Turkish electric vehicle company Togg announces presale via NFT, then scraps the plan after customers have already bought in

March 8, 2023

Turkish electric vehicle company Togg announces presale via NFT, then scraps the plan after customers have already bought in

Rendering of a red SUV-style car, with text below it reading, "NFT'nizi seçmeye hazır mısınız?"

Promotional image for Togg's NFT collection, captioned "Ready to choose your NFT?" (attribution)

Turkish electric vehicle startup Togg announced that interested customers would be able to buy obtain pre-order rights for the limited run of their "100 Year Special Series" cars if they purchased one of the 2023 NFTs they planned to mint on the Avalanche blockchain. Based on rarity, NFTs began minting at between 10 and 30 AVAX ($200-$600) depending on rarity, which prospective customers purchased at its ~$20 price in anticipation of the early February sale. Many customers purchased considerably more AVAX, anticipating fierce bidding wars.

However, shortly after the NFT sales began, the platform crashed. Then, very soon after the sale began and Togg began addressing the issues with the platform, a series of earthquakes devastated portions of Turkey. As a result, Togg announced they would be postponing the sale until a later announcement.

On March 8, Togg announced that they had canceled their plans to conduct the pre-order process by NFT drawing, and that any NFT holders would not be prioritized in the pre-order.

This infuriated some customers who had purchased AVAX solely intending to use it to obtain a pre-order slot — particularly because AVAX is now priced below $15, meaning those who've been holding AVAX since purchasing it have lost 25%.

"Togg to sell pre-order rights with NFTs", Hurriyet Daily News
Tweet by Togg

March 8, 2023

Gemini reportedly loses banking with JPMorgan

(attribution)

Both CoinDesk and Reuters have reported that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will be ending its banking relationship with Winklevoss-led Gemini cryptocurrency exchange. Gemini responded to the reports by tweeting "Despite reporting to the contrary, Gemini's banking relationship remains intact with JPMorgan," though they notably made no statements about whether they expect that to remain true going forward.

It's hard to say why JPMorgan might have severed ties with Gemini — it could be related to recent statements from regulatory agencies frowning on banks taking crypto companies as clients, although Coinbase noted that it continues to have an active banking relationship with JPMorgan.

JPMorgan is not Gemini's only banking partner, so despite the blow to Gemini, this will not cut them off from banking.

March 8, 2023

Silvergate bank collapses

(attribution)

California-based Silvergate bank had pivoted almost entirely to serving crypto clients, a move that proved fatal to them in the wake of the FTX collapse and ensuing contagion. On March 8, they announced that they would be shutting down. Although their shutdown is considered to be a "voluntary liquidation", they had little other choice after a bank run, increasing regulatory pressure on banks serving the crypto industry, and a general dearth of new clients in the crypto downturn.

Silvergate's collapse may worsen crypto's already tenuous relationship with US banks. Silvergate was one of the few "crypto-friendly" banks, and the clients it previously served — among them, Crypto.com, Bitstamp, and Paxos — may face challenges finding a reliable replacement.

"Silvergate has collapsed", The Verge
"Crypto Bank Silvergate Capital Says It Will Shut Down; Stock Plummets", The Wall Street Journal

March 3, 2023

Lido token price tanks after podcaster spreads inaccurate rumor of Wells notice

Chart of the LDO token price from March 2 to March 5, showing a decline from around $3 to a low of $2.45 before recovering to around $2.60

LDO price from March 2 to March 5, via CoinMarketCap (attribution)

It doesn't take much to tank a token price, particularly lately as fear of SEC action in the Ethereum staking world has run high. Popular podcaster David Hoffman speculated on his Bankless podcast on March 3 that "I have wind that many, many, many Wells notices have been issued to many of the defi apps, orgs that we all know and love" in the last week, describing it as a "carpet bombing" and adding that "I think Lido got one". Although he clarified that they were only rumors, it was enough to spark panic, and the LDO token fell almost 20%, from around $3 down to around $2.45.

Hoffman later retracted the statement in a long tweet and apologized, and the LDO price recovered somewhat, though not to its initial level. However, he continued to claim that "there is at least one confirmed Wells Notice that has gone out recently, that isn't known to the public", but wrote that "the idea of a mass recent carpet bomb isn't correct".

"Lido Price Suffers on Rumors of Wells Notice", BeInCrypto
Tweet by David Hoffman

March 3, 2023

WSJ alleges Tether, Bitfinex, and related companies used falsified documents to obtain banking

(attribution)

A report from the Wall Street Journal made serious allegations against the stablecoin operator Tether, sister company Bitfinex, and the web of companies behind it. According to journalists, companies behind Tether "turned to shadowy intermediaries, falsified documents and shell companies to get back in" to the global banking system in late 2018, after a series of governmental actions cut them and their banking partners off from the financial system.

Among other allegations, the WSJ outlined how Tether was repeatedly denied accounts at New York's Signature Bank, and so ultimately got an executive at an aviation fuel broker called AML Global to open an account that appeared to be used to fraudulently process transactions on behalf of Tether and Bitfinex.

Tether is the largest stablecoin in circulation, though its entire existence has been marred by questions around its legitimacy and the status of its claimed reserves.

