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OpenSecrets researchers have found that the cryptocurrency industry is on track to set a new record for federal lobbying spending. The record spending comes after a year in which firms struggled to rebuild their reputations and push for friendlire legislation, according to Reuters. In total, cryptocurrency firms spent $18.96 million over the three quarters of 2023. However, during the same period in 2022, $16.1 million was spent. In total, firms spent nearly $22 million on lobbying in 2022, including the failed crypto exchange FTX. Coinbase (COIN.O), the largest US crypto currency exchange, again topped the list with $2.16 million spent, followed by Foris DAX, which operates Crypto.com, Blockchain Association and Binance Holdings. You might also like: Coingecko: Coinbase tops crypto lobbying spenders in 2023 Experts point out that cryptocurrency companies are partly trying to improve their reputation after a string of scandals last year, including the collapse of FTX...

Brand ambassadors for FTX Africa are now facing life-threatening situations and public backlash following the platform’s financial collapse. Brand representatives for the bankrupt FTX Africa are encountering life-endangering challenges, with several reporting serious threats against them. The representatives were initially tasked with increasing the user base for FTX Africa, receiving a share of the user trading fees along with performance-based monthly incentives. FTX Africa’s official Telegram group once boasted a membership exceeding 10,000. Pius Okedinachi, who formerly oversaw educational efforts at FTX Africa, recounted his experience to CoinDesk, noting that the platform appeared superior to other options at the time. “We encouraged many of our close ones to join the FTX platform,” he said. However, after FTX’s financial unraveling, those who were recruited have turned against the ambassadors . They are constantly being blamed by their friends a...

Nishad Singh, former Alameda and FTX chief developer testified to $1.3 billion of customer funds invested in building Sam Bankman-Fried’s social capital and public image.  Federal prosecutors moved to examine the final few government witnesses in United States v Sam Bankman-Fried, commonly known as SBF, on Oct. 16 following testimonies from key individuals like Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, both of whom were part of SBF’s inner circle. The first two weeks of Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial for alleged fraud have been marked by testimony from former employees who claim that Bankman-Fried was the driving force behind the misuse of FTX customer funds and misleading investors. Witnesses have also told the court that Bankman-Fried spent millions of dollars to create a false public image and was involved in bribing Chinese officials. Defense attorneys filed a request for midday Adderall prior to trial day nine, crypto.news reported. Bankman-Fried’s lawyers argued that the FT...

Nansen analysts observed “unusual transactions between FTX and Alameda” in the days leading up to FTX’s bankruptcy. Blockchain data analysts from Nansen revisit the days leading up to the collapse of FTX, including the transfer of $4.1 billion worth of FTT token s between the exchange and Alameda Research. A Nansen report shared with Cointelegraph reveals unique observations from the blockchain analytics firm, which highlights the close relationship between the two companies founded by Sam Bankman-Fried. The former FTX CEO appears in court for the first time to face a litany of charges relating to the collapse of the FTX group. The collapse of FTX is widely reported to have been sparked by initial reports that flagged the significant, 40 percent share of Alameda’s $14.6 billion in assets held in FTT tokens in Sept. 2022. Nansen analysts revealed that they had observed dubious on-chain interactions between FTX and Alameda before these reports came to light. Between Sept. 28 and Nov. 1...

The move comes ten months after Binance removed FTX’s token from its platform, except for the FTT/BUSD trading pair. Cryptocurrency exchange Binance will re-open FTX’s token FTT for trades on Sept. 22, 2023 (08:00 UTC). According to a press release on Sept. 21, the token will be available for trading in the FTT/USDT pair. Binance didn’t explain the reason behind the move but noted that it would also remove the FTT/BUSD trading pair. In addition to FTT, the exchange will list the following pairs: ARK/USDT, CREAM/USDT, GFT/USDT, IQ/USDT and USDT/VAI for spot trading . You might also like: SBF’s father was unhappy with $200k salary at FTX On Sept. 29, 2023, (03:00 UTC), Binance will also remove and cease trading on the ARK/BUSD, CREAM/BUSD, GFT/BUSD, IQ/BUSD, and BUSD/VAI trading pairs. FTT price on CoinMarketCap | Source: CoinMarketCap Amid the news, FTT price gained 8%, reaching the $1.1 mark, according to data from CoinMarketCap. However, the ...

