Read in the Digest:
- Michael Saylor steps down as CEO as MicroStrategy incurs $918M impairment charge.
- NYDFS fines Robinhood $30 million amid 23% job cuts as revenue slumps.
- $8 million stolen from 8,000 wallets as Solana Network suffers another hack.
- Solana’s ‘Magic Eden’ announces expansion to the Ethereum blockchain.
- Crypto exchange Zipmex Pte resumes withdrawals for SOL, XRP, and ADA.
Michael Saylor Steps Down as CEO as MicroStrategy Incurs $918M Impairment Charge
Co-Founder of MicroStrategy Michael Saylor has announced that he will be stepping down as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company he co-founded. In light of this, Phong Le, MicroStrategy’s current President, will assume the role of MicroStrategy’s CEO.
Saylor, who has been the MicroStrategy’s CEO since its inception in 1989, will now act as the Executive Director for MicroStrategy.
In its second quarterly report, MicroStrategy announced that it faced a non-cash digital asset impairment charge of $917.8 million on its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings, due to the price of the leading crypto asset dropping 65% from its November 2021 all-time high.
MicroStrategy remains the biggest corporate holder of Bitcoin, with 129,699 bitcoins worth approximately $3 billion in its reserve. Reflecting on the move, Saylor says the change will help him “focus more on our bitcoin acquisition strategy and related bitcoin advocacy initiatives.”
Flipsider:
- While MicroStrategy continues to hold its Bitcoin, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), another notable Bitcoin holder, sold roughly 75% of its holdings to raise cash in the second quarter.
Why You Should Care
According to Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy, which is primarily an enterprise software and cloud-based solution provider, also doubles as the first and only bitcoin spot ETF in the U.S.
NYDFS Fines Robinhood $30 Million Amid 23% Job Cuts 23% as Revenue Slumps
The New York State Department of Financial Services has slapped commission-free investment platform Robinhood with a $30 million fine for the violation of anti-money-laundering and cybersecurity regulations.
According to the NYDFS, Robinhood Crypto LLC’s crypto anti-money laundering and cybersecurity program was inadequately staffed, and ill-equipped to address risks.
In a separate announcement, Robinhood disclosed the release of 23% (roughly 780) of its staff as part of reorganization efforts. Robinhood’s founder has taken responsibility for the job cuts due to his approval for the over-hiring frenzy of 2021.
The job cut follows a 44% decline in revenue and a slump in trade activity. In its Q2 performance report, Robinhood revealed that it had seen a 7% decline in transaction-based revenue sequentially, leading to a net loss of $295 million in Q2.
Flipsider:
- Parafin, a financial-technology startup run by former Robinhood Markets Inc (NASDAQ:HOOD). staffers, has raised $60 million in its second funding round.
Why You Should Care
Feeling the impact of the prolonged crypto winter, Robinhood announced its plans to cut 23% of its staff, citing economic uncertainty and a deteriorating market environment.
$8 Million Stolen from 8,000 Wallets as Solana Network Suffers Another Hack
Solana, the fifth-largest blockchain by total value locked (TVL), is undergoing a massive hot wallet attack, with appoximately $8 million worth of crypto having been drained from over 8,000 wallets issued by Phantom, Slope, Solflare, and TrustWallet.
An investigation into the ongoing attack shows that several Solana addresses linked to the attack have so far amassed over $5 million worth of SOL, SPL, and other Solana-based tokens from unsuspecting users.
Wallets that had been inactive for over six months with an “auto-approve” feature seem to be the main target as, according to reports, the hacker was able to initiate and approve transactions on behalf of users whose wallets had been inactive.
As Solana Status reported on Twitter (NYSE:TWTR), “there is no evidence [that] hardware wallets are being impacted. A representative of Phantom has stated that the team doesn’t believe this is a Phantom-specific issue at this time.”
Flipsider:
- Despite the news of the attack, SOL is still holding out above its 50-day moving average, even gaining 1% over the last 24 hours to trade above $40.7 due to the improved conditions of the broader cryptocurrency market.
Why You Should Care
The attack on hot wallets has seen the resurfacing of calls for crypto holders to store their tokens in cold/hard wallets instead of hot wallets.
Solana’s Magic Eden Announces Expansion to the Ethereum Blockchain
Leading Solana non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Magic Eden has announced the integration of Ethereum-based NFTs onto its platform, which had previously only supported Solana-based NFTs.
As Magic Eden prepares to go multi-chain and challenge the likes of OpneSea for market share, Zhuoxun Yin, Co-Founder of Magic Eden, has said that the company is “prepared to build for a long while.”
Magic Eden currently leads the NFT sector in terms of Solana digital collectibles, hosting more than 90% of all NFT trades made on Solana. The multi-chain expansion will see Magic Eden attempt to steal from OpenSea’s market share.
Magic Eden will further be introducing a “cross-currency trading product” intended to allow users to purchase Ethereum and Solana NFTs using either blockchain’s native currency, along with its own cross-chain analytics dashboard.
Flipsider:
- Magic Eden is also big on Web 3.0 gaming, and launched a dedicated gaming venture arm, along with several in-game store-fronts.
Why You Should Care
The integration marks Magic Eden’s latest push to obtain a greater market share in the ever-growing kingdom of NFT marketplaces.
Crypto Exchange Zipmex Pte Resumes Withdrawals for SOL, XRP, and ADA
Bankrupt, Singapore-based exchange Zipmex has announced a timeline for enabling users to make 100% withdrawal of certain Altcoins from their ZWallets to their trade wallets after it blocked customers from direct custody of their coins last month.
The resumption of withdrawals on Zipmex began with the release of Solana (SOL) tokens on Tuesday, August 2nd. XRP withdrawals are expected to begin on Thursday, August 4th, and Cardano (ADA) tokens on August 9th.
However, withdrawals from Zipmex’s yield-based program ‘ZipUp+’ remain suspended. The exchange has not provided a specific date for the withdrawals of market-leading assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, or stablecoins, but tentatively remarked that those operations may resume in mid-August.
Zipmex abruptly froze all withdrawals on July 20th, citing “volatile market conditions, and the resulting financial difficulties of our key business partners–Babel Finance and Celsius.” Two days later, the firm filed for a moratorium at a Singapore court.
Flipsider:
- Zipmex announced that it had signed a ‘Memorandum of Agreement‘ with two reputable, large-scale investors, with an unnamed shareholder investing in its Zipmex Token (ZMT).
Why You Should Care
Despite suffering an ill fate at the hands of the crypto winter, Zipmex is looking to keep to its promise of allowing users to withdraw their funds in a timely manner.