Hodler’s Digest

Sam Bankman-Fried trial is underway, Alex Mashinsky trial data is set, and Binance’s market share shrinks.

Top Stories This Week

Opening arguments begin in Sam Bankman-Fried trial

The trial of former FTX CEO Sam SBF Bankman-Fried kicked off on Oct. 4 in New York after jury selection began the previous day. Assistant United States Attorney Thane Rehn told jurors that SBF used FTX customer funds to enrich himself and gain credibility among politicians through donations. The defendant blamed a downturn in the crypto market. But he had committed fraud. That is what the evidence in this trial will show. You will hear from his inner circle. His girlfriend will tell you how they stole money together, Rehn said. SBFs attorney Mark Cohen said the girlfriend, former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, and Changpeng Zhao, CEO of rival cryptocurrency exchange Binance, share some of the blame for the downfall of FTX. Check out our detailed recap on Sam Bankman-Fried’s first week at trial.

Alex Mashinskys jury trial scheduled for September 2024

Alex Mashinsky, former CEO of crypto lender Celsius, will be tried on charges of fraud and market manipulation in September 2024, a judge decided on Oct. 3. Mashinsky will remain free on $40 million bail, subject to travel and financial restriction, in the meantime. Celsius filed for bankruptcy in July 2022 and Mashinsky was arrested in July of this year. He is accused of defrauding investors out of billions of dollars. The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Trade Commission all have active suits against Mashinsky as well. Former Celsius chief revenue officer Roni Cohen-Pavon pleaded guilty to four criminal charges in September.

Binance spot market share drops for 7th consecutive month

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is continuing to lose market share for the seventh month in a row. Analysts say HTX (formerly Huobi), Bybit and DigiFinex were the beneficiaries of Binances slide. According to an analysis by CCData reported by Bloomberg, Binances share of the spot market fell from 38.5% in August to 34.3% in September. On the derivatives market, Binances share fell from 53.5% to 51.5% in the same period. Ongoing struggles with regulators in the United States were identified as one cause of Binances market share decline, but they also pointed out the end of the exchanges zero-fee trading promotion for major trading pairs and Binances withdrawal from the Russian market, which made up 7% of its traffic.

Alameda sent $4.1B of FTT tokens to FTX before crash: Nansen report

A report shared with Cointelegraph by blockchain data analyst Nansen shows that FTX moved $4.1 billion worth of its native FTT tokens to Alameda Research between Sept. 28 and Nov. 1, 2022. FTX and Alameda Research controlled around 90% of the FTT supply. Nansen suggested that the companies were using them to prop up each others balance sheets. FTX also transferred $388 million in stablecoin to Alameda Research during the same period. Data implied that Alameda Research would not have been able to go through with its offer to Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao to buy out that exchanges FTT holdings at $22 on Nov. 6. Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison made the offer on X (formerly Twitter) as the two entities scrambled to control the turmoil sparked by revelations of irregularities in their balance sheets. FTX filed for bankruptcy days later.

Valkyrie backtracks on Ether futures contract purchases until ETF launch

Asset management firm Valkyrie said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Sept. 29 that it will not purchase Ether in advance of receiving approval for its exchange-traded fund (ETF). Valkyrie had previously told Cointelegraph that it planned on allowing investors exposure to ETF futures before launching its combined Bitcoin and Ether Strategy ETF in early October. Not only that, Valkyrie said it would sell the ETH futures it had already bought. Valkyrie is among several financial firms that are expected to begin offering ETH futures ETFs soon. The SEC has delayed decisions on several of them. Observers say it may be due to concerns about a U.S. government shutdown.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $27,880, Ether (ETH) at $1,640 and XRP at $0.52. The total market cap is at $1.07 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Trust Wallet Token (TWT) at 18.11%, Avalanche (AVAX) at 17.5% and Render (RNDR) at 17%. 

The top three altcoin losers of the week are ApeCoin (APE) at -9.5%, THORChain (RUNE) at -9.3% and Curve DAO Token (CRV) at -8.8%.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraphs market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

We allowed Alameda to withdraw unlimited funds.

Gary Wang, co-founder and former chief technology officer of FTX

He told me to use Signal. He told the entire company. It also had auto-delete. […] He said it [auto-delete] was all down-side to keep messages around. If regulators found things they didnt like, it could be bad for the company.

Adam Yedidia, former FTX employee and roommate of SBF

Macroeconomic headwinds are limiting our ability to generate revenue, and in response to the current market conditions and business realities, we must reduce roles across the global business.

Pascal Gauthier, CEO and chairman of Ledger

The gravitational pull in crypto for the time being stays in BTC, with a promising event horizon down the line, still favoring aggressive accumulation.

Vetle Lundem, senior analyst at K33

Its relatively difficult to innovate in traditional finance. In crypto, its a lot better and more efficient. And in terms of cost, it is a lot more cheap. So, you can see the pace is a lot faster, and we can serve an even bigger audience than traditional finance right now.

Lennix Lai, global chief commercial officer at OKX

Banks have trillions of dollars of transactions with each other at the end of the day, but there is a cut-off time where you simply cannot transact internationally. Its a big pain point, and its also expensive and inefficient.

Akshay Chopra, vice president, head of innovation and design for CEMEA at Visa

Prediction of the Week 

Bitcoin bull market awaits as US faces bear steepener Arthur Hayes

With bond yields surging to 30-year highs, the financial markets are due for mass liquidity injections in the near future, according to BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes. This should provide the next catalyst for the crypto bull market, he said.

Why do I love these markets right now when yields are screaming higher? Bank models have no concept of a bear steepener occurring, Hayes argued. A bear steepener describes the phenomenon of long-term interest rates rising more quickly than short-term interest rates.

The faster this bear steepener rises, the faster someone goes belly up, the faster everyone recognises there is no way out other than money printing to save govt bond markets, the faster we get back to the crypto bull market, Hayes said.

FUD of the Week 

Crypto suffered 153% YoY increase in hacks and scams in Q3

Blockchain security platform Immunefi released a new report on crypto hacks and scams for the third quarter. According to the report, the number of hacks and scams increased by over 153% from July to September 2023 compared to the same period in the previous year. In Q3 2022, there were only 30 incidents, whereas there were 76 incidents in Q3 2023. A total of over $680 million of crypto was lost from scams and hacks during the quarter. The largest hack of the quarter was of the Mixin protocol, which resulted in it being drained of over $200 million, while the Multichain hack for over $126 million was the second largest. The two most targeted networks were BNB Chain and Ethereum.

Bitcoin analysts still predict a BTC price crash to $20K

Bitcoin holders were elated when the coin began October at a six-week high, but technical analysts are warning that it may be headed for a fall to $20,000 soon. According to pseudonymous Bitcoin trader CryptoBullet, the current chart shows a classic head and shoulders pattern that generally means the price is about to fall. The bottom of the left shoulder of this pattern is at around $20,000, implying that the price will fall to that point before recovering. Joao Wedson, founder and CEO of crypto trading resource Dominando Cripto, went even further, claiming that Bitcoin may fall below $20,000. According to Wedson, the current price action is forming a fractal that looks similar to the 2020-2022 period. The last time this happened, the price increased greatly in the beginning, but then collapsed back to lower levels by the end of the fractal. In Wedsons view, this implies that we may be in the early stages of a move below $20,000.

US Treasury sanctions crypto wallets as authorities crack down on fentanyl

The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States Department of the Treasury announced that it has sanctioned multiple wallets connected with manufacturers and dealers of the illicit drug, fentanyl. According to Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, the wallets have received millions of USD funds over hundreds of deposits as payment for various Fentanyl-related criminal activities. The wallet sanctions were initiated as part of an indictment that targeted some Chinese-based chemical manufacturers. Valerian Labs, Hanhong Pharmaceutical, and Hebei Crovell Biotech were three of the parties named in the indictment.

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Singer Vrits fan-first approach to Web3, music NFTs and community building

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6 Questions for JW Verret the blockchain professor whos tracking the money

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Ether futures ETFs to debut in the United States, Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial to begin and 3AC co-founder Su Zhu arrested.

Top Stories This Week

Ethereum futures ETFs to start trading next week

Investment firm Valkyrie will start offering exposure to Ether futures in the coming days. On Sept. 28, the firm told Cointelegraph that its Bitcoin Strategy ETF will allow investors access to Ether and Bitcoin futures under one wrapper, making it one of the first firms to do so amid several pending applications with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Starting Oct. 3, the funds name will be updated to the Valkyrie Bitcoin and Ether Strategy ETF. Asset manager VanEck also disclosed its upcoming Ethereum Strategy ETF, which will be listed on the Chicago Board Options Exchange in the coming days. Analysts suggested that a potential U.S. government shutdown might have accelerated the launch of Ether futures ETFs.

SBF trial dates revealed: FTX founder to stand trial over 6 weeks

Former FTX CEO Sam SBF Bankman-Fried will spend at least 21 days in court as part of his criminal trial, which will begin in earnest on Oct. 4 and last until Nov. 9, according to a newly released trial calendar posted to the public court docket. The first official date of the Bankman-Fried trial is Oct. 4, where the participants will begin discussing seven fraud charges laid against SBF. There are two substantive charges where the prosecution must convince a jury that Bankman-Fried committed the crime. Five other conspiracy charges involve the prosecution convincing a jury that Bankman-Fried planned to commit the crimes. The former FTX CEO has been serving pre-trial detention at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center since Aug. 11. If considered guilty of fraud, Bankman-Fried is likely to spend the rest of his life in prison, legal specialists explained to Cointelegraph.

