News Nuggets | 11 April: Bitcoin Breaks $30K; Cypator's Crypto ECN

Exness Promotes Samantha Hooi to Head of Events

Exness, a top forex and CFDs trading provider, has promoted Samantha Hooi, one of its event managers, to Head of Events. Hooi announced her promotion on LinkedIn on Tuesday.

The elevation comes nearly six years after Hoo joined the brokerage firm in July 2017 at its office in Lumpur, Malaysia. Speaking on the promotion, Hoo expressed excitement at “the opportunity to bring even more energy and success to our partners and clients.”

Ex FINRA-Registered Broker Arrested for crypto Investment Fraud

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) disclosed on Tuesday that 27-year-old Rashawn Russell, a former investment banker and broker registered with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) was arrested on Monday in New York for allegedly operating a cryptocurrency investment fraud scheme.

Citing a court document, the DOJ alleges that the ex-FINRA registered broker misappropriated much of the funds he solicited from investors, using them to gamble and pay select investors.

“Russell is charged with one count of wire fraud. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison,” the DOJ added.

New Bybit's Headquarters in Dubai

As part of the new wave of crypto firms entering Dubai, Bybit, the third most popular digital assets exchange in the world, is set to open its global headquarters in the emirate in mid-April.

Bybit is among the first crypto exchange service providers to receive in-principle approval to operate in Dubai. The exchange is using this opportunity to strengthen its community-oriented platform by encouraging its partners and affiliates to exchange ideas and leverage the resources available at the new hub.

"With the opening of our global headquarters in Dubai, we are building a cadence to bolster our presence in the region and become a trusted partner for global traders and investors," Ben Zhou, the Co-Founder and CEO of Bybit, said.

Sterling Trading Tech Launches Calculation Service

Sterling Trading Tech (STT) has unveiled a new calculation service for FINRA member firms that cater to the regulator's updated portfolio margining requirements. The new service has been launched in response to the recent changes to the requirements, which FINRA postponed from 1 April 2021, to later in 2023.

STT has developed the service after receiving feedback from clients and the industry, which called for a tool to generate the data elements required for this additional reporting. The service will cater to firms approved by FINRA for portfolio margin, including the concentration position requirements and global margin supplement details.

Bitcoin Breaks $30,000

Bitcoin crossed the $30,000 mark on Tuesday for the first time since 10 June 2022. The rally of cryptocurrency was fueled by the banking crisis in the United States that resulted in the shuttering of three banks in a mere four days. In Europe too, UBS hastily acquired rival Credit Suisse, a deal backed by the Swiss regulator to avoid a banking crisis.

According to Coinmarketcap, Bitcoin jumped more than 6.2 percent in the past 24 hours and is now holding a market cap of over $582.1 billion. The cryptocurrency is up 80 percent year-to-date, as it started the year with a value of about $16,600.

Other top cryptocurrencies also gained in the latest rally. Ether, the second-largest crypto in terms of market cap, is up by 3 percent, while Binance Coin gained over 5 percent. Solana, with a gain of about 11 percent, became one of the few cryptocurrencies with double-digit gains in the past 24 hours.

Central Bank of Montenegro Partners with Ripple

The Central Bank of Montenegro (CBCG) has signed an agreement to collaborate with blockchain technology firm, Ripple. Together, the two will develop a strategy and a pilot program for the launch of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in Montenegro.

The project of the CBDC launch will consist of multiple stages, including the identification of the practical application of a digital currency and the design to simulate its circulation and use under controlled conditions.

"Through the project, the CBCG will work with the Government of Montenegro and Montenegro’s academia to create a practical digital currency or secure currency solution to test the main blockchain technology’s functionality and potential. It will also analyse the advantages and risks that CBDCs or national stablecoins could pose concerning electronic means of payment availability, security, efficiency, compliance with regulations, and most importantly, the protection of end users’ rights and privacy," said the Governor of CBCG, Radoje Žugić.

Bank of England Building Britcoin Team

The Bank of England is recruiting to build a team of 30 people for the development of a CBDC, which Britain's Prime Minister (then the Chancellor), Rishi Sunak, informally termed as Britcoin.

"A team of 30 seems like quite a significant resource to focus on the digital pound," Ian Taylor, an adviser to the trade association CryptoUK, told the Times. "It shows the impact it would have, and that the bank [is] serious about it."

However, the Bank of England Governor, Andrew Bailey is skeptical of a CBDC, as he questioned the need for a digital pound in front of the parliament’s Treasury Select Committee.

Cypator Launches Crypto Trading

Cypator, a crypto trading Electronic Communication Network (ECN), launched spot crypto trading services on Tuesday for institutional participants. In addition, its services are available with the prime broker, Hidden Road, which acts as a counterparty to all trades and facilitates both the credit risk and settlement of the transactions.

Currently, Cypator ECN supports only crypto spot trading on a non-disclosed basis, but the company has plans to expand the offerings further.

"As an experienced team we looked at the crypto market and identified a gap in the trading liquidity infrastructure," said Ayal Jedeikin, the Founder and CEO of Cypator. "We can now provide our clients with a counterparty who is willing to take on the risk and for a complementary trading solution which leverages that to enable all players to trade with each other in a seamless manner. With Hidden Road, we found a best of breed prime broker who is focused on being a ‘true’ prime broker while we will focus on providing the best institutional grade trading solution."

FTX Bankruptcy Administrators Get $32.5M

The legal expanse of the bankruptcy process of the collapsed crypto exchange, FTX totaled around $32.5 million in February, which was received by lawyers and advisors. The figure surfaced with the court filings for monthly fee statements.

That figure did not include the $305,000 received in February by the Restructuring Chief and CEO, John J. Ray III. On top of that, his remuneration for March came in at $329,173, as he billed $1,300 per hour and reported working 255.9 hours in March.

Meanwhile, FTX still did not return the funds of its creditors. Only the Japanese entity of FTX began the compensation process. Furthermore, the Cyprus-regulated European entity of FTX launched a website to process customer withdrawals.