🧑🍼 Saved by Mom and Dad 👩🍼
In today's edition: SBF's $250 million bail, Binance's withdrawals, Justin Sun's BTC holdings, a new pod with Martin Shkreli, and more!
Who was the *most* villainous villain of 2022? 💥
Vote in our Twitter bracket!
If you haven’t watched it yet, recap the year of carnage here:
New Pod Today!
Martin Shkreli Explains Why Sam Bankman-Fried Got Lucky With His Judge
Martin Shkreli, entrepreneur and investor, talks about what Sam Bankman-Fried’s potential life in prison could look like. As a former white-collar criminal, Martin had a lot to say about prison culture, how judge selection affects sentencing, and more. Show highlights:
why Martin says that the prosecution part of the case is the most difficult to endure
why he thought Sam had "no chance at bail" (although shortly after we recorded, news broke that Sam had been released on what is believed to be the largest bail bond ever – $250 million)
whether SBF should plead guilty and hope to be favored by his cooperation
what jails in New York are like and how the other inmates might treat SBF
whether SBF will be in danger if he goes to prison and Martin's suggestions for him if he wants to survive
why the FTX's case is so unprecedented, especially considering the current sentencing guidelines
Martin's take on Ronnie Abrams, the judge in charge of the case, and why her selection will be good for SBF
whether Caroline Ellison made a mistake by pleading guilty to so many counts
why Gary Wang would likely face a tough time in prison for ratting out SBF
What’s Poppin’?
SBF Released on $250M Bond Secured by Parents
by Samyuktha Sriram
Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was released on $250 million bail, secured by his parents’ house in Palo Alto.
Tron Founder Justin Sun Held $580M Bitcoin in Valkyrie: Report
by Samyuktha Sriram
Justin Sun, founder of the Tron blockchain, is one of the largest investors in crypto asset manager Valkyrie, according to a report from CoinDesk.
Binance Says It Processed $6B Withdrawals Over 2 Days in December
by Samyuktha Sriram
Crypto exchange Binance said it processed $6 billion worth of withdrawals in two days – the same amount that led to FTX’s bankruptcy.
Paxos Burns $15M of FTX Account Drainer’s Tokens
by Samyuktha Sriram
Blockchain infrastructure platform Paxos has burned over $15 million worth of tokens belonging to the FTX hacker.
Will Sam be on the internet while he’s on bail? 👀
Vote here! 👇
In Other News…✍️✍️✍️
FTX petitioned a US bankruptcy court for help in resolving an ongoing dispute concerning ownership of roughly $450 million in Robinhood Markets stock.
Defunct crypto exchange FTX acquired Blockfolio for $84 million in 2020, using their own exchange token, FTT, to cover 94% of the cost.
Immunefi, a crypto-focused bug bounty platform, paid out $52 million to ethical hackers in 2022 for identifying vulnerabilities in blockchain and crypto apps, in a year in which crypto hacks cost the industry over $3 billion.
Mythical Games, an a16z-backed crypto gaming unicorn, sued three former high-level executives for violating their fiduciary duty and using company contacts and strategy to secure $150 million in funding for their own venture.
Regulators in California ordered crypto loans platform MyConstant to stop offering some of their services in the state, alleging that the platform was operating without the necessary license.
Canadian-based electricity provider BC Hydro decided to pause new electricity connection requests from crypto miners for 18 months in order to meet the province's climate action and economic goals.
Aave, a DeFi lending protocol, voted to implement a "proof of reserve" system on the Avalanche blockchain in order to protect bridged assets.
Orthogonal Trading was placed under provisional liquidation by the British Virgin Islands courts following its insolvency from FTX's implosion.
Research by Delphi Digital shows that Bitcoin is a leading indicator of the S&P500.
Today in Crypto Adoption...
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro signed a bill to regulate cryptocurrency in the country.
What Do You Meme
📈 Your Market Update 📉
BTC is up .13%, trading at $16,840
ETH is up .13%, trading at $1,216
BTC dominance: 38.5%
Crypto market cap: $842 billion
*All data as of today, 5 am ET
Recommended Reads
Ryan Selkis’ crypto theses for 2023
Coinbase’s 2023 Crypto Market Outlook
FTX Friends Flip on SBF by Bloomberg’s Matt Levine
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