• Dex Trade Volumes Plunge 37% Since May; September Volumes Could Be Even Lower
Dex trade volumes have fallen significantly over the past four months. Data indicate that March saw the year’s highest dex trade volume at $112 billion. In April, volumes declined by 47.26% to $59.06 billion.
May experienced a 12.59% increase, with trade volumes rising to $66.5 billion; of that amount, Uniswap’s dex trades contributed $33.67 billion. Since May, however, dex trade volume has declined by 37.29%.
August data indicate dex trade volume at $41.7 billion, with $24.87 billion, or 59.64%, coming from Uniswap trades. Pancakeswap saw $6.76 billion in trades, while Curve Finance contributed $3.79 billion.
Those three dex protocols totaled $35.42 billion in August, making up 84.94% of the month’s global dex volumes. Although September isn’t finished, its dex volumes to date already appear lackluster.
• Citigroup Will Let Rich Clients Use Private Blockchain to Transfer Assets
Investment banking giant Citigroup announced the launch of a digital token service for institutions.
The Citi Token Services product uses blockchain and smart contract technology to allow its institutional clients to send money across borders quickly, Citi said Monday. The technology will use a private blockchain—not a public one like Bitcoin or Ethereum.
It added that Citi Token Services will provide automated trade finance solutions on a 24/7 basis.
• Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao ask court to dismiss SEC suit
Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao and his cryptocurrency exchange has filed a joint motion requesting the dismissal of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against them.
According to a Sept. 21 filing to the United States District Court, both Binance Holdings and Zhao claimed that the financial regulatory had overstepped its authority in the lawsuit against them.
In the 60-page petition lawyers for Binance and Zhao accused the SEC of failing to introduce clear guidelines for the sector ahead of its lawsuit against the crypto exchange and as a result, had imposed its regulatory authority over the crypto sector retroactively.
• Bitcoiners stack ’em up: Inactive BTC supply hits all-time highs
On-chain data suggests that Bitcoin holders are accumulating BTC with exchange holdings down to yearly lows and the percentage of inactive BTC supply at all-time highs.
According to Glassnode’s Bitcoin supply last active chart, inactive BTC that has not moved from an address for more than one-, three- and five-year time frames has been at all-time highs since July 2023.
These metrics are mirrored by Bitcoin analytics from CoinMarketCap, which tracks wallet addresses by how long they’ve been holding BTC. An estimated 69%, or 36.8 million addresses, have held BTC for over a year.
• Sam Bankman-Fried’s father dragged his mother into an FTX US salary dispute
Joseph Bankman, the father of former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, complained to his son about the salary he was receiving during his employment at FTX US, turning the issue into a family matter.
In a Sept. 18 filing in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, FTX debtors filed a complaint against Bankman and Barbara Fried, alleging SBF’s parents misappropriated millions of dollars through their involvement in the exchange’s business. According to court documents, Bankman’s contract with FTX US should have provided a $200,000 annual salary following a leave of absence from Stanford Law School in December 2021.
However, Bankman seemed to express ignorance about the terms of the contract, claiming to both FTX US and his son that he was expecting a $1-million annual salary. The complaint states that Bankman was “putting Barbara on this,” suggesting that SBF’s mother may have been able to persuade her son to follow through with the salary change.
• Ethereum price sees new low vs Bitcoin since switching to proof-of-stake
Ether seen a 36% year-to-date increase in its price in 2023 in U.S. dollar terms. This recovery, however, is modest given that ETH is currently trading 66% below its November 2021 peak of $4,870.
Moreover, on Sept. 20, Ether reached its lowest levels against Bitcoin in 14 months, breaching the critical 0.06 BTC support. This has raised questions among Ether investors about the factors behind this price decline and what it will take to reverse the trend.
ETH buyers placed their biggest hopes on protocol upgrades that significantly reduced the need for new coin issuance when the network transitioned to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.
These hopes were realized in mid-September 2022, resulting in an annualized issuance rate of just 0.25% of the supply. This transformation aligned with the Ethereum community’s vision of “ultrasound money.”
Concluding Notes:
- Dex Trade Volumes Plunge 37% Since May
- Citigroup Will Let Rich Clients Use Private Blockchain
- Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao ask court to dismiss SEC suit
- Inactive BTC supply hits all-time highs
- Sam Bankman-Fried’s father dragged his mother into an FTX US salary dispute
- Ethereum price sees new low vs Bitcoin
