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☆ Crypto is growing up: Goodbye yacht parties and NFTs, hello regulation and practical tech
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The three-day Messari Mainnet conference in New York was less expensive and less fun than it was a year ago. That's the sense I got after spending three days rubbing shoulders with crypto founders, blockchain pros, politicians and executives at Messari Mainnet in New York City. Coinbase hosted reporters at a press breakfast during Messari Mainnet 2023. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe long shadow of Gary GenslerGary Gensler, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, did not attend Messari Mainnet, but no one could stop saying his name. "Gary Gensler cannot state whether ethereum is a security or not," Ramaswamy told the audience.

Persons: Phil Rosen, Carlos Domingo, they're, Anthony Scaramucci, Jesse Pollak, Base, Coinbase, Crypto, Jess Houlgrave, WalletConnect, Houlgrave, Gary Gensler Gary Gensler, Scaramucci, Vivek Ramaswamy, Ramaswamy, Gensler, Gary Gensler, Coinbase's Pollak, Pollak, Messari Organizations: Service, Skybridge Capital, White House, Coinbase, Securities and Exchange Commission, Jiminy Cricket, SEC Locations: New York, Wall, Silicon, New York City, ethereum, Singapore, Hong Kong

☆ Citi debuts deposit and trade services on blockchains for institutional clients
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Citi is upgrading some of its services for institutional clients using blockchain technology. The banking giant introduced Citi Token Services on Monday, which will tokenize clients' deposits so they can be sent anywhere in the world instantly. The bank is also now using smart contracts to automate the trade process. Citi tested the smart contract capability with shipping and logistics giant Maersk, a client of the bank. While crypto remains in regulatory limbo and prices have been almost stagnant this year, renewed excitement about tokenizing real-world assets using blockchain technology has emerged as one of the hottest topics of the year.

Persons: Ryan Rugg, Rugg, Bernstein, Hamilton Lane, Franklin Templeton, JPMorgan Chase Organizations: Citi, Citi Token Services, Citi's Treasury, Trade Solutions, Investment, KKR, Securitize, JPMorgan Locations: U.S, Singapore

☆ Bernstein sees a $5 trillion opportunity in blockchains for financial markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

If financial incumbents want to be part of the modernization of financial markets, they need to adopt blockchains, according to Bernstein. Beyond tradeable assets like bitcoin, however, there's an opportunity over the next five years for financial firms in tokenizing real-world assets on blockchains, the firm said in a note this week. "Tokenization, we believe, will transform financial markets over the next decade," analyst Gautam Chhugani said in the Tuesday note. "We forecast ~$5 trillion of real-world financial assets will be tokenized on blockchains over the next 5 years." There is also a big opportunity for new business verticals in custody, trading, trade finance and enterprise consulting, Chhugani said.

Persons: Bernstein, Cryptocurrencies, there's, Gautam Chhugani, Chhugani, Hamilton Lane, Franklin Templeton, Michael Bloom Organizations: Investment, KKR, Securitize, JPMorgan Locations: tokenizing, stablecoins

☆ Exclusive: $7 billion tech unicorn Carta bet big on managing employee equity for public companies. Now it's telling them to get off its platform.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

$7 billion unicorn Carta is officially retreating from its equity management software for public companies, according to multiple sources Insider has spoken to. Thousands of private companies use the platform to track company and employee ownership, process venture investments, and administer employee stock programs, among a slew of other services. Carta had seen the company through its 2017 public listing on the London Stock Exchange, helping its employees and shareholders navigate the complex world of public stock markets. Transfer agents are regulated entities that all public companies are required to use to track stock ownership. "I guess getting into the public markets is something that they sort of dipped their toe in and now want to withdraw," he said.

☆ Insiders detail how Wall Street is preparing for a post-FTX world, from heightened scrutiny on crypto deals to rethinking hiring plans
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Morgan Chittum | Bianca Chan | Carter Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Most Wall Street firms have executed big crypto and blockchain initiatives. The ties between Wall Street, Main Street, and digital assets have never been tighter. Some traditional firms have chosen crypto custodians to do that for them, while others offer it themselves. Fidelity also has its own digital assets custody offering, and reportedly had plans to continue building out its digital-asset team as recently as late October. 121, which requires most SEC registrants to record the fair value of custodied digital assets as a liability.

