SBF trial underway, Mashinsky trial set, Binance’s market share shrinks: Hodler’s Digest, Oct. 1-7

Published

2 years ago

October 7, 2023

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Opening arguments begin in Sam Bankman-Fried trial

The trial of former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried kicked off on Oct. 4 in New York after jury selection began the previous day. Assistant United States Attorney Thane Rehn told jurors that SBF used FTX customer funds to enrich himself and gain credibility among politicians through donations. “The defendant blamed a downturn in the crypto market. But he had committed fraud. That is what the evidence in this trial will show. You will hear from his inner circle. His girlfriend will tell you how they stole money together,” Rehn said. SBF’s attorney Mark Cohen said the “girlfriend,” former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, and Changpeng Zhao, CEO of rival cryptocurrency exchange Binance, share some of the blame for the downfall of FTX. Check out our detailed recap on Sam Bankman-Fried’s first week at trial.

Alex Mashinsky’s jury trial scheduled for September 2024

Alex Mashinsky, former CEO of crypto lender Celsius, will be tried on charges of fraud and market manipulation in September 2024, a judge decided on Oct. 3. Mashinsky will remain free on $40 million bail, subject to travel and financial restriction, in the meantime. Celsius filed for bankruptcy in July 2022 and Mashinsky was arrested in July of this year. He is accused of defrauding investors out of billions of dollars. The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Trade Commission all have active suits against Mashinsky as well. Former Celsius chief revenue officer Roni Cohen-Pavon pleaded guilty to four criminal charges in September.

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is continuing to lose market share for the seventh month in a row. Analysts say HTX (formerly Huobi), Bybit and DigiFinex were the beneficiaries of Binance’s slide. According to an analysis by CCData reported by Bloomberg, Binance’s share of the spot market fell from 38.5% in August to 34.3% in September. On the derivatives market, Binance’s share fell from 53.5% to 51.5% in the same period. Ongoing struggles with regulators in the United States were identified as one cause of Binance’s market share decline, but they also pointed out the end of the exchange’s zero-fee trading promotion for major trading pairs and Binance’s withdrawal from the Russian market, which made up 7% of its traffic.

Alameda sent $4.1B of FTT tokens to FTX before crash: Nansen report

A report shared with Cointelegraph by blockchain data analyst Nansen shows that FTX moved $4.1 billion worth of its native FTT tokens to Alameda Research between Sept. 28 and Nov. 1, 2022. FTX and Alameda Research controlled around 90% of the FTT supply. Nansen suggested that the companies were using them to prop up each other’s balance sheets. FTX also transferred $388 million in stablecoin to Alameda Research during the same period. Data implied that Alameda Research would not have been able to go through with its offer to Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao to buy out that exchange’s FTT holdings at $22 on Nov. 6. Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison made the offer on X (formerly Twitter) as the two entities scrambled to control the turmoil sparked by revelations of irregularities in their balance sheets. FTX filed for bankruptcy days later.

Valkyrie backtracks on Ether futures contract purchases until ETF launch

Asset management firm Valkyrie said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Sept. 29 that it will not purchase Ether in advance of receiving approval for its exchange-traded fund (ETF). Valkyrie had previously told Cointelegraph that it planned on allowing investors exposure to ETF futures before launching its combined Bitcoin and Ether Strategy ETF in early October. Not only that, Valkyrie said it would sell the ETH futures it had already bought. Valkyrie is among several financial firms that are expected to begin offering ETH futures ETFs soon. The SEC has delayed decisions on several of them. Observers say it may be due to concerns about a U.S. government shutdown.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $27,880, Ether (ETH) at $1,640 and XRP at $0.52. The total market cap is at $1.07 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Trust Wallet Token (TWT) at 18.11%, Avalanche (AVAX) at 17.5% and Render (RNDR) at 17%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week are ApeCoin (APE) at -9.5%, THORChain (RUNE) at -9.3% and Curve DAO Token (CRV) at -8.8%.

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

Most Memorable Quotations

“We allowed Alameda to withdraw unlimited funds.”

Gary Wang, co-founder and former chief technology officer of FTX

“He told me to use Signal. He told the entire company. It also had auto-delete. […] He said it [auto-delete] was all down-side to keep messages around. If regulators found things they didn’t like, it could be bad for the company.”

Adam Yedidia, former FTX employee and roommate of SBF

“Macroeconomic headwinds are limiting our ability to generate revenue, and in response to the current market conditions and business realities, we must reduce roles across the global business.”

