Genesis Global Capital, a leading cryptocurrency lending platform, has filed a lawsuit against Digital Currency Group (DCG), one of the largest investors in the crypto space, over unpaid bitcoin loans. According to the complaint, Genesis lent DCG 27,000 bitcoins worth $1.4 billion at the time of writing, between March and June 2021, with an interest rate of 6.5% per annum. The loans were supposed to be repaid by September 30, 2021, but DCG allegedly failed to do so, despite repeated demands from Genesis.
Genesis claims that DCG breached the loan agreements and acted in bad faith, by using the borrowed bitcoins to fund its own investments and operations, without disclosing this to Genesis. Genesis also alleges that DCG engaged in market manipulation, by selling large amounts of bitcoins in order to drive down the price and avoid paying back the full amount of the loans. Genesis seeks to recover the outstanding principal, interest, fees, and damages from DCG, as well as a declaration that DCG has no right to the bitcoins or any proceeds from their sale.
DCG is a prominent player in the crypto industry, with investments in companies such as Coinbase, Grayscale, BitGo, Blockstream, and CoinDesk. The company is led by Barry Silbert, a well-known figure in the crypto community. DCG has not yet responded to the lawsuit or commented on the allegations. The case is pending in the Supreme Court of New York.
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Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has announced that it will stop offering trading and deposits of some privacy-focused coins in Belgium. The decision comes as a response to the country’s financial regulator, which has warned against the risks of using cryptocurrencies that can hide the identity and transactions of their users.
Binance said that it will delist Monero, Zcash, Dash, Horizen and Super Bitcoin from its platform in Belgium by October 31, 2023. Users who hold these coins are advised to withdraw them before the deadline or risk losing access to their funds. Binance stated that it is committed to complying with local regulations and protecting its users from potential legal issues.
Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, has co-authored a paper on a new protocol for improving privacy on the blockchain. The protocol, called ZKSwap, is based on zero-knowledge proofs and allows users to swap tokens without revealing their identities or balances.
ZKSwap is designed to be a more scalable and user-friendly alternative to Tornado Cash, a popular privacy tool that uses smart contracts to anonymize transactions. The paper, which was published on the arXiv preprint server, claims that ZKSwap can achieve up to 1000x higher throughput and 100x lower fees than Tornado Cash, while maintaining the same level of security and privacy.
Sino Global, a venture capital firm that focuses on investing in blockchain and cryptocurrency projects, has announced that it is rebranding itself as Ryze Labs. The company said that the new name reflects its vision of empowering entrepreneurs and innovators in the emerging digital economy. Ryze Labs will continue to support promising startups and initiatives that leverage blockchain technology and crypto assets to create value and solve real-world problems.
TRLab, a Web3 platform that connects artists and collectors in the decentralized digital art space, has announced a $5 million funding round led by Hivemind Capital, a venture capital firm focused on blockchain and crypto projects. OKX Ventures, the investment arm of the global crypto exchange OKX, also participated in the round.
TRLab aims to empower artists to create, showcase, and sell their works on the blockchain, as well as to provide collectors with access to exclusive and curated collections of digital art. TRLab leverages the power of Web3 technologies, such as smart contracts, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and decentralized storage, to ensure the authenticity, provenance, and ownership of digital art. TRLab also plans to launch a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that will allow its community to govern the platform and share in its value creation.
The FDUSD stablecoin, which is pegged to the US dollar and backed by a basket of cryptocurrencies, has seen a remarkable surge in its market capitalization in the past month. According to data from CoinGecko, the FDUSD market cap increased by 51% from $261 million on August 8 to $394 million on September 8, making it one of the fastest growing stablecoins in the industry.
The growth of FDUSD can be attributed to several factors, such as its low fees, high liquidity, and wide adoption by various platforms and services. FDUSD is also supported by a robust governance system that ensures its stability and transparency. FDUSD aims to provide a reliable and convenient alternative to fiat currencies for users who want to access the benefits of the decentralized economy.
Story Protocol, a new platform that aims to empower creators and fans to own and monetize their intellectual property, announced today that it has raised $54 million in a Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz. The round also included participation from other investors such as Coinbase Ventures, Paradigm, Electric Capital, and angel investors Naval Ravikant and Balaji Srinivasan. Story Protocol allows anyone to create, publish, and sell stories across different media formats, such as books, comics, podcasts, games, and movies.
The platform uses blockchain technology to create unique digital tokens that represent the ownership and royalties of each story. Creators can sell these tokens to fans or investors, who can then benefit from the future success of the story. Story Protocol also enables collaborative storytelling, where multiple creators can contribute to the same story and share the rewards. The platform plans to use the new funding to expand its team, develop its technology, and launch its marketplace for stories later this year.