Connect with us

Published

on

Top Stories This Week

CME overtakes Binance to grab largest share of Bitcoin futures open interest

Bitcoin’s futures market is showing an interesting shift as global derivatives marketplace the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has surpassed Binance in terms of Bitcoin futures open interest. This change occurred after Bitcoin exceeded the $37,000 mark for the first time in over 18 months.

However, James Seyffart, a research analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence specializing in exchange-traded funds, questioned whether the increasing open interest in Bitcoin futures on CME would address historical concerns of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the depth of Bitcoin markets and the potential for market manipulation.

“Okay this is interesting… Does this constitute a ‘market of significant size’ now?” Seyffart stated in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

The former head of legal and compliance at OneCoin is looking at a potential 10-year prison term for her involvement in the $4 billion cryptocurrency trading scheme. In Manhattan federal court, the ex-compliance chief of OneCoin, Irinia Dilkinska, pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and money laundering.

According to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos accepted Dilkinska’s guilty plea. She admitted to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. 

Dilkinska is scheduled for sentencing on February 14, 2024, facing a potential maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for her role in the OneCoin scheme.

Genesis seeks court’s approval to reduce Three Arrows Capital claim from $1B to $33M

Bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Genesis has asked the court to approve its proposed settlement agreement with the collapsed crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC).

In a recent court document, Genesis stated that 3AC should be given a claim of $33 million against Genesis. This represents 3.3% of the total claims initially made against Genesis, which amounted to $1 billion.

According to Genesis, 3AC’s claims against Genesis were the largest asserted claims in Chapter 11 cases associated with the collapse of the FTX exchange. Genesis stressed that the 3AC debtor was one of Genesis’s largest borrowers from 2020 to 2022, up until the time of its collapse.

SafeMoon CEO bail release goes on hold after Feds cite flight risk

SafeMoon CEO Braden John Karony’s bail release has been delayed by U.S. federal prosecutors, who argue that he may try to leave the country due to his alleged access to funds and connections abroad. The prosecutors expressed concerns that his release could pose a flight risk and be a potential danger to the community.

The delay comes after a New York District Judge, LaShann DeArcy Hall, decided to put a hold on the bail release order issued on Nov. 8 by a Utah Magistrate judge, who had allowed Karony to be released on a $500,000 bail. However, prosecutors contested this decision, claiming that the release order was made “without consideration of the defendant’s substantial financial means and ability to flee,” and they emphasized that his release could be a “continued danger to the community.”

Binance to terminate Russian ruble deposits next week

Binance users in Russia need to take note: They have a little over two months, until Jan. 31, 2024, to withdraw their rubles from the platform. Binance is wrapping up its operations in Russia and plans to stop accepting deposits in Russian rubles from November 15, 2023.

This comes after Binance declared its complete exit from Russia by selling its business to a newly established crypto exchange called CommEX in September 2023. However, there’s been limited information about the details of the deal, including the size of the transaction and the founders of CommEX, causing some controversy.

Winners and Losers

BTC and ETH prices

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $37,249, Ether (ETH) at $2,078 and XRP (XRP) at $0.67. The total market cap is at $1.42 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week were FTX Token (FTT) at 250.48%, Kaspa (KAS) at 67.23% and Cronos (CRO) at 52.20%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week are Maker (MKR) at -3.39%, Tether Gold (XAUt) at -2.60% and PAX Gold (PAXG) at -2.51%.

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

Read also


Columns

Wall Street disaster expert Bill Noble: Crypto spring is inevitable


Features

Space invaders: Launching crypto into orbit

Most Memorable Quotations

SEC Chair Gensler cannot continue to abuse the powers of his agency to fulfill a political agenda of driving the new and promising digital asset industry offshore.”

Tom Emmer, United States Republican congressman

Ordinals help to express the core values of Bitcoin in a much more friendly way than Bitcoin, which is too technical or harsh for some people.”

Lugui Tillier, commercial director for Lumx Studios

Binance’s Chief Compliance Officer crudely but succinctly summed up this case when he admitted that Binance was ‘operating as a fking unlicensed securities exchange in the USA bro.’ He was right.”

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission

As we have witnessed with cryptocurrency, heavy-handed constraints have hindered the exploration of potentially revolutionary applications.”

