Trump NFTs crackles post-arraignment, Shark Tank VC criticises crypto firms fighting regulators

Kevin O’Leary warns US crypto firms to ‘read the writing on the wall’ with regulators

Celebrity venture capitalist Kevin O’Leary criticised crypto companies on Tuesday, saying defiant firms should “read the writing on the wall.”

O’Leary is a vocal crypto investor with significant investments in Canadian exchange WonderFi. He claims Canada is ahead of the US in regulating products such as staking services, while maintaining that US firms would do better to fall in line with regulators.

Citing major US exchange Coinbase’s recent defiance in the face of Securities and Exchange Commission regulation, O’Leary lamented a “war with regulators” as a poor business decision.

He has appeared on both the TV shows Shark Tank and Dragon’s Den.

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Trump’s NFT collection sees 462% activity jump following arraignment

Ex-president Donald Trump’s NFT collection saw increased market activity following his Tuesday court appearance, according to OpenSea.

Trump released the Trump Digital Trading Card collection in December at a price of $99 each. The floor price currently sits at about 0.5 ETH, which translates to $930.

After the arraignment, which sees Trump face 34 felony criminal charges, the collection saw a 462% increase in trading volume.

Crypto total market cap jumps to June 2022 highs

Crypto’s total market cap has clawed its way back to $1.19 trillion, a number not seen since June 2022.

Despite a wave of collapses over the past year and increasing regulatory pressure in the US, the ecosystem has shown signs of strength.

Bitcoin has done much of the heavy lifting, rallying 70% on the year and reaching a market cap of over half a trillion dollars.

Bitcoin’s dominance — its strength compared to all other coins on the market — is at a nine-month high of 45.5%.

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Coinbase insider trading case nears SEC settlement

Former Coinbase employee Ishan Wahi appears ready to settle with the SEC on insider trading charges, according to a joint filing submitted Monday.

Wahi pleaded guilty in February to criminal wire fraud charges brought by the Department of Justice, but resisted the SEC’s civil lawsuit until now.

Wahi and his brother, Nikhil Wahi, were charged for trading with inside knowledge obtained while employed at Coinbase.

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Brazil’s biggest investment bank launches USD-pegged stablecoin

Brazil-based investment bank BTG Pactual announced the launch of its own stablecoin on Tuesday, BTG Dol, which is pegged to the US dollar.

BTG Pactual and affirmed in the launch statement that it “believes” in digital asset tech and will continue to offer related products and services.

The investment bank claims that BTG Dol will be held in reserve at 1:1 parity, similar to other reserve-backed stablecoins such as USDT and USDC.

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Former Genesis Trading CEO lands new top job at derivatives startup

Former Genesis Trading CEO Michael Moro has joined derivatives startup Ankex after stepping down from now-bankrupt Genesis in August.

Moro oversaw the trading arm of Genesis Global Capital prior to its collapse due to exposure to the Terra/Luna and FTX ecosystems, and highlighted weaknesses of centralised exchanges in his commencement statement for Ankex.

Ankex will hybridise centralised and decentralised elements to power its derivatives exchange, with the stated goal of keeping users in control of their funds while retaining deep liquidity.

More web3 stories from around the web…

LayerZero valued at $3bn in Series B — The Defiant

Tokenised gold surpasses $1bn in market cap as physical asset nears all-time price high — CoinDesk

Tether used Signature Bank to find path Into US financial system — Bloomberg