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☆ Coinbase launches nonprofit crypto advocacy group
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The Stand with Crypto Alliance is America’s first independent advocacy group for the crypto community, Coinbase says. Crypto regulation: Questions of who and howA central sticking point is the question of how crypto tokens should be regulated. The Securities and Exchange Commission, Wall Street’s top cop, contends that most crypto products are investment contracts and therefore fall under its jurisdiction — an argument the crypto industry is fighting. ‘Recess is over’The Stand With Crypto Alliance aims to mobilize “the full force of the decentralized crypto community to tell lawmakers: Recess is over,” Shirzad wrote in a blog post announcing the nonprofit. The Coinbase-backed nonprofit is an outgrowth of Crypto435, an earlier Coinbase campaign to try to organize the crypto community around legislative issues.

Persons: New York CNN —, Coinbase, Faryar, ” Crypto, —, Sam Bankman, Fried, ” Shirzad, we’ve, Shirzad Organizations: New, New York CNN, Crypto, CNN Business, Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Ripple Labs, Financial Services Committee, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Crypto Alliance Locations: New York

☆ Shaq was finally served in FTX lawsuit over the weekend, after a 3-month chase
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Will Gendron | Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Shaquille O'Neal was finally served in an FTX lawsuit over the weekend following a three month chase. Shaquille O'Neal was served papers over the weekend in a lawsuit involving the fallen crypto firm FTX — after a three month chase, according to a law firm representing investors in the suit. "Plaintiffs in the billion $ FTX class action case just served @SHAQ outside his house," The Moskowitz Law Firm tweeted Sunday night. O'Neal had evaded getting served the lawsuit for three months, according to additional tweets from the law firm. Following the collapse of FTX, O'Neal tried to separate himself from the fiasco, noting to CNBC that he was "just a paid spokesperson."

☆ Upfront's Mark Suster has become the star of LA's booming startup scene. Not everyone is a fan.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Ben Bergman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +29 min

"I have worked with more than 50 VCs and nobody comes close to what it is like to work with Mark Suster," said a founder backed by Suster. "Mark and the Upfront Summit helped put LA tech and investing on the map," said Jeffrey Katzenberg, the cofounder of DreamWorks and WndrCo. Several years ago, a founder whose startup Suster invested in was in a conference room rehearsing their presentation for the Upfront Summit. If you're going to put him on your board, you're letting the fox guard the henhouse. "If you're going to put him on your board, you're letting the fox guard the henhouse."

☆ NBA’s Miami Heat sheds FTX from its arena’s name
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN —The home arena for NBA’s Miami Heat is getting rid of FTX in its name, months after the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange’s fall from grace. Security software company Kaseya acquired naming rights for the formerly named FTX Arena in a $117 million deal. The Miami Heat and Miami-Dade County ended their relationship with FTX and began to search for a new naming rights partner the day the cryptocurrency exchange filed for bankruptcy. The arena was renamed FTX Arena in 2021 after the company reportedly entered a $135 million, 19-year deal. Kaseya is headquartered in Miami and is the first local company to receive naming rights to the arena, according to the statement.

☆ I Visited Miami After the Stock Market Crash, Crypto Bubble Pop
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Linette Lopez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

And if any city is the city where you can see just how remarkably things have shifted, it's also Miami. If the draw in the 1920s was imaginary land, Miami's bubble in the 2020s was driven by imaginary money — crypto. The newcomers — and the crypto kids, especially — believed they could master Miami as easily as they had mastered the markets. The new Miami money party started to run out of libations. "There were a lot of true believers in the Miami crypto scene.

☆ FTX's lawyers and advisers cost $38 million for a month of work - and the bankrupt crypto exchange's new CEO charged $305,000 for February
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The army of professionals working with FTX billed $38 million in expenses for January. FTX CEO John Ray III submitted a bill for $305,565 for the month of February. Those three firms have over 180 lawyers and over 50 other staffers working on the FTX case, per the CoinDesk report. Sullivan & Cromwell billed 14,569 hours of work in January for a total of $16.8 million. Meanwhile, FTX's trading arm sued Grayscale this week in a bid to claw back $250 million to repay customers.

