OSL raises $300M to finance expansion

In a move announced on Friday, OKX, the Seychelles-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange, declared its decision to delist 20 trading pairs by Jan. 5, triggering a notable price fall for major privacy coins such as Monero, Dash and ZCash. The exchange cited that the affected pairs did not align with its listing criteria, though specific details were not disclosed.Photo by Khara Woods on UnsplashPrivacy coin delisting trendWhile OKX did not explicitly articulate the rationale behind this move, industry observers are speculating that it could be part of the exchange’s broader efforts to comply with evolving regulatory measures. Privacy coins have increasingly drawn regulatory scrutiny due to concerns about potential illicit activities within the crypto space. Earlier in the year, Binance had also announced the delisting of several privacy coins to ensure compliance with local laws and regulations. The broader context of regulatory pressures on privacy-focused cryptocurrencies seems to be impacting major exchanges’ decisions. In 2022, Huobi cited regulatory pressures when it took the decision to delist Monero and other privacy coins. Kraken was further ahead of the curve still, delisting Monero for UK customers in November 2021. Downward price actionFollowing OKX’s announcement on Friday, the prices of privacy-focused cryptocurrencies, notably Zcash (ZEC) and Monero (XMR), experienced a decline. The entire sector of “privacy cryptos” has witnessed a 7.1% decrease in overall market capitalization, according to an index of such coins compiled by Malaysian crypto indexing firm CoinGecko. During this period, Monero and Zcash have seen unit price declines of 4.5% and 10.7%, respectively. Other tokens set for delisting, including Dash, Powerpool and Horizen, have recorded declines of up to 14%. OKX has provided guidance to users, advising them to cancel orders related to the affected trading pairs before the delisting date to avoid automatic cancellation, a process that may take 1–3 working days. Concurrently, the exchange has halted deposits for the impacted cryptocurrencies and plans to cease withdrawals by Mar. 5, 2024, affording holders sufficient time to withdraw their assets. However, once the delisting is complete, trading these digital assets on OKX will become impossible. Interestingly, certain privacy coins like MINA continue to be listed on the exchange, experiencing a 7.5% increase following the delisting announcement. It’s crucial to note that OKX’s delisting is not exclusive to privacy tokens, as it also includes other trading pairs associated with digital assets such as Kusama, Flow, Kyber Network and Aragon. The fight for privacySome crypto community members have voiced their concerns on social media, with many fearing that the innovation may be ‘captured’ by the various state authorities over time. However, ex-Monero developer Ricardo Spagni (AKA “Fluffypony”) was nonchalant about the whole thing, judging by his comments. In a post on social media platform X, he wrote: ”Monero users and contributors literally couldn’t care less about delistings at this point.” As the regulatory landscape evolves, cryptocurrency exchanges are navigating these challenges, impacting the availability and value of specific tokens on their platforms. Investors and privacy advocates alike will be closely watching how such regulatory compliance measures continue to shape the crypto market and crypto use.  

Shapella Upgrade to Have limited Impact on ETH’s Selling PressureThe Shapella upgrade on the Ethereum network scheduled to take place on Wednesday will only have a limited impact on the selling pressure on ETH, according to a report by the research center at Korean cryptocurrency exchange Korbit.©Pexels/JievaniShapella upgradeOne of the key features of the Shapella upgrade is to allow withdrawal of staked ETH. This upgrade follows September’s Merge upgrade that switched the Ethereum network’s consensus algorithm from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake, significantly reducing electricity consumption.Impact on selling pressureTo predict the impact of the Shapella upgrade on the selling pressure on ETH, the analysts at Korbit Research calculated the amount of time it takes for all the ETH staked as of March 22 to be withdrawn. They believe this calculation is relevant because withdrawals of staked ETH could trigger bulk sales, potentially imposing a greater selling pressure on ETH.According to the findings, the daily sell volume for the first three days is expected to be 300,700 ETH, 0.254% of the circulating supply. This volume will gradually decrease to 43,000 ETH for the next six months and to 29,000 ETH for the following six months, each corresponding to 0.035% and 0.024% of the circulating supply, respectively.All in all, bulk selling of ETH is not likely, considering it will take about a year and five months for all the staked ETH to be withdrawn and that the amount of withdrawable ETH will stay relatively low for each period. Furthermore, since this analysis assumes an extreme case, the market will be able to effectively handle the volume over the six month to 18 month period.4 other reasonsIn addition, Korbit Research outlined four other aspects that limit the selling pressure on ETH.Firstly, there is some concern that the selling volume of ETH may increase due to unstaking resulting from the cessation of staking services at American crypto exchange Kraken. However, a decrease in the number of validators on the Ethereum network will raise the base reward. This may prompt those who unstaked ETH to stake them on other platforms, rather than selling them.Second, ETH locked up at liquidity staking protocols such as Lido Finance and Rocket Pool provide liquidity for representations of staked ETH. These platforms allow users to stake fewer than 32 ETH for rewards. According to a February Binance Research report, 57.7% of ETH stakers enjoy liquidity and rewards. Therefore, there may be a limited impetus to divest of staked ETH.Third, since only 41.1% of ETH stakers are seeing profits as of the time of writing the report, the remaining stakers would have to risk losses when withdrawing ETH. This suggests that those not yet seeing profits are more likely to keep ETH staked. Furthermore, Dune Analytics data shows that most of the ETH stakers with gains staked ETH when its price was relatively low, which indicates that they participated in staking in early days. Shivam Sharma, the author of the aforementioned Binance report, states that these ETH stakers are likely “some of the strongest Ethereum believers.”Lastly, despite the Shapella upgrade, ETH withdrawals at different staking pools may not be initiated immediately. This could limit the circulation of withdrawable ETH, which in turn would hinder the selling pressure on ETH.Macroeconomic factorsThe Korbit researchers concluded their paper with a note that the selling pressure on ETH will be more influenced by macroeconomic factors than technical factors. They added that a possible downturn in the overall economy and corrections in risky asset markets might lead investors to sell ETH.

