😭 Ellison's Tearful Testimony
In today's edition: 🤯 Alameda whistleblower, 🚨 USDR crashes, 🤝 JPMorgan, BlackRock, Barclays, 📈 Standard Chartered's ETH prediction, and more!
Unlock your application’s full potential with the LayerZero interoperability protocol. Connect to 40+ blockchains. Enable cross-chain contract execution and native asset transfer. Secure by Google Cloud, Polyhedra and more.
VaultCraft by Popcorn is your no-code, DeFi toolkit for building automated, non-custodial yield strategies. Learn more on vaultcraft.io about how you can supercharge your crypto portfolio!
Get the easiest KYC for crypto – privacy-safe and fully compliant for 165+ markets with JS/SDK/API integration. Conversion increase guaranteed. Submit your site for an interactive demo!
Stablecoin Studio: The All-in-One Toolkit built on Hedera that makes stablecoin application development easy with dedicated proof-of-reserve, seamless integration with custodians, and KYC/AML account flagging.
👨⚖️ Sam Bankman Fried’s Trial Coverage
SBF Trial, Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls ‘The Worst Week of My Life’
On the most emotional day of the trial, Caroline Ellison breaks down while revealing the desperate financial maneuvers orchestrated by Sam Bankman-Fried. Her testimony also included dramatic references to allegedly bribing Chinese government officials, creating accounts using the IDs of Thai prostitutes, and an attempt to raise money by selling FTX shares to a Saudi prince.
‘More Willing to Lie and Steal’: Caroline Ellison’s Time at FTX and Alameda
Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison testified for a second day, becoming emotional over the impact FTX’s collapse has had on people, and revealing how FTX executives responded behind the scenes to the growing crisis.
Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Live: FTX Equity Stake to Saudi Crown Prince, a Misleading Balance Sheet, and Chinese Bribes as Ellison Continues Testimony
Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison testified that SBF also wanted regulators to crack down on FTX’s rival, Binance.
What’s Poppin’?
by Sam Sriram, Brandy Betz and Rosie Perper
Alameda Whistleblower Reveals Firm Lost $190M Due to Poor Security Practices
A former employee at Alameda Research shared details about three instances where the firm lost hundreds of millions of dollars due to inadequate risk management structures.
Polygon-Based Stablecoin USDR Depegs to $0.53
The stablecoin lost its peg to the U.S. dollar after all the liquid DAI in its treasury was redeemed.
JPMorgan Tokenized Collateral Network Launches With BlackRock-Barclays Trade
The trade was the first live collateral settlement using JPMorgan’s Tokenized Collateral Network and Onyx blockchain.
ETH Could Reach $8K by 2026, Says Standard Chartered
The multinational bank also predicted that ether could reach between $26,000 to $35,000 by 2040.
Daily Bits…✍️✍️✍️
⏩ Democratic Senators, led by Elizabeth Warren, urged the IRS to expedite the implementation of crypto tax reporting rules, expressing concern over delays until 2026.
🌐 Avalanche's social app Stars Arena recovered 90% of the $3 million in funds lost to an exploit after paying a 10% bounty fee plus 1000 AVAX to the hacker.
🚫 The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) voiced concerns over potential risks associated with decentralized finance (DeFi) in a new report.
🛑 Platypus Finance, a DeFi protocol on Avalanche, suffered a $2 million loss due to a flash loan attack, leading to the temporary suspension of all its liquidity pools.
💸 Ethereum Layer 2 network Scroll goes live on mainnet, with over $515,000 and nearly 500 unique users bridged to the platform so far.
🗳️ BarnBridge DAO initiated a community vote to decide its response to an ongoing SEC investigation, including potential compliance measures.
🔒 Trezor introduced new hardware wallets, including the Trezor Safe 3 and a backup solution called Trezor Keep Metal.
The $$$ Corner…
💰 Membrane Labs, a crypto trading and lending platform, garnered $20 million in Series A financing, drawing support from prominent investors like Brevan Howard Digital and Point72 Ventures.
🏇 Game of Silks, a crypto-based fantasy horse racing startup, raised $5 million in funding, bringing its total funding to over $10 million since its 2021 launch.
📊 Parsec, an on-chain data analytics platform, secured $4 million in a funding round led by Galaxy Digital, launching a DeFi and NFT analytics product.
The Chopping Block: Gabriel Shapiro on Why Sam Bankman-Fried May Be a ‘Sociopath’
This week, the crew is joined by Gabriel Shapiro, general counsel at Delphi Labs, to talk about the key points in the criminal trial of Sam Bankman-Fried and his lackluster defense strategy so far. They also delve into Michael Lewis’ book and his depictions of SBF’s “lore and backstory,” and discuss how SBF’s “quirks of character” may have actually enticed investors.
What Do You Meme?
Recommended Reads
Unchained: What Are Partially Signed Bitcoin Transactions & How Do They Work?
Stablecoins: Roman Coins or Spanish Doubloons for the Modern Era by Nick Philpott
📈 Your Market Update 📉
BTC is down 1.7%, trading at $26,760
ETH is down 1.6%, trading at $1,548
BTC dominance: 48.2%
Crypto market cap: $1.08T
*All data as of today, 7:36 am ET
ICYMI: On Unchained Premium 💎
👯♀️ Refer Unchained with a friend and earn a Premium subscription
⛓️ Join Unchained Premium to get access to:
🎙️ Behind-the-scenes interviews, in which I talk with crypto experts and entrepreneurs to learn all about the latest developments in the industry.
💬 A subscriber-only Telegram group, where you can talk with the other members of the Unchained community, build a network in crypto, and talk directly with me and the Unchained team!
📰 Transcripts of all the shows, for subscribers only.