Pascal Gauthier, CEO and chairman of Ledger

“The gravitational pull in crypto for the time being stays in BTC, with a promising event horizon down the line, still favoring aggressive accumulation.”

Vetle Lundem, senior analyst at K33

“It’s relatively difficult to innovate in traditional finance. In crypto, it’s a lot better and more efficient. And in terms of cost, it is a lot more cheap. So, you can see the pace is a lot faster, and we can serve an even bigger audience than traditional finance right now.”

Lennix Lai, global chief commercial officer at OKX

“Banks have trillions of dollars of transactions with each other at the end of the day, but there is a cut-off time where you simply cannot transact internationally. It’s a big pain point, and it’s also expensive and inefficient.”

Akshay Chopra, vice president, head of innovation and design for CEMEA at Visa

Prediction of the Week

Bitcoin bull market awaits as US faces ‘bear steepener’ — Arthur Hayes

With bond yields surging to 30-year highs, the financial markets are due for “mass liquidity injections” in the near future, according to BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes. This should provide the next catalyst for the crypto bull market, he said.

“Why do I love these markets right now when yields are screaming higher? Bank models have no concept of a bear steepener occurring,” Hayes argued. A “bear steepener” describes the phenomenon of long-term interest rates rising more quickly than short-term interest rates.

“The faster this bear steepener rises, the faster someone goes belly up, the faster everyone recognises there is no way out other than money printing to save govt bond markets, the faster we get back to the crypto bull market,” Hayes said.

FUD of the Week

Crypto suffered 153% YoY increase in hacks and scams in Q3

Blockchain security platform Immunefi released a new report on crypto hacks and scams for the third quarter. According to the report, the number of hacks and scams increased by over 153% from July to September 2023 compared to the same period in the previous year. In Q3 2022, there were only 30 incidents, whereas there were 76 incidents in Q3 2023. A total of over $680 million of crypto was lost from scams and hacks during the quarter. The largest hack of the quarter was of the Mixin protocol, which resulted in it being drained of over $200 million, while the Multichain hack for over $126 million was the second largest. The two most targeted networks were BNB Chain and Ethereum.

Bitcoin analysts still predict a BTC price crash to $20K

Bitcoin holders were elated when the coin began October at a six-week high, but technical analysts are warning that it may be headed for a fall to $20,000 soon. According to pseudonymous Bitcoin trader CryptoBullet, the current chart shows a classic “head and shoulders” pattern that generally means the price is about to fall. The bottom of the left shoulder of this pattern is at around $20,000, implying that the price will fall to that point before recovering. Joao Wedson, founder and CEO of crypto trading resource Dominando Cripto, went even further, claiming that Bitcoin may fall below $20,000. According to Wedson, the current price action is forming a fractal that looks similar to the 2020-2022 period. The last time this happened, the price increased greatly in the beginning, but then collapsed back to lower levels by the end of the fractal. In Wedson’s view, this implies that we may be in the early stages of a move below $20,000.

US Treasury sanctions crypto wallets as authorities crack down on fentanyl

The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States Department of the Treasury announced that it has sanctioned multiple wallets connected with manufacturers and dealers of the illicit drug, fentanyl. According to Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, the wallets have “received millions of USD funds over hundreds of deposits” as payment for various Fentanyl-related criminal activities. The wallet sanctions were initiated as part of an indictment that targeted some Chinese-based chemical manufacturers. Valerian Labs, Hanhong Pharmaceutical, and Hebei Crovell Biotech were three of the parties named in the indictment.

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Editorial Staff

Cointelegraph Magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.

Politics

Ex-UFC champ Conor McGregor touts Irish Bitcoin reserve in presidential bid

Published

5 hours ago

May 11, 2025

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Ex-UFC champ Conor McGregor touts Irish Bitcoin reserve in presidential bid

UFC fighter turned Irish political candidate Conor McGregor has endorsed the idea of building a Bitcoin reserve in his country to give more “power back to the people.”

“Crypto in it’s origin was founded to give power back to the people. An Irish Bitcoin strategic reserve will give power to the people’s money,” McGregor wrote to X on May 9.

The former UFC champion said he would discuss his plans in more detail in an upcoming X spaces, prompting responses from some of the Bitcoin industry’s most prominent leaders.

“We need the greatest minds for this BTC Reserve. Message me and lets chat on my space,” McGregor said in response to Bitcoiner and host of The Pomp Podcast, Anthony Pompliano.

