Court Approves Binance US Purchase of Bankrupt Crypto Lender Voyager

• The asset purchase agreement between Binance US and bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital has reportedly received initial court approval despite objections from various regulators, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
• The court greenlighted the deal despite objections by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a number of state securities regulators.
• Under the agreement with Binance, Voyager’s customers will be transferred to the Binance US crypto trading platform, and the deal also includes a $20 million cash payment.

The asset purchase agreement between Binance US, the U.S. arm of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, and bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital, has been approved by the court, despite objections from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a number of state securities regulators.

Voyager attorney Joshua Sussberg said during Tuesday’s court hearing that the cryptocurrency lender was responding to the concerns raised by the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). CFIUS had said in a Dec. 30 court filing that its review „could affect the ability of the parties to complete the transactions, the timing of completion, or relevant terms.“

Under the agreement with Binance, Voyager’s customers will be transferred to the Binance US crypto trading platform. This means that Voyager customers would be able to withdraw their funds for the first time since July last year, when the crypto lender filed for bankruptcy. In addition to the transfer of customers, the deal also includes a $20 million cash payment.

Sussberg commented that the parties were coordinating with Binance and their attorneys to not only deal with the CFIUS inquiry, but to voluntarily submit an application to move the process along. The attorney added that the asset purchase agreement has been structured in a manner to ensure that the customers’ rights will be protected.

The asset purchase agreement is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2021, if all parties involved are satisfied with the terms of the deal. The SEC and other regulatory bodies have yet to comment on the court’s decision.

AG Letitia James Sues Celsius Co-Founder Alex Mashinsky for Alleged Crypto Fraud

• New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed a lawsuit against Celsius co-founder and former CEO Alex Mashinsky for allegedly defrauding hundreds of thousands of investors out of billions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency.
• The lawsuit claims that Mashinsky deceived investors, making false and misleading statements about the safety of Celsius and encouraging them to deposit their assets onto the platform.
• 26,000 New Yorkers have been affected by the Celsius demise, and James is seeking to ban Mashinsky from doing business in the state.

The state of New York and Attorney General Letitia James have taken legal action against Alex Mashinsky, the co-founder and former CEO of Celsius. The lawsuit, filed on January 5, 2023, accuses Mashinsky of defrauding “hundreds of thousands of investors, including more than 26,000 New Yorkers, out of billions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency.”

The lawsuit claims that Mashinsky made false and misleading statements about the safety of Celsius, encouraging investors to deposit billions of dollars in digital assets onto the platform. It is believed that these investors have been affected by the Celsius demise, prompting James to seek to ban Mashinsky from doing business in the state.

The filing of the lawsuit comes only a day after Core Scientific detailed that it was shutting down 37,000 bitcoin miners owned by Celsius. This is not the first time that James has taken action against businesses in the cryptocurrency industry. In June, James warned of the volatility associated with crypto assets and urged Congress to ban them from US retirement accounts at the end of November 2022.

The attorney general also targeted crypto lender Nexo in a lawsuit announced at the end of September 2022. James stated, “As the former CEO of Celsius, Alex Mashinsky promised to lead investors to financial freedom but led them down a path of financial ruin. The lawsuit today sends a clear message: we will not allow fraudsters to take advantage of New Yorkers or undermine the integrity of our financial markets.”

The New York attorney general’s office is seeking to recover the funds lost by investors, as well as damages, penalties, and other relief. The office is also seeking to permanently ban Mashinsky from doing business in New York, as well as from serving as a director, officer, or fiduciary of any New York-based company.

Dogecoin & Shiba Inu Surge to Multi-Week Highs, RSI Breaks Resistance

• Dogecoin (DOGE) rose to a multi-week high on Jan. 5, as the meme coin moved away from a recent spell of consolidation.
• Shiba Inu (SHIB) also rose for a back-to-back session on Thursday, surging to its strongest point since December 18 before the holiday season.
• Both coins saw their respective 14-day relative strength index (RSI) break out of key resistance zones, which could be a sign of further price increases.

