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| Here is a look at the hits from today's Inside Cryptocurrency newsletter: - A new legal motion from Sam Bankman-Fried's parents to request the court to dismiss FTX's lawsuit against them,
- The approval of Core Scientific's reorganization plan,
- Bitget's new initiative to invest $10M in women-led Web3 startups, and more.
Enjoy your reading! Doğa
p/dogayurduneri | |
| 1 | | Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried's (SBF) parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, have requested a U.S. court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the bankrupt crypto exchange's new management against them. In the legal motion, Bankman and Fried have argued that many of the claims in the lawsuit are based only on the fact that their son was the founder and executive of FTX, and this relationship is not actionable. More: - In September 2023, FTX filed a lawsuit against SBF's parents to recover funds fraudulently transferred and misappropriated, accusing them of breaching their fiduciary duty and exploiting their access and influence within FTX to enrich themselves by millions of dollars.
- The lawsuit claimed that Bankman and Fried siphoned millions of dollars out of FTX for their personal benefits and luxury spending.
- According to the filing, SBF's parents bought a 30,000-square-foot Bahamian luxury property, referred to as Blue Water, in 2018 for $18.9M in cash using the funds in FTX.
- The complaint also accused the family of spending tens of millions of dollars in customer funds on political and charitable contributions, including to Stanford University, where they are law school professors, to boost their status.
- In the latest motion, the parents' lawyers have denied the claim that Joseph Bankman had a judiciary relationship with FTX and did not serve as a director, officer, or manager at the company.
- The legal team also argued that the Blue Water property was not used for self-interest since it was used by FTX employees as a place of business, adding that they did not receive any benefit from the donations.
- The motion pointed out that FTX should have produced specific facts showing that the parents had actual knowledge that certain actions would result in a breach of fiduciary duty or any misconduct.
Zoom Out: - FTX, previously the third-largest crypto exchange, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2022, including all 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 sister company Alameda Research.
- In November 2023, the former CEO was found guilty of all seven criminal charges brought against him by U.S. prosecutors, including money laundering and misappropriation of customer funds, after a month-long trial process.
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| 2 | | 
What the numbers say: Crypto data platform CoinGecko has recently revealed the regions with the highest interest in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on the countries' search interest for the relevant terms on Google from January 2023 to January 2024. Luxembourg took the lead on the list, hosting the highest search interest in the terms. The rest of the top 10 were St. Helena, Singapore, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, and Cyprus. Relevance: Notably, the U.S., where regulators recently green-lit spot Bitcoin ETF products, placed 12th, with an interest score less than half of Luxembourg's. Nevada has become the U.S. state most interested in Bitcoin ETFs, while Washington and New Jersey follow it in the top three. Despite the U.S.' relatively low interest in the product, the country's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently approved 11 spot Bitcoin ETF applications, meeting analysts' expectations. The move marked the first time the regulator approved such a product. The green light also paved the way for the Bitcoin ETF products to begin trading as soon as the next day. Following the debut, retail and institutional investors started getting exposure to Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, through traditional brokerage accounts without directly holding it and dealing with crypto-native platforms that have come under scrutiny by regulators. Brands that should care: Applicants receiving approval for their spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. include VanEck, Bitwise, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Valkyrie, Hashdex, Ark Invest, Grayscale, BlackRock, WisdomTree, and Invesco Galaxy. Analysts expect the new products to bring the nascent crypto industry closer to the more regulated environment of traditional finance, broadening access to Bitcoin for millions more investors. | | | |
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| 3 | | The European Banking Authority (EBA), the banking watchdog of the European Union (EU), has extended its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing rules to cover the region's crypto companies. The extended measures will take effect on Dec. 30. More: - The move will see European crypto firms implementing the same anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures as other financial institutions in the region.
- The updated guidelines aim to help crypto asset service providers identify their exposure risk to financial crimes due to their customers, products, delivery channels, and geographical locations.
- Also, the guidelines outline how crypto firms should adjust their measures to combat financial crimes.
- The amended rules will also apply to financial institutions with crypto asset service provider customers or exposure to crypto assets.
- The authorities will have to report whether they comply with the new guidelines within two months of the publication.
Zoom Out: - The EU increased its efforts to establish a regulatory framework for the crypto market over the last few years.
- The European Parliament (EP), the legislative body of the EU, also approved the region's long-awaited crypto regulations, Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA), with a final vote in April 2023 after three years of development.