One of US President Donald Trump’s crypto advisors, David Bailey, also reached out, to which McGregor responded: “David message me, let’s discuss your ideas!”

McGregor announced his independent candidacy for the Irish presidency in late March 2025, centering his campaign on anti-immigration policies and combating crime.

Ireland’s next presidential election must take place by Nov. 11, 2025, as the term of the current President, Michael D. Higgins, is set to end the day after.

Establishing a Bitcoin reserve — let alone one coming from a minor, independent party — would be no easy feat.

Despite recent regulatory progress, the US, El Salvador and Bhutan are among the few countries that have established a Bitcoin reserve to date.

McGregor’s political visibility was recently boosted by a trip to the White House, where he met Trump and received his support.

However, McGregor is facing intense scrutiny in Ireland, having recently been found guilty of sexual assault in a civil case — a conviction which he has since appealed — while also previously being investigated for hate speech crimes.

McGregor’s last crypto endeavor failed

McGregor’s push for a Bitcoin reserve comes a little over a month after the McGregor-backed REAL project failed to attract sufficient funding in its token launch pre-sale, prompting a full refund to all token bidders.

The team behind the project, Real World Gaming, only raised $392,315 over a 28-hour presale on April 5 and 6, less than half of the $1 million minimum requirement that it initially set.

Magazine: Adam Back says Bitcoin price cycle ’10x bigger’ but will still decisively break above $100K

Politics

Ukraine presses Russia for 30-day ceasefire as Starmer among leaders in Kyiv for talks

Published

17 hours ago

May 10, 2025

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Ukraine presses Russia for 30-day ceasefire as Starmer among leaders in Kyiv for talks

Sir Keir Starmer has joined other European leaders in Kyiv to press Russia to agree an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.

The prime minister is attending the summit alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, recently-elected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

It is the first time the leaders of the four countries have travelled to Ukraine at the same time – arriving in the capital by train – with their meeting hosted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

It comes after Donald Trump called for “ideally” a 30-day ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow, and warned that if any pause in the fighting is not respected “the US and its partners will impose further sanctions”.

Security and defence analyst Michael Clarke told Sky News presenter Samantha Washington the European leaders are “rowing in behind” the US president, who referred to his “European allies” for the first time in this context in a post on his Truth Social platform.

“So this meeting is all about heaping pressure on the Russians to go along with the American proposal,” he said.

“It’s the closest the Europeans and the US have been for about three months on this issue.”

Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine and its allies are ready for a “full, unconditional ceasefire” for at least 30 days starting on Monday.

Ahead of the meeting on Saturday, Sir Keir, Mr Macron, Mr Tusk and Mr Merz released a joint statement.

European leaders show solidarity – but await Trump’s backing

Dominic Waghorn

International affairs editor

@DominicWaghorn

The hope is Russia’s unilateral ceasefire, such as it’s worth, can be extended for a month to give peace a chance.

But ahead of the meeting, Ukrainian sources told Sky News they are still waiting for President Donald Trump to put his full weight behind the idea.

The US leader has said a 30-day ceasefire would be ideal, but has shown no willingness yet for putting pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin to agree.

The Russians say a ceasefire can only come after a peace deal can be reached.

European allies are still putting their hopes in a negotiated end to the war despite Moscow’s intransigence and President Trump’s apparent one-sided approach favouring Russia.

Ukrainians would prefer to be given enough economic and military support to secure victory.

But in over three years, despite its massive economic superiority to Russia and its access to more advanced military technology, Europe has not found the political will to give Kyiv the means to win.

Until they do, Vladimir Putin may decide it is still worth pursuing this war despite its massive cost in men and materiel on both sides.

“We reiterate our backing for President Trump’s calls for a peace deal and call on Russia to stop obstructing efforts to secure an enduring peace,” they said.

“Alongside the US, we call on Russia to agree a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire to create the space for talks on a just and lasting peace.”

The leaders said they were “ready to support peace talks as soon as possible”.

But they warned that they would continue to “ratchet up pressure on Russia’s war machine” until Moscow agrees to a lasting ceasefire.

“We are clear the bloodshed must end, Russia must stop its illegal invasion, and Ukraine must be able to prosper as a safe, secure and sovereign nation within its internationally recognised borders for generations to come,” their statement added.

“We will continue to increase our support for Ukraine.”

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The European leaders are set to visit the Maidan, a central square in Ukraine’s capital where flags represent those who died in the war.

