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Crypto goes up, and crypto goes down. Then, often, crypto goes back up.

It can be a dizzying and volatile cycle.

Just collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTXs customers, who, having once feared theyd lost their collective billions, can now take solace from the news Tuesday (May 7) that FTXs bankruptcy team is ready to repay them in full, with interest.

Thats because eighteen months after its collapse,the cryptocurrency exchange now says it has pulled together assets worth between $14.5 and $16.3 billion, enough to pay back 98% of its creditors118% of what they are owed.

Of course, that repay in full refers to the valuation of customer assets at the time of FTXs November 2022 collapse, when crypto was suffering a bear market, not those assets current valuations, leaving many to feel cheated. For example, bitcoin holders will be owed $16,871 for each of their former coins which are now worth more than 400% more, or around $62,000, as of reporting.

But FTXs turning back the clock isnt the only crypto news to hit the industry this week. And from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) scrutiny to new exchanges, earnings announcements, and even hints of the elusive real-world utility for crypto assets, these are the top stories around the Web3 landscape that PYMNTS has been tracking for the past week.

The internet will have a native currency; its just a matter of time. Artificial intelligence systems and agents will have to transact, and the most efficient way to do so will be a common protocol for money movement, Jack Dorsey, Block head, Square head, chairman and cofounder of Block, said Thursday (May 2) during his companys first quarter 2024earnings results.

Dorsey emphasized that, in his view, bitcoin would be that common protocol for the internets native currency.

And he wasnt alone in using a company earnings call as a platform for crypto payments evangelism.

Also on Thursday, Brian Armstrong, the co-founder and CEO of the largest U.S.-based crypto exchange, Coinbase, told investors that crypto payments were emerging as a key opportunity area.

[Were] driving utility in crypto. Were doing this through building a better payments experience on crypto rails getting us closer to our goal of having the average crypto transaction take less than one second and cost less than $0.01 anywhere in the world, Armstrong said on the call.

It still boggles my mind that every time you swipe your credit card, the merchant is losing 2%, Armstrong added. Its really just moving bits of data, kind of like sending a WhatsApp message, which is free. And sowhy does that still exist as a 2% tax on everytransaction in the economy?

Coinbase stores over 12% of total crypto market cap on its platform, and the exchange is working to introducea smartwallet for crypto this summer.

Elsewhere, theSwiss National Bankis conducting a pilot project that has used wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) and successfully settled four tokenized bond issuances and one secondary market transaction.

Andwith thenews Friday (May 3)that telecommunications giantVodafoneis planning to integrate cryptocurrency wallets and blockchain-based payment solutions directly into mobile phone SIM cards, innovative Web3 solutions that can streamline the ease of use for crypto payments are increasingly top of mind for both merchants and consumers.

The timeline across which theyll make it over to real world usability, however, could be a different matter.

Cryptos calling card at least during its early years was that it was the Wild West. But as the industry matures, regulators are taking some of the sectors cowboys to court.

As PYMNTS reported, on Monday (May 6) Robinhoodscryptocurrency business could become the latest target of regulatory action, with the trading platform receiving a Wells Notice from the SEC indicating they will recommend that the commission take enforcement action against the company.

After years of good faith attempts to work with the SEC for regulatory clarity including our well-known attempt to come in and register, we are disappointed that the agency has decided to issue a Wells Notice related to our U.S. crypto business,Dan Gallagher, the companys chief legal, compliance and corporate affairs officer, said in ablog post.

At the same time, news broke on Tuesday that Nigeria is reportedly stepping up its cryptocurrency crackdown with a proposed ban on peer-to-peer (P2P) trading. The move is the latest effort by the West African country to place tighter controls on the crypto sector, which it blames for the decline of its national currency.

It isnt just regulatory struggles crypto firms are subject to run-of-the-mill operational struggles, too. As reported here, Bakkt is cutting staff after warning earlier this year about the future of the company. The cryptocurrency platform said in an April 29 securities filingthat it is laying off 13% of its non-call center staff.

Regulatory struggles aside, the crypto space continues to push forward.

