Binance.US scores against SEC, Mt. Gox delay repayments, and other news: Hodler’s Digest, Sept. 17-23

Published

2 years ago

September 23, 2023

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SEC sees temporary setback in request to access Binance.US software

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has failed to win immediate access to Binance.US’s software, with the judge saying he isn’t “inclined to allow the inspection at this time.” The hearing was held on Sept. 18 to discuss the SEC’s motion to compel Binance to hand over detailed information and make its executives more available for depositions. In a hearing, Judge Faruqui said that he wasn’t “inclined to allow the inspection at this time.” Alternatively, he proposed that the SEC should come up with more specific requests for discovery and speak with a broader range of witnesses. In another headline, Binance global and its CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao requested dismissal of the SEC’s lawsuit filed against them in June, claiming the regulator overstepped its authority in the case.

Mt. Gox trustee changes repayment deadline to October 2024

Mt. Gox trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi has officially changed the deadline for paying back the exchange’s creditors from Oct. 31, 2023, to Oct. 31, 2024. Presently, the Mt. Gox estate holds some 142,000 Bitcoin (BTC), 143,000 Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and 69 billion Japanese yen. Mt. Gox was one of the earliest cryptocurrency exchanges, once facilitating more than 70% of all trades made within the blockchain ecosystem. Following a major hack in 2011, the site subsequently collapsed in 2014 due to alleged insolvency; the fallout affected about 24,000 creditors and resulted in the loss of 850,000 BTC.

Tether authorizes $1B USDT to ‘replenish’ Tron network

Tether’s Treasury is set to provide a $1 billion near-term liquidity for the Tron network. The billionaire authorization was flagged by blockchain tracker WhaleAlert, which drew a quick-fire response from Tether chief technology officer Paolo Ardoino, who said that the USDT tokens would be used as inventory to “replenish” the Tron network. Authorizing USDT in the Tether Treasury allows the company to issue USDT instantaneously once customer funds are received to ensure that the issuer maintains 100% of its reserves. Ardoino added that the event was an authorization and not an actual issuance, with the allocated amount set to serve as inventory for upcoming issuance requests and chain swaps from the Tron network.

FTX founder’s parents sued, accused of stealing millions from crypto exchange

Debtors of FTX have launched legal action against the parents Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, alleging that they misappropriated millions of dollars through their involvement in the crypto exchange. The plaintiffs argued that Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried exploited their access and influence within the FTX empire to enrich themselves at the expense of the debtors in the FTX bankruptcy estate. The debtors alleged that SBF’s parents were “very much involved” in the FTX business from inception to collapse, contrary to what SBF has claimed. According to the complaint, Bankman and Fried extracted significant unearned rewards from their involvement in FTX Group, including a $10-million cash gift and a $16.4-million luxury property in the Bahamas.

Grayscale files for new Ether futures ETF — Official

Digital currency investment company Grayscale is the latest firm to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a new Ether (ETH) futures exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Grayscale Ethereum Futures Trust will hold Ether futures contracts with a “roughly constant expiration profile,” according to the filing. The trust will “never carry futures positions to cash settlement.” The nature of the Ether futures contracts in the ETF will not require the trust to use an Ether custodian. Grayscale’s application comes a few weeks after Valkyrie also filed for an Ether futures ETF with the SEC in mid-August, following several other firms filing for ETH futures ETFs.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $26,525, Ether (ETH) at $1,590 and XRP at $0.51. The total market cap is at $1.05 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Immutable (IMX) at 27.07%, Curve DAO Token (CRV) at 16.16%, and Aave (AAVE) at 15.92%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week are Gala (GALA) at -8.57%, Axie Infinity (AXS) at -7.42%, and Optimism (OP) at -7.52%.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

“There remains a real risk that the use of AI develops in a way that undermines consumer trust or is dominated by a few players […].”

Sarah Cardell, CEO of the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority

“Don’t give up on the United States. This too shall pass, the confusion shall pass. The United States is a good place to build things, and I want it to stay that way.

Hester Peirce, Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

“If the average end-user, who isn’t a computer scientist, who doesn’t understand blockchain, has to know about their private keys — we’ve got it wrong. They have to be abstracted away,”

James Tromans, head of Web3 at Google Cloud

“Bitcoin as a global monetary network is scaling while its carbon impact declines. Few industries can claim this achievement.”

Jamie Coutts, crypto market analyst at Bloomberg

“It is an inevitable future where there will no longer be any intermediaries between fans and creators — this is an obvious but unrealized potential of blockchain technology.”

Leon Lee, founder and CEO of Only1

“[The U.S. government] can do a central bank digital currency if it’s open, permissionless and private. It has to emulate cash.”

Tom Emmer, U.S. Representative

Prediction of the Week

Bitcoin fails to recoup post-Fed losses as $20K BTC price returns to radar

Bitcoin circled lower after the United States Federal Reserve decision on interest rates, with $20,000 BTC price predictions resurfacing.

