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| Here is a look at the hits from the week's latest Inside Cryptocurrency newsletter: - The jury's final verdict on the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX's former CEO in the criminal trial against him,
- Coinbase's decision to halt offering its staking service in the U.S. state of Maryland,
- The world's first hardware crypto wallet in the form of a ring, and more.
Enjoy your reading! Doğa
p/dogayurduneri | |
| 1 | | The jury has found the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX's former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), guilty of all the criminal charges brought against him by the U.S. prosecutors after a month-long trial process. The charges against the 31-year-old former executive included wire fraud, money laundering, and misappropriation of customer funds. More: - SBF had pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him, which were tied to his potential involvement in the collapse of FTX.
- The conviction confronts the former CEO with a maximum sentence of 115 years in prison.
- Jurors revealed their decisions after deliberating for less than five hours.
- In a briefing after the verdicts were read, U.S. attorney Damian Williams said SBF conducted one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.
- In response, SBF's lawyer, Mark Cohen, stated that the former CEO maintains his innocence and will continue to vigorously fight the charges against him.
- During the trial, which began in early October, all the key witnesses of the prosecution, including the former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, FTX co-founder Gary Wang, and FTX's former engineering director Nishad Singh, testified that SBF deliberately organized a fraudulent scheme that brought the firm to collapse.
- U.S. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan set a sentencing date for March 28, 2024.
- The judge also asked for a second trial for other charges SBF faces on March 11 and gave the government until Feb. 1 to inform the court about whether it plans to proceed with those 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 the sister company Alameda Research.
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| 2 | | 
What the numbers say: A recent research report from the crypto data website CoinGecko has shown that Canada incorporates the biggest spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by total assets. The seven spot Bitcoin ETFs in the country manage $2B of assets in total. The figure represents 48.2% of $4.16B held in all spot Bitcoin ETFs worldwide. In the top five, the country is followed by Germany, Jersey, Brazil, and Liechtenstein, respectively. Relevance: On the other hand, there are currently just eight countries incorporating at least one spot Bitcoin ETF in the world. This means that if the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approves existing applications, the U.S. will be the ninth country where spot Bitcoin ETFs are incorporated. However, the agency recently denied some of the submissions while it delayed its decisions on many applications. Analysts believe that the approval of such applications could bring significant amounts of capital to the crypto market, paving the way for a stronger price increase in Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Brands that should care: Many leading traditional finance (TradFi) giants like Grayscale Investments, BlackRock, WisdomTree, Invesco Galaxy, Valkyrie, and Wise Origin are currently waiting for the SEC to make a decision on their spot Bitcoin ETF applications in the U.S. | | | |
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| 3 | | Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto exchange, has announced that it would halt offering its staking services in the U.S. state of Maryland, citing a cease-and-desist order issued by the Maryland Securities Commissioner. The move will see Maryland residents becoming unable to stake any additional crypto funds to earn rewards on Coinbase. More: - The firm also pointed out that it would unstake the funds staked by users after June 5, depositing these funds in users' main balances.
- Users will be able to earn rewards on balances that remain staked and request their rewards to be unstaked at any time.
- In an official email, Coinbase said it disagrees with Maryland's stance on the service, and the order is not an ultimate decision.
- The move came nearly five months after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Coinbase, labeling some tokens listed on the exchange and its staking service as unregistered securities.
- At the time, the local regulators from Alabama, California, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, South Carolina, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin also simultaneously issued an order against Coinbase, alleging the exchange of violating the securities laws through its staking service.
- Following the orders, Coinbase had to temporarily suspend the service in four more U.S. states in July, including California, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Wisconsin.
- The regulators of the other five states have yet to require a pause for the service.
Zoom Out: - Some rival exchanges, such as Bitstamp and Kraken, were also forced to pause their staking services in the U.S. earlier this year since the SEC classified their staking products as unregistered securities.
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| 4 | | The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has asked a judge to award a summary judgment in its lawsuit against Terraform Labs, the firm behind the collapsed Terra ecosystem, and its co-founder, Do Kwon. If approved, the move will see the judge ruling in the case in favor of the SEC without a full trial. More: - In the filing, the agency said the evidence against the two is clear, undisputed, and overwhelming, adding that the proofs show that Terraform Labs' crypto assets and their way of being offered and sold met the standards of being a security.
- Last week, lawyers for Kwon and Terraform Labs also sought summary judgment in the case.
- The SEC filed a lawsuit against Kwon and Terraform Labs in February, accusing them of defrauding customers and selling billions of dollars in digital assets that were unregistered securities.
- The lawsuit also claimed that the firm misled investors about the stability of its stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar (USD), TerraUSD (UST), and promised a value increase in its tokens.
- Kwon was arrested at the Podgorica Airport in Montenegro in March while trying to fly to Dubai carrying falsified traveling documents.
- Both the U.S. and Kwon's native South Korea seek his extradition, though they do not have a direct extradition treaty with Montenegro.
- The co-founder also currently faces many lawsuits and investigations in several countries, such as South Korea, the U.S., and Montenegro, with allegations including tax fraud, deceiving investors, racket collecting, building a Ponzi scheme, and forgery.
Zoom Out: - The multibillion-dollar Terra ecosystem collapsed last year after the prices of its native tokens, Luna and TerraUSD, plummeted nearly to zero in May and lost all their value against USD, triggering a prolonged crypto winter.
- The downfall caused over $60B to be wiped off the crypto market.
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| 5 | | The National Bank of Georgia (NBG), the country's central bank, has partnered with Ripple Labs, the firm behind the payment protocol Ripple, to help it develop its central bank digital currency (CBDC), or the digital lari. The company was selected as the official technology partner of the project. More: - As part of the partnership, the NBG and Ripple Labs will jointly implement and deploy the digital lari pilot through Ripple's CBDC platform.
- During the pilot phase, the central bank will evaluate the potential use cases of the digital currency, determining its advantages to the government, businesses, and retail users.
- Before being selected as the technology partner among eight other firms, Ripple underwent a comprehensive selection process.
- The collaboration came nearly six months after Ripple launched its CBDC platform that allows central banks, governments, and financial institutions to issue their own digital currency.
Zoom Out: - Ripple also previously partnered with central banks in several other countries, including Montenegro and Colombia, to jointly work on their CBDCs.
- At the time, RippleX's vice president for central bank engagements and CBDCs, James Wallis, said they were in negotiations with dozens of central banks worldwide for CBDC projects.
- Besides, the firm's CBDC platform is currently used as the basis for similar pilot projects in various countries, including Hong Kong, Bhutan, and Palau.
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| 6 | | Switzerland-based crypto firm Tangem has unveiled the world's first hardware crypto wallet in the form of a ring. The wallet allows users to store and manage their crypto assets through a device on their fingers. More: - The product was introduced at the Cardano Summit 2023 event that begins in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a special competition for early-stage startups building projects on the Cardano blockchain network.
- The wallet was also defined as the world's first jewelry crypto wallet.
- The event gave the participants the opportunity to take a glance at the product and its key features.
- The participants also received a Tangem Ring for free to test it and become the first owners of the ring-shaped hardware wallet before its public sale.
- Tangem's chief technology officer (CTO), Andrey Lazutkin, said they are starting a new era in digital asset management through Tangem Ring, making crypto ownership stylish, secure, and simple.
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INSIDE CRYPTOCURRENCY LEADERBOARD (ALL-TIME) |
 | 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 | |
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