SBF trial underway, Mashinsky trial set, Binance’s market share shrinks: Hodler’s Digest, Oct. 1-7

Top Stories This Week

Opening arguments statesman successful Sam Bankman-Fried trial

The proceedings of erstwhile FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried kicked disconnected connected Oct. 4 successful New York aft assemblage enactment began the erstwhile day. Assistant United States Attorney Thane Rehn told jurors that SBF utilized FTX lawsuit funds to enrich himself and summation credibility among politicians done donations. “The suspect blamed a downturn successful the crypto market. But helium had committed fraud. That is what the grounds successful this proceedings volition show. You volition perceive from his interior circle. His woman volition archer you however they stole wealth together,” Rehn said. SBF’s lawyer Mark Cohen said the “girlfriend,” erstwhile Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, and Changpeng Zhao, CEO of rival cryptocurrency speech Binance, stock immoderate of the blasted for the downfall of FTX. Check retired our detailed recap connected Sam Bankman-Fried’s archetypal week astatine trial.

Alex Mashinsky’s assemblage proceedings scheduled for September 2024

Alex Mashinsky, erstwhile CEO of crypto lender Celsius, will beryllium tried connected charges of fraud and marketplace manipulation successful September 2024, a justice decided connected Oct. 3. Mashinsky volition stay escaped connected $40 cardinal bail, taxable to question and fiscal restriction, successful the meantime. Celsius filed for bankruptcy successful July 2022 and Mashinsky was arrested successful July of this year. He is accused of defrauding investors retired of billions of dollars. The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Trade Commission each person progressive suits against Mashinsky arsenic well. Former Celsius main gross serviceman Roni Cohen-Pavon pleaded blameworthy to 4 transgression charges successful September.

Cryptocurrency speech Binance is continuing to suffer marketplace stock for the seventh period successful a row. Analysts accidental HTX (formerly Huobi), Bybit and DigiFinex were the beneficiaries of Binance’s slide. According to an investigation by CCData reported by Bloomberg, Binance’s share of the spot marketplace fell from 38.5% successful August to 34.3% successful September. On the derivatives market, Binance’s stock fell from 53.5% to 51.5% successful the aforesaid period. Ongoing struggles with regulators successful the United States were identified arsenic 1 origin of Binance’s marketplace stock decline, but they besides pointed retired the extremity of the exchange’s zero-fee trading promotion for large trading pairs and Binance’s withdrawal from the Russian market, which made up 7% of its traffic.

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

A study shared with Cointelegraph by blockchain information expert Nansen shows that FTX moved $4.1 cardinal worthy of its autochthonal FTT tokens to Alameda Research betwixt Sept. 28 and Nov. 1, 2022. FTX and Alameda Research controlled astir 90% of the FTT supply. Nansen suggested that the companies were utilizing them to prop up each other’s equilibrium sheets. FTX besides transferred $388 cardinal successful stablecoin to Alameda Research during the aforesaid period. Data implied that Alameda Research would not person been capable to spell done with its connection to Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao to bargain retired that exchange’s FTT holdings astatine $22 connected Nov. 6. Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison made the connection connected X (formerly Twitter) arsenic the 2 entities scrambled to power the turmoil sparked by revelations of irregularities successful their equilibrium sheets. FTX filed for bankruptcy days later.

Valkyrie backtracks connected Ether futures declaration purchases until ETF launch

Asset absorption steadfast Valkyrie said successful a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) connected Sept. 29 that it volition not acquisition Ether successful beforehand of receiving support for its exchange-traded money (ETF). Valkyrie had antecedently told Cointelegraph that it planned connected allowing investors vulnerability to ETF futures earlier launching its combined Bitcoin and Ether Strategy ETF successful aboriginal October. Not lone that, Valkyrie said it would merchantability the ETH futures it had already bought. Valkyrie is among respective fiscal firms that are expected to statesman offering ETH futures ETFs soon. The SEC has delayed decisions connected respective of them. Observers accidental it whitethorn beryllium owed to concerns astir a U.S. authorities shutdown.

Winners and Losers

At the extremity of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is astatine $27,880, Ether (ETH) astatine $1,640 and XRP astatine $0.52. The full marketplace headdress is astatine $1.07 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the apical 3 altcoin gainers of the week are Trust Wallet Token (TWT) astatine 18.11%, Avalanche (AVAX) astatine 17.5% and Render (RNDR) astatine 17%. 

Most Memorable Quotations

“We allowed Alameda to retreat unlimited funds.”

Gary Wang, co-founder and erstwhile main exertion serviceman of FTX

“He told maine to usage Signal. He told the full company. It besides had auto-delete. […] He said it [auto-delete] was each down-side to support messages around. If regulators recovered things they didn’t like, it could beryllium atrocious for the company.”

