Paxos’ 0K Bitcoin fee, FTX tokens sales set to begin and other news: Hodler’s Digest, Sept. 10-16

Paxos’ $500K Bitcoin fee, FTX tokens sales set to begin and other news: Hodler’s Digest, Sept. 10-16

Published

2 years ago

September 16, 2023

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Paxos confirms it’s responsible for paying a $500K Bitcoin transaction fee

The Bitcoin miner who received 19.8 BTC in fees from blockchain infrastructure firm Paxos has returned the funds following Paxos’ claim that it made a mistake in paying over $500,000 in transfer fees. On Sept. 10, Paxos paid the six-figure fee to move $2,000, with the average network fee typically being around $2. The company later acknowledged the mistake, confirming the transfer came from its servers. Almost a day after Paxos’ claims, the Bitcoin miner who received the funds went on X (formerly Twitter) to express frustrations after agreeing to refund the amount to Paxos. The funds were returned on Sept. 15.

Court approves sale of FTX digital assets

A bankruptcy court has approved the sale of FTX digital assets in weekly batches through an investment adviser and under preestablished guidelines. The sale does not include Bitcoin, Ether and “certain insider-affiliated tokens,” which can be sold through a separate decision by FTX after 10 days’ notice. FTX sales are not expected to have a heavy impact on markets. According to a recent shareholder update, the bankrupt exchange has $833 million worth of Bitcoin and Ether. A total of $3.4 billion is held in Digital Assets A — the top 10 assets the company holds — which include Solana, Bitcoin, Ether, Aptos and others.

Gemini Earn users could recover all funds in new DCG remuneration scheme

Digital Currency Group has proposed a new agreement plan for the creditors of the now-bankrupt Genesis Global. The plan estimates unsecured creditors will receive “a 70–90% recovery with a meaningful portion of the recovery in digital currencies.” Additionally, the remuneration plan says the recovery of claims for Gemini Earn users would be projected at “approximately 95–110%” without any contribution from Gemini. According to the filing: “If Gemini were to agree to provide $100 million to Gemini Earn users under the Proposed Agreement, as it previously did, there would be little doubt Gemini Earn users would receive more than full recovery.”

Franklin Templeton files for spot Bitcoin ETF

Asset manager Franklin Templeton applied with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). According to the application, the fund would be structured as a trust. Coinbase would custody the BTC, and The Bank of New York Mellon would be the cash custodian and administrator. Franklin Templeton has $1.5 trillion in assets under management and joins a long list of asset managers waiting for regulatory approval. The SEC recently delayed decisions on spot ETF applications from WisdomTree, Valkyrie, Fidelity, VanEck, Bitwise and Invesco on Aug. 31.

Two more top executives depart Binance.US amid layoffs, SEC action

The exodus of executives from crypto exchange Binance has reached the firm’s offshoot in the United States, as at least three top employees left Binance.US over the past few days. This week’s departures included the exchange’s CEO, Brian Shroder, alongside legal head Krishna Juvvadi and chief risk officer Sidney Majalya. The mass exit is believed to be tied to the ongoing U.S. investigation into Binance and Binance.US. The SEC sued Binance.US, Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao in June for allegedly engaging in unregistered securities operations and other improprieties. On Aug. 28, the agency requested to file sealed documents in the case, fueling concerns about a criminal probe by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $26,465, Ether (ETH) at $1,628 and XRP at $0.50. 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 Toncoin (TON) at 21.30%, VeChain (VET) at 11.94% and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) at 11.36%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week are ApeCoin (APE) at -16.82%, Astar (ASTR) at 14.47% and Flare (FLR) at 12.61%.

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

Most Memorable Quotations

“I think my generation and younger than me are the ones that are really going to change that narrative for investing, whether it’s in cryptocurrency or other investments moving forward.”

Scotty James, Australian snowboarder

“The only country I would not encourage you to start a company right now is in the U.S.”

Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple

“We’re still in the fax era of global payments.”

David Marcus, former PayPal executive and co-founder Lightspark

“I don’t think everybody in D.C. actually fully realizes how powerful the crypto voting community block is.”

Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase

“You cannot get 100% transparency and 100% privacy.”

Alex Svanevik, CEO of Nansen

“Climate change is still a systemic threat to our species. I think as a society, we kind of owe it to ourselves to do anything that we can.”

Marek Olszewski, CEO of Celo

Prediction of the Week

Bitcoin price all-time high will precede 2024 halving — New prediction

Bitcoin has a $250,000 target for after its next block subsidy halving — but new all-time highs will come sooner, according to the latest BTC price prediction from BitQuant, a popular social media commentator who sees a rosy future for the largest cryptocurrency.

