$51 million Chainlink (LINK) locked in 30 minutes after staking launch December 11, 2022 at 9:25 am by Ifeanyi Egede ALTCOINS

 On Tuesday, Chainlink opened staking options for its users. Statistics show that the oracle provider saw 7 million LINK worth $51 million staked 30 minutes after the option was activated.

Sergey Nazarov, the founder of Chainlink, announced the staking of LINK on the network’s platform on Tuesday. Shortly after the announcement, users locked about 7 million LINK worth $51 million on the platform to provide more liquidity.

According to reports, the amount staked accounted for about 28% of the 25 million stake pool. In addition, the spokesperson said the firm decided to launch the token stake pool as starters to determine how well the operation would fare. He added that they planned to increase the stake pool capacity to accommodate 75 million LINK token in the future.

Blockchain Life 2023, Dubai, February 27 – 28

 The 10th Global Forum on blockchain, cryptocurrencies and mining Blockchain Life 2023 takes place on February 27 – 28 in Dubai.

Having started in 2017, the forum quickly became one of the TOP-3 events worldwide in the cryptocurrency industry.

The forum is attended by key industry players, government representatives, heads of international companies and funds, investors, promising startups teams and beginners.

What to expect?

Networking with 4000 attendees from all around the world and meeting  business executives from top companies in the industry

Exhibition area with 100 booths of digital companies

Speeches by world-leading experts  in the conference hall

The greatest AfterParty on the luxury yacht “LOTUS”

Participants will find promising startups to invest in, meet new business partners and learn about all the relevant ways to make money with cryptocurrencies from industry leaders. The event program also includes a discussion about profiting on the latest trends: the metaverse, NFTs, DeFi, P2P trading, cryptocurrency arbitrage and more. 

Attendees

Beginners in cryptocurrencies will be able to take their first step in the industry, while professionals will significantly expand their network of business contacts and find new business partners. Blockchain Life is a universal platform for development in the industry of cryptocurrencies.

Where and when?

February 27 – 28, Dubai, Atlantis the Palm.

Buy a ticket now: https://blockchain-life.com/asia/en/#tickets-row 

Axie Infinty (AXS) Explodes 20% Weekly, Bitcoin Remains Stable Above $17K

 The cryptocurrency market remains calm through the day, but some coins are already pulling ahead on a weekly basis.

The broader cryptocurrency market didn’t see a major change in the past 24 hours, as its total capitalization remains the same.

As we go into the weekend, it becomes clear that some cryptocurrencies performed really well throughout the week, so let’s dive in.

Bitcoin Stable Above $17K

The BTC price didn’t go through any major moves in the past 24 hours and remains above $17K. It’s worth noting, however, that it had increased up to $17,360 in the early afternoon yesterday, but the bulls were unable to continue the push and the price was sent back toward $17,100.

This puts BTC on a 0.4% loss for the past 24 hours and a 0.4% increase for the past week, showcasing the markets’ inability to break away from the current trading range.

Altcoins Stagnate Toward the Downside

The majority of the altcoin market has also been stagnating in the past day, but toward the downside, as seen in the heatmap below.

One of the best performers for the day is OKT, which is 8%, followed by Axie Infinity’s AXS – up 7%. This puts the total gains for AXS upwards of a whopping 20% for the week, which is considerable, given the current market conditions.

On the other hand, XCN seems to be the worst performer for the day, followed by BTSE token, both of which are down by some 4%.

All in all, the day failed to produce any meaningful movements in either direction and it appears that this is reflected in the overall trading volume, which sits at around $38 billion for the past 24 hours. Typically, such periods of calmness and lack of volatility lead to explosive moves in either direction.

Ledger Stax: designed by Tony Fadell, secured and built by Ledger

Paris, France. 6 December 2022 – Ledger, the world leader in critical digital asset security, has teamed up with Tony Fadell, builder of the iPod, to bring clarity and confidence to owning digital value. Ledger Stax™ is a usable way for you to take control of cryptocurrency and digital collectibles. It’s built on uncompromisingly secure architecture, and introduces a unique form designed for unprecedented accessibility and interactivity. 

Ledger Stax has a new E-Ink display, which covers the front and curves around the spine—you can view complete transaction details at a glance. E Ink is always viewable: your favorite art appears on the Ledger Stax screen, even when it is off. It also provides unmatched energy efficiency, so the battery can last for weeks or even months on one battery charge. 

“With the Ledger Nano™ series, we created the most successful digital asset security hardware of all time—with more than 5 million sold and none ever hacked,” says Pascal Gauthier, CEO and Chairman of Ledger. “Digital assets are increasingly about identity and digital ownership, not just crypto like Bitcoin. The time is now for a device for more mainstream users. At the same time, we must not compromise on security. This is Ledger Stax—secure and accessible.” 

Sam Bankman-Fried to Binance CEO: You Won, Stop Lying

Binance and FTX’s bosses have two different accounts of their exchange’s business dealings prior to the latter firm’s collapse. 

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) and ex-FTX boss Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) traded barbs over Twitter on Friday as each contested the true nature of their private business dealings.

During the exchange, Bankman-Fried asked CZ why he would “lie” about their situation, given he had already “won,” post bankruptcy.

CZ’s Story

CZ began with reference to Kevin O’Leary’s latest comments on FTX’s fallout. 

In his interview with CNBC, the Shark Tank star suggested that FTX spent much of its cash attempting to buy back its equity from Binance due to the latter’s “opque” ownership. He also refrained from accusing Bankman-Fried of fraud, as he has done multiple times since FTX’s bankrupcy.