☆ Why Silvergate’s post-FTX financial woes could spell trouble ahead for crypto
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Further, the spillover into a traditional bank and its stock price could fuel regulators' arguments that crypto poses a systemic risk. The big problem in crypto is that to buy bitcoin, you eventually have to interact with the traditional banking system. Silvergate's crypto bet worked for the bank, particularly in bull markets. A big part of Silvergate's crypto banking efforts was the Silvergate Exchange Network, better known as SEN, a platform that institutions used to move money to crypto exchanges. Custodia is a Wyoming-chartered special purpose depository institution designed to bridge the crypto and traditional banking systems.

☆ Crypto lost the battle to be an alternative to fiat money after FTX collapse, top economist says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Agustin Carstens, the head of the Bank for International Settlements, said crypto is not a replacement for fiat currencies. "Only the legal, historical infrastructure behind central banks can give great credibility [to money]," the economist told Bloomberg. Crypto regulation, Carstens said, will likely strengthen after FTX's catastrophic downfall. Regulation, Carstens added, will likely strengthen because of the fallout. "Only the legal, historical infrastructure behind central banks can give great credibility [to money]," per Carstens, adding that crypto can really only exist "under certain conditions."

☆ Wall Street trading firms aren't giving up on crypto just yet
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A bunch of high-profile Wall Street investors just piled into a startup that pledges to fix a major issue in the crypto industry. And while plenty of those bets blew up — the most spectacular of which was crypto exchange FTX — that hasn't stopped Wall Street. Click here to read more about a new crypto startup that's got backing from some of Wall Street's top trading firms. For a breakdown of all the key partnerships between Wall Street and cloud partners, check out our running list of more than 30 deals. Cheman Cheung left Wall Street after his father passed away to recover from a state of "mental chaos."

☆ FTX creditors include Goldman Sachs, New York Times and Netflix
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Newly unsealed bankruptcy documents revealed thousands of creditors to whom FTX owes money after the once-mighty crypto exchange collapsed in November. Wall Street heavyweights including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan were named in the creditor list, which includes businesses, charities, individuals and other entities in a 116-page document filed late Wednesday. In a statement, Goldman Sachs said that it has not filed a claim against FTX. Inclusion on the creditor list doesn’t necessarily mean the parties had an FTX account. FTX is believed to have more than a million creditors, the top 50 of whom are collectively owed more than $3 billion.

☆ The Davos elite likes to make bold predictions. But they don't always get them right
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Silvia Amaro | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

George Soros, billionaire and founder of Soros Fund Management, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in Jan. 2016. It's an annual meeting where a global elite of business leaders, politicians and economists make bold predictions and try to set the agenda for the year ahead — but they don't always get it right. Nuclear warBillionaire investor George Soros warned during a speech at Davos in 2018 that the United States could be heading for a nuclear war with North Korea. "The United States is set on a course towards nuclear war by refusing to accept that [North] Korea has become a nuclear power," he said at the time. So far, the United States has avoided any military conflict with North Korea.

☆ The FTX disaster has set back crypto by 'years' — here are 3 ways it could reshape the industry
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

It aims to reduce the risks for consumers buying crypto, making exchanges liable if they lose investors' assets. The saga has set back adoption of crypto assets by "one or two years," according to Evgeny Gaevoy, founder and CEO of crypto market maker Wintermute. ConsolidationMany new companies and projects emerged in the years that followed the 2018 crypto winter — FTX among them. Marieke Flament, Near's CEO, said the firm had limited exposure to FTX — though the collapse was still "a surprise and a shock." Fears have risen over the financial health of other major crypto exchanges after FTX's failure.