3ACs Su Zhu arrested in Singapore

Co-founder of Three Arrows Capital (3AC) Su Zhu was detained at Changi Airport in Singapore while trying to leave. Teneo, the joint liquidator of the now-bankrupt hedge fund, told Cointelegraph that Zhus arrest followed a committal order from the Singapore Courts, which is a directive used to imprison someone for contempt of court. On Sept. 25, Teneo secured this committal order, alleging that Zhu didnt comply with a court order. His arrest is part of an ongoing investigation to retrieve funds for 3ACs creditors. The $10 billion hedge fund crashed in 2022 due to the collapse of the Terra ecosystem. A similar committal order was granted against Kyle Davies, also co-founder of 3AC. His whereabouts remain unknown.

Binance urges users to convert euros to USDT after Paysafe debank

Binance has warned its European users to convert their euro (EUR) balances to Tether by Oct. 31 due to the loss of support from its banking partner, Paysafe. Paysafe ceased processing EUR deposits for Binance users on Sept. 25. While EUR withdrawals to bank accounts remain available, Paysafe users wont be able to engage in EUR spot trading. Binances token swap feature, Binance Convert, will also restrict EUR transactions. Paysafe previously facilitated fiat deposits and withdrawals for Binance users in Europe, including via bank transfer in the European Unions Single Euro Payments Area. The move is the latest to add to Binances regulatory and debanking woes in the West.

SEC delays spot Bitcoin ETF decision for BlackRock, Invesco and Bitwise

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has again postponed its decision on several spot Bitcoin ETF applications, including those from BlackRock, Invesco, Bitwise and Valkyrie, ahead of a potential government shutdown. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart anticipates similar delays for Fidelity, VanEck, and WisdomTree. These delays came two weeks before the applicants expected second deadline. Seyffart links the premature delays to an anticipated U.S. government shutdown on Oct. 1, which would impact financial regulators and federal agencies.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $26,895, Ether (ETH) at $1,667 and XRP at $0.53. The total market cap is at $1.07 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Compound (COMP) at 23.71%, Chainlink (LINK) at 15.12% and THORchain (RUNE) at 14.51%. 

The top three altcoin losers of the week are Immutable (IMX) at -9.80%, UNUS SED LEO (LEO) at -5.38% and XDC Network (XDC) at -4.61%.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraphs market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

You [Gary Gensler] are kneecapping the U.S. capital markets with the avalanche of red tape coming out of your commission.

Andy Barr, U.S. representative

A central bank that introduces a CBDC should increase the choices for society, not diminish them.”

Agustn Carstens, general manager at the Bank of International Settlements

Looking like the SEC is gonna let a bunch of #Ethereum futures ETFs go next week potentially.

James Seyffart, analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence

Do you think its possible for you [Gary Gensler] to serve as an impartial regulator and not favor large financial intermediaries?

Tom Emmer, U.S. representative

[Stablecoins] will be a big driver of economic freedom in the decade ahead.

Jesse Pollak, head of protocols at Coinbase

The symbiosis between street art and Bitcoin is a powerful one. By working together, these two movements help to create a more just and equitable world.

Street, pseudonymous co-founder of the Street Cyer artist collective

Prediction of the Week 

Bitcoin shorts keep burning as BTC price seeks to hold $27K

Bitcoin (BTC) bounced around $27,000 on Sept. 29 as a challenge to month-to-date highs dragged BTC price action upward. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed the largest cryptocurrency attempting to hold gains after a classic short squeeze.

The day prior offered a trip past the $27,000 mark, with Bitcoin bulls unable to seal a fresh peak for September. Topping out at $27,300 on Bitstamp, BTC price strength returned to consolidate, still up 4% versus the weeks low at the time of writing.

Analyzing the situation on low timeframes (LTFs), popular pseudonymous trader Skew said that the upside had come courtesy of derivatives markets, with spot traders selling at the highs. LTF stuff but pretty clear spot absorption around the high so $27.2K is an important price area to clear for spot buyers, he explained on X (formerly Twitter).

Skew subsequently noted that $27,200 remained a rejection point on the day, ahead of the Wall Street open. Going into next week, he added, the market was likely to hunt both sides of the book.

FUD of the Week 

Ben BitBoy Armstrong arrested on livestream over Lambo dispute

Crypto influencer Ben Armstrong, formerly known as BitBoy, was arrested on Sept. 25 while livestreaming outside a former business associates house, claiming the associate had his Lamborghini. He was charged with loitering/prowling and simple assault by placing another in fear and was held for over eight hours before being released on a $2,600 bond and $40 in fees. In Georgia, the misdemeanor charges of loitering and prowling could result in a fine of up to $1,000, up to one year in jail, or both.

Crypto exchange claiming $1.4B trading volume uses reportedly fake license data

An investigation by Cointelegraph revealed that several cryptocurrency platforms, reporting significant daily trades on CoinMarketCap, may have provided misleading information about their crypto licenses. Bitspay, for instance, which has a daily trading volume of $1.4 billion on CoinMarketCap and ranks as the fourth-largest crypto exchange, claimed to be licensed in Estonia. However, after inquiries by Cointelegraph, Bitspay quickly removed the potentially false license data and no longer provides details about its registration or licensing.

Huobi Global hacked for $7.9M: Report

Huobi Globals HTX crypto exchange was hacked on Sept. 24, according to a report from blockchain analytics platform CyVers. A total of $7.9 million of crypto has been drained in the attack. A known Huobi hot wallet posted a message to the attacker in Chinese. According to the message, the exchange knows the identity of the attacker and has offered to let them keep 5% of the drained funds as a white-hat bonus, but only if the attacker returns the remaining 95%. Binance CEO Changpeng CZ Zhao offered the help of the exchanges security team in investigating the attack.

Blockchain detectives: Mt. Gox collapse saw birth of Chainalysis

From solving Mt. Gox to tracing crypto used by child abuse syndicates in Korea, Chainalysis has a long but sometimes controversial history.

US govt messed up my $250K Bitcoin price prediction: Tim Draper, Hall of Flame

Tim Drapers first big Bitcoin prediction came off without a hitch, but he says the current administration is making his second one look bad.

China dev fined 3 yrs salary for VPN use, 10M e-CNY airdrop: Asia Express

Chinese national fined three years’ salary for using VPN for remote work, Hangzhou airdrops 10M digital yuan, JPEX alleged Ponzi nears $200M, and more.

Binance.US scores temporary win against the SEC, Mt. Gox repayments delayed to 2024, and Tether’s $1B liquidity to Tron network.

Top Stories This Week

SEC sees temporary setback in request to access Binance.US software

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has failed to win immediate access to Binance.USs software, with the judge saying he isnt inclined to allow the inspection at this time. The hearing was held on Sept. 18 to discuss the SECs motion to compel Binance to hand over detailed information and make its executives more available for depositions. In a hearing, Judge Faruqui said that he wasnt inclined to allow the inspection at this time. Alternatively, he proposed that the SEC should come up with more specific requests for discovery and speak with a broader range of witnesses. In another headline, Binance global and its CEO Changpeng CZ Zhao requested dismissal of the SEC’s lawsuit filed against them in June, claiming the regulator overstepped its authority in the case. 

Mt. Gox trustee changes repayment deadline to October 2024

Mt. Gox trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi has officially changed the deadline for paying back the exchanges creditors from Oct. 31, 2023, to Oct. 31, 2024. Presently, the Mt. Gox estate holds some 142,000 Bitcoin (BTC), 143,000 Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and 69 billion Japanese yen. Mt. Gox was one of the earliest cryptocurrency exchanges, once facilitating more than 70% of all trades made within the blockchain ecosystem. Following a major hack in 2011, the site subsequently collapsed in 2014 due to alleged insolvency; the fallout affected about 24,000 creditors and resulted in the loss of 850,000 BTC.

Tether authorizes $1B USDT to replenish Tron network

Tether’s Treasury is set to provide a $1 billion near-term liquidity for the Tron network. The billionaire authorization was flagged by blockchain tracker WhaleAlert, which drew a quick-fire response from Tether chief technology officer Paolo Ardoino, who said that the USDT tokens would be used as inventory to replenish the Tron network. Authorizing USDT in the Tether Treasury allows the company to issue USDT instantaneously once customer funds are received to ensure that the issuer maintains 100% of its reserves. Ardoino added that the event was an authorization and not an actual issuance, with the allocated amount set to serve as inventory for upcoming issuance requests and chain swaps from the Tron network.

FTX founders parents sued, accused of stealing millions from crypto exchange

Debtors of FTX have launched legal action against the parents Sam SBF Bankman-Fried, alleging that they misappropriated millions of dollars through their involvement in the crypto exchange. The plaintiffs argued that Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried exploited their access and influence within the FTX empire to enrich themselves at the expense of the debtors in the FTX bankruptcy estate. The debtors alleged that SBFs parents were very much involved in the FTX business from inception to collapse, contrary to what SBF has claimed. According to the complaint, Bankman and Fried extracted significant unearned rewards from their involvement in FTX Group, including a $10-million cash gift and a $16.4-million luxury property in the Bahamas.

