Hodler’s Digest, September 22 – 28 – Cointelegraph Magazine

The main news of the week

Binance founder CZ has been released from US prison.

Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao was released from US federal prison on September 27 after serving four months for anti-money laundering (AML) violations, a spokesperson for the US Federal Bureau of Prisons said. Cointelegraph.

According to a statement issued by the US Department of Justice on November 21, CZ pleaded guilty in November to federal charges of failing to implement proper AML controls at Binance. He also stepped down as CEO of Binance.

With a net worth of nearly $60 billion, CZ is the richest person to ever serve a prison sentence in the US.

Carolyn Ellison was sentenced to 2 years in prison.

Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison was sentenced to two years in a minimum security prison on September 24 for her role in the FTX collapse.

The sentence was handed down by Judge Lewis Kaplan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, who ruled that Ellison must forfeit the nearly $11 billion it earned from FTX.

Kaplan said Ellison's surrender date is expected to be Nov. 7 or later. Ellison could have faced 110 years in prison for her crime, but Lewis expressed great sympathy for her. According to Bloomberg, the judge told her:

“You are a very strong person, Mrs. Ellison, in some ways, but you are not invincible. Mr. Bankman-Fried had your kryptonite. […] You were vulnerable and exploited.

Ellison clasped her hands in front of her as the verdict was read, and family members who attended the trial wept.

Separately, Ellison says she faces harassment in the media and in real life from the crypto community, which makes her afraid to go out in public. She cooperated extensively with prosecutors in the case against Sam Bankman-Fried, her former co-worker and alleged boyfriend, which led prosecutors to recommend clemency.

Crypto founder paid LA police to help extort victims for crypto, FBI alleges

The owner of crypto company Cryptop has been indicted on charges of fraud, bribery and corruption involving law enforcement officials, federal prosecutors said.

According to an affidavit filed by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, Adam Iza, who ran Zort, a crypto trading platform, accumulated wealth through shell companies, spent on luxury and hid tens of millions of dollars in receipts without reporting income taxes, appeared in Angeles Federal Court on September 23rd and on September 26th.

Iza also said in the statement that he paid three Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies to illegally serve search warrants and obtain police information.

Izza – also known as Ahmed Faiq and “The Godfather” – boasts of paying up to $280,000 a month to his deputy series and is said to have used police information to try to coerce only one alleged victim, “Izza”. On a laptop used to store crypto.

Ethereum is a ‘tyranny,' says Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson.

Cardano's Voltaire-era governance reforms will prevent it from becoming a “tyranny” like Ethereum and sideline Bitcoin's “anarchy,” founder Charles Hoskinson said.

Speaking to Cointelegraph at Token2049 in Singapore, Hoskinson attacked Ethereum's governance model, saying it relies heavily on Directional founder Vitalik Buterin.

Hoskinson said blockchains like Bitcoin could choose to “elect a king” to simplify the protocol forever, or to run things. However, Cardano's new governance model solves the “governance trilemma” of “efficiency, effectiveness and integrity” by using complex agents and a member-based organization called Intersect to eliminate complex governance topics. He added:

“If you have those three things, you've got the right move to remove the anarchy of Bitcoin or the tyranny of Ethereum, and you've certainly got something moving forward with one voice, but it's still decentralized at the end of the day because it represents everyone.

Kamala Harris finally broke her silence on crypto: Report

US Vice President Kamala Harris made her first public statement about crypto during the US presidential election campaign. In comments made during a Wall Street fundraiser, Harris pledged to encourage investment in artificial intelligence and digital assets.

“We will work together to invest in America's competitiveness, to invest in America's future. “We're going to promote new technologies like AI and digital assets while protecting our customers and investors,” Harris said at a fundraiser in Manhattan, Bloomberg reported on Sept. 22.

“We create a safe business environment with consistent and clear rules of the road,” Harris said. “We will invest in semiconductors, clean energy and other industries of the future, and we will cut unnecessary bureaucracy.” This is the first time that Harris has spoken publicly about crypto since she became the presidential front of the Democratic Party. Her Republican challenger, Donald Trump, has also worked to gain support from the crypto industry.

Winners and losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) at $66,048, Ether (ETH) at $2,685 and XRP at $0.59. According to CoinMarketCap, the total market cap is $2.33 trillion.

Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers for the week were Shiba Innu (SHIB) at 48.96%, Wormhole (W) at 34.82%, and BONK (BONK) at 33.02%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week were Monero (XMR) at 8.27%, Nervos Network (CKB) at +1.09% and TRON (TRX) at +2.18%. Be sure to read Cointelegraph's market analysis for more information on crypto prices.