The global crypto market cap is rising despite the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) coming higher than expected and FTX’s liquidation approval. According to a report by CNN, data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the CPI, used to measure inflation in the country, registered a 0.6% hike in August 2023, up by 3.7% from a year earlier. The report notes that a 3.6% incline was expected, but the US Federal Reserve (FED) is unlikely to go for another aggressive rate hike. Another event expected to take the crypto market down was the approval of FTX’s liquidation . The US Delaware District Judge John Dorsey authorized the bankrupt exchange’s plan to liquidate roughly $3.4 billion in digital assets.  You might also like: Hong Kong’s SFC cautions against unregulated crypto trading by JPEX However, to prevent a market-wide bloodbath, the sales limit is set to $100 million per week for FTX’s top crypto holdings. It’s important to note that DWF Labs and Justin Sun are report...

Previously, Kraken suffered numerous losses when the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordered it to discontinue its offer and sale of crypto asset staking-as-a-service programs and penalized the exchange with $30 million.  advertisement Kraken aims to gain custody of a broader range of client assets in the United Kingdom with one of its subsidiaries, Crypto Facilities Ltd. The London-based subsidiary is in talks with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority to expand its services.  New Horizons Kraken acquired Crypto Facilities in 2019, and the London-based firm separately registered with the FCA in 2021 for custody of crypto assets. Now, the firm offers institutional investors leveraged and cash-settled futures contracts for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether.  Crypto Facilities acquired the multilateral trading facility license in 2020. Based on the accreditation, Crypto Facilities plans to leverage the UK’s Client Mo...

Farmington State Bank to Wind Down Operations As part of the enforcement action, Farmington State Bank has been asked to suspend its operations immediately.  advertisement This is a joint enforcement action from the Federal Reserve Board and the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions. Hence, Farmington is barred from “making dividends or capital distributions, dissipating cash assets and engaging in certain activities” without seeking the permission of its supervisors. According to the published statement, Farmington which operates under its Moonstone Bank name improperly changed its business plans last year without informing the bank’s supervisor, nor did it receive approval from the appropriate quarters. Instead, the Washington state-based bank adopted a pro-digital assets business plan.  Precisely, Farmington State Bank collaborated with a third party to launch an IT infrastructure that supports the issuance of st...

The request was denied by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who characterized it as a "fishing expedition" lacking justification. Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder of FTX, has been denied his request to obtain documents from a Silicon Valley law firm, Fenwick & West LLP, as part of his defense strategy in his ongoing federal fraud case, Bloomberg reported. Bankman-Fried had hoped to use these documents to support his claim that he relied on legal advice while engaging in the activities for which he is currently facing prosecution . In a recent development, Bankman-Fried's legal team approached the judge overseeing the case, urging the prosecution to hand over the documents obtain ed from Fenwick & West or to allow them to be obtain ed directly through a subpoena. However, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan dismissed the request, calling it as "fishing expedition" that would not be justified. In preparation for his defense, Bankman-Fried's legal tea...

Sam Bankman-Fried ’s lawyers have been bargaining about the former FTX executive’s bail conditions for quite some time now. Last month, Bankman-Fried came to terms with federal prosecutors over his use of encrypted messaging applications and communications with his ex-employees. Right after, revised bail conditions were issued which barred the FTX founder from using phones and the internet. A recent report from Reuters revealed that the parties have now come up with a new bail agreement. According to the proposed new conditions, Bankman-Fried will have a new phone with no internet capability. In fact, the phone’s communication functions will be restricted to text-only messages and voice calls. All other messaging applications will be prohibited. Lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried said they reached an agreement with US prosecutors on revised bail conditions, after a judge raised the prospect of sending the indicted FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder to jail pending trial https://t.c...

The decision comes after a Jan. 8 filing by FTX’s lawyers who argued that public disclosure could create an undue risk of identity theft or unlawful injury to FTX creditors. The names of up to nine million FTX customers are set to remain confidential for at least three more months following the latest ruling in FTX bankruptcy proceedings.  The decision was reportedly made by Judge John Dorsey in the Delaware-based Bankruptcy Court on Jan. 11 in response to a 168-page filing by FTX on Jan. 8 which requested the Court to withhold confidential customer information. Judge Dorsey said that he remains “reluctant at this point” to disclose the confidential information, as it may put creditors “at risk,” despite increased pressure from several media outlets: "We're talking about individuals here who are not present – individuals who may be at risk if their name and information is disclosed.” Days earlier, FTX lawyers argued “that disclosure of the information would create an undue r...

