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☆ Sam Bankman-Fried's Alameda Research sells $1.7 million in crypto amid bankruptcy and still holds over $112 million in tokens
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Alameda Research liquidated $1.7 million worth of cryptocurrencies over the past 24 hours. Data showed that wallets associated with Alameda unloaded Ethereum-based tokens, which were later swapped for bitcoin. The sales come amid bankruptcy proceedings for Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto empire. Arkham said in a Twitter thread that wallets linked to Alameda Research were dormant up until Wednesday, with the last prior transaction occurring on December 1. Alameda Research currently holds $112 million worth of cryptocurrencies, CoinDesk says, a decline from $140 million in holdings in November.

☆ Crumbling tech stocks and recession fears have cratered the fortunes of the wealthiest Americans including Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Britta Pedersen-Pool/Getty Images; Arif Hudaverdi Yaman/Getty Images; KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/Getty Images; Mike Cohen/Getty Images; Yuqing Liu/Business Insider1. Besides the fallen crypto king, many of these shrinking fortunes can be chalked up to this year's bloodbath in the tech stocks. How has Elon Musk's involvement with Twitter impacted your outlook for Tesla stock? Tesla stock price on December, 29, 2022 Markets Insider10. Tesla stock climbed Wednesday as dip-buyers poured into the EV maker.

☆ Solana crypto token loses most of its value in 2022, FTX collapse weighs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Dec 28 (Reuters) - The price of Solana, a cryptocurrency token that had been lauded by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, fell 10.36% on Wednesday, and is down 94.2% so far in 2022. The collapse of FTX has rippled across the industry, hobbling liquidity at firms with exposure to what was once one of the world's biggest crypto exchanges. Solana , or SOL, is the token behind the upstart Solana blockchain, which supports smart contracts, including non-fungible tokens, and has emerged as a rival to the ethereum blockchain. FTX and Alameda, Bankman-Fried's trading firm, held Solana tokens on their balance sheets. While Solana has no direct relation to FTX, and had limited exposure to the failed exchange, its association with Bankman-Fried has been a drag.

Critically, experts say, nothing that's transpired in the crypto market in 2022 undermines the inherent value of the blockchain. "So while this has been a shock to the market, a lot of people in the space remain sanguine about the future of blockchain technology." He said stock trading, buying and selling real estate, and borrowing and lending money remain ripe for disruption by blockchain technology. "The ethereum blockchain could turn out to be this major infrastructure layer for the future of technological services," Abner said. He said prospective crypto users must prepare for a steep learning curve going forward, because it ultimately involves trusting only yourself to be in charge of your assets.

☆ The Sam Bankman-Fried-backed crypto Solana has lost nearly all its value this year and is still crashing as key projects bail
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Solana, once praised as a viable rival for Ethereum, has tumbled almost 70% since the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's empire, and is down 94% in 2022. The disgraced crypto founder said over the summer that Solana was the most underrated cryptocurrency. The latest decline comes as more crypto projects bail on the Solana ecosystem. FTX and Alameda had purchased over 50.5 million Solana tokens — now worth about $500 million — that would remain "locked" until 2028. Meanwhile, Solana Compass data cited by Forbes showed that Alameda's liquidators now hold over half a billion dollars worth of the crypto.

☆ Bitcoin miner Core Scientific to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy- CNBC
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 21 (Reuters) - Core Scientific Inc (CORZ.O), one of the biggest publicly traded crypto mining companies in the United States, will soon file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, CNBC reported, citing one person familiar with the matter. The development comes after one of the largest creditors of Core Scientific B. Riley Financial Inc (RILY.O) had offered $72 million last week to avoid the bitcoin miner's bankruptcy. Core Scientific did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment outside business hours. Bitcoin miners have been under severe pressure as their profitability dropped amid a slump in cryptocurrency prices and soaring energy rates. Core Scientific was also impacted by the litigation with Celsius Networks LLC and its affiliates.

