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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

Prosecutors raid Terraform's parent firm in probe into Luna-Terra crash

Illustration shows Terra logo and U.S. dollars / Reuters-YonhapProsecutors have raided the parent company of Terraform Labs as part of a broadening investigation into the massive collapse of the firm's Luna and TerraUSD cryptocurrencies, sources said Sunday.Last week, an investigation team of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office conducted the search and seizure at the parent company currently headed by Terraform co-founder Daniel Shin, according to the legal sources.As part of the raid, prosecutors also searched the home of the chief of another Terraform-related company suspected to be serving as its Korean branch as well as a Terraform subsidiary, the sources said.Terraform is under an investigation for alleged fraud and tax evasion after investors in TerraUSD and Luna filed complaints against Terraform Labs' CEO Do Kwon and co-founder Shin in May, accusing them of fraud over the loss of billions of won following the crash of both coins earlier that month.Last week, the investigation team raided seven local cryptocurrency exchanges, including Upbit, Bithumb and Coinone, an

Jul 24, 2022
Prosecutors raid Terraform's parent firm in probe into Luna-Terra crash

Prosecutors raid cryptocurrency exchanges in probe into Terraform crash

Illustration shows Terra logo and U.S. dollars / Reuters-YonhapProsecutors raided local cryptocurrency exchanges on Wednesday as part of an investigation into a fraud case in connection with the collapse of Terraform Labs' digital coins, TerraUSD and Luna, officials said.A team of investigators from the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office began seizing transaction records and other material from Upbit and other local exchanges around 5 p.m., they said.Investors in TerraUSD and Luna filed complaints against Terraform Labs' CEO Do Kwon and co-founder Daniel Shin in May, accusing them of fraud over the loss of billions of won following the crash of both coins earlier that month. (Yonhap)

Jul 20, 2022
Prosecutors raid cryptocurrency exchanges in probe into Terraform crash

Bitcoin, Ethereum regain momentum for rally

Seen above is a three-month price chart of Bitcoin until July 20. Screen capture from CoinMarketCap By Lee Min-hyungThe prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum are on a solid recovery track on growing hopes for the U.S. Federal Reserve to slow down the pace of its monetary tightening as the year-end approaches.Bitcoin bounced back to the 30 million mark ($22,800) Wednesday for the first time in more than a month. This is an increase of 22 percent from this year's low of 25.16 million won in mid-June when the market sentiment dipped to the lowest ebb amid a series of crypto bank-run scandals from market players.Ethereum also displayed resilience. The world's second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization soared above 2 million won on the same day. This is also an outstanding rebound from its earlier plunge on the first week of July when its value tumbled to around 1.4 million won.Crypto experts here and abroad expect the market to have recently reached close to a bott

Jul 20, 2022By Lee Min-hyung
Bitcoin, Ethereum regain momentum for rally

Dunamu to invest $383 million to create 10,000 jobs

Top crypto operator pledges to invest more in blockchain, NFT and metaverseBy Lee Min-hyungDunamu is set to invest 500 billion won ($383 million) over the next five years to create more than 10,000 jobs for regional communities around Korea. The company is the operator of Korea's dominant cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit.The drive is part of the firm's efforts to help young people here catch up with the era of the so-called Web 3.0 ― which refers to the upcoming third-generation internet featured with trendy technologies, such as machine learning, artificial intelligence and blockchain.Under the vision, Dunamu will establish regional offices in the nation's major metropolitan cities including Busan, Daegu, Gwangju and Daejeon with a view to offering more opportunities to young people nationwide. The company has also drawn a blueprint for a series of consulting programs to help 500 startups in the aforementioned tech areas to stand on their own feet.The company said the latest decision came as part of its corporate social responsibility to help more companies and young workers expand th

Jul 20, 2022By Lee Min-hyung
Dunamu to invest $383 million to create 10,000 jobs

Bitcoin set to bounce back as inverted US treasury yield curve sparks recession fears

By Lee Min-hyungThe price of Bitcoin will enter a period of a major upturn near the end of this year when the U.S. Fed is expected to be in the final stage of its monetary tightening, experts said Monday. The outlook came after the inversion between the U.S'. 2-year treasury yield and 10-year treasury yield recently deepened to the highest level since 2000 amid the Fed's possible giant rate hike of 75 basis points in the upcoming rate-setting meeting next week. The yield-curve inversion is a major indicator of a recession.A lead researcher at Bithumb, one of Korea's major crypto exchanges, said the cycle of rate hikes usually comes to an end about half a year after the curve inversion.“The Bitcoin price will bottom out in the latter half of this year, and show signs of stabilization as the year-end approaches,” Lee Mi-sun, the research center chief at Bithumb, said. This is because the Fed is widely expected to shift its monetary stance next year after ending the ongoing hawkish steps possibly around the end of this year, according to her.Bitcoin's price has been trapped

Jul 18, 2022By Lee Min-hyung
Bitcoin set to bounce back as inverted US treasury yield curve sparks recession fears