Grayscale files for new Ether futures ETF Official

Digital currency investment company Grayscale is the latest firm to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a new Ether (ETH) futures exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Grayscale Ethereum Futures Trust will hold Ether futures contracts with a “roughly constant expiration profile,” according to the filing. The trust will “never carry futures positions to cash settlement.” The nature of the Ether futures contracts in the ETF will not require the trust to use an Ether custodian. Grayscale’s application comes a few weeks after Valkyrie also filed for an Ether futures ETF with the SEC in mid-August, following several other firms filing for ETH futures ETFs.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $26,525, Ether (ETH) at $1,590 and XRP at $0.51. The total market cap is at $1.05 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Immutable (IMX) at 27.07%, Curve DAO Token (CRV) at 16.16%, and Aave (AAVE) at 15.92%. 

The top three altcoin losers of the week are Gala (GALA) at -8.57%, Axie Infinity (AXS) at -7.42%, and Optimism (OP) at -7.52%. 

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraphs market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

There remains a real risk that the use of AI develops in a way that undermines consumer trust or is dominated by a few players […].

Sarah Cardell, CEO of the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority

Dont give up on the United States. This too shall pass, the confusion shall pass. The United States is a good place to build things, and I want it to stay that way.

Hester Peirce, Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 

If the average end-user, who isnt a computer scientist, who doesnt understand blockchain, has to know about their private keys weve got it wrong. They have to be abstracted away,

James Tromans, head of Web3 at Google Cloud

Bitcoin as a global monetary network is scaling while its carbon impact declines. Few industries can claim this achievement.

Jamie Coutts, crypto market analyst at Bloomberg

It is an inevitable future where there will no longer be any intermediaries between fans and creators this is an obvious but unrealized potential of blockchain technology.

Leon Lee, founder and CEO of Only1

[The U.S. government] can do a central bank digital currency if its open, permissionless and private. It has to emulate cash.

Tom Emmer, U.S. Representative

Prediction of the Week 

Bitcoin fails to recoup post-Fed losses as $20K BTC price returns to radar

Bitcoin circled lower after the United States Federal Reserve decision on interest rates, with $20,000 BTC price predictions resurfacing. 

The aftermath of the Fed interest rates pause on Sept. 20 offered little for Bitcoin bulls, BTC/USD having dipped almost $700 the day prior. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView covered a lackluster 24 hours for BTC price action, with $27,000 fading from view.

Now, market participants returned to a more conservative outlook in the absence of tangible volatility. Something like this over the course of October would be perfect i would say, popular trader Crypto Tony told X (formerly Twitter) subscribers.

Slow grind up to $28,500, followed by hype and FOMO, to then dump it once more.

FUD of the Week 

Balancer blames social engineering attack on DNS provider for website hijack

Ethereum-based automated market maker Balancer believes a social engineering attack on its DNS service provider was what led to its websites front end being compromised on Sept. 19, leading to an estimated $238,000 in crypto stolen. Blockchain security firms SlowMist and CertiK reported that the attacker employed Angel Drainer phishing contracts. SlowMist said the exploiters attacked Balancers website via Border Gateway Protocol hijacking a process where hackers take control of IP addresses by corrupting internet routing tables. The hacker has already bridged some of the stolen Ether (ETH) to Bitcoin (BTC) addresses.

Crypto influencer arrested in Hong Kong for JPEX association

A Hong Kong-based social media influencer has reportedly been arrested after investigations around the liquidity crisis of the crypto exchange JPEX traced back their involvement. According to a local report, the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong recently issued a statement blaming JPEX for actively promoting the platforms services and products to the public through online celebrities and over-the-counter money changers. Another unconfirmed report suggests that Lin Zuo presented schemes to a chat group created for cryptocurrency investment. Also related to this story, Hong Kong regulators are looking to tighten regulations around the crypto market following the failure of JPEX, which led to the arrest of over six individuals.

CoinEx hack: Compromised private keys led to $70M theft

Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx has revealed that compromised private keys allowed hackers to steal over $70 million worth of tokens. According to CoinEx representatives, the amount represents a small percentage of its total assets under management. CoinEx stated that affected users will be compensated entirely for any lost funds. The exchange explained that a preliminary investigation pinned the root cause to a compromised private key for its hot wallets. These were used to store exchange assets for carrying out deposits and withdrawals.

AI has killed the industry: EasyTranslate boss on adapting to change

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NFT Collector: William Mapan explains generative art using a crayon and dice

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JPEX staff flee event as scandal hits, Mt. Gox woes, Diners Club crypto: Asia Express

Hong Kong crypto exchange JPEX busted in $166M scam, Mt. Gox delays repayments yet again, oldest credit card company in Singapore moves into blockchain.

Paxos makes a mistake, pays $500k in Bitcoin transfer; FTX receives court approval for token sales, and Gemini Earn users receive plan for fund recovery.

Top Stories This Week

Paxos confirms its responsible for paying a $500K Bitcoin transaction fee

The Bitcoin miner who received 19.8 BTC in fees from blockchain infrastructure firm Paxos has returned the funds following Paxos’ claim that it made a mistake in paying over $500,000 in transfer fees. On Sept. 10, Paxos paid the six-figure fee to move $2,000, with the average network fee typically being around $2. The company later acknowledged the mistake, confirming the transfer came from its servers. Almost a day after Paxos claims, the Bitcoin miner who received the funds went on X (formerly Twitter) to express frustrations after agreeing to refund the amount to Paxos. The funds were returned on Sept. 15.

Court approves sale of FTX digital assets

A bankruptcy court has approved the sale of FTX digital assets in weekly batches through an investment adviser and under preestablished guidelines. The sale does not include Bitcoin, Ether and certain insider-affiliated tokens, which can be sold through a separate decision by FTX after 10 days notice. FTX sales are not expected to have a heavy impact on markets. According to a recent shareholder update, the bankrupt exchange has $833 million worth of Bitcoin and Ether. A total of $3.4 billion is held in Digital Assets A the top 10 assets the company holds which include Solana, Bitcoin, Ether, Aptos and others.

Gemini Earn users could recover all funds in new DCG remuneration scheme

Digital Currency Group has proposed a new agreement plan for the creditors of the now-bankrupt Genesis Global. The plan estimates unsecured creditors will receive a 7090% recovery with a meaningful portion of the recovery in digital currencies. Additionally, the remuneration plan says the recovery of claims for Gemini Earn users would be projected at approximately 95110% without any contribution from Gemini. According to the filing: If Gemini were to agree to provide $100 million to Gemini Earn users under the Proposed Agreement, as it previously did, there would be little doubt Gemini Earn users would receive more than full recovery.

Franklin Templeton files for spot Bitcoin ETF

Asset manager Franklin Templeton applied with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). According to the application, the fund would be structured as a trust. Coinbase would custody the BTC, and The Bank of New York Mellon would be the cash custodian and administrator. Franklin Templeton has $1.5 trillion in assets under management and joins a long list of asset managers waiting for regulatory approval. The SEC recently delayed decisions on spot ETF applications from WisdomTree, Valkyrie, Fidelity, VanEck, Bitwise and Invesco on Aug. 31.

Two more top executives depart Binance.US amid layoffs, SEC action

The exodus of executives from crypto exchange Binance has reached the firms offshoot in the United States, as at least three top employees left Binance.US over the past few days. This week’s departures included the exchange’s CEO, Brian Shroder, alongside legal head Krishna Juvvadi and chief risk officer Sidney Majalya. The mass exit is believed to be tied to the ongoing U.S. investigation into Binance and Binance.US. The SEC sued Binance.US, Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao in June for allegedly engaging in unregistered securities operations and other improprieties. On Aug. 28, the agency requested to file sealed documents in the case, fueling concerns about a criminal probe by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $26,465, Ether (ETH) at $1,628 and XRP at $0.50. The total market cap is at $1.05 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Toncoin (TON) at 21.30%, VeChain (VET) at 11.94% and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) at 11.36%. 

The top three altcoin losers of the week are ApeCoin (APE) at -16.82%, Astar (ASTR) at 14.47% and Flare (FLR) at 12.61%.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraphs market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

I think my generation and younger than me are the ones that are really going to change that narrative for investing, whether its in cryptocurrency or other investments moving forward.

Scotty James, Australian snowboarder

The only country I would not encourage you to start a company right now is in the U.S.

Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple

Were still in the fax era of global payments.

David Marcus, former PayPal executive and co-founder Lightspark

I dont think everybody in D.C. actually fully realizes how powerful the crypto voting community block is.

Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase

You cannot get 100% transparency and 100% privacy.

Alex Svanevik, CEO of Nansen

Climate change is still a systemic threat to our species. I think as a society, we kind of owe it to ourselves to do anything that we can.

Marek Olszewski, CEO of Celo

Prediction of the Week 

Bitcoin price all-time high will precede 2024 halving New prediction

Bitcoin has a $250,000 target for after its next block subsidy halving but new all-time highs will come sooner, according to the latest BTC price prediction from BitQuant, a popular social media commentator who sees a rosy future for the largest cryptocurrency.

On Sept. 15, the pseudonymous central banker and Bitcoiner revealed a pre-halving target above $69,000. No, Bitcoin is not going to top before the halving, he wrote in part of the commentary.

