Voyager seeks buyers; NFT related cryptos autumn
Cryptocurrency deals have come to dominate illicit currency transactions in South Korea, Bloomberg News reported Thursday (August 24).
Citing government data, the report said prosecutors have seen four crypto cases this year that violated local currency transaction rules, involving 1.5 trillion won ($1.1 billion). That figure is nearly double what was reported last year, and 70 times as much as of 2020.
Almost three-quarters of transactions that violated foreign exchange rules was the crypto link, compared to 61% in 2021, the data shows.
Bloomberg said the four cases are unrelated to another ongoing investigation into South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service worth $3.4 billion in “abnormal” currency transactions in Korean banks that may be linked to illegal crypto activity.
Meanwhile, troubled lender Voyager Digital has attracted interest from some of the biggest players in the crypto industry in its hunt for a buyer.
Coindesk reported that the exchanges Binance and FTX are among the interested buyers, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Bids for Voyager’s assets are due Sept. 6 for the sale, which is happening as part of the bankruptcy. A winner can be chosen at an auction – if necessary – on September 29. Coindesk said at least 22 investors have expressed interest in buying Voyager’s assets. A source said US crypto exchange Coinbase had considered a deal but ended up pulling out.
Also, cryptocurrencies with ties to non-fungible tokens (NFT) and the metaverse have underperformed this week as enthusiasm for the NFT market wanes, Coindesk reported.
Among these cryptos is the Flow network’s FLOW token, which can be used to build NFTs and decentralized applications on the Web3 platform. It has fallen 20% over the past seven days, the second-biggest weekly decline among 52 cryptocurrencies with a market capitalization greater than $1 billion.
The report also cited data from NonFungible.com showing that the amount of US dollars traded in the NFT market fell 25% in the second quarter compared to the first, while NFT resale earnings fell 46% to a total loss of $1.4 billion.
The minimum purchase price for an NFT from Bored Ape Yacht Club, the largest NFT collection by market value, is down more than 50%.
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