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Binance and its CEO seek dismissal of CFTC complaint

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Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao have taken a decisive step in response to the complaint filed against them by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). According to a court filing made on Thursday, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and its CEO are seeking to have the CFTC’s complaint dismissed.

Binance
Image Source: coinedition.com

The CFTC had initiated legal action against Binance, Zhao, and former Chief Compliance Officer Samuel Lim in March, alleging that they had violated the Commodity Exchange Act and certain federal regulations. The regulatory body accused the exchange of operating an “illegal” exchange and having a “sham” compliance program.

One of the main arguments presented by Binance for the dismissal of the case is that the CFTC is attempting to regulate foreign individuals and corporations that are based and operate outside the United States. They cited a 2007 ruling that stated U.S. law governs domestically but does not have authority worldwide.

It is worth noting that the holding company of Binance is located in the Cayman Islands, and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, is a Canadian citizen. The CFTC, however, claimed that Binance had been involved in offering and executing commodity derivatives transactions on behalf of U.S. persons since at least July 2019, which would be in violation of U.S. laws.

Also Read: Japan’s Advantest sees AI driving demand for chip testing

In response, Binance asserted that starting from June 2019, it had implemented measures to restrict and off-board potential U.S. users and ensured that new users were not U.S. persons. The company also emphasized that the alleged digital asset derivative products were not offered until July 2019 and later, which was after the implementation of these restrictions.

Meanwhile, Samuel Lim, the former Chief Compliance Officer, has filed a separate motion to dismiss the CFTC claims against him, further complicating the legal proceedings. As of now, the CFTC has not provided any public comments on the recent motion filed by Binance and Zhao. The regulatory body is responsible for overseeing commodities and derivatives markets, including cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

It’s important to highlight that this is not the only legal challenge Binance and its CEO are facing. In June, they were also sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which accused them of operating a “web of deception.” The SEC listed 13 charges against Binance, Zhao, and the operator of its purportedly independent U.S. exchange.

As the legal battle unfolds, the cryptocurrency industry will be closely watching the outcome of these cases, as they may have significant implications for the regulatory landscape surrounding digital assets in the United States and beyond.

Phunware

Phunware – 3 Million dollars Deal To Built The Trump Re-Election App.

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Phunware is an American Mobile Software and Blockchain firm. It showcases a game-like mechanism so that it can engage the right audience for Brands. Basically, it manufactures mobile applications for business goals such as advertising and marketing and cryptocurrency brand loyalty programs. It was established in Austin, Texas. In 2020, it became the fifth-largest technology firm in politics due to its involvement with Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign. It was criticized immensely for it. It operates 940 million unique active devices monthly and holds 5 billion daily transactions. The firm has made more than 120 million dollars since its founding.

History

Phunware was founded on 25th March 2009 by Alan Knitowski and Luan Dang in Austin, Texas. The key people involved in its foundation other than its founders were Randall Crowder (COO) and Matt Aune (CFO). Its headquarters are in Austin, Irvin, San Diego, and Miami. Its services include campaign data. It provided users’ daily digital trail to the Trump re-election campaign through a contract made with Brad Parscale’s American Made Media consultants. The deal was worth 3 million dollars and It also built the Trump re-election app in 2019. It had 93 employees in 2019 and got lowered to 44 in 2020, Phunware admitted Larry Sanger, Wikipedia co-founder to their advisory board that year.

Phunware
Image source: www.phunware.com

Renowned Customers

Phunware provided its services for many renowned companies such as Warner Brothers, NASCAR, NFL, NBC Sports, American Made Media Consultants, Fox Networks Group, HID Global, Presidio Networked Solutions, and MD Anderson. They also made an app for Gun Talk Media and worked with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Its location Tracking was used to target Democratic ads at participants in the anti-Trump 2017 Women’s March in 2018.

Acquisitions and Mergers

Phunware acquired Digby Mobile Commerce based in Austin, Texas in 2014 as a part of a 30 million dollars expansion. It also bought its subsidiary Movaya established in Seattle and Chengdu for an undisclosed sum. In December 2018, It performed a reverse merger with a special-purpose acquisition firm, Stellar Acquisitions III. In October 2021, It acquired Lyte technology, a computer system provider, for 10.98 million dollars to provide support to its blockchain research.

Revenue

The firm reached a Non-GAAP adjusted net revenue of 22.5 million dollars in 2018, got reduced to 19 million dollars in 2019 while its GAAP gross revenue in 2018 was 30.8 million dollars which was lowered to 19 million dollars in 2019. Fox Networks Group made their 50% sale in 2019 which was 42% in 2018. After the completion of the Fox project in 2019, their sales decreased. On April 17, 2020, the company got nearly delisted from NASDAQ due to the stock trading just below one dollar but got saved because the company’s shares increased just before the delisting.

