US GDP Slips Again, Another DeFi Protocol Attacked, Zipmex Seeks Protection + More News

 

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news. 
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Economics news

• USD gross domestic product (GDP) decreased at an annual rate of 0.9% in the second quarter of 2022, following a decrease of 1.6% in the first quarter, according to the “advance” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Two consecutive quarters of negative growth is often considered a recession, but it’s not an official definition, they added.
   

Message is clear from the negative US GDP print (-0.9%) and unfavorable miss on jobless claims:
The US #economy is slowing at a significant rate.
Add to that the 8.7% price change in today's data and the bottom line is clear:
Deepening stagflation and flashing red #recession risk

— Mohamed A. El-Erian (@elerianm) July 28, 2022

• Annual inflation (harmonized) in Europe’s biggest economy, Germany, is estimated to reach 8.5% in July, after dropping to 8.2% in June, per preliminary estimates by Destatis.

Crime news

• DeFi protocol Nirvana Finance confirmed that it “has been maliciously hacked and the reserves have been stolen” in a flash loan attack. It is estimated that the protocol was exploited for USD 3.49m, forcing the protocol’s ANA token price to collapse by 86%.

Exchanges news 

• Troubled crypto exchange Zipmex said that, on July 22, its solicitors in Singapore filed five applications under Singapore’s Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act on behalf of several of the Zipmex Group’s entities. The group is seeking global moratoriums to prohibit and restrain the commencement or continuation of proceedings against the companies for a period of up to six months.
• FTX.US opened stock trading to users in all 50 American states, company President Brett Harrison said in a tweet. Users will now be able to trade hundreds of stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) either online or through the FTX.US Pro mobile app.
• Gemini‘s UK clients can now use the open banking data network and payments platform Plaid to link their bank accounts and transfer British Pounds (GBP) into their Gemini accounts to purchase crypto.
• Bitstamp announced that it has registered as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) in Italy, giving it the ability to operate as a crypto exchange in the country.

Regulation news

• The UK needs to reform legislation to account for crypto and NFTs specifically, the country’s Law Commission said, arguing that existing laws aren’t robust enough to govern the fledgling sector, per Bloomberg. Laws regarding personal property should be changed to include a distinct category for so-called “data objects,” which would encompass intangible, and sometimes unique assets like crypto tokens, it added.
• The US stablecoin bill has formally been delayed until after the August congressional break, according to Maxine Waters, the chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee. She added that “considerable progress” had been made on the bill, but that it is “unfortunately not there yet.”

Investments news

• In July, average daily volumes across all digital asset investment products fell by an average of 44.6% to USD 122m, shows a new Digital Asset Management Review from crypto analysis firm CryptoCompare. This is the lowest average daily volume recorded since September 2020, they said.
• The Sweat Economy team behind the health and fitness app Sweatcoin said it has raised USD 13m in funding, including a private token sale, to accelerate its move into Web3. Electric Capital, Spartan Capital, OKX Blockdream Ventures, and GSR Ventures joined this financing round.  
• DeFi project Quasar Finance raised USD 6m from investment firms such as Polychain Capital, Blockchain Capital, Figment Capital, Lightshift Capital, and Galileo. Its vision is to “create a range of accessible, structured investment products within the DeFi ecosystem, that investors and liquidity providers alike can benefit from,” they said.
• Decentralized data platform for blockchain applications that uses Chainlink (LINK) to combine data, Space and Time, has raised USD 10m in a seed round led by Framework Ventures, while additional participants included Digital Currency Group, Stratos, Samsung Next, IOSG Ventures, Alliance, and several DeFi, GameFi, venture, and angel investors.

Mining news

• Foundry Digital, a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group focused on crypto mining and staking, launched Foundry Logistics, a crypto mining logistics business, they said in a press release shared with Cryptonews.com.

NFTs news

• Binance announced a pilot of its new NFT ticketing solution with football club S.S. Lazio for the 2022/23 season. The Binance-using Lazio fans will be able to get digital tickets that will give them access to exclusive benefits, fan privileges, and more with the Italian football team, they said.

Career news

• Blockchain technology company Algorand (ALGO) announced the appointment of the firm’s current Chief Operating Officer W. Sean Ford as Interim CEO, effective July 27. Ford succeeds G. Steven Kokinos, who is leaving the company to “pursue other interests” and will stay on as a senior advisor until mid-2023, they said.