Galaxy Digital Holdings to buy popular custody platform GK8

 Financial services and wealth management pioneer Galaxy Digital Holdings today announced plans to purchase GK8, a secure corporate virtual assets self-custody platform. Subject to court approval and other closing conditions, the transaction will result from a sale procedure following Celsius Networks LLC’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Galaxy Digital buys GK8

Galaxy Digital said it had purchased GK8, a self-custody platform, from its previous owners for an undisclosed fee. The deal is related to Celsius’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy and has yet to be confirmed by the court.

With the purchase of GK8, according to Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz, Galaxy will be able to provide its customers with a comprehensive suite of cryptocurrency services, including storage options. He also mentioned that the deal represented a significant chance for his business to expand.

GK8 is a leading solution supplier for institutions seeking the highest level of security for their digital asset custody, utilizing proprietary technology to properly secure cryptos and conduct blockchain transactions without an active internet connection. Galaxy plans to back GK8 as it continues to provide its self-custody tech to the top financial institutions worldwide. The company intends to use GK8’s custody technology in developing its flagship product, GalaxyOne. 

GalaxyOne is a new prime solution for investment firms that combines trading, cross-portfolio margining, lending, and derivatives with the Firm’s market-tested risk-management methods, backed by various custodial alternatives, including those provided by GK8.

Mike Novogratz, Galaxy’s founder and CEO, explains that purchasing GK8 is a significant milestone in the company’s efforts to provide a comprehensive financial framework for digital assets. This will allow Galaxy’s customers to store their virtual assets on Galaxy’s servers or elsewhere without limiting the assets’ flexibility or usability. 

This commitment to taking advantage of significant opportunities to develop Galaxy sustainably is exemplified by the fact that we have added GK8 to our primary offering at a time of great significance for our industry. Almost forty employees, comprising cryptographers and blockchain engineers, will join Galaxy due to the deal, speeding up the company’s product creation and development. As a result of the agreement, Galaxy will open a new location in Tel Aviv, increasing its global reach.

Galaxy hires GK8’s former Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer

Galaxy has hired GK8’s former chief executive officer and chief technology officer to head up its new custodial technology division. Financial institutions like banks, broker-dealers, trust firms and retail platforms will continue to get direct support from GK8 as they work to protect their clients’ digital assets. 

GK8 will continue to provide self-custody solutions for GalaxyOne and institutional investors. GK8 has just announced a relationship with USI Insurance Services, adding another layer of security to its custody solutions by providing institutional clients with access to insurance coverage of up to $1 billion for digital assets held in custody.

When asked about the digital asset ecosystem, Lamesh remarked:

“We have fiercely strived to become the most secured platform of preference for financial institutions engaging in the ecosystem. The opportunity to join a market leader that recognizes the importance of GK8’s custody solution to the development of blockchain technology fills us with enthusiasm.”

Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital Will Acquire Celsius Owned Custody Platform GK8

 The acquisition will expand Galaxy’s headcount, and help build out its GalaxyOne prime offering. 

Galaxy Digital has won the auction for GK8 – a crypto custody platform to be sold as part of bankruptcy proceedings for the insolvent crypto lender Celsius. 

Galaxy will utilize GK8’s custody solution as it develops GalaxyOne – its own institutional prime offering. 

 As announced by Galaxy on Friday, GK8 founders CEO Lior Lamesh and CTO Shahar Shamai will remain to lead Galaxy’s custodial tech business, while providing self-custody solutions for GalaxyOne as well. 

“With the backing of Galaxy, we aim to introduce new and exciting offerings to the industry that showcase a combination of Galaxy’s best-in-class services and GK8’s cryptography, security, and unparalleled R&D skills,” said Lamesh on the deal.

Company CEO Mike Novogratz said on Friday that GK8’s acquisition marked a “crucial cornerstone” for digital asset storage with Galaxy. GalaxyOne already planned to offer crypto trading, lending, margin, and derivatives products for Galaxy’s institutional investors. 

“Adding GK8 to our prime offering at this pivotal moment for our industry also highlights our continued willingness to take advantage of strategic opportunities to grow Galaxy in a sustainable manner,”  he said.

The transaction is set to expand Galaxy’s headcount by 40 people, and expand its worldwide reach by adding an office in Tel-Aviv. 

