, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said the company doesn’t want to be exposed to a “breach of ability” of the government to pay debts.
The White House is at loggerheads with congressional Republicans over raising the debt borrowing limit, which is currently at $31.4 trillion, and could be surpassed as early as June.
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US Congress hearing shows consensus over need for new crypto rules
While Democrats and Republicans duke it out over the debt limit, a hearing on Wednesday highlighted rare consensus over the need for new crypto rules.
The joint US House of Representatives committee hearing showed that both parties want clear rules over cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, The Block reported.
“Congress must act,” Patrick McHenry, the Republican chair of the House Financial Services Committee, said during the hearing.
Even though the committee’s top Democrat, Maxine Waters, was open to bi-partisan collaboration, she made it clear that she was not interested in creating new jurisdictions for new tokens created over the past few years.
Nansen calls selling pressure at Ethereum Shapella upgrade a ‘non-event’
Blockchain analytics firm Nansen called selling pressure for Ethereum’s native Ether token a “non-event” after last month’s Shapella upgrade.
The report highlighted debate over whether or not ether’s price would crash once withdrawals of staked Ether were enabled.
Nansen’s report shows a similar amount of staked Ether on the native Beacon Chain as was on the platform during the upgrade, and declared a “net-zero impact” on health of the Ethereum network.
“With the current network statistics, we can conclude that the selling pressure on ETH post-withdrawal has been somewhat of a non-event, supported by the fact that deposits have almost matched the amount of ETH coming into circulation,” the report concluded.
More web3 news from around the web…
SEC issues new subpoena to bitcoin miner Marathon — The Block
Wyoming Gov wants Stablecoin Commission to follow the ‘letter of the law’ — Blockworks
Uniswap weighs proposal to enrich token holders, switch on liquidity pool Fees — CoinDesk
