U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan has issued a significant ruling allowing prosecutors from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) to present evidence related to Sam Bankman-Fried’s political donations in his upcoming fraud trial.
The decision, part of a 16-page pretrial order issued on September 26, sheds light on what evidence will be admissible during the trial, slated to commence on October 3.
Initially, federal prosecutors had charged Bankman-Fried with various offenses, including conspiring to violate U.S. campaign finance laws, alongside seven other fraud and conspiracy charges.
However, these campaign finance charges were dropped as part of an extradition agreement with the Bahamas.
Judge Kaplan justified the inclusion of evidence pertaining to Bankman-Fried’s political contributions by stating, “Evidence that the defendant spent FTX customer funds on political contributions is direct evidence of the wire fraud scheme because it is relevant to establishing the defendant’s motive and allegedly fraudulent intent.”
Furthermore, the judge granted the prosecution’s request to introduce evidence detailing Bankman-Fried’s alleged involvement in creating the FTX Token and his purported instructions to manipulate the token’s price through Alameda Research, then led by CEO Caroline Ellison.
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Kaplan reasoned that the alleged manipulation of cryptocurrency tokens, impacting Alameda’s financials, was an integral part of the alleged conspiracy, making it admissible.
Kaplan emphasized that Bankman-Fried’s alleged instructions to Ms. Ellison were indicative of a “relationship of mutual trust” and that the evidentiary value outweighed concerns of unfair prejudice.
Notably, while allowing certain evidence for the DOJ, Kaplan also permitted Bankman-Fried’s defense team to question government witnesses, including Ellison, former FTX engineer Nishad Singh, and FTX co-founder Gary Wang, about their recreational drug use, provided they informed the court in advance.
Kaplan rejected DOJ motions to restrict the defense’s cross-examination of witnesses on privileged matters and ruled against Bankman-Fried discussing details of his pre-trial detention, family background, wealth, or age before the jury.
In this complex legal battle, the admissibility of evidence surrounding political donations and cryptocurrency manipulation adds a new dimension to the forthcoming trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, a high-profile figure in the cryptocurrency industry.
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In anticipation of Taiwan’s forthcoming crypto regulation framework scheduled for release in September, the nation’s digital asset platforms have joined forces to establish an industry association.
The Taiwan Virtual Asset Platform and Transaction Business Association, comprising its founding members MaiCoin Group, BitoGroup, and Ace Exchange, emerged from a preparatory group formed in early September.
Legally, the initiative is set to take effect in October, pending the government’s issuance of the crypto framework.
The preparatory group currently boasts representation from nine crypto exchanges.
Alongside the aforementioned trio, it includes BitstreetX, Hoya Bit, Bitgin, Rybit, Xrex, and Shangbito, showcasing a collective effort to shape Taiwan’s crypto landscape.
The primary objective of the association is to champion the interests of the crypto industry. It aims to serve as a representative body for various entities, including exchanges, peer-to-peer trading platforms, financial investment platforms, wallet hosting companies, and other crypto-related businesses.
Wang Chenhuan, President of Ace Exchange, emphasized the association’s role, stating, “The association is a family and a beacon.
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“It guides us in the direction, collects information, sets standards, builds consensus, speaks on our behalf, and leads us to further progress.”
In early September, the Financial Supervisory Commission of Taiwan crafted a draft featuring ten guiding principles for the regulation of digital currencies within the country.
While the document had yet to be made public, local media sources indicated that one of the principles revolves around the prohibition of foreign virtual asset service providers from engaging in illegal solicitation of business activities within Taiwan.
Interestingly, in August, Binance, the world’s leading crypto exchange by trading volume, submitted an application for registration in Taiwan.
The exchange had already been conducting operations in the country through a local entity known as Binance International Limited Taiwan Branch (Seychelles), demonstrating the growing interest of major players in Taiwan’s evolving crypto landscape.
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Optimism’s native OP token is currently facing a significant decline in value, ranking among the top 50 cryptocurrencies with a staggering 10% loss over the past week.
