Prime 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 Pressure and is more likely 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 US authorities formally filed criminal charges against him — together with eight counts of fraud. If convicted, Bankman-Fried may 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 Legislation College being canceled. In different latest developments relating to 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 conflict 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, wherein Binance had a big position, O’Leary claimed. Current days have seen Binance beset by concern, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD), resulting in a drop in the exchange’s liquidity. Crypto analytics agency Nansen studies that Binance had internet 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 mild of the collapse of FTX, and Congressman Tom Emmer believes that that is “in all probability a very good time” to re-introduce a bipartisan invoice that may carry necessities for sure crypto companies and tasks 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,” corresponding to 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 all of the sudden stopped providing crypto auditing providers. At a vital 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, corresponding to Crypto.com and KuCoin. Later, Mazars defined the pause was attributable to “considerations relating to the best way these studies 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 dad or mum firm ConsenSys to permit the acquisition and switch of Ether (ETH) by its platform. By logging into the MetaMask app, customers will be capable to entry their PayPal account and full transactions. Initially, solely chosen PayPal customers in the US will be capable to take a look at the service. Different conventional funds corporations are searching 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 whole 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 certain to learn Cointelegraph’s market analysis.
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Most Memorable Quotations
“Binance is an enormous unregulated world monopoly now, and so they put FTX out of enterprise.”
Kevin O’Leary, enterprise capital investor
“I supposed it made sense. The child was younger, the rules had been revolutionary, the concepts had been golden. […] Who was I to problem that?”
Danielle Cloud, former FTX worker
“Our expertise so far of [crypto] platforms, whether or not FTX or others, is that they’re intentionally evasive, they’re a technique by which cash laundering occurs in measurement.”
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 individuals defend their digital property and private data inside the metaverse.”
Andrew Newman, chief expertise officer and co-founder of ReasonLabs
“Trying ahead, just about everybody who may 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, based on Cointelegraph Markets Professional and TradingView knowledge. The pair retraced its whole run to one-month highs courtesy of the most recent macroeconomic knowledge and coverage replace from the US.
“Attention-grabbing to see everybody all of the sudden so bearish on BTC as if it’s solely performing so weak. SPX is doing precisely the identical, perhaps 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 steadiness of its cloud providers and higher defend clients from dangers like cyber fraud, assaults and unauthorized entry to sources, based on 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 data associated to Gemini clients’ e mail addresses and partial telephone numbers, per paperwork obtained by Cointelegraph. In keeping with Gemini, the breach was attributable to a third-party vendor, nevertheless it additionally warned of ongoing phishing campaigns. The leaked database didn’t comprise any delicate private data corresponding to names, addresses and different Know Your Buyer data.
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 at the very least $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.
Finest Cointelegraph Options
Should crypto projects ever negotiate with hackers? Probably
Some security experts think negotiating is a brilliant strategy to get again a lot of the stolen funds, whereas others argue it’s best 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 may knock out nearly all of electronics on earth. Would crypto survive every thing going offline directly?
Hear up! Cointelegraph launches crypto podcasts, beginning with 4 reveals
Want more crypto content? Cointelegraph’s new podcast part options 4 separate reveals exploring a wide range of impactful matters.
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