On Sept. 15, the pseudonymous “central banker and Bitcoiner” revealed a pre-halving target above $69,000. “No, Bitcoin is not going to top before the halving,” he wrote in part of the commentary.

Bitcoin has just over six months before the halving, the event that cuts miner rewards earned per block by 50% every four years. “No, BTC is not going to $160K because the magnitude of every pullback is large,” he wrote, adding that “this means it will peak after the halving, in 2024. And yes, the target price is around $250K.”

FUD of the Week

SEC charges company behind Stoner Cats NFT series with unregistered securities sale

Stoner Cats 2 LLC (SC2), the company behind the Stoner Cats animated web series, has agreed to a cease-and-desist order and other measures imposed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after being charged with conducting an unregistered offering of crypto-asset securities in the form of nonfungible tokens (NFTs). According to the SEC, SC2 sold more than 10,000 NFTs for about $800 apiece. The sale took 35 minutes and occurred on July 27, 2021, and the proceeds were used to fund the series. Besides agreeing to the cease-and-desist order, SC2 will pay a civil penalty of $1 million.

OneCoin co-founder Greenwood gets 20 years in US jail for fraud, money laundering

Karl Greenwood, co-founder of OneCoin with Ruja Ignatova, was sentenced in the United States to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $300 million on Sept. 20. Ignatova remains at large. Greenwood, who is a citizen of the United Kingdom and Sweden, was sentenced in a court in New York. In a statement by the Justice Department, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams called OneCoin “one of the largest fraud schemes ever perpetrated.” The multilevel marketing and Ponzi scheme reaped $4 billion from 3.5 million victims, the statement said. Ignatova has not been seen since October 2017 and is on the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Ten Most Wanted List.

North Korea’s Lazarus Group responsible for $55M CoinEx hack

The attack on crypto exchange CoinEx, which drained at least $55 million, was carried out by the North Korean hacker group Lazarus, according to blockchain security firm SlowMist and pseudonymous on-chain investigator ZachXBT. The hacker group was identified after it inadvertently exposed its address, which was the same one used in the recent Stake and Optimism hacks. On Sept. 12, CoinEx saw large outflows of funds to an address without any prior history. Security experts immediately suspected that the exchange was breached, with initial estimates reaching approximately $27 million.

Are DAOs overhyped and unworkable? Lessons from the front lines

Many contend that DAOs have failed to deliver on their promises, but developers are coming up with novel solutions.

6 Questions for Kei Oda: From Goldman Sachs to cryptocurrency

Kei Oda spent 16 years trading bonds for Goldman Sachs — a life that eventually bored him. That was when he turned to cryptocurrency.

Web3 Gamer: PUBG devs’ Web3 project, Animoca’s $20M raise, Shardbound review

The company behind PUBG announces a new Web3 platform, monetization in Web3 and more.

Editorial Staff

Cointelegraph Magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.

Politics

New home secretary to host talks on people smuggling as small-boat crossings hits 30,000

Published

3 hours ago

September 8, 2025

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New home secretary to host talks on people smuggling as small-boat crossings hits 30,000

The new home secretary will host talks on how to stop people smuggling in her first major engagement in the role.

Shabana Mahmood will host the so-called Five Eyes security alliance, holding talks between counterparts from the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

The security alliance discussion comes after an estimated 1,000 people arrived by small boat in Britain over the course of a single day, with French authorities saying 24 people were rescued while trying to cross the English Channel.

Ms Mahmood said the numbers, which take the yearly total to more than 30,000 in record time, were “utterly unacceptable” and that she expected migrant returns under a deal agreed last month with France to begin “imminently”.

She was promoted into the role Friday during a dramatic reshuffle of Keir Starmer’s top team, which followed in the wake of Angela Rayner’s resignation over her tax affairs.

Politics latest: ‘One of the worst PMs in history’

Sir Keir will now be hoping to draw a line under the fallout of his former deputy’s departure, as well as a summer dominated by criticism of his government’s handling of the small boats crisis.

Ms Mahmood said the Five Eyes intelligence sharing pact would “agree new measures to protect our border”. The group will also discuss new measures to tackle child sexual abuse online, as well as the spread of deadly synthetic opioids, the Home Office said.

Ms Mahmood said: “Rebuilding our reputation on the world stage is how we tackle serious organised crime and secure our borders.”

“The Five Eyes might be drawn from different corners of the globe, but we are united by our alliance,” she added.

