According to a series of letters sent on Tuesday morning, the 30th of August 2022, House Committee on Oversight and Reform requested information and documents from four agencies and five digital asset exchanges. [Coinbase](https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/COIN), FTX, Binance.US, Kraken, and KuCoin were among the parties contacted about what they are doing to protect consumers from scams and combat cryptocurrency-related fraud.
 
The letters request that government authorities and cryptocurrency exchanges respond by the 12th of September with details regarding their efforts to protect customers. According to the committee, the respondents' feedback will be utilised to develop legislative solutions.
 
The letters specifically request that the exchanges produce documents dating back to the 1st of January 2009. To demonstrate efforts to combat crypto scams and fraud, as well as efforts to identify, investigate, and remove or flag potentially fraudulent digital assets or accounts, as well as discussions about "whether to adopt more stringent policies.
 
In one letter to Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO and creator of FTX, the committee states that although some exchanges evaluate cryptocurrencies before listing them, others allow digital assets to sign up with little or no verification.
 
[According to FTC analysis](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/data-visualizations/data-spotlight/2022/06/reports-show-scammers-cashing-crypto-craze), more than $1 billion in cryptocurrency has been lost to fraud since 2021.
 
## Congress looks at crypto schemes developed by companies

Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics firm, discovered that [37% of crypto scam money](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/30/coinbase-ftx-binance-get-inquiries-from-congress-on-crypto-scams.html?__source=google%7Ceditorspicks%7C&par=google#:~:text=Blockchain%20analytics%20firm%20Chainalysis%20found,then%20vanishing%20with%20the%20funds.) last year went to "rug pulls". A rug pull is when someone lists a token on an exchange and invests in it to increase the price and market demand before selling the position at a premium and disappearing with the proceeds.

Binance US, which received an [investigation](https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/new-binance-class-action-likely-clears-one-hurdle-faces-plenty-others-2022-06-14/) from the committee on Tuesday, has been charged in a class action complaint with deceiving customers about the safety of investing in [terraUSD](/news/article/terra-usd) (UST) and its sister token, Luna.

The terms and conditions of the investor-crypto exchange agreement also differ, which needs to be standardised.
Agencies will continue infighting and cannot successfully implement consumer and investor safeguards relating to cryptocurrencies and the exchanges on which they are traded unless clear definitions and advice are provided. 






Congress investigates crypto firms scam protection

Voyager Digital Holdings, a centralised crypto lender, has [rejected an offer from FTX](https://cointelegraph.com/news/voyager-rejects-alameda-buyout-offer-as-it-harms-customers) and its investment arm Alameda Ventures to buy out its digital assets, claiming that the moves "are not value-maximizing" and may "harm clients."

In a rejection letter submitted in court on Sunday as part of its continuing bankruptcy procedures, Voyager lending attorneys condemned the offer made public by FTX, FTX US, and Alameda on Friday to buy out all of Voyager's assets and existing liabilities, leaving the defaulted loan to Three Arrows Capital (3AC).

## Bankman-Fried proposal plan

On Friday, the three businesses linked to FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried proposed a plan to Voyager in which Alameda would absorb all of Voyager's assets and utilise FTX or FTX US to sell and distribute them equally among subscribers affected by the bankruptcy.

Bankman-Fried stated in FTX's news release that his idea was a method for Voyager customers to recover their losses and move on from the platform:

“Voyager’s customers did not choose to be bankruptcy investors holding unsecured claims. The goal of our joint proposal is to help establish a better way to resolve an insolvent crypto business.”

In a late-night Twitter conversation, Bankman-Fried reiterated his firm's justification for asking to purchase Voyager. He claimed that Voyager's clients had "been through enough already," and that they should be able to retrieve their assets as quickly as possible because bankruptcy processes "can take years."

## Voyager Lending Response

On Sunday, in response to Bankman-Fried proposal plan, the Voyager lending claimed:

“The AlamedaFTX proposal is nothing more than a liquidation of cryptocurrency. It’s a low-ball bid dressed up as a white knight rescue.”

It also outlined six ways in which the proposal could "harm customers," including capital gains tax consequences, unfairly capping the value of each Voyager user's account at its July 5 value, and the effective elimination of the VGX token, which would "instantly destroy in excess of $100 million in value:"

The letter further rejected claims that AlamedaFTX had a better chance of obtaining purchase bids owing to the two companies' continuous partnerships, stating: "Nothing could be farther from the truth as indicated by this answer."

