Binance said it has resumed spot trading, deposits, and withdrawals after a temporary pause due to a technical glitch. The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange had earlier paused spot trading citing an “issue” that it’s working to resolve.

Investors King learnt that Binance users took to Twitter to complain about issues on the Binance platform. Within minutes, the crypto exchange took cognizance of the issue, stating it was a bug and thereafter disabled spot trading in order to work on it.

Similarly, a few minutes after the complaint, Binance C.E.O Changpeng Zhao told his followers on Twitter that one of the exchange’s matching engines had encountered the bug. The tweet was followed by his famous assurance, “Funds are SAFU”.

Zhao followed up on his tweet with another one, informing Binance users that the affected engine was back online. Nearly two hours after the technical issue struck the crypto exchange, the CEO confirmed that the issue had been resolved.

The famous crypto billionaire thereafter informed his followers that some malicious people had used the technical glitch to spread FUD about the crypto exchange. He added that the people behind the FUD aimed to purchase a large number of cryptocurrencies at discount prices. 

News of the outage caused about a $700 dip in the price of bitcoin (BTC), but by the time Binance trading came back online, bitcoin had returned to about the $28,000 level.

Meanwhile, Investors King understands that this is not the first time Binance platform will witness an outage. In November 2021, Binance had an outage that led to a lawsuit from a group of Italian investors who claimed to have racked up “tens of millions” in losses.

Binance platform processes billions of dollars in daily trading volume, therefore any technical glitch can lead to serious loss of funds if not quickly mitigated. The platform has facilitated more than $ 13 billion in the past 24 hours, data from CoinMarketCap reveals. 

The founder of Terraform Labs, Do Kwon, is reported to have been arrested in Montenegro. A tweet by the country’s minister of interior, Filip Adzic disclosed.

Kwon has been the target of several investigations and was even on Interpol’s red notice after the collapse of stablecoin terraUSD (UST) estimated at slightly over $40 billion in market value.

According to the minister’s tweet which was also sighted by Investors King, Do Kwon was called “one of the world’s most wanted fugitives.” He was alleged to be travelling under a false name with fake documents.

Kwon had earlier claimed on Twitter that he was not “on the run,” but refused to disclose his whereabouts due to worries about his personal security.

In September 2022, South Korean authorities issued an arrest warrant for Mr Kwon stating that his company Terraform Labs had violated capital market rules.

Similarly earlier this year, US regulators accused Mr Kwon and his company Terraform Labs of “orchestrating a multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud”. 

The charges specifically cite that Kwon lied to customers and investors in interviews and social media posts about how many people were using the Terra blockchain ecosystem. SEC has also alleged that Kwon has been living large after transferring 10,000 bitcoin to an unnamed Swiss bank.

Meanwhile, Interpol has confirmed the arrest of Do Kwon, stating that his arrest was confirmed through a fingerprint match. Do Kwon has been on the watch list of the International police following his complicity in the collapse of the Terra Ecosystem. He is expected to be extradited to the United States where the court has declared him wanted. 

About Do Kwon 

Kwon, a South Korean national, founded the blockchain platform behind the TerraUSD stablecoin and its sister coin Luna. Both coins lost their value in a matter of days in May 2022, wiping about $40 billion from the crypto market and setting off panic across the cryptocurrency industry. 

Tether, the cryptocurrency firm behind the USDT stablecoin, has estimated that it will earn $700 million in profit for Q1 2023, surpassing the $1 billion mark in excess reserves for the first time.

Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s chief technology officer, revealed the figures in an interview with CNBC, adding that the company plans to use the excess reserves to further capitalize its stablecoin.

Tether’s USDT stablecoin is pegged one-to-one with the U.S. dollar and is backed by real-world assets, including fiat currency and U.S. Treasurys, Investors King reports.

The stablecoin is used by traders to move in and out of different cryptocurrencies without the need to convert money back into fiat currencies.

In recent years, stablecoin issuers have faced criticism for not being transparent enough about the assets they hold in reserve to back their digital currency. Tether initially held commercial paper, or short-term, unsecured debt issued by companies, but later moved into U.S. Treasurys, which are considered a more stable and reliable asset.

The company produces attestations, reports produced by an auditor, to attest to the company’s reserves and the assets it holds.

Tether makes money from various fees, investments in digital tokens and precious metals, and issuing loans to other institutions. The value of all the USDT in circulation has grown substantially this month, thanks in part to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, which has boosted investor confidence in Tether.

Despite Tether’s success, the company has faced ongoing scrutiny over its reserves and financial stability. Ardoino defended the company’s record, questioning why people are still questioning its reserves, even after traditional lenders like Credit Suisse have collapsed. He argued that Tether is making money while banks are failing, making it a safer option for investors.