Hodler’s Digest, April 28 – May 4 – Cointelegraph Magazine

This week's main news

Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of Beans, was sentenced to four months in prison

Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has been sentenced to four months in prison for failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program at the cryptocurrency exchange. The sentence was handed down by Judge Richard Jones of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington following Zhao's guilty plea in November. Although prosecutors initially asked for a three-year prison sentence, Judge Jones decided on a shorter sentence, noting that there was no direct evidence of specific illegal activities at Binance.

The SEC and Gensler believed that ether was a security for at least a year.

Consensys' filing against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) details the commission's view of Ether as a security. Based on court documents, the SEC and its chairman, Gary Gensler, are reported to have considered Ether an “unregistered security” that has not complied with federal regulations for at least a year. The disclosure is part of Consensys' response to Wells' notice from the SEC in an unamended complaint in Texas federal court.

FBI Warning About Cryptocurrency Transfers ‘Exploited' Targets Mix Makers

A recommendation by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation to ban the use of unregistered cryptocurrency money transfer services may target smart contract privacy tools, legal experts said. On April 25th, the FBI issued a public service announcement advising Americans to only use registered crypto businesses that comply with customer protection and anti-money laundering regulations. The FBI has highlighted its crackdown on unlicensed cryptocurrency services, noting that users of such services can face financial hardship, especially if their funds are mixed with ill-gotten gains.

Bitcoin post-halving price consolidation may last 2 months – Bitfinex

Bitfinex analysts predict that Bitcoin may enter a one- to two-month price consolidation period following the halving event. According to the report, Bitcoin is expected to remain a key measure of price action in the crypto market in May and serve as a leading indicator for overall market capitalization. Finally, any positive impact on Bitcoin's price following the halving will be seen in the coming months, the report added.

Hong Kong Bitcoin, Ether ETF Raises Over $200M on Day 1

Hong Kong's spot bitcoin and ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) hit $200 million in total assets for the first time on April 30. According to data from Arkham Intelligence, the Bosera HashKey space Bitcoin and Ether ETF collected 964 Bitcoin (BTC) and 4,290. Ether (ETH), $71.94 million in assets under management as of launch date. Additionally, ChinaAMC's spot BTC and ETH ETF gained $123.61 million in assets. An April 28 survey by Hong Kong-based crypto exchange OSL found that 76.9% of respondents in the city who are familiar with cryptocurrency are considering investing in the new crypto fund.

Winners and losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) at $61,769, Ether (ETH) at $3,081 and XRP at $0.52. According to CoinMarketCap, the total market cap is $2.29 trillion.

Among the largest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers for the week were Helium (HNT) at 25.86%, Wormhole (W) at 24.16%, and Optimism (OP) at 22.34%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week were Stacks (STX) with -17.57%, Pendle (PENDLE) -12.90% and Neo (NEO) -12.89%.

Be sure to read Cointelegraph's market analysis for more information on crypto prices.

The most memorable quotes

“I've done my time, finished this chapter and focused on the next chapter of my life (education).”

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao

“cool. [Roger Ver’s] It was negative for Bitcoin.

Dan Held, Bitcoin fan

“We don't expect the Bitcoin ETF slowdown to be a serious trend, but we believe it is a short-term pause before ETFs merge with private banking platforms, wealth advisors, and brokerage platforms.

Gautam Chugani and Mahika Sapra are Bernstein analysts

“The judge sent a message not to CZ individually, but to the entire industry that anti-money laundering compliance must be taken seriously.”

Aaron Lane, Senior Lecturer in Law at Melbourne's RMIT Blockchain Innovation Hub

” of [United Arab Emirates] The government is slowly doing for crypto what Silicon Valley did for tech. The country is fast becoming the Coachella of the crypto world.

Sam Blatheis, CEO of MENA Catalysts

“Anything that increases the use and acceptance of the Bitcoin blockchain is good for miners, and good for the Bitcoin ecosystem in general.”

Adam Swick, Marathon's Chief Development Officer

Forecast of the week

Bitcoin entered the bottom, now headed for a ‘slow grind' – Arthur Hayes

The former CEO of BitMEX, Arthur Hayes, believes that Bitcoin has reached the bottom of the area and will gradually bounce back in the next few months. In a blog post on May 3, Hayes commented on the recent market decline, saying, “The price action has played out as I expected.

Bitcoin hit a low of around $58,600 earlier this week, but will rise above $60,000 and stay in the range between $60,000 and $70,000 until August, he said.

Hayes expects crypto markets to gradually rally after the recent sell-off, spurred by increased dollar liquidity from the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing taper and US Treasury debt issuance plans.

“The gradual increase of billions of dollars every month weakens the negative price movement from here,” he said.

FUD of the week

US Justice Dept indicts Roger Vern for tax fraud.

Officials at the United States Department of Justice have announced the indictment of former Bitcoin investor Roger Ver, widely known as “Bitcoin Jesus.” In an April 30 announcement, the Justice Department said Spanish authorities had arrested Vere on criminal charges in the U.S., including mail fraud, tax evasion and falsifying tax returns. Ver defrauded the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of $48 million by failing to report capital gains on bitcoin and other assets. The government plans to extradite Vere to the US for trial.

America Investigates Jack Dorsey's Block, Inc. on Financial Transactions: Report

U.S. federal prosecutors are investigating Jack Dorsey's fintech company Block Inc. following allegations of compliance violations in its payments app Square and Cash. A document filed by a former employee with the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York alleges that the company handled transactions for users in countries such as Iran, Russia, Cuba and Venezuela and facilitated crypto transactions for terrorist groups. According to NBC News, many small dollar transactions are not reported to the government.

Nigerian court postpones Binance and execs money laundering trial

The trial of imprisoned Binance executive Tigran Gambarian in Nigeria has been postponed until May 17 due to delays in the trial. According to reports, Binance lawyers have not received the necessary documents to proceed with the money laundering case related to Gambian and regional manager Nadeem Anjarwala. The trial is separate from the tax evasion charges brought by Binance and the relevant executive bodies, all of which have not been found guilty.

The best magazine sections of the week

Memecoins: Betrayal of Crypto Ideas… or Its True Purpose?

There is a big divide between memecoin fans and those who hate memes for ruining the ideas and public image of crypto.

68% of Runes in Red – Are They Really an Upgrade for Bitcoin?

Bitcoin Runes were ‘overrated' and most of them fell in value, but the tokens opened up a whole new world for Bitcoin.

Pick-Up Artists Using AI, Deeply Fake Nude Illegal, Rabbit R1 Dropped: AI Eye.

AI Tupac vs AI Drake, fake nudity banned, Rabbit R1 crashed, AI priest overthrown, heart disease deaths cut by 31%: AI Eye.

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Editorial staff

Cointelegraph magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.