O’Leary was paid $15 million to promote FTX’s brand in August 2021, and was an early investor in the company. CZ believes this has something to do with why he would seemingly run defense for FTX and SBF – even after the exchange’s collapse. 

“Unlike Kevin O’Leary, we continue to do due diligence even after we make an investment,” said CZ. “As an early investor in FTX, we became increasingly uncomfortable with Alameda/SBF and initiated the exit process more than 1.5 years ago.”

According to CZ, Binance began to leave behind its equity position in July 2021 due to worries about SBF and Alameda’s practices. This, per the Binance CEO, set off Bankman-Fried on multiple “unhinged” tirades against Binance team members, wherein the former billionaire threatened to “go to extraordinary lengths” to punish Binance. “We still have those text messages,” said CZ. 

This apparently sparked FTX to launch a mass investment campaign among “friends in high places,” including media, politicans, and celebrities like Kevin O’Leary to steer public opinion in favor of FTX, and against its opponents. 

In early November, CZ implied that FTX was lobbying against other player in the crypto industry in congress. Later that month, congressman Tom Emmer said he’d received reports of SBF conspiring with the SEC to forge a regulatory monopoly for FTX in the exchange business. 

“You don’t have to be a genius to know something don’t smell right at FTX,” continued CZ. “They were 1/10th our size, yet outspent us 100/1 on marketing & “partnerships”, fancy parties in the Bahamas, trips across the globe, and mansions for all of their senior staff.”

CZ boasted in June that his company was especially frugal during the 2021 crypto bull market, and had developed a large “war chest” relative to other more profligate competitors. 

SBF’s Story

Unlike CZ, Bankman-Fried alleged that his company was the one that initiated talks about buying out Binance’s stake in FTX, echoing his word to Kevin O’Leary on the matter. 

He also claimed that Binance never had the right to pull out as an investor unless FTX voluntarily opted for a buyout. 

“But again, none of this is necessary. You won. Why are you lying about this now?” he asked. 

CZ contested SBF’s framing of their dealings as a “competition” or “fight,” asserting that “no one won,” as an outcome. 

Bitcoin Stagnates Below $17K as Extreme Fear Returns to Crypto

The cryptocurrency market has failed to produce any meaningful movements in the past 24 hours and is found more or less where it was yesterday.

This includes Bitcoin, which continues to trade below $17K.

Prolonged periods of diminished volatility are not typical in the cryptocurrency market and are usually a precursor to a big move.

That said, Bitcoin’s price has been trapped within a fairly narrow range over the past couple of weeks, unable to break out in any direction. At the time of this writing, the cryptocurrency trades at $16,800 – exactly where it was yesterday.

The BTC dominance also remains the same as yesterday, highlighting the lack of activity from market participants and the overall state of stagnation.

Overall Market in State of Extreme Fear

Most of the altcoins failed to produce any gains too. On the somewhat bright side – they didn’t decrease either.

The majority of them are charting slight losses or gains but nothing noteworthy, as seen in the heatmap below.

Today’s best performer is FXS, up 8%, followed by Radix (XRD) – up 75.%. On the losing side of the spectrum, ImmutableX (IMX) is down 4.1%, followed by BTSE – down 2.5%.

Data also shows that the overall market sentiment has returned to a state of “extreme fear.” This is based on numerous factors, including volatility (or the lack of it), market momentum and volume, and social media sentiment.

Galaxy Digital gets 60% off Celsius assets after crypto lender’s bankruptcy

 Galaxy Digital, Mike Novogratz’s crypto-focused financial services firm, announced Friday that it had won an auction to purchase GK8 from insolvent cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network.

Price lower than what Celsius spent a year ago

Galaxy spokesperson Michael Wursthorn said the price was significantly lower than what Celsius spent a year ago, though the sale specifics were not released. As previously reported, Celsius paid $115,000,000 to acquire GK8 in November of 2021.

The purchase is part of Galaxy’s strategy to grow its premier brokerage business. About 40 employees, including blockchain developers and cryptographers, will join Galaxy’s team. According to Galaxy, with this deal in place (which is still subject to regulatory approval), they will be able to open a new facility in Tel Aviv, Israel, thus strengthening their presence worldwide.

Taking advantage of important opportunities to expand Galaxy sustainably, as demonstrated by the addition of GK8 to our flagship portfolio at a watershed time for the industry. Michael Novogratz established the firm to provide trading, asset management, and investment banking to businesses in the cryptocurrency industry. 

According to an article from August, San Francisco-based digital payments provider Ripple Labs Inc was considering making an offer to buy the assets of defunct cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network.

Crypto assets crash

In May, the prominent terraUSD and luna coins crashed, while in June, the crypto exchange FTX went down. Galaxy CEO and founder Mike Novogratz made the statement. Due to the decline in the cryptocurrency market, Celsius declared bankruptcy in July and is now selling off some of its assets.

On the other hand, Galaxy has decided against spending $1.2 billion to acquire cryptocurrency custody firm BitGo. Galaxy claimed at the time, in August, that BitGo had missed a July deadline to deliver financial statements. BitGo filed a lawsuit against Galaxy in September, seeking compensation for damages resulting from the termination of the merger.

While the recent valuation of FTX was $32 billion, the implosion of Celsius has not been without its critics. An October court document claims high-level employees stole millions of dollars before the company stopped allowing customers to withdraw their money.

An ex-employee who didn’t want to be identified stated the company’s financials were poorly monitored, which resulted in major deficits. Celsius’s synthetic short, which occurs when an organization’s assets and liabilities don’t match up, was a major issue.