FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Found Guilty
After an 18-day trial, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, has been found guilty of all seven charges brought against him. This verdict has garnered attention from the crypto community, with anticipation building for his sentencing on March 28, 2024. Pro-crypto attorney John Deaton believes Bankman-Fried could face a sentence of 30 to 40 years, while David Lesperance, Managing Director at Lesperance & Associates, predicts a possible 20-year sentence. Bankman-Fried’s associates, Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh, are also likely to face sentencing. However, they may receive less prison time and serve in minimum security facilities for non-violent offenders.
Bitcoin Sustains Rally Above $35K
Bitcoin (BTC) has experienced a bullish surge recently, driven by hopes for a spot ETF approval. At the start of this week, BTC surpassed $34,000 and reclaimed $35K on November 1. It even rallied to a yearly high of $35,984 before encountering resistance. Despite some volatility indicated by whale activity and social engagement data from Santiment, Bitcoin aims to hold above $35K. CoinShares’ market report also revealed that $326 million flowed into crypto investment products this year, the largest inflow since July 2022.
US SEC Targets SafeMoon and PayPal
The U.S. SEC has turned its focus towards PayPal and the team behind SafeMoon. The regulatory body issued a subpoena to PayPal regarding its PYUSD stablecoin issuance and requested certain documents from the company. SafeMoon’s executives Braden John Karony, Kyle Nagy, and Thomas Smith have also been charged with fraud and money laundering related to SafeMoon. The SEC alleges that the team marketed SafeMoon as unregistered crypto asset securities and artificially inflated its market cap through tactics like wash trading.
Terraform Cases Continue
Daniel Shin, co-founder of Terraform Labs, denied involvement in Terra’s collapse amid charges of fraud and embezzlement in South Korea. His legal team argued that fellow co-founder Do Kwon was solely responsible. In the U.S., Terraform Labs sought an early dismissal of the SEC’s multibillion-dollar securities fraud lawsuit, claiming insufficient evidence of trading unregistered securities. However, the SEC plans to aggressively pursue a summary judgment against Do Kwon and Terraform Labs.
MicroStrategy Increases Bitcoin Holdings
MicroStrategy continues to accumulate Bitcoin, adding 155 BTC worth $5.3 million to its portfolio in October 2023. This brings their total BTC holdings to 158,400, valued at over $5.6 billion. MicroStrategy’s CEO and President, Phong Le, believes the company is well-positioned to benefit from Bitcoin’s momentum and the growth of their Business Intelligence (BI) business.
OpenSea Confirms Layoffs
OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer announced job cuts as part of “OpenSea 2.0” to expand their dominance in the NFT market. This follows a period of turmoil after former head of product Nathanial Christain was convicted of insider trading under fraud and money laundering charges.
Yuga Labs and Magic Eden Collaborate
Yuga Labs and Magic Eden are partnering to launch an Ethereum NFT marketplace that ensures creators receive proper royalties. Magic Eden will share a portion of secondary market sales proceeds from their NFT collections with Yuga Labs. Additionally, Magic Eden is expanding its support for Solana-powered compressed NFTs (cNFTs), making it easier for creators to mint NFTs on the Solana network.
Avi Eisenberg Trial Rescheduled
The trial for Avi Eisenberg, the crypto trader accused of a $110 million fraud, has been postponed to April 2024. Initially scheduled for next month, the trial will now take place on April 8, 2024. Eisenberg faces charges of commodities manipulation and wire fraud related to a trading strategy against Solana-based Mango Markets in October 2022.
Hot Take: Crypto News Highlights
This week in the crypto world, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty of all charges, with anticipation building for his sentencing. Bitcoin sustained its rally above $35K, while the SEC targeted SafeMoon and PayPal for regulatory scrutiny. Terraform cases continued as Daniel Shin denied involvement in Terra’s collapse. MicroStrategy increased its Bitcoin holdings, OpenSea confirmed layoffs, and Yuga Labs collaborated with Magic Eden. Lastly, the trial for Avi Eisenberg was rescheduled to April 2024. These developments reflect the ongoing dynamics and challenges within the crypto industry.
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