• KuCoin successfully launches an innovative, one and only Pre-Market Trading product.
• Pre-Market Trading allows early birds access to trading before tokens are listed.
• KuCoin successfully secured 4.3% of the initial market liquidity, serving as the pricing anchor point and reference for users.
• Within the first hour of the launch, KuCoin recorded a total transaction volume of 1.8 million USDT.

KuCoin, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, has successfully launched its new Pre-Market Trading product, attracting almost 2 million USDT in trading volume within its first hour, and successfully securing 4.3% of the initial market liquidity before the market was open, which served as an effective anchor point for pricing and reference for users.

The exchange announced its latest innovation on October 16, on its website and X account, introducing it as “another revolutionary trading product: Pre-Market Trading.” KuCoin’s Pre-Market trading allows traders to be able to trade tokens even before they are listed – allowing the KuCoin community’s “early birds” to secure the best possible entry.

In a recent interview with Coin Edition, KuCoin’s Managing Director Alicia Kao discussed the new feature:

Pre-Market Trading is an over-the-counter (OTC) market that currently only opens for trading before a new token is listed. Buyers and sellers can make their own quotes and take orders to lock in prices and liquidity in advance. This allows users to gain early access before a token is officially listed, similar to the “Early Bird Market”.

KuCoin’s Pre-Market Trading offers a more streamlined and efficient trading process via the automatic delivery of tokens. The product offers ‘trustless’ trading, protecting sellers from rug pulls; and offers collateral protection, safeguarding both buyers and sellers in the event of a non-delivery via returns.

KuCoin claims that during its delivery phase, the exchange recorded over 7,000 transactions with a 96.4% settlement rate. Likewise, an hour into the settlement period, the exchange saw a total transaction volume of 1.8 million USDT, which soon grew to at least 5 million by the end of the second hour.

Before the market opened, the crypto exchange managed to successfully secure 4.3% of the initial market liquidity, a significant milestone in its journey. This is a positive development, demonstrating the exchange’s influence as a pricing anchor point for users and the commitment to providing a liquid trading environment.

Furthermore, throughout the Pre-Market Trading period, most of the trading prices consistently fell within the range of $1.6 to $2.6, with an average of $1.9. These prices have since become a pricing guide for real trading across various exchanges in the market.

• FCF Pay announces strategic partnership with JPMorgan-owned Chase Bank.
• The news came days after a similar partnership with finance giant HSBC.
• With crypto payment options expanding for mortgages and loans, digital currencies could reportedly see mass adoption.

Chase Bank, a subsidiary of JPMorgan, has recently partnered with Canadian crypto payments processor FCF Pay to enable the bank to accept cryptocurrency as a payment method for a range of transactions.

FCF Pay posted on X (formerly Twitter) about the latest development, suggesting that the collaboration will allow cryptocurrencies such as BTC, ETH, XRP, SHIB, DOGE, BNB, and others to make payments for mortgages, loans, and such.

Effective October 4, FCF Pay Crypto Bill Payments will serve as an alternative payment method that allows holders of crypto to pay their bills for over 20,000 companies in the United States.

Furthermore, FCF Pay has reportedly made the big move by expanding its services to Idaho and Utah in the United States. As part of this expansion, they’re now allowing users to make payments using over 30 different cryptocurrencies through their billing service. This change is all about making it easier for people to handle their finances.

On the other hand, Chase Bank issued a notice stating its plans to ban crypto payments starting October 16. In an email sent to customers, Chase stated, “From October 16, 2023, if we think you’re making a payment related to crypto assets, we’ll decline it.” Moreover, the statement added that if the customers wish to invest in crypto assets, they should do so with a different bank.

FCF’s collaboration with Chase Bank comes days after the crypto payment company’s partnership with HSBC, one of the largest financial institutions in the world.

The announcement was made on September 26, marking a series of revolutionary developments that allow HSBC customers to pay mortgage bills and loans via cryptocurrencies. The announcement mentioned BTC, ETH, BNB, and XRP.

• Changpeng Zhao slaps back at New York-based Wall Street Journal in a post on X.
• The post called out WSJ for referring to SBF as a “savior” of the crypto market.
• This could be in response to a WSJ publication citing Binance’s imminent downfall.

Binance CEO and Co-Founder, Changpeng Zhao fired back at the Wall Street Journal, a New York-based news and media publication, for referring to bankrupt exchange FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried “SBF” as a “savior”.

On September 27, Zhao posted on X (formerly Twitter) concerning a WSJ publication, which said:

“The chief executive of cryptocurrency exchange FTX Trading Ltd. has appointed himself the industry’s savior—and crypto investors are closely watching his moves after months of market carnage.”

The publication makes mention of the 30-year-old CEO as a self-appointed industry “savior,” referring to his attempts to revive and stabilize the crypto market after it seemingly collapsed following the FTX exchange scandal.

Several users have responded to Zhao’s X post with part humor and sarcasm, as Bankman-Fried was indicted in late February on multiple criminal fraud charges related to FTX. A crypto influencer and enthusiast said, “SBF to save crypto? What a time to be alive!!”

Notably, Bankman-Fried’s actions about the FTX scandal were regarded by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York as “one of the biggest financial frauds in American history”.

Zhao seemingly dissed the publication and Bankman-Fried, in what could be a response to a WSJ publication posted on September 26. The publication says:

“Under threat of enforcement actions by U.S. agencies, Binance’s empire is quaking. Over the past three months, more than a dozen senior executives have left, and the exchange has laid off at least 1,500 employees this year to cut costs and prepare for a decline in business. And while Binance still looms large in crypto, its dominance is dwindling.”

In the publication, WSJ dissected how the “world’s biggest crypto firm is melting down”, especially given the ongoing threat of law enforcement in the United States, which could eventually lead to its downfall.