"Crypto Companies Behind Tether Used Falsified Documents and Shell Companies to Get Bank Accounts", Wall Street Journal

March 2, 2023

Silvergate crypto-focused bank faces crisis

(attribution)

Silvergate is a US bank that shifted its business toward primarily serving crypto clients. Following the collapse of FTX, there have been concerns over Silvergate's exposure to the losses experienced within the crypto industry. Short sellers piled in, making Silvergate the most shorted stock in late February.

On March 1, Silvergate revealed that they would miss the deadline to file their annual report with the SEC, which they blamed on regulatory inquiries. They also revealed even more losses, which added to the massive $887 million in losses they experienced in Q4 2022. They also disclosed that they were having to evaluate whether the bank was going to be able to survive.

Silvergate's stock plunged on the news, worsening its already marked decline in price over 2022–23. Some crypto firms began distancing themselves from the bank, as well: Coinbase announced on March 2 that they would no longer be transacting with Silvergate "in light of recent developments and out of an abundance of caution". Galaxy Digital, Paxos, CBOE, Gemini, Crypto.com, and Bitstamp also announced they would cease transfers to and from Silvergate, and Circle announced they would be "unwinding certain services with them".

"Crypto bank Silvergate plunges after warning on ability to survive", Financial Times
"Coinbase, Galaxy, Paxos Stop Accepting Transfers Via Silvergate Network", Bloomberg

March 1, 2023

Developers accuse Binance of stealing their hackathon idea after Binance launches similar AI NFT product

Tweet by BNB Chain: "The grand prize winners of our third track, Lifestyle in #Web3, is the wonderful team Chatcasso 🥇

Chatcasso is a guided platform that allows users to easily and conveniently mint NFTs using only text input through the use of AI technology.

[9/11]"

Tweet by BNB chain in January 2023 announcing the hackathon winner (attribution)

If you're thinking about entering into a BNB Chain hackathon, you might want to think again. On March 1, Binance announced a new "Bitcasso" product: a tool for users to create NFTs via AI image-generation.

Shortly after its launch, a group of developers accused Binance of stealing an idea they had presented at a December 2022 BNB Chain hackathon. Those developers had been awarded first place and $5,000 for "Chatcasso", a nearly identical tool.

Binance has refuted the allegations of theft, with a spokesperson acknowledging the "similarities" but claiming that "Bicasso was designed and developed independently more than two weeks before the BNB hackathon".

"It's disheartening to see a company that claims to support innovation and development steal from the very people who are working hard to build the ecosystem. Who would feel safe entering a hackathon? I don't." wrote one of the developers from the team. The developer also stated that they had not signed any contracts that would have assigned the rights to their work to the company, as is the case in some hackathons.

"BNB Chain hackathon winner accuses Binance of stealing AI-powered NFTs idea", Cointelegraph
Tweet by 0xggoma

March 1, 2023

BitBNS discloses that they were hacked in February 2022, hid it as "system maintenance"

(attribution)

An investigation by crypto sleuth zachxbt uncovered that the Indian crypto exchange BitBNS had been hacked on February 1, 2022, but hid it from users. After experiencing a $7.5 million theft, the exchange tweeted "system maintenance in progress", suggesting they were having problems with Amazon Web Services.

After zachxbt's investigation, BitBNS admitted that they had hidden the hack from customers. "Law enforcement advised us that the users should be educated about the incident only after the investigation is completed or reaches a dead end," said BitBNS CEO Guarav Dahake, who also said that some funds were ultimately recovered thanks to law enforcement and cooperation from other exchanges.

February 28, 2023

FTX co-founder Nishad Singh pleads guilty, agrees to co-operate against SBF

Nishad Singh (attribution)

Nishad Singh, a co-founder of FTX and its former director of engineering, has agreed to plead guilty to six criminal charges and co-operate against his former boss, Sam Bankman-Fried. Singh has pled guilty to one count of wire fraud, three counts of conspiracy to commit fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States by violating campaign finance laws.

In direct messages to a Vox journalist in November 2022, shortly after the FTX bankruptcy, Bankman-Fried wrote that Singh had left, and that he was feeling "ashamed and guilty" because customer deposits were missing.

According to bankruptcy filings, Singh had received a $543 million loan from Alameda Research. Some of this may have gone towards illegal political donations, which Singh admitted in court to making, saying they were intended to bolster Bankman-Fried's and FTX's influence among politicians.

"FTX Co-Founder Nishad Singh Pleads Guilty to Fraud Charges", The Wall Street Journal
"FTX's Singh pleads guilty to six U.S. fraud, conspiracy charges", Reuters

February 27, 2023

Two BNB-based projects attacked for around $700,000 each

(attribution)

Two BNB-based defi projects have been exploited for around $700,000 each in attacks that one of the projects has claimed were perpetrated by the same group. First, an attacker siphoned more than 2,400 BNB (~$728,000) from the Dungeonswap defi project.

Later, 80% of funds in the liquidity pool for the defi project LaunchZone were suddenly drained, tanking the LZ token price over 80% to $0.026 from its previous price of around $0.15. The stolen funds were priced at around $700,000.

Some questioned if LaunchZone had rug-pulled. However, the project claimed that "$LZ is being hacked from [Dungeonswap] exploiter" and urged its users to "please keep calm". They also announced that they had paused trading and transfers of the LZ token.

"$700,000 drained from BNB Chain-based DeFi protocol LaunchZone", Cointelegraph
Tweet thread by MetaSleuth

No JavaScript? That's cool too! Check out the Web 1.0 version of the site to see more entries.