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It’s difficult to explain why I both enjoyed and disliked Cryptomania . On the one hand, it’s necessary to acknowledge that Andrew Chow, the author, and a TIME Magazine correspondent, is a very good, very experienced writer who knows how to move a story along in such a way that the reader is hardly aware that they’re engaging in the task of reading. On the other hand, it’s odd that Chow decided that the best way to connect and explain the collapse of FTX and Alameda Research was through weaving together real-life tales of success and loss via NFTs. Neither FTX nor Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) were widely engaged in the NFT space so to choose them as the main through line of a 40-chapter book seems like a real missed opportunity to delve into the murky worlds of offshore banks, money laundering, and international arbitrage in crypto. Cryptomania is both an easy read and a — sometimes manic — discussion about all things crypto-related that transpired over a couple of tumultuou...

A judge has ordered both FTX and its sister trading firm Alameda Research to pay out $12.7 billion to creditors following the conclusion of a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) lawsuit. In an August 7 filing, New York district judge Peter Castel ruled that both collapsed crypto firms should pay a disgorgement of $8.7 billion to the victims who lost out, and $4 billion to cover the profits they made during all of their violations.  Defendants, including FTX, Alameda, Caroline Ellison, Sam Bankman-Fried, Gary Wang, and any of their affiliates, are, according to yesterday’s consent order, also prohibited from trading any digital asset commodities, including, bitcoin, ether, and tether. They are also banned from acting as market intermediaries . Craig Wright fails to appeal UK ruling in Bitcoin case Read more:What happened to the crypto islands? FTX and Alameda had both agreed with the CFTC back in July to pay the billion-dollar settlement. However, this agreement was...

Sam Trabucco, the former Co-CEO of Alameda Research, is back again after briefly resurfacing in May to write a three-page, single-space letter defending his ‘best friend’ Ryan Salame. According to multiple users on X (formerly Twitter), Trabucco has been active since likes were taken private, mostly to like tweets from Salame. It appears that Trabucco was unaware that others mentioned in tweets could see who was liking them. It’s unclear if he’ll will become active on any social media outside of liking his prior co-workers’ tweets, but he hasn’t publicly spoken to any media outlet or clarified why he hasn’t been sought out by the Department of Justice (DoJ). ‘Soak my Deck’ captain Sam Trabucco sails in for Ryan Salame Read more: Where in the world is Sam Trabucco ? FTX victims launch manhunt Mansions, Condos, and Yachts, oh my! Protos previously broke the news that Trabucco had purchased a boat called ‘Soak my Deck,’ an $8.7 million condo in San Francisco , a...

Larry David, the American comedian, disclosed significant losses as part of his FTX Super Bowl commercial salary was in crypto. Portrayed as a crypto skeptic in the Super Bowl advertisement, Larry David now calls himself “an idiot ” for dealing with the now-defunct FTX, whose founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, is facing serious legal troubles. Larry David reflects on his 2022 Super Bowl ad for a crypto currency trading platform called FTX, amid an ongoing fraud case against Sam Bankman-Fried, the company's founder. David reunited with his "Curb Your Enthusiasm" cast members for the show's final season premiere. pic.twitter.com/8KReLNBb3y — AP Entertainment (@APEntertainment) January 31, 2024 In an interview with The Associated Press, David revealed that he had lost “a lot of money” after things went south for FTX and its disgraced founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who is now facing up to 100 years in prison for multiple charges. David also added...

This week, FTX initiated creditor settlement initiatives, as regulatory efforts commanded significant attention. Meanwhile, Stake fell victim to a multi-million-dollar exploit. FTX moving to settle creditor debt As part of a calculated aim to tackle its sizable debt exceeding $8 billion, FTX started streamlining its digital asset portfolio this week. Their approach entails reconnecting crypto assets to their corresponding blockchain networks, alongside a scheme to relocate their Solana (SOL) and other assets to BitGo.  This shift comes on the heels of the court’s selection of BitGo as the court-appointed custodian, which was prompted by FTX’s declaration of bankruptcy in November 2022. Reports surfaced this week suggesting that FTX is embarking on a mission to recover substantial sums previously distributed to celebrity endorsers. Among these luminaries are tennis sensation Naomi Osaka and NBA star Shaquille O’Neal. FTX’s financial advisors are currently ex...

Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of defunct crypto exchange FTX, is fighting a US prosecutor’s attempt to revoke his $250 million bond and put him in jail. The request was made in response to the New York Times’ publication of excerpts from Caroline Ellison’s diary, who was the former CEO of the FTX-affiliated hedge fund Alameda Research. In the case against Bankman-Fried, Ellison has already pleaded guilty to fraud and is working with the prosecution. The prosecutors claim that Bankman-Fried gave the newspaper the journal entries and spoke with the writer who wrote the story to intimidate Ellison, who might be called a witness during his trial and possibly sway the jury. You might also like: FTX’s former CEO SBF allegedly leaked ex-lover’s diary Bankman-Fried’s attorneys responded by asserting that his interactions with the reporter were not intended to threaten Ellison or affect the jury pool. In its place, they argued that he had the right to offer...

FTX ’s sister company, Alameda Research , has come to a $45 million cash deal aggrement to sell its Sequoia Capital interest. The official court document filed on Wednesday, March 8, pointed out that the buying party is Al Nawwar Investments RSC Limited, a company with limited liability incorporated under the laws of the Abu Dhabi Global Market. Usually, the purchaser is required to bear the the amount of any capital contributions after the balance sheet date and on or prior to the closing date. The amount of distributions received by seller or seller’s estate, however, is excluded. Additionally, the “cure costs,” if any, are also supposed to be paid by the seller without deductions. No contributions or distributions were made by the company, thereby bringing the aggregate amount payable to $45 million. Detailing out the same, the filing noted, “ After extensive arms’-length negotiations, Seller and Purchaser entered into that certain Purchase and ...

Monex CEO Oki Matsumoto said that it will be a “very good thing” for them if there will be less competition in the market. In an interview with mainstream media outlet Bloomberg, Monex CEO Oki Matsumoto said that they are interested and expressed that it will be a "very good thing" for them if there will be less competition within the local market. Matsumoto also highlighted that the crypto market within Japan has a lot of potential because companies may be looking into investing in digital assets or using nonfungible tokens for their marketing campaigns. According to the CEO, Monex wants to position itself as one of the few options for local players when such a time comes. FTX Japan, one of the four FTX assets put on sale, caught the eye of Monex Group, an online brokerage firm based in Tokyo.  Monex also owns a majority of the Japanese Bitcoin wallet and exchange service Coincheck which expressed its intent to list the crypto exchange on Nasdaq last year. According to Mat...

Following the fallout of FTX, implementing zero fee BTC trading and some notable global acquisitions Binance’s market dominance has surged throughout 2022. During a year plagued by crises such as the collapse of FTX and Celsius, data shows that crypto exchange Binance has emerged as the clear “winner” of 2022 according to Arcane Research. A Jan. 3 report from Arcane highlighted that Binance saw its market dominance soar throughout 2022. As of Dec. 28 last year it had captured 92% of the Bitcoin (BTC) spot market and 61% of the BTC derivatives market by volume: “There are no other evident ‘winners’ of 2022 other than Binance when it comes to the crypto market structure and market dominance. No matter how you look at it in terms of trading activity, Binance is the crypto market.” Binance’s BTC spot market dominance was 45% at the start of 2022 meaning that it more than doubled, while its share of the BTC derivatives market increased by almost one third. Real BTC daily volume vs Binanc...