Kazakhstan setback for Coinbase as government blocks website access

Dispute Embroils Bitget in Legal Battle With Crypto InfluencerBitget, the crypto exchange registered in Seychelles, finds itself entangled in a legal dispute with prominent crypto influencer Evan Luthra.Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on UnsplashAccount freezing allegationsThe conflict stems from Luthra’s allegations of account freezing and loss of funds after a token listing incident in March. Luthra has filed a lawsuit against Bitget, accusing the exchange of withholding $200,000 in Tether (USDT) without adequate explanation, while also freezing his account.The legal drama follows Luthra’s involvement with the Reel Star project, where he served as an advisor for the platform which is aimed at creators. As compensation for his collaboration with the project, Luthra received Reel Token (REELT), the project’s utility token.Bitget alleged market manipulationUpon the listing of REELT tokens, Luthra reportedly sold 1.3 million tokens on Bitget. In response, Bitget claims it faced a manipulative attack orchestrated by a group of traders attempting to profit from market manipulation immediately after the token’s listing. This allegedly caused a significant drop in the token’s price, prompting Bitget’s decision to freeze Luthra’s account.Bitget states that it contacted Luthra seeking an explanation for the suspicious trading behavior. Luthra acknowledged the token sale but failed to provide satisfactory reasons for his actions, according to Bitget’s version of events. The exchange maintains that user protection is its foremost priority and that it takes swift action against illegal or fraudulent behaviors.$16 million damages claimLuthra refutes the allegations, asserting his innocence and citing alleged approval from Reel Star’s Co-Founder Navdeep Sharma for his token sale plans. He seeks a substantial $16 million in damages, in addition to the frozen funds. Luthra claims that Bitget unjustly deprived him of his tokens, asserting his status as a fully KYCed user entitled to access his holdings.In the aftermath of the incident, Bitget conducted an investigation and offered a compensation plan for affected clients. Gracy Chen, Bitget’s Managing Director, emphasized the exchange’s commitment to user protection and its actions against illicit activities on its platform. Addressing the matter on Twitter, Chen didn’t hold back in her commentary on Luthra, stating that he “has a history of fraudulent activities,” which she says were exposed by crypto journalist CoffeeZilla.The legal dispute has ignited debates within the crypto community. Supporters of Luthra contend that his case underscores broader issues faced by users of centralized exchanges, shedding light on the need for improved user rights and protection. On the other hand, some argue that Bitget acted appropriately to safeguard its users and the market integrity.CZ brought into the disputeThe legal battle has attracted attention from influential figures in the crypto industry. Against a backdrop of a very public airing of the dispute on Twitter, in a recent tweet Luthra invited Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the CEO of Binance, to respond to Luthra’s claim that Bitget spreads rumors about other exchanges. CZ was having none of it, writing: “You should talk to them, right? We are not a regulator for other exchanges.”The case highlights the intricate challenges surrounding market manipulation and token listings within the crypto space. As it unfolds, the outcome could potentially set a precedent for similar situations involving token listings, market manipulation, and user protection.

Klaytn Foundation partners with CoinMarketCap to support Web3 startups and developersThe Klaytn Foundation, South Korean conglomerate Kakao’s Layer 1 public blockchain, announced on Monday (local time) that it has been selected to be one of the official partners of CoinMarketCap Labs (CMC Labs), a Web3 startup accelerator program operated by the crypto information platform CoinMarketCap.Photo by Shubham Dhage on UnsplashEmpowering buildersThe CMC Labs program offers builders an array of benefits that serve to promote their projects, boost discoverability, communicate with users, and more. This includes the “Learn and Earn” campaign, where startup owners can attract users through a system that distributes token rewards after engaging in educational content. The Airdrop Campaign, on the other hand, helps participants keep up to date on a startup project’s important developments, such as price movements. Startups can also promote their projects through a long-form article or YouTube video published on the CMC Deep Dive platform.Fostering the growth of dAppsCoinMarketCap, in turn, has agreed to be a partner in the Ignite On Klaytn (IOK) Program — a program run by the Klaytn Foundation to support promising developers both in Korea and abroad in their endeavors to bring their decentralized apps (dApps) to the Web3 market, thus cultivating the Klaytn ecosystem. Developers stand to benefit because they can concentrate their efforts on product development, while the program provides support for other crucial aspects like wallets, API nodes and development outsourcing.Through this latest collaboration with CoinMarketCap, the Klaytn Foundation plans to assist various projects in their entry into the global market. It also aims to play a bridging role, enabling more projects within the Klaytn ecosystem to participate in the CMC Labs program.“We are looking forward to the mutual participation of Klaytn Foundation and CoinMarketCap in our respective programs, which is expected to provide momentum to Klaytn’s ongoing efforts to expand its reach into Asia and global markets,” explained Seo Sang-min, Representative Director at the Klaytn Foundation.

Short-Term Crypto Investment Prevails Among Hong Kong’s Retail InvestorsHong Kong’s retail investor interest in virtual assets has experienced a significant surge in recent years, albeit a recent survey suggests that most retail investors take a short-term investment view relative to crypto assets.Photo by Robert Bye on UnsplashIFEC studyThis newfound enthusiasm for virtual assets emerges from a recent study published by the Investor and Financial Education Council (IFEC), a subsidiary of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Hong Kong’s securities regulator. The survey found that 6% of retail investors in the city had entered the virtual asset market in 2023, as compared to merely 1% in 2019.Conducted from June to July of this year, the study encompassed 1,000 individuals aged between 18 and 69. The survey uncovered a trend toward crypto investing among retail investors who’ve been enticed by the allure of the emerging asset class. Intriguingly, every single one of the digital asset retail investors in the study held cryptocurrencies in their portfolios. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and stablecoins, while still relatively niche, were also present in the portfolios of 6% and 2% of investors, respectively.11% to invest in crypto within 12 monthsAnticipating a further uptick in interest, the IFEC report posits that 11% of those surveyed have intentions to invest in virtual assets or related products within the next 12 months. This indicates that the allure of virtual assets continues to exert its magnetic pull on investors in Hong Kong.Despite the growing interest, a noteworthy finding in the survey is that 75% of retail virtual asset investors admitted to their primary motivation being the pursuit of short-term gains. Simultaneously, 74% of these investors perceived virtual assets as a prevalent investment trend, and 73% cited the fear of missing out on popular investment opportunities as a driving factor. These statistics underscore the need for enhanced investor education within the sphere of virtual assets.Lack of regulatory awarenessAnother interesting aspect of the data which emerged from the survey was the finding that only 47% of all surveyed investors are aware of Hong Kong’s recently introduced virtual asset trading regulations, which came into effect on June 1.An additional facet of this investor behavior study was illuminated by research conducted by the Department of Applied Social Science at Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). This research, based on data from a separate IFEC report that surveyed 501 people from November to December of last year, revealed that many retail investors in virtual assets exhibited overconfidence in their judgment.These investors were also found to have a proclivity to overemphasize past information, lean heavily on readily available and easily recalled information, and overestimate personal intuition.With that in mind, Eric Chui, Head of PolyU’s Applied Social Science unit, advised virtual asset investors to adopt a more deliberate and rational approach. Chui emphasized the importance of building financial literacy and collecting high-quality market information to make informed investment decisions, while steering clear of irrational investment behavior and biases.