Celsius acquired GK8 for $115 million last year but went bankrupt in early July as the crashing crypto market pushed its lending margin positions to the limit. FTX considered a rescue deal for Celsius at the time but walked away after seeing the state of its balance sheet. Today, FTX too has gone bankrupt, alongside other crypto lenders like Voyager and BlockFi. 

In the aftermath of Celsius’ collapse, Mike Novogratz admitted that the crypto industry was more leveraged than he thought.

1INCH foundation transfers send asset price tumbling

 The 1INCH Foundation recently transferred a large amount of the 1INCH token causing investor concern. The price has dropped by as much as 3%.

News shock wave

1INCH is the crypto market’s 86th asset by its market capitalization.

An on-chain crypto event tracker, Lookonchain, released reports on Friday after it noticed the activities from 1INCH. Lookonchain announced via Twitter that 1INCH Foundation moved out 15.65 million units of the 1INCH token estimated to be worth $8 million.

Lookonchain made the tweet 18 hours after 1INCH completed the first part of the transaction. It was reported that the assets were moved into Binance 14 hours following the first part of the transactions.

The tweet from Lookonchain stated that 1INCH first moved out the tokens to the tune of 15.56 million and they were moved into Binance 4 hours before the tweet. It equally indicated that the last time 1INCH carried out such a transaction was on the 9th of June when the token lost 25% and the price fell to $0.6 from $0.81. 

Unknown effects to come

Another on-chain data platform, WhaleAlert, also weighed in with its own version of the information. The platform said 15,599,995 1INCH said to be worth about $8,033,795 was transferred from an anonymous wallet into Binance.

WhaleAlert also verified that the last time the 1INCH Foundation executed that kind of transaction was on the 9th of June. Investors are on edge as no one knows what the full extent of the recent sale of 15.56 million tokens into the crypto market will be. The price of 1INCH has hovered near yearly low at $0.50

FTX Contagion Haunts Yet Another Crypto Trading Firm

 Aurus has not yet officially confirmed the issue but M11 Credit assured working on a joint statement. 

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried may have apologized dozen times for the failure of his firm, but there’s no stopping the contagion.

Another casualty came in the name of a crypto trading platform – Aurus Global – which is currently facing a “short-term liquidity issue” due to FTX insolvency.

Aurus Misses Principle Payment Amount of $3M

The algorithmic trading and market-making firm reportedly missed a principal repayment on a 2,400 Wrapped Ether (wETH) decentralized finance loan worth around $3 million. This was revealed by ‘M11 Credit,’ which happens to be an institutional credit underwriter.

Its tweet regarding the same read,

“Auros is experiencing a short-term liquidity issue as a result of the FTX insolvency. This does not mean the loan is in default. We are working with Auros, who have acted promptly and responsibly. Our top priority is to limit the risk for our lenders. We will continue our liaison with the Auros team in regard to all their open loans from our pools.”

M11 Credit further emphasized that the missed payment does not equate to the loan being in default. Rather, the missed deadline has prompted a grace period of 5 days “as per the smart contracts.” Auros is currently working with the credit underwriter to publish a joint statement detailing further information to lenders.

Entities Caught Up in Epic Collapse of FTX Group

FTX filed for bankruptcy on November 11th after suffering a liquidity crisis and failing to honor withdrawals. As a result, many companies in the market bore the brunt of the impact and were directly hit by the storm.

Digital Currency Group (DCG) subsidiary and institutional trading firm Genesis has $175 million in locked funds within the firm’s trading account on FTX. The firm’s creditors hired restructuring lawyers and are exploring ways to avoid filing for bankruptcy.

US-based lender BlockFi filed for bankruptcy earlier this week in a New Jersey court, simultaneously slapping Bankman-Fried with a lawsuit in the same court.

Meanwhile, a hedge fund managed by a subsidiary of German crypto platform Immutable Insight also revealed that it is exposed to FTX’s fallout and is owed $1.6 million.

FTX owes its 50 largest unsecured creditors a total of $3.1 billion, according to a filing at a Delaware court. The identity of the claimants remained unknown, but the filings show that two of its largest customers are owed over $200 million, while all 50 of them are owed $21 million each or more.

Apple blocks Coinbase wallet’s for allowing NFT sales

 Apple has reportedly blocked Coinbase Wallet app update of its iOS version until they disable the feature of sending NFTs. According to Coinbase Wallet, Apple claims that in order for them to be able to earn 30% of the gas fee, the gas fees needed to send NFTs must be paid through their In-App Purchase system.

