| |
| Hey Insider! It has been a long day for the leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin as it saw a sharp decline in price following the pause in interest rates after 15 months of hikes. Alongside Bitcoin's downward trend, today's issue covers many prominent stories from the crypto industry, including Binance's deregistration in Cyprus, U.S. prosecutors' latest decision on Sam Bankman-Fried's charges, Voyager app's reopening date for withdrawals, and more. Enjoy your reading! Doğa
p/dogayurduneri | |
| 1 | | The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has agreed to try the former CEO of the bankrupt crypto exchange, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), on the eight original charges brought to his U.S. indictment in December 2022 before his extradition from the Bahamas to the U.S. The move followed a Bahamian court order blocking the local government from accepting additional charges. More: - SBF faced 13 charges in the U.S., but five of them, including bank fraud and bribery, were added to the indictment after his extradition.
- The original criminal charges consisted of eight counts, and SBF already pleaded not guilty to all of them.
- In late March, the former FTX executive also pleaded not guilty to the five additional charges in New York federal court.
- In his motion to dismiss, SBF's lawyers argued that the additional charges must first be agreed upon by the Bahamian government before he is tried since he was originally arrested in the Bahamas.
- Following the recent order from a Bahamian court, the U.S. prosecutors stated that the country agreed to proceed with the trial with the counts in the original indictment to simplify the proof at trial and decrease the burden of trial preparation on the defendant.
- The original allegations include money laundering, unlawful political contributions, securities fraud, and wire fraud.
- SBF is expected to appear in court to defend himself in the bankruptcy trial scheduled for October, and the U.S. prosecutors requested another trial date in Q1 2024 for the additional charges.
Zoom Out: - FTX, previously the third-largest crypto exchange, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2022, with all the 130 entities under the roof of FTX Group.
- The downfall followed the claims that SBF used customer funds in FTX to compensate for losses at Alameda Research.
|     | |
| 2 | | 
What the numbers say: Bitcoin (BTC), the leading cryptocurrency by market cap, fell under the critical $25,000 level on June 14, down from the $26,000 level during the earlier hours of the day. Within the day, the popular cryptocurrency retreated to as much as $24,879, with an over 3% decline. The figure marked the first time Bitcoin fell under $25,000 in the last three months. The second-largest cryptocurrency, Ether (ETH), also experienced a similar price decline on the same day, decreasing by 5.5% in value from $1,727 to the $1,600 level. Relevance: The sharp price decline in leading cryptocurrencies came a couple of hours after the Federal Reserve (Fed), the central banking system of the U.S., announced a pause on interest-rate hikes for the first time in 15 months. The financial institution had carried out an aggressive interest rate hike policy for more than a year to ease inflation and lower it to its target of 2%. Most recently, the consumer price index (CPI) was announced as 4% for May in the U.S., the lowest rate of the last two years. Then, the Fed stated that it took a break from the interest-rate hiking campaign, keeping the rate at 5.25%. Bitcoin reacted to this move with a sharp price decline after holding around the $26,000 level over the past week despite the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) increased crackdown on major crypto exchanges, Binance and Coinbase. Brands that should care: Following the announcement, major crypto exchanges also saw a massive Bitcoin liquidation. On June 14, $41.21M of Bitcoin was liquidated in short and long positions combined from the leading crypto exchanges, up from the previous day's figure of $23.19M. Huobi, OKX, and Binance became the top three exchanges with the highest Bitcoin liquidations, and more than half of the total liquidation occurred in this trio. | | | |
| A message from our sponsor, Wellcore. |  | | Boost Your Testosterone and Win Dad of the Year If you feel like crap you can’t be a great dad, and if you can’t be a great dad, no one is voting for you for Father of the Year. Enter Wellcore. They created the Best At-Home Hormone Optimization Program On The Planet. This scientifically-backed program can improve: - strength
- fat loss
- bone density
- libido
- blood sugar
- mood, and more.