Genesis is owned by Stamford, Connecticut-based venture capital company Digital Currency Group. The contagion concerns stem from Genesis' prominence in crypto, its links to troubled firms and broader reach into the financial world. "It's a signal of worse outcomes" for the crypto market, particularly since Genesis also deals with brokers, family offices and money managers. Last year, Genesis extended $130.6 billion in crypto loans and traded $116.5 billion in assets, according to its website. Crypto.com, an exchange, and Tether, which operates the world's largest stablecoin, on said Wednesday they had no exposure to Genesis.

Nov 16 (Reuters) - Crypto lender Genesis Global Capital suspended redemptions on Wednesday citing the failure of crypto exchange FTX, while court papers showed FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried faces legal action, as its sudden collapse ripples across the industry. LEGAL ACTIONMeanwhile, U.S. court filings showed Bankman-Fried is facing legal action in the United States from investors alleging the company's yield-bearing crypto accounts violated Florida law. Bloomberg on Tuesday also reported that U.S. and Bahamian authorities were discussing the possibility of bringing Bankman-Fried to the United States for questioning. Elsewhere, crypto exchange Binance, in a response to a hearing on the crypto industry by a British parliamentary committee on Monday, said it had not contributed to FTX's collapse. The U.S. House Financial Services Committee said Wednesday it plans to hold a hearing in December to investigate the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

Nov 16 (Reuters) - Crypto broker Genesis Global Capital is suspending redemptions and new loan originations at its lending business, it said on Wednesday, in the latest sign of the industry fallout from last week's collapse of major crypto exchange FTX. "We have taken the difficult decision to temporarily suspend redemptions and new loan originations in the lending business. We are working diligently to shore up the necessary liquidity to meet our lending client obligations," a Genesis spokesperson said in a statement. U.S. court filings showed Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX's founder, is being sued in a U.S. class action by investors alleging the company's yield-bearing crypto accounts violated Florida law. The proposed class action filed late on Tuesday in Miami alleges that FTX yield-bearing accounts were unregistered securities that were unlawfully sold in the United States.

☆ Crypto markets in turmoil over FTX bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Nov 11 (Reuters) - Crypto exchange FTX filed for U.S. bankruptcy on Friday and Sam Bankman-Fried stepped down as CEO, after a liquidity crisis that has prompted intervention from regulators around the world. FTX, its affiliated crypto trading fund Alameda Research and about 130 other companies have commenced voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in Delaware, FTX said. MARKET REACTION:Shares of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related firms dropped on Friday after FTX, one of the biggest crypto exchanges, said it would initiate bankruptcy proceedings in the United States, triggering a potentially massive meltdown in the industry. "The shock was that this guy was the face of the crypto industry and it turned out that the emperor had no clothes. Ultimately, the lesson here is that the crypto industry needs to stop trusting cults of personality, no matter how well-intentioned they might seem."

loadingHe said Binance, the world's biggest crypto exchange, will conduct due diligence in the coming days as the next step toward an acquisition of FTX.com. By then FTX had mushroomed into a growing rival to Binance, which dominates the crypto industry with over 120 million users. FTX token - which gives holders discounts on FTX trading fees - was last trading at $5.33, having slumped by more than three-quarters. On Sunday, Zhao said his firm would liquidate its holdings of the FTX token due to unspecified "recent revelations." "A *huge* thank you to CZ, Binance," Bankman-Fried wrote.

☆ See the 14-slide pitch deck a former Citi banker used to raise $26 million for his Web3 startup
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Ellen Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The idea came after Ceesay helped the basketball player securitize his NBA contract using ethereum. Solo Ceesay, a 27-year-old ex-Citi investment banker, has paired up with the NBA player Spencer Dinwiddie to launch a new Web3 company. Ceesay and Dinwiddie first saw a business opportunity in Web3 after Ceesay used his investment-banking expertise to help Dinwiddie securitize a $34.4 million NBA contract using ethereum. On Calaxy, creators set all the rules and price out what their content is worth in "tokens" that their fans can buy. Ceesay walked Insider through the pitch deck that secured Calaxy $26 million in funding:

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