Latam Insights – Inflation Skyrockets in Argentina, El Salvador Processes Digital Assets Licenses, Venezuelan Crypto Corruption Probe Continues

Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of the most relevant crypto and economic development news from Latin America during the last week. In this issue: Inflation in Argentina goes over 100%, El Salvador issues its first digital assets licenses, and the crypto-linked corruption probe in Venezuela is still ongoing. Argentina Registers 104.3% Inflation In March, … Read more

With Close to 10 Billion Stablecoins Redeemed, BUSD’s Supply Drops to Lowest Level Since April 2021

Statistics recorded on April 15, 2023, show that the number of coins in circulation for the stablecoin BUSD dropped below the 7 billion range to 6.68 billion, marking the lowest number of BUSD in circulation since April 2021. Furthermore, data indicates that the supply of BUSD has shrunk by 19.8% over the past 30 days. … Read more

Silk Road Hacker Sentenced to a Year in Prison for Wire Fraud

On April 14, 2023, the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the Southern District of New York revealed that the hacker responsible for the Silk Road marketplace breach had been sentenced to a year in prison for wire fraud charges. James Zhong stole more than 50,000 bitcoin from the darknet marketplace (DNM) in September 2012. DOJ … Read more

Liquid Staking Protocols See Increase in Monthly ETH Deposits Despite Withdrawals Post-Shapella Hard Fork

Following the Shapella hard fork on April 12, 2023, approximately 332,368 ether, valued at around $699 million, has been withdrawn. Despite these withdrawals, liquid staking protocols like Lido, Rocketpool, and others have experienced an increase in ether deposits over the last 30 days. Since March 14, a total of 281,498 ether worth $592 million have … Read more

Chia Network Files for IPO With the SEC, Eyes Public Listing

On Friday, Chia Network Inc. announced that it had submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), requesting an initial public offering (IPO). The blockchain network company, founded by Bittorrent creator Bram Cohen, will initiate the IPO after the U.S. securities regulator approves the filing. Bittorrent Creator’s … Read more

FTX Finds $7.3 Billion in Liquid Assets; Lawyers Consider Rebooting Shuttered Crypto Exchange

FTX debtors revealed during a hearing on April 12th that the restructuring team has collected $7.3 billion in liquid assets. The exchange is currently considering a relaunch, according to a lawyer representing the defunct cryptocurrency exchange. Following the announcement, the exchange’s token, FTT, increased by over 70%, rising from $1.30 to $2.35 per unit. Lawyers … Read more

Warren Buffett Likens Bitcoin to Gambling and Chain Letters in Recent Interview

Finance mogul Warren Buffett, one of the most successful investors in history, discussed bitcoin during an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box on April 12. As he has done in previous interviews, the business magnate likened bitcoin to a gambling scheme and chain letters he received as a child. Buffett Shares His Two Cents on Bitcoin, … Read more

Binance US to Delist Tron and Spell Tokens Amid Heightened Regulatory Pressure

According to a recent announcement from Binance US, the American-based subsidiary of the largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, the exchange plans to delist the cryptocurrency asset tron. The news follows Binance’s being sued by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and Tron founder Justin Sun’s being sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) … Read more

Cleanspark Purchases 45,000 Bitcoin Mining Devices, Adding 6.3 EH/s to Current Fleet

On Tuesday, the bitcoin mining company Cleanspark announced that it had purchased 45,000 Antminer S19 XP bitcoin mining devices for a total price of $144.9 million. Cleanspark stated that the new fleet would add 6.3 exahash per second (EH/s) of computational power to the company’s current 6.7 EH/s. Cleanspark Acquires 45,000 Bitmain Antminers for $144.9 … Read more

AI-Focused Cryptogpt Raises $10 Million in Series A Funding to Expand Into Asian Markets

A Layer two (L2) project, called Cryptogpt, which leverages ZK-rollup technology and artificial intelligence (AI), has announced that its team has raised $10 million in capital from a Series A funding round. The crypto and AI firm disclosed that the new funds would be used to expand into the largest Asian markets, and the company … Read more