Days before FTX’s bankruptcy filing last month, co-CEO Ryan Salame told Bahamian authorities that founder Sam Bankman-Fried may have committed fraud by sending customer money from the crypto exchange to his other firm, Alameda Research. According to a filing on Wednesday tied to FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings, Salame disclosed “possible mishandling of clients’ assets” by Bankman-Fried. FTX declared bankruptcy on Nov. 11. The indictment, unsealed on Tuesday, charged Bankman-Fried with eight criminal counts related to fraud, money laundering and improper use of customer funds. Like Bankman-Fried, Salame was a significant political donor, donating $20 million to Republican causes.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (2nd L) is led away handcuffed by officers of the Royal Bahamas Police Force in Nassau, Bahamas on December 13, 2022. Days before FTX's bankruptcy filing last month, co-CEO Ryan Salame told Bahamian authorities that founder Sam Bankman-Fried may have committed fraud by sending customer money from the crypto exchange to his other firm, Alameda Research. According to a filing on Wednesday tied to FTX's bankruptcy proceedings, Salame disclosed "possible mishandling of clients' assets" by Bankman-Fried. FTX declared bankruptcy on Nov. 11. Like Bankman-Fried, Salame was a significant political donor, donating $20 million to Republican causes.

☆ Cramer: Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Google will fuel the next rally — but not in the usual way
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Those who fought this trend abandoned Twitter, hired bodyguards and tried to hide from the angry mob that was attempting to will stocks higher by savaging the sellers. As a result, they overran their brains and outsourced them to others who claimed to know more than they did. My point is this: The crypto con and the Robinhood dollar conflagration can't produce enough money to buoy stocks. We will hold Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL) and Amazon , even as we've trimmed them higher. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

Bankman-Fried could face a host of potential charges – civil and criminal – as well as private lawsuits from millions of FTX creditors, legal experts told CNBC. There are three different, possibly simultaneous legal threats that Bankman-Fried faces in the United States alone, Levin told CNBC. He told CNBC, "prosecutors would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Bankman-Fried or his associates committed criminal fraud." (Carter was not an FTX investor, and told CNBC that his fund passed on early FTX rounds.) "People should not jump to the conclusion that something is not happening just because it has not been publicly disclosed," Levin told CNBC.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried says he ‘got a little cocky’ before FTX collapsed
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN Business —Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of now-bankrupt FTX, has fallen from the peak of crypto celebrity, but he’s not going quietly. “I think I got a little cocky — I mean, more than a little bit,” he told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in an interview on Good Morning America. Bankman-Fried, echoing comments he also made to The New York Times on Wednesday, denied knowing of any improper transfers of customer funds between the exchange and Alameda. “I don’t think that’s who I am at all, but I understand why they’re saying that,” Bankman-Fried told Stephanopoulos. In that interview, Bankman-Fried said he “didn’t ever try to commit fraud on anyone,” while admitting he made mistakes as chief executive.

☆ As BlockFi files for bankruptcy, what to know about crypto investor protections
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The ongoing FTX fallout — and bankruptcies earlier this year for lenders Celsius Network and Voyager Digital — is teaching crypto investors a hard lesson about their protections relative to more traditional asset classes. Howey Co., established the so-called Howey test to determine what constitutes a security, or "investment contract." More on how the Howey test works can be found below. Here's why this is important for crypto: It's unclear in many cases if digital assets are an "investment contract" under the 76-year-old Howey test. The Securities Investor Protection Corporation insures investors for up to $500,000 in the event a brokerage firm liquidates and their holdings are tied up in the insolvent firm.

☆ Miami nightclub owners are struggling with slumping sales after losing top-spending crypto clientele in wake of FTX implosion and crypto downfall, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Miami club owners told the Financial Times business is slumping as the crypto industry takes a blow. Crypto, tech, and hedge fund leaders came to the city en masse during the pandemic. But in the wake of the FTX implosion, some of the city's top spenders have vanished. Now, with the downfall of companies like FTX, club owners and promoters aren't quite certain if big spenders will return, as the value of cryptocurrencies take a nosedive and major players like Sam Bankman-Fried hemorrhage vast amounts of their net worth. According to the FT, FTX paid $135 million to secure 19 years worth of naming rights to FTX Arena, home to the Miami Heat.

