A class-action lawsuit against Silvergate Bank, Silvergate Capital Corporation and Silvergate CEO Alan Lane was filed at the California Southern District Court concerning accounts held by embattled crypto companies FTX and Alameda Research. The suit aims to hold Silvergate accountable for its alleged roles in placing FTX user deposits into the bank accounts of Alameda, which caused panic within the crypto market, eventually leading to both firms declaring bankruptcy. The lawsuit was filed by the plaintiff Joewy Gonzalez on behalf of himself and others in the same situation. According to the suit, the plaintiff invested his savings in crypto through …

On Dec. 15 lawyers representing FTX filed a motion with the United States Bankruptcy Court seeking permission to sell off the firm's Japanese and European branches, derivatives exchange LedgerX and stock-clearing platform Embed. The lawyers note that each of these businesses have been under pressure from regulators, which “merit[s] an expeditious sale process,” adding: “The longer operations are suspended, the greater the risk to the value of the assets and the risk of a permanent revocation of licenses.” FTX Japan is currently subject to a business suspension and improvement orders, while FTX Europe has had its licenses and operations suspended. …

Sam Bankman-Fried, the jailed founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has reportedly filed a new application for bail in the Bahamas Supreme Court following his previous unsuccessful bail bid. Local media on Dec. 15 reported the founder submitted the application and that it would be heard before the court in just over one month's time on Jan. 17, 2023. However it did not cite any sources. Previously, on Dec. 13, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers had argued for him to be let out on bail set at $250,000 as he had no prior convictions and was suffering from depression and insomnia. The presiding …

Sam Bankman-Fried, former FTX CEO, faces eight accusations and could get 115 years in jail, but there is a "lot to play out" until he gets a final sentence over the coming months or even years, legal commentators told Cointelegraph. "It is difficult to say at this stage what the likely outcome will be, but the stakes are very high indeed. Sentences in major fraud cases can vary, with Bernie Madoff receiving a 150 year sentence in 2009, whilst in the Enron case a few years earlier the sentences handed out to the prime movers were much lower," stated Richard …

As the coldest days of the crypto winter set in, investors’ speculative interest in the crypto market has fallen to pre-2021 levels, impairing the chance of a substantial directional price move. However, there’s a possibility of a bear market rally akin to the July through August 2022 uptrend. The market enters a state of limbo The FTX implosion impacted over 5 million users globally and adversely affected numerous crypto companies that were exposed to it. The industry is currently in a recovery mode and Cumberland, a U.S.-based crypto market broker, recently echoed this narrative in a tweet. The firm noted …

A United States Trustee has announced nine creditors to the committee responsible for part of crypto exchange FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings. According to court documents filed Dec. 15, U.S. Trustee Andrew Vara named crypto market maker Wintermute Asia among those on the ‘Committee of Unsecured Creditors’. Other creditors included individual investors, crypto hedge fund Coincident Capital, GGC International — an affiliate of lending platform Genesis — Pulsar Global, Wincent Investment Fund, and Octopus Information. The committee would play a role in representing creditors who lost funds or were otherwise affected by the downfall of FTX. The firm’s bankruptcy filing on Nov. …

Mike Belshe, the CEO of digital asset custodian BitGo has confirmed that Alameda Research attempted to redeem 3,000 Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC) in the days before FTX’s bankruptcy filing on Nov. 11. During a Dec. 14 Twitter Spaces hosted by decentralized finance (DeFi) researcher Chris Blec, Belshe confirmed the firm knocked back the redemption request because the unknown Alameda representative involved didn’t pass Bitgo’s security verification process and seemed unfamiliar with how the wrapped-Bitcoin burning process worked. Full convo here. This part starts at 1:09:30. https://t.co/0KQg6bzd8k — Chris Blec (@ChrisBlec) December 14, 2022 “[The security details] didn't match the process. So …

According to Bahamian court records filed on Dec. 14, Ryan Salame, the former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets told the Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB) on Nov. 9 that FTX was sending customer funds to its sister trading firm Alameda Research. He also told the SCB only three people had the access required to transfer client assets to Alameda: Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX co-founder Zixiao “Gary” Wang and FTX engineer Nishad Singh. The allegation spurred SCB executive director Christina Rolle to contact the commissioner of the Royal Bahamas Police Force to request an investigation. Related: Realized losses …

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has attempted to put the FTX collapse into perspective — comparing peak weekly-realized losses in the wake of the exchange’s collapse compared to previous major crypto collapses in 2022. The Dec. 14 report found the depegging of Terra USD (UST) in May saw weekly-realized losses peak at $20.5 billion, while the subsequent collapse of Three Arrows Capital and Celsius in June saw weekly-realized losses peak at $33 billion. In comparison, weekly realized losses during the FTX saga peaked at $9 billion in the week starting Nov. 7, and have been reducing weekly since. 1/ Our data …

Crypto-friendly Congressman Tom Emmer is considering re-floating a bipartisan bill that would lift the requirement for certain crypto businesses and projects to register as Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) in the wake of the FTX collapse. The bill titled “Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act” was led by Republican Emmer and Democratic Congressman Darren Soto. It was initially tabled at the 117th congress on Aug. 17, 2021, but did not make it any further down the line. Probably a good time to re-up my bipartisan Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act. The bill asserts that blockchain entities that never custody consumer funds are not …

A former employee of crypto exchange FTX has seemingly exposed the company’s excessive luxury expenditures, obsessive workplace culture and grueling work hours leading to the hiring of a company psychiatrist in the year before its collapse. Danielle Cloud, a former employee of FTX claiming to work in the marketing department, posted a series of Tweets on Dec. 13 saying FTX employed her in Oct. 2021 before she resigned roughly two weeks ago. 1. My ex - FTX Two(ish) weeks ago, I formally resigned from my position as an FTX employee. — Dani Cloud (@daniiicloud) December 13, 2022 “Things felt off. …

Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has cautioned the crypto community about self-custody, suggesting that 99% of people choosing to self-custody their crypto will likely lose it one way or another. CZ has been been a supporter of self-custody for years, referring to its as a “fundamental human right” but has always urged users to “do it right.” He published a “CZ’s Tips” on self-storing crypto in Feb. 2020. During a recent Binance-run Twitter Spaces on Dec. 14, the Binance CEO continued to urge caution for those using self-custody wallets — suggesting that more often than not, security keys are not …