Crypto Biz: Six Months After FTX, Tether Mines BTC and Nvidia’s AI Super Chips

Just over six months after FTX’s dramatic collapse, the crypto industry can finally begin to analyze the effects of the debacle. The rapid ripple effect on other crypto companies drained liquidity from the industry and extended the crypto winter, with the likes of Silvergate Bank, BlockFi, and Genesis Global Capital hit by the stock market collapse.

FTX’s bankruptcy has also impacted the cryptocurrency regulatory landscape, with authorities cracking down on companies – in some cases using controversial methods – to prevent traditional finance and cryptocurrencies from ever-intermingling.

Companies that have closed their operations in the United States in recent months due to regulatory pressure have included Bittrex, Nexo, and Unbanked, to name a few. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said this week that China will benefit most from restrictive crypto policies in the US, but only time will tell if this is true.

Companies are also reviewing their business practices due to increased regulatory oversight. In response to the bankruptcy of crypto companies, Binance has even considered buying a bank in recent months, CEO Chanpeng Zhao said. Now the crypto exchange is gearing up for a layoff that will improve its compliance and regulatory capabilities.

As the industry processes recent events, FTX’s new management claims that FTX 2.0 could launch next year, hopefully in time to join the club of crypto companies aiming to stay in business beyond November 2022.

This week’s Crypto Biz also looks at Tether’s Bitcoin (BTC) mining operations in Latin America, Tabi’s funding round, and Nvidia’s efforts to power the next generation of artificial intelligence (AI) machines.

Buying a bank won’t solve crypto’s debanking problem – CEO of Binance

Binance is unlikely to buy up banking institutions, but it plans to make minority investments in financial institutions that will “hopefully influence them to become more crypto-friendly,” Zhao noted of growing concerns about crypto companies being taken off their banks. The collapse of several US banks in 2023 has raised concerns that the pool of crypto-friendly banks is shrinking. Former major banking partners, Silvergate, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, have all capitulated this year. The exchange is also reportedly exploring a solution to reduce counterparty risk by allowing institutional clients to hold their trading collateral with a bank instead of the crypto platform.

Tether moves to Bitcoin mining in Uruguay

Stablecoin publisher Tether has announced that it will be launching Bitcoin mining operations in Uruguay in partnership with a local licensed company. According to Tether, the venture would use renewable energy resources aimed at “sustainable” Bitcoin mining and planned to hire additional team members. The mining announcement followed Tether’s plan to “regularly allocate up to 15%” of its profits to BTC purchases. Tether cited Uruguay’s ability to generate 94% of its electricity from renewable sources such as wind, solar and hydropower, and its reliable grid. Job postings on the website also suggested expansion to South Africa and Brazil.

Nvidia introduces AI supercomputer to create ChatGPT successors

Nvidia continues in the race to develop AI tools and applications as the company unveiled plans to release more products. CEO Jensen Huang recently unveiled a new AI supercomputing platform called DGX GH200 that will help technology companies develop successors to the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT. Big Tech companies such as Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet are expected to be among some of the pioneer users of the supercomputing equipment. Also, Microsoft is developing its own AI chip, which claims to cope with the rising cost of development for internal and OpenAI projects.

BNB NFT marketplace Tabi raises $10 million in angel funding

Nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace Tabi, formerly known as Treasureland, has completed a $10 million angel funding round staked by venture capital firms Animoca Brands, Draper Dragon, Hashkey Capital, Infinity Crypto Ventures, and Youbi Capital. Along with NFT trading and launchpad features, Tabi converts users’ on-chain activity into “experience points,” which can be exchanged for future airdrop rewards and earnings. The protocol also includes a gaming platform that merges blockchain gaming transactions and entertainment. Funds will primarily be used to develop Tabi’s gaming ecosystem and build an on-chain identity protocol.

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