Breaking crypto news from the last week (Dec. 3–9, 2022): Dec. 4: USDC stablecoin issuer Circle and publicly traded special purpose acquisition company Concord Acquisition Corp (SPAC) mutually ended their proposed business combination after the deal “timed out.” The mutual termination comes after over a year and a half of deliberating around the terms of…

Coinbase has called on users to convert their Tether (USDT) stablecoins to USDC – the stablecoin it co-founded – with zeroing exchange fees. The move follows a battle of words between Tether and some media outlets. “Now more than ever, stability and trust are of the utmost importance to customers,” Coinbase stated in an official…

Regulated derivatives products allow investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin without the hassle of dealing directly with crypto, Robert Stevens explains on CoinDesk. “Digital gold” can sometimes feel as hard to get your hands on as the real thing. Tax-sheltered accounts or certain banks might not let you invest in Bitcoin directly, crypto exchange accounts…

Top investment deals across the crypto sector over the last week (Dec. 3–9, 2022): Uniswap-based DeFi protocol Panoptic raises $4.5 million Panoptic, a Uniswap-based decentralized finance protocol for trading perpetual options, raised $4.5 million in a seed funding round. Gumi Cryptos Capital led the round, with Uniswap Labs Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Jane Street, Avalanche Foundation’s…

Crypto media site The Block was secretly funded over the last two years by Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research. CEO Michael McCaffrey has resigned as a result of the news coming to light, The Block confirmed on Dec. 9. Michael McCaffrey, The Block’s CEO, immediately resigned after the loans from Alameda Research came to light and…

Shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), the world’s largest bitcoin fund, reached a record-high discount rate of above 47% relative to the price of Bitcoin (BTC). Bearish sentiment surrounding the trust deepened over fears that crypto trading firm Genesis Global Trading, with the same owner, could file for bankruptcy. GBTC is a way for investors…

Top crypto news from the Middle East region over the last week (Dec. 3–9, 2022): Ripple partner and JP Morgan join forces to enhance financial transfers in UAE Al Fardan Exchange, a crypto exchange licensed in the UAE and one of Ripple Labs’ partners, has inked a strategic partnership with global banking giant JP Morgan,…

Cross-chain bridge Nomad plans to relaunch and partially reimburse those that lost funds in its $190 million hack in August. Meantime, the developer team has asked users to go through KYC verification to let bridge back their assets. “Since the Nomad Token Bridge hack, the team has been working hard on recovering funds and making…

Institutional investors continue to show interest in the crypto sector, even despite the negative effects caused by the FTX debacle, data from the crypto exchange Bitstamp shows, with institutional registrations increasing by 57% in November. Other traditional finance capital allocators also seem to view the situation as an opportunity to enter. According to crypto exchange…

The Decentranland metaverse announced a new platform feature that allows its virtual LAND owners to officially rent out the rights to the space for predefined periods through the digital marketplace. Decentranland users who own LAND can now become landlords to earn passive income from their metaverse assets. In an official statement, Decentraland describes LAND owners…