Bitcoin has just over six months before the halving, the event that cuts miner rewards earned per block by 50% every four years. No, BTC is not going to $160K because the magnitude of every pullback is large, he wrote, adding that this means it will peak after the halving, in 2024. And yes, the target price is around $250K.

FUD of the Week 

SEC charges company behind Stoner Cats NFT series with unregistered securities sale

Stoner Cats 2 LLC (SC2), the company behind the Stoner Cats animated web series, has agreed to a cease-and-desist order and other measures imposed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after being charged with conducting an unregistered offering of crypto-asset securities in the form of nonfungible tokens (NFTs). According to the SEC, SC2 sold more than 10,000 NFTs for about $800 apiece. The sale took 35 minutes and occurred on July 27, 2021, and the proceeds were used to fund the series. Besides agreeing to the cease-and-desist order, SC2 will pay a civil penalty of $1 million.

OneCoin co-founder Greenwood gets 20 years in US jail for fraud, money laundering

Karl Greenwood, co-founder of OneCoin with Ruja Ignatova, was sentenced in the United States to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $300 million on Sept. 20. Ignatova remains at large. Greenwood, who is a citizen of the United Kingdom and Sweden, was sentenced in a court in New York. In a statement by the Justice Department, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams called OneCoin one of the largest fraud schemes ever perpetrated. The multilevel marketing and Ponzi scheme reaped $4 billion from 3.5 million victims, the statement said. Ignatova has not been seen since October 2017 and is on the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations Ten Most Wanted List.

North Koreas Lazarus Group responsible for $55M CoinEx hack

The attack on crypto exchange CoinEx, which drained at least $55 million, was carried out by the North Korean hacker group Lazarus, according to blockchain security firm SlowMist and pseudonymous on-chain investigator ZachXBT. The hacker group was identified after it inadvertently exposed its address, which was the same one used in the recent Stake and Optimism hacks. On Sept. 12, CoinEx saw large outflows of funds to an address without any prior history. Security experts immediately suspected that the exchange was breached, with initial estimates reaching approximately $27 million.

Are DAOs overhyped and unworkable? Lessons from the front lines

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6 Questions for Kei Oda: From Goldman Sachs to cryptocurrency

Kei Oda spent 16 years trading bonds for Goldman Sachs a life that eventually bored him. That was when he turned to cryptocurrency.

Web3 Gamer: PUBG devs Web3 project, Animocas $20M raise, Shardbound review

The company behind PUBG announces a new Web3 platform, monetization in Web3 and more.

Binance executives depart, Nasdaq will trade AI-based orders and a bail appeal is denied for Sam Bankman-Fried.

Top Stories This Week

Binance crypto exchange saw 10 key execs leave in 2023. Heres the list

A key talking point in the crypto community has been the ongoing exodus of executives from Binance amid growing regulatory troubles. Binance has seen the departure of 10 key executives from various departments in the first nine months of 2023. The latest to join the list is Helen Hai, executive vice president of Binance, who announced her resignation from her post on Sept. 6. On the same day, Gleb Kostarev, vice president of Eastern Europe, Turkey, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Australia and New Zealand at Binance, also announced his resignation, as did CIS general manager Vladimir Smerkis. Four top executives from Binance reportedly all left on the same day after Binances response to the United States Department of Justice investigation. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has hosed down recent rumors against his firm, assuring its balance sheet and employee retention remain robust despite the recent market uncertainty.

Nasdaq receives SEC approval for AI-based trade orders

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has approved Nasdaq’s request to operate its first AI-driven order type on Sept. 8. Called the dynamic midpoint extended life order (M-ELO), the new system expands on the M-ELO automated order type by making it dynamic, meaning it will use artificial intelligence to update and, essentially, recalibrate itself in real-time. The follow-on effect should be a significant acceleration of orders placed with the system. Nasdaq says the dynamic M-ELO demonstrated a 20.3% increase in fill rates and an 11.4% reduction in mark-outs during its research and testing.

Appellate judge denies Sam Bankman-Frieds request for immediate release from jail

Former FTX CEO Sam SBF Bankman-Fried lost an initial appeal to be released again on bail prior to his criminal trial. His lawyers had petitioned the court for temporary release, claiming the current measures to allow SBF to prepare for his trial were inadequate due to limited internet access. An appeals court denied the motion on Sept. 6, maintaining SBF’s detention at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. The former FTX CEO had his bail revoked on Aug. 11, following allegations of witness intimidation for leaking, to The New York Times, personal notes and diary entries from former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison. SBF has roughly four weeks to prepare for his Oct. 3 trial.

Following SEC delays, ARK Invest and 21Shares file for spot Ether ETF

ARK Invest and 21Shares requested the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to approve the listing of shares of a spot Ether ETF on the Cboe BZX Exchange. The investment vehicle, called the ARK 21Shares Ethereum ETF, will have crypto exchange Coinbase act as a custodian and will measure the performance of Ether based on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate. The proposal from ARK Invest and 21Shares is one of many spot crypto ETFs that will be reviewed by the SEC in the coming months. The U.S. regulator has been delaying decisions on crypto investments products lately, especially concerning Bitcoin spot ETF proposals.

Grayscale asks SEC to meet on way forward for Bitcoin ETF conversion

Grayscale has told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it has no legal reasoning left to block the conversion of its flagship Bitcoin fund to a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF). The company’s lawyers sent a letter to the SEC requesting the pair meet to discuss the next steps following the regulators court loss regarding the conversion of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) on Aug. 29. Grayscale added that it believes the SEC should conclude there are no grounds for treating the GBTC differently from Bitcoin futures ETFs whose filings the Commission has previously approved. According to Grayscale, its fund conversion application has been pending for nearly three times longer than the length of time stipulated by the SECs rules.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $25,871, Ether (ETH) at $1,635 and XRP at $0.50. The total market cap is at $1.04 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Synthetix (SNX) at 12.86%, Stellar (XLM) at 9.83% and Render (RNDR) at 9.09%. 

The top three altcoin losers of the week are Gala (GALA) at -14.74%, Mantle (MNT) at -7.49% and Flare (FLR) at -7.06%.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraphs market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

I feel bad that I have to tell people that the United States is probably not where they want to be, but the tide is turning.

David Schwartz, chief technology officer at Ripple

I do think that the worlds of traditional and blockchain-based financial systems can co-exist, and likely will in the new future.

Yida Gao, founder and managing general partner of Shima Capital

DeFi is the future; the volume is somewhere between 5% to 10% of CeFi volumes, which is not small, right? […] The next bull run may very well make DeFi bigger than CeFi.

Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance

ChatGPT will enable a bunch of people that have never had all this training to jump in, they can start right now and I start to worry about morphological design problems buried in there.

Kang Li, chief security officer at Certik

The Bitcoin Ordinal protocol is better designed for decentralization and security than the Ethereum NFT protocol. High-value NFTs will win on Bitcoin.

Danny Yang, co-founder and CEO of Metagood

Australia would have a regulated digital assets market. Instead, it is close to the end of 2023, and the government has no plan to implement these regulations.

Andrew Bragg, Australian Senator

Prediction of the Week 

Bitcoin price can hit $46K by 2024 halving Interview with Filbfilb

Bitcoin has a chance to end 2023 at $35,000 despite heading lower in between, veteran pseudonymous analyst Filbfilb believes. In an interview with Cointelegraph, the co-founder of trading suite DecenTrader revealed some BTC price targets that should resonate with the long-term holder base.

Based on the previous cycles, Filbfilb sees a contraction of new emitted supply to market in advance of the halving. Coupled by increased speculative demand, this dynamic is likely to repeat in my opinion, he pointed out in reference to a possible reversal in price behavior due to the upcoming halving.

Regarding BTC price action in 2023 compared to other pre-halving years, the analyst notes that there has been a failure to break the 100-week moving average thus far, which is a notable difference [compared to pre-halving years], Filbfilb stated, adding that assuming no black swan event, around $35,000 by the end of the year and possibly as high as $46,000 some time pre-halving in Q1 2024.

FUD of the Week 

CFTC fines Mirror Trading $1.7B for Bitcoin-related forex fraud

United States regulators have finally taken steps to resolve an enforcement case against collapsed trading organization Mirror Trading International (MTI). A district court in Texas ordered MTI to pay $1.7 billion in restitution to victims for operating a fraudulent scheme involving digital assets and forex, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced on Sept. 7. MTI went into provisional liquidation in late 2020 after one of its directors allegedly escaped the country, grabbing roughly $1 billion in Bitcoin that investors had entrusted to the company.

Turkish crypto exchange Thodex CEO gets 11,000-year sentence for $2B scam

The former CEO of Turkish crypto exchange Thodex, Faruk Fatih zer, was sentenced to 11,196 years in prison by a Turkish court on charges of establishing, managing and being a member of an organization, qualified fraud and laundering of property values. The court gave zer and his two siblings the same jail sentence, along with a $5 million fine, local media reported. The Turkish crypto exchange was one of the largest digital asset trading platforms in the country before it abruptly imploded in 2021, halting services without prior notice, with zer fleeing the country with users assets totaling $2 billion in crypto.