Real science. Real results. The path toward being a real-life superhero has never been more clear. Right now, Wellcore is treating all dads like VIPs. Use code INSIDEVIP to get the At-Home Assessment Kit for just $49 ($150 off retail). Order Kit | |
|
| 3 | | The bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital's bankruptcy plan administrator, Paul Hage, has stated that Voyager's app would reopen between June 20 and July 5 to facilitate customer withdrawals. The move will allow creditors to recover 35.72% of their deposits by withdrawing crypto via the app or in cash after 30 days. More: - The self-liquidation plan was approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Wiles in mid-May, authorizing Voyager to repay $1.33B in crypto assets to customers through its own platform.
- Further repayments will depend on the aftermath of the other ongoing legal proceedings, especially with the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX and the bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC).
- Both firms still owe Voyager millions of dollars.
- The repayment process will start nearly two months after Binance.US, the U.S. arm of the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, terminated its $1.3B acquisition deal with Voyager, citing the hostile and uncertain regulatory climate in the U.S.
- The sales deal with Binance was expected to compensate 50%-73% of Voyager creditors' holdings and result in a $100M larger gain for customers than a liquidation.
- Before the deal with Binance.US, Voyager sold its assets to FTX's U.S. arm, FTX US, in September 2022 in a $1.42B agreement, which then failed with the latter's bankruptcy.
Zoom Out: - Voyager Digital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2022, nearly four years after its launch, citing volatility in the crypto market and its exposure to the bankruptcy of 3AC.
- With the move, the firm joined other crypto-related companies, including Celsius Network, BlockFi, and Genesis Global Capital, going bankrupt after a prolonged crypto winter.
| | | |
| 4 | | Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, has applied to withdraw its registration in Cyprus as a crypto asset service provider. The move aims to allow the firm to focus on its larger markets in Europe. More: - The registration authorizes the company to offer its crypto services, including spot trading and custody, in compliance with Cyprus' anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing rules.
- The popular crypto exchange was registered with the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission in October 2022.
- However, the company has never launched its business in the island country.
- A Binance spokesperson said they intend to direct their focus to the larger markets within the European Union (EU) ahead of the rollout of the bloc's region-wide crypto regulations, Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA).
- The spokesperson added that they are working hard to prepare Binance as a fully compliant platform with MiCA before it starts being implemented in the next 18 months.
- Binance has licenses and registrations in six countries of the EU, including France, Italy, and Spain.
Zoom Out: - The move came shortly after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a 136-page complaint against Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) over U.S. law violations with 13 charges.
- The allegations in the complaint include mishandling customer funds, misleading investors and regulators, violating securities laws, creating an extensive web of deception, conflicts of interest, lack of disclosure, wash trading, and calculated evasion of the law.
| | | |
| A message from our sponsor, R3 Printing. |  | | The 3D printing startup that’s reshaping American manufacturing Ever wanted to invest like an angel investor but were waiting for the right opportunity? Wait no more. This is a chance to invest in a promising startup that’s disrupting an $18B market. See for yourself what’s gotten R3 Printing over $4M of funding already: - Named one the ‘The 7 Best Startups You Can Buy on StartEngine Right Now’ by InvestorPlace.
- Previous oversubscribed crowdfunding StartEngine campaign rated as Top Deal by KingsCrowd.
- 9 patents granted, 10 patents pending approval. Additional 7-10 patent applications expected in the next year.
- Partnerships with major institutions and universities, including two Top 10 schools in California for research and mechanical engineering.
- Product currently being tested by prospective customers, with an official launch expected in 2023.
- Two additional products in the pipeline.
- $4M raised through equity rounds from venture capitalists and a federal grant from the United States Air Force.
- $1.9M raised through current crowdfunding round on StartEngine Capital, with average investment over $1,000.
Learn More | |
|
| 5 | | Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has signed new legislation into law specifying jurisdictions on crypto to provide clarity within the Brazilian digital asset industry. The legislation has made the country's central bank and the securities commission responsible for overseeing the crypto market. More: - As part of the designation, the Central Bank of Brazil will determine rules to be followed by virtual asset service providers, including the licensing requirements to operate in the country.
