Hodler’s Digest, September 22-28 – Cointelegraph Magazine

Top news of the week

Binance founder CZ released from US prison

Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao was released from a US federal prison on September 27 after serving four months for anti-money laundering (AML) violations, a US Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesperson said. . Cointelegraph.

CZ pleaded guilty in November to federal charges for failing to implement adequate AML controls at Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume, according to a November 21 statement from the U.S. Department of Justice. He also stepped down as CEO of Binance.

With a reported net worth of approximately $60 billion, CZ is the richest person ever sentenced to prison in the United States.

Caroline Ellison sentenced to 2 years in prison

Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison was sentenced Sept. 24 to two years in a minimum-security prison for her role in the FTX collapse.

The decision was made by Judge Lewis Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, who ruled that Ellison should also forfeit the approximately $11 billion he earned from FTX.

Caplan said a date for Ellison’s surrender would be set for Nov. 7 or later. Ellison could have faced 110 years in prison for her crimes, but Lewis expressed considerable sympathy for her. According to Bloomberg, the judge told her:

“Mr. Ellison, you are a very strong man in some ways, but you are not inviolable. Mr. Bankman-Fried had your kryptonite. (…) You were vulnerable and exploited.”

Ellison held her hands in front of her as she was sentenced, and family members who attended the trial shed tears.

The reclusive Ellison has complained that he has been bullied by the cryptocurrency community in the press and in real life, which has left him afraid to speak out in public. She cooperated extensively with prosecutors in the case of her former colleague and alleged boyfriend, Sam Bankman-Fried, who recommended leniency to her.

A cryptocurrency founder paid Los Angeles police officers to help him rob cryptocurrency victims, the FBI has claimed.

The owner of a cryptocurrency company has been indicted in a case involving cryptocurrency fraud, bribery and corrupt law enforcement officials, federal prosecutors said.

Adam Iza, who ran the cryptocurrency trading platform Zort, amassed wealth through shell companies, spent it on luxury goods and concealed receipt of tens of millions of dollars by failing to report income taxes, according to Los Angeles police. It was revealed in an affidavit submitted by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). It opened in federal court in Angeles on September 23 and opened on September 26.

Iza also allegedly paid three Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies to illegally serve search warrants and access police data, according to the affidavit.

Iza, also known as Ahmed Faiq and “The Godfather,” boasted about paying agents $280,000 a month and is accused of using police information to try to force the handing over of one victim, identified only as “EZ.” Through a laptop used to store cryptocurrency.

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson claimed that Ethereum is a ‘dictatorship’.

Cardano’s Voltaire-era governance overhaul prevents it from becoming a “dictatorship” like Ethereum and avoids Bitcoin’s “anarchy,” founder Charles Hoskinson said.

In an interview with Cointelegraph at Token2049 in Singapore, Hoskinson attacked Ethereum’s governance model, arguing that it relies too much on co-founder Vitalik Buterin for direction.

Hoskinson said blockchains can choose to keep their protocols simple forever, like Bitcoin, or to “pick a king” to run things. However, Cardano’s new governance model solves the “governance trilemma” of “efficiency, effectiveness and integrity” by using delegated representatives and a member-based organization called Intersect to distill complex governance topics for voting. He added:

“If you have those three things, you have a chance to avoid the anarchy of Bitcoin or the tyranny of Ethereum and actually have something to move forward with one voice, but at the end of the day, it’s still decentralized. It represents everyone.”

Kamala Harris Finally Breaks Her Silence on Cryptocurrency: Report

US Vice President Kamala Harris made her first public statement regarding cryptocurrencies during the US presidential campaign. At a Wall Street fundraiser, Harris pledged to encourage investment in artificial intelligence and digital assets.

“We will work together to invest in America’s competitiveness and to invest in America’s future. “We will encourage innovative technologies like AI and digital assets while protecting consumers and investors,” Harris said at a fundraiser in Manhattan, Bloomberg reported on September 22.

“We will create a safe business environment through consistent and transparent rules of the road,” Harris said. “We will invest in semiconductors, clean energy and other industries of the future, and we will cut unnecessary bureaucracy.” This is the first time Harris has spoken publicly about cryptocurrencies since becoming the Democratic presidential frontrunner. Her Republican rival, Donald Trump, has also sought to secure support from the cryptocurrency industry.

winners and losers

Bitcoin this weekend (BTC) It’s in $66,048ether (ETH) to $2,685 and XRP to $0.59. The total market capitalization is $2.33 $1 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the 100 largest cryptocurrencies, the top 3 altcoin gainers this week are Shiba Inus (SHIB) 48.96%, wormhole (W) 34.82%, Bonk (bonk) 33.02%.

The top three altcoin losers this week are Monero. (XMR) 8.27%, Nervos Network (CKB) +1.09% and TRON (TRX) +2.18%. For more information on cryptocurrency prices, read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

most memorable quotes

“Mr. Ellison, you are a very strong man in some ways, but you are not inviolable. Ms. Bankman-Fried had kryptonite. (…) You were vulnerable and exploited.”

