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The 5 strangest tales of the trade in 2022

by Jeremy
by Jeremy

From Terra to FTX, 2022 has given us many bizarre crypto tales. Whereas buyers have been enduring a bear market that noticed the crypto trade sink beneath the $1 trillion market capitalization mark, adoption within the house has been rising, and previous mysteries had been lastly solved.

From the unimaginable brief squeeze of a bankrupt firm’s token to previous anti-crypto arguments utilized by a serious central financial institution, we’re getting bizarre with 5 tales one of the best fiction writers couldn’t dream up.

“Comedic rapper” charged over Bitfinex hack

Again in 2016, fashionable cryptocurrency trade Bitfinex suffered a serious safety breach that noticed attackers steal 119,756 Bitcoin (BTC), price roughly $72 million on the time. It was one of many largest crypto hacks in historical past, and though Bitfinex continued working, its fame was broken for years to come back.

This yr, Heather Morgan, identified by her rap identify “Razzlekhan,” and her husband Ilya Lichtenstein had been arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for allegedly conspiring to launder crypto related to the Bitfinex hack.

Throughout a court docket look in New York, the pair proclaimed their innocence and had been launched on multimillion-dollar bonds. The bizarre a part of this story is the small print surrounding Morgan’s work as a “comedic rapper” and social media influencer. Considered one of her songs even says it’s devoted to “the entrepreneurs and hackers, all of the misfits and sensible slackers.”

Morgan, who calls herself the “crocodile of Wall Road,” was labeled a grasp of “deceit and deception” by federal authorities. Whereas her house was being searched, Morgan allegedly requested federal brokers for permission to retrieve her cat from beneath the mattress and, whereas doing so, tried to lock her telephone.

Morgan and Lichtenstein reportedly traveled to Ukraine in 2019 to realize false identities and create faux passports, and have “established monetary accounts” in Ukraine and Russia.

She was a daily contributor to Forbes. The day earlier than the Bitfinex hack, she posted an image subsequent to Lichtenstein with a caption saying she’s going to “at all times love moving into hassle w/ this loopy man.”

Commenting on Morgan and Lichtenstein’s arrest, Dymtro Volkov, head of world improvements at crypto trade CEX.io, informed Cointelegraph that with the correct technical sources, “it’s doable to trace the move of most funds shifting on a blockchain community” and that “hiding an enormous quantity of stolen funds is definitely fairly a posh activity.”

Notably, the pair isn’t being charged with the hack however laundering the stolen funds. The sordid particulars of the story have even caught the curiosity of filmmakers. Hulu is producing a true-crime restricted sequence about Morgan’s life, and Netflix has ordered a docuseries on the story.

Bankrupt Celsius Community’s CEL token surges 4,000%

Shortly after cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius Community filed for chapter, the value of its native utility token, CEL (CEL), jumped by greater than 4,100%. In solely two months, the value climbed from a backside of $0.093 to a close to $4 excessive.

The surge got here amid rumors that Ripple, an organization engaged in a authorized battle with america Securities and Change Fee, might take over Celsius’ belongings. Different rumors steered Goldman Sachs deliberate to accumulate Celsius for $2 billion.

Merchants organized a large brief squeeze. Brief squeezes happen when an asset’s value rises all of a sudden, forcing brief sellers to purchase again the asset at the next value to shut their positions.

The brief squeeze was doable as a result of a freeze on Celsius token transfers considerably decreased the circulating provide of CEL.

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On the time of the brief squeeze, Cointelegraph reported that FTX had about 5.1 million CEL tokens, amounting to 90% of the full circulating provide on exchanges.

It’s presently believed merchants on FTX pulled off the brief squeeze, however deleted tweets recommend that the origins of the motion is probably not absolutely understood, and a few consider Alameda Analysis was immediately concerned. We do know that a minimum of some merchants are nonetheless attempting to get a CEL brief squeeze going once more, even after the token dropped to $0.50.

Binance’s letter of intent

Binance’s shocking letter of intent to accumulate the collapsing FTX trade is one other bizarre story of 2022. On the time, many in crypto believed FTX was a solvent, well-run firm. When Binance introduced its intent to liquidate its holdings of FTX Token (FTT) following hypothesis concerning the solvency of FTX, what was seen as a rivalry between Binance and FTX quickly became a possible buyout nobody was anticipating.

