Category Archives: Cryptocurrencies

Sam Bankman-Fried admits to ‘large mistakes’ in crypto fraud trial testimony

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Bankman-Fried says his biggest mistake was not implementing a dedicated risk management team for crypto trading platform FTX

Sam Bankman-Fried admitted to making management mistakes while at the helm of FTX, his former multibillion-dollar cryptocurrency empire, during testimony in his defense at trial.

“I made a number of small mistakes and a number of large mistakes,” Bankman-Fried, 31, said in sharing his version of the rise and fall of crypto trading platform FTX. The biggest mistake, he said, was not implementing a dedicated risk management team.

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Former FTX executive says he was ‘embarrassed and ashamed’ of its excess

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Nishad Singh testifies at Sam Bankman-Fried trial about millions spent by failed crypto exchange on celebrity partnerships

The jury at Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial on Monday saw a photograph of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder with the singer Katy Perry and the actor Orlando Bloom at the 2022 NFL Super Bowl, as prosecutors sought to bolster their case that the failed crypto mogul squandered customer money on efforts to boost his stature.

Prosecutors displayed the image as Nishad Singh, FTX’s former director of engineering, testified about how the company spent hundreds of millions of dollars on celebrity partnerships and marketing in early 2022, months before the exchange declared bankruptcy amid a wave of customer withdrawals.

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Caroline Ellison testifies Sam Bankman-Fried told her to illegally divert FTX funds

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Former Alameda Research CEO says ex-boyfriend largely blamed her for company’s financial collapse

Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial entered its sixth day on Wednesday with more testimony from Caroline Ellison, his ex-girlfriend and the former CEO of the hedge fund associated with his collapsed cryptocurrency exchange. She testified that, during last year’s cryptocurrency crash, Bankman-Fried directed her to illegally appropriate FTX customers’ money.

When downturn began in May 2022, Ellison worried that the walls could soon come down on Alameda Research. Many of the hedge fund’s lenders had open-term loans, which meant they could call them – and ask for their money back – at any point. The crash left Alameda in the lurch after the value of its crypto assets evaporated. The two had broken up in early 2022. Ellison said she was avoiding social settings and one-on-one conversations with him when the crash began.

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Sam Bankman-Fried trial: ex-girlfriend says he directed her to commit crimes

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Caroline Ellison, who dated Bankman-Fried for ‘a couple of years’, tells court that he ‘directed me to commit these crimes’

On the fifth day of Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial, the prosecution’s star witness named the FTX founder as the ringleader of a $10bn fraud scheme at the cryptocurrency exchange and its associated hedge fund.

“While you were working at Alameda, did you commit any crimes?” a prosecutor asked Caroline Ellison.

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FTX co-founder testifies he committed crimes with Sam Bankman-Fried

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Gary Wang, who previously pleaded guilty to his role in FTX’s downfall, is testifying under a plea agreement

Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto fraud trial gained steam on Thursday when the co-founder of his fallen exchange, Gary Wang, took the stand as a government witness in Manhattan federal court.

His testimony came as the highly anticipated trial entered its third day. Bankman-Fried faces seven counts on fraud and conspiracy charges in relation to the implosion of his crypto exchange FTX and its related hedge fund, Alameda Research.

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Sam Bankman-Fried trial: ‘I may have unwittingly contributed to a crime’, FTX developer tells court – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed. You can read our latest on the trial below:

Sam Bankman-Fried’s confidants were along for the ride. At his side was Caroline Ellison, Alameda’s CEO and his on-again, off-again lover.

Ellison, too, projected tech bro-like eccentricities, waxing philosophical about free love and drugs. She wrote in a now-notorious tweet.:

Nothing like regular amphetamine use to make you appreciate how dumb a lot of normal, non-medicated human experience is.

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Sam Bankman-Fried arrives in Manhattan court as fraud trial kicks off

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FTX founder shed his signature T-shirt and shorts look to don on suit with freshly cut hair as day one of fraud trial commenced

The criminal trial of the former cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried began on Tuesday, with jury selection getting under way in a Manhattan federal court.

Bankman-Fried, who founded the cryptocurrency exchange FTX and associated hedge fund Alameda Research, is facing trial on finance crimes stemming from the shocking collapse of FTX. Before its sudden downfall last year, FTX was valued at around $32bn.

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The vast majority of NFTs are now worthless, new report shows

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Two years after tech trend that swept up artists and celebrities, researchers estimate 23 million people hold worthless investments

Tens of thousands of NFTs that were once deemed the newest rage in tech and dragged in celebrities, artists and even Melania Trump have now been declared virtually worthless.

According to a new report by dappGambl that reviewed data from NFT Scan and CoinMarketCap, 69,795 out of 73,257 NFT collections have a market cap of 0 Ether, leaving 95% of those holding NFT collections – or 23 million people – with worthless investments.

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FTX sues Sam Bankman-Fried’s parents, claiming they received millions in gifts

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Lawsuit is the company’s first legal pursuit against Bankman-Fried’s parents for their role in the company

FTX is suing the parents of Sam Bankman-Fried, two longtime Stanford Law School professors, alleging that the couple inappropriately used company funds to enrich themselves through gifts and donations.

The cryptocurrency company, now operating under CEO John Jay Ray III, an expert in helping companies recover after bankruptcy, claims Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried received funds from their son’s company in the form of gifts and donations to specific causes.

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City watchdog ex-chair says he faced ‘political pressure’ to let in crypto firms

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Charles Randell says some of the exchanges the FCA was pressed to allow to trade in the UK are now being investigated in the US

The UK’s financial watchdog came under “political pressure” to welcome crypto firms into the British market, its former chairman has said.

