DOJ Challenges Binance.US's Acquisition Plan for Voyager Digital's Assets

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an appeal challenging the decision of a New York bankruptcy judge to approve Binance.US's billion-dollar acquisition plan for bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital's assets, late on Thursday evening.
> The appeal was filed by the U.S. Trustee's Office, which oversees bankruptcies.
> This came just a day after Judge Michael Wiles approved the deal following a contentious, four-day hearing.
> Regulators, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and various state regulators, have been opposed to the proposed deal.
> The SEC filed an objection to the purchase of Voyager last month, arguing that Binance.US may be violating federal securities laws by operating an unregistered securities exchange in the U.S. Details here.

JP Morgan Analysts Predict Hardships for Instantaneous Network Processing in Cryptocurrency Market

The recent collapse of cryptocurrency bank Silvergate Bank and termination of the Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN) will be a challenging issue for the cryptocurrency industry, according to a report by JP Morgan.
> Silvergate served as a gateway for over 1,000 institutional crypto market participants to transfer fiat currency between their Silvergate accounts and other Silvergate customers.
> JPMorgan analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou as saying, "Replacing this instantaneous network for processing dollar deposits and withdrawals among crypto market participants will be challenging given the current backdrop and the 'general unwillingness of traditional banks to engage with crypto companies following the FTX collapse and given high regulatory pressures.' Continue here.

DeFi Platforms at Risk: Oracle Manipulation Attacks Cost $386.2M in 2022

DeFi protocols lost $386.2 million in 41 separate oracle manipulation attacks in 2022, according to a recent research report.
> These attacks occur when bad actors manipulate the price oracles that DeFi protocols use to ensure assets on their platforms are priced in accordance with the wider cryptocurrency market.
> Attackers use large amounts of cryptocurrency to quickly increase the trading volume of low-liquidity tokens on the targeted DeFi protocol, leading to fast, significant price increases not reflective of the wider market.
> Once an asset’s price has been driven up, attackers can exchange their artificially inflated holdings for other tokens with greater liquidity and a more consistent value, or use them as collateral to borrow assets, never to be repaid.

Binance Launches Prepaid Cryptocurrency Card in Colombia

One of the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally Binance has revealed its latest venture, the launch of a prepaid cryptocurrency card in Colombia.
> This marks the third country in Latin America to have access to the Binance crypto card, joining Argentina and Brazil.
> According to a press release, the card will enable the real-time conversion of digital assets into fiat at the point of sale and will be accepted at more than 90 million merchants worldwide and online.
> The implementation of the prepaid crypto card is part of Binance's efforts to connect the growing crypto ecosystem with traditional financial infrastructure.
> Colombia, being one of Binance's top markets, is a country with high levels of cryptocurrency adoption. Full report here.

Binance and Coinbase temporarily suspend USDC conversions

Cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Coinbase, two of the top cryptocurrency exchanges, announced temporary suspensions of USD Coin conversions due to concerns about the fallout from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
> The move followed worries that Circle, the company behind USDC stablecoin, held some of USDC's cash reserves at Silicon Valley Bank, which was shut down by California's financial regulator.
> Binance suspended auto-conversion of USDC to BUSD, citing "current market conditions" without naming Silicon Valley Bank.
> The exchange called it a "normal risk-management procedural step to take while we monitor the situation."
> Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US, also suspended USDC conversion to USD while banks were closed over the weekend. More here.

Bitcoin and Ether Show Signs of Recovery Following Friday's Dip Amid Contagion Risks from Silicon Valley Bank Collapse

Bitcoin and Ether rose as much as 4% in the past 24 hours after a steep fall on Friday as contagion risks from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank spread to crypto markets, specifically the exposure of USD Coin-issuer Circle to the bank.
Ether (ETH) rose over $1,541 while Bitcoin (BTC) jumped over the $21,100 mark on Sunday to post early signs of market stabilization. Both tokens fell below strong resistance levels on Friday.
Other cryptocurrencies did not post similar gains, however, suggesting traders were not taking risks on lesser-known tokens yet.
Polygon’s Matic (MATIC) was up 6% while BNB Coin (BNB) was up over 3% in trade.