The crypto bearish conditions continue to take their toll on the markets as well as firms negatively, leading to mass layoffs at major crypto companies like exchanges, and lending platforms, leading some firms to filing for bankruptcy.
Terra Luna - $40 billion of investors money lost
— Aleksandra Huk (@HukAleksandra) July 14, 2022
3AC - from $10 billion in assets to bankruptcy
Voyager - owes $1.3 billion to 100,000 creditors
Celsius - owes millions to over 100,000 creditors, files for bankruptcy
Peoples life savings are behind those numbers ?
On a happier note, thing on the MENA fronte looks more promising than ever as OKX became the latest platform to expand in UAE after VARA’s approval!
Let’s cut the chase, dear reader, here are all your top crypto headlines from last week:
OKX Expands in UAE After VARA Approval
The Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) has granted crypto exchange OKX the approval to service consumers in the United Arab Emirates, with the goal of launching in Dubai.
?? OKX has been granted a provisional virtual assets (VA) license to provide services to qualified investors in the UAE, the broader GCC, Africa, and beyond.
— OKX (@okx) July 14, 2022
This will enable #OKX to innovate for the future in a healthy, regulated framework.#BetterFuture
With this new licesnse, the platform which serves already 20 million global customers in roughly 180 international market, eyes expanding services to eligible investors in the UAE, the Gulf Cooperation Council, Africa, and beyond.
Celsius Filed for Bankruptcy
Ending the ongoing freeze of customers’ cash for several weeks, the leading firm Celsius who claimed to be more trustworthy and safer than a bank, has filed for bankruptcy.
Our First Day Hearing will take place on Monday. This provides an opportunity for the Court to hear from Celsius and consider next steps for the process.
— Celsius (@CelsiusNetwork) July 15, 2022
The embattled platform paid down the last of its decentralized finance (DeFi) loans to Compound, Aave, and Maker over the course of a month, reducing its initial debt of $820 million to $0.013 each month. It is unknown what will happen with users' funds at this point, given that the firm's balance sheet may have a $1.2 billion hole, however, the troubled firm said: “The exact numbers will depend on what happens in the restructuring process and the recovery of 3AC assets”.
Voyager Digital Files for Bankruptcy
Voyager Digital, a crypto broker, has filed for bankruptcy protection, just days after suspending all trading and withdrawals on its platform.
Voyager Digital customers may get the following - AFTER bankruptcy proceedings:
— MacKenzie Sigalos (@KenzieSigalos) July 7, 2022
-Shares in reorganized Voyager
-Voyager tokens
-Proceeds from hypothetical 3AC recovery
-Mix of existing crypto
If all else fails, the US tax code could provide some relief: https://t.co/Hn5DZNu6Id pic.twitter.com/8Gwdr0pY9T
The high-profile firm, which had between $1 billion and $10 billion in assets and more than 100,000 creditors, has citing market volatility and the sudden collapse of Three Arrows Capital causing default on a $666 million loan from Voyager.
According to the filing, Voyager Digital owed $75 million to Sam Bankman-Alameda Fried's Research, which just offered the broker a $485 million lifeline and around $960,000 to Google. Voyager did not list any additional companies to which it owed money.
OpenSea Fires 20% of Employees Due to ‘Crypto Winter’
Top largest NFT marketplace OpenSea is to lay off approximately 20% of its workforce, citing "an unprecedented mix of crypto winter and wider macroeconomic volatility" as the cause for the move, Co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer tweeted:
Today is a hard day for OpenSea, as we’re letting go of ~20% of our team. Here’s the note I shared with our team earlier this morning: pic.twitter.com/E5k6gIegH7
— Devin Finzer (dfinzer.eth) (@dfinzer) July 14, 2022