On Thursday, Jan. 5, both dogecoin (DOGE) and shiba inu (SHIB) surged to multi-week highs as meme coins rose higher following recent days of consolidation. Dogecoin (DOGE) rose for a second straight session, climbing to an intraday peak of $0.07503, its highest point since December 27. The rise in price also saw the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) break out of a key resistance zone, tracking at 42.81, slightly above a ceiling of 42.00.

Shiba Inu (SHIB) also rose for a back-to-back session, surging to a peak of $0.000008531 earlier today. The move sent shiba inu to its strongest point since December 18, prior to the holiday season consolidation. The move also saw SHIB break out of a recent point of resistance at $0.00000850, with the RSI following suit and surging past its own ceiling at the 50.00 level, currently tracking at 51.63. These signs of strength could be seen as indications of further price increases.

Dogecoin has seen a massive surge in price over the past few months, with the token rising from a low of $0.004 in August 2020 to a peak of $0.07503 just recently. This surge has been fueled by a mix of investor sentiment and the support of high-profile celebrities, with the token now being listed on several major exchanges. Similarly, shiba inu has also seen an incredible surge in price in recent weeks, rising from a low of $0.00000265 in October 2020 to its recent peak.

With the U.S. nonfarm payrolls numbers due out on Friday, traders will be watching carefully to see how the meme coins react. If the numbers are strong, it could lead to further price increases for both DOGE and SHIB, but if the numbers are weak, it could lead to a sell-off of the tokens. No matter what happens, it’s clear that meme coins are here to stay, and investors should continue to monitor the markets closely.

The Ethereum blockchain is the most used because of the stablecoins

Over the past month, the Bitcoin price (BTC) has been trading in a narrow range and the volume of trade has been relatively flat. Meanwhile, several tokens on the Ethereum network have been topping the price lists, especially the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) tokens.

New data from Messari shows that Ethereum has just overtaken Crypto Trader as the network that settles the highest value per day. This means that the dollar value of Ether’s (ETH) transactions and its tokens is now higher than Bitcoin’s.

A rebound in DeFi tokens boosts Aave’s market capitalization (LEND), (SNX) over Maker (MKR)

While the DeFi sector has gained in popularity, stable currency transactions have been responsible for most of this volume, having settled over USD 508 billion in transactions over the course of 2020. This figure is almost double the $253 billion settled in 2019.

Tether (USDT) is the largest stable currency responsible for the volume and, according to Messari, could possibly surpass Bitcoin as the most traded cryptomone currency in the market.

Stable currencies continue to grow exponentially

Bitcoin offers coins that work through protocols like Counterparty and Omni, but these assets pale in comparison to the smart contract capabilities of the Ethereum network, which continues to show through the new possibilities of DeFi. Along with lower rates and faster transaction times, the Ethereum has become the chain of choice for stable centralized and decentralized currencies alike.

DeFi’s token performance outperformed Bitcoin in Q2, but how long will the rally last?
While the USDT was first issued in the Bitcoin block chain, only 13.2% of its supply currently resides in BTC, while the Ethereum blockchain holds 59.8% of the USDT supply. As most of the USDT balance is held at Ethereum, the USDT is also the largest gas spender in the network, according to data from ETH’s gas station.

Led by the USDT, the collective capitalization of the stable currency market grew from USD 2.4 billion to around USD 8 billion in the first quarter alone. Another USD 3.8 billion was added in the second quarter, bringing the current figure to over USD 12 billion, with approximately USD 9.18 billion belonging to Tether. Tether has also surpassed Ripple (XRP) as the third largest crypt currency.

DeFi is driving demand for stable currencies

While interexchange settlement is the most popular use for stable currencies, DeFi has also been a considerable force in the increased activity observed in the Ethereum network. Because of their link to fiduciary currencies, stable currencies are quite popular among DeFi lending protocols that have been gaining ground throughout 2020.

The platforms have seen notable increases in the amount of funds secured and in the second quarter the figure rose to over USD 2 billion. Compound alone reached a major milestone with over USD 1 billion of assets borrowed in total.