Charles Randell, who stepped down as chairman of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the spring, said it was an example of the kind of influence that elected politicians have tried to exert on independent regulators.

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Sam Bankman-Fried living off ‘bread and water’ in prison, lawyer says

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Founder of FTX not being provided with a vegan diet and not being given Adderall needed to manage his ADHD attorney tells judge

While in federal custody, disgraced cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried has been living off “bread and water” because he’s not being provided with the vegan diet he requested, his attorney told a judge Tuesday.

During a hearing, Mark Cohen, lawyer for Bankman-Fried, said that improper diet and the jail’s failure to give Bankman-Fried the Adderall he needs to manage his attention deficit hyperactive disorder, will impact his ability to participate in readying his defense case.

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Judge orders FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried to jail after bail revoked

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Lewis Kaplan says he has cause to believe defendant ‘had tried to tamper with witnesses at least twice’ since December arrest

Sam Bankman-Fried’s bail has been revoked ahead of his October fraud trial after prosecutors accused the indicted founder of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX of tampering with witnesses.

Bankman-Fried is expected to report to jail later on Friday after Judge Lewis Kaplan announced the decision at a hearing over Bankman-Fried’s bail conditions in federal court in Manhattan. Bankman-Fried was taken directly into custody at the conclusion of the hearing. He was led out of the courtroom by members of the US Marshals Service.

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Kenya halts Worldcoin data collection over privacy and security concerns

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Issues raised include use of eye scans to prove ‘humanness’ and financial inducements to sign up

The Kenyan government has barred the eyeball-scanning Worldcoin cryptocurrency project from recruiting new customers as it investigates data privacy and security concerns.

Kenya’s interior ministry said the venture must stop collecting user data after raising a number of issues including: concerns over the secure storage of data that includes scans of a user’s iris; that offering crypto in exchange for data “borders on inducement”; inadequate information on cybersecurity safeguards; and placing large amounts of private data in the hands of a private business.

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New cryptocurrency offers users tokens for scanning their eyeballs

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Worldcoin, launched by CEO of ChatGPT developer OpenAI, says scheme will distinguish between ‘verified humans’ and AI

Members of the public are being invited to have their eyeballs scanned by a silver orb as part of cryptocurrency project that aims to use biometric verification to distinguish humans from AI systems.

People signing up to the Worldcoin scheme via an app this week will receive a “genesis grant” of 25 tokens, equivalent to about £40, after having their iris scanned by one of the bowling ball-sized devices.

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US woman who hired hitman using bitcoin to kill ex-husband gets five years in prison

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Kristy Lynn Felkins of Nevada pleaded guilty in March to murder-for-hire charge as part of a deal to avoid trial

A Nevada woman who admitted to hiring a hitman on the internet for $5,000 in bitcoin to kill her ex-husband “and make it look like an accident” was sentenced to five years in prison.

Kristy Lynn Felkins, 38, of Fallon, Nevada, pleaded guilty in March to a charge of murder-for-hire as part of a deal with federal prosecutors that avoided trial, court records show.

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Betting firm logos shown on TV up to 3,500 times in Premier League matches, study finds

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Average was once every 16 seconds across 10 matches last season, with a total of 3,522 in West Ham v Chelsea

Betting company logos appear as often as 3,500 times during the course of a televised football match, the majority on pitchside hoardings, prompting renewed scepticism about top-flight clubs’ plan to give up front-of-shirt betting ads only.

A study led by psychology experts from four universities measured the volume of gambling adverts during 10 matches that took place last season, featuring every Premier League club.

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Tory peer faces questions over links to cryptocurrency lobbying firm

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Exclusive: James Wharton is helping to forge Westminster connections for the cryptocurrency sector

A former campaign manager to Boris Johnson who was appointed to lead an education quango is facing fresh questions over his role in a cryptocurrency lobbying firm.

James Wharton, a peer and former MP who chairs the Office for Students (OfS), has launched a new public affairs company that pledges to “help clients navigate the complexities of Whitehall and Westminster” and specialises in “disruptive” highly regulated sectors.

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Crypto exchange Binance has Australian financial services licence cancelled by Asic

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Regulator says Binance must cease trading by 21 April after it incorrectly classified hundreds of retail customers as wholesale investors

Australia’s financial regulator has cancelled the local financial services licence of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance.

Earlier this year, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) found Binance had incorrectly classified hundreds of retail customers as wholesale investors.

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FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty to bribery charges

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Bankman-Fried, 31, has already pleaded not guilty to eight counts over collapse of cryptocurrency exchange last year

The FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty on Thursday to new US criminal charges, which include conspiring to violate campaign finance laws and bribe Chinese authorities.

Bankman-Fried, 31, had earlier pleaded not guilty to eight counts of fraud and conspiracy for allegedly stealing billions in FTX customer funds to plug losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research.

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UK government drops plans for NFT made by Royal Mint

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Labour criticises Rishi Sunak ‘vanity project’ announced weeks before collapse in value of cryptocurrencies

The UK government has dropped its plans to produce a non-fungible token for sale through the Royal Mint, just under a year after it first announced the project.

In response to a question from the Conservative MP Harriett Baldwin, the Treasury’s economic secretary, Andrew Griffith, confirmed the abandonment, saying: “In consultation with HM Treasury, the Royal Mint is not proceeding with the launch of a non-fungible token at this time but will keep this proposal under review.”

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