Stake hack of $41M was performed by North Korean group: FBI

The $41 million hack of crypto gambling site Stake was carried out by the North Korean hacking collective Lazarus Group, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation stated in an announcement. The group has stolen more than $200 million in crypto in 2023. Stake, a crypto gambling platform, was the victim of a cyberattack on Sept. 4 that drained over $41 million worth of cryptocurrency from its hot wallets. The Stake team stated that the hacker only obtained a small percentage of funds and that users would not be affected.

Big Questions: Whats with all the crypto deaths?

Stuffed down toilets, dismembered in suitcases crypto has been the common denominator for several gruesome murders and mysterious deaths this year.

NFT collapse and monster egos feature in new Murakami exhibition

Famed Japanese artist Takashi Murakami’s new exhibition comments on digital ego and the shaky status of the NFT industry.

Crypto lawyer Irina Heaver on death threats, lawsuit predictions: Hall of Flame

Irina Heaver moved to crypto after she could no longer “sit in the boardroom listening to that corporate bullshit.

Keep track of Grayscale’s victory over the SEC, Ben Armstrong getting the boot and delays for spot Bitcoin ETFs.

Top Stories This Week 

Grayscale wins SEC lawsuit for Bitcoin ETF review

Crypto asset manager Grayscale Investments recently scored a big win in its battle against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. 

In an ongoing effort to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), the U.S. appeals court judge accepted Grayscale’s argument that the SECs rejection of its recent ETF application was unfair. The SEC had alleged that the GBTC didnt have enough safe practices and fraud protection in place.

Judge Neomi Rao gave the green light to Grayscales request for a second review.Previously, Rao said that the SEC did not offer any explanation as to why Grayscale was in the wrong.

However, the victory doesnt automatically mean Grayscales Bitcoin ETF is a done deal. Theres still more to come

BitBoy Crypto brand will no longer include YouTuber Ben Armstrong

The parent company of Hit Network, the folks behind the BitBoy Crypto brand, just gave the boot to its public face, Ben Armstrong.

The company alleged issues of substance abuse and financial damage as reasons behind the decision. 

In a YouTube and social media announcement, Hit Network revealed that despite its efforts to support Armstrong during his struggle with addiction, it had decided to part ways with the influencer.

This follows Armstrong facing a series of lawsuits in recent times. He was in a class-action lawsuit where investors accused him and other influencers of promoting FTX without disclosing how much they were getting paid by the exchange.

Furthermore, during the lawsuit, there were claims that Armstrong threatened the plaintiffs lawyers and even blew off a federal judges orders to show up in court. The case was put on hold in June. 

SEC delays decision on 6 spot Bitcoin ETF applications

The SEC has chosen to postpone delivering a decision on six applications for spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States. The commission has opted to extend its review period by an additional 45 days, pushing the eventual decision back until October. Shortly after the news broke, the SEC also put BlackRock, the biggest asset manager in the world, in the same delayed decision boat.

Bitwise withdraws Bitcoin and Ether Market Cap ETF application

In a surprising twist following the U.S. SECs announcement of delays, Bitwise has submitted a request to retract its application for its Bitcoin and Ether Market Cap Weight Strategy ETF. This application was originally submitted to the SEC on Aug. 3. It seems that Bitwise is taking a step back to reconsider its approach, despite the brief positive market sentiment that followed Grayscales recent SEC win.

Robinhood bought back Sam Bankman-Frieds stake from US govt for $606M

Crypto and stock trading platform Robinhood scooped up more than 55 million shares of their own company that were previously owned by Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX. The purchase, which cost Robinhood roughly $606 million, was finalized this week after it filed the paperwork with the U.S. SEC. These shares originally held by Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang, a co-founder of FTX, through a company called Emergent Fidelity Technologies.

However, back in January, the U.S. Department of Justice seized these shares. The purchase has been in the works for a while. Robinhoods board of directors gave it the green light in its Q4 2022 report, and an SEC filing from August confirmed that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York approved the purchase without any legal complications.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $25,610, Ether (ETH) at $1,618 and XRP (XRP) at $0.49. The total market cap is $1.03 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap. 

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Toncoin (TON) at 33.90%, Iota (MIOTA) at 13.13% and Maker (MKR) at 12.33%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week are KuCoin Token (KCS) at 15.53%, Hedera (HBAR) at 15.02% and Astar (ASTR) at 12.82%.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraphs market analysis. 

Most Memorable Quotes

There are many cases where transparency is a feature, but people do not want most transactions in the economy to be public.

Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase

Now that the courts are starting to rein in the SEC a bit, I think theres some hope that the industry is kind of igniting again in the U.S.

Jeremy McLaughlin, partner at K&L Gates

“In the end, we will win. You cant steal someones company they built on their identity and win.”

Ben Armstrong, former frontman of BitBoy Crypto

I definitely do think we could see in this next cycle $100,000 cost per Bitcoin, and thats based on if BTC were to capture even 2 to 5% of golds $13 trillion place in institutional portfolios.

Sue Ennis, vice president of Hut 8

We see limited downside for crypto markets over the near term.

JPMorgan analysts

I spoke to a guy the other day that has 80 altcoins in his portfolio. There’s no way an individual investor can stay across and know exactly what 80 different coins are doing at any one time.

Ben Simpson, founder of Collective Shift

 Prediction of the Week

Bitcoin risks swift $23K dive after BTC price loses 11% in August

Data indicates that Bitcoin is on track for a retest of long-term support levels following a drop in BTC price as August came to a close. Reversing the gains witnessed the previous week, BTC/USD is now trading below $26,000 as of Sept. 1, according to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView.

Initially, market participants had reasons to be optimistic as Bitcoin held a key long-term trendline and maintained the $27,000 level. However, a decision by the U.S. SEC to delay several Bitcoin ETF applications caused a change in sentiment.Bitcoin swiftly shed $1,000 in value over just two hourly candles.

Traders have been speculating over the movements. On-chain data suggests that $BTC lacks strong support below the $25,400 mark, popular pseudonymous trader Ali told X (formerly Twitter) subscribers.

On-chain monitoring resource Material Indicators delivered a similarly grim picture for BTC/USD on daily, weekly and even monthly timeframes. Using signals from one of its proprietary trading tools, Trend Precognition, Material Indicators advised that $24,750 needed to hold for bulls to have a chance at clinching a rebound.

FUD of the Week

Balancer exploited in nearly $900k after vulnerability warning.

The Ethereum automated market maker and decentralized finance protocol, Balancer, confirmed that it had fallen victim to an exploit, resulting in losses of nearly $900,000. This incident occurred shortly after it had disclosed a vulnerability that impacted several pools.

An Ethereum address allegedly belonging to the attacker has been revealed by blockchain security expert Meier Dolev. Following the exploit, the address received two transfers of Dai stablecoin worth $636,812 and $257,527, respectively, bringing its total balance to over $893,978.

Balancer is aware of an exploit related to the vulnerability below, the protocols team posted on X, adding that, while mitigation measures taken in recent days had drastically reduced risks, affected pools could not be paused. To prevent further exploits, users must withdraw from affected LPs, the team advised.

Brazilian crypto streamer loses money by accidentally exposing private key

A Brazilian cryptocurrency streamer is one of the latest victims of unsafe self-custody practices, reportedly losing thousands of dollars due to a private key accident. The owner of the Fraternidade Crypto channel, Ivan Bianco, unwittingly exposed his private key to a self-custodial cryptocurrency wallet during a livestream on YouTube.

In the middle of the livestream related to Bitcoin and blockchain games, Bianco apparently tried to access his passwords for the blockchain games platform Gala Games through a text file on his computer.

Unfortunately for the streamer, his Gala Games passwords were stored in the same text file as the seed phrase for his MetaMask wallet, which had a significant amount of Polygon (MATIC).

Exploits, hacks and scams stole almost $1B in 2023: Report

Cybersecurity firm CertiK reported that over $997 million was lost to flash loan attacks, exit scams and exploits in 2023. Malicious actors targeting the crypto space have taken more than $45 million in digital assets from their victims in the month of August alone and a total of $997 million year-to-date.

In the report, CertiK highlighted that exit scams took around $26 million, flash loan attacks took $6.4 million, and exploits took $13.5 million from their victims in August 2023. The cybersecurity firm confirmed that the total losses amounted to over $45 million.

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Crypto Banters Ran Neuner says Ripple is despicable, tips hat to ZachXBT: Hall of Flame

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Sam Bankman-Fried faces challenges in jail, Tornado Cash’s developer is arrested, and a Bitcoin whale holding $3 billion is identified.

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Tornado Cash co-founders charged with money laundering, sanctions violations

United States officials pressed charges against the co-founders of crypto mixer Tornado Cash on Aug. 23. Roman Storm and Roman Semenov were both charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit sanctions violations and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business. Storm was arrested and released on bail a few days later, while Semenov was added to the U.S. list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons. Combined, the charges carry a maximum sentence of 45 years in prison. The third Tornado Cash co-founder, Alexey Pertsev, was arrested in the Netherlands on money laundering charges in August 2022. The law enforcement actions are a continuation of a U.S. government crackdown on Tornado Cash that began last year due to its alleged role in laundering funds of the Lazarus Group, a North Korean-linked hacking collective. Tornado Cash has been implicated in several other hacks as well. All told, the mixer has laundered over $1 billion in ill-gotten gains, the U.S. Department of Justice alleges.