This drop comes just ahead of a substantial token unlock event scheduled to take place on September 30th, where 24.16 million OP tokens, equivalent to approximately 3% of the total circulating supply, will be released into the market.
Based on current market prices, this token unlock is poised to inject slightly over $30 million worth of OP tokens into circulation.
Of this sum, $15.49 million will be allocated to core contributors, while $14.26 million is set aside for investors.
Token unlocking events are a fundamental aspect of many prominent cryptocurrency projects, allowing teams to gradually introduce tokens to the market rather than releasing them all at once.
However, these events often exert downward pressure on token prices as new supplies become available for sale, a concern that investors typically factor into their strategies.
As of now, the OP token is trading at $1.26, exhibiting a relatively stable performance for the day.
However, it did experience a brief 3% rally over the past five hours, as indicated by price data from CoinGecko.
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In a recent development, Optimism disclosed its intention to conduct a private sale of OP tokens, valued at $160 million, on September 21st.
This strategic move was part of their planned financial activities to strengthen the project’s ecosystem.
Furthermore, on September 19th, Optimism announced its third airdrop initiative.
In this campaign, a substantial allocation of 19.4 million OP tokens was distributed to more than 31,000 addresses that had actively participated in delegation activities associated with Optimism Collective, the network’s decentralized autonomous organization.
This airdrop not only encouraged community engagement but also played a role in increasing token distribution and adoption within the Optimism ecosystem.
In conclusion, the OP token faces a challenging period with its price dipping ahead of a significant token unlock event.
Despite this, Optimism continues to implement strategic initiatives, including private sales and airdrops, to strengthen its community and expand its reach in the blockchain space.
The cryptocurrency market remains dynamic, and investors are closely monitoring how these developments will impact the OP token’s future performance.
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On September 22, the Dollar Strength Index (DXY) reached its highest point in nearly a decade, signaling a growing favor for the United States dollar compared to other fiat currencies like the British pound, euro, Japanese yen, and Swiss franc.
This surge in demand, however, has left investors pondering its potential impact on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, although the connections between the two remain somewhat tenuous.
The DXY made headlines by confirming a golden cross pattern, where the 50-day moving average surpassed the longer 200-day moving average.
This technical signal is often interpreted as a precursor to a bullish market.
Remarkably, the U.S. dollar exhibited strength in September despite concerns about inflation and economic growth in the world’s largest economy.
Expectations for U.S. GDP growth in 2024 sit at a modest 1.3%, significantly lower than the four-year average of 2.4%. This slowdown is attributed to factors such as tighter monetary policy, rising interest rates, and diminishing fiscal stimulus.
However, not all increases in the DXY reflect unwavering confidence in the U.S. Federal Reserve’s economic policies.
When investors opt to sell U.S. Treasurys and hold onto cash, it suggests potential recession or heightened inflation.
The current 3.7% inflation rate has dampened the appeal of a 4.4% yield, driving investors to demand a 4.62% annual return on five-year U.S. Treasurys as of September 19, marking a 12-year high.
Surprisingly, investors are choosing cash over government bonds, a counterintuitive move that aligns with the strategy of waiting for more favorable entry points.
They anticipate the Fed’s continued interest rate hikes to secure higher future yields.
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The relationship between a stronger DXY and reduced demand for Bitcoin may not be straightforward.
While there’s a decreased appetite for risk-on assets, exemplified by the S&P 500’s 4.3% September decline, investors are aware that hoarding cash doesn’t guarantee stable purchasing power.
The government’s ongoing debt ceiling increases risk dilution, diminishing nominal returns due to the expanding money supply.
This explains why assets like Bitcoin and select tech companies might thrive during an economic slowdown.
If the S&P 500’s downtrend persists, investors may initially flee risk markets, potentially affecting Bitcoin negatively.
However, this analysis overlooks the fact that inflation and recession pressures are likely to increase the money supply, favoring Bitcoin as investors seek refuge against “stagflation” – stagnant growth amid rampant inflation.