- The deadline of Dec. 30 for crypto firms to adopt the EBA's new guidelines coincides with the same day all the provisions of the MiCA will enter into force.
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| 4 | | The U.S. bankruptcy court has approved the collapsed crypto-mining company Core Scientific's reorganization plan. The approval will end the firm's 13-month restructuring process. More: - Core Scientific expects to officially exit bankruptcy on Jan. 23 as part of the plan.
- The firm's shares will be able to be relisted on the U.S.-based stock exchange Nasdaq under the ticker CORZ as soon as the day following the emergence from bankruptcy.
- Under the plan, Core Scientific's existing shareholders will receive nearly 60% of the company's new shares.
- The firm's $400M in debt will be removed from its balance sheet, and all the creditors will fully recover their funds.
- The reorganization plan is also expected to preserve more than 240 jobs at the company.
- Core Scientific said the restructuring plan has become possible partly due to the substantial price increase in Bitcoin (BTC) since its bankruptcy filing.
Zoom Out: - Core Scientific filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2022, citing a decline in Bitcoin's price, rising energy costs, and its exposure to the collapse of the crypto lender Celsius Network.
- Before its bankruptcy, the company was one of the largest Bitcoin (BTC) miners.
- The firm initially went public in 2021, but its shares were delisted on Nasdaq after the bankruptcy proceedings began.
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| 5 | | The U.S.-based crypto exchange Gemini has been registered as a virtual asset service provider in France with the country's financial market regulator, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF). The approval will allow the company to offer its crypto services to retail and institutional customers in France. More: - Gemini said it would launch its services in the country in the coming weeks.
- In an official statement, Gemini's head of Ireland and the European Union (EU), Gillian Lynch, defined France as a global innovation leader with a vibrant crypto community.
- Lynch also underlined that the regulatory approval in France marks a significant milestone in their expansion to Europe.
- Over the past year, Gemini had to accelerate its global expansion efforts after regulators in its home country, the U.S., increased their crackdown on crypto exchanges, including Gemini, Binance, Kraken, KuCoin, Coinbase, and Bittrex.
- In May last year, the firm also announced that it selected Ireland as its European base to oversee the operations in Europe and grow its services in the region.
Zoom Out: - Gemini similarly has regulatory licenses in several other European countries, including Ireland, Italy, and Greece.
- Some other crypto firms, such as Coinbase, Circle, OKX, Binance, and Crypto.com, also previously expressed their interest in establishing a presence in the French market.
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| 6 | | Seychelles-based crypto exchange Bitget has launched a new program dubbed Blockchain4Her to promote gender diversity and inclusivity in the blockchain industry. The initiative will invest $10M in women-led blockchain and Web3 startups. More: - As part of the initiative, Bitget will launch incubation programs for female entrepreneurs and organize pitch competitions for startups founded by women.
- Blockchain4Her will host an exclusive event dubbed Women in Blockchain Summit & Awards to recognize the achievements of women in the blockchain space.
- The firm will also invite industry leaders to join the program as ambassadors to support gender diversity, advocate, engage, and drive positive changes, and foster an inclusive environment.
- The move came several days after a recent study by Bitget revealed that female-led blockchain startups, where at least 50% of the executives are women, have managed to raise $1.77B in venture capital (VC) funding from Q1 2022 to Q3 2023.
- The figure represents only 6.34% of the total $27.85B funding raised by all blockchain startups during the same period, while the funding to male-led Web3 startups makes up more than 93% of the total.
- The research further showed that female-led firms represented 8.6% of all startups in the sector as of Q3 2023.
Zoom Out: - In May last year, Bitget also launched a similar $10M initiative dubbed Blockchain4Youth for young entrepreneurs under 30 in the blockchain industry.
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- Solana Labs, the firm behind the Solana blockchain ecosystem, has unveiled a cheaper version of its crypto-focused smartphone, Saga, nearly one month after the device unexpectedly sold out.
- U.S. Judge Jed Rakoff has postponed a trial related to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's lawsuit against Do Kwon, the co-founder of the Terra ecosystem, to March 25 so that the defendant can attend it.
- Web3 development platform WalletConnect has launched a new notification app dubbed Web3Inbox that allows users to receive notifications from blockchain projects they are interested in through a digital wallet account.
- Ethereum's core developers have deployed the blockchain's much-awaited Dencun upgrade on the Goerli test network, though they failed to finalize it in the expected timeframe.
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 | 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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