Sam Bankman-Fried is low on meds, living on $3 peanut butter in prison

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried appears to be having a tough time behind bars, eating only bread with peanut butter to accommodate his vegan diet while exhausting his supply of prescription medication. In the same hearing where Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to seven fraud-related charges, his lawyers pleaded for the former FTX CEO to receive better treatment inside Brooklyns notorious Metropolitan Detention Center. Also this week, Bankman-Fried was granted permission to meet with his legal team outside of jail with 48 hours’ notice. Every day, he will have roughly seven hours to prepare for his upcoming trial expected to begin in October.

Mystery solved: Bitcoin wallet accruing $3B in 3 months is identified

The mysterious Bitcoin wallet that surged up the ranks to become the third-largest holder of Bitcoin in the world in just over three months, has been identified. Blockchain intelligence platform Arkham Intelligence labeled the wallet as Robinhood: Jump Trading Custody. According to data from crypto statistics platform BitInfoCharts, the wallet address first received Bitcoin on March 8. Over the course of the next three months and two weeks, the wallet had accrued a staggering 118,000 BTC worth $3.08 billion at current prices. The current largest Bitcoin wallets in the world, according to BitInfoCharts, are reportedly owned by Binance and Bitfinex as Bitcoin cold wallets.

Prime Trust parent company lost $8M investing in TerraUSD

The parent company of crypto custodian Prime Trust currently involved in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings has reported losing roughly $8 million in client and treasury funds through TerraUSD investments, presumably when the algorithmic stablecoin collapsed in May 2022. The company described the investment as well as a ramping up of spending in October and November 2022 in the midst of FTX’s collapse as contributing to its bankruptcy filing. Court documents show Prime Trust owed more than $85 million in fiat and $69.5 million in crypto to its clients. The collapse of the Terra ecosystem triggered a major market crash in 2022, affecting several firms including FTX, BlockFi, Celsius Network and Voyager Digital.

PEPE whale seizes dip opportunity, buys $529K worth of tokens

A Pepe holder bought 640 billion Pepe tokens for 320 Ether valued at $529,000 after the price of the frog-themed memecoin dropped by approximately 15% due to recent changes to a multisig wallet and concerns about potential developer manipulation. According to on-chain analytics platform Lookonchain, the whale purchased PEPE at an average price of $0.000001163. The value of the once-popular memecoin plunged after changes related to the amount of signatures required to sign transactions led to worries about a potential rug pull, which was later confirmed by one of the project’s co-founders.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $26,040, Ether (ETH) at $1,653 and XRP at $0.52. The total market cap is at $1.05 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Bone ShibaSwap (BONE) at 18.58%, Sui (SUI) at 12.86% and Toncoin (TON) at 11.97%. 

The top three altcoin losers of the week are Pepe (PEPE) at -21.07%, XDC Network (XDC) at -9.62% and ApeCoin (APE) at -8.35%.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraphs market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

If history were to repeat itself, the next halving would see bitcoin rising to $35k before the halving and $148k after.

Pantera Capital

A new computing era has begun. Companies worldwide are transitioning from general-purpose to accelerated computing and generative AI.

Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA

Some of the people who currently think that there should not be effective law enforcement on-chain would feel differently if they got hacked, defrauded, or lost their private keys.

Mike Kanovitz, CEO of Jurat

You could never underestimate the damage the SECs lawsuit has caused – not only against Ripple – but #XRP. Three years of adoption – thats what its caused.

John Deaton, pro-XRP lawyer

AI will never replace human creativity because it will always lack the essential spark that drives the most talented artists to do their best work, which is intention.

Neal Mohan, CEO of YouTube

Blockchain and AI can certainly co-exist they’re both pillars of Web3.

Aydin Kilic, CEO of Hive Digital Technologies

Prediction of the Week 

Bitcoin overconfidence reigns but bulls must reclaim $27.8K Trader

Bitcoin needs to reclaim one key moving average to regain its bullish status, argues popular pseudonymous analyst CryptoCon, warning that bulls remained too optimistic about the $26,000 BTC price support holding.

For CryptoCon, the 20-week exponential moving average (EMA), now at $27,750, must be won back as support in order for the uptrend to be safe. I have been covering this moving average a lot recently, but I believe it is critical for Bitcoin to regain its bullish status, he wrote.

The analysis compared current BTC price action to its rebound from 2018 cycle lows. It is very important that Bitcoin both rises above and retests the 20 Week EMA as support, CryptoCon noted with a chart showing the similarities between 2019 and 2023, with the retest and subsequent successful EMA reclaim circled.

FUD of the Week 

Chinese official sentenced to life in prison for Bitcoin mining, corruption

A Chinese government official has been sentenced to life in prison for illegitimate business operations related to running a 2.4 billion Chinese yuan ($329 million) Bitcoin mining enterprise and for unrelated charges of corruption. Prosecutors say Xiao Yi a former member of the Jiangxi Provincial Political Consultative Conference Party Group covered up the mining operation by instructing relevant departments to fabricate statistical reports and adjust the classification of electricity consumption. From 2017 to 2020, his facility’s electricity consumption accounted for 10% of the city of Fuzhous total electricity consumption.

FBI flags 6 Bitcoin wallets linked to North Korea, urges vigilance in crypto firms

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has flagged six Bitcoin wallets linked to North Korean state-backed hacking group Lazarus. The six wallets contain 1,580 BTC worth $40 million believed to be hoarded from various cryptocurrency hacks over the past year. The FBI in its investigation found that Lazarus Group moved approximately 1,580 BTC linked with several crypto exploits. The hacking group has been actively involved in multiple crypto-linked exploits over the years and are believed to have stolen nearly $2 billion in crypto since 2018.

OpenSea manager accused of insider trading sentenced to 3 months in prison, $50K fine

A federal judge has sentenced former OpenSea product manager Nathaniel Chastain to three months in prison for wire fraud and money laundering related to insider trading on the platform. He was accused of using insider information in his position at OpenSea to profit off the trading of NFTs. In his position as product manager, he had the authority to choose which NFTs would be featured on the OpenSea website. He purchased 45 NFTs prior to them being featured and then resold them.

Recursive inscriptions: Bitcoin supercomputer and BTC DeFi coming soon

Some believe that Ordinals and recursive inscriptions could supercharge the Bitcoin network as a viable competitor to smart contract platforms. Its not going to be easy, though.

AI Eye: Get better results being nice to ChatGPT, AI fake child porn debate, Amazons AI reviews

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NFT Collector: Giant Swans gothic VR dreamscapes royalty nightmare on OpenSea

From crying in his car to putting the first 3D object onchain the story of Giant Swan. Plus royalties race to the bottom accelerates due to OpenSea.

SEC files motion for appeal on Ripple’s case, Bitcoin and Ether prices plunge and Europe welcomes first spot Bitcoin ETF.

Top Stories This Week

Judge grants SEC request to file motion for appeal in Ripple case

Judge Analisa Torres has granted a request from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to file a motion for leave to file an interlocutory appeal in its case against Ripple Labs. The decision allowed the SEC to file a motion, on Aug. 18, requesting permission to bring a case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Ripple will also be able to file an opposition to the motion. Torres ruled, on July 13, that Ripples XRP token is not a security when distributed in public sales, but the ruling considered XRP a security in institutional sales. The case against Ripple has been ongoing since December 2020, when the SEC sued Ripple and its executives over allegations of offering an unregistered security.

Bitcoin, Ether price slump leads to crypto bloodbath with $1B in liquidations

The Bitcoin and Ether price slide on Aug. 18 saw the top two cryptocurrencies fall to a two-month low and triggered a series of liquidations for thousands of derivative traders. The crypto bloodbath led to billions of dollars worth of hedged positions being liquidated, and several traders lost millions of dollars in a single trade. According to CoinGlass data, a total of 176,752 traders got liquidated within hours, indicating a rapid rise in price volatility just days after BTC and ETH recorded their lowest daily volatility in several years. The price function in the crypto market was attributed to several factors, including the SpaceX Bitcoin write-down and macroeconomic factors.

Bitcoin-friendly El Salvador sees bond returns soar to 70% in 2023

El Salvador, which adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender in 2021, has seen its dollar bond outperform the majority of the emerging markets with a 70% return in 2023. The massive rally of the bond has now drawn interest from several institutional giants, including JP Morgan, Eaton Vance and PGIM Fixed Income, prompting President Nayib Bukele to say, I told you so. Apart from the institutional giants, the likes of Lord Abbett & Co LLC, Neuberger Berman Group LLC and UBS Group AG have also added debt security since April. El Salvador paid $800 million in debt in full within the due maturing time at the start of this year, raising confidence in the countrys bonds again.

First EU spot Bitcoin ETF hits Euronext Amsterdam exchange

Europe welcomed its first-ever spot Bitcoin ETF after the long-awaited launch of Jacobi Asset Managements Jacobi FT Wilshire Bitcoin ETF. The London-based digital asset management firm announced that its new investment product was going live on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange on Aug. 15, more than a year later than its planned launch in 2022. The new ETF is trading under the BCOIN ticker. Its launch marks a milestone for Europe, while United States regulators are yet to approve a number of similar spot Bitcoin ETF applications from major asset managers, including BlackRock and Fidelity. The new ETF is trading under the BCOIN ticker.

