Terraform Labs Files for Bankruptcy in Delaware

Terraform Labs, creator of TerraUSD and Luna cryptocurrencies, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware on January 21, amidst liabilities and assets ranging between $100 million to $500 million. This follows the 2022 collapse of its digital currencies and fraud charges against former CEO Kwon Do-hyeong by the SEC in 2023. The bankruptcy aims to address legal challenges, including the SEC lawsuit and a Singapore litigation. 

CEO Chris Amani views this as a step to support ongoing community and ecosystem initiatives. Co-founder Do Kwon, arrested in Montenegro for using false documents, awaits extradition for a U.S. trial scheduled in late March.

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Sophisticated Coin Scam Steals $32M Since April

Blockfence researchers have revealed a scam operation that stole $32 million from over 42,000 victims since April 2023, using over 1,300 scam crypto tokens. This highly automated scheme involved creating tokens, pumping them with fake volume, and then executing a rug pull. The scammers seemingly limit their profit per token to 5-20 ETH, helping them stay under the radar. 

Pablo Sabbatella from Blockfence suggests the operation could be run by a single individual using AI. He advises traders to avoid suspicious tokens and use multiple fraud detectors for protection.

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DOGE and Floki Surge on X Payments Speculation

Dogecoin and Floki experienced a surge in value due to speculation around X Payments, an entity associated with Elon Musk. DOGE has a history of responding positively to Musk-owned companies, like X and Tesla, embracing it for payments. Trading volumes for both tokens surged by 200% over the weekend, while futures tracking these tokens saw open interest rise to $430 million from $200 million, indicating growing investor interest. 

Speculation suggests that DOGE might be accepted for advertising payments on Twitter, following Musk’s endorsement of DOGE for Tesla merchandise purchases and potential integration into Twitter Blue’s subscription service.

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Ondo Finance Expands in APAC with Tokenized Securities

Tokenized securities provider Ondo Finance is expanding into the Asia Pacific region to meet the increasing demand for exposure to U.S. assets through tokenized products. The U.S.-based company, claiming nearly 40% of the global market share in tokenized securities, currently offers three tokenized products facilitating access to U.S.-based asset classes like U.S. Treasuries and money market funds (OUSG, OMMF, and USDY). 

Ondo appointed Ashwin Khosa, formerly with Tether and Bitfinex, as the VP of business development for APAC. The move follows their launch of USDY, a tokenized note backed by U.S. Treasuries and bank deposits, in collaboration with the Mantle Network.

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Other breaking news

• Bloomberg Analyst: Coinbase Has a 70% Chance of Winning SEC Case
• Hong Kong May Introduce Spot Crypto ETF by Mid-Year
• Ron DeSantis, CBDC Opponent, Quits Presidential Race
• Solana Stablecoin Transfers Reach Record $300B Monthly Volume
• Crypto Supporters B. Riley and Nomura Face SEC Investigation: Bloomberg

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