Aave suspends several markets after reports of functional problems; OpenSea lays off half its staff; FTX advisors shared client data with the FBI
Aave suspends several markets after reports of functional problems
DeFi protocol Aave decided to pause a number of markets on November 4th due to an issue affecting a specific feature, Aave shared on X.
The pause affected multiple networks, including the Aave V2 Ethereum Market and certain assets on Aave V2 on Avalanche. However, some assets on Polygon, Arbitrum and Optimism are also affected.
“Today, we received a report that Aave Protocol has received issues with a specific feature,” Aave said.
The Protocol said a temporary protective measure was put in place following approval from the developers and that no funds were at risk.
Aave did not disclose the cause of the problem.
According to the protocol, Aave V3 markets on Ethereum, Base and Metis were not affected.
“A proposal will be available shortly to restore the normal functioning of the protocols. A detailed report will be published once the issue is fully resolved.”
There is no indication that the problem has affected the price of Aave’s native token, AAVE.
OpenSea lays off half its staff
NFT marketplace OpenSea announced on November 3rd that it will lay off some of its employees. CEO Devin Finzer, who made the announcement on X, said that the company will launch version 2.0 with a smaller team.
Launched in 2017, OpenSea experienced a huge rise during the NFT boom. After the crypto winter, the organization, which laid off 20 percent of its employees in July 2022, decided to downsize its team again.
About 50 percent of the company’s employees will be affected and the number of middle managers will also be reduced.
Employees will receive a four-month severance package, accelerated equity release and a six-month health and psychological support package.
The NFT marketplace reached its peak in 2021. Since then, the value of many collectibles has plummeted.
OpenSea received a huge backlash from the community when it announced in August that it would retire the filter that allowed creators to blacklist marketplaces that did not charge royalties. In response to the move, Yuga Labs, creator of Bored Ape and CryptoPunks, began scaling back the use of OpenSea’s Seaport marketplace and smart contract.
“As we rebuild, we will continue to support our existing products and test OpenSea 2.0 publicly again,” Finzer said in the X post.
FTX advisors shared client data with the FBI
Advisers to the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX shared data on customers’ transactions and accounts with the FBI, according to court documents seen by Bloomberg.
Following subpoenas sent by FBI offices over the past few months, the advisors turned over records of certain customers’ transactions.
The FBI’s requests were explained by Alvarez and Marsal, FTX’s financial advisors. Over the past few months, the firm’s staff collected information on certain client transactions for FBI offices in Portland, Philadelphia, Oakland, Minneapolis and Cleveland.
The records did not reveal any information about what kind of investigation the FBI created. However, one of the records said the matter was subject to a grand jury subpoena.
Alvarez and Marsal shared transaction data from FTX’s cloud service provider last September in response to a subpoena. They also conducted investigations into customer accounts and transactions in July following a request from the FBI’s Oakland office.
Further information was shared in response to another subpoena from the FBI’s Portland office.
FTX clients will foot the bill for all this. The two advisory firms spent about $21,000 on FBI services in July, August and September. In total, Alvarez and Marsal have sought $100 million in fees from FTX since November 2022, according to court records. These fees will be deducted from the share FTX creditors will receive.
John Ray, the new CEO of FTX, said that under the restructuring, customers could receive more than 90 percent of their funds by the end of 2024.