Coinbase wins NFA approval to offer Bitcoin and Ether futures in US

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has obtained approval from the National Futures Association (NFA) to offer investments in crypto futures to eligible customers in the United States. The approval enables Coinbase to introduce Bitcoin and Ether futures contracts through a derivatives exchange regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Following the decision, the exchange’s website displayed a link for joining an early access waiting list. Coinbase claims the global crypto derivatives market accounts for 75% of crypto trading volume worldwide.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $26,031, Ether (ETH) at $1,660 and XRP at $0.50. The total market cap is at $1.05 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Sei (SEI) at 1948.54%, THORChain (RUNE) at 42.10%, and Akash Network (AKT) at 25.80%. 

The top three altcoin losers of the week are Conflux (CFX) at -28.05%, Compound (COMP) at -23.83%, and Litecoin (LTC) at -22.99%.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraphs market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

We do transactions every day, we work for money, we save money, but no one teaches us about it. If you want to make a change, people and families need to learn about money.

Roman Martnez, community leader at Bitcoin Beach

The Canadian regulators have been collaborative, helpful. [] Theres a clear regulatory pathway. Its allowed us to invest in the country.

Mark Greenberg, managing director for Kraken Canada

[Xs Community Notes is] the closest thing to an instantiation of crypto values that we have seen in the mainstream world.

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum

Not only are we seeing growing demand for regulated custody solutions in the United States, but were also seeing the demand on a global scale.

Mike Belshe, CEO of BitGo

Evidence is piling up that we’re in the early stages of a new cycle. Risk assets like stocks [and] crypto have been sniffing this out all year.

Kevin Kelly, co-founder of Delphi Digital

Two significant catalysts are supporting Bitcoin and Ethereum prices into year-end: the potential SEC approval for a […] Bitcoin ETF and Ethereums EIP-4844 upgrade.

Henrik Andersson, chief investment officer at Apollo Crypto

Prediction of the Week 

BTC price nears $26K amid warning Bitcoin sell pressure can double

Bitcoin stayed near two-month lows at the Aug. 18 Wall Street open as markets came to terms with extreme liquidations.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC price action tracking sideways after a single daily candle spawned 8% losses. The largest cryptocurrency saw a cascade of liquidations across derivatives markets, with these accounting for an outsized majority amid relatively slack spot selling.

For popular pseudonymous trader and analyst Rekt Capital, the picture was bleak a double-top formation for BTC/USD in 2023, and a complete lack of support from trend lines and moving averages during the breakdown.

BTC formed its Higher High at ~$31000 on inclining volume. But price formed the second half of its Double Top on declining volume, he wrote, warning that capitulation had likely not yet matched previous sell-offs. In fact, current Seller Volume would need to probably double to reach those Seller Exhaustion volume levels that prompted price reversals in early & late March as well as mid-June.

FUD of the Week 

Shibarium denies bridge issues, calls it FUD

The team behind the newly released Shibarium mainnet has denied reports of bridge problems and asset losses, saying screenshots floating around the crypto community are false. According to Shytoshi Kusama, co-founder of the Shiba Inu ecosystem, a massive influx of transactions and user activity lead to technical difficulties in Shibarium, but funds in the protocol remain safe. First concerns about Shibarium surfaced in the crypto community after screenshots reportedly captured an internal conversation indicating the team was allegedly unable to recover assets bridged to the recently launched Shibarium network.

SwirlLend rugs on new Coinbase layer 2 Base as large number of scammers reported

Base, Coinbases new layer 2, has already seen an influx of bad actors. In the latest incident, crypto lender SwirlLend has apparently carried out a rug pull. PeckShield reported that SwirlLend transferred tokens from Base and Linea, bridging the crypto to Ethereum. It then created a new token and laundered 253.2 ETH through the Tornado Cash crypto mixer. SwirlLend has shut down its social media accounts and website. Its total value locked on Base has fallen from $784,300 to $49,200. Crypto trade surveillance firm Solidus Labs also found more than 500 scam tokens on Base.

FBI seizes almost $2M of crypto assets in 3 months

A public filing released by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) shows that the law enforcement agency seized around $1.7 million worth of digital assets from March to May. In particular, the FBI seized $147,000 in Bitcoin (BTC), $800,000 in Ether (ETH), $307,000 in Tether (USDT), 469,000 in Dai (DAI) and $20,000 in Monero (XMR). Assets were confiscated from a wide range of sources, including Binance exchange wallets. According to the FBI, the seizures of the assets were a result of various breaches in federal regulations.

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Real reason for Chinas war on crypto, 3AC judges embarrassing mistake: Asia Express

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Sam Bankman-Fried has bail revoked, ordered to jail; the SEC delays decision on a spot Bitcoin ETF; and the SEC moves to appeal on Ripple’s case.

Top Stories This Week

Judge revokes Sam Bankman-Frieds bail, remands him to custody

FTX’s former CEO, Sam SBF Bankman-Fried, had his bail revoked by a federal judge in response to the release of information to The New York Times allegedly intended to intimidate witnesses. During a hearing on Aug. 11, Judge Lewis Kaplan revoked Bankman-Fried’s bail and remanded him to custody, likely at the Putnam County Correctional Facility. Once his October trial begins, he could be moved to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Bankman-Fried was reportedly led out of the courtroom in handcuffs. In Kaplan’s view, Bankman-Frieds interviews with NYT reporters resulted in sharing information with the likely intention to hurt and frighten former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, his former colleague and girlfriend.

SEC punts on ARK 21Shares spot Bitcoin ETF, opens proposal to comments

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has delayed a decision on whether to approve or disapprove the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposed by ARK Investment Management and 21Shares. ARK originally filed to list the ETF in May, giving the SEC a maximum of 240 days until January 2024 to reach a final decision. The SECs latest move is fueling expectations that a final verdict will come as part of a batch that includes applications from key players on Wall Street, including BlackRock and Fidelity Investments.

SEC to seek appeal and stay in Ripple Labs court case

The U.S. SEC is moving to appeal a court decision from its lawsuit against Ripple Labs. In a letter to Judge Analisa Torres the presiding judge in the case the SEC said it believed her decision warrants a fresh look by an appellate court. The commission asked Judge Torres to put the case on hold during the appeal, saying there are multiple other pending court cases that could be affected, depending on the appeals outcome. The SEC is currently in a legal battle with a number of crypto firms, including Binance and Coinbase, over alleged securities violations. Judge Torres ruled, in July, that Ripple’s native token, XRP, is not a security when sold to retail investors. Torres plans to schedule the jury trial for the second quarter of 2024.

PayPal launches PYUSD stablecoin for payment

PayPal launched a new U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin called PayPal USD (PYUSD). Built on the Ethereum network, the stablecoin is backed by U.S. dollar deposits, short-term treasuries and similar cash equivalents. According to PayPal, the stablecoin will soon be available as a mode of payment for various purchases. The fintech company is home to over 350 million active users, putting it in a strong position to become a crypto payment giant with the introduction of the new stablecoin. PYUSD will be redeemable for U.S. dollars and can be exchanged for other cryptocurrencies on PayPal, as well as being transferable between PayPal and Venmo accounts.

Temasek, Sequoia Capital, Softbank, leading VCs face lawsuit for abetting FTX fraud

Eighteen leading venture capital investment firms, including Temasek, Sequoia Capital, Sino Global Capital and SoftBank, have been named as defendants in a class-action lawsuit filed in the United States for their links to the now-bankrupt crypto exchange, FTX. According to the lawsuit, the investment firms were responsible for aiding and abetting the FTX fraud. The suit further claims that the defendants used their power, influence and deep pockets to launch FTXs house of cards to its multibillion-dollar scale.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $29,379, Ether (ETH) at $1,842 and XRP at $0.63. The total market cap is at $1.17 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are THORChain (RUNE) at 20.74%, Shiba Inu (SHIB) at 20.16% and dYdX (DYDX) at 9.63%. 

The top three altcoin losers of the week are GMX (GMX) -12.47%, Mantle (MNT) at -10.10% and XDC Network (XDC) at -8.09%.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraphs market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

Stablecoins represent the issuance of a new form of money, making it integral that there are Federal guardrails.

Maxine Waters, United States representative

This is the Ethereum contract address for PayPal’s stablecoin. I can’t believe i get to tweet that. We’ve come so far.

Ryan Sean Adams, crypto investor

By offering users a relatively seamless way to execute transactions, bots have the potential to carve out their own niche in the crypto ecosystem.

Jie Xuan Chua, analyst at Binance Research

PayPal USD is the most significant leap forward for digital assets and the financial industry.

Charles Cascarilla, CEO of Paxos Trust Company

It is clear that the world needs and will need something like Worldcoin in the coming years. We just hope that happens in a privacy-preserving decentralized, open-source, permissionless way.

Tiago Sada, head of product at Tools for Humanity

By accepting digital currencies, we open our doors to a new segment of donors who are tech-savvy and wish to make a difference through their digital assets.

Benjamin William, CEO of the Singapore Red Cross

Prediction of the Week 

Bitcoin trader reveals important BTC price zone as bulls hold $29.3K

Bitcoin faces a new battleground as bulls and bears fight for control of a sideways market. Popular pseudonymous trader Daan Crypto Trades flagged, in his latest analysis, a key level to reclaim as BTC price support.