“As the security threats we all face become more complex and span continents, we are stronger and safer together.”

She will be joined at the talks by US secretary of homeland security Kristi Noem, Canadian public safety minister Gary Anandasangaree, Australian home affairs minister Tony Burke and New Zealand minister Judith Collins.

The Prime Minister has told his new ministers to “go up a gear” in delivering on Labour’s agenda, part of which now involves a toughened immigration policy as he faces pressure in the polls from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

In Ms Mahmood’s first full day in the job, she met the head of Scotland Yard to receive a briefing on the policing operation in response to protests in London.

“Supporting Palestine and supporting a proscribed terrorist group are not the same thing,” she said.

“An honour to visit Sir Mark (Rowley) and the Metropolitan Police to see them at work policing protests yesterday.”

Almost 900 people were arrested in central London at a protest against the banning of Palestine Action.

Politics

Labour ‘failing to deliver change that people voted for’ – TUC chief

Published

4 hours ago

September 7, 2025

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Labour 'failing to deliver change that people voted for' - TUC chief

The leader of Britain’s trade unions is to accuse Sir Keir Starmer of failing to deliver the change Labour promised during the election campaign last year.

In his keynote speech at the TUC conference in Brighton, general secretary Paul Nowak will claim that for too many people change still feels like a slogan, not a reality.

After a troubled first year in government that has seen Labour lose support to Reform UK, Mr Nowak will warn the lack of change cannot continue and the government must deliver on jobs, public services and living standards.

And he will claim Rachel Reeves’ budget on 26 November must include windfall taxes on bank profits and gambling companies, a wealth tax on millionaires and the lifting of the two-child benefit cap introduced by George Osborne during the coalition government.

Mr Nowak’s speech comes just days after the unions lost their champion in cabinet, Angela Rayner, prompting fears among delegates in Brighton that the government is poised to weaken its flagship legislation on workers’ rights.

The Conservatives have responded to Ms Rayner’s demise by writing to the new business and trade secretary, Peter Kyle, calling on him to scrap the Employment Rights Bill, claiming it will reduce jobs and mean more red tape and bureaucracy.

But Labour is losing support to Nigel Farage’s party, not the Tories, and will also – potentially – to left-wing parties in future. And in an unusual move, the new left-wing leader of the Green Party, Zack Polanski, will also address the TUC later.

Labour’s election manifesto last year showed a black and white photo of a shirt-sleeved Sir Keir on the front cover with the single word “Change” in red.

In his attack on the government’s first year in office, Mr Nowak will say: “The Tories took Britain to the brink. That’s why last July, the government was elected on a manifesto that promised change.

“But we have to be honest – for too many people, change still feels like a slogan not a lived reality.

“This can’t continue. Throughout our history, we’ve been at our best when we’ve been ambitious for working people.

“So today, my message to the government is simply this.

“Deliver the manifesto on which you won a huge majority last July. Deliver good jobs, decent public services and better living standards in every corner of the country. Deliver the change people voted for.

“And show working-class communities whose side you are on.”

On the budget, which Labour MPs believe will be crucial to the government’s hopes of recovery in its fortunes, Mr Nowak will declare: “Introduce a windfall tax on record bank profits and gambling companies. And back it with new taxes on wealth.

“If billionaires can afford fleets of private yachts. Day trips into space. Weddings that shut down Venice – they can pay a bit more tax.

“Do what’s best for those who go out to work, day in, day out, and still can’t get by. Deliver the Employment Rights Bill and deliver it in full.

“And make it clear – a Labour government will never stand aside and watch a child’s potential be wasted because of poverty. Lift the two-child cap, and give our kids the future they deserve.”

And on the issue set to dominate this week’s conference, workers’ rights, Mr Nowak will say: “The government has a manifesto promise to make work pay.

“Stronger rights at work are overwhelmingly popular with voters across the political spectrum.

“The public knows decent work is the best way to deliver the reset this country needs.

“The best way to improve living standards.

“And the best way to rebuild our communities hit hard by low pay and insecure work.

“So here is our challenge to government.

“Deliver that Employment Rights Bill in full and deliver the change you promised at the election.”

But the Tories’ shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith, in a letter to Mr Kyle, claims the bill will be deeply damaging to economic growth and reduce living standards.

“Rather than proceed at this time with a measure which on the government’s own impact assessment will reduce employment and growth, now is the time to put the national interest first,” he wrote.

“Any credible ‘reset’ of this government requires that this bill be shelved and the government look afresh at measures to promote the growth and competitiveness of the UK economy.”