Solana co-founder predicted Apple’s move

A recent tweet by Degen news reveals that Solana Foundation’s head of communications, Austin Federa, claims co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko had predicted this major move by Apple. Federa in his words says: “Yakovenko had seen this coming shortly after Coinbase revealed that Apple had blocked its app users from sending NFTs since it wants the 30% fees.”

Mr. Federa in response to Coinbase wallet’s recent hold up claims it wouldn’t be a surprise if Google also did the same thing tomorrow while calling for developers to consider an alternative around these bumps.

Coinbase says move puts NFT investors at a disadvantage

Coinbase has openly opposed and criticized Apple’s move. The startup gave the following statement: 

“This isn’t possible, as anyone who is familiar with NFTs and blockchains knows. Even if we wanted to comply, Apple’s exclusive In-App Purchase system does not support crypto.”

The majority of those affected by this policy change are iPhone users who own NFTs. If you have an NFT in your iPhone wallet, Apple has just made it far more difficult to move it to other wallets or give it as a gift to loved ones.

Apple reportedly blocks NFT-supporting apps 

Applications that store or show NFTs are allegedly in violation of the App Store’s terms of service, according to Apple.

Apple says that apps may list, mint, and transfer data as well as allow users to view their own NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). NFT ownership, however, shouldn’t enable users to access additional app functionality. Additionally, users of these apps may browse other collections, but no external links, buttons, or calls to action for NFT purchases should be displayed. Users can only buy NFTs using Apple’s in-app purchasing platform.

Apple also forbids apps from using additional mechanisms, like QR codes or cryptocurrency, to grant users exclusive access.

It stated that “apps may not employ their own mechanisms, such as licensing keys, augmented reality markers, QR codes, cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency wallets, etc., to unlock content or functionality.

Industry experts made the point that these changes would significantly affect how web3-dependent apps (including games) operate within the Apple ecosystem. They may have used NFTs up until now to avoid paying Apple’s App Store fees while still acting as a token or key to access functionality for customers, but that will no longer be permitted.

Apple will be stringent that apps adhere to rules 

Apple claims that programs that enable access to NFTs through mechanisms other than in-app purchases are in violation of the App Store’s rules 

Apple requires apps to use its in-app purchase system in order to be featured in the App Store, and it takes a 30% commission from downloads, in-app purchases, and subscriptions. After having their most well-known game, Fortnite, removed from the App Store for violating the 30% rule by accepting direct in-game payments, Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Apple for engaging in monopolistic acts. On September 10, Federal Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers issued her decision, which was entirely favorable to Apple.

There’s also speculation of Apple mandating any cryptocurrency apps that provide NFTs (paid digital content) either make the items available to customers of the App Store as in-app purchases or do away with the functionality entirely.

Coinbase wallet and other crypto wallets would need to avoid an NFT sale feature from their iOS apps to be allowed on the Apple store.

Cryptocurrency exchanges crackdown

Apple is also cracking down on cryptocurrency exchanges with the new app store rules.  They require the crypto exchanges to have “enough licenses and authorization to provide a cryptocurrency exchange” in all regions they operate in. Apple now has the authority to ban a cryptocurrency exchange from a particular country’s Software Store if it believes the app to be against local laws.

Telegram to Build a Decentralized Crypto Exchange to Prevent Another FTX Crash, Says CEO

 CEO Durov believes Telegram’s potential decentralized exchange could be a great solution for cryptocurrency investors.

Pavel Durov – Founder and CEO of the messaging application Telegram – thinks the FTX crash occurred because the blockchain industry has recently deviated from its decentralized nature. He argued that a few individuals abused their power, leading to the spectacular collapse.

The Pussian-born entrepreneur said Telegram’s next goal is to create non-custodial wallets and decentralized exchanges so crypto traders could have maximum protection when operating in the sector.

The Main Problem is the ‘Excessive Centralization’

Durov is yet another person to comment on the recent decay of the crypto exchange FTX, saying the entity was entirely centralized, and the control was in the hands of a few people. He believes they “began to abuse their power,” which prompted the crash and the colossal investor losses.

According to Durov, such adverse events will be eliminated if blockchain-based projects go “back to their roots – decentralization.” 