Court Cases

Phunware filed a suit against Uber Technologies for failing to pay its taxes on three million dollars in unpaid services on September 26, 2017, in The Superior Court of California show. In response to this, Uber Technologies sued Phunware for fraud, accusing them of displaying ads of their ride-sharing app on unauthorized third-party websites. In October 2020, after a settlement, Phunware agreed to pay 6 to 4 million dollars to Uber for its fraudulent advertising.

Alan Knitowski – CEO

He works as the Chief Executing officer in the firm. He is a successful entrepreneur who has worked for over 15 years in the communication industry having multiple exits. He was also listed as a finalist for the 2014 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the year award for Central Texas. He served as an investor and also as a fund manager. He also served in United States Army as an Airborne, Air Assault, and Ranger qualified captain in the engineering unit.

Luan Dang – CTO

Luan serves as the Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder at Phunware. He is a great Entrepreneur, author, techie, Investor, and inventor. Before founding Phunware, he used to be the president of strategic Investments for Curo Capital LLC and of Alternative investment for Trymetris Capital Management. He was also the director of Engineering at Linksys. He also invested in Vonage and Telverse communications. In addition to these, he was a founding member of the Technical Advisory Board of OMPA and ISC. He has an experience of over 15 years in the communication industry.

Blockchain

Intel Makes It Entrance Into Bitcoin Mining With A New Blockchain Chip.

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Intel Corp announced the launch of an energy-efficient super-fast processing chip for blockchain applications on Friday. Intel’s “blockchain accelerator,” which is said to be 1000 times faster than its closest competitors, will be available to customers later this year.
In a new online note announcing the effort, Intel claims that its new chip will attempt to address growing concerns about the enormous energy required to maintain cryptocurrency mining processes. The chip is described as an energy-efficient “blockchain accelerator” that has been designed to accelerate blockchain tasks while using far less energy than current technologies.

“Our customers want scalable and sustainable solutions, so we’re focusing our efforts on realizing the full potential of blockchain by developing the most energy-efficient computing technologies at scale,” writes Raja M. Koduri, senior vice president and general manager of Intel Corporation’s Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics (AXG) Group.

Source: www.indiatoday.in

He mentions that the architecture of the new chip is implemented “on a tiny piece of silicon.” This is intended to have a minimal impact on the supply of current products, as the world is experiencing a severe shortage of chipsets.
The first round of buyers for Intel’s upcoming blockchain accelerators has already been identified. The note mentions that the Jack Dorsey-led Block Inc, which recently changed its name from Square Inc to emphasize its focus on the blockchain, and Bitcoin mining company GRIID Infrastructures will be the first buyers of the Intel chip.

Blockchain
Image source: indianexpress.com

In terms of performance, Intel claims that its blockchain chip will outperform mainstream GPUs for SHA-256 mining by 1000 times. At the International Solid-State Circuit Conference (ISSCC) later this month, Intel will reveal more information about its blockchain accelerator.

In addition, Intel has established a new Custom Compute Group within its AXG business unit to support the upcoming blockchain accelerator and other emerging technologies. The new team will concentrate on developing custom silicon platforms that are optimized for the workloads of customers. These could be used to address use-cases such as “blockchain and other custom accelerated supercomputing opportunities at the edge.” Intel also claims that it will try to leverage technologies from its zetta-scale computing initiative in the future to deliver energy-efficient solutions.

About Intel

Intel Corporation is a multinational technology corporation headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world’s largest semiconductor chip manufacturer in terms of revenue, and it created the x86 series of microprocessors, which are found in the majority of personal computers (PCs). Intel, based in Delaware, was ranked No. 45 on the 2020 Fortune 500 list of the largest corporations in the United States by total revenue for nearly a decade, from 2007 to 2016. Intel provides microprocessors to computer system manufacturers such as Lenovo, HP, and Dell. Intel also makes motherboard chipsets, network interface controllers and integrated circuits, flash memory, graphics chips, embedded processors, and other communications and computing devices.

The name of the company was conceived as a portmanteau of the words integrated and electronics, as co-founder Noyce was a key inventor of the integrated circuit (the microchip). The name was also appropriate because “intel” is the term for intelligence information. Intel was a pioneer in the development of SRAM and DRAM memory chips, which accounted for the majority of its revenue until 1981. Intel became the dominant supplier of microprocessors for personal computers, and it was known for using aggressive and anti-competitive tactics to maintain its market position, particularly against Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), as well as a battle with Microsoft for control of the PC industry’s direction.

