Hodler’s Digest, November 19-25 – Cointelegraph Magazine

This week's main news

US authorities have announced the signing of a $4.3B deal with Binance, with an appeal to CZ

Binance and co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao have reached a settlement with the United States Department of Justice in criminal and civil cases. CZ pleaded guilty to one felony count as part of a plea deal. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Binance's policies allowed criminals involved in illegal activities to move “stolen funds” through the exchange. As part of the settlement, CZ has announced that he will step down as CEO of X (formerly Twitter) and that Richard Teng, Head of Global Regional Markets at Binance, will take his place. “I'm proud to point out” that US authorities have not accused Binance of misappropriating funds or rigging the markets, he added. CZ is fighting government efforts to have him released on bail and returned to the UAE to be with his family. Sentencing is scheduled for February.

BlackRock met with SEC officials to discuss the position of Bitcoin ETF

Representatives of BlackRock and Nasdaq met with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to discuss a proposed bill that would require the listing of bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF). BlackRock presented a presentation detailing how the firm is using an in-kind or cash-back model for the iShares Bitcoin Trust. Several reports have suggested that the SEC may be considering a decision to list a BTC ETF on US markets. SEC officials discussed the Bitcoin ETF listing with representatives from Greyscale this week. BlackRock is one of several firms awaiting a response in the SEC pipeline, including Fidelity, WisdomTree, Invesco Galaxy, Valkyrie, VanEck and Bitwise.

Bitcoin user pays $3.1M transaction fee for 139 BTC transfer.

A Bitcoin user paid $3.1 million to transfer 139.42 BTC. The transaction fee is the eighth-highest in Bitcoin's 14-year history. The wallet address attempted to transfer 139.42 BTC to pay more than half the actual value of the transaction fee. The destination address received only 55.77 BTC. Mining pool AntPool has received an absurdly high mining payout on block 818087. This is the largest Bitcoin transaction payout in dollar terms, beating Paxos' September transaction of $500,000.

The SEC accused Kraken of being an unregistered exchange and mixed user funds.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Kraken with commingling customer funds and failing to register with the regulator as a securities exchange, broker, dealer and clearing agency. In addition, the SEC looked into Kraken's business practices and “deficient” internal controls over the exchange's combination of up to $33 billion in client assets with its own. The SEC said this posed a “significant risk of loss” to its customers. In a follow-up blog post, Kraken denied the SEC's accusations that the charges were “no more than Kraken's previously received expenses” and that the regulator doesn't say any user funds are missing.

An appeals court rejected Sam Bankman-Fried's bid to vacate.

Sam Bankman-Fried remains in prison after his legal team failed to convince the United States Court of Appeals that he should be freed while appealing his conviction. State prosecutors have had Banman-Fried's bail revoked in a New York district court for releasing Caroline Ellison's journals to the New York Times in July. Bankman-Fried was found guilty of seven counts of fraud and money laundering on November 2. The former FTX CEO will remain behind bars pending sentencing on March 28.

Winners and losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $37,710, Ether (ETH) is at $2,079, and XRP is at $0.62. According to CoinMarketCap, the total market cap is $1.43 trillion.

Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gains for the week were Blur (BLUR) at 99.25%, FTX Token (FTT) at 39.05% and KuCoin Token (KCS) at 24.82%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week were Celestia (TIA) at -19.89%, ORDI (ORDI) at -17.63% and THORChain (RUNE) at -15.53%.

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

The most memorable quotes

“The United States basically has a weaponized financial system.

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson

I made a mistake, and I need to take responsibility.

Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, former CEO of Binance

“We at OpenAI have developed the best models and pushed the field to new frontiers. [but] Sam Altman's termination process […] It jeopardized all of this work, undermined our mission and our company.

Open AI workers

“Get your crypto company out of the US warzone.”

Jesse Powell, co-founder of Kraken

“The regulatory uncertainty in the US market is affecting the rest of the world.”

Oliver Lynch, CEO of Bittrex Global

“I look forward to returning to OpenAI and building on our strong partnership with Microsoft.”

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI

Forecast of the week

‘Enjoy Bitcoin Under 40K' — PlanB Emphasizes $100K Average BTC Price From 2024

BTC Price Models From Stock-to-Flow Family Creator Plan According to the anonymous creator, Bitcoin buyers should enjoy the opportunity to add to the stack below $40,000. He believes that Bitcoin will rise significantly from its recent 18-month highs.

Bitcoin bear markets are characterized by lows falling below perceived value, while bull markets begin when the position crosses two-year and five-month confirmed price levels. BTC/USD is now above all three price ranges.

“Enjoy Bitcoin below $40K…Enjoy it while it lasts,” Planby commented on the accompanying chart.

When asked if the market should expect this low, Planby wasn't drawn, saying simply that he expects an average BTC price of at least $100,000 between 2024 and 2028 — Bitcoin's next half-cycle.

FUD of the week

HTX to restore services within '24 hours' after $30M hack

In the 24 hours following the November 22nd exploit of $30 million, crypto exchange HTX continued to deposit and withdraw, which was reportedly $13.6 million at the time of the incident, but has since increased in value. HTX Hot wallets were hit with a $86.6 million coordinated attack on the HTX Eco (HECO) Chain Bridge, which includes HTX, Tron, and BitTorrent. The company has promised to fully compensate users for any losses caused by the hack.

CZ ‘unacceptable flight risk' must remain in US: DOJ

US prosecutors are trying to stop former Binance boss Changpeng “CZ” Zhao from leaving the country, citing concerns that he may be a flight risk. Zhao asked for a review and reversal of a judge's decision allowing him to return to his home in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on a $175 million bond. In the order, prosecutors wrote that Zhao “poses an unacceptable flight risk” and argued that his ties to and favorable status in the United Arab Emirates, as well as the country's lack of an extradition treaty with the United States, were factors preventing him from leaving. Country.

KyberSwap Hacker Offers $4.6M Bounty to Recover $46M Heist

Decentralized exchange KyberSwap has offered a 10% reward to a hacker who stole $46 million and left a negotiation note on November 22. The exchange wants 90% of the loot returned. The hacker made off with $20 million in staked Ether, $7 million in staked Lido-staked Ether, and $4 million in Arbitrum tokens. The hacker then hacked through several chains including Arbitrum, Optimism, Ethereum, Polygon and Base.

The best magazine sections of the week

This is your brain on crypto: substance abuse grows among crypto traders

According to some addiction experts, the high-stress atmosphere of cryptocurrency trading can lend itself to drug abuse.

He's a fan of Michael Saylor, but Frisbee says bull running needs a new guru: X Hall of Flame.

Bitcoin enthusiast Dominic Frisby has had a wild ride, from writing one of the first Bitcoin books to plastering “Bitcoin fixes this” on the Bank of England.

6 questions for Alex O'Donnell about financial journalism and the future of DeFi

Alex O'Donnell talks to Cointelegraph magazine about his career as a financial journalist – and how he got involved in crypto and the Umami DAO.

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Editorial staff

Cointelegraph magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.