What the numbers say: A recent research report from the Web3 data platform DappRadar has shown that Yuga Labs, the firm behind the famous Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and CryptoPunks NFTs, dominated the NFT market within the last two quarters. In Q4 2022 and Q1 2023, the firm's NFTs took a 34.5% market share, reaching $2B in trading volume. The rest of the NFT industry was able to take a 65.5% combined share from the total $5.79B volume in the industry. Yuga Labs' NFT collections also reached massive sales counts in February this year and made up 30% of NFT trading volume on the Ethereum network, causing NFT trading volumes to surpass $2.04B in February, the highest levels in nine months. Relevance: Yuga Labs seemingly plans to boost this success by hiring experienced names for key positions. The firm has most recently hired the former executive vice president of development at gaming giant Epic Games, Mike Seavers, as its new chief technology officer. Fellow gaming giant Activision Blizzard's former president and chief operating officer, Daniel Alegre, similarly joined Yuga Labs as the new CEO earlier in April. Brands that should care: Yuga Labs also dominates the list of top 10 NFT collections by all-time trading volume in Ether (ETH), finding a place in six spots. Other collections that achieved to make the list include Azuki by Chiru Labs, CLONE X - X TAKASHI MURAKAMI co-designed by RTFKT and Takashi Murakami, Moonbirds by Proof Collective, and the community-driven Doodles.
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The bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has confirmed plans to relaunch its Japanese exchange, FTX Japan. The firm has delayed the sale process of the Japanese subsidiary to explore a possible relaunch, underlining that the potential sale saw remarkable interest from many investors. More: - The halt of the sales plan aims to maximize the platform's value to enable it to continue operating efficiently and profitably.
- The filing stressed that FTX Japan is one of the few licensed operators in the country, and it has two licenses allowing it to legally operate a spot and derivatives crypto exchange in Japan.
- FTX said these licenses generally take more than two years to receive, making FTX Japan more attractive to investors.
- The bankrupt firm also requested the court to approve an employee incentive plan for seven key employees for the Japanese unit.
- The staff in the request includes the chief operating officer, chief product officer, chief financial officer, head of operations, chief compliance and risk officer, data scientist, and front-end engineer.
- Under the plan, the key employees will earn up to two payments, limited to $450,000 each, with certain conditions.
- FTX Japan resumed withdrawals for customers' fiat and crypto assets in February.
Zoom Out: - Earlier in April, FTX attorney Andy Dietderich also confirmed that the firm was assessing the possibility of relaunching the main exchange with its stakeholders.
- Dietderich added that a final decision on a possible relaunch would be made within the current quarter, underlining that a possible restart would require a significant amount of capital.
- FTX, previously the third-largest crypto exchange, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2022, with its nearly 130 entities under the roof of FTX Group, including FTX Japan.
- The downfall followed the claims that the former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) used customer funds in FTX to compensate for losses at FTX's sister company, Alameda Research.
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The U.S.-based crypto exchange Kraken has tapped a federal court in San Francisco to object to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) demand to receive certain user information. In a filing, the firm defined the IRS' demand as an unjustified treasure hunt. More: - In February, Kraken was served a petition by the IRS seeking to identify Kraken accounts that traded at least $20,000 of cryptocurrency in any single year between 2016 and 2020.
- At the time, the IRS said it was investigating users who might be underreporting their tax liability.
- In return, Kraken has requested the San Francisco court to interfere with the issue and order the IRS to withdraw its demand.
- The company also cited crypto exchange Coinbase's case against the IRS in 2017 and said the IRS has gone well beyond the boundaries set by U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in that case.
- Back then, the agency had to scale back its demand following Coinbase's repeated rejections.
- Judge Corley will evaluate arguments in the Kraken case at a hearing in May.
Zoom Out: - The move came several days after Coinbase took legal action against the SEC, requesting the court to compel it to create a clear framework for digital assets.