The FTX event has some interesting updates surfacing each day. Watcher.Guru had earlier reported that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) was eyeing to seize the Robinhood shares of Sam Bankman-Fried. According to the court documents, SBF had used a loan obtained from Alameda Research to purchase the shares. Earlier Delaware court filing reports from Jan 6 reveal that SBF was seeking access to his 55 million Robinhood shares. SBF wanted access to his $450 million HOOD shares to cover his legal fees. Now, according to the latest reports, the DOJ has officially seized the Robinhood shares of SBF . JUST IN: 🇺🇸 US government officially seizes SBF 's $455 million Robinhood $ HOOD shares. — Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) January 9, 2023 FTX’s HOOD shares worth $455 million seized The stock had been held at a UK-based brokerage ED&F Man. The court document details also reveal that the seized assets constitute property that is involv...

Christmas dinner could get awkward for crypto advocates who were adamant about their families investing last year — Cointelegraph compiled a small recap of what happened in crypto this year. After a lackluster rise of crypto in 2021, which saw many new crypto millionaires and several crypto startups attain unicorn status, came the dramatic fall in 2022. The industry was plagued by macroeconomic pressures, scandals and meltdowns that wiped out fortunes virtually overnight.  As 2022 comes to a close, many crypto proponents are perplexed about the state of the industry, especially in light of the recent FTX collapse and the contagion it has caused, taking down several firms associated with it. Many who couldn’t stop talking about crypto and recommending their family to invest in it last year at Christmas dinner could see the tables turn this year, with them having a lot of explaining to do about the state of crypto today. While as awkward as that conversation is going to be, Cointel...

The age-old Roman saying “What is food for one man, may be bitter poison to others” blends perfectly well with the collapse of centralized exchange FTX and the rise of the decentralized platform Trust Wallet ( TWT ). While the fall of FTX is a bitter pill to investors, the rise of Trust Wallet is “good food” to a handful of people. While FTX’s fall caused massive losses to the majority, TWT’s rise due to FTX’s fall brought decent profits to the minority. The phrase is upgraded in modern English terms as “One man’s bread is another man’s poison” . For the uninitiated, TWT almost tripled in price after FTX’s fall, as investors moved their cryptocurrencies from exchanges to Trust Wallet. In addition, TWT saw a heavy inflow of funds and attracted bullish sentiments after it steadily skyrocketed in price. Also Read: How Many Cryptocurrency Exchanges Closed Down in 2022? .@TrustWallet allows you to store y...

NFTs hosted on FTX platform were affected by the firm’s collapse, showing blank images instead of the original art. The FTX collapse highlighted many flaws in the crypto industry. Now, the effects of the FTX debacle have broken into the nonfungible token (NFT) space with users unable to view their FTX-hosted NFTs.  In a tweet, Solana engineer jac0xb.sol pointed out how the metadata of FTX-hosted NFTs now points to a restructuring website that gives out information about bankruptcy proceedings. According to jac0xb.sol, the NFTs minted on FTX were hosted using a Web2 application programming interface (API), resulting in images not showing. Example of an NFT hosted by FTX. Source: Magiceden.io After the FTX exchange filed for bankruptcy, the FTX.us domain was entirely redirected to the bankruptcy proceeding page. Because of this, NFT owners are still able to see that their NFTs exist. However, images cannot be seen anymore, even when viewing them within wallets or listing them on NFT tr...

Ethereum market analysts desperately search for the bottom but ETH price technicals aren't excluding further downside below $700. Ethereum's native token, Ether (ETH), eyes a strong bullish reversal after losing 25% from its November high of $1,675, according to a bottom fractal spotted by independent market analyst Wolf. Can Ethereum price co its March 2020 fractal?   Wolf compares Ethereum's multi-month downtrend between May 2018 and March 2020 with a similar but relatively shorter correction after July 2022. If the move repeats, that means the price of Ether has bottom ed in November 2022, according to the analyst, as shown below. ETH/USD 2019-20 and 2022 price performance comparison. Source: TradingView/Wolf Wolf draws cues from March 2020' s Ethereum price crash triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic — a black swan event. Similarly, ETH price was pushed down in November 2022 due to another black swan — the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. But ETH/USD rebo...