
Our weekly updates are put together by folks deep in the crypto scene, giving you a clear picture of what's happening without overwhelming you.

To Watch This Week
AIRDROPS + ALPHAOct 8, 2024

Law and Order
Here's Why FTX Repayments Won't Be Super Bullish for Markets, According to Analysts
Retail investors' enthusiasm over FTX's court-approved bankruptcy plan may be premature, according to a new note from Presto Labs. In it, the analysts question whether the $16 billion in cash repayments to creditors, as part of the plan, will even flow back into the crypto market. The United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on Monday gave a nod to FTX's Plan of Reorganization nearly two years after the exchange's collapse. Under the plan, 98% of FTX creditors will receive app...
Oct 5, 2024

Business
Mark Cuban Tells Harris Camp FTX Debacle Could Have Been Avoided in US Under Different SEC Leadership
Billionaire investor Mark Cuban says he told Vice President Kamala Harris’ crypto advisor over lunch the collapse of FTX could have been avoided if U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler had not been at the helm. Speaking during an interview with Farokh Sarmad of Rug Radio, a sister company of Decrypt, Cuban criticized the SEC’s reliance on enforcement through litigation rather than implementing proactive regulation tailored to the crypto industry. “What I said was, ‘Look at...
May 7, 2024

Coins
Tom Brady Ridiculed for FTX and Crypto Investments in Netflix Roast
Star NFL quarterback Tom Brady took a lot of flak for his crypto investments during a 3-hour live Netflix comedy roast on Sunday. "The Roast of Tom Brady," which was recorded and is still available to watch on the streaming platform, featured a number of pointed jokes about Brady's affinity for Bitcoin and his ties to bankrupt crypto exchange FTX. And it didn't take long for the crypto jokes to show up, either. Within the first five minutes of the comedy special, host and comedian Kevin Hart add...
Apr 1, 2024

Law and Order
Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Haunted’ by FTX Mistakes After 25-Year Prison Sentence: Report
After getting slammed for showing no remorse for his role in the catastrophic collapse of crypto currency exchange FTX, disgraced co-founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried expressed regret the first time over the Easter weekend. After being sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy charges for the industry-shaking scandal that resulted in nearly $8 billion in customer losses, Bankman-Fried said in a set of emails that he was “remorseful” for his actions—but ag...
Feb 28, 2024

Law and Order
Sam Bankman-Fried's New Lawyer Calls 100-Year Sentence 'Grotesque', Argue for Leniency in Memo
Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's legal team called the 100-year sentence recommended by the jury "grotesque" in a court filing on Tuesday. Bankman-Frid has hired a new team of lawyers, headed by Marc Mukasey, to represent him at his sentencing on March 28 in Manhattan. Mukasey has previously represented former U.S. president Donald Trump and members of the Trump Organizations. Guilty: Sam Bankman-Fried Convicted of FTX Fraud Now just days after taking him on as a client, Mukasey and his...
Feb 23, 2024

Business
FTX Can Now Sell Its $1B Stake in Anthropic to Repay Creditors
A federal bankruptcy court has approved a plan by collapsed crypto exchange FTX and its creditors to sell the fallen firm's $1 billion stake in Claude AI developer Anthropic. The motion, filed in Delaware bankruptcy court and approved Thursday, is only the latest move to replay creditors following FTX's industry-shaking imposion in 2022. Sale of the Anthropic shares was granted by U.S. Federal Judge John Dorsey, who issued the order yesterday after it was submitted to the court last week. Last J...
Nov 15, 2023

Law and Order
Regulators Are Powerless to Prevent Another FTX, Says CFTC Chairman
The Commodities Futures Trading Commission is in no better position now to prevent an FTX-level collapse than it was a year ago, Rostin Behnam, CFTC chair, said at a Georgetown University event this morning. “Nothing has changed, and we could be in a position where another FTX-type event happens,” Behnam said. He was on campus to speak at the Georgetown University Financial Markets Quality Conference. Behnam, an alum of the D.C. university, has attended the conference before alongside Sens. Cynt...
Nov 9, 2023

Coins
FTT Token Jumps 84% Following Gensler's FTX Revival Comments
FTT, the token of defunct crypto exchange FTX, surged over 84% overnight following SEC chair Gary Gensler's comments signaling his openness to a revival of the exchange "within the law." FTT is currently trading at $2.29, per CoinGecko. Gensler's comments came following reports that three bidders are circling FTX, including former NYSE president Tom Farley's crypto exchange Bullish. Speaking to CNBC about the proposed revival of FTX, the SEC chair said, "If Tom or anybody else wanted to be in th...
Nov 3, 2023

Law and Order
Will Caroline Ellison and Sam Bankman-Fried’s Other Co-Defendants Go to Prison?
Now that Sam Bankman-Fried is a convicted criminal likely destined for decades behind bars in a brutal federal prison, what fate will befall his former colleagues and co-defendants? Nishad Singh, FTX’s director of engineering, Gary Wang, the exchange’s chief technical officer, and Caroline Ellison, former CEO of FTX sister trading firm Alameda Research, all pleaded guilty last December to multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy and agreed to testify against their former boss. Over the last month...
Oct 31, 2023

Law and Order
SBF Trial Live Updates: Sam Bankman-Fried Still Ain't Sure
The trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of FTX and former crypto billionaire, has begun. Federal prosecutors accuse him of masterminding one of the most significant financial frauds in U.S. history. Bankman-Fried, once celebrated as a crypto billionaire, is alleged to have committed wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering while CEO of FTX. The case has been described by Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, as "one of the biggest financial...
Oct 30, 2023

