“Should Have Bought” is a news podcast featuring the ForkLog editorial team and friends, discussing the week’s major industry events and the hottest tokens.
Topics of this episode include the market’s renewed growth, the invasion of BLOB-analogues Ordinals on Ethereum, KuCoin’s “laundering” issues, and a new wave of meme madness.
Participants: ForkLog authors Lena Jess, Alex K., Vasily Smirnov.
Special guests: visitors from the post-apocalyptic universe of Undeads, Alexander the Fiftieth and Ed Gamprov.
KuCoin Crisis
The U.S. Federal Prosecutor accuses KuCoin of laundering $9 billion. From 2017 to 2023, the exchange did not implement KYC/AML procedures, serving 30 million clients, and did not register with FinCEN.
KuCoin was used for laundering funds from criminal activities and failed to report suspicious transactions. In 2023, the company considered closure amid a criminal investigation in the U.S. and scrutiny from Chinese authorities.
However, KuCoin representatives assured users that operations continue and assets are secure. They claimed compliance with laws and regulations, as well as “strict adherence to compliance standards.”
CommEX Closure
The cryptocurrency exchange CommEX announced a gradual cessation of operations, starting with the closure of trading pairs on April 18 and ending with the website shutdown on May 10.
Binance stated that the curated trading platform failed to meet its deal obligations.
Analysts note CommEX’s small audience and the popularity of other exchanges among Russians, including Bybit, MEXC, KuCoin, Gate.io, and Bitget.
New Developments Around Binance
The Philippine SEC has taken steps against Binance, requesting the blocking of its sites for offering investment services without a license, including spot, derivatives, savings crypto accounts, etc.
Meanwhile, Binance’s director for West and East Africa, Nadim Anjarwalla, illegally left Nigeria, according to local media. Reports indicate the top manager escaped custody on March 22 after being taken to a nearby mosque for prayer.
Anjarwalla escaped custody in Nigeria and left the country on an international flight using a Kenyan passport. Authorities are investigating how the British citizen, which he is, obtained a travel document, given that detainees had their passports confiscated.
Invasion of BLOB-analogues Ordinals on Ethereum
Vitalik Buterin believes the next five years are crucial for Ethereum’s mass adoption and global acceptance. He emphasizes that low fees and user-friendly interfaces are vital for attracting new users.
Buterin also mentioned the potential of account abstraction for enhancing security and convenience, including changing/revoking private keys, account recovery, and paying gas in ERC-20.
Metis CEO Tom Ngo stated that the Dencun upgrade is foundational for global blockchain adoption and reducing fees—the main barriers to mass acceptance.
However, following the major upgrade and activation of EIP-4844 in Ethereum, the use of BLOB transactions for creating “inscriptions” akin to Bitcoin Ordinals reached 100%.
This data is “ephemeral,” stored only for 18 days, remaining solely in full archival nodes.
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