ICYMI - Last Week in Crypto: Founders of Insolvent 3AC go into hiding, Celsius Network Files for Bankruptcy, OpenSea cut down 20% of work-force and more ‼️
On missing money and missing people. 🫢
It's been a turbulent year for investors, but it's been even more so for those invested in cryptocurrency.
The crypto industry experienced a flurry of activity over the last few months, especially in June. Due to the extreme market conditions, several cryptocurrency companies were forced to lay off staff, while some had to restrict withdrawals. A few of these crypto firms have had to declare bankruptcy in order to stop the bleeding.
Although last week showed signs of possible market recovery with Bitcoin reaching a monthly high of $22,300, a few events still impacted the prices of major cryptocurrencies negatively.
With no further ado, here are the top Crypto news headlines from last week.
Celsius Network files for bankruptcy
Major fears rocked the crypto space as Celsius filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Thursday, a month after the company halted customer withdrawals. Celsius has been facing liquidation since the crypto market crashed in June. The court filing listed assets worth between $1 billion and $10 billion, as well as over 100,000 creditors.
According to new court documents, Celsius Network has a $1.2 billion hole in its financial statement. The conflicted cryptocurrency lender has also confirmed that it has 300,000 active users with balances of $100 or greater.
Following the halt of withdrawals on the network over a month ago, Celsius has admitted to making "certain poor asset deployment decisions". The company also claimed to be a victim of "unsupported and misleading" media reports, which caused users to withdraw funds at an alarming rate.
The sudden withdrawal of $1 billion over five days in May, according to Celsius, was caused by "false" rumors that it had lost millions of dollars in the LUNA crash.
Celsius Network has joined the growing list of crypto firms that have been forced into bankruptcy due to unfavorable market conditions.
Founders of Three Arrows Capital declared MIA
Shortly after declaring Chapter 15 bankruptcy, the creators of the cryptocurrency fund Three Arrows Capital, popularly known as 3AC have reportedly disappeared. Zhu Su and Kyle Livingstone Davies, the co-founders of the Dubai-based crypto hedge fund, seem to have gone "missing-in-action" amidst the liquidation saga.
Following a court order, liquidators have expressed major difficulties in locating the whereabouts of the 3AC's founders. The liquidators have further requested that a U.S. bankruptcy court in Manhattan order the cryptocurrency hedge fund's founders to show up and take part in the proceedings.
OpenSea slashes its workforce by 20%
Following the effect of the unstable market conditions, OpenSea has reportedly laid off 20 percent of its staff. The drastic decision was made in response to "an unprecedented combination of a crypto winter and broader macroeconomic instability," according to NFT marketplace.
CEO Devin Finzer cited that the company needs to prepare for what could be a protracted downturn; however, with these changes, it might be able to survive for several years even if market conditions don't improve. Notably, the amount of trading on OpenSea has decreased recently.
Although trading volume within OpenSea hit a record high of $5 billion in January 2022, it only reached $700 million last month. Additionally, the site is dealing with growing competition from new players in the market, including Coinbase and Instagram.
Senate of Paraguay Passes Crypto Bill to allow mining activities
It's possible that Paraguay will soon emerge as a major hub for Bitcoin mining operations.
This was revealed on July 15 after the Senate approved a bill aiming to regulate crypto activity in the South-American nation.
Posting on Twitter to announce the new developments was Paraguay lawmaker, Fernando Silva Facetti, who cited that the bill will play a key role in the future of crypto-related activities in the country.
However, the model for power consumption in the nation's crypto mining sector is perhaps the most essential factor highlighted by the bill.
Following the new bill, it is now possible to fully utilize the extra energy produced by Usina and Itaipu for cryptocurrency mining activities at a reasonable price.
Although Paraguay's new law on regulating crypto mining suggests the country's interest in digital assets, it doesn't signify the adoption of crypto as legal tender.
That’s all we’ve got for you today!
Have a lovely week 💛
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