Law and Order
Sam Bankman-Fried Can't Remember a Damn Thing
Sam Bankman-Fried’s memory faltered on Monday under the scope of questions posed by US Assistant Attorney Danielle Sassoon—as the government challenged his credibility on the witness stand. “I’m not sure. I don’t recall. I’m not sure exactly what you’re referring to,” Bankman-Fried said, after Sassoon inquired about Alameda Research, a crypto trading firm Bankman-Fried co-founded, and whether he claimed—at any point—his bankrupt trading firm was subject to the same rules as other customers of FT...
Oct 20, 2023

Law and Order
Google and BlackRock Considered Investing in FTX as It Crumbled
FTX engaged BlackRock and Google as potential investors while Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange circled the drain last November, according to evidence submitted in the one-time wunderkind’s criminal trial on Thursday. Federal prosecutors offered a spreadsheet maintained by the now-defunct exchange connected to its fundraisers as FTX’s former general counsel, Can Sun, testified. The document includes info about various fundraising rounds—including one that Sun said “never closed.” According to...
Oct 17, 2023

Business
FTX Creditors Could See $9 Billion Dispersement by Next June
Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has introduced a revised plan aimed at returning more than 90% of creditor holdings that were held at the exchange prior to its November 2022 collapse. The debtors' group responsible for overseeing the bankruptcy process plans to formally file the proposal with a U.S. Bankruptcy Court by December 16, 2023, according to a statement released on Monday. “The FTX Debtors estimate that customers of FTX.com and FTX US would receive, collectively, over 90% of distributable...
Oct 16, 2023

Business
FTX Estate Stakes $122 Million Worth of Solana, $5 Million in Ethereum
FTX's bankruptcy estate staked roughly $122 million in Solana (SOL) tokens held in the firm's crypto wallets. The transaction was tracked through on-chain data when an FTX-identified wallet transferred the tokens to Figment, a staking validator firm catering to institutional investors. Around the same time early on Saturday, the FTX estate also staked a total of 3,200 Ethereum (ETH) worth roughly $5 million, on-chain data shows. A Nansen spokesperson told Decrypt that both crypto wallets are Ala...
Oct 12, 2023

Business
Alameda Trader Phished for $100 Million After Clicking Malicious Google Link, Says Ex-Engineer
In yet another lengthy thread on X (formerly known as Twitter), former Alameda Research software engineer Aditya Baradwaj revealed how FTX's sister fund grappled with multiple security incidents, ultimately losing at least $190 million in trading funds. One of the most significant exploits detailed by Baradwaj reportedly involved a trader at Alameda losing more than $100 million of the firm's funds. The incident unfolded when the trader clicked on a malicious link for a DeFi app that had been pr...
Oct 11, 2023

Law and Order
FTX, Thai Prostitutes and Chinese Bribes: Caroline Ellison Drops Explosive Allegations
Collapsed crypto exchange FTX tried to recover frozen funds from Alameda Research by using accounts registered to Thai prostitutes, ex-Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison told jurors today. In her second day of testimony, star witness Ellison took the stand on Wednesday to tell jurors that FTX insiders tapped the sex workers in a bid to try and reclaim $1 billion worth of funds frozen by the Chinese government. Ellison, who is Bankman-Fried's ex-girlfriend and admitted fraud related to the col...
Oct 10, 2023

Law and Order
Caroline Ellison: Sam Bankman-Fried Told Me to Take Billions From FTX Customers
Former Alameda Research CEO and star witness Caroline Ellison today took the stand against alleged crypto crook Sam Bankman-Fried and told the jury that he directed her to commit crimes. Bankman-Fried's ex-girlfriend, who in December admitted fraud related to the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, also told the courtroom that Bankman-Fried was the one "who set up the system to allow Alameda to take money." "He directed me to commit these crimes," Ellison said in her brief 15 minute appearance befo...
Oct 9, 2023

Law and Order
FTX Co-Founder Gary Wang Says Exchange Insurance Fund Was Fake
In his Friday testimony, FTX co-founder Gary Wang said the crypto exchange’s insurance fund balance differed from the actual funds held by the exchange. “For one, there is no FTT in the insurance fund,” Wang reportedly said, according to a retranscription of the trial’s fourth day posted on Twitter by BitMEX Research. “It's just the USD number. And, two, the number listed here does not match what was in the database.” FTT was the native exchange token for the collapse crypto exchange. Many crypt...
Oct 5, 2023

Coins
FTX Insider Gary Wang: Sam Bankman-Fried Allowed Alameda to Withdraw Unlimited Funds
FTX co-founder Gary Wang testified in court that Sam Bankman-Fried and his inner circle committed wire fraud. "We allowed Alameda to withdraw unlimited funds," Wang said on Thursday afternoon, referring to the trading desk Alameda Research, founded by Bankman-Fried, having access to customer deposits of the crypto exchange and sister company FTX. FTX co-founder Gary Wang pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with authorities in the FTX investigation. He's been friends with Bankman-Fried since h...
Oct 4, 2023

The Coins
What You Need to Know About Exchange Tokens After FTX's FTT Meltdown of 2022
It was the shot heard ‘round the crypto world. On November 6, 2022, Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, CEO of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance, said his company would move to liquidate its holdings of FTT, the native token of rival exchange FTX. His announcement triggered an FTT selloff, bringing a top-five crypto exchange to its knees. FTX experienced a bank-run moment, with $5 billion worth of customer funds withdrawn in one day and didn't have the liquidity to cover. In the aftermath of...