- On the other hand, the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM), the country's securities commission, will have control over virtual assets qualified as securities.
- The legislation will come into force as of June 20.
- The country's certain laws on consumer protection and financial crimes will also continue to apply to virtual asset service providers.
Zoom Out: - Brazil is considered the crypto hub of South America as one of the largest markets in the region.
- In December 2022, the former Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, also approved a crypto regulation, marking the rollout of a virtual service provider license in the country and establishing a fraud crime involving crypto with a penalty of four to six years in prison alongside a fine in the event of a violation.
- In addition, the country's central bank recently published the final list of its central bank digital currency (CBDC), or the digital real, pilot project participants that included giant firms like payments services giant Visa and tech giant Microsoft.
| | | |
| 6 | | Dubai-headquartered crypto exchange Bybit has integrated OpenAI's renowned AI-powered chatbot, ChatGPT, into its platform. The integration will pave the way for a new feature dubbed ToolsGPT on the exchange, offering an in-house chatbot. More: - The feature will be available to all Bybit users for free.
- ToolsGPT will combine ChatGPT's machine learning technology with Bybit's market data to provide technical analysis, price data, and metrics.
- Users will be able to ask ToolsGPT questions on these metrics, market insights, analysis, price trends, and predictions in various trading scenarios to get unique answers.
- Bybit CEO Ben Zhou said the ChatGPT integration would give users more comprehensive information while making investment decisions.
Zoom Out: - ChatGPT was released in November 2022 and gained massive popularity within several months after its launch, becoming the fastest-growing app of all time.
- In April, Bybit also launched its in-house AI-powered tool, Tools Discovery, providing users with personalized product and strategy recommendations based on their trading habits, preferences, and current market conditions.
- AI has become a rising trend in the crypto industry over the last months as many other crypto-related firms, including OKX, Binance, Crypto.com, and The Solana Foundation, integrated AI-powered tools into their platforms.
| | | |
| 7 | | Quick Hits: - Put the bourbon boom in your portfolio. CaskX is a revolutionary new platform helping individuals invest in full barrels of bourbon. Request access.*
- The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the region's central bank and financial regulator, has started putting pressure on major banks, including HSBC and Standard Chartered, to accept crypto exchanges as clients.
- Twitter founder Jack Dorsey has donated $5M to Brink, a nonprofit organization supporting Bitcoin developers, through his Smart Small funding initiative.
- Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, has launched a new subscription-based cloud mining service for Bitcoin (BTC) mining.
- Discover how brands can achieve incremental revenue growth, increased brand awareness, and more.*
*This is a sponsored post. | | | |
| Upcoming Events | | JUN
20 | | Contract Negotiations 101 with Mathew Kerbis | | | | | | | JUN
22 | | Inside.com Book Club - Automate Your Busywork (June 2023) | | | | | | * This is a sponsored event | | | |
Term of the Day Weighted average: A weighted average is a type of average that considers each element's relative importance in the dataset. Question of the Week What's the most bizarre work-related dream you've ever had? Join the conversation |
INSIDE CRYPTOCURRENCY LEADERBOARD (7 DAYS) |
 | Staff Writer | | Doga is a tech and science editor who has been writing news for nearly 10 years. She worked for leading tech platforms and mainstrem media channels as an editor and presenter throughout his career. Then, she carried her know-how to more than one platform. She is a part-time cat lover and binge-watcher, and also fond of science, space, and emerging tech. She always has a story to tell. She is a bit addict to the laughter and -unfortunately- the '90s culture. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
| |
 | The Best Hormone Optimization on the Planet. Use code INSIDEVIP to get the At-Home Assessment Kit for just $49 ($150 off retail) | |
|
 | Be a part of this rapidly expanding multi-billion dollar industry with R3 Printing. | |
|
| |
Comments
Post a Comment