Crypto prices climb as shares of Block and Silvergate fall with traditional markets

On December 5, cryptocurrency prices rose while stock prices fell overall. Grayscale's Ether trust fell to a new low. Since noon EST on December 4, Bitcoin has been trading above $17,000, according to TradingView. The top crypto by market capitalisation increased by 0.3 percent to $17,087.
The price of Ether increased by more than 0.5 percent to $1,266. Ripple's XRP increased by 0.2 percent, and Binance's BNB gained 0.5 percent. More notable increases were made by Litecoin, which increased by almost 7 percent during the last day.
The price of Bitcoin in dollars has a tendency to rise as the value of the dollar declines, and at 104.83, the US Dollar Index was trading at its lowest level since August. As traders bet on the Fed decreasing the pace of its interest rate hikes, the US dollar has lost more than 50 percent of its gains from this year. According to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, the likelihood of a 50 basis point hike on December 14 is currently 77 percent based on market information for Fed funds’ futures. Read full here

Crypto winter deepens, major exchanges slash workforce

Amid a deepening crypto winter, major exchanges Bybit and Australia-based Swyftx have laid off a third of their workforce, just a week after Kraken announced job cuts. Ben Zhou, co-founder, and CEO of Bybit unveiled a reorganization plan that calls for a significant reduction in the company's staff across different verticals. “We are all saddened by the fact this reorganization will impact many of our dear Bybuddies and some of our oldest friends,” he said.
According to independent reporter Colin Wu, the percentage of layoffs was 30 percent, and those who were affected would receive three months' worth of pay.

KuCoin hires auditor Mazars to deliver a report with factual findings

Major crypto exchange KuCoin has hired auditor Mazars to confirm its proof of reserves in factual findings report from a third party, days after rival exchange Binance did the same. According to a statement on KuCoin's official blog, the company will provide information on whether KuCoin's in-scope assets are collateralized. Mazars wants to reveal the reserves and customer liabilities for KuCoin. This will focus on Bitcoin, Ether, and the two stablecoins, USDT and USDC, as well as margin and other accounts.
“This move is the next step in our efforts to provide transparency on our users’ funds, highlighting our commitment to transparency and strengthening industry trust. KuCoin has been committed to providing users with safe and easy-to-use platforms and products since day one, while making continuous progress in user protection, transparency, and risk control,” KuCoin CEO Johnny Lyu said in a statement. Read more here

Struggling crypto lender Genesis owes debtors at least $1.8 billion

Troubled crypto trading and lending company Genesis owes at least $1.8 billion to its creditors, according to a report. The Financial Times earlier reported that that Genesis owes users of Gemini's Earn program $900 million.
According to the CoinDesk article, which cited an unnamed source, Genesis owes an additional $900 million to a group of assorted debtors, which law firm Proskauer Rose is representing.
Another ad hoc group of Genesis creditors is being represented by the law firm Kirkland & Ellis in addition to the Proskauer group. It is not yet known the extent of money owed to this group. Read more here

Tether Gold and Euro Tether launch on Huobi Global

Stablecoin issuer Tether on December 5 announced the launch of Tether Gold and Euro Tether on crypto exchange Huobi Global starting December 8. Global claims to have over 500 types of digital tokens available on the exchange and a trading volume of over $2.6 billion.
With Tether Gold being launched on Huobi Global’s exchange, Huobi customers will now have access to the stablecoin that represents ownership of physical gold.
Additionally, with Euro Tether launch on Huobi Global, Huobi customers have gained access to the Euro-pegged stablecoin from the company that powers the first and widely used stablecoin in the ecosystem today. Read more here

Circle and SPAC abandon plan to issue IPO

The board of both Circle and Concord Acquisition Corporation have agreed that the stablecoin provider Circle would no longer be publicly listed. Circle had been considering a merger with Concord Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) registered on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and sponsored by former Barclays CEO Bob Diamond.
A SPAC, also referred to as a "blank check company," is a business entity created only for the purpose of raising cash through an IPO or merging with another business.
Circle would have been worth $9 billion under the terms of the agreement, up from the $4.5 billion that was first disclosed in July 2021. Read more here

'False': New FTX CEO's testimony, says Sam Bankman-Fried

According to Sam Bankman-Fried, the creator now-defunct crypto exchange FTX, John J Ray III's testimony is "false," according to an interview with The Block. Restructuring expert Ray, who testified in a bankruptcy case on November 17, criticized FTX's poor record-keeping and unreliable financial data. FTX had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware the week before.
Bankman-Fried mentioned "statements that have been made, that have been put on legal record that I knew to be untrue" in an interview that was made public on December 5. He continued, "There have been instances where it has been claimed that XYZ did not exist”, while I am looking at a copy of XYZ. Take a look

After "dead-end" discussions with the regulator, Nexo leaves the US

Nexo, a cryptocurrency lender, announced on December 5 that it will cease operations in the US in the upcoming months, would immediately limit access to its Earn Interest Product in eight states, and would no longer accept new US clients for the Earn product. Nexo said that it had engaged in discussions with American state and federal regulators, but that they had reached a "dead end."
The corporation stated it had exchanged information with the regulators and attempted to "proactively modify its business" in response to these law enforcement agencies' concerns, but it did not disclose many specifics about these discussions. Read more here