Tag Archives: AA News

Federal judge Ronnie Abrams, who used to oversee the case against Sam Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, and Gary Wang, has formally recused herself. According to an order from December 23rd, Federal judge at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has recused herself from the action. The order states: It has come to the Court’s attention that the law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, at which my husband is a partner, advised FTX in 2021, as...

One of the most popular password management tools – LastPass – has recently been compromised, and cryptocurrency users may have been affected. With that in mind, it’s important to take reasonable action. First off, reports of LastPass being compromised started appearing yesterday. Some claim that customer details were leaked in data breaches, and these include contact details, company and customer names, as well as IP addresses. The breaches themselves took place back in...

The Bitcoin-focused investment group, New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG), released a report in September examining how Bitcoin’s protocol has managed to attract such wide adoption despite its tiny developer ecosystem.  Here are the highlights: The network, which launched in early January 2009, has only 40-60 monthly active developers, according to the report.  This is not a static bunch. 1,140 developers have contributed to Bitcoin over its lifetime, with 5 to 10 new...

A recent report published by blockchain analytics firm Dune revealed that nearly 60% of non-fungible token (NFT) trading volumes this year were wash trades. Wash trading is a form of market manipulation in which a trader buys and sells a security to create the appearance of increased trading volume and activity in the market. In crypto, these activities involve buying and selling digital assets – fungible or non-fungible tokens – on trading platforms, intending to inflate...

In compliance with U.S. sanctions law, OpenSea – the world’s largest NFT marketplace – is delisting Cuban artist and collector accounts from its platform.  A recent statement from the company confirms previously held suspicions that its platform discriminates against Cuban users.  Compliance With Sanctions In an email received by Artnet News, an OpenSea spokesperson clarified that the company bars “sanctioned individuals, individuals in sanctioned jurisdictions, or services,”...

Crypto exchange Bullish has called off the planned merger worth $9 billion with Far Peak Acquisition Corp. According to an official statement, the two entities have mutually agreed to terminate their proposed business combination. Far Peak is led by Thomas Farley, a former president of the New York Stock Exchange. Terminated Merger Bullish is audited by Deloitte and recently assured that it has no exposure to FTX or related entities. The Gibraltar-based exchange, which is...

Sam Bankman-Fried’s bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX is seeking help from a United States Bankruptcy Court to gain control of $450 million worth of Robinhood shares. The portfolio holds 56 million brokerage shares owned by Emergent Fidelity Technologies, a corporate entity incorporated in Antigua and Barbuda. In March, these shares represented a 7.6% stake in Robinhood and were acquired by FTX’s founder and former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). FTX in Court Battle Over...

Cryptocurrency exchange OKX released its second Proof of Reserves (PoR) on its website on December 22nd. The new report would enable users to view and self-verify the results of two PoRs with the help of open-source tools, the company said in an official statement. OKX also promised to publish the PoR report every month. OKX’s Proof-of-Reserves The report shows that OKX’s wallets held 113,754 BTC against a user balance of 112,192 BTC as of December 20th, 14:00 UTC. It has a...

The US Personal Consumption Expenditures price index (PCE) increased by 0.1% in November compared to October and by 4.7% compared to a year ago. As the world’s most powerful economy made the announcement, BTC reacted with minor price volatility. The US Commerce Department outlined the PCE increase on Friday. The metric is typically the go-to point for the Federal Reserve, as it provides a clearer picture of consumer prices. The 5.5% jump in the Core PCE (which includes food...

The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Dan Berkovitz will step down from his General Counsel position as of the end of January 2023. The current SEC Principal Deputy General Counsel – Megan Barbero – will replace Berkovitz upon his departure. SEC Chair Gary Gensler said he was “grateful” for Berkovitz’s “exceptional public service and his dedication to this agency” in the official announcement before adding, “Dan has led the Office of General Counsel during...