⚖️ SBF to Face Prosecutors’ Grilling
In today’s edition: Gemini Sues Former Partner 👯 Genesis, Bitcoin ETF Is a Double-Edged Sword ⚔️, SBF Says He Was in the Dark 🌉, Bitcoin Options Open Interest Reaches All-Time High 🚀, and more!
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Sam Enzer, a partner at the law firm Cahill Gordon & Reindel, told Laura that former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried did about as well as he could in his testimony Friday but that he was unlikely “to withstand the scrutiny” of what prosecutors have already said will be a robust cross-examination when he takes the stand Monday. Enzer noted that Bankman-Fried’s attempts to explain why he thought his trading shop, Alameda Research, could borrow billions in dollars of FTX customer assets “defies common sense,” and that the company’s own terms of agreement or any other communications offered no justification for this belief. A Thursday hearing without the jury present, in which the defense gave a preview of some arguments it wanted to make, ended up giving the government answers from SBF that it can now use against him. Enzer also said that Bankman-Fried’s contention that his biggest mistake – a failure to implement proper risk management – did not constitute criminal fraud, did not address the core of the government’s case; namely, that he lied about how FTX was handling customer deposits.
What’s Poppin’?
by Brandy Betz, David Morris and Samyuktha Sriram
Bitcoin Options Open Interest Hits All-Time High
The open interest on Bitcoin options breached the $17 billion mark, exceeding the previous peak recorded during the 2021 bull run.
LastPass Hacker Steals $4.4 Million From Crypto Wallets
On Oct. 25, a hacker stole millions of dollars from users who stored their seed phrase details in the password manager application LastPass.
Gemini Sues Former Partner Genesis to Gain Control of $1.6B in GBTC
The crypto exchange is seeking 60 million GBTC that its former Gemini Earn partner was holding as collateral.
The Bitcoin ETF Is a Double-Edged Sword
A Bitcoin spot ETF approval seems increasingly likely. But it has risks and downsides.
SBF Recasts His Image as a ‘Surprised,’ Innocent Failed Entrepreneur
SBF’s testimony re-told the pivotal moments in FTX’s collapse, recasting him as largely ignorant of the nefarious decisions of his inner circle.
Daily Bits…✍️✍️✍️
🖥️ Bitcoin’s surge over the past week swept up the wider crypto market, according to CoinDesk data, with tokens from the Web3 infrastructure and distributed computing sector such as LINK and FET, performing particularly strongly.
💰Binance founder Changpeng Zhao’s fortune has plunged along with his exchange as the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index slashed its estimate of Binance revenue this year by 38%, wiping out nearly $12 billion of Zhao’s wealth, which is now about $17.2 billion.
🟰Bitcoin’s market capitalization of about $670 billion is now roughly equal to Elon Musk's electric carmaker Tesla.
🥊 Wall Street heavyweight Cantor Fitzgerald is “increasingly confident” that the SEC will approve a spot bitcoin ETF.
🚀 The seven-day moving average for spot crypto exchange volumes across major platforms soared above $24 billion on October 26, their highest level since March, according to The Block’s data.
😡 Crypto-friendly SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce vehemently criticized the SEC's approach to LBRY, saying there is not a clear path to register.
🇬🇧 The UK government published its final rules for crypto with plans for a phased introduction of regulation.
Today in Crypto Adoption...
🇭🇰 Standard Chartered-backed digital asset custodian Zodia Custody launched its services in Hong Kong.
The $$$ Corner…
💰 Thailand’s Kasikorn Bank acquired 97% shares in the parent company of Satang crypto exchange for nearly $103M.
What Do You Meme?
Recommended Reads
📈 Your Market Update 📉
BTC is up 0.9%, trading at $34,566
ETH is up 1.8%, trading at $1,824
BTC dominance: 51.0%
Crypto market cap: $1.32T
*All data as of today, 05:30 am ET
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