In conclusion, the DXY’s golden cross may not necessarily spell doom for Bitcoin, especially when considering longer timeframes.
The cryptocurrency could continue to serve as a hedge against economic turbulence, even as traditional markets experience fluctuations.
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MicroStrategy, a prominent player in the business intelligence sector and a significant Bitcoin investor, recently sent a bullish signal to the cryptocurrency market.
The firm’s co-founder and executive chairman, Michael Saylor, announced on September 25th the acquisition of an additional 5,445 Bitcoins (BTC).
This substantial purchase was executed using $147.3 million in cash and came at an average price of $27,053 per BTC.
This strategic move was disclosed through a Form 8-K filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, indicating that MicroStrategy and its subsidiaries made this acquisition between August 1st and September 24th.
As of the latter date, the company’s total Bitcoin holdings, including previous acquisitions, reached an impressive 158,245 BTC.
The average purchase price per Bitcoin, considering fees and expenses, stood at approximately $29,582, culminating in a total purchase price of $4.68 billion.
This acquisition transpired against the backdrop of Bitcoin trading in a relatively sideways fashion around the $26,000 mark for several weeks.
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After briefly touching $28,000 on August 29th, Bitcoin experienced a dip to as low as $25,000 on September 11th.
At the time of this writing, Bitcoin’s price stands at $26,081, reflecting a 1.9% decline over the past 24 hours, and a roughly 4% drop over the preceding week, according to data from CoinGecko.
MicroStrategy’s latest purchase further underscores the company’s optimistic outlook on Bitcoin as a long-term investment. It follows their acquisition of 12,333 BTC for $347 million in June 2023, at an average purchase price of $29,668 per coin.
In an earlier development, MicroStrategy reported its first profitable quarter since 2020 in Q1 2023, attributed to a one-time income tax benefit.
The company subsequently maintained profitability in the following quarter, revealing a net income of $22.2 million in early August.
MicroStrategy’s continued commitment to Bitcoin not only underscores their confidence in the cryptocurrency’s potential but also positions them as a notable institutional player in the crypto space, further contributing to the ongoing evolution of the digital asset landscape.
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Mixin Network, a decentralized peer-to-peer network, recently fell victim to a devastating hack, resulting in the loss of approximately $200 million in cryptocurrency assets.
The breach, which occurred on September 23, triggered an immediate response from Mixin Network, prompting the suspension of all deposit and withdrawal services on its platform.
In an effort to investigate the hack and recover the stolen assets, Mixin Network enlisted the expertise of blockchain investigator SlowMist and tech giant Google.
At the time of the security breach, Mixin Network’s holdings included $94.48 million in Ether, $23.55 million in Dai, and $23.3 million in Bitcoin, totaling $141.32 million in crypto assets, as revealed by PeckShield’s independent investigation.
Web3 SaaS analytics platform 0xScope conducted an additional investigation, uncovering the hacker’s historical ties to Mixin Network.
In 2022, an address associated with the hacker received 5 ETH from Mixin, which was subsequently deposited into Binance.
The hacker demonstrated sophistication by converting the stolen Tether (USDT) into DAI to prevent potential asset freezing.
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Mixin Network has assured users that deposit and withdrawal services will resume once the vulnerabilities in their system are confirmed and rectified.
However, specific plans for recovering the lost assets have yet to be disclosed.
Initially, Mixin Network’s founder, Feng Xiaodong, had promised to provide an explanation for the incident in a public Mandarin livestream on September 25 at 1:00 pm Hong Kong Time.
Unfortunately, official links to the livestream were conspicuously absent from the network’s social media channels and its official website, raising questions about the transparency of their response to the hack.
As of the time of this report, Mixin Network had not responded to inquiries from Cointelegraph, leaving the crypto community eagerly awaiting updates on the situation.
The incident also serves as a reminder of the ongoing threats faced by prominent figures in the crypto space, as Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently fell victim to a SIM swap attack, highlighting the need for heightened security measures in the cryptocurrency industry.