On Tuesday, British FinTechRevolut unveiled a stand-alone cryptocurrency exchange for professional crypto traders.Called Revolut X, the platform designed to compete with other top exchanges by offering easy on and off ramping, and low fees.

And PYMNTS covered Sunday (May 5) how cryptocurrency startups are reportedly engaging in aggressive fundraising as the digital asset space recovers, as well as how Crypto.comwants to increase its sports sponsorships to reach a wider audience.

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This Week in Web3: Wells Notices, Crypto Payments and Usability - PYMNTS.com

Key Takeaways

Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX announced a new restructuring plan that, if approved, could finally give most of its customers access to money they lostplus interest.

The new plan provides for 98% of all customers, including those holding claims of $50,000 or less, to receive up to 118% of their allowed claims within 60 days.

FTX forecasts that the total value of assets collected, converted to cash, and available for creditors will be between $14.5 billion and $16.3 billion.FTX owes more than $11 billion to its customers.

The plan will require approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District Court of Delaware.

John J. Ray III, chief restructuring officer of FTX, said: "We are pleased to be in a position to propose a Chapter 11 plan that contemplates the return of 100% of bankruptcy claim amounts plus interest for non-governmental creditors."

A previous plan proposed refunding up to 90% of distributable assets to customers. The recovered assets were those held by the company in various entities in the Bahamas, Australia, and the U.S.

Investors who withdrew more than $250,000 from the exchange in the nine days before its collapse were expected to pay a 15% fee on the value of the funds to avoid potential clawback.

One of the biggest criticisms of any FTX plans to repay its customers' lost funds is that it's returning money in dollars based on Nov. 11, 2022, cryptocurrency prices, not the cryptocurrency itself or repaying at its current value, which has appreciated greatly.

For example, bitcoin (BTC) was trading roughly around $17,000 on Nov. 11, 2022; today, its price is more than 3.5 times that at about $62,500.

FTX collapsed and filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 after commingling of customer funds between FTX and its Alameda Research investment arm meant customers were unable to withdraw more than $8 billion in investments that had been used for other purposes. Former FTX CEO Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for crypto fraud in late March.

Original post:
FTX's New Plan Could Give 98% of Crypto Customers Back More Than They Lost - Investopedia

Asset management firm Franklin Templeton sees growing potential in Solana to cement itself as the third-largest cryptocurrency in the market.

The asset manager with over $1.5 trillion in assets under management (AUM) took to X on May 2 to praise Solana,currentlythe fifth largest cryptocurrency by market cap.

Solanas growth is likely to continue because it is well-positioned to capture the next wave of crypto adoption, solidifying itself as the third major crypto asset after Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), the firm said.

In the note shared on X, the firm revealed that Solanawas able tograb a part of the cryptocurrency acceleration during Q4 2023 through its round of native airdrops, which subsequently propped up the whole SOL ecosystem.

Franklin Templeton also mentioned the networks robustness. Solana was severely affected by FTXs meltdown in 2022 butmanaged to recoverwith solid adoption numbers. Owing to its low fees and scalability, Solana also capitalized on the memecoin craze, creating popular meme tokens, including BONK and WIF, which have remained among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market valuation.

The Wall Street giant expects Solana to expand its reach as its performance and network effects position it to capitalize on thenextcrypto trends. The network is home to various initiatives deploying use cases, including payments, decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN), and compression non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which Franklin Templeton believes will help the blockchain usher in the next wave of adoption.

The firms note stated:

Crypto enthusiasts are wondering what the next big thing in crypto might be While we dont know the precise answer, wed argue there is a strong chance it happens on Solana.

While the institution acknowledged that increased activity had caused operational problems in Solana, it also recognized the efforts of developers working to fix these issues as soon as possible.

On Oct. 31, Dan Albert, the executive director of the Solana Foundation, revealed the launch of the testnet for Firedancer, an anticipated scaling solution for Solana.

The project, spearheaded by web3 development firm Jump Crypto since last August, is expected to enhance the networks speed, reliability, and validator diversity, with amainnet launch projected for the first half of 2024.

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Franklin Templeton foresees Solana as third-largest cryptocurrency - crypto.news