Monat: Januar 2023

• Sam Bankman-Fried, former CEO of FTX, denies that he attempted to influence a potential witness.
• U.S. attorney Damian Williams has accused Bankman-Fried of sending a message to FTX US General Counsel Ryne Miller on Jan. 15 via the messaging app Signal.
• Bankman-Fried awaits possible contact restrictions.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, is facing accusations that he attempted to influence a potential witness. On Jan. 27, Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, made a court filing suggesting that Bankman-Fried had attempted to contact a witness on Jan. 15 via the encrypted messaging app Signal.

The message was allegedly sent to Ryne Miller, the General Counsel for FTX US. Miller may be a witness at trial, and it is believed that he has information that could incriminate Bankman-Fried. The message reportedly read: „I would really love to reconnect and see if there’s a way for us to have a constructive relationship, use each other as resources when possible, or at least vet things with each other.“

In response to the accusations, Bankman-Fried has denied that he tried to sway the witness. He is now awaiting possible contact restrictions, as Williams requested that the court impose limits on Bankman-Fried’s communications moving forward. It is unclear at this time what the outcome of these proceedings will be.

• Nearly $400M in crypto liquidations over the past 24 hours pushed Bitcoin above $23k
• In the same period, almost $500 million in Bitcoin has been withdrawn from exchanges, whereas Ethereum has only seen around $100 million withdrawn from exchanges
• Bitcoin now sits at its lowest level since December 2017, with only 11.7% of all BTC supply now sitting on exchanges

The crypto market has been experiencing a surge in activity as of late, with nearly $400 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours pushing Bitcoin above the $23,000 mark. This surge in activity has been reflected in the amount of Bitcoin withdrawn from exchanges over the same period, with almost $500 million BTC withdrawn from exchanges in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, Ethereum has seen around $100 million withdrawn from exchanges in the same period.

This significant movement of cryptocurrency from exchanges to wallets signals a strong bullish sentiment from traders. This is further supported by the fact that Bitcoin now sits at its lowest level since December 2017, with only 11.7% of all BTC supply now sitting on exchanges. This indicates that traders are actively taking their profits off exchanges and looking to HODL for the long-term.

The positive sentiment has been further strengthened by the fact that Bitcoin and gold have recently experienced their highest correlation in over a year. This correlation has been so high that gold is currently approaching its all-time high, which could potentially act as a catalyst for Bitcoin to move even higher.

Overall, the current crypto market environment is bullish and it looks like the bullish trend is set to continue in the near future. With this in mind, traders should be cautious and ensure that they are not taking on too much risk. By following the right strategies, traders can capitalize on the current market conditions and benefit from the strong bullish sentiment.

• Solana (SOL) seeks to move back into the top 10 cryptocurrencies after temporarily flipping Polygon market cap on Jan. 14.
• Sentiment surrounding SOL has swiftly shifted from bearish to bullish as SOL price rose by more than 36% over the last seven days.
• Vitalik Buterin aided in bolstering SOL recovery momentum on Dec. 29, 2022, by posting a supportive statement on Twitter.

As the cryptocurrency market continues to experience volatility, the Solana (SOL) project is looking to return to the top 10. On January 14th, SOL temporarily flipped Polygon’s market cap, potentially signaling a move back into the top 10.

The recent surge in SOL’s price can be attributed to the shift in sentiment. In December of 2022, the developer community of Solana was in a state of turmoil, leading to a bearish outlook on the project. However, the situation has improved significantly over the past few weeks, which has been reflected in the increased value of SOL. Over the last seven days, the coin has gained more than 36%, allowing it to briefly overtake Polygon’s market cap.

Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, lent his support to the project on December 29th of last year. He tweeted that “some smart people tell me there is an earnest smart developer community in Solana, and now that the awful opportunistic money people have been washed out, the chain has a bright future.” This statement helped to bolster SOL’s recovery momentum, and the coin’s price has continued to grow since then.

Now that Solana is on an upward trajectory, it is looking to re-enter the top 10. It remains to be seen whether or not the coin can maintain its recent gains and make its way back into the top 10. But no matter the outcome, it is clear that the project has seen a significant resurgence in recent weeks and is looking to capitalize on the momentum.

• YouTube influencer Logan Paul will create a refund plan for his troubled CryptoZoo NFT project.
• The plan will allow dissatisfied investors to exit the project immediately and burn their CryptoZoo base tokens for their mint price.
• Paul also apologized to Stephen Findeisen, aka Coffeezilla, who criticized CryptoZoo in December over its incomplete status.

YouTube star Logan Paul has unveiled a comprehensive plan to address the concerns of dissatisfied investors in the CryptoZoo NFT project. The plan includes a refund option, token burning, an internal audit and investigation, and a commitment to complete the project as promised.

Paul announced the plan in a video posted on Twitter on January 13th. He said he would allow investors to exit the project immediately and burn their CryptoZoo base tokens for the mint price of 0.1 ETH ($144). He has pledged 1000 ETH ($1.4 million) for the redemption process, which allows investors to receive ETH or BNB tokens.

In addition to this, Paul and his manager Jeff Levin have committed to burning their own tokens in order to eliminate financial upside in CryptoZoo. He also said an internal investigation and audit would be performed and any funds recovered in that process would be returned to the community.

Finally, Paul is committed to completing the game and marketplace as promised. He also apologized to Stephen Findeisen, aka Coffeezilla, who had criticized CryptoZoo in December over its incomplete status.

The CryptoZoo NFT project was launched in 2021 by Paul and a larger team. It was met with growing dissatisfaction and criticism, leading Paul to take steps to address the issues. He hopes that the plan will allow investors to exit the project and regain their losses. Whether or not the plan proves successful remains to be seen.

•Illegal on-chain cryptocurrency activities have reached an all-time high of $20.1 billion.
•Forty-four percent of the $20.1 billion in illegal cryptocurrency transactions came from sanctioned entities.
•Conventional cryptocurrency-related crimes such as darknet marketing and terrorism financing decreased, while the percentage of crypto funds stolen increased by 7% YOY.

The world of cryptocurrency is becoming increasingly lucrative, but with that comes an increased risk of criminal activity. According to a recent report by Chainalysis, illegal on-chain cryptocurrency activities have reached an all-time high of $20.1 billion. This figure is a lower-bound estimate, and it does not include proceeds from non-crypto native crimes, such as conventional drug trafficking involving cryptocurrency payments.

Of the $20.1 billion in illegal cryptocurrency transactions, 44% came from sanctioned entities. Last year, the U.S. sanctioned cryptocurrency mixing services Blender and Tornado Cash, alleging they were used to launder billions of dollars from North Korea. The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also implemented some of its most severe crypto sanctions in 2022, costing cybercriminals an estimated $15M in potential revenue in the past two months.

On a positive note, the volumes of transactions related to more conventional cryptocurrency-related crimes, such as darknet marketing and terrorism financing, decreased. In contrast, the percentage of crypto funds stolen increased by 7% YOY. This increase is likely due to the rise of crypto scams, such as fake crypto exchanges, fake crypto investments, and crypto giveaway scams.

To combat this, governments and financial institutions have been increasingly taking action to regulate the crypto space. For instance, the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued new rules that require crypto exchanges and other financial institutions to report suspicious activities. This move is aimed at preventing money laundering and other illegal activities in the crypto space.

Ultimately, the fight against illegal cryptocurrency activities will require both the public and private sectors to work together. Governments need to continue to issue regulations and enforce them, while companies should continue to develop and implement anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) technologies. With both sectors working together, we can ensure that the cryptocurrency space remains a safe and secure place for everyone to transact.