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Welcome to Blockhead's Daily Digest, your go-to source for the latest and most exciting news in the world of cryptocurrency. Our mission is to provide our subscribers with accurate, insightful, and timely coverage of the rapidly evolving crypto space.
It's been quite the rollercoaster for Voyager Digital customers. One minute the crypto lender files for bankruptcy, the next minute they're being acquired by Binance, only to face the wrath of US regulators before finally receiving approval for the deal, and the next minute the acquisition falls through as Binance withdraws. Oh and let's not forget they were once almost acquired by FTX (lol).
In the latest episode of "The Fate of Voyager Customers," Voyager announced that customers will soon recover about 35% of their cryptocurrency deposits. Further distribution is dependent on FTX litigation, which is seeking $445.8 million in loan repayments to Voyager before the exchange collapsed. If successful, Voyager customers' recovery could rise to 63.74%.
Judge Michael Wiles approved Voyager's liquidation plans, which will see $1.33 billion in crypto assets returned to disgruntled customers. The plan could become effective by as early as tomorrow with initial distributions "no later than June 1" according to a tweet from Voyager.
1/ At today’s hearing, the Court approved the liquidation procedures. We are working with Voyager to go effective under the plan as soon as possible (as early as this Friday).
— Voyager Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (@VoyagerUCC) May 17, 2023
Elsewhere:
- The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is cracking down on crypto exchanges. Eun Young Choi, director of the agency's National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) said of crypto companies facilitating money laundering, "they're allowing for all the other criminal actors to easily profit from their crimes and cash out in ways that are obviously problematic to us." The DOJ believes that Charges like those against Vietnamese national Minh Quoc Nguyen for money laundering and identity theft in connection with crypto platform ChipMixer send a "deterrent message." Choi added that a company's size "is not something that the department will countenance" when considering charges. The DOJ also plans to focus on crimes related to decentralised finance, especially "chain bridges."
- Bitget isn't backing down as the crypto exchange is looking to make 300 more hires. Job vacancies include roles in operations, compliance, research and development, and customer support. The Seychelles-based firm, which is eyeing a Hong Kong license, has 1,300 employees according to its Q1 report. Bitget's hiring is in line with its November announcement that it was looking to expand its workforce by 50% in Q1.
- AXS jumps as Axie Infinity creator Sky Mavis announces the launch of its Axie Infinity: Origins card game on the Apple App Store. The game, which had been available in limited regions on the Google Play store through Mavis Hub, will launch in the Apple store across Latin America and Asia in countries including Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Venezuela, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. Through Google Play, the game saw 1.5 million installs across all platforms. Sky Mavis is also launching a curated NFT marketplace called Mavis Market and also plans to launch a merch store. AXS is up over 5% over the past 24 hours.
- China state-owned Greenland Financial Technology Group is applying for a virtual asset trading license in Hong Kong following its success in earning a digital banking license in Singapore. The move marks the first state-owned Chinese company to apply for a Hong Kong license. The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) require virtual asset trading platforms to obtain a license to operate as of 1 June. Greenland applied for a bank license in 2018 but was not selected. The Greenland Holdings subsidiary will trade cryptocurrencies, nonfungible tokens and products related to carbon emissions. Greenland Holdings is a Shanghai-based real estate developer that is 46.4% owned by the Shanghai municipal government. Greenland Financial Technology Group obtained its Singapore banking license in 2020.
That's all for today. See you back here tomorrow.
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