☆ Caroline Ellison, one of the central figures behind FTX's collapse, previously tweeted that regularly using amphetamines made the 'non-medicated' life seem 'dumb'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Ellison is the CEO of Alameda Research, the hedge fund FTX reportedly used to borrow money for bets. In a 2021 tweet posted by Ellison, who is also the reported ex-girlfriend of FTX's disgraced founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, references regularly using amphetamines and how "dumb" the "non-medicated human experience" can be. Alameda Research filed for bankruptcy in early November along with other FTX Group-linked entities after failing to secure emergency funding. Although Bankman-Fried founded Alameda, Ellison has since emerged as an integral character in its demise. As the CEO of Alameda, Ellison has garnered scrutiny for her role in FTX borrowing money from customer accounts, CNN reported.

☆ Binance CEO downplays his influence in the FTX blow-up, says 'we don't focus on smaller exchanges' when asked about Twitter spat with Sam Bankman-Fried
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said he wasn't sparring with former FTX head Sam Bankman-Fried. "I still don't think I have that much influence," Zhao told TechCrunch, while downplaying his clout in FTX's fall. "We don't focus on other smaller exchanges," Zhao told CNBC on Thursday. The events followed a public spat between Zhao and FTX founder and Bankman-Fried, which spiralled into an explosive liquidity crisis at FTX. I think we were the last straw that broke the camel's back," Zhao told TechCrunch.

☆ Crypto's been 'cut to ribbons' - but it can survive FTX's crash if players stop lighting each other up on Twitter, Anthony Scaramucci says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Zahra Tayeb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Anthony Scaramucci said the crypto industry has been "cut to ribbons" this year, after FTX's crash. He said the industry can only grow up if crypto players stop lighting each other up on Twitter. Scaramucci stressed that the crypto industry can only grow up if crypto players collaborated with each more instead of banging heads with each other. Before FTX's downfall that reverberated through the crypto industry, Zhao tweeted that Binance would be liquidating all its FTT tokens — a crypto token native to FTX — due to "recent revelations." He told CNBC hours before FTX filed for bankruptcy that he's in a worse position because Bankman-Fried has hurt the industry.

☆ Here's how bitcoin futures ETFs performed in a dramatic week for crypto
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Jesse Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) and Short Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITI) both saw their largest daily trading volumes on record last week. Applications for a true spot bitcoin ETF have been consistently rebuffed by the SEC , but the agency did allow bitcoin futures ETFs to launch. Bitcoin futures do not perfectly track spot bitcoin and the ETFs can carry additional costs for investors, such as the potential for roll costs when the fund swaps out expiring futures for new ones. However, bitcoin futures are also financially settled, meaning there is no bitcoin that changes hands or is held in an account. He added that the roll costs for bitcoin futures have come down sharply since the ETFs launched.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly denies fleeing to Argentina, says he's still in the Bahamas
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO and Founder of FTX, walks near the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., September 15, 2022. Sam Bankman-Fried told Reuters he is still in the Bahamas, as rumors swirled overnight that the disgraced ex-CEO of the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX had run off to South America. FlightRadar24 tweeted early Saturday morning that the one-time crypto billionaire was flying from Nassau to Argentina. The account cited tweets as its sourcing that it was Bankman-Fried aboard the flight in question. Speculation over SBF's (a nickname given to the former FTX CEO) whereabouts come as authorities close in on Bankman-Fried and his failed crypto empire.

☆ Bahamas freezes certain FTX assets, further crippling Sam Bankman-Fried's troubled crypto trading firm
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Bahamas securities regulator has frozen the assets of FTX Digital Markets, an FTX subsidiary. The Bahamian securities regulator said any such actions are "contrary to normal governance." Certain assets of FTX Digital Markets — a subsidiary of Bankman-Fried's FTX crypto exchange — have been frozen by the Bahamas securities regulator, the authorities said in a media release on ThursdayAttorney Brian Simms, K.C. The Securities Commission of the Bahamas said in the announcement it's aware of statements suggesting FTX mishandled, mismanaged, or transferred the assets of clients to Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried's crypto trading firm. "Based on the Commission's information, any such actions would have been contrary to normal governance, without client consent and potentially unlawful," the Bahamian securities regulator added.

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