Jury finds SBF guilty on all charges, set for March 2024: Act
The civil trial of former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried in New York concluded on November 3 with a jury finding him guilty of seven counts, including two counts of wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, one count of securities fraud, one count of securities fraud conspiracy and A one time money laundering conspiracy. In the year He will return to court for sentencing on March 28, 2024 by Judge Louis Kaplan. State prosecutors will make the sentencing decision, but Kaplan will have the final say.
The Bankman-Fried crimes each carry a sentence of five to 20 years in prison, with the wire fraud, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years. In a press conference outside the courthouse, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams called Bankman-Fried's crimes “a multibillion-dollar scheme designed to make him the king of crypto” and one of the biggest money laundering schemes in American history.
Meanwhile, FTX's current claim value has peaked at 57%, partly due to valuations by artificial intelligence (AI) companies the now-defunct crypto exchange previously invested in. Other bankrupt crypto firms like Celsius at 35–40%, Genesis at about 50%, Alameda Research at 10% and Three Arrows Capital at only 7–9%.
FTX has also asked a bankruptcy court in Delaware to sell some key trust fund assets, including crypto asset manager Grayscale Investments and security services provider Bitwise, worth $744 million. The latest request by FTX creditors to sell trust assets comes after the court previously approved liquidation of nearly $3.4 billion worth of crypto assets.
US gets new AI safety standards.
US President Joe Biden has issued an executive order establishing new standards for AI safety and security. Biden's order, he said, builds on steps already taken, including AI security commitments from 15 major companies in the industry. The new standards have six main points, including plans for the ethical use of AI in government, privacy practices for citizens and measures to protect consumer privacy.
The first step requires developers of the most powerful AI system to share security test results and “critical information” with the government. Second, the National Institute of Standards and Technology develops standardized tools and tests to ensure the safety, security, and integrity of AI. The administration aims to prevent the use of AI to engineer “dangerous biological materials” through new screening standards for biological compounds.
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The FCA explains how it will comply with its crypto promotion rules.
The crypto asset promotion rules that came into effect in the UK on October 8 have caused some confusion given the low level of compliance. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has responded with additional guidance for crypto companies to help them fall online. The new 32-page directive does not create new obligations for crypto companies, but the authors point out that it reflects a new “secondary objective of global competitiveness” in addition to addressing domestic behavior expectations of companies. The guidance section of the text emphasizes the key parts of the laws and other relevant legal documents. The second part provides detailed answers to the questions raised during the consultation.
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Switzerland has launched a mass CBCC pilot.
The Swiss National Bank (SNB), six commercial banks and six Swiss exchanges are working together to distribute wholesale central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), officially known as Swiss franc wCBDC, online. Dubbed Helvetia Phase III, the pilot project for the wholesale CBCC will test the effectiveness of the Swiss franc wCBDC for settling digital securities transactions. The pilot builds on the findings of the first two phases – Helvetia Phases I and II – at the BIS Innovation Hub, SNB and SIX. The Swiss wCBDC pilot project is hosted on SDX and uses the Swiss Interbank Clearing Infrastructure. According to the announcement, the pilot will run from December 2023 to June 2024.
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