Ben McMillan, chief investment officer at IDX Digital Assets, said the rising popularity of blockchain-based tools including decentralized exchanges and decentralized finance had also been an important development this year. "We could see bigger allocations to digital assets once risk appetite resumes in 2023." Bitcoin and other tokens took a hammering, slumping by over half in just 49 days from the end of May. On a single day in June, bitcoin fell over 15%, its worst day since March 2020 when COVID chaos roiled financial markets. Bitcoin fell by a quarter in less than four days as Bankman-Fried scrambled for funds to bail his exchange out.

☆ Black Americans saw crypto as a path to building wealth. Now they're bearing the brunt of its decline.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Many Black Americans have invested in cryptocurrency in recent years. Closing the wealth gap is among the reasons some Black investors turned to crypto in the first place. As of September 2021, 18% of Black Americans overall had invested in, traded, or used a cryptocurrency, compared to 13% of white Americans, according to a Pew Research poll of over 10,000 US adults. First, some Black investors may see crypto as a way to close the racial wealth gap. An April Ariel and Charles Schwab survey found 28% of Black Americans distrust banks, compared to 18% of white Americans.

☆ Kraken's incoming CEO shares 5 major crypto trends for 2023, including what he believes will be the leading use-cases
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

David Ripley says crypto price drops tend to expose those that aren't following proper protocol. Earlier this year, FTX swooped in to try and save the distressed firms, posing as the blue-chip of crypto companies. David Ripley, COO at crypto exchange Kraken and incoming CEO of the firm, says price drops tend to expose those that aren't following proper protocol. It will take the crypto from being just a global payment mechanism to a fast and low-cost global payment network. As for major providers in the space, trusted and reliable crypto companies will see an increase in their market share to fill the demand, he said.

☆ Binance's native BNB token plunges to lowest since July as concerns mount about withdrawals, FTX ties
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Binance's Co-founder & CEO Changpeng Zhao has given several interviews discussing the outlook for cryptocurrency following a turbulent couple of weeks in the market. The latest issue looming over Binance is FTX's bankruptcy proceedings. In exiting its equity position in the company last year, Binance received payment equal to roughly $2.1 billion. Binance's native token, BNB, has fallen 15% in the past week, including a drop of over 6% in the past 24 hours. BNB, first minted in 2017, is the world's fifth most valuable cryptocurrency, with a market cap of about $39 billion, according to CoinMarketCap .

☆ 4 crypto experts break down what's next for the industry with trading volumes down 50% since the FTX collapse
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Crypto daily trading volumes plunged 50% following FTX's collapse, per Bloomberg and Kaiko data. Insider spoke with four crypto experts about what's next for the nascent industry. The plunge in trading volumes comes at a pivotal time for the industry, which is enduring a prolonged and brutal bear market. "Many bull market retail investors have vacated the market causing significant lower trading volumes," Andreas Christensen, the founder of blockchain gaming developer SuperOne, said. Christensen added: "In such a fragile bear market, a big-time criminal act like SBF did with FTX will have a severe impact on the market sentiment and trading volumes."

☆ Scandal-plagued Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn failed to report another trade of 'Let's Go Brandon' coin — a violation of the federal STOCK Act
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Rep. Madison Cawthorn just violated a federal conflict-of-interest law, the STOCK Act, for the third time this year. Cawthorn in January sold up to $50,000 in Let's Go Brandon coin, a cryptocurrency, but waited months to disclose it. The House Ethics Committee recently fined Cawthorn $15,000 for purchasing the cryptocurrency on terms more favorable than available to the public. Cawthorn's latest personal financial disclosure, mandated by federal law, shows he sold an amount of "Let's Go Brandon" coin valued between $15,001 and $50,000 in January. He waited until earlier this month to report the trade, in violation of the federal Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012.

LONDON/SINGAPORE, Dec 14 (Reuters) - The head of major crypto exchange Binance said on Wednesday deposits were returning, a day after it saw heavy outflows of cryptocurrencies and halted some stablecoin withdrawals. On Tuesday, blockchain data firm Nansen said Binance saw withdrawals of $1.9 billion in 24 hours, the largest such outflow since June. loadingBinance, the world's largest crypto exchange, also temporarily halted withdrawals of the major USDC stablecoin, citing a so-called "token swap". "Things seem to have stabilised," CEO Changpeng Zhao tweeted. How crypto exchanges such as Binance and its now-bankrupt former rival FTX handle customer deposits has come under close scrutiny from users, regulators and policymakers.

