BlackRock meets with SEC over ETF, Binance’s new era begins and SBF loses release bid: Hodler’s Digest, Nov. 19-25

Top Stories This Week

US officials denote $4.3B colony with Binance, plea woody with CZ

Binance and its co-founder, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, have reached a settlement implicit transgression and civilian cases with the United States Department of Justice. CZ volition plead blameworthy to 1 felony complaint arsenic portion of the negotiated agreement. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the settlement, claiming Binance’s policies allowed criminals progressive successful illicit activities to determination “stolen funds” done the exchange. As portion of the settlement, CZ announced connected X (formerly Twitter) that helium had stepped down arsenic CEO and that Binance’s planetary caput of determination markets, Richard Teng, volition presume the position. He added helium was “proud to constituent out” that U.S. officials didn’t allege that Binance misappropriated funds oregon manipulated markets. CZ was released connected bail and is battling authorities efforts to barroom his instrumentality to the United Arab Emirates to beryllium with his family. His sentencing is scheduled for February.

BlackRock met with SEC officials to sermon spot Bitcoin ETF

Representatives from BlackRock and Nasdaq met with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to sermon the projected rule allowing the listing of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded money (ETF). BlackRock provided a presumption detailing however the steadfast could usage an in-kind oregon in-cash redemption exemplary for its iShares Bitcoin Trust. Many reports person suggested the SEC could beryllium nearing a determination connected a spot BTC ETF for listing connected U.S. markets. SEC officials besides met with Grayscale representatives this week to sermon the listing of a Bitcoin ETF. BlackRock is 1 of galore firms with spot crypto ETF applications successful the SEC pipeline awaiting a response, including Fidelity, WisdomTree, Invesco Galaxy, Valkyrie, VanEck and Bitwise.

Bitcoin idiosyncratic pays $3.1M transaction interest for 139 BTC transfer

A Bitcoin idiosyncratic paid $3.1 cardinal successful fees for transferring 139.42 BTC. The transaction interest is the eighth-highest successful Bitcoin’s 14-year history. A wallet code tried transferring 139.42 BTC lone to wage much than fractional the existent worth of the transaction fee. The destination code received lone 55.77 BTC. The mining excavation Antpool captured the absurdly precocious mining interest connected artifact 818087. This is the largest Bitcoin transaction interest ever paid successful dollar terms, knocking disconnected Paxos’s September transportation of $500,000.

SEC sues Kraken alleging it’s an unregistered exchange, mixes idiosyncratic funds

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has sued Kraken, alleging it commingled lawsuit funds and failed to registry with the regulator arsenic a securities exchange, broker, trader and clearing agency. Additionally, the SEC alleged Kraken’s concern practices and “deficient” interior controls saw the speech commingle up to $33 cardinal worthy of lawsuit assets with its own. The SEC said this resulted successful a “significant hazard of loss” for its clients. In a follow-up blog post, Kraken said the SEC’s commingling accusations were “no much than Kraken spending fees it has already earned,” and the regulator doesn’t allege immoderate idiosyncratic funds are missing.

Appeals tribunal rejects Sam Bankman-Fried’s bid for release

Sam Bankman-Fried volition stay jailed aft failing to convince a United States appellate tribunal that helium should beryllium freed portion his ineligible squad appeals his conviction. Government prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried of leaking Caroline Ellison’s journals to The New York Times successful July, which caused his bail to beryllium revoked by a New York District Court. Bankman-Fried was recovered blameworthy of 7 fraud and wealth laundering-related charges connected Nov. 2. The erstwhile FTX CEO volition stay down bars portion helium awaits his sentencing connected March 28 adjacent year.

Winners and Losers

At the extremity of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is astatine $37,710, Ether (ETH) is astatine $2,079, and XRP is astatine $0.62. The full marketplace headdress is astatine $1.43 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the apical 3 altcoin gainers of the week are Blur (BLUR) at 99.25%, FTX Token (FTT) at 39.05% and KuCoin Token (KCS) at 24.82%. 

Most Memorable Quotations

“The U.S. has a fiscal authorities that fundamentally has been weaponized.”

Charles Hoskinson, laminitis of Cardano

“I made mistakes, and I indispensable instrumentality responsibility.”

Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, erstwhile CEO of Binance

“We, the employees of OpenAI, person developed the champion models and pushed the tract to caller frontiers, [but] the process done which you terminated Sam Altman […] has jeopardized each of this enactment and undermined our ngo and company.”

OpenAI employees

“Get your crypto institution retired of the U.S. warzone.”

Jesse Powell, co-founder of Kraken

“The regulatory uncertainty that permeates the U.S. marketplace is having an interaction connected the remainder of the world.”

Oliver Linch, CEO of Bittrex Global

“I’m looking guardant to returning to OpenAI and gathering connected our beardown concern with Microsoft.”

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI

Prediction of the week

‘Enjoy sub-$40K Bitcoin’ — PlanB stresses $100K mean BTC terms from 2024

Bitcoin buyers should bask the chance to adhd to their stack beneath $40,000, according to PlanB, pseudonymous creator of the stock-to-flow household of BTC terms models. He believes Bitcoin volition emergence overmuch higher than its caller 18-month highs.

Bitcoin carnivore marketplace bottoms are characterized by the spot terms dipping beneath the realized price, portion bull markets statesman erstwhile the spot crosses the two-year and five-month realized terms levels. BTC/USD is present erstwhile again supra each 3 realized terms iterations.

“Enjoy sub-$40k bitcoin … portion it lasts,” PlanB commented connected an accompanying chart.

Asked whether the marketplace should expect little levels from here, PlanB would not beryllium drawn, saying that helium simply expected an mean BTC terms of astatine slightest $100,000 betwixt 2024 and 2028 — Bitcoin’s adjacent halving cycle.

FUD of the Week

HTX to reconstruct services ‘within 24 hours’ aft $30M hack

Crypto speech HTX, formerly known arsenic Huobi Global, resumed deposits and withdrawals wrong 24 hours aft suffering a $30 cardinal exploit connected Nov. 22. The exploit was reported to beryllium $13.6 million astir the clip of the incident, but has since accrued successful value. HTX’s blistery wallets were compromised alongside a coordinated $86.6 cardinal onslaught against the HTX Eco (HECO) Chain bridge, consisting of HTX, Tron and BitTorrent. The institution has promised to afloat compensate users for immoderate losses incurred arsenic a effect of the hack.

CZ an ‘unacceptable hazard of flight,’ should enactment successful US: DOJ

United States prosecutors are trying to halt erstwhile Binance boss Changpeng “CZ” Zhao from leaving the country, expressing interest astir his imaginable formation risk. The authorities requested a reappraisal and overturn of a judge’s determination that would let Zhao to instrumentality to his location successful the United Arab Emirates (UAE) connected a $175 cardinal enslaved nether the information that helium returns to the U.S. 2 weeks earlier his February 2024 sentencing. In a projected order, prosecutors wrote that Zhao “presents an unacceptable hazard of flight,” arguing that his ties and favored presumption successful the UAE, on with the country’s deficiency of an extradition pact with the U.S., are reasons to artifact him from leaving the country.

KyberSwap hacker offers $4.6M bounty for instrumentality of $46M loot

The decentralized speech KyberSwap has offered a 10% bounty reward to the hacker who stole $46 cardinal connected Nov. 22 and near a enactment of negotiation. The speech wants 90% of the loot returned. The hacker made distant with roughly $20 cardinal successful Wrapped Ether, $7 cardinal successful wrapped Lido-staked Ether and $4 cardinal successful Arbitrum tokens. The hacker past siphoned the loot crossed aggregate chains, including Arbitrum, Optimism, Ethereum, Polygon and Base.

Top Magazine Pieces of the Week

This is your encephalon connected crypto: Substance maltreatment grows among crypto traders

According to immoderate addiction experts, the high-stress ambiance of cryptocurrency trading tin supply a cleanable situation for substance abuse.

Michael Saylor’s a fan, but Frisby says bull tally needs a caller guru: X Hall of Flame

Bitcoin enthusiast Dominic Frisby has a chaotic journey, from penning 1 of the first-ever Bitcoin books to plastering “Bitcoin fixes this” connected the Bank of England.

6 Questions for Alex O’Donnell astir fiscal journalism and the aboriginal of DeFi

Alex O’Donnell spoke to Cointelegraph Magazine astir his vocation arsenic a fiscal writer — and however it led to his engagement successful crypto and Umami DAO.