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Crypto asset manager Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust has crossed the $1 billion mark in assets under management (AUM).

The milestone means Grayscale is now managing a billion-dollar worth of ether (ETH) on behalf of its clients. Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust allows investors to take indirect exposure to ETH in the form of a security, while avoiding the challenges of buying and storing ETH directly.

Last month, Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust became a registered reporting company with the Securities and Exchange Commission to file quarterly and annual reports with the regulator. 

Besides Ethereum Trust, Grayscale offers several investment products, and its total AUM stands at $8.5 billion as of November 5.

© 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Crypto bank Sygnum has ventured into staking services. The bank now offers up to 5% annual rewards for staking Tezos (XTZ) token.

Sygnum said the move makes it the first regulated bank to launch staking for Tezos. The bank’s clients can buy XTZ via fiat currencies and then stake it to earn passive income.

It is not clear whether Sygnum charges any commission for the staking service. The Block has reached out to the bank and will update this story should we hear back.

Coinbase Custody, currently the biggest staking service for Tezos, charges a 25% commission. Crypto exchanges Kraken and Binance, on the other hand, do not charge any staking fees.

Martin Burgherr, chief clients officer of Sygnum Bank, said XTZ is the first token on the bank’s staking platform and more proof-of-stake tokens could be added in the future.

© 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Crypto exchange OKEx has hired “external legal counsel” to help resume withdrawals it halted on October 16.

Announcing the update on Friday, OKEx said it has also contacted some private key holders. OKEx halted withdrawals three weeks ago as one of its private key holders has been “out of touch” and is undergoing police investigation. OKEx today said it cannot reveal details of the investigation as the matter is confidential.

“The personnel that is assisting investigation is in good condition and is cooperating with the police department,” said the exchange.

OKEx further said that media reports claiming that the detained private key holder has been criminally charged are a “rumor.”

Reiterating its previous statements, OKEx said user funds are safe and business operations are normal. The exchange will make “every effort to restore the withdrawal function as soon as possible,” it said.

Some media reports in the past have claimed that the detained person is OKEx founder Star Xu. An OKEx spokesperson denied any connection with Xu at the time.

© 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

EY, the court-appointed trustee of now-defunct Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX, has laid out a plan for compensating affected users.

In a report published Thursday, EY said it wants to settle Quadriga users’ crypto claims as of prices on April 15, 2019 — the date on which the exchange declared bankruptcy.

EY is now seeking the Ontario Superior Court of Justice’s approval for the said date. Once approved, the firm would convert users’ crypto and USD claims to Canadian dollars as of April 15, 2019.

“The Trustee is requesting an order of the Court to establish the currency conversion rates by which U.S. dollar and cryptocurrency claims will be converted into Canadian dollars for claim distribution purposes. The specific Date of Bankruptcy (April 15, 2019) rates that the Trustee intends to use are set out in the…chart.”

Another potential date for claims settlement was February 5, 2019, when EY took control of the QuadrigaCX case. But EY chose April 15, 2019, because it is in line with the guidance provided by Canada’s Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA).

“The Trustee believes that the BIA requires the conversion to Canadian dollars to occur using rates or prices as at the Date of Bankruptcy,” said EY. “Section 121 of the BIA provides that all debts and liabilities, present or future, to which the bankrupt is subject on the day on which the bankrupt becomes bankrupt would similarly support an exchange rate in respect of cryptocurrencies, consistent with the manner in which claims in foreign currencies (and securities) are valued.”

If the court approves the April 2019 date, users could be at a considerable loss since crypto prices have shot up in recent days. At today’s prices, user claims are worth about $421 million, while as of April 15, 2019, the claims are worth about $222 million. 

EY has received 17,053 claim forms as of September 11, 2020, with the total number of claims being 42,957. Users have claimed assets in bitcoin (BTC), bitcoin cash (BCH), bitcoin SV (BSV), bitcoin gold (BTG), ether (ETH), litecoin (LTC), Canadian dollars (CDN), and U.S. dollars (USD).

EY, however, has only about $30 million worth of funds available for distribution currently. It wants to give it out on a pro-rata basis, pending court approval. The distribution schedule is yet to be announced. 

QuadrigaCX went bankrupt last year after its founder and CEO Gerald Cotten, the sole possessor of the exchange’s private keys, was reported dead.

© 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.