☆ Why Tom Brady, David Ortiz, Jimmy Fallon and other celebrities are getting sued over crypto
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Tom Brady, Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow and baseball Hall-of-Famer David Ortiz are just some of the big names facing lawsuits from investors as the crypto world crumbles in the wake of FTX’s fall from grace. The backlash started earlier this month, when a class-action suit was filed against celebrities, including Jimmy Fallon, Justin Bieber and Serena Williams for promoting Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs. None of the celebrities named in the lawsuits immediately responded to requests from CNN for comment. Investors in FTX are not expected to be able to recover their money, the company’s CEO testified on Capitol Hill Tuesday. And after the crypto market bust and a round of lawsuits, celebrities may think twice about what they endorse in the future, too.

☆ 60% of Americans see crypto investing as highly risky—but millennials are still its biggest fans
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

About 38% of Gen Zers (defined here as 25 and under) and 46% of millennials (defined here as age 26 to 41) say crypto investing is highly risky. Younger generations, however, appear to be more willing to take a chance on crypto investing than older generations. About 60% of Americans believe investing in digital currency is highly risky — up from 45% in 2021, according to the recent CNBC Make It: Your Money survey, conducted in partnership with Momentive . Crypto remains among the least popular investments: Only about 10% of Americans say they own any, according to the survey. However, with price of bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, hovering substantially lower than its Nov. 2021 highs, as of Dec. 12, confidence in crypto investing appears to be waning among investors of all ages.

☆ Crypto winter end in sight as Ethereum looks to shake the chills- analysts
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

J.P.MORGAN:"We believe that the Ethereum Merge and really the Ethereum Surge could be a big factor in terms of increasing the use-cases for blockchain into new areas, including financial services," analysts said in an early December note. The Ethereum Merge was a major software upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain that went live in September and reduced its energy usage by 99.95%, according to developers. "We continue to see the Ethereum Surge as a catalyst for development in the cryptocurrency markets, which appears at least 6-12 months away." "From the China crackdown to the several price crashes in earlier 2022, crypto mining has shown an approximately 1-to-1 price-power relationship. Norwood expects the crypto market to pick up in about six months.

☆ A judge dismissed a crypto promotion lawsuit against celebrities including Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A judge has dismissed a lawsuit against celebrities over their role in promoting a crypto token. The lawsuit accused EthereumMax of conspiring with public figures to promote the token. The lawsuit, which was originally filed in January, accused EthereumMax of conspiring with celebrities to promote the EMax token. The judge told investors they could amend the proposed class action and refile it. Representatives for Kardashian and EthereumMax did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider.

☆ Federal judge dismisses crypto scam lawsuit against Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather Jr.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit by investors against the founders of the cryptocurrency EthereumMax, as well as celebrity endorsers including Kim Kardashian and boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. over their promotion of the cryptocurrency on social media. Investors who bought EMAX tokens alleged they had suffered losses after taking the word of the celebrity influencers about the value of the crypto. The suit claims the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to artificially inflate the value of the EMAX tokens. "We're pleased with the court's well-reasoned decision on the case," Michael Rhodes, a lawyer for Kardashian, told CNBC. Fitzgerald in his ruling Wednesday said the EthereumMax lawsuit reflects a broader conflict surrounding celebrity and influencer promotional schemes.

☆ Crypto winners and losers from the FTX fallout, according to Bernstein
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Bernstein has sifted through the various sectors of the crypto industry and identified winners and losers for 2022. Crypto suffered the added handicap of the financial contagion from the collapse of Terra in the first half of the year and FTX currently. Binance, which operates in a regulatory gray zone, will eventually become the "global consolidator" of smaller off-shore exchanges, Bernstein said. While FTX taught investors about the risks of storing crypto holdings with centralized entities, revelations in the stablecoin sector went the other way around. Solana, on the other hand, took a hit, stained by the fallout of FTX, a big and early backer of Solana.

