SBF pleads not guilty, layoffs, and bank run on Silvergate: Hodler’s Digest, Jan. 1-7

This Week’s Top Stories

Sam Bankman-Fried entered a plea of ​​not guilty to all counts in federal court

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (has pleaded not guilty to all charges related to the collapse of the crypto exchange, including wire fraud and securities fraud. He faces eight criminal counts, which could lead to 115 years in prison if convicted. Furthermore, the proposal has filed by the legal team Bankman-Fried who asked the court to redact and not disclose certain information on individuals acting as guarantor for which $250 million bail, alleging threats to the family.

US Feds incorporate ‘FTX task’ to track stolen user funds

A task force organized by the Southern District of New York has been formed to trace and recover lost customer funds as well as investigate and prosecute the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. A similar effort has been made by FTX’s new management, which hired financial advisory firm AlixPartners in December to conduct “asset tracking” for missing digital assets.

SEC files objections to Binance.US’s plans to acquire Voyager Digital

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a “limited objection” to Binance.US’s proposal to acquire the assets of bankrupt company Voyager Digital. In the offer, Binance.US pledged $1 billion to buy the asset, but the SEC raised concerns about the company’s ability to finance the deal, stating that Binance’s global unit was needed to support the acquisition.

Coinbase reaches $100M settlement with NY regulator

In response to violations of New York’s financial services and banking laws, crypto exchange Coinbase will pay a $50 million fine and invest $50 million to fix its compliance program. According to financial regulators, crypto exchanges have many “shortcomings” related to Anti-Money Laundering requirements, especially in terms of onboarding and transaction monitoring.

The community celebrates Bitcoin Genesis Day by sending BTC to the genesis block

The crypto community celebrated Bitcoin’s 14th birthday this week, with some sending BTC to addresses containing rewards for mining the genesis block – the first block of BTC ever mined. On January 3, 2009, the creator of Bitcoin under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto mined the genesis block, which led to the minting of the first 50 BTC, paving the way for the entire industry to be developed.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) that’s it $16,819Ether (ETH) at $1,263 and XRP at $0.33. The total market capitalization is at $819.9 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the 100 largest cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week were Lido DAO (LDO) at 52.19%, Solana (SOL) at 37.44% and BitDAO (BEET) at 23.50%.

The three biggest altcoins of the week were Huobi Token (HT) at -9.32%, Chain (XCN) at -7.09% and Computer Internet (ICP) at -5.19%.

For more information on crypto prices, be sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotes

“Bitcoin, in particular, has the potential to promote financial inclusion due to its decentralized nature, which makes it resistant to censorship and manipulation.”

Philip Karađorđevićprince of Serbia

“The problem for many in DC is that FTX is the same as the entire crypto industry.”

Ron Hammonddirector of government relations at the Blockchain Association

“We see a lot of problems in security because people don’t understand that it is personal responsibility for their own assets. People are not ready for this.

Dmitry MishuninCEO of HashEx

“We’re proud of our commitment to compliance, but we’re also willing to admit that we’ve fallen short, including paying fines & working hard to fix problems.”

Paul Grewalchief legal officer at Coinbase

“In fact, crypto assets have become investment and financial instruments, so they should be regulated in the same way as other financial and investment instruments.”

Suminto Sastrosuwitodirector at the Indonesian Ministry of Finance

“As the former CEO of Celsius, Alex Mashinsky promised to lead investors to financial freedom, but led them down the path of financial ruin.”

Letitia JamesAttorney General of New York

Sunday Predictions

BTC price forms new support at $16.8K as Bitcoin lures ‘mega whale’

As 2023 begins, Bitcoin continues to experience a lack of volatility, leading to debate among traders about the timing of the breakout. The narrow trading range has been in place since the FTX saga in November.

The Trend Rider trading platform examines the one-week chart to mark $16,800 as the current 100-week point of control (PoC) – the price level that generates the most volume in a given period.

“~16.8K is the new Weekly POC 100 for Bitcoin. In simple terms in the last 100 weeks this is the level at which the most volume has been traded, which creates a potential base formation,” said the crypto company.

FUD from Sunday

Mango Market Exploit Avraham Eisenberg ordered detained pending trial

The United States District Court in Puerto Rico has issued an arrest warrant against Mango Market exploiter Avraham Eisenberg. According to court records, Eisenberg’s release is not subject to any condition or combination of conditions that would guarantee his appearance. With the decision, Eisenberg will remain in custody until the case is concluded or he will be released at a new bail hearing.

Silvergate sold assets at a loss and cut staff to cover the $8.1B withdrawal

The collapse of FTX triggered a run on Silvergate, forcing the bank to sell assets at steep losses to cover some $8.1 billion in withdrawals. In addition, about 200 employees of the bank were dismissed, representing 40% of employees. The bank has come under scrutiny from members of the United States parliament for its ties to FTX and Alameda Research.

Crypto lender Genesis is shedding 30% more staff

In the second round of layoffs in six months, Genesis Global Trading has reportedly cut 30% of its workforce. The crypto credit platform stopped withdrawals and suspended the origination of new loans in November, citing “unprecedented market chaos.” In another headcount reduction headline, crypto exchange Huobi announced plans to lay off 20% of its staff as part of its ongoing restructuring following the company’s acquisition of Justin Sun.

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Asia Express: China’s NFT market, Moutai metaverse popular but buggy…

The new national NFT market in China, 1 million users came to the metaverse Moutai distillery in just two days, and Final Fantasy developer Square Enix is ​​involved in the blockchain game.

How time weighted average prices can reduce the impact of large trading markets

Time-weighted average pricing is an algorithmic trading strategy that aims to reduce price volatility and increase liquidity during the trading process.