Ripple

Ripple Launches Crypto Liquidity Hub To Assist Customers In Buying, Selling, And Holding Cryptocurrencies.

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Ripple harnesses the power of cryptocurrency and blockchain to pay for everyone, anywhere, anyway. Financial institutions can join the growing Ripple global network (RippleNet) to instantly, reliably, and cost-effectively process customer payments from anywhere in the world. Banks and payment processors can use XRP digital assets to cut costs and expand their market presence.

Ripple, a leading provider of enterprise blockchain and encryption solutions, has announced Ripple Liquidity Hub, a new solution for enterprise customers that will be available in 2022. Customers can access crypto assets on a variety of global platforms, including market makers. , a decentralized platform via exchanges, OTC tables, and future Ripple Liquidity Hub. Customers can easily buy, sell and store crypto assets thanks to turnkey product integration and smart order routing, allowing them to receive digital assets at the best price.

With plans to scale to more tokenized assets, the GA launch supports BTC, ETH, LTC, ETC, BCH, and XRP (availability varies by geographic location). Ripple plans to add new features like bidding support and monetization capabilities in the future.

Ripple
image source: investing.com

Ripple has used Liquidity Hub for internal liquidity management for nearly two years as part of its On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) product, generating multi-million dollar transactions. Ripple will now serve hundreds of customers around the world, not just financial institutions, banks, fintech, or businesses that need help preparing for the imminent cryptocurrency world.

“We understand firsthand the need for simple and effective liquidity management, so we’ve been asked by clients looking for a solution that could be a one-stop shop for buying, selling, and storing crypto assets,” said Ashish Birla. RippleNet CEO.

Ripple’s cryptographic DNA and long history of partnerships with financial institutions provide a unique opportunity to help clients address this challenge as they prepare for a tokenized future.

Unlike other solutions on the market today, Liquidity Hub is tailored to the needs of enterprise customers.

Easy Onboarding: Provides an optimized API to access digital assets from diverse liquidity pools, enabling businesses to quickly integrate with liquidity hubs and provide trading services to clients, creating new revenue streams.
Optimized Pricing: Businesses can offer optimized aggregate prices for a wide range of digital assets, enabling them to offer their clients the best possible prices from a variety of liquidity sources.
Access to Capital: Businesses do not need to pre-fund their Liquidity Hub account and can access working capital through Ripple to finance their business operations.

Coinme is the largest network of licensed cryptocurrency exchanges in the United States, with thousands of locations across the country, and is Ripple’s first alpha product partner. Initially, Coinme plans to use its underlying technology platform, Liquidity Hub, and add additional features available.

“Coinme provides an easy and convenient way to exchange cash for cryptocurrencies. To provide our clients with optimal prices for a wide range of assets, we need 24/7 access to the liquidity to manage this vast network. “We are excited to work with Ripple to bring these benefits to our customers and businesses,” said Coinme CEO Neil Bergqvist.

Ripple was the first corporate company to use cryptocurrency to solve a multi-billion dollar cross-border payment problem. Since then, Ripple has evolved from a cross-border payment network to a platform that provides tokenized services, providing businesses with crypto opportunities and preparing for a future where cryptocurrencies are in the spotlight. Liquidity is critical to and supports any cryptocurrency experience.

Going forward, all clients will sign up for RippleNet with the same basic service and wallet that supports both crypto and fiat currencies. Customers can adopt this technology to stay on the cutting edge with the latest blockchain-based solutions. The platform is designed to seamlessly upgrade and add new services as customers wish. Customers can store anything tokenized in a Rippleenable-enabled wallet.

RippleNet closed its best quarter so far, announcing more than 20 new ODL markets, including new deployments in Japan and the Middle East and a 25x increase in the international flow of the network.

Ripple announced the creation of a liquidity hub as the company continues to seek legal action with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen of raising more than $1.3 billion through XRP. sued with The Commission is considering an offer of unregistered securities.

NEO Logo

How NEO Became China’s Answer to Ethereum?

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The cryptocurrency industry is one that is growing at an unprecedented rate. The environment has grown tremendously in the last five years and is now a billion-dollar sector. Several entrepreneurs owe their millionaire status to this industry. This time around we will be looking at two such millionaires. But all this success has led to a saturation in the industry, and it is now highly competitive. With new currencies propping up every year, it is difficult to stay ahead and stay relevant. One such new cryptocurrency that is gaining momentum is NEO. Here’s a look at how this currency came up and the story behind its success.