Buterin’s social media profile on X was compromised when attackers executed a SIM swap, demonstrating the importance of safeguarding mobile numbers to protect against unauthorized access to digital assets and personal information.
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Shortly after the crypto exchange HTX, formerly known as Huobi, reported an $8 million hack, Binance’s CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao stepped forward to offer the assistance of Binance’s security team in investigating the breach.
Swift intervention is essential when dealing with crypto thefts, as hackers often employ tactics to cover their tracks, such as using mixers or converting stolen assets into privacy tokens.
On September 24th, the blockchain analytics platform Cyvers detected a hack that siphoned off 5,000 Ether from one of HTX’s hot wallets.
In a proactive effort to mitigate the damage, HTX extended an olive branch by offering a “white-hat bonus” equivalent to 5% of the pilfered funds, totaling nearly $400,000, to the hacker.
However, the hacker was granted a seven-day window to comply with the offer. HTX communicated this proposition in Mandarin (Chinese).
In a more lighthearted vein, CZ humorously remarked on the striking similarity between the rebranded HTX and Sam Bankman-Fried’s infamous crypto exchange, FTX.
Nevertheless, the comparison ends there, as HTX suffered a hack while FTX was embroiled in allegations of being a scam.
Responding to a tweet from Justin Sun, the founder of Tron and an adviser to HTX, CZ enlisted Binance’s security team to assist in tracking the stolen funds.
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Sun confirmed that HTX would cover all losses incurred by its users, stating, “The $8 million represents a relatively small sum compared to the $3 billion in assets held by our users and just two weeks’ revenue for the HTX platform.”
HTX also implemented real-time monitoring systems to avert future losses.
While Sun denied holding a significant stake in HTX, he committed to conducting live streams in both English and Chinese to discuss exchange security.
As for the ongoing HTX hack investigation, Binance had not responded to Cointelegraph’s request for comment at the time of this report.
A day before the HTX breach, the decentralized peer-to-peer network Mixin Network experienced a hack that led to losses of nearly $200 million, stemming from a compromise of a third-party cloud service provider’s database.
Independent investigations by Web3 SaaS analytics platform 0xScope revealed the hacker’s previous interactions with Mixin Network.
In 2022, an address linked to the hacker had received 5 ETH from Mixin, which was later deposited into Binance.
Deposits and withdrawals on Mixin Network would resume once vulnerabilities were confirmed and rectified, but plans for recovering the lost assets for users were not immediately disclosed.
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Stablecoin issuer Tether has made significant alterations to its terms of service (ToS) in Singapore, according to an email disclosed by Julian Hosp, the CEO of decentralized finance platform Cake DeFi, on September 25th.
These amendments impose restrictions on specific customer groups, preventing them from redeeming Tether.
In the email from Tether, it was explicitly stated that the company could no longer facilitate the redemption of USDT for United States dollars due to the adjustments in its ToS.
This modification raised concerns for Cake DeFi, headquartered in Singapore, as its CEO Julian Hosp expressed uncertainty regarding the platform’s ability to redeem USDT into U.S. dollars under the new terms.
The principal changes in Tether’s ToS revolve around tightening onboarding standards and introducing a clause stating that “corporates controlled by another entity, directors, and shareholders residing in Singapore are no longer permitted to be Tether customers.”
The ambiguity of the term “controlled by another entity” baffled many within the cryptocurrency community, including Cake DeFi, which was informed that it fell under this category, rendering it ineligible for issuance or redemption through the Tether platform.
This adjustment in Tether’s ToS has attracted significant attention from X users, formerly known as Twitter, especially considering its timing in light of a major cryptocurrency money laundering scandal in Singapore.
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The assets seized during the investigation have now ballooned to an astonishing $2 billion, further intensifying scrutiny on cryptocurrency activities within the country.
Some speculate that the changes pertaining to USDT redemption could be specific to Cake DeFi, suggesting that the decentralized finance protocol may have triggered enhanced due diligence (EDD) measures, potentially signaling an underlying partnership issue between the two entities.
