Tether announces $700 million profit for the fourth quarter; Kraken ends staking program due to deal with SEC; Ethereum NFT collections lost 60% of market cap in 2022.
Tether announces $700 million profit for the fourth quarter
Tether reported a profit of $700 million in its fourth quarter report.
The stablecoin issuer emphasized that Tether’s reserves remain liquid in its Q4 2022 report, which was approved by accounting firm BDO.
According to the report, Tether’s total consolidated assets stood at $67.04 billion, while its consolidated total liabilities stood at $66.08 billion. This means that there is an excess of 960 million dollars in reserves.
A Tether spokesperson told The Block that $700 million in profits is part of shareholder equity. He pointed out that these funds are additional capital involved to strengthen Tether.
Last December, The Wall Street Journal said that Tether’s growing list of loans could become irreversible in the event of a potential crisis. On top of that, Tether announced that it will remove all secured loans in 2023. According to the report, Tether reduced secured loans by $300 million.
The company announced in October 2022 that it had removed commercial paper from its reserves. Tether’s other assets include corporate bonds, funds and precious metals.
Tether’s stablecoin, USDT, is among the largest stablecoins, with a supply of 68 billion.
Kraken ends staking program due to deal with SEC
Kraken has agreed to pay $30 million, ending its crypto staking service under an agreement with the SEC.
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has faced SEC investigation for violating securities rules.
The SEC blamed Kraken for its staking program and stated that it did not register these services.
Kraken has agreed to immediately cease its staking services and offerings of securities through its staking programs and pay a $30 million penalty fee, according to the SEC’s official website.
Kraken has offered staking services to the public since 2019, according to the SEC complaint. Kraken collects clients’ assets and stakes them on their behalf, allowing investors to earn income.
According to the SEC, when investors stake their tokens, they lose control of these assets and assume the risks associated with the platform with little protection.
SEC Chairman Gensler used the following statements on the subject:
“While offering investment contracts in exchange for investors’ tokens, whether through staking, credit and other means, crypto brokers must ensure appropriate disclosure and investor protection as required by our securities laws.
Ethereum NFT collections lost 60% of market cap in 2022
As in the entire cryptocurrency industry, NFTs had a bad chart in 2022. NFTs launched after the crypto winter, on the other hand, performed better than the others.
According to the report released by DappRadar on February 9, the Ethereum-based 81 NFT collection suffered a sharp loss in 2022.
According to DappRadar’s valuation, the Ethereum NFT market was valued at $9.3 billion at the start of 2022. This value decreased to 3.7 billion dollars with a loss of 59.6% at the end of the year. The decline in Ether’s value also affected NFT collections.
The NFT market peaked at $19.1 billion in February 2022 and managed to outpace Bitcoin and Ether until the Terra crash in May. By the next month, NFTs had lost 88% of their market value. The NFT market hit a year low of $2.2 billion at the end of November when FTX crashed.
Yuga Labs, CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club collections accounted for almost half of the market in terms of finance.
The Azuki, Pudgy Penguins and Degen Toonz collections saw increases of 113.89%, 260% and 204%, respectively.
NFT collections launched after the Terre crash, on the other hand, posted higher gains. Potatose was up 134.68%, Renga was up 211.63%, DigiDaigaku was up 209.88%, and God Hates NFTees was up 1.653.28%.