SBF denies stealing FTX assets, SEC charges Gemini and Genesis, and more: Hodler’s Digest: Jan. 8-14

Top Stories This Week

Sam Bankman-Fried: ‘I didn’t bargain funds, and I surely didn’t stash billions away.’

In a “pre-mortem overview” of FTX’s bankruptcy, Sam Bankman-Fried denied allegations of improper usage of lawsuit funds stored with the crypto exchange, attributing work for the company’s melodramatic autumn to the marketplace clang of 2022 and Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao’s PR run against FTX. In Bankman-Fried’s view, a tally connected the slope turned illiquidity issues into insolvency. Among the latest developments successful the bankruptcy proceedings, a bipartisan radical of United States senators criticized 1 of the instrumentality firms progressive successful the lawsuit connected the grounds of a struggle of interest, and called connected the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware to appoint an autarkic examiner into FTX’s activities. Also successful the week’s headlines, FTX lawyer Andy Dietderich said the institution has recovered $5 billion successful currency and liquid cryptocurrencies.

Gemini and Genesis charged by SEC with selling unregistered securities

Crypto firms Genesis Global Capital and Gemini were charged by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with offering unregistered securities done Gemini’s Earn program. Genesis and Gemini partnered connected the merchandise successful 2020, offering customers the accidental to indebtedness crypto with the committedness of aboriginal repayment with interest. The SEC stated that the Gemini Earn programme constitutes an connection and merchantability of securities, and should person been registered with the commission. Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini, said the SEC’s enactment was “totally counterproductive,” and noted that Gemini had been discussing the Earn programme with the regulator “for much than 17 months.”.

DCG owes creditors implicit $3B, considering $500M VC portfolio sale

It has been a hard week for Genesis Global Trading and its genitor company, Digital Currency Group (DCG), arsenic reports revealed that Genesis allegedly owes its creditors much than $3 billion. To offset the shortfall, DCG, which besides owns Grayscale Investments, seeks to merchantability portion of its task superior holdings with much than 200 crypto-related projects, including crypto exchanges, banks and custodians successful astatine slightest 35 countries, totaling astir $500 cardinal successful valuation.

El Salvador passes landmark crypto bill, paving mode for Bitcoin-backed bonds

On Jan. 11, El Salvador passed the landmark Digital Assets Issuance instrumentality that establishes the ineligible model to contented Bitcoin-backed bonds to wage down sovereign indebtedness and money the operation of a alleged “Bitcoin City.” The bonds are expected to rise $1 cardinal for the country, fractional of which volition beryllium utilized to physique the peculiar economical zone. The authorities besides creates a regulatory assemblage and establishes a ineligible model for each integer assets successful the country.

Abu Dhabi-based Venom Foundation launches $1B money for Web3 and blockchain

Venom Foundation, an Abu Dhabi-based blockchain platform, and Iceberg Capital announced a caller concern that volition allocate $1 cardinal to Web3 and blockchain companies, including decentralized applications focused connected payments, plus management, decentralized concern and GameFi products and services. The concern money volition look to pull startups and exertion firms to usage Venom’s proof-of-stake-based blockchain solution.

Winners and Losers

At the extremity of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is astatine $19,297, Ether (ETH) astatine $1,418 and XRP astatine $0.37. The full marketplace headdress is astatine $916.5 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the apical 3 altcoin gainers of the week are Gala (GALA) at 125.9%, Aptos (APT) at 77.52% and Optimism (OP) at 45.28%.

Most Memorable Quotations

“There are inactive immoderate overhangs — DCG and Genesis and Gemini — that volition play retired successful the adjacent quarter. That’s not going to beryllium great.”

Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital Holdings

“History tells america there’s not overmuch country for micro currencies, meaning, you know, we person the U.S. dollar and Europe has the euro and the like.”

Gary Gensler, seat of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

“As agelong arsenic determination is involvement successful the crypto market, the fig of hackers volition not decrease.”

Tommy Deng, managing manager of Beosin

“People speech astir the [Bitcoin] occupation of volatility, but this is thing erstwhile you unrecorded successful a spot wherever your wealth could easy suffer fractional its worth successful a year.”

Megasley, Nigeria’s archetypal Lightning node runner

“There is nary way guardant arsenic agelong arsenic Barry Silbert remains CEO of DCG.”

Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini

“It was a governmental enactment and not a fiscal gesture. Like those who turn mustaches successful November to combat prostate cancer. I enactment this wage successful Bitcoin connected a acold wallet each period and I haven’t touched it.”

Christophe De Beukelaer, Belgian lawmaker

Prediction of the Week 

Bitcoin terms wants to retest 2017 all-time precocious adjacent $20K

According to the analytics firm, “whether we spot a bonafide breakout oregon fakeout remains to beryllium seen. Time for patience and discipline.”

FUD of the Week 

Nexo offices reportedly raided by constabulary successful Bulgaria

Bulgarian regulators are expanding pressure connected cryptocurrency lender Nexo, aft a radical of prosecutors, investigators and overseas agents searched the company’s offices successful the Bulgarian superior metropolis of Sofia connected Jan. 12. The cognition was initiated a fewer months ago, targeting a large-scale fiscal transgression strategy allegedly involving wealth laundering and violations of planetary sanctions against Russia. Nexo has complained astir the actions of the instrumentality enforcement authorities and is preparing to record a suit against authorities to question compensation for damages caused by the abrupt constabulary interruption.

Scam alert: MetaMask warns crypto users astir code poisoning

Digital wallet supplier MetaMask warned users of an “address poisoning scam,” wherever attackers “poison” transaction histories. The onslaught does not let hackers to entree user’s wallets, but those who person go habitual astir copying their wallet addresses from transaction histories could perchance nonstop funds to copycat addresses.

Crypto.​com CEO announces 20% unit cut, ‘did not account’ for FTX collapse

A caller question of unit layoffs has been announced by crypto speech Crypto.com, which volition trim its planetary workforce by 20% pursuing “recent manufacture events.” Also warring to past the carnivore market, Coinbase is closing astir of its Japanese operations arsenic portion of a restructuring program that aims to trim 20% of the speech staff..

Best Cointelegraph Features

‘Deflation’ is simply a dumb mode to attack tokenomics… and different ineffable cows

Novelty token designs mightiness attract immoderate little interest, but projects request to larn the principles of sustainable tokenomics..

Your usher to crypto successful Toronto: Crypto City

The “home” of Ethereum and the location municipality of Vitalik Buterin, Toronto embraced integer assets sooner than astir and is location to much crypto projects than anyplace other successful Canada.

Crypto layoffs equine arsenic exchanges proceed to beryllium ravaged by the prevailing carnivore market

Many fashionable cryptocurrency trading platforms, including Kraken and Coinbase, person precocious initiated a caller circular of firings.