Silence From Multichain’s Chinese Developers Stokes FearA prolonged silence from the project leadership behind Multichain, a cross-chain routing network, is causing growing concern among the users of the cross-chain protocol. The network currently holds $1.5 billion in total value locked (TVL).The protocol has experienced five days of stuck transactions, and multiple cross-chain bridge pathways, including Kava, zkSync, and Polygon zkEVM are still offline. Initially, the project’s China-based team attributed the issues to an upgrade that was being fixed. That explanation was changed recently to an ambiguous “force majeure,” leaving users with more questions than answers.Photo by Santiago Lacarta on UnsplashPossible arrests in ChinaAdding to the uncertainty are rumors circulating on Twitter that the core leadership team may have been arrested in China. Although the rumors remain unconfirmed, they have contributed to the growing sense of unease within the community. DJ Qian, one of the co-founders of Multichain who is no longer involved with the project, took to Twitter to share his attempts to seek clarification. Qian mentioned reaching out to Multichain CEO Zhaojun and founding partner Xu Guochang for technical assistance. When asked about Zhaojun’s availability, Qian stated that he was “not available yet.”Users and investors eagerly await updates and clarity from Multichain’s leadership team. However, the team’s lack of communication extends across various forms of social media. In group Telegram messages with the Multichain team, there have been no responses from Zhaojun, and direct messages through the same app have gone unanswered as well. This silence has left the community members puzzled, with little information to rely on.$MULTI price plummetsMeanwhile, the price of Multichain’s native token, $MULTI, has continued to decline. It currently stands at $4.37, representing a 20% decrease over the past 24 hours. The lack of communication and uncertainty surrounding the project have likely contributed to this downward trend in token price. Over the course of the past seven days, the token has decreased in price by 45%.In response to the situation, layer 1 blockchain project Conflux Network has taken precautionary measures by suspending Multichain’s co-mint privileges. This move prevents Multichain from minting tokens on the Conflux blockchain. The Conflux Network has also assured users that it will work with them in case any losses arise due to the ongoing issues.Flight to safetyOther projects and individuals have also reacted to the silence from Multichain’s team. Hong Kong-based HashKey Group, a crypto investment firm, has transferred $250,000 to crypto exchange Gate.io as a precautionary measure. Tron founder Justin Sun has withdrawn 470,000 of the $USDD stablecoin from the Multichain protocol. These actions reflect a growing concern among stakeholders, representing their efforts to mitigate potential risks associated with the uncertainty surrounding Multichain.Furthermore, the Fantom Foundation has withdrawn $2.4 million in liquidity of the protocol’s native $MULTI tokens from the decentralized exchange SushiSwap. It later tweeted out an update stating that the Fantom-Multichain bridge was operating as normal. These withdrawals signal a loss of confidence in Multichain and its native token, as stakeholders seek to protect their investments.As the silence persists, users and investors remain anxious for updates and clarifications from Multichain’s leadership team. The lack of communication and the circulating rumors have cast a shadow of uncertainty over the project, leaving stakeholders in a state of limbo.