They are also expected to host a virtual meeting for other leaders in the “coalition of the willing” to update them on progress towards a peacekeeping force.

Military officers from around 30 countries have been involved in drawing up plans for a coalition, which would provide a peacekeeping force in the event of a ceasefire being agreed between Russia and Ukraine.

This force “would help regenerate Ukraine’s armed forces after any peace deal and strengthen confidence in any future peace”, according to Number 10.

Politics

UK to become ‘safe harbor’ for crypto with new draft rules — experts

Published

17 hours ago

May 10, 2025

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UK to become ‘safe harbor’ for crypto with new draft rules — experts

On April 29, 2025, UK Finance Minister Rachel Reeves unveiled plans for a “comprehensive regulatory regime” aimed at making the country a global leader in digital assets.

Under the proposed rules, crypto exchanges, dealers, and agents will be regulated similarly to traditional financial firms, with requirements for transparency, consumer protection, and operational resilience, the UK Treasury said in a statement released following Reeves’ remarks.

Per the statement, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Order 2025 introduces six new regulated activities, including crypto trading, custody, and staking.

Rather than opting for a light-touch regime similar to the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA), the UK is applying the full weight of securities regulation to crypto, according to UK-based law firm Wiggin. That includes capital requirements, governance standards, market abuse rules, and disclosure obligations.

“The UK’s draft crypto regulations represent a meaningful step toward embracing a rules-based digital asset economy,” Dante Disparte, chief strategy officer and head of global policy at Circle, told Cointelegraph.

“By signaling a willingness to provide regulatory clarity, the UK is positioning itself as a safe harbor for responsible innovation.”

Disparte added that the proposed framework can provide the predictability needed to “scale responsible digital financial infrastructure in the UK.”

UK’s new crypto rules are “net positive”

Vugar Usi Zade, the chief operating officer (COO) at Bitget exchange, also expressed optimism regarding the new regulations, claiming that it “is a net positive” for the industry.

“I think a lot of companies recently exited or hesitated to enter the UK because they were not clear about what activities, products, and operations need FCA authorization. Firms finally get clear definitions of “qualifying crypto assets” and know exactly which activities—trading, custody, staking or lending—need FCA authorization.”

For exchanges, including Bitget, the UK’s draft rules mean they need full approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to offer crypto trading, custody, staking, or lending services to UK users.

The rules also give companies two years to adjust their systems, like capital and reporting. “Mapping each service line to the new perimeter adds compliance overhead, but that clarity lets us plan product roll‑outs and invest in local infrastructure,” Zade said.

The new draft regulations reclassify stablecoins as securities, not as e-money. This means UK-issued fiat-backed tokens must meet prospectus-style disclosures and redemption protocols. Non-UK stablecoins can still circulate, but only via authorized venues.

Zade claimed that excluding stablecoins from the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (EMRs), which keeps them out of the e‑money sandbox, could slow their use for payment.

However, Disparte, whose firm is the issuer of USDC (USDC), the world’s second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization, said predictability is key to fostering responsible growth in the UK.

“What matters most is predictability: a framework that enables firms to build, test, and grow responsibly—without fear of arbitrary enforcement or shifting goalposts. If realized, this could mark a pivotal moment in the UK’s digital asset journey.”

UK to require FCA approval for foreign crypto firms

Among the biggest changes as part of the new draft rules is the territorial reach. Non-UK platforms serving UK retail clients will need the FCA authorization. The “overseas persons” exemption is limited to certain B2B relationships, effectively ring-fencing the UK retail market.

Crypto staking enters the perimeter as well. Liquid and delegated staking services must now register, while solo stakers and purely interface-based providers are exempt. New custody rules extend to any setup that gives a party unilateral transfer rights, including certain lending and MPC (multiparty computation) arrangements.

“Some DeFi nuances still need fleshing out, but the direction is toward efficient, tailored compliance rather than blanket restriction,” Bitget’s Zade said.

He added that the broad “staking” definition might sweep in non‑custodial DeFi models lacking a central provider. “Proposed credit‑card purchase restrictions—though aimed at high‑risk use—could dampen retail participation in token launches,” he said.

Furthermore, Zade said bank‑grade segregation rules for client assets could burden lean DeFi projects. “Final rule tweaks will need to mitigate these side effects.”

The FCA plans to publish final rules on crypto sometime in 2026, setting the groundwork for the UK regulatory regime to go live. The roadmap to greater regulatory clarity in the UK could follow the European Union, which started to implement its MiCA framework in December.

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