1. Winklevoss firm charged in US over crypto sales
📰 Cryptocurrency firms Gemini and Genesis have been charged by US regulators with illegally selling crypto assets to hundreds of thousands of investors.
📰 The companies are accused of breaking the law by offering and selling the products through their joint programme, Gemini Earn, which launched in 2021.
📰 Through its complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, the SEC is seeking to hit both companies with civil penalties and make them repay “ill-gotten gains”.
. . .
2. Crypto.com Cuts 20% Workforce
📰 Crypto.com said it is cutting its workforce by around 20% as the crypto industry continues to reel from the effects of the ongoing crypto winter.
📰 The firm cited the economic headwinds from the downturn in the crypto market and the FTX implosion as the reason behind the layoffs.
📰 According to various social media profiles, Crypto.com has around 3,500–4,500 employees, which would make the current round of layoffs impact around 700–900 employees.
. . .
3. Bitcoin Surges Past $20K, Erasing Post-FTX Losses
📰 The cryptocurrency market continued its rally on Friday as Bitcoin hit a high of just over $20,000 per coin.
📰 Bitcoin hasn’t been priced this high since early November, according to data from CoinGecko, before the spectacular collapse of FTX.
📰 The price of BTC began to climb earlier this week in anticipation of the release of the Federal Reserve’s December CPI report, which met market expectations and showed that inflation in the U.S. economy is indeed slowing.
. . .
4. Over $450M Shorts Liquidated as Crypto Market Extends Rally
📰 Traders betting against the crypto market have suffered more than $450 million in losses over Friday as major cryptocurrencies surged higher.
. . .
5. Crypto Traders Are Already Placing Bets on Ethereum’s ‘Shanghai Hard Fork’
📰 Ethereum’s historic shift last year to a proof-of-stake network was one of the most anticipated milestones.
📰 Now all traders are shifting focus towards Ethereum’s next major upgrade, expected to take place in March, known as the “Shanghai hard fork,” which will allow participants on the network to unlock ether (ETH) they had staked on the blockchain, inaccessible for months.
. . .