“Cryptocurrency users should switch to trustless transactions and self-hosted wallets that don’t rely on any single third party,” he claimed.

Durov urged developers to establish “fast and easy-to-use decentralized applications for the masses.” He said it took him a small team and only five weeks to build Fragment – a fully decentralized blockchain platform based on The Open Network (TON). Fragment has been quite successful, selling around $50,000 worth of usernames in less than 30 days, he added. 

The Pussian assured that Telegram’s next step is to introduce a variety of decentralized tools, such as non-custodial wallets and decentralized exchange for “millions of people.” 

“This way, we can fix the wrongs caused by the excessive centralization, which let down hundreds of thousands of cryptocurrency users,” he stated.

Telegram’s Brainchild

The Open Network (previously called Telegram Open Network) was designed by the Durov brothers (the creators of the messaging application). The idea of the project was to offer fast blockchain transactions, minimal fees, and cause a minor impact on the environment. 

Nonetheless, the launch in 2018 was not that smooth. CEO Durov had to cope with numerous scammers and fake accounts on Twitter until the US SEC approved the ICO sale. 

The watchdog temporarily restricted the distribution of GRAM tokens (digital assets based on the TON blockchain platform) in October 2019. The Commission argued that the initial buyers of the coin could resale their stash and thus distribute unregistered securities.

The confrontation led to a court case in which Telegram lost and withdrew its participation from the TON network. The messaging app also started a refunding process, repaying early investors $770 million and placing 5-year bonds worth $1 billion to cover its debts. 

The TON platform has its native token called Toncoin. Its market capitalization is over $2 billion, while its current price hovers around $1.80

Canadian state suspends crypto mining activities for 18 months

 As per local media sources, the Canadian state of Manitoba has placed an embargo on new cryptocurrency mining operations for the next 18 months because of concerns that such enterprises will overload the local grid.

Manitoba fear miner’s load will adversely affect local residents

The fear that the miners‘ load would adversely affect residents has prompted several states to halt or delay the approval of new cryptocurrency mining companies. Manitoba attracts customers that require a great deal of electricity, such as those engaged in the electricity extraction of bitcoins, because it has the second-lowest power prices in Canada, behind only Quebec.

The Regional Finance Minister also raised the PCG’s worry that blockchain enterprises might not be very good at adding to the labor force. He explained that it is possible to operate with a small workforce while consuming hundreds of megawatts of electricity.

According to Friesen, “Manitoba Hydro cannot make unilateral decisions regarding who to hook up.” The government is reportedly assessing the extent to which cryptocurrencies have had an economic impact and whether or not a regulatory framework is necessary to allow additional grid connections.

Hydro-Québec, a provincial utility, requested a moratorium on blockchain-related energy allocations from the province’s electrical distribution authority earlier this month. A partial moratorium against PoW mining was recently implemented in the American state of New York, leading to a similar response from Manitoba.

Reports from CTV News and CBC state that Manitoba Hydro minister and MinisterMinister Of finance Cameron Friesen said on Monday. “We can not just say, ‘Well, anybody can take whatever [electricity] they like to take, and then we’ll build dams. 

For the next 18 months, the government will prohibit any new crypto-mining facilities from accessing the grid. The 37 operational mines, however, will remain unaffected.

Manitoba has the second-cheapest energy rates in Canada, behind only Quebec; this has attracted many miners to the province. The Minister has stated that an estimated 17 miners have solicited grid connection, with a combined energy requirement of 371 MW. The Keeyask power plant has been running at total capacity since earlier this year, and 371 MW represents nearly half of its ability.

To finance the construction of the Bipole and Keeyask III transmission line, Manitoba Hydro has taken on a total of CAD 3.7 billion ($2.75 billion) in loans during the past 15 years, double the company’s debt from the previous period. According to Manitoba Hydro, over 40% of customer utility payments are applied toward debt service.

Manitoba hydro paying off debt

Manitoba Hydro is also paying off debt from the latest development projects. The utility’s debt tripled in 15 years as a result of two megaprojects that went $3.7 billion over budget: the Keeyask generating plant and the Bipole III transmission line.

The Vice Chairman of the Canadian Blockchain Alliance, a trade association, has stated that working on the servers is a highly lucrative career option. From Calgary, Jade Alberts said, “Somebody is going to have to repair them, check on them, and make sure they’re running.”