The most memorable quotes

“You are a very strong person, Mrs. Ellison, in some ways, but you are not invincible. Mr. Bankman-Fried had your Kryptonite. […] You were vulnerable and exploited.

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

“Where does this idea of ​​embracing layer 2s or scrolls come from? Was it some random ethereum engineer – or was Vitalik Buterin blogging about it, talking about it and advocating for it?

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson

“The government's desire to cut off the domestic crypto industry by passing covert legislation targeting crypto-focused banks fueled and exacerbated the banking crisis of 2023,” he said.

Nick Carter, Partner at Castle Island Ventures

It makes sense to keep a crypto allocation or skin in the game as the Fed has added more juice to this bull market. But a lot is already on the price of risky assets.

Aurelie Barrere, chief research analyst at Nansen

“The reality is, there are probably two or three things that happen a year that typically affect the fundamental value of Bitcoin.”

Robbie Michnick, head of digital assets at BlackRock

“Your inconsistency on this issue has set this country back. We could not have had a more historically destructive or illegal SEC chairman.

Tom Emmer, United States Representative

Forecast of the week

85% of Ethereum won't see all-time high by 2025, Polymarket bets

Although Ether has supported by 15% in the last two weeks, the ETH price has struggled to continue this week's consolidation between $2,700 and $2,600. The largest altcoin currently has a market cap of $316 billion and has facilitated more than $15.7 billion in trading volume in the past 24 hours.

According to a filing released on September 24, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a delay in its decision to approve the trading of spot Ethereum ETFs.

Following the SEC announcement, the all-time high Ether betting odds have been reversed by Polymarket. According to the world's largest prediction market, the probability of Ether missing a new all-time high (ATH) in 2024 is 85 percent, compared to 71 percent a week ago.

Only 14% bet on a new ATH outcome, and less than 1% had unrealistic expectations for a new ATH in the next five days. Interestingly, the 1% of traders who were hopeful of a Q3 ATH had a total bet value of $1.23 million, followed by a collective bet of $1.07 million in the 85% “No ATH in 2024” group.

FUD of the week

Swan accuses ex-employees of ‘rain and hellfire' scheme to steal Bitcoin mining biz

Bitcoin financial services firm Swan Bitcoin has sued several former miners, alleging they stole the company's software code, quit their jobs and used that code to start their own mining operations.

The ex-employee founded the “pseudo-competitor” firm Proton and convinced one of Swan's funding partners, stablecoin issuer Tether, to cut ties with Swan and work with them instead.

This was “intended to irreparably harm Swan's ability to compete in the marketplace,” Swan's lawyers said in a Sept. 25 court filing. They hatched a plan to steal Swan's mining business from the inside, usurp Swan's role, and cut Swan out of the Tether partnership. They called it ‘Rain and Hellfire'.”

Tornado Cash is set to go on trial after Roman Tornado's judge denied him an eviction.

Tornado Cash developer and co-founder Roman Storm faces criminal charges after a judge rejected a US government motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

In a Sept. 26 conference call, New York District Court Judge Kathryn Polk Faila dismissed three federal charges brought against Storm by the Justice Department, saying state prosecutors had made credible allegations against him.

Storm and co-founder Roman Semenov were indicted in August 2023 for money laundering, conspiracy to commit sanctions violations and conspiracy to conduct an unauthorized money transfer business.

“I cannot simply accept that Mr. Storm's narrative will be accused of merely codifying it,” Fayla said.

SEC Chairman Gensler Plugs Changes to Crypto's Troubled Definition

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission will continue to make changes to the “exchange” and alternative trading systems, Chairman Gary Gensler told the participants of the US Treasury Market Conference on September 26.

Gensler was talking about issues affecting the efficiency and resilience of the US Treasury bond market, but that idea has been heavily criticized in the digital asset space.

One of the SEC's steps to destabilize the Treasury market was a change in the definition of “dealer,” which was intended to clarify the role of market participants, such as major trading firms, that may use algorithms and high-frequency trading. Strategies.

In the year The changes planned for 2022 were criticized by pro-crypto politicians at the time for their spillover effect on digital asset trading. However, they were adopted in February.

The best magazine stories of the week

Crypto Lady Will Be ‘All Out Crypto' By September 2025: X Hall of Flame

She says everyone thinks she's crazy when she says she plans to sell all crypto by September 2025.

Worldcoin is fined again! Crypto Store Clerk Makes $500,000: Asia Express

South Korea says Worldcoin has violated its rules, Hong Kong's money for crypto scams is on the rise, and DMM threatens to ban Bitcoin.

Crypto City Guide Seattle: CZ crash site and pot crypto sellers

The crash site of Binance founder CZ and the home of Bittrex, Erik Voorhees, Charlie Shrem and Roman Storm.

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Cointelegraph magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.