• Changpeng Zhao posted about two recent hacker attacks in the crypto market; the HTX and Mixin Kernel.
• Zhao playfully teased Justin Sun about the HTX’s attack, which occurred a week after renaming the platform after the scandalous “FTX”.
• Considering Mixin’s attack, Zhao cautioned that not all decentralized platforms are, in fact, decentralized.

Binance CEO and Co-Founder Changpeng Zhao recently took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to shed light on several recent hacker attacks, particularly involving Mixin Kernel, a digital asset exchange, and HTX.

On September 25, in response to a post by Justin Sun, Zhao addressed the HTX hacker attack, which resulted in losses worth $8 million. He teased Sun, suggesting the irony of the timing that HTX renamed its platform after the scandalized “FTX”. He, however, went on to reassure that the [Binance] security team will work to track all hacker funds.

X users also responded to Zhao’s post, citing their opinions on the hack. One crypto influencer and enthusiast said, “Anything related to FTX should be an abomination at this point.”

Sun adds in a post on X that all losses incurred have been recovered and that operations have returned to normalcy. He continued to say in another post that the platform is willing to give the hacker up to 5% of the stolen funds, worth $400,000 as a bounty to return all stolen funds. To add to this, he said HTX would hire the hacker as a security white hat advisor.

A short while later, Zhao posted regarding “another” hacker attack involving Mixin Kernel, a decentralized peer-to-peer network, as confirmed by the platform on X. The platform stated that the hack had occurred in the early hours of September 23, with losses amounting to $200 million.

According to blockchain security firm SlowMist, the hack had occurred in the wake of a security breach that compromised Mixin’s mainnet, resulting in said losses. Mixin has since temporarily suspended depositing and withdrawal services to prevent further losses.

The Mixin hack, however, sparked debates about how and why a decentralized network such as itself would use a centralized cloud service. Moreover, Zhao was quick to point out the same with a warning to users, saying, “Not everything that claims to be decentralized is.”

• Hong Kong SFC announces plans to release a list of suspicious crypto trading platforms.
• The announcement comes after the controversial JPEX scandal, possibly “one of the largest” cases of fraud” in the region.
• These are part of the efforts of the Hong Kong SFC to make the crypto market safer and transparent.

On Monday, September 24, Hong Kong’s securities regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) announced its plans to unveil a comprehensive “blacklist” of suspicious cryptocurrency trading platforms.

This comprehensive list, which is to be disclosed due to public demand, is comprised of all licensed, deemed licensed, closing down, and application-pending virtual asset trading platforms (VATPs). The regulator’s chief executive officer Julia Leung Fung-yee, however, warned in a press conference on Monday that being an applicant does not warrant that the companies are fully compliant with the SFC’s regulations.

The announcement from Hong Kong’s securities regulator comes days after the ongoing JPEX scandal where the platform was allegedly said to have offered its services to retain investors in Hong Kong without a license.

According to a report from the SFC, the platform had suspended trading and imposed a high withdrawal fee on those seeking to withdraw their money. As per reports from Saturday, September 23, up to 2305 complaints have been registered against the platform, with losses amounting to at least HK 1.43 billion (US$182 million).

With more complaints expected to register, local media outlets are highlighting the case as “one of the largest fraud cases” in the region’s history. Several people have been arrested by the Hong Kong police in connection to the JPEX case, including crypto influencers Joseph Lam (Lin Zuo) and Chan Wing-yee.

The crackdown is part of the regulator’s steps to bring safety and transparency to the often-vexing cryptocurrency market. Moreover, the SFC has previously mandated all crypto trading platforms under its jurisdiction to be licensed.

Seemingly, only two cryptocurrency trading platforms, OSL Digital Securities Limited and Hash Blockchain Limited, are licensed currently. This is in addition to four others (HKVAX, HKBitEx, Hong Kong BGE Limited, and Victory Fintech Company Limited) who have reportedly applied for licenses.

• Crypto lawyer John Deaton hints at a possible announcement on Friday, September 22, 2023.
• He jokingly suggests that the announcement has nothing to do with him suing anyone.
• Deaton’s post comes after the recent update to the DFS guidelines.

Renowned crypto lawyer and pro-XRP advocate John Deaton has hinted at a possibly ‘BIG’  announcement coming this Friday, September 22, 2023. He took to X (formerly Twitter) to share that if “everything works out,” an announcement is imminent, while also jokingly suggesting that he is not planning on suing anyone “yet.”

Several X users, in response to Deaton’s post, expressed their curiosity about the announcement while others even took guesses at various possibilities; one user even suggested that Deaton is in fact suing someone, despite being told otherwise. Another user by the name, “TheFutureisHere” indicated that it could be “another” amicus curiae incoming.

An amicus curia refers to an individual not involved in a lawsuit, but is either requested by the court or seeking permission, to submit a brief due to their significant interest in the case’s subject matter.

This comes hours after Deaton reposted reports of the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) announcing an update to its virtual currency regime, stating:

After it was determined NOT to be a security. It’s not even a security if  Ripple sells it on exchanges. Yea, this move isn’t political or punitive in nature.

According to the update, the DFS has reportedly removed several tokens from its “greenlist” of approved tokens. Some of these tokens include Ripple, Dogecoin, and Litecoin among others.

The greenlist was created by the DFS as part of its broader efforts in supervising the crypto space and although included twenty-five tokens previously now only has eight approved tokens.

Additionally, in a press release on Monday, September 18, 2023, the DFS said that the updated guidance would clarify its expectations for how DFS-regulated entities should list and delist coins.

The DFS added that it would also strengthen the risk assessment standards for coin-listing policies. A new addition to the guidelines also mandates that licenses must now have a token de-listing policy that ensures little to no impact on users should firms end support for coins.