☆ House Ethics Committee admonishes Rep. Madison Cawthorn over crypto promotion, failure to disclose stake
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., watches results from the North Carolina primary election with staff, volunteers, family and friends at his campaign headquarters on Tuesday, May 17, 2022 in Hendersonville, NC. The House Ethics Committee on Tuesday said it admonished outgoing Rep. Madison Cawthorn and ordered the North Carolina Republican to pay more than $15,000 for violating conflict of interest rules by publicly promoting a cryptocurrency he owned, and for failing to promptly disclose crypto transactions. The panel's report comes nearly a month after Cawthorn reportedly vacated his Washington, D.C., and district offices. Cawthorn lost his bid for a second term in May, when he was narrowly defeated in the GOP primary by Chuck Edwards. Days after Cawthorn lost to Edwards, the Ethics Committee revealed it was probing the congressman for possibly improper promotion of the so-called Let's Go Brandon coin, and for a possible improper relationship with a staffer.

☆ The Gemini crypto exchange run by the Winklevoss twins is owed $900 million following FTX's collapse, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Crypto lender Genesis owes exchange platform Gemini $900 million, the Financial Times reported. Gemini, run by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, is trying to recover its customers' funds. Gemini has a crypto lending product through its partnership with Genesis, which acts as its broker. Gemini tweeted on November 29: "We do not do anything with your digital assets unless explicitly authorized and directed to do so by you. Gemini was founded in 2014 by the Winklevoss twins and it was the first US-based licensed Ethereum exchange.

☆ Andreessen Horowitz's buzzy tech publication Future is shutting down
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Rob Price | Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

A source familiar with Andreessen Horowitz's content strategy confirmed to Insider that Future is shutting down. An Andreessen Horowitz spokesperson declined to comment on the record. Joe LonsdaleIn this new climate, many tech and venture firms' media strategy has shifted from glorified marketing to a more full-fledged editorial operation. In 2021, an army of more than two dozen marketers at Andreessen Horowitz doubled down on this approach. Disclosure: Melia Russell's husband is a former employee of Andreessen Horowitz.

☆ Washington lawmakers hold on to crypto holdings despite calls for new laws in wake of FTX collapse
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Another lawmaker, Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, disclosed at a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing about FTX on Thursday that he, too, holds some crypto assets. Tuberville's most recent disclosure reports from this year reviewed by CNBC do not show any crypto stock purchases. Out of all ten offices contacted, only one said they sold their crypto stock holdings after FTX imploded. Rep. Marie Newman, D-Ill., who lost her bid for reelection owned crypto stock up until last week, recently sold her digital token stocks as the industry took a hit. Toomey told CNBC "HODL" when asked about whether he plans to sell his crypto stock following FTX's collapse.

☆ Bitcoin jumps to a 2-week high of $17,000, but crypto experts say don't cheer the rally as FTX contagion is far from contained
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bitcoin hit $17,000 on Wednesday, trading at a two-week high. FTX, the once-$32 billion digital asset empire started by Sam Bankman-Fried, swiftly collapsed earlier this month and is raising contagion fears. And industry giant Genesis is organizing restructuring lawyers to prevent the crypto brokerage from going bankrupt, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. After losing two-thirds of its value since November 2021, the crypto industry continues to take hits — and despite the current bump in prices, the blows aren't done yet. Franzen see headwinds across the board for asset prices, with crypto looking particularly weak given the contagion events that have occurred.

☆ Bitcoin Family is moving more than $1 million into decentralized exchanges after Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX disaster
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

The Taihuttu family in November, days after moving back to Phuket. Didi TaihuttuZoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards The Taihuttu family in Lagos, Portugal on the day they adopted Teddy, their Pomeranian puppy. Thumb drive-size devices like a Trezor or Ledger offer a way to secure crypto tokens "cold." When asked why he is going all in on DEXs instead of keeping his crypto cold, Didi pointed to ease of access. Under it all, the Bitcoin Family still believes that the original cryptocurrency is a solid bet.

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