On Wednesday, the CEO of Telegram Pavel Durov said that the app sold $50 million in usernames within a month using its blockchain-based auction platform, Fragment. The Open Network, a blockchain that was neglected by the CEO Durov under regulatory pressure in 2020 and later returned after its company kept it alive, serves as the foundation of Fragment. As Telegram is already a go-to messaging app for crypto traders, the firm will build a Decentralized exchange (DEX) and non-custodial wallets that could reach millions of users, Durov said. The announcement was the first confirmation of Telegram’s direct involvement with the TON blockchain in the app. The system, formerly known as Newton and Toncoin, is one of two competing initiatives that evolved from Telegram’s original TON proposal. Both were created by the Telegram user base, but only one received the company’s official endorsement. A $126 million “rescue fund” was launched earlier on Wednesday by supporters of the TON network to help cryptocurrency ventures affected by the collapse of FTX. When this article went to print, the TON coin was up roughly 4%.
The failure of lender BlockFi is to be used as a lesson by the U.S. Securities Exchange and Commission (SEC) on why there should be clear regulations for the crypto sector. BlockFi still owes $30 million of a $50 million fine. According to a former SEC senior trial attorney, Howard Fischer, the SEC will not be as hostile about getting the money back as it would from others. “The message that the SEC might want to send, and has been sending, is more about how we go about regulating a very young industry and less about the purity of the SEC settlements, ” said Fischer. Earlier this week, BlockFi filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after suspending withdrawals, citing concerns about contagion from the failure of the crypto exchange FTX in the Bahamas. FTX sent a line of credit to BlockFi, stating that it had upwards of $355 million in crypto assets frozen on the beleaguered exchange.
The crypto exchange Kraken stated on Wednesday that it is downsizing 30% of its global staff – around 1,100 people amidst the crypto market downfall. Macroeconomic and geopolitical issues have affected financial markets since the beginning of the year, which has led to significantly lower trading volumes and fewer client sign-ups, according to a blog post by Kraken. As the market was declining, “We responded by delaying hiring efforts and avoiding significant marketing commitments.” The crypto market fell this year, while BTC lost 63% of its value and is one-third down of its total crypto market cap in the past 12 months. Companies and exchanges that were hiring during the boom had to cut back due to the downfall. This month alone, Coinbase and Unchained Capital had cut out 60 and 600 positions respectively. As of June, Kraken said it wanted to hire another 500 people in order to expand its company with experienced labour. At that time, the firm said “We have not adjusted our hiring plan, and we do not intend to make any layoffs.”