Dunamu, Bithumb escalate competition in NFT market amid crypto doldrums

gettyimagesbankBy Lee Min-hyungDunamu and Bithumb, the two largest cryptocurrency exchange operators here, are increasing competition in the non-fungible token (NFT) market, identifying the area as their next growth engine amid the lukewarm crypto sentiment here and abroad. Both firms understand the urgent need to expand their revenue streams preemptively due to the inherent volatility in the crypto market. Their earnings skyrocketed last year on soaring commissions for crypto trading.However, soaring commissions are not the case this year, so they are going all-out to find new revenue sources in nascent yet promising growth areas. The NFT is a kind of digital asset that is unique and non-replicable. NFT art drew particularly huge interest here and abroad last year when the global asset market overheated on mass liquidity into the market.As NFTs are based on blockchain technology just like cryptocurrencies, both exchange operators are also seeking to take advantage of their tech expertise by launching their own NFT marketplace sometime in the third quarter of this year.Lambda 256, th

Jul 14, 2022By Lee Min-hyung
Dunamu, Bithumb escalate competition in NFT market amid crypto doldrums

Minor exchanges feared to close down amid crypto market decline

The logo of Korea's dominant crypto exchange, Upbit, is seen in front of its headquarters in Seoul. YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungMinor cryptocurrency exchanges are feared to have to close down amid rapidly-cooling market sentiment here and abroad.The five largest cryptocurrency exchanges in Korea ― Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax ― account for more than 99 percent of the market. According to data from the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit, a total of 26 crypto exchanges _ including the top five _ were in operation here as of the end of June.But it remains questionable whether the minor exchanges will be able to survive this period of monetary tightening and falling crypto transactions.Even the major exchanges' transaction volume has been on a steep decline this year. Data from the five exchanges showed that their combined crypto transactions stood at around $260 billion in the second quarter of this year, down by more than 77 percent from a year earlier.The lukewarm performance is attributable to deteriorating asset market conditions here and abroad after the U.S. Federal Reserve

Jul 12, 2022By Lee Min-hyung
Minor exchanges feared to close down amid crypto market decline

'Crypto rebound will be more powerful than stocks'

gettyimagesbankOutlook for Bitcoin, stablecoins remains promisingBy Lee Min-hyungPeter Chung, head of research at KorbitCryptocurrencies will pull off a stronger rally than stocks when global monetary authorities send gestures to turn less aggressive in hiking their interest rates, a crypto expert said in a recent interview.The global crypto market enjoyed its heyday in 2021 on a trading frenzy driven by substantial liquidity. But the sentiment took an abrupt turn for the worse at the start of 2022 on escalating fears of global monetary tightening.Bitcoin prices fell below $20,000 (25.7 million won) for the first time in 18 months in June. The short-term outlook remains cloudy on the crypto and stock markets here and abroad, as the U.S. Fed and major central banks across the globe warn of more aggressive monetary tightening to tame soaring inflation.Peter Chung, head of research at Korbit, however, shared an optimistic view on the possible rebound of the crypto market, saying that the industry will reach a major inflection point when investors expect global monetary authorities to sl

Jul 1, 2022By Lee Min-hyung
'Crypto rebound will be more powerful than stocks'

Luna collapse causes chaos

Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon / YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungThe collapse of Terra and Luna cryptocurrencies is causing chaos around the world, triggering a domino effect of sequential defaults from companies that invested in the ill-fated stablecoin and its sister token.Three Arrows Capital, a Singapore-based crypto investment company, defaulted on Monday after failing to repay more than $670 million in crypto loans. Earlier, the crypto-focused hedge fund lost $200 million it had invested in Luna.The company's financial status got worse after the recent crypto downfall. Prices for not just alternative coins, but major ones such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, the world's two most valuable cryptocurrencies in market capitalization, also declined sharply in the wake of the Luna shock in May.This escalates fears that more crypto companies and Luna investors may follow a similar path as the hedge fund in case the ongoing crypto winter lasts longer than expected.Earlier this week, hacktivist group Anonymous sent a warning message to Do Kwon, founder of the two coins and CEO of Terraform Labs.“Do Kw

Jun 29, 2022By Lee Min-hyung
Luna collapse causes chaos

Bitcoin, Ethereum extend poor performance on fears of Celsius bankruptcy

Seen above is Bitcoin's real-time price fluctuation between May 27 and June 26. Screenshot from CoinMarketCapBy Lee Min-hyungMajor cryptocurrencies continue to show lukewarm performance on growing fears over crypto lending platform Celsius Network's possible bankruptcy and global monetary tightening.Bitcoin and Ethereum, the world's two most valuable cryptocurrencies, failed to achieve an outstanding rebound in their prices after suffering big losses for the past month amid escalating skepticism across the industry, according to data from CoinMarketCap.After the collapse of the once-promising Terra ecosystem in May, multiple indexes show investors' fear sentiment in the crypto market is on the sharp rise. But with another controversy hitting investors surrounding the recent bank run of Celsius, the market is not displaying any detectable signs of a rebound without any massive capital inflow. Celsius attracted more than 1.7 million investors with a high annual yield of 18 percent in case they deposit their cryptocurrency holdings. Data from the cryptocurrency price tracker also showed

Jun 26, 2022By Lee Min-hyung
Bitcoin, Ethereum extend poor performance on fears of Celsius bankruptcy
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