For more latest crypto news, Read [Latest Moni](/news).



Voyager lending rejects FTX’s buyout offer

The cryptocurrency trading platform FTX, which was co-founded by the billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, is reportedly in advanced talks to buy the South Korean company Bithumb, according to a person familiar with the subject.

According to the individual, who asked not to be named since they were talking about something sensitive, the companies have been in conversations for several months now. A spokeswoman for Bithumb has stated that they are unable to confirm anything at this time.

The FTX spokeswoman that we reached out to declined to respond. [According to a person who spoke](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-22/bankman-fried-s-ftx-said-in-talks-to-buy-south-korea-s-bithumb) on the condition of anonymity to Bloomberg, the two exchanges have been negotiating the arrangement for a number of months now.

As of the time this article was being published, neither Bithumb nor FTX had responded to Forkast's request for comment on the topic. Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder and chief executive of FTX, has provided assistance to businesses like BlockFi and Voyager Digital when those companies have experienced a liquidity problem.

Bithumb is one of only five cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea that have been granted permission to provide cash-to-cryptocurrency conversion services.

In South Korea, Bithumb was responsible for 17.1 percent of the entire cryptocurrency trade volume in 2017, second only to the Upbit exchange in that regard. By providing financial support to struggling businesses or acquiring them outright, Bankman-Fried intends to capitalize on the current downturn in the cryptocurrency industry.

This week, persons with knowledge of the situation stated that FTX and its American company FTX US are in talks to acquire fresh financing. If successful, this would put Bankman-Fried in a position to continue his deal-making frenzy, which has seen him commit almost one billion dollars so far.

According to the data provider CoinGecko, the cryptocurrency trading platform Bithumb, which was established in 2014, presently handles an average daily volume of trades worth approximately $569 million.

It was one of the crypto exchanges in South Korea whose premises were raided this week by local prosecutors as part of an expanding probe into Terraform Labs following the failure of the TerraUSD stablecoin in May. The investigation comes as a result of the collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin. 

For more developments on the crypto news go to [Latest Moni](/news).


Bankman Fried's FTX is now in discussions to acquire Bithumb

If you follow the cryptocurrency markets, you have probably heard the term "crypto whale".
They are prominent players in the crypto world known to buy enormous amounts of a particular coin, often altering the market.

Read on to see how crypto whales affect the market.

## What is a Crypto Whale?

A whale is someone with a significant quantity of money to invest in the cryptocurrency markets. They earned the name because a whale is the largest creature in the ocean.

Whales can be individuals, groups, or companies, such as hedge funds or trusts.

## Who is the Biggest Crypto Whale?

The following are some of the publicly-known holders of large amounts of cryptocurrency:
•	[Sam Bankman-Fried](https://ph.news.yahoo.com/crypto-weekly-shrimps-whales-rescue-181438236.html)
•	Micheal Saylor
•	Brian Armstrong
•	Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss
•	Roger Ver

Each name on this list plays a significant role in the crypto markets, especially in [Bitcoin](/coins/btc).

## Crypto Whale Effect on Price

Whales can also increase price volatility, particularly when they move a significant amount of cryptocurrency in a single transaction.

For example, when an owner tries to sell their Bitcoin for fiat currency, the lack of liquidity and big transaction size put downward pressure on Bitcoin’s price because other market players see the transaction. Other investors are on high alert when whales sell, looking for signs that the whales are “dumping” their holdings.

The exchange inflow, or the average quantity of a particular cryptocurrency being deposited into exchanges, is a common sign that crypto-investors look for.

When a crypto whale dumps, the large volume can impact value on its own. However, it also sparks fear among other, smaller investors who follow suit, sell up, and further drive down prices.

## Crypto Whale Impact on the Crypto Market

Crypto whale activity has the potential to have a significant impact on cryptocurrency markets. This includes individual cryptocurrency prices and market capitalisation.

This is because whales frequently conduct trades worth tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. These large sell or purchase orders can cause considerable price fluctuations. For example, when a large buy order is placed, the price of a particular cryptocurrency can skyrocket since it signals to the market that the asset is in more demand.

