Coinbase Pro Lists Stellar Lumens, And Former QuadrigaCX CEO Misappropriated Exchange Funds

The State of The Market — March 14, 2019BTC: $3,902.74 (-0.26%)ETH: $132.87 (-0.53%)XRP: $0.312247 (-1.33%)

The market continues to remain unchanged today, adding less than $150 million to the total market cap in the last 24 hours. For Bitcoin, both the bulls and the bears are not ready to give up yet, as the 24-hour trade volume is at a constant $10 Billion. Most of the coins have changed by less than 2%. We might see some action over the weekend, but that is not a guarantee as there was no movement during the previous weekend.

In other news, users of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.com can now directly withdraw their holdings to the firm’s wallet app. The wallet app will soon be updated, and coinbase users can link it with their accounts. Once connected, users can transfer their funds instantly with just a couple of clicks. Also, International Securities Dealer 1pool Ltd. is facing fines of almost $1 Million for running an illegal Bitcoin operation. 1pool Ltd. was a Marshals island-based firm which dealt in BTC-funded security-based swaps. offering illegal BTC-margined retail commodity transactions to customers in the U.S, without registering as a futures commission merchant. They also failed to comply with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) protocols.

1) Yesterday, Coinbase Pro announced that it had listed Stellar Lumens (XLM) on its platform. The exchange stated that it would accept XLM deposits for 12 hours before commencing with full trading. According to the post, the process of enabling XLM’s full trading includes limit, market, and stop orders, which will involve three stages. These are transfer-only, post-only, and limit-only. Per Coinbase Pro, XLM trading will be available for customers in Coinbase’s supported jurisdictions initially, and support in other regions might come later on. This news comes after Coinbase Pro listed XRP last month. (Read More)

2) Jennifer Robertson, the widow of recently deceased QuadrigaCX founder Gerald Cotten, announced that her husband mixed his own private funds with customer funds on the exchange to compensate customers during a legal battle with a bank. According to Robertson, Cotten did this after the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) froze the exchange’s fiat holding in January 2018 over questions about the origin of the funds. The statement was issued by law firm Stewart McKelvey and in it, Robertson said, “While I had no direct knowledge of how Gerry operated the business, he told me that he had been putting his own money back into QCX to fund user withdrawals in 2018 while the CIBC money remained frozen.” Robertson issued the statement to show CEO Gerald Cotten “had the best interests of the business in mind and cared for his customers.” (Read More)

3) Mark Karpelès, the former CEO of now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox is receiving his sentencing on Friday. He is currently facing up to 10 years in prison for embezzlement charges. The 33-year-old is accused of stealing $3 Million of customer funds and faking exchange data. The prosecution claims that he diverted Mt. Gox funds to his other companies, including a 3D printing firm. However, Karpelès maintains his innocence. The exchange filed for bankruptcy in 2014 after losing 850,000 bitcoins to a hack. Karpelès is certain to face conviction as Japan has a 99% conviction rate. (Read More)