SBF Released in Record Bail
FTX founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, has been released on a $250M bail, the largest pretrial bond in history. The bond was signed by his parents, who will keep him under house arrest at their home in California. Meanwhile, Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research, pleaded guilty to fraud as part of a plea agreement to avoid criminal charges in return for her full cooperation.
Twitter Integrates Live Crypto Charts
Social media giant Twitter has integrated a new cryptocurrency feature, allowing users to check the current prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum. The graphics display the logo of the market tracking site TradingView and a link to Robinhood, but it’s unknown how these firms are involved. Elon Musk stated that this is just one of many product improvements.
Binance.US Acquires Bankrupt Crypto Exchange
Voyager Digital announced that Binance.US has won a second bidding process to acquire the company’s assets after FTX’s bankruptcy filing. The company had billions of dollars worth of crypto from 1.7M users at the end of 2021, but a broader market downturn and a series of bad bets has chipped away at the firm’s available capital.
BlockFi Seeks Permission to Withdraw Assets
Troubled cryptocurrency lender, BlockFi has filed a motion with the US Bankruptcy Court to allow its customers to withdraw some of their cryptocurrency. More specifically, the motion is related to funds kept in the users’ BlockFi Wallets that were locked due to the firm’s problems. The company described the move as an important step towards returning assets to its clients.
Proof-of-Reserves Audits Questioned by SEC
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is increasing its scrutiny of audits of cryptocurrency companies. This comes in an effort to warn investors against placing too much confidence in audits such as proof-of-reserves reports. Senior SEC official, Paul Munter said that such reports don’t offer enough information for an investor to assess whether the company has sufficient assets to cover its liabilities.
US Senator Introduces New Stablecoins Bill
Republican Senator Pat Toomey, has introduced a new bill, aimed at creating a regulatory framework for stablecoins. The Senator called stablecoins an exciting technological development that could transform money and payments. Toomey added that, by digitizing the U.S. dollar and making it a global, instant, and nearly cost-free payment solution, stablecoins could be widely used across the economy.
Bolsonaro Signs Brazil Crypto Bill Into Law
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro approved a crypto regulation bill recently passed by the country’s Senate. The new law establishes a criminal code for fraud involving virtual assets. It also creates a virtual service provider license, which is to be requested by digital asset companies, including exchanges and trading entities.
Large Bitcoin Miner Files for Bankruptcy
Core Scientific, one of the US’s largest publicly traded crypto mining companies has filed for bankruptcy. Nevertheless, the company still generates positive cash flow, and plans to continue mining while repaying debt holders. Core Scientific stock is down 98% this year, amid dropping crypto prices and rising energy costs.
Most Googled Cryptos in 2022
As expected, Bitcoin has emerged as the most googled cryptocurrency in 2022, attracting over 28 million monthly searches worldwide. While interest in Bitcoin has remained relatively high, more surprisingly, Dogecoin came in second, and Shiba Inu third. Even with Ethereum’s much-hyped merge in September, it only managed to secure the fourth spot.
That’s what’s happened this week in crypto, see you next week.
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