When whales place a large sell order, the price can move in the opposite direction because the market receives the contrary signal, and the asset appears to be unloaded.

When a crypto whale makes large buys or sells, they can influence the market, resulting in a cascade of buy or sell orders.

About 1,000 people are thought to own nearly 40% of all Bitcoins. With so few people holding so much BTC, any substantial buy or sale from these mega-investors might swing the market in either direction. It may affect the market negatively or positively, depending on the signal received.

## Conclusion

Whales are an important element of the cryptocurrency ecosystem to understand. Their actions can induce price fluctuations up or down, resulting in dramatic market reactions. Some whales engage in high-volume trades regularly, while others merely amass and hoard as much as possible.

If cryptocurrencies continue to expand and become a more powerful asset class, the whales will become much wealthier and control an even larger share of the crypto sea.

It can confidently be stated that the whales control the crypto market, as their decisions influence the market. When they make huge investments, prices rise, and once they dump, due to the large amount removed, the market dumps as well.

As Bitcoin significantly influences other cryptocurrencies (altcoins), a BTC crypto whale has influence beyond their chosen coin.

Influencing the value of Bitcoin, up or down, sends ripples throughout the crypto market.


Crypto Whale: What Is It?

The CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, recently warned that some exchanges have been “secretly insolvent” and they might collapse.

Commenting on the infamous flop of Luna, a $40 billion digital asset associated with TerraUSD, a $16 billion stablecoin designed to keep balance with the U.S. dollar, Sam Bankman-Fried asserted that [more failures will happen](https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenehrlich/2022/06/28/bankman-fried-some-crypto-exchanges-already-secretly-insolvent/?sh=2fdf533547f7). “There are some third-tier exchanges that are already secretly insolvent,” he said.

> “There are companies that are basically too far gone and it’s not practical to backstop them for reasons like a substantial hole in the balance sheet, regulatory issues, or that there is not much of a business left to be saved,” said SBF.

Last month, Singapore-based Three Arrows Capital (3AC), a highly levered digital trading firm which bought $200 million of locked Luna classic (LUNC) confirmed that it’s now worth $700.

Three Arrows’ had borrowed large sums from different crypto-related companies such as Voyager Digital and BlockFi. Bankman-Fried decided that, between FTX and his trading company Alameda, he provides the faltered companies with $750 million in credit lines. 

However, he added that he’s aware there is no guarantee this investment will show profitable.

> “You know, we're willing to do a somewhat bad deal here, if that's what it takes to sort of stabilize things and protect customers,” he said

Still, this cash injections are far from only being altruistic. Known as a “vulture capitalist”, SBF recently [bought a 7.6% stake](https://www.monitalks.io/news/article/ftx-uk) in cryptocurrency brokerage Robinhood and the people familiar with the situation say he’s into a total acquisition.

Along with this theory comes the latest rumors of Sam Bankman-Fries actually closing in on a deal to buy embattled crypto lender BlockFi for $25 million in a fire sale.

## JPMorgan Says Crypto Deleveraging Cycle Won’t Last 

Also, last year, he decided to slash leverage on FTX saying crypto derivatives are a "somewhat misunderstood area." 

"Any position that you're putting on with that level of leverage can't be absolutely crucial for efficient markets, and this is not something I felt was particularly important or good for crypto market health," SBF commented after lowering the cap to 20 times.

This move proved to be good, at least according to the JPMorgan crypto views. The company’s strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou [recently explained](https://fortune.com/2022/06/30/crypto-market-deleveraging-jpmorgan-report/) “historic deleveraging of the cryptocurrency market could be coming to an end, which could signal the close of the worst of the bear market”.

Panigirtzoglou added that “the fact that crypto entities with the stronger balance sheets are currently stepping in to help contain contagion.” 





Latest Moni

Sam Bankman-Fried News

Read the latest Sam Bankman-Fried crypto news.

Congress investigates crypto firms scam protection

Voyager lending rejects FTX’s buyout offer

Bankman Fried's FTX is now in discussions to acquire Bithumb

Crypto Whale: What Is It?

Sam Bankman-Fried says more crypto platforms will close

Crypto lender Voyager's assets auctioned to FTX US

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