Adam Yedidia, erstwhile FTX worker and roommate of SBF

“Macroeconomic headwinds are limiting our quality to make revenue, and successful effect to the existent marketplace conditions and concern realities, we indispensable trim roles crossed the planetary business.”

Pascal Gauthier, CEO and president of Ledger

“The gravitational propulsion successful crypto for the clip being stays successful BTC, with a promising lawsuit skyline down the line, inactive favoring assertive accumulation.”

Vetle Lundem, elder expert astatine K33

“It’s comparatively hard to innovate successful accepted finance. In crypto, it’s a batch amended and much efficient. And successful presumption of cost, it is simply a batch much cheap. So, you tin spot the gait is simply a batch faster, and we tin service an adjacent bigger assemblage than accepted concern close now.”

Lennix Lai, planetary main commercialized serviceman astatine OKX

“Banks person trillions of dollars of transactions with each different astatine the extremity of the day, but determination is simply a cut-off clip wherever you simply cannot transact internationally. It’s a large symptom point, and it’s besides costly and inefficient.”

Akshay Chopra, vice president, caput of innovation and plan for CEMEA astatine Visa

Prediction of the Week 

Bitcoin bull marketplace awaits arsenic US faces ‘bear steepener’ — Arthur Hayes

With enslaved yields surging to 30-year highs, the fiscal markets are owed for “mass liquidity injections” successful the adjacent future, according to BitMEX laminitis Arthur Hayes. This should supply the adjacent catalyst for the crypto bull market, helium said.

“Why bash I emotion these markets close present erstwhile yields are screaming higher? Bank models person nary conception of a carnivore steepener occurring,” Hayes argued. A “bear steepener” describes the improvement of semipermanent involvement rates rising much rapidly than short-term involvement rates.

“The faster this carnivore steepener rises, the faster idiosyncratic goes belly up, the faster everyone recognises determination is nary mode retired different than wealth printing to prevention govt enslaved markets, the faster we get backmost to the crypto bull market,” Hayes said.

FUD of the Week 

Crypto suffered 153% YoY summation successful hacks and scams successful Q3

Blockchain information level Immunefi released a caller study connected crypto hacks and scams for the 3rd quarter. According to the report, the fig of hacks and scams accrued by implicit 153% from July to September 2023 compared to the aforesaid play successful the erstwhile year. In Q3 2022, determination were lone 30 incidents, whereas determination were 76 incidents successful Q3 2023. A full of implicit $680 cardinal of crypto was mislaid from scams and hacks during the quarter. The largest hack of the 4th was of the Mixin protocol, which resulted successful it being drained of implicit $200 million, portion the Multichain hack for implicit $126 cardinal was the 2nd largest. The 2 astir targeted networks were BNB Chain and Ethereum.

Bitcoin analysts inactive foretell a BTC terms clang to $20K

Bitcoin holders were elated erstwhile the coin began October astatine a six-week high, but method analysts are informing that it whitethorn beryllium headed for a autumn to $20,000 soon. According to pseudonymous Bitcoin trader CryptoBullet, the existent illustration shows a classical “head and shoulders” signifier that mostly means the terms is astir to fall. The bottommost of the near enarthrosis of this signifier is astatine astir $20,000, implying that the terms volition autumn to that constituent earlier recovering. Joao Wedson, laminitis and CEO of crypto trading assets Dominando Cripto, went adjacent further, claiming that Bitcoin whitethorn autumn beneath $20,000. According to Wedson, the existent terms enactment is forming a fractal that looks akin to the 2020-2022 period. The past clip this happened, the terms accrued greatly successful the beginning, but past collapsed backmost to little levels by the extremity of the fractal. In Wedson’s view, this implies that we whitethorn beryllium successful the aboriginal stages of a determination beneath $20,000.

US Treasury sanctions crypto wallets arsenic authorities ace down connected fentanyl

The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States Department of the Treasury announced that it has sanctioned aggregate wallets connected with manufacturers and dealers of the illicit drug, fentanyl. According to Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, the wallets person “received millions of USD funds implicit hundreds of deposits” arsenic outgo for assorted Fentanyl-related transgression activities. The wallet sanctions were initiated arsenic portion of an indictment that targeted immoderate Chinese-based chemic manufacturers. Valerian Labs, Hanhong Pharmaceutical, and Hebei Crovell Biotech were 3 of the parties named successful the indictment.

The Truth Behind Cuba’s Bitcoin Revolution: An on-the-ground report

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Singer Vérité’s fan-first attack to Web3, euphony NFTs and assemblage building

Is euphony the next frontier of blockchain adoption? Some musicians deliberation the exertion tin assistance them carve retired a sustainable vocation successful the industry.

6 Questions for JW Verret — the blockchain prof who’s tracking the money

The Harvard-educated attorney answers questions astir crypto adoption and regulation.