The aftermath of the Fed interest rates pause on Sept. 20 offered little for Bitcoin bulls, BTC/USD having dipped almost $700 the day prior. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView covered a lackluster 24 hours for BTC price action, with $27,000 fading from view.

Now, market participants returned to a more conservative outlook in the absence of tangible volatility. “Something like this over the course of October would be perfect i would say,” popular trader Crypto Tony told X (formerly Twitter) subscribers.

“Slow grind up to $28,500, followed by hype and FOMO, to then dump it once more.”

FUD of the Week

Ethereum-based automated market maker Balancer believes a social engineering attack on its DNS service provider was what led to its website’s front end being compromised on Sept. 19, leading to an estimated $238,000 in crypto stolen. Blockchain security firms SlowMist and CertiK reported that the attacker employed Angel Drainer phishing contracts. SlowMist said the exploiters attacked Balancer’s website via Border Gateway Protocol hijacking — a process where hackers take control of IP addresses by corrupting internet routing tables. The hacker has already bridged some of the stolen Ether (ETH) to Bitcoin (BTC) addresses.

Crypto influencer arrested in Hong Kong for JPEX association

A Hong Kong-based social media influencer has reportedly been arrested after investigations around the liquidity crisis of the crypto exchange JPEX traced back their involvement. According to a local report, the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong recently issued a statement blaming JPEX for actively promoting the platform’s services and products to the public through online celebrities and over-the-counter money changers. Another unconfirmed report suggests that Lin Zuo presented “schemes” to a chat group created for cryptocurrency investment. Also related to this story, Hong Kong regulators are looking to tighten regulations around the crypto market following the failure of JPEX, which led to the arrest of over six individuals.

CoinEx hack: Compromised private keys led to $70M theft

Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx has revealed that compromised private keys allowed hackers to steal over $70 million worth of tokens. According to CoinEx representatives, the amount represents a small percentage of its total assets under management. CoinEx stated that affected users will be compensated entirely for any lost funds. The exchange explained that a preliminary investigation pinned the root cause to a compromised private key for its hot wallets. These were used to store exchange assets for carrying out deposits and withdrawals.

‘AI has killed the industry’: EasyTranslate boss on adapting to change

If you’re not transforming your business to take advantage of AI now, you’ll be left behind, says Easy Translate boss Frederik Pedersen.

NFT Collector: William Mapan explains generative art using a crayon and dice

What even is generative art? William Mapan, whose 250-piece Distance collection just sold out at 2ETH each, explains using a crayon and die.

JPEX staff flee event as scandal hits, Mt. Gox woes, Diners Club crypto: Asia Express

Hong Kong crypto exchange JPEX busted in $166M scam, Mt. Gox delays repayments yet again, oldest credit card company in Singapore moves into blockchain.

Editorial Staff

Cointelegraph Magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.

Politics

Polymarket bets on Mark Carney win as Canadians head to the polls

Published

2 hours ago

April 28, 2025

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Polymarket bets on Mark Carney win as Canadians head to the polls

Crypto users betting on the outcome of the snap election to determine the next Prime Minister of Canada appear to be favoring a Liberal Party victory as residents head to cast their votes.

As of April 28, cryptocurrency betting platform Polymarket gave current Canadian Prime Minister and Liberal Party candidate Mark Carney a 79% chance of defeating Conservative Party candidate Pierre Poilievre in the race for the country’s next PM. Data from the platform showed users had poured more than $75 million into bets surrounding the race, predicting a Poilievre or Carney victory.

Canada, Betting, Voting, Elections — *Polymarket chances favor the Liberal Party’s Mark Carney over the Conservative Party’s Pierre Poilievre to be the next Canadian Prime Minister. Source:* *Polymarket*

The odds suggested by the platform, as well as those from many polls, show a nearly complete reversal of fortunes between the two candidates after former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resigned in January. Trudeau and, by association, many in the Liberal Party, faced criticism over the handling of Canada’s housing crisis and questions about how he would face US President Donald Trump’s then-proposed tariffs.

Following Trudeau’s resignation, Trump stepped up rhetoric disparaging Canada, repeatedly referring to the country as the US’s “51st state” and Trudeau as its “governor.” The US President also imposed a 25% tariff on goods imported from Canada in March. The policies seem to have led to increasing anti-Trump sentiment in Canada, with many residents booing the US national anthem at hockey games and making comparisons between the president and Poilievre.

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

Politics

Small boat crossings pass 10,000 at earliest point in year since records began, Sky News understands

Published

4 hours ago

April 28, 2025

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Small boat crossings pass 10,000 at earliest point in year since records began, Sky News understands

Small boat crossings have passed 10,000 in 2025 at the earliest point in a year since records began, Sky News understands.

Analysis of previous Home Office numbers and footage of people arriving today show the number of people crossing the Channel continuing to rise.

The issue has become a lodestone for political parties across the spectrum, with Rishi Sunak’s pledge to “Stop The Boats” falling well short.

