Features Crypto News by Thebittimes.Com

In early August, a little over two months ago, BitGo announced that it was entering a new joint venture with Justin Sun and BiT Global, a Hong Kong-based custodian, to manage custody for Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC). Sun’s involvement was controversial, leading some DeFi projects to briefly consider whether WBTC would remain safe going forward. The most high-profile of these, MakerDAO, did eventually decide it was still safe to include WBTC. This period of time even included a less than fully viable proposal for competitor Threshold Network to acquire WBTC.  Additionally, both Coinbase and Kraken have launched competitors to WBTC following BitGo’s announcement. Coinbase Wrapped Bitcoin has seen the most rapid growth among WBTC’s competitors. Read more: How involved is Justin Sun with WBTC’s new custodian BiT Global? Since then, Coinbase’s version, Coinbase Wrapped Bitcoin (cbBTC), has seen the most rapid growth among the four charted competito...

Expectations of stringent regulation and further contagion from FTX continue to weigh on ETH price, but derivatives are showing a modest improvement in sentiment. Ether (ETH) rallied 5.5% in the early hours of Nov. 29, reclaiming the critical $1,200 support. However, when analyzing a broader time frame, the 24% negative performance in the past 30 days significantly impacts investors' sentiment. Moreover, investors’ mood worsened after BlockFi filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 28. Newsflow remained negative after the United States Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a settlement with Kraken exchange for "apparent violations of sanctions against Iran." In a Nov. 28 announcement, the OFAC said Kraken had agreed to pay more than $362,000 as part of a deal "to settle its potential civil liability." Moreover, on Nov. 28, institutional crypto financial services provider Silvergate Capital denied rumors of significant exposure to Blo...