Cointelegraph made efforts to reach out to Tether for comments regarding the email shared by Cake DeFi’s CEO and the recent adjustments to its ToS but had not received a response as of the publication of this article.
In conclusion, Tether’s revised terms of service in Singapore have caused uncertainty and speculation within the cryptocurrency community, particularly with regards to USDT redemption.
The implications of these changes, and their potential impact on Cake DeFi and other affected parties, remain unclear pending further clarification from Tether.
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The Terra Classic community has taken a significant step to restore stability by voting to halt all minting and reminting activities associated with TerraUSD Classic (USTC).
This decision is driven by the community’s determination to reestablish a secure peg between USTC and the United States dollar.
In a recent community proposal, the vote results revealed that 59% were in favor of discontinuing the minting of USTC, while approximately 40% opposed this change.
The primary objective behind this move is to protect the interests of both the community members and external investors.
By reducing the supply of USTC, the community aims to facilitate a return to a robust peg with the U.S. dollar.
The backdrop to this crucial decision lies in the events of May 2022 when USTC disengaged from its peg with the U.S. dollar.
This event triggered a catastrophic collapse within the Terra ecosystem, especially affecting Luna Classic (LUNC), which had a close association with USTC.
The value of LUNC plummeted by nearly 100%, triggering a wider downturn in the crypto markets and resulting in an overall loss of approximately $40 billion in total market capitalization.
The proposal to cease minting and reminting activities also involves major crypto exchanges burning USTC.
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This action not only helps restore faith in the Terra ecosystem but also encourages institutions like Binance to initiate the burning of USTC, knowing that the process of minting and reminting has come to an end.
This decision comes in the wake of growing concerns within the Terra Classic community regarding an increase in spam activities, which coincided with the decline in LUNC prices.
It reflects the community’s determination to take proactive measures to ensure the sustainability of the Terra ecosystem.
In another recent development, the Terra Classic community voted on various proposals, including one that sought to raise the minimum deposit requirement from 1 million LUNC to 5 million LUNC.
The outcome of this proposal was resounding, with 93.22% in favor of increasing the minimum deposit requirement amount.
This move is expected to further bolster the stability and integrity of the Terra ecosystem as it continues to evolve and adapt to the dynamic crypto landscape.
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The Miss Universe Organization has vehemently disavowed any affiliation with the Miss Universe Coin initiative, which was unveiled at the Philippine Blockchain Week (PBW) earlier this month.
The PBW has assured the public that it is actively engaged with all stakeholders in this matter and is committed to providing further updates shortly.
During the PBW event earlier this month, Donald Lim, the founder of the organization overseeing the PBW, made a stunning announcement, declaring that the PBW was preparing to launch the Miss Universe Coin.
However, in a surprising turn of events, the official Miss Universe Organization has distanced itself from the coin project and categorically labeled it as fraudulent.
On September 22, the official Miss Universe Facebook page issued a statement asserting that neither the Miss Universe Organization nor JKN Global Group, the entity responsible for the beauty pageant, has any ties to the coin project showcased at the PBW event.
They further stated their intent to explore all available legal options to address this infringement.
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The Miss Universe Organization clarified, “There is currently no Miss Universe cryptocurrency or blockchain offering, and these products are in no way involved with the voting or selection process for Miss Universe or the Miss Universe Philippines pageants.”
A spokesperson for the Miss Universe Organization went on to describe the Miss Universe Coin as a “fraud” and expressed concerns that it may surface at other international blockchain conferences, including those in Dubai and Singapore.
They urged media outlets to exercise caution and refrain from covering it if encountered at these events.
In response to the unfolding situation, PBW issued a statement via its X platform (formerly Twitter), affirming that it is actively communicating with all parties involved.
They have promised to share updates as soon as they become available. Cointelegraph reached out to the Philippine Blockchain Week for further clarification but had not received an immediate response at the time of reporting.
As the Miss Universe Coin project’s legitimacy hangs in the balance, the cryptocurrency and blockchain communities eagerly await additional information and clarification on this perplexing turn of events.
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