United States federal prosecutors have managed to put SafeMoon CEO Braden John Karony’s bail release order on hold, citing flight risk and his release being a possible “danger to the community.

On Nov. 9, New York District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall stayed a Nov. 8 bail release order after prosecutors challenged a Utah Magistrate judge’s decision to let Karony out on a $500,000 bail.

Prosecutors made the challenge to Judge Daphne Oberg’s decision in New York, saying the release order was given “without consideration of the defendant’s substantial financial means and ability to flee” and added his release posed a “continued danger to the community.”

“If convicted, the…

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The European Parliament has voted to approve the Data Act — controversial legislation that includes a stipulation necessitating smart contracts have the ability to be terminated.

In a Nov. 9 press release, the parliament said the legislation passed 481 votes to 31 against. To become law, it will now need approval from the European Council — the heads of each of the 27 European Union member states.

The adopted Data Act outlines the requirement that smart contacts “can be interrupted and terminated” along with controls allowing functions that reset or stop the contract.

Highlighted excerpt of the Data Act relating to smart contracts. Source: European Parliament

At its core, the Data…

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China to protect NFTs 

In a surprise move, the Chinese government has guaranteed legal protection for NFTs.

In response to a series of often conflicting judicial opinions on the state of cryptocurrency in the country, the Chinese government has officially issued a legal commentary on dealing with cases of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) theft and their status as virtual property protected by law. 

According to a November 9 publication by China’s state-controlled Southwest University of Political Science & Law (SUPL), digital collectibles such as NFTs — unlike ordinary online images — conform to the characteristics of online virtual property due to their…

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Venture capital firm Lightspeed Faction has created a $285 million fund for crypto startups, according to a Nov. 9 announcement. The fund will focus on “early stage blockchain projects” and will also provide capital as these projects scale, the announcement stated.

At Faction, no entrepreneur will ever have to answer: “why crypto?” We are fully red-pilled.

We’re coming out of stealth & announcing the launch of Lightspeed Faction Fund I, a $285M early-stage venture fund dedicated exclusively to crypto https://t.co/oUiAh6t5Sp

— Faction (@FactionVC) November 9, 2023

Lightspeed Faction said it can provide founders access to “a team of experienced blockchain investors and operators,”…

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Blockchain-focused venture capital firm Lightspeed Faction announced on Thursday the launch of its first $285 million venture fund called Faction, which will invest primarily in early-stage blockchain projects and serve as a long-term capital partner as these projects scale.

This development comes just ahead of Benzinga’s Future of Digital Assets conference on Nov. 14, where the future of cryptocurrencies and their role in the financial market will be a key topic of discussion.

In addition to providing capital, the fund will offer blockchain entrepreneurs a wealth of resources on various topics, from tokenomics to business scaling.

Faction’s team, which includes members from Amber…

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A wave of green has washed across the entire crypto market, and it won’t be long before traders on X (the social platform formerly known as Twitter) begin to explain that a new altcoins season has arrived. 

Altcoin season, or ‘altseason’ as the crypto bros say, typically measures the rallying of altcoins and a positive market capitalization increase of the total altcoin market cap.

Let’s take a look at some key indicators that market participants use to determine whether or not an altcoin season has emerged.

Total crypto market capitalization hits a 14-month high

The total crypto market cap recently hit a 14-month high, clearly reflecting the current bullish momentum.

Crypto total…

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A continued shift to DeFi-focused offerings could be a boon for crypto exchanges looking to diversify revenue streams and attract new users, industry executives say. 

With another exchange-launched layer-2 network reportedly in the works, such chains, and other decentralized products, look poised to become more prevalent for centralized crypto giants.

Coinbase launched Base — an Ethereum layer-2 network built with Optimism’s OP stack — in August. The publicly traded company’s third quarter subscription and services revenue, which is generated from stablecoins, custodial fees, blockchain rewards and interest income, exceeded its transaction revenue for the second straight…

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The Celsius bankruptcy plan has been approved. The path is now clear for customers to see some of their funds returned and receive shares in the reorganized company, which will be called NewCo.

Judge Martin Glenn of the Southern District of New York Bankruptcy Court issued a confirmation on Nov. 9 of the bankruptcy plan approved by Celsius creditors overwhelmingly on Sept. 27. Under the plan, around $2 billion in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) will be redistributed to Celsius creditors along with equity in NewCo. The company has said it hoped to begin reimbursement of creditors by the end of the year.

Judge Martin Glenn’s bankruptcy plan confirmation. Source: Stretto

Many of the Celsius…

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Taiwan’s financial watchdog, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), has awarded the country’s first security token offering (STO) license to Cathay Securities.

According to local news reports on Nov. 9, Cathay received regulatory approval for its “Sunshine Green Yield” STO bonds with a time to maturity of six years, initial annual interest of 3.5%, and an initial principal amount of 30 million New Taiwan Dollars ($0.93 million).

Through the token subscriptions, enterprise owners can purchase green electricity on the market for environmental, social, and corporate governance initiatives under favorable conditions and receive variable interest rate payments of up to 5.8% per year….

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Bitcoin (BTC) price is up today, rising to an intra-day high of $37,972 before retracing below $37,000. The rally to a new year-to-date high comes as hype around a spot BTC exchange-traded fund (ETF) resulted in a wave of short liquidations, pushing prices across the crypto market higher. 

Bitcoin price. Source: TradingView

Let’s look into the reasons why Bitcoin price is up today.

Institutional interest in Bitcoin boosts market sentiment

Despite a bevy of macro headwinds, Bitcoin price continues to push higher, achieving a 121% year-to-date gain and options market data shows traders angling toward the $40,000 level. The price move of the last two weeks sent the Crypto Fear and Greed…

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