Politics latest: PM warns of Tory-Reform pact ‘disaster’

Sir Keir Starmer promised to clear the backlog of asylum applications and “Smash The Gangs” of people smugglers upstream, but critics say he has failed to do this almost a year into his stint in Number Ten.

Reform’s Nigel Farage has made the issue key to his party’s pitch to voters.

The 10,000 figure is understood to have been passed on 28 April. Official figures only go until 27 April at the time of writing, with 9,885 people detected crossing the Channel by the UK government at this point

This compares to 7,167 by the same date in 2024, 5,745 in 2023, 5,352 in 2022, and 1,796 in 2021. Data only started to get collected in 2018, and for the first three years fewer than 1,000 people were observed crossing the Channel before 28 April.

Fine weather conditions are known to lead to an increase in people crossing the Channel, with some efforts earlier this year stymied by heavy winds.

Sir Keir scrapped the Conservative’s Rwanda deportation plan when entering office. In March, the prime minister said his government had “returned” 24,000 people who had no right to be in the UK.

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “Britain’s borders are being torn apart under Labour. This year is already the worst on record for small boat crossings after over 10,000 illegal immigrants arrived in Britain, but Labour just sit on their hands.

“Labour scrapped our deterrent before it even started, flung open the door to extremists and criminals, and handed the bill to hardworking taxpayers.

“Under new Conservative leadership, we are serious about tackling this crisis with deliverable reforms, but Labour continue to block these at every turn. Labour’s open-door chaos is a betrayal of the British people, and we will not let them get away with it.”

Mr Philp was part of previous Conservative governments, which also failed to reduce crossings.

Speaking to broadcasters, Mr Farage said: “If this carries on at this rate, by the end of this Labour government another quarter of a million people will have come into this country, many of whom frankly don’t fit our culture or cost us a fortune.”

He claimed that Reform is “the only party” saying that “unless you deport those that come illegally, they will just continue to come”.

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A Home Office spokesperson said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.

“The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay and we will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.

“That is why this government has put together a serious plan to take down these networks at every stage.

“Through international intelligence sharing under our Border Security Command, enhanced enforcement operations in Northern France and tougher legislation in the Border Security and Asylum Bill, we are strengthening international partnerships and boosting our ability to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal gangs whilst strengthening the security of our borders.”

Politics

Stacks Asia expands Bitcoin initiatives with Abu Dhabi partnership

Published

8 hours ago

April 28, 2025

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Stacks Asia expands Bitcoin initiatives with Abu Dhabi partnership

The Stacks Asia DLT Foundation has become the first Bitcoin-based organization to establish an official presence in the Middle East, aiming to promote institutional Bitcoin adoption through expanded educational initiatives.

Stacks Asia has partnered with the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) — one of the world’s fastest-growing financial centers — in a move that could boost the adoption of its Bitcoin (BTC) layer-2 (L2) solution in the Middle East and Asia.

The new partnership will play a “pivotal role” in shaping the future of Bitcoin’s “programmability and adoption” in these regions through educational programs and support for Bitcoin builders, according to an April 28 announcement shared with Cointelegraph.

Through the collaboration, Stacks and the ADGM aim to make it easier for institutions and investors to participate in the growing Bitcoin economy and help set “new standards for regulatory clarity and technical growth” for the rising global Bitcoin capital, according to Kyle Ellicott, executive director at Stacks Asia DLT Foundation.

“Stacks and ADGM are a powerful combination for accelerating Bitcoin adoption across the Middle East and Asia,” Ellicott told Cointelegraph, adding:

“ADGM has established itself as a world-class global financial hub at the heart of the United Arab Emirates, known as the ‘Capitol of Capital,’ where capital and innovation are brought together to shape the future financial landscape.”

“We’ll be working to enable the launch of educational programs, regional developer communities, and create opportunities for the real-world adoption of Bitcoin-powered applications,” he said.

Starting in May, the foundation will host a series of live and virtual events to “empower institutions” with the knowledge to integrate Bitcoin into their operations and learn about the “opportunity of productive Bitcoin capital,” Ellicott added.

Stacks Foundation pushing for a “progressive” regulatory environment worldwide

As the leading Bitcoin scalability solution, Stacks is also pushing for progressive global regulations that will cement Bitcoin’s role in the future of the financial landscape.

“We’re not just focused locally — our team is engaged in global conversations, advocating for frameworks that balance decentralization, security, innovation, and compliance surrounding the unlocking of Bitcoin capital,” Ellicott said.

A key part of the strategy involves knowledge sharing with local regulatory bodies to build understanding among government officials about Bitcoin’s characteristics and potential economic impact.

The foundation is also developing the Bitcoin Capital Activation Framework, described as a comprehensive policy blueprint to help regulators enable Bitcoin utility in their jurisdictions.

The Stacks Foundation will also launch the Bitcoin Policy Bridge in May, a working group uniting regulators from all key jurisdictions across the Middle East and Asia.

In February, ADGM signed a memorandum of understanding with the Solana Foundation to advance the development of distributed ledger technology.