Matthew Putman, CEO and co-founder of Nanotronics

In Web3, it’s not the code that’s king, but the community. Instead of perfecting backend logic, focus on front-end transparency.”

Tiago Serôdio, head of community at Partisia Blockchain

I say, ‘Sorry, we are boring.’ But we are one of the oldest projects. We are very big… We are the one who has the most changes on GitHub, and we have not been down for over 2000 days… Boring sometimes is good.”

Frederik Gregaard, Cardano Foundation CEO

Prediction of the week

Bitcoin ‘Terminal Price’ hints next BTC all-time high is at least $110K

As the price of BTC hovers around its highest levels in the past 18 months, analysts are already speculating about the potential upward trajectory it may take in the upcoming months and years. Bitcoin may next be a “sell” at $110,000 as its new bull cycle plays out, a classic on-chain indicator suggests.

Analyzing its Terminal Price, Look Into Bitcoin creator Philip Swift described its value as a “simple” method of estimating long-term BTC price peaks. Terminal Price is calculated from Bitcoin’s so-called “Transferred Price” — a value derived by dividing “Coin Days Destroyed” by the existing supply. Not every all-time high reaches Terminal Price, but BTC/USD did hit the trendline during its 2017 all-time and initial peak in April 2021. The current all-time high of $69,000, seen in November of that year, fell short.

As Terminal Price increases with time, $110,000 may ultimately end up a conservative target should the next all-time high occur only later in the next cycle.

FUD of the Week

JPEX scandal: Taiwan determines new suspects in alleged fraud — Report

Taiwanese prosecutors are seeking to detain Chang Tung-ying, the chief partner at JPEX’s Taiwan office, on charges of fraud related to the JPEX cryptocurrency exchange. The situation surrounding the collapsed exchange is unfolding, with the Taipei District Prosecutors Office (TDPO) reportedly identifying new suspects. According to a report from local TV channel TVBS News on November 9, the TDPO has requested the custody of Chang Tung-ying over allegations of fraud. 

As part of the ongoing JPEX investigation, prosecutors in Taipei searched nine locations and summoned Chang along with three other individuals believed to be involved. Chang and JPEX lecturer Shih Yu-sheng (also known as Shi Yu) are considered suspects in the case for violating the Banking Act and the Money Laundering Control Act.

Crypto exchange CoinSpot reportedly suffers $2M hot wallet hack

Blockchain security firm CertiK indicates that the recent $2.4 million theft from Australian cryptocurrency exchange CoinSpot hot wallet likely occurred due to a “private key compromise.” CoinSpot appears to have experienced a hack, involving the probable compromise of a private key in one of its hot wallets.

Pseudonymous blockchain investigator ZachXBT highlighted two transactions on Nov. 8 that entered the wallet belonging to the alleged hacker. Subsequently, the wallet’s owner transferred the funds to the Bitcoin network via THORChain and Wan Bridge. CertiK stated that the apparent exploit was likely the result of a “probable private key compromise” on at least one of CoinSpot’s hot wallets. 

According to Etherscan data, a transaction of 1,262 Ether, valued at $2.4 million at current prices, originated from a recognized CoinSpot wallet and entered the wallet linked to the alleged hacker.

Poloniex exchange suffers $100M exploit, offers 5% bounty

A crypto wallet linked to the digital exchange Poloniex has experienced suspicious outflows, evident on the blockchain explorer Etherscan. Blockchain security experts suspect a breach, resulting in attackers draining up to $100 million in crypto. 

On Nov. 10, millions in crypto assets were moved from an account labeled Poloniex 4 on Etherscan. Initially estimated at $60 million, later assessments revealed the loss exceeded $100 million. CertiK, a blockchain security firm, suggests a “private key compromise” as the likely cause and notes that the funds have already been transferred to four externally owned accounts, with some converted into Ether.

Read also


Features

Bitcoin is on a collision course with ‘Net Zero’ promises


Features

Beyond crypto: Zero-knowledge proofs show potential from voting to finance

Top Magazine Pieces of the Week

Exclusive: 2 years after John McAfee’s death, widow Janice is broke and needs answers

Two years after John McAfee’s death, his wife, Janice, is still unable to get closure. “All I want is to see his body for myself and know that really happened.”