NEO Vs Ethereum

Ethereum is the second most popular cryptocurrency, second only to the Bitcoin. However, NEO has been creeping up behind Ethereum and is very close to catching up to it. The competition between the two is so fierce that is has earned NEO the nickname “Chinese Ethereum”. The currencies are going head to head against each other because they are very similar in many aspects. For instance, both currencies are multi-purpose, unlike the Bitcoin.

However, NEO gets a lot of support from the developer community as it supports C++, C#, Java and even Go. Therefore, developers skilled at one of these languages can build projects on NEO. Furthermore, the system has the power to handle over 10,000 transactions/second. In comparison, Ethereum supports only 15 transactions/second.

Growth in China

One of the biggest support that NEO receives is from China. China creates alternatives for most services provided around the world. For instance, Alibaba goes head to head with Amazon, while WeChat battles WhatsApp, and Baidu takes on Google. In the field of cryptocurrency, NEO is China’s answer to Ethereum. So much so that has become China’s largest cryptocurrency due to support from the Chinese government.

About the Founder

Da Hongfei, who co-founded NEO, also founded AntShares in 2014 for a decentralized app building. This company later became NEO in 2017 via a re-branding scheme. Hongfei and Antshare’s CTO Erik Zhang founded Onchain in 2014. This company served as a blockchain research and development company.

Da Hongfei
Image Source: Google

Onchain levied partnerships with Microsoft China and Fadada throughout 2016 to build this company. These three companies together became Legal China later on. Hongfei also serves as a communication link between his company and the Chinese government and works as their consultant on matters regarding cryptocurrency. 

Growth and Success

Onchain was also the first Chinese blockchain development company. In 2016, NEO released China’s first consensus protocol called dBFT. It is this protocol that allows NEO to carry out lightning-quick transactions. NEO started 2017 priced at $0.16 and then grew a miraculous 111,400% to end the year at $162! The company’s current market share stands at a whopping $4.96 billion. 

The company opened with 100 million NEOs, out of which, 50 million went to early investors, and the rest went into a smart contract. Every year, 15 million tokens get released to fund development and research. In 2018, Da Hongfei announced that the company would split into NEO Foundation, under Hongfei and Erik Zhang, and two units named NEO Global Development and Global Capital.

NGD will work on research and development, while the Foundation would handle everything to do with operations and marketing. NGD opened its first office in Shanghai in 2018 and the second one in Seattle. 

The word “Neo”, in Greek, means new, modern and young. With their fresh ideas and young team of professionals, it does look like NEO is the newest kid on the block with the power to disrupt the cryptocurrency industry.

Samsung Klaytnphone

Samsung is Launching a Blockchain Smartphone Named KlaytnPhone

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Samsung is releasing its foldable smartphone today in its home country, and along with that, the company has come with another announcement that includes a new blockchain-based smartphone. Yes, a post from Wall Streat Journal has revealed that Samsung is working on a new flagship smartphone that will support cryptocurrency and will be called as “KlaytnPhone.”

The company has already got about ten smartphones’ release this year, including the Samsung Galaxy Fold, Galaxy S10s, Galaxy Note 10s, and now, it looks like the company is not stopping on them only. Samsung has chosen the name KlaytnPhone for its blockchain smartphone, which is inspired by a South Korean cryptocurrency built by the subsidiary company, Ground X Corp, of Korean internet company Kakao.

The smartphone actually belongs to the Galaxy Note 10 series and has got most of the features similar to the smartphones in this series. But there will be an inbuilt crypto wallet and support for blockchain included in it. Like the foldable smartphone from Samsung, for the time being, KlaytnPhone will also be available only in South Korea. According to the WSJ, the early buyers will also get a specified amount of cryptocurrency coins, i.e., Klay from Ground X Corp.

Samsung Klaytnphone
Image Source: digitaltrends.com

Klay is a newly launched cryptocurrency that Kakao released last year in October through its spin-off arm Klaytn. Cryptocurrencies and blockchain have been a topic of discussion for all. And, even being around for the past decade, there have been many questions about the authenticity of these technologies. But most of the big tech companies have always stood in favour of it. So the main purpose of Samsung to develop such a smartphone may be to get people familiar with this very technology and make it more user-friendly.

According to the reports, the prices for the new KlaytnPhone will start at $1000. There have been no comments from the company as yet, and if believed, according to Cointelegraph’s reports, Samsung has already launched a blockchain supporting smartphone in March this year, which is Galaxy S10. The company was also planning to build its own cryptocurrency and has invested $2.9 million into the French cryptocurrency company Ledger.