👨⚖️ The Trial of the Decade Begins
In today's edition: 🏛️ Celsius aims for year-end creditor repayment, 🤷♂️ ETH futures ETFs: A meh first day, 📈 Crypto funds finally see green, 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!
Checkin.com: A fully compliant solution that increases conversion and solves every regulatory challenge across 165+ markets with AI-driven KYC flows.
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.
What’s Poppin’?
by Brandy Betz and Samyuktha Sriram
Celsius Seeks Court Approval to Repay Creditors $2 Billion
The bankrupt crypto lender has filed for final approval to distribute repayments to creditors before the end of the year.
Ethereum Futures ETFs See ‘Average’ First Day Trading Volumes
The excitement surrounding Ethereum Futures ETFs launching for the first time in the U.S. didn’t quite translate into dollars traded.
Grayscale Seeks to Join Ethereum Futures ETFs Now Trading
The crypto asset manager wants to convert its Ethereum Trust into a spot Ethereum ETF.
Crypto Investment Products See First Inflows in 6 Weeks
But a CoinShares report noted that trading volume remains “seasonably low.”
On the Pod…
The high-stakes trial of Sam Bankman-Fried begins today, and the FTX founder and former CEO will have to answer for his role in the cryptocurrency exchange’s downfall, which led to billions in losses.
Both the prosecution and defense are currently preparing for what is set to be a significant milestone for the crypto industry. Kayvan Sadeghi, partner at Jenner & Block and Sam Enzer, partner at Cahill Gordon & Reindel, discuss the differences between a civil and criminal trial, what the jury selection process might look like, and what arguments the prosecution and defense might use to support their cases.
Daily Bits…✍️✍️✍️
⚖️ FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's defense seeks judicial guidance on what arguments they can present in the upcoming trial. Also, the lawyers aim to prevent a Ukrainian customer from testifying remotely, arguing it could bias the jury.
🚫 UK's Financial Conduct Authority reported inadequate engagement from some foreign crypto firms on new promotional rules set for October 8.
🔍 CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam emphasized the urgency of regulating the decentralized finance sector, likening it to "unlicensed physicians."
📝 An IMF paper introduced a framework for evaluating systemic risks in the crypto sector, noting traditional finance tools are inadequate for the task.
🏦 Federal Reserve's OIG stated Silvergate Bank took fatal crypto risks while examiners failed to act adequately.
📉 Chia Network dismissed a third of its staff due to delays in going public, partially attributed to the loss of its banking partner Credit Suisse.
👥 Crypto analytics firm Chainalysis cut 15% of its workforce, pivoting to focus on more stable government contracts.
Today in Crypto Adoption...
🔗 Chainlink introduced "Data Streams" aiming to reduce network latency, now in early access on Arbitrum.
What Do You Meme?
Recommended Reads
CoinDesk: Is Michael Lewis Throwing Out His Reputation to Defend Sam Bankman-Fried?
Unchained: What Is the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC)?
📈 Your Market Update 📉
BTC is down 2.3%, trading at $27,548
ETH is down 4.1%, trading at $1,656
BTC dominance: 47.65%
Crypto market cap: $1.13T
*All data as of today, 7:58 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.