Hodler’s Digest, March 24-30 – Cointelegraph Magazine

This week's main news

Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried will serve 25 years in prison after a sentencing hearing in federal court. On March 28, Judge Lewis Kaplan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York sentenced Banman-Fried to 240 months and 60 months of his guilty plea on seven felony counts. Judge Kaplan found SBF to have committed witness tampering based on the events that led to the August 2023 lien and his testimony at trial against the FTX User Fund. SBF was the first person associated with FTX and Alameda Research to serve a prison term.

Fidelity files an S-1 filing with the US SEC for a spot ETH ETF with staking

Fidelity filed an S-1 filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 27 to create an Ether Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). As expected from the previous filing, the ETF offers the option to share the ETH portion that Fidelity holds. Fidelity Digital Asset Services, which is affiliated with Sponsor FD Fund Management, serves as the Trust's ETH custodian. The SEC pushed back the approval deadline for other ETH ETFs to May 23rd. Eight applicants for spot ETH EFT are awaiting SEC decision.

SEC may proceed with Coinbase case: court ruling

The US court rejected Coinbase's request to oppose the SEC's lawsuit against the exchange. The ruling by US District Judge Catherine Failla allows the commission to pursue the case against Coinbase. The SEC sued Coinbase in June 2023, alleging that the cryptocurrency exchange violated federal securities laws by listing 13 tokens it claimed were securities. The company was seeking an order to dismiss the case, challenging the SEC's jurisdiction over the crypto exchange.

SEC seeks $2 billion in fines and penalties – Ripple's chief legal officer

Ripple Labs Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderotti said the US SEC has asked a federal judge to pay a $2-billion fine against the blockchain company. Alderoty said the firm plans to respond to the SEC's request in April, but the regulator said it “trafficks in lies, misrepresentations and statements designed to mislead.” Filed by the SEC in December 2020, the lawsuit against Ripple, CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larson alleges the firm raised $1.3 billion in unregistered securities through the sale of XRP tokens.

Canadian authorities have moved to seize assets related to the CEO of QuadrigaCX

The director of civil forfeiture in the Canadian province of British Columbia has issued an order to confiscate cash, 45 gold bars and luxury items in a safe deposit box linked to the co-founder of the QuadrigacyX cryptocurrency exchange. An undisclosed wealth order is a type of court order that compels someone to disclose how they acquired their assets. According to documents filed with the Supreme Court of British Columbia, the assets are said to be the proceeds of crime. QuadrigaCX went bankrupt in February 2019, shortly after co-founder Gerald Cotton died in India, taking the private keys of QuadrigaCX's offline storage systems to the grave.

Winners and losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) at $69,437, Ether (ETH) at $3,482 and XRP at $0.62. According to CoinMarketCap, the total market cap is $2.62 trillion.

Among the largest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers for the week were Core (CORE) at 105.58%, Dogwifhat (WIF) at 80.50% and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) at 48.69%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week were KuCoin Token (KCS) at -20.67%, Fantom (FTM) at -14.00% and Bittensor (TAO) at -11.27%.

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

The most memorable quotes

“When you don't lie [Sam Bankman-Fried] He was dashing, hair-streaked, trying to get the prosecutor to repeat questions. I have been doing this job for almost 30 years. I have never seen a show like this.”

Lewis Kaplan, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

“Yes, over time, we will continue to see more nonprofits accepting cryptocurrency donations. The market has become too big to ignore.

Alex Wilson, co-founder of Giving Block

“I'm very bullish on Bitcoin's long-term viability.”

Black Rock CEO Larry Fink

“Bitcoin demand is rapidly outstripping new supply, and that's something we've never experienced in previous cycles.”

Simon Peters, eToro market analyst

“Ripple is well positioned to pay a significant civil penalty.”

US Securities and Exchange Commission

” of [spot Ether ETF] The case is just as strong for spot #Bitcoin ETFs.

Craig Salem, Chief Legal Officer of Grayscale

Forecast of the week

Bitcoin Set For ‘Massive' Short Squeeze, Price Could Go ‘Vertical'

Analysts say that Bitcoin will move towards the $70,000 mark, with short sellers feeling the pressure due to the decline and the rapid advance, which could push the price of Bitcoin to $80,000.

“This is a textbook sign that shorts are getting squeezed as we hit new all-time high territory,” trading resource Kobeisi said in a March 26 X post.

Kobayashi's letter explained that the main reason for BTC's short squeeze is that the gap between institutional long positions and hedge fund short positions is “at a high level.”

If the price of Bitcoin reaches $71,000, $156.18 million will be released in short positions, according to CoinGlass data. A move to $75,000 would eliminate $3.85 billion in short positions.

FUD of the week

The US Department of Justice has charged KuCoin and two founders with violating AML laws.

US Department of Justice (DOJ) officials have filed charges against crypto exchange KuCoin and its two founders for “conspiring to conduct an unauthorized money transmission business” and violating the Bank Secrecy Act. The DOJ's criminal charges were announced in parallel with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) civil enforcement action, which alleges that KuCoin “received more than $5 billion in 2018, and sent more than $4 billion in “suspicious and criminal funds.” .

Munchables Hacker Returns 62.8M Ether Without Ransom

Munchables, an Ethereum-based invincible simulation game, reported a hack of more than 17,400 ETH from its GameFi app on March 26. Anonymous blockchain researcher ZackXBT said the exploit originated from the Munchables team employing a North Korean developer named “Werewolves0943”. Eight hours later, the hacker returned $62.8 million in stolen Ether without demanding a ransom.

US lawmakers have asked the SEC to clarify its position on Prometheum's plans for Ether.

US lawmakers, including House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry and Vice Chairman French Hill, are calling on SEC Chairman Gary Gensler to moderate crypto firm Prometheum's interest in providing institutional custody services to Ether. According to lawmakers, the announcement conflicts with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) position to recognize ETH as a “safe digital asset.”

The best magazine sections of the week

5 risks to be aware of when entering Solana memecoins

Bad developers, pre-sale teams running with their money, carpet dragging and sentimental collapse are some of the dangers of memecoins.

Creating ‘good' AGI that won't kill us all: Crypto's Artificial Superintelligence Alliance

SingularityNET and the Artificial Superintelligence Alliance aim to take control of AGI away from Big Tech.

‘SEAL 911' Team of White Hats Formed to Fight Crypto Hacking in Real Time

If you have a problem, if no one can help you and you can find them. You can hire a SEAL team of white hat hackers.

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Editorial staff

Cointelegraph magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.