Lewis KaplanChief Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

“Where did the idea of ​​embracing layer 2 or roll-up come from? Was it a random Ethereum engineer? Or was Vitalik Buterin writing a blog post about it, talking about it, and defending it?”

Charles HoskinsonCardano Founder

“The government’s desire to decimate the domestic cryptocurrency industry through stealthy rulemaking targeting cryptocurrency-focused banks has initiated and exacerbated the 2023 banking crisis, the largest since the 2008 financial crisis.”

Nick CarterCastle Island Ventures Partner

“With the Fed providing more juice to the bull market recently, it makes sense to keep a cryptocurrency allocation or skin in the game. However, much of this is already reflected in the prices of risky assets.”

Aurélie BarterreSenior Research Analyst at Nansen

“The reality is that things that really affect the fundamental value of Bitcoin typically happen two or three times a year.”

Robbie MichnickHead of Digital Assets, BlackRock

“Your disagreement on this issue has set this country back. “There may not have been a more destructive or illegitimate SEC chairman in history.”

Tom Emmarepresentative of the united states

Predictions of the Week

85% of Polymarket are betting that Ethereum will not hit its all-time high until 2025.

Despite Ether rising 15% over the past two weeks, ETH price has struggled to maintain momentum this week, going through a period of consolidation between $2,700 and $2,600. The largest altcoin currently has a market capitalization of $316 billion and has facilitated over $15.7 billion in trading volume in the last 24 hours.

According to a filing released on September 24, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it would postpone its decision to approve options trading for the spot Ethereum ETF.

Since the SEC announcement, Polymarket has seen significant changes in betting odds for Ether all-time highs. The odds of Ethereum missing a new all-time high (ATH) in 2024 are currently 85%, compared to 71% a week ago, according to the world’s largest prediction market.

Only 14% had bets on the new ATH outcome, and less than 1% had unrealistic hopes for a new ATH within the next five days. Interestingly, 1% of traders who hoped for an ATH in Q3 had a higher overall bet value of $1.23 million, while 85% of the “No ATH in 2024” group had a collective bet of $1.07 million.

FUD of the week

Swan Bitcoin sues former employee over ‘rain and hellfire’ scheme to steal mining business

Bitcoin financial services company Swan Bitcoin has filed a lawsuit against several former employees of its mining division, alleging that they stole the company’s software code, resigned, and then used that code to start a mining business.

The former employee allegedly founded a “counterfeit competitor” company, Proton, and persuaded stablecoin issuer Tether, one of Swan’s funding partners, to cut ties with Swan and collaborate instead.

This was intended to “irreparably impair Swan’s ability to compete in the marketplace,” Swan’s attorneys argued in a Sept. 25 court filing. “They hatched a plan from within to steal Swan’s mining business, usurp Swan’s role, and exclude Swan from the Tether joint venture. They called it ‘Rain and Hellfire.’”

Tornado Cash’s Roman Storm goes to trial after judge refuses to dismiss

Roman Storm, the developer and co-founder of Tornado Cash, faces criminal trial after a judge denied his motion to dismiss a case brought by the U.S. government.

In a Sept. 26 conference call, New York District Court Judge Catherine Polk Failla denied Storm’s motion for three federal charges filed by the Justice Department, saying government prosecutors had made plausible charges against Storm.

Storm and fellow co-founder Roman Semenov were indicted in August 2023 on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to violate sanctions, and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transfer business.

“I simply cannot accept Mr. Storm’s story that he is being prosecuted for simply writing code,” Failla said, adding that he was confident Tornado Cash was different from other financial services or money transfer companies.

SEC Chairman Gensler implements exchange definition changes that worry cryptocurrencies.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will continue to pursue changes to the definition of “exchange” and alternative trading systems, Chairman Gary Gensler told attendees of the U.S. Treasury Markets Conference on September 26.

Gensler spoke about issues affecting the efficiency and resilience of the U.S. Treasury bond market, but the proposal was met with heavy criticism in the digital asset space.

One of the steps the SEC has taken to strengthen the Treasury market has been to change the definition of “dealer” to clarify the role of market participants, such as principal trading firms that may use algorithms and high-frequency trading. Strategy.

The proposed changes for 2022 were criticized by pro-cryptocurrency politicians at the time because of the ramifications they would have on digital asset trading. Nonetheless, they were adopted in February.

Featured Magazine Articles of the Week

Lady of Crypto will be ‘all out of crypto’ by September 2025: X Hall of Flame

A cryptocurrency influencer said everyone looked at her like she was crazy when she said she would sell all of her cryptocurrencies by September 2025.

WorldCoin has been fined again! Crypto Store Clerk Runs Off With $500,000 in Cash: Asia Express

South Korea said Worldcoin broke the law, Hong Kong’s cash for cryptocurrency scams increased and DMM Bitcoin was threatened with a ban.

Seattle Crypto City Guide: The Fall of CZ and Crypto Supplier Sites

It is the site of the downfall of Binance founder CZ and the home of Bittrex, Erik Voorhees, Charlie Shrem, and Roman Storm.

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editorial staff

Cointelegraph Magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.