<strong>Solend Governance Debacle, ProShares Launches BTC Short ETF, WeChat Bans Crypto Accounts</strong>

Solend Governance Debacle

Solend, a decentralized protocol for lending and borrowing on Solana, voted to take over a whale's account without their permission on Sunday. After an uproar on Twitter, Solend Labs voted to invalidate their initial proposal. Instead, they would increase governance voting time to 1 day and work on a new proposal that does not involve emergency powers to take over an account.

The whale account in question had deposited 5.7 million SOL tokens and borrowed 107 million USDC and USDT. Their liquidation price is $22.30. With the crypto market crashing, the risk of liquidation was high. A liquidation event would put the whole Solana ecosystem at risk and the price of the SOL token. Solend Labs reached out publicly to the account owner to lower their leverage. However, the whale did not respond to their request. Solend Labs wanted to temporarily take over the whales account and liquidate the funds over the counter (OTC).

“Tough time right now with pressure from all sides. We're committed to protecting user funds, transparency, and doing what's right,” tweeted Rooter, the founder of Solend. 

ProShares Launches BTC Short ETF

ProShares, a U.S.-based exchange-traded funds (ETF) issuer, is launching the first short bitcoin-linked ETF called BITI. “As recent times have shown, bitcoin can drop in value. BITI affords investors who believe that the price of bitcoin will drop an opportunity to potentially profit or to hedge their cryptocurrency holdings,” said Michael L. Sapir, the CEO ProShares. 

ETFs provide traditional investors exposure to the cryptocurrency market through regulated products offered by regulated investment firms. It's an alternative to participating in the crypto market without holding cryptocurrency assets.

In 2021, ProShares launched the first bitcoin ETF called BITO in the United States. The ETF fund attracted more than $1 billion from the public in less than 48 hours. 

WeChat Bans Crypto Accounts

WeChat, a Chinese social media and payment app, has updated its rules to ban accounts that offer cryptocurrency information and payments. The platform has over 1.1 billion users. In March, the social media giant also suspended accounts associated with NFTs.

The updated rules include banning all transactions of digital currency and collections. The penalty for violating the rules is account restrictions and a permanent ban from the platform.

Written by Lindi Miti © Crypto University 2022