- Kraken also came under scrutiny by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in February when the agency forced the firm to halt the operations of its staking service for U.S. customers and to pay a $30M fine to settle, citing that the platform offered unregistered securities.
- Over the last several months, many crypto exchanges, including Coinbase, Kraken, Bittrex, and Binance, faced increased scrutiny from U.S. regulators.
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Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, will start the operations of its Japanese unit in June by rebranding Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC). The announcement was made by SEBC through an April 28 notice. More: - Binance acquired crypto exchange service provider SEBC regulated by Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA), the country’s financial market regulator, in November 2022.
- The move will allow Binance to offer its crypto services through an already registered crypto exchange.
- According to the notice, SEBC will halt offering its crypto exchange and brokerage services on May 31, paving the way for Binance Japan to launch around June 23.
- SEBC customers will need to withdraw their crypto assets by May 31.
- Non-withdrawn funds will be converted to Japanese yen on the conversion rate of June 5 and transferred to clients’ registered bank accounts.
- Users will also need to re-apply for account opening since their information in SEBC will not be carried over to Binance Japan.
- SEBC currently supports 11 trading pairs with tokens that passed the reviews of the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association.
Zoom Out: - JFSA recently published a warning letter for several foreign crypto exchanges, including Binance, Bybit, and Bitget, claiming they operate in the country without proper registration.
- Rival U.S.-based crypto exchange Coinbase halted its operations in Japan earlier in 2023, citing a severe market downturn and rising volatility.
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The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has revealed that the South Africa-based Bitcoin pool operator Mirror Trading International’s (MTI) CEO, Cornelius Johannes Steynberg, was fined a record $3.4B for a fraud charge. The figure is the highest civil monetary penalty ordered by the CFTC. More: - The court also permanently banned Steynberg from registering with the CFTC and trading in any market regulated by the commission.
- Steynberg was first accused of fraud by the CFTC in June last year.
- The agency claimed that the head of MTI accepted 29,421 Bitcoin, valued at over $1.7B at the time, from 23,000 Americans to run an unlicensed commodity pool scheme.
- The CFTC said MTI is currently undergoing liquidation in South Africa.
- The commission also pointed out that Steynberg has been in prison in Brazil as a wanted man by South African authorities since December 2021.
Zoom Out: - A commodity pool is a collective private fund from multiple participants used to speculate in futures, swaps, or options markets.
- Funds for the pool are managed and raised by the commodity pool operator (CPO).
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Speaking at a recent event, Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) CEO Julia Leung said the agency would issue guidelines on the licensing regime for crypto exchanges in May. Leung stated that the consultation process for the regulatory framework collected more than 150 responses. More: - The new licensing regime will allow retail investors to trade major tokens, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), on licensed platforms.
- The licensing system is expected to come into force as of June 1.
- There are currently only two licensed crypto exchanges in Hong Kong: HashKey and OSL.
- The region is also working on an extensive regulatory framework for stablecoins, which will go into effect by 2024.
- Hong Kong has become most famous for its crypto-friendly approach over the past years, with its plans to turn the region into a crypto hub, making it quite attractive for many crypto exchanges.
Zoom Out: - Last month, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Christopher Hui, said more than 80 crypto-related firms sought a presence in the region as of the end of February, and 23 crypto companies already revealed their plans to establish their presence.
- Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s (HKMA) deputy chief executive, Arthur Yuen, also recently reminded local banks that there is no legal and regulatory requirement prohibiting them from providing services to crypto firms.
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- The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) searched the home of Ryan Salame, a former executive at the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.
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 |  | Doga is a tech and science editor who has been writing news for nearly 10 years. She worked for leading tech platforms and mainstrem media channels as an editor and presenter throughout his career. Then, she carried her know-how to more than one platform. She is a part-time cat lover and binge-watcher, and also fond of science, space, and emerging tech. She always has a story to tell. She is a bit addict to the laughter and -unfortunately- the '90s culture. |  | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 and 1972 Fords. | |
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