The idea was to use a private blockchain to "promote more efficient and secure global trade" by allowing shipping companies to share information including shipping container contents and tracking. However, it was apparently tough to convince these companies to actually adopt the project, and Maersk and IBM pulled the plug.
Maersk and IBM announce the discontinuation of their blockchain-based TradeLens platform
Auros misses loan payment due to FTX exposure
In total, Auros has 8,400 wETH (~$10.7 million) and $7.5 million in USDC in loans from M11 credit pools, plus another $2.4 million in loans from the Clearpool defi lending project, for a total of more than $20 million in unsecured loans.
Kraken pays over $360,000 to settle violations of sanctions against Iran
The OFAC investigation was first revealed in July, in reporting from the New York Times.
- Settlement Agreement between the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and Payward, Inc. ("Kraken"), U.S. Department of the Treasury
Kraken lays off 1,100 employees in 30% cut
Bitso lays off more employees
The company didn't reveal how many employees were affected by the layoffs, but Portal do Bitcoin estimated that around 100 employees were let go — around 15–20% of the company's remaining staff. One employee wrote on LinkedIn that he was among "dozens" who were laid off.
- "Bitso cuts more staff in fresh round of layoffs", The Block
- "Corretora de criptomoedas Bitso faz segunda rodada de demissões no Brasil e no México", Portal do Bitcoin (in Portuguese)
Block subsidiary TBD announces they will trademark "Web5", cancels plans after completely foreseeable backlash
Who could have predicted that people might balk when TBD then announced they would try to trademark the term? Apparently they saw no irony in their attempt as a single, powerful entity to gain control over the trademark.
The same was not true of the people who responded to the post, who wrote things like, "We need to make sure web 5 is truly open by copyrighting it", and simply "🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡".
Six hours later, the company tweeted, "we have heard the community and we are responding to their concerns". They issued a statement acknowledging that "we have heard loud voices in the community who are concerned about the potential for abuse of trademark law in ways that would undermine the mission of decentralization." Gee, you think?
And no, they still haven't explained what happened to web4.
BlockFi files for bankruptcy
Because of this dependency, it was no surprise when BlockFi announced they were once again in crisis following the FTX explosion. On November 15, the Wall Street Journal reported they were preparing for possible bankruptcy and considering layoffs.
On November 28, BlockFi filed for bankruptcy. Their filing estimates they have more than 100,000 creditors (the maximum option on the form), between $1–10 billion in assets, and between $1–10 billion in liabilities.
Shitcoin project tests the limits of cringe by building $600,000 statue of Elon Musk and delivering it to Tesla HQ
The group then delivered the sculpture to Tesla HQ in Austin, Texas, and is reportedly refusing to leave until he accepts the statue. Unfortunately he may be too busy burning Twitter to the ground to have noticed.
Despite receiving press coverage in outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business, and USA Today, the project has as of yet failed to achieve much of a pump, and the token is trading around where it was several months ago. I've not named the token here in the hopes of not contributing to the goals of their viral marketing stunt.
150 companies seek Binance's bailout for organizations "facing significant, short term, financial difficulties"
In a blog post outlining the $1 billion initiative, Binance also divulged that "we have already received around 150 applications from companies seeking support under the [Industry Recovery Initiative]" — only a week and a half after it was announced.
Lemon Cash crypto exchange lays off almost 40% of its staff
Lemon had closed a $44.1 million series A funding round earlier this year, which they kicked off in July 2021.
- "Carta abierta a la comunidad" ["Open letter to the community"], Lemon Cash blog (in Spanish)