High Tales This Week
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried arrested, set to be extradited to US
Sam Bankman-Fried was taken into custody by the Royal Bahamas Police Power and is prone to keep there till February, after his utility for bail was denied in Bahamian courtroom. A second application for bail has been reportedly filed by SBF within the Supreme Court docket of the Bahamas. His arrest got here after the USA authorities formally filed criminal charges against him — together with eight counts of fraud. If convicted, Bankman-Fried might face 115 years in jail, however authorized commentators have told Cointelegraph there’s a “lot to play out” within the case. The domino impact ensuing from FTX’s meltdown has additionally impacted the professional lives of Bankman-Fried’s parents, ensuing of their programs at Stanford Regulation Faculty being canceled. In different latest developments concerning FTX, a class-action lawsuit against Silvergate Bank was filed in California, aiming to carry the financial institution accountable for its alleged roles in inserting FTX person deposits into the financial institution accounts of Alameda Analysis.
Binance ‘put FTX out of business’ — Kevin O’Leary
Venture capital investor Kevin O’Leary claimed at a U.S. Senate committee listening to that Binance and FTX “had been at battle with one another, and one put the opposite out of enterprise deliberately.” The listening to was half of a bigger investigation by lawmakers into FTX’s collapse, by which Binance had a big position, O’Leary claimed. Current days have seen Binance beset by worry, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD), resulting in a drop in the exchange’s liquidity. Crypto analytics agency Nansen experiences that Binance had web withdrawals of greater than $3.6 billion from Dec. 7 to Dec. 13.
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Rep. Tom Emmer mulls bringing back bill aimed at reducing crypto red tape
United States lawmakers are under pressure to enact crypto laws in gentle of the collapse of FTX, and Congressman Tom Emmer believes that that is “in all probability a great time” to re-introduce a bipartisan invoice that may carry necessities for sure crypto companies and initiatives to register as Digital Asset Service Suppliers (VASPs). The invoice, titled the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, goals to take away some hurdles and necessities for “blockchain builders and repair suppliers,” resembling miners, multi-signature service suppliers and decentralized finance platforms.
No more proof-of-reserve checks? Auditors quietly drop crypto projects from portfolios
Two of the most prominent auditors have abruptly stopped providing crypto auditing providers. At a important second for the crypto trade, Mazars Group removed Binance’s proof-of-reserve audits from its web site simply days after confirming the crypto alternate managed 575,742 Bitcoin. The choice affected different crypto exchanges utilizing Mazars’ providers, resembling Crypto.com and KuCoin. Later, Mazars defined the pause was resulting from “issues concerning the best way these experiences are understood by the general public.” Accounting agency Armanino has additionally ended its crypto auditing providers. Armanino has labored with a number of crypto buying and selling platforms like OKX, Gate.io and the embattled FTX alternate.
MetaMask to allow users to purchase and transfer Ethereum via PayPal
In another move into the crypto space, PayPal teamed up with MetaMask father or mother firm ConsenSys to permit the acquisition and switch of Ether (ETH) via its platform. By logging into the MetaMask app, customers will be capable of entry their PayPal account and full transactions. Initially, solely chosen PayPal customers in the USA will be capable of check the service. Different conventional funds firms are looking for to combine crypto into their providers. In October, Western Union also filed three trademarks for managing digital wallets and exchanging digital property.
Winners and Losers
On the finish of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $16,826, Ether (ETH) at $1,194 and XRP at $0.35. The overall market cap is at $817.82 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Among the many greatest 100 cryptocurrencies, the highest three altcoin gainers of the week are Toncoin (TON) at 30.36%, Bitcoin SV (BSV) at 10.11%, and OKB (OKB) at 9.77%.
The highest three altcoin losers of the week are Neutrino USD (USDN) at -33.77%, Belief Pockets Token (TWT) at -27.43%, and Chain (XCN) at -23.42%.
For more information on crypto costs, be sure to learn Cointelegraph’s market analysis.
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Most Memorable Quotations
“Binance is an enormous unregulated international monopoly now, they usually put FTX out of enterprise.”
Kevin O’Leary, enterprise capital investor
“I supposed it made sense. The child was younger, the ideas had been revolutionary, the concepts had been golden. […] Who was I to problem that?”
Danielle Cloud, former FTX worker
“Our expertise thus far of [crypto] platforms, whether or not FTX or others, is that they’re intentionally evasive, they’re a way by which cash laundering occurs in dimension.”
Ashley Alder, appointed chair of the UK’s Monetary Conduct Authority
“Simply as we’re protecting of our bodily property, we have to ensure that folks defend their digital property and private info inside the metaverse.”
Andrew Newman, chief expertise officer and co-founder of ReasonLabs
“Wanting ahead, just about everybody who might go bankrupt has gone bankrupt.”
Arthur Hayes, former CEO of BitMEX
Prediction of the Week
Bitcoin dips under $17K as ‘craziest rumors’ over Binance sink BTC price
Bitcoin fell below $17,000 as traders remained wary over Binance’s FUD triggering overly bearish BTC worth motion. On Bitstamp, BTC/USD reached multi-day lows of $16,928 on Dec. 16, in accordance with Cointelegraph Markets Professional and TradingView knowledge. The pair retraced its total run to one-month highs courtesy of the newest macroeconomic knowledge and coverage replace from the USA.
“Fascinating to see everybody abruptly so bearish on BTC as if it’s solely appearing so weak. SPX is doing precisely the identical, possibly even weaker,” famous Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of buying and selling agency Eight, questioning whether or not the Binance FUD actually had a job to play within the markets.
FUD of the Week
Microsoft bans cryptocurrency mining on cloud services
Microsoft has quietly banned crypto mining from its on-line providers to extend the soundness of its cloud providers and higher defend clients from dangers like cyber fraud, assaults and unauthorized entry to assets, in accordance with a report. The brand new restrictions had been launched on Microsoft’s common license phrases, citing that “mining cryptocurrency is prohibited with out prior Microsoft approval.” With this transfer, Microsoft joins different cloud computing suppliers, together with Google, who additionally prohibit clients from mining cryptocurrency with out prior written consent.
‘Third-party incident’ impacted Gemini with 5.7 million emails leaked
Gemini appears to have suffered a data breach from a third-party vendor. Hackers gained entry to five,701,649 traces of knowledge associated to Gemini clients’ e-mail addresses and partial cellphone numbers, per paperwork obtained by Cointelegraph. In line with Gemini, the breach was attributable to a third-party vendor, but it surely additionally warned of ongoing phishing campaigns. The leaked database didn’t comprise any delicate private info resembling names, addresses and different Know Your Buyer info.
SEC sues Atlas Buying and selling for $100M inventory manipulation scheme
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a declare towards eight people related to the Discord-based discussion board Atlas Buying and selling for alleged inventory manipulation. The SEC reported that bloggers made not less than $100 million by buying substantial positions in securities, recommending them to their followers, after which promoting their shares to capitalize on the demand they generated by their “misleading promotions.” Cryptocurrencies and different digital property weren’t talked about within the grievance.
Greatest Cointelegraph Options
Should crypto projects ever negotiate with hackers? Probably
Some security experts think negotiating is a great approach to get again a lot of the stolen funds, whereas others argue you need to by no means give in to extortion.
Can Bitcoin survive a Carrington Event knocking out the grid?
A massive Carrington Event-level solar storm might knock out the vast majority of electronics on earth. Would crypto survive all the pieces going offline without delay?
Hear up! Cointelegraph launches crypto podcasts, beginning with 4 reveals
Want more crypto content? Cointelegraph’s new podcast part options 4 separate reveals exploring quite a lot of impactful subjects.
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