Welcome, and thank you for being part of the MyZucoins community! Let’s get into an interesting piece of crypto, finance, or tech news to stay ahead.
Bittrex Crypto Exchange To Shut Down, Urges Customers To Withdraw Funds
Bittrex Global cryptocurrency exchange is shutting down.
The exchange was once one of the largest exchanges in the U.S. before its market share crumbled to below 1% in 2021.
This move follows a dramatic fall in its U.S. market share, which plummeted to below 1% in 2021.
The closure announcement urges customers to withdraw their funds quickly.
Trading on the platform will stop on December 4th, 2023.
Earlier this year, Bittrex’s U.S. unit sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The SEC had accused it of operating an unregistered exchange.
Bittrex Global’s CEO, Oliver Linch, had previously reassured customers about the reliability of the non-U.S. regulated exchange, “if they want to do business with a non-U.S. regulated digital assets exchange, Bittrex Global is here for you.”
This closure signifies a significant shift in the digital assets exchange landscape, underscoring the volatility and regulatory challenges in the crypto world.
All users have been strongly advised to log into their accounts and withdraw their assets immediately. Read more here.
Kraken Crypto Exchange Facing US SEC’s New ‘Disastrous’ Lawsuit, Says Products Unaffected So Far
Kraken, a major cryptocurrency exchange has its parent companies, Payward and Payward Ventures, is accused by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of functioning as an unregistered online trading platform.
Kraken insists its operations remain unaffected despite a recent lawsuit by the SEC.
They emphasize that the SEC’s argument, classifying its products as investment contracts, is baseless and unsupported by existing laws.
The SEC’s lawsuit points out the risks of loss due to Kraken’s practice of mixing customer crypto assets and cash with its own, which Kraken dismisses as a misinterpretation.
Readers will note, this is something investigators have claimed to have found occurring within FTX and Binance exchanges too.
The SEC’s action mirrors similar lawsuits against other crypto exchanges like Coinbase and Binance, sparking another debate on the US’s regulatory framework for digital assets, alleging they too are operating unregulated securities exchanges.
The Department of Justice is reportedly seeking over $4 billion from Binance, which if paid could conclude an ongoing investigation.
Back to Kraken, they say that the lawsuit does not allege any fraudulent activity, market manipulation, or security breaches leading to customer losses.
Specifically, Kraken disputes the SEC’s claim that its products are investment contracts, describing it as “incorrect… false… and disastrous.”
Faryar Shirzad, Chief Policy Officer of Coinbase, has expressed similar sentiments, arguing that the rule of law necessitates the application of actual laws.
The SEC counters by pointing out potential customer loss risks due to Kraken’s mixing of customer crypto assets and cash with its own.
Kraken, however, has refuted these allegations, arguing that the SEC has failed to demonstrate that any customer funds have gone missing or any loss has occurred.
The firm further criticizes the SEC’s argument that digital asset trading platforms should simply register with the agency, stating, “there is not a single law on the books supporting this position.”
Earlier this year, Kraken’s parent firms were charged by the SEC for failing to register their crypto asset staking-as-a-service program, a charge they settled by paying $30 million in penalties.
Kraken’s stance underscores a significant conflict in the crypto industry: the clash between innovative financial services and traditional regulatory approaches. Read more here.
How is Zucoin navigating the challenges of crypto token exchange delistings?
Crypto exchange “Proof of Reserves” liquidity risks. Zutopia’s different pathway.
Zucoins’ strategic focus on Zutopia amid wider industry challenges.
Cryptocurrency exchanges remove 3,400+ tokens in record delisting spree.
The dangers of many crypto exchanges.
Is Zucoin’s Zutopia Marketplace A Crypto Exchange? How Does It Avoid These Issues?
Bittrex, once a leading force, is now wrapping up its operations.
Kraken, Binance and Coinbase are under more scrutiny from regulators.
This serves as a harsh wake-up call to the safety and regulatory risks faced by centralized digital asset exchanges.
Zucoin has been closely monitoring the increasingly hostile situation with many cryptocurrency exchanges over the past couple of years, hence the decision to focus on the Zutopia marketplace instead.
Most centralized cryptocurrency exchanges are currently extremely risky in major regulatory environments.
From what we’ve seen (and this is not advice), a crypto exchange that appears to be doing solid regulatory work, for the most part, is Coinbase, though not without their own issues they’re working to correct.
With the Zucoin wallet app, you keep your digital assets in your own digital wallet, eliminating the need to have your assets sitting in an exchange.
Like the Zucoin wallet app, the Zutopia marketplace, which is currently in a limited, early access testing phase, is designed to have peer-to-peer transactions too.
Behind the scenes, Zutopia works very, very differently from what you’d expect.
Here’s how.
Zutopia doesn’t hold digital crypto wallets or their contained assets, on behalf of a buyer and seller, like an exchange does.
The transactions and their payments, happen between the buyer and seller directly.
Zutopia helps you setup transactions that happen through your Zucoin wallet app.
It’s a very clean and direct method of allowing people on the platform to self-serve, as their needs fit.
There’s no company managing funds as an escrow, like many exchanges and middlemen services do, while a transaction is happening.
Zutopia has a unique payment processing architecture, that allows funds to transfer directly between the transaction’s buyer and seller.
For this reason, Zutopia isn’t an exchange, it’s a peer-to-peer marketplace platform.
It’s all part of the ecosystem that Zucoin is building.
The list of issues in the crypto world is pretty clear and Zucoin has been working to solve a solid set of them, piece by piece.
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All the best,
—Rob
MyZucoins
Disclaimer: Of course, this is not advice, financial or otherwise. It’s also important to consider the risks and challenges associated with any potential benefits.