Jury finds SBF guilty on all charges, sentencing set for March 2024: Law Decoded

Former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried’s public trial in a New York court ended with the jury finding him guilty on all seven charges on Nov. 3, including two counts of wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, one count of securities fraud, one count of commodities fraud conspiracy and one count of money laundering conspiracy. He will return to court for sentencing by Judge Lewis Kaplan on March 28, 2024. Government prosecutors will recommend a sentence, but Kaplan will have the final say.

Bankman-Fried’s crimes each carry a maximum sentence of five to 20 years in prison, with the wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy charges carrying a maximum…

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What In The World Is Going On With Dogecoin?

Dogecoin DOGE/USD is trading higher by roughly 7.3% to the $0.076-level Monday afternoon, despite a lack of clear news or events that can be directly linked to this price rise. 

The broader crypto market, including Dogecoin, has seen marked strength in recent weeks due to rising optimism about a potential spot Bitcoin ETF. Major financial firms are amending their ETF applications, and the SEC may approve a spot ETF soon.

Hong Kong may also be partially responsible for crypto optimism Monday, driven by the possibility of approving exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that directly invest in cryptocurrencies.

The city is contemplating granting retail investors access to these spot ETFs, pending…

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Yellen Calls For Deregulation To Enable Easier Money Laundering

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A PDF pamphlet of this article is available for download.

With all the scrutiny on megabank JPMorgan’s relationship with the now dead sex offender Jeffery Epstein, Treasury secretary Janet Yellen has called for less regulations on the banking sector. “The banks are the backbone of our economy and have a special privilege not only to print money out of thin air, but to also facilitate money laundering”, she said in a press conference. She continued, “Periodically, we will slap them on the wrist with a fine to present an image of fairness and law, but with current market…

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Sam Bankman-Fried took the stand, but it’s really CEXs on trial

The founder of the world’s formerly leading centralized exchange just underwent an excruciating courtroom dissection, ending with a guilty verdict. But this landmark trial also marks a pivotal moment for centralized crypto exchanges (CEXs) everywhere. 

As Sam Bankman-Fried, or SBF, as he’s better known, took the stand last week in his trial for criminal misdeeds at FTX, CEXs everywhere are taking note. Very few CEXs have been run in a way that is as nearly corrupt and criminal as how Bankman-Fried ran FTX. But the general public, and even regulators, aren’t necessarily noting the nuances. That means we’ve entered a new era for CEXs, one with new, higher expectations from a…

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ApeFest marred by reports of eye and skin injuries

Several Bored Ape Yacht Club fans and owners have taken to X to report vision and skin problems after attending ApeFest, an event the NFT collection hosted in Hong Kong Nov. 3-5. 

One X user complained of “eyes burning” and “extreme pain,” prompting a trip to the emergency room, according to a Nov. 5 post. In the 108 replies to the post, more than ten fellow attendees reported similar symptoms, with some claiming a diagnosis of photokeratitis, which is when ultraviolet radiation damages cells in the eye. 

Photokeratitis, which is commonly caused by welding without eye protection, results in painful corneal abrasion, typically lasting anywhere from a few hours to several days,…

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Arbitrum DAO dips into $3.9B treasury, activates staking

Arbitrum is slated to distribute more than $100 million in its native ARB token to anyone willing to to lock their tokens with the protocol’s DAO. 

The staking mechanism passed a governance vote early Monday morning. Supporters say the payouts will put Arbitrum’s inflated treasury to use by rewarding long-term token holders. However, detractors argued that high yield would create sell pressure, and the staking proposal could make ARB appear to be a security.

Under the proposal, users will receive greater returns the longer they keep their tokens held by Arbitrum DAO. The maximum locking length will be one year.

Arbitrum DAO’s “timelock” staking differs from proof of stake…

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FedNow's Impact on Your Financial Freedom: What You Need to Know

Last week, the Federal Reserve sent Bitcoin Magazine a cease and desist letter in an attempt to silence criticism of its recently launched FedNow interbank clearing and settlement service. The central bank of the United States is claiming that Bitcoin Magazine merchandise that parodies its services are not protected speech, but rather an unauthorized infringement of its image and trademarks.

The Federal Reserve alleges that Bitcoin Magazine used the trademark without permission to mislead readers into believing a connection exists between the publication and the central bank. While previous Bitcoin Magazine coverage of the Federal Reserve, particularly pertaining to its FedNow service,…

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Llama raises $6M for role-based governance platform

A governance and smart contract management solution called Llama has successfully secured a $6 million investment. The funding round was spearheaded by investment firms Founders Fund and Electric Capital.

Llama is a governance application that manages smart contracts and permissions on behalf of protocols. The fundraise comes amid what some perceive as stagnation on the part of DAOs when it comes to innovative approaches to governance. 

Llama told Blockworks that its full stack platform would streamline governance.

“Currently, the space is very fragmented,” Llama co-founder Austin Green said. “There really isn’t one unified place that has the full stack for you to manage roles…

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RAILGUN reveals ‘private proof of innocence’ tool

On-chain privacy protocol RAILGUN will be launching a “Private Proof of Innocence” (PPOI) tool, enabling DeFi users to remain anonymous whilst simultaneously proving that they do not interact with malicious actors. 

This tool is designed so users can cryptographically prove that their tokens are legitimately sourced without having to reveal any information about their balance or viewing keys. 

The PPOI aims to achieve this outcome through using zero-knowledge (zk) technology, Alan Scott, a RAILGUN contributor, told Blockworks. 

According to DeFiLlama, RAILGUN is one of the largest privacy protocols today with a total value locked (TVL) of $32.6 million, second only to Tornado…

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Bitcoin price reclaims $35K — Will ATOM, UNI, NEAR and AXS rally next?

The S&P 500 Index soared 5.85% last week, its best performance since November 2022. A large part of the gains were fuelled by expectations that the Federal Reserve will not hike rates anymore. 

In comparison, Bitcoin (BTC) had a much muted performance with a rise of approximately 2%. However, a positive sign for cryptocurrency investors is that a risk on sentiment is likely to benefit the crypto space.

Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360

Bitcoin’s rise attracted investments in several beaten-down altcoins, which are rising from their long-term slumber. If Bitcoin does not collapse, the recovery may spread to coins that have still not participated in the rise.

Even as Bitcoin…

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