USD 3B Crypto Trading Floor, Bitmart Resumes Ethereum Withdrawals + More News

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
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Investments news

• Jason Ader, Co-Founder and CEO of SpringOwl Asset Management, will submit plans on December 10 for a casino in the New York area that features what he said would be the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading floor and a landing pad for flying cars, Bloomberg reported. The project could cost USD 3bn or more, depending on the site, which has yet to be determined, it added.
• Asset manager WisdomTree has filed an amendment to a registration statement on Form S-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relating to the proposed offering of common shares of beneficial interest (shares) of the WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust. The watchdog previously disapproved their listing after deferring on a decision several times this year.
• Crypto-focused private equity firm 10T Holdings plans to raise USD 500m in a new fund for the digital assets ecosystem, according to a regulatory filing. 10T has already raised USD 750m since it was founded last year.
• DeFi lending protocol JellyFi announced a seed funding round of USD 4.4m led by Lemniscap. The funds will be used to support JellyFi’s growth through R&D, key hires, and performing multiple audits, the said.

Exchanges news

• Crypto exchange BitMart has resumed ethereum (ETH) withdrawals and deposits, three days after hackers stole approximately USD 200m from hot wallets, the exchange’s CEO Sheldon Xia tweeted. Other tokens will “follow closely,” he added.
• SBI Digital Asset Holdings, a subsidiary of Japanese banking giant SBI Holdings, announced a crypto joint venture with Swiss digital exchange SIX that aims to become a regional liquidity hub for institutions. The company is expected to formalize its operations by the end of 2021 and begin offering its services by early 2022 after regulatory clearance from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
• Binance Asia Services, the blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency provider behind the Binance.sg exchange, announced an acquisition of an 18% stake in Hg Exchange (HGX), subject to regulatory requirements. In addition to shares in private companies, HGX is working to list alternative assets including wines, art, and real estate.

Politics news

• Crypto researcher Messari launched its governance aggregator and voting platform as a public free-to-use offering. “Messari Governor’s initial release facilitates voting participation through multiple Web 3.0 governance frameworks as well as provides a clear view of all proposal information and status for dozens of communities, all in one place,” they said. Governor ensures users never miss a major proposal or vote while also providing additional context and analysis on each proposal. Users can vote directly on the platform by connecting their wallets such as Metamask, Coinbase Wallet, or Wallet Connect,” the firm added.

Legal news

• Google sued to shut down a cryptojacking botnet known as Glupteba, which used the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain to evade cybersecurity officials. Google alleged the defendants utilized this botnet to mine cryptocurrencies on victims’ computers, steal victims’ account information to sell to third parties, purchase goods and services using credit cards with insufficient funds, and sell access to compromised machines to third parties.

CBDCs news

• Australia’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), said it saw promise in establishing a wholesale digital currency that would make syndicated lending more efficient and less risky, per Reuters. The conclusion comes from a year-long study, where the project showed the platform could provide efficiency gains and reduce operational risk by replacing highly manual and paper-based processes.

DeFi news

• Blockchain project Concordium and blockchain venture building boutique Verum Capital have partnered to launch what they call the first lab focused on developing regulated decentralized finance (DeFi) products dubbed the Concordium DeFi Lab. The lab aims to establish a funding vehicle and allocate USD 100m in CCD tokens in the form of grants and investments through its community endowment program.

Mining news

• Financing and advisory company Foundry Digital announced the launch of FoundryX, a marketplace that matches buyers and sellers of Bitcoin mining machines. Foundry’s clients can also request additional enterprise-grade services provided by Foundry, which include financing, shipping, logistics, and pooled mining through Foundry USA Pool.

NFTs news

• Brian Roberts, Chief Financial Officer of non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea, denied that the project is planning an initial public offering (IPO). He added that “if [they] ever did” plan an IPO, they would “look to involve the community.”
• Gaming giant Ubisoft announced Ubisoft Quartz, a new platform for players to acquire Digits, Ubisoft’s NFTs that will be playable in an AAA game and running on Tezos (XTZ).

Regulation news

• US president Joe Biden has accepted Saule Omarova’s request to withdraw her name from nomination for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, whom he had previously nominated due to her expertise. There is currently no new nominee, and Omarova only stated that “it is no longer tenable for me to continue as a Presidential nominee” as a reason why she is withdrawing.

Career news

• Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt joined blockchain project Chainlink Labs as a strategic advisor. Schmidt is currently co-founder of Schmidt Futures and chairman of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, among other initiatives.