As FTX’s solvency was hardly being questioned, CEO Sam Bankman-Fried introduced an “settlement on a strategic transaction” with Binance. It was a bizarre and surprising revelation as a result of, till that time, Bankman-Fried had dismissed issues in regards to the solvency of FTX.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao added to these issues when he tweeted, “This afternoon, FTX requested for our assist. There’s a important liquidity crunch. To guard customers, we signed a non-binding LOI, intending to totally purchase FTX.com and assist cowl the liquidity crunch. We shall be conducting a full DD within the coming days”.

The deal fell by way of the following day after Binance carried out its due diligence, with the explanations changing into clear quickly after.

European Central Financial institution spreads FUD

In late November, the European Central Financial institution (ECB) revealed a weblog put up during which it argued that Bitcoin’s restoration from $17,000 to $20,000 was doubtless an “artificially induced final gasp earlier than the street to irrelevance.”

The ECB mentioned that Bitcoin is “not often used for authorized transactions” and that “actual Bitcoin transactions are cumbersome, sluggish and costly.” The central financial institution daringly wrote that Bitcoin has by no means been used “to any important extent for real-world authorized transactions.”

Associated: Probably the most eco-friendly blockchain networks in 2022

In line with the ECB, Bitcoin has benefited from “waves of latest buyers” whereas not being appropriate as an funding. It doesn’t generate money move or dividends, nor can it’s productively used or “present social advantages.”

The assertion argues that blockchain expertise has “created restricted worth for society” and that the “Bitcoin system is an unprecedented polluter.” It additionally steered that cryptocurrency promotion bears a “reputational threat for banks.”

Each level the ECB introduced up has been used to assault the cryptocurrency group, and each single level has been rebuffed.

The ECB has recycled a number of crypto myths which were used to carry the trade again. The put up comes because the ECB accelerates progress on growing a digital euro. One of many put up’s authors, Ulrich Bindseil, has authored quite a few posts on central financial institution digital currencies.

Moreover the recycled myths, what’s bizarre is the ECB’s unclear angle, as many don’t think about CBDCs to be competing with cryptocurrencies, which are sometimes seen as a approach to exit the shortcomings of fiat foreign money methods.

Talking to Cointelegraph, Anton Bukov, co-founder of 1inch Community, mentioned the ECB’s put up was good for the cryptocurrency group, because it means the “authorities got here to the second and even third stage of Gandhi’s thought: First they ignore you, then they snigger at you, then they struggle you, then you definitely win.”

Central African Republic’s crypto plan

The Central African Republic (CAR) turned the second nation to undertake Bitcoin as a authorized tender earlier this yr, permitting round 5 million residents to make use of the flagship cryptocurrency alongside the nation’s fiat foreign money, the Central African CFA franc.

The transfer got here after Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadéra signed a invoice into regulation establishing a regulatory framework for Bitcoin as authorized tender. Whereas the crypto group initially celebrated the transfer, the bizarre aspect of this quickly turned obvious.

Though the CAR is a mineral-rich nation, its individuals are among the many poorest on the planet. It has been devastated by a decade-long civil conflict, and it’s estimated that 9 out of 10 residents don’t even have entry to the web. CAR’s choice was accompanied by little to no rationalization, with President Touadéra tweeting a easy “extra to observe.”

The tweet was referring to an anouncement in regards to the nation’s “visionary” plan to create a “improbable alternative for anybody who believes in crypto investing.” That chance is the Sango undertaking, which seems to now be an preliminary coin providing for the nation’s CBDC.

The undertaking claims that the nation’s treasury may have a devoted Bitcoin reserve and permit residents to have a “voice and likelihood to form the longer term” by way of a governance system. Citizenship could be acquired by locking fastened collateral in Sango. Different advantages embody e-residency, land possession and 0% revenue tax for digital belongings.

Whereas attracting overseas funding is an clever transfer from CAR, a Bitcoin-based preliminary coin providing from a war-torn nation is a bizarre improvement. CEX.io’s Volkov informed Cointelegraph that cryptocurrencies are “nicely positioned to assist rising economies fill gaps within the providers their home monetary methods are missing” and will assist join home monetary methods to international markets. Volkov added that the transfer could assist the nation’s financial system:

“Making crypto authorized tender, or a minimum of making a authorized framework that defines its utilization, permits monetary corporations to introduce low-cost and quick monetary providers that prospects can entry even with unreliable entry to the web.”

He additionally mentioned cryptocurrencies can have a “massively constructive impact on international locations with growing monetary methods seeking to take part within the international financial system.”

The tales lined on this article make it clear how unpredictable the cryptocurrency house could be throughout bear and bull markets. If something, anybody following what’s occurring is having fun with a rollercoaster trip they are going to always remember.