According to the trader, both Bitcoin bulls and bears are caught in a strongly contested range, resulting from various trips above and below the current spot price, making the midpoint the level to watch next.

Pretty clear that the $29.529.7K region is an area thats strongly contested by the bulls and bears, Daan Crypto Trades wrote.

Bitcoin price has essentially remained the same since mid-June $28,500 as fundamental support, $31,800 as resistance. Gaining control of the area around $29,700 is, thus, an essential move if bulls are to build the necessary momentum to change the landscape for good, the trader added.

FUD of the Week 

Only 6 out of 45 crypto wallet brands have undergone penetration testing: Report

Cybersecurity platform CER found that only six of 45 cryptocurrency wallet brands, or 13.3%, have undergone penetration testing to find security vulnerabilities. Of these, only three brands have performed tests on the latest versions of their products: MetaMask, Zengo and Trust Wallet. An overall ranking of the security of each wallet lists MetaMask, Zengo, Rabby, Trust Wallet and Coinbase Wallet as being the most secure wallets on the market.

US Fed steps up oversight of banks’ involvement with crypto firms

The U.S. Federal Reserve is expanding the scope of its supervision for banks engaged with the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry. Under the Novel Activities Supervision Program, companies providing banking infrastructure to digital asset firms or working with companies that use distributed ledger technologies will be regulated. The policies apply to both insured and uninsured U.S. banks supervised by the Fed. Activities regulated under the program include the custody, lending, trading, issuance or distribution of crypto including stablecoins.

SEC announces $24M settlement for case against Bittrex and its former CEO

The U.S. SEC announced an agreement with crypto trading platform Bittrex and its co-founder and former CEO, William Shihara, for operating an unregistered exchange.Bittrex and Bittrex Global agreed to pay $14.4 million in disgorgement (the repayment of ill-gotten gains), $4 million in prejudgment interest, and $5.6 million in civil penalties to settle the legal dispute with the federal regulator. The agreement is still subject to court approval. The SECs complaint, filed in April, claimed Bittrex and Shihara operated an unregistered national securities exchange, broker and clearing agency.

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Curve Finance’s dramatic exploit exposes DeFi, DoJ concerns of a run on Binance, and Hong Kong debuts retail crypto trading.

Top Stories This Week

Curve-Vyper exploit exposes DeFi to stress test, triggers community action

The decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem experienced a challenging week after a seismic security incident led to over $61 million being stolen from Curve Finances pools, leaving several protocols facing broader contagion risks. This attack exposed vulnerabilities across DeFi projects and sparked efforts to recover stolen funds over the past few days, hammering the performance of tokens and even stablecoins as a result of the dramatic ups and downs in this story. As the community navigates the aftermath of this exploit, Cointelegraph compiled the weeks events, presenting a timeline of what happened since the hack on July 30.

US DoJ is concerned about a run on Binance should prosecutors bring fraud charges

The United States Department of Justice is reportedly considering charging cryptocurrency exchange Binance with fraud, but hesitating based on costs to consumers. According to people familiar with the matter, Justice Department officials are concerned about an indictment against Binance causing a run similar to what happened with FTX in November 2022. The officials are considering fines or non-prosecution agreements for Binance rather than criminal charges in an effort to reduce the harm to consumers. Binance has been targeted by a criminal probe in the U.S. for allegedly violating the countrys sanctions on Russia and has also faced lawsuits from U.S. regulators.

Hong Kong debuts retail crypto trading with HashKey and OSL

Digital asset firm HashKey has successfully obtained all necessary licensing to broaden its business from serving professional investors to taking on retail users, as Hong Kong expands its cryptocurrency trading to individual investors. The first license, Type 1, allows HashKey to operate a virtual asset trading platform under Hong Kongs securities laws. The second one, Type 7, officially enables the firm to provide automated trading services to both institutional and retail users. OSL, another local crypto firm, received an upgrade to its existing license from Hong Kongs Securities and Futures Commission, allowing it to offer Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) trading to retail investors immediately.

Coinbase denies SEC told it to delist everything but Bitcoin

Coinbase has denied reports claiming that its CEO, Brian Armstrong, was once told by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to delist all cryptocurrencies on its platform except for Bitcoin. In an interview with the Financial Times, Armstrong reportedly stated that the SEC wanted Coinbase to delist the nearly 250 tokens on its platform. According to a Coinbase spokesperson, however, the report is missing context and the SEC didn’t request Coinbase to delist any specific assets. SEC Chair Gary Gensler has previously claimed that everything other than Bitcoin is a security under the agencys remit.

Ethereums 8th birthday: Crypto industry shares its top moments

The crypto community has come together to celebrate the birthday of the Ethereum network, marking eight years since the Ethereum Foundation first sent the network live.

On July 30, 2015, former Ethereum Foundation CCO Stephan Tual penned a blog post, officially announcing that the network had been rolled out. The vision of a censorship-proof world computer that anyone can program, paying exclusively for what they use and nothing more, is now a reality, he wrote. Eight years later, Ethereum and its native currency, Ether (ETH), has grown to become the second-largest crypto asset in existence, boasting a market capitalization of $225 billion and more than 1,900 monthly active developers.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $28,985, Ether (ETH) at $1,823 and XRP at $0.63. The total market cap is at $1.16 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Helium (HNT) at 39.79%, XDC Network (XDC) at 20.11% and Bone ShibaSwap (BONE) at 18.04%. 

The top three altcoin losers of the week are Compound (COMP) at -18.41%, Curve DAO Token (CRV) at -15.86% and Stellar (XLM) at -14.36%.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraphs market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

The digital asset products and services that TASE is exploring will no doubt play foundational roles in the future of Israels economy.

Michael Shaulov, CEO of Fireblocks

Spot [Bitcoin] ETFs will serve another set of customers in a synergistic fashion to grow the entire asset class.

Michael Saylor, CEO of Microstrategy

“Generative AI has enormous economic potential and could boost global labor productivity by more than 1 percentage point a year in the decade following widespread usage.

Goldman Sachs

I personally have not seen any audit reports of USDT. I don’t think most people I spoke to have not seen that either. So it’s kind of a black box because we just don’t know.

Changpeng CZ Zhao, CEO of Binance

As president, on day one, CBDC goes into the trash can were not going to allow it.

Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida

The most important thing that happened this year in Bitcoin is Larry Fink.

Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital

Prediction of the Week 

BTC price upside yet to come at $29K after Bitcoin RSI reset Trader

Bitcoin has not yet seen the majority of its gains this cycle, popular traders believe. After over a month of acting within a tight trading range, traders patience with Bitcoin is wearing thin, but amid expectations that BTC price will test levels closer to $25,000 or even lower, pseudonymous analyst Credible Crypto is one of those arguing the opposite.

Analyzing data, including Bitcoin market cap dominance and its relative strength index (RSI), he concluded that conditions had been reset. Biggest upside moves on BTC are YET TO COME, he summarized, before adding that:

A month of sideways action on BTC and dominance has simply made a higher low. H12 bullish div confirmed, RSI on higher TF looks reset, maintaining above the magic 40 RSI level, who’s ready for the next leg up?

Continuing, fellow pseudonymous trader CryptoCon flagged RSI over longer timeframes to deliver a similarly bullish take on BTC price performance:

I see price going sideways, and I’ve never been more bullish! Just wait until we break into phase 2 on the 3 Week RSI… Early bull market price action, period.

FUD of the Week 

Is SBF secretly behind BALD? Crypto Twitter debates latest conspiracy

Crypto Twitter has been abuzz with debate after a new conspiracy theory has suggested FTX founder Sam SBF Bankman-Fried may be secretly behind one of the most controversial new memecoins on Base. The Bald memecoin was launched on July 30 and witnessed an incredible 289,000% gain within the first 24 hours of trading. After the tokens anonymous developer removed thousands of ETH in liquidity, the price of Bald plummeted more than 85% sparking allegations of a rug pull, which the developer has denied. The incident led a number of blockchain sleuths to dig into the developers on-chain past, prompting some to draw a link to SBF as the Ethereum wallet address responsible for deploying the Bald token, which had received thousands of ETH in funding from wallets associated with FTX and Alameda Research.

Individual charged with money laundering admits to hacking Bitfinex in 2016

Ilya Lichtenstein admitted to a U.S. court that he was the individual behind an exploit of cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex in 2016 which resulted in the theft of roughly 119,754 Bitcoin. Lichtenstein spoke as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, who charged him and his wife Heather Morgan with money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the United States. The couple allegedly laundered more than 94,643 BTC from the Bitfinex hack worth roughly $54 million at the time.

Users said CertiKs warning was a false alarm then the project rugged

Blockchain security firm Certik tried, in 2022, to warn users of an imminent rug pull surrounding a crypto project, but investors became angry and fired back. The firm rescinded the security alert. Then, the project pulled the plug. This is the story behind the Web3 gaming project Crypto Cars. At the time, the projects native token was rapidly falling in price, its website was temporarily down, and its developers said that it would no longer respond on its Telegram due to the Lunar New Year holiday celebrated in Vietnam. The situation triggered Certik’s alert, but when Cointelegraph attempted to follow up with the project on Aug. 1, 2023, it had long ago shut its doors.

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