‘$10K JPGs’ scare away gamers, Animoca’s crypto game streaming plans: Web3 Gamer

Animoca buys Twitch-like platform and Web3 gaming was a major talking point at Binance Blockchain Week.

6 Questions for Lugui Tillier about Bitcoin, Ordinals, and the future of crypto

Lugui Tillier is the commercial director for Lumx Studios, one of the top cryptocurrency firms in Rio de Janeiro — a city with a burgeoning crypto industry.

Editorial Staff

Cointelegraph Magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.

Continue Reading

Politics

MP Zarah Sultana who was ousted from Labour announces she is starting new political party with Jeremy Corbyn

Published

on

By

MP Zarah Sultana who was ousted from Labour announces she is starting new political party with Jeremy Corbyn

An MP who was ousted from the Labour Party has announced she is setting up a new political party with Jeremy Corbyn.

Independent MP Zarah Sultana said she and the former Labour leader will co-lead the new party, which she did not provide a name for.

She said other independent MPs, campaigners and activists from across the country will join them, but did not name anyone.

Politics latest: Zarah Sultana’s stinging resignation letter

Ms Sultana also said she was “resigning” from the Labour Party after 14 years.

She was suspended as a Labour MP shortly after they came to power last summer for voting against the government maintaining the two-child benefit cap.

Several others from the left of the party, including Mr Corbyn, were also suspended for voting against the government, and also remained as independent MPs.

More on Jeremy Corbyn

However, Ms Sultana was still a member of the Labour Party – until now.

Zarah Sultana

Mr Corbyn has previously said the independent MPs who were suspended from Labour would “come together” to provide an “alternative.

The other four are: Iqbal Mohamed, Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan and Adnan Hussain.

Mr Corbyn and the other four independents have not said if they are part of the new party Ms Sultana announced.

In her announcement, Ms Sultana said she would vote to abolish the two-child benefit cap again and also voted against scrapping the winter fuel payment for most pensioners.

Ms Sultana also voted against the government’s welfare bill this week, which was heavily watered down as Sir Keir Starmer tried to prevent a major rebellion from his own MPs.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Protesters block Israeli arms manufacturer in Bristol

On Wednesday, Ms Sultana spoke passionately against Palestine Action being proscribed as a terror organisation – but MPs eventually voted for it to be.

She said to proscribe it is “a deliberate distortion of the law to chill dissent, criminalise solidarity and suppress the truth”.

Ms Sultana said they were founding the new party because “Westminster is broken but the real crisis is deeper – just 50 families now own more wealth than half the UK population”.

She called Reform leader Nigel Farage “a billionaire-backed grifter” leading the polls “because Labour has completely failed to improve people’s lives.

Reform leader Nigel Farage attending day three of Royal Ascot.
Pic: PA
Image:
Ms Sultana called Nigel Farage a ‘billionaire-backed grifter’. Pic: PA

The MP, who has spoken passionately about Gaza, added: “Across the political establishment, from Farage to Starmer, they smear people of conscience trying to stop a genocide in Gaza as terrorists.

“But the truth is clear: this government is an active participant in genocide. And the British people oppose it.

“We are not going to take this anymore.”

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “In just 12 months, this Labour government has boosted wages, delivered an extra four million NHS appointments, opened 750 free breakfast clubs, secured three trade deals and four interest rate cuts lowering mortgage payments for millions.

“Only Labour can deliver the change needed to renew Britain.”

Continue Reading

Politics

Tornado Cash co-founder keeps testimony plans unclear ahead of trial

Published

on

By

Tornado Cash co-founder keeps testimony plans unclear ahead of trial

Tornado Cash co-founder keeps testimony plans unclear ahead of trial

Roman Storm is scheduled to appear in a New York courtroom for his criminal trial on July 14, facing money laundering and conspiracy charges.

Continue Reading

Politics

US Senator Cynthia Lummis drafts standalone crypto tax bill

Published

on

By

US Senator Cynthia Lummis drafts standalone crypto tax bill

US Senator Cynthia Lummis drafts standalone crypto tax bill

The Wyoming Senator seeks to end double taxation and add clarity to the tax treatment of crypto staking, mining, and lending transactions.

Continue Reading

Trending