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🔓 CZ, the ex-CEO and founder of Binance, is officially out of prison.
🔒 Roman Storm, the developer of Tornado Cash, might go to prison.
🍊 News drops: Mark Cuban said he’d be down to become SEC Chair if Harris were elected, the founder of a crypto exchange bribed LA cops to extort crypto from victims + more
🍍 Market flavour today
The crypto market is buzzing today, folks! We’re seeing green across the board, with the Fear and Greed Index climbing to 61 – we’re officially in “Greed” territory now.
Bitcoin’s making moves, touching $65,200 for the first time since early August. Chart watchers are getting excited, seeing this as a potential launchpad for more gains. What’s driving this rally? A mix of factors, including China’s new economic stimulus announcement, has got the bulls excited. While the U.S. economy keeps everyone guessing, demand for Bitcoin stateside remains strong.
Keep an eye on the $66.6K and $63.6K levels – we could see some serious action if Bitcoin hits either of these prices, potentially triggering a wave of liquidations.
As always in crypto, nothing’s guaranteed. But right now, the vibes are definitely on the upswing 🚀
🔓 You win some
CZ stands for Celebration Zone today ’cause Binance’s ex-CEO and founder, Changpeng Zhao, is officially out of prison—two days ahead of schedule.
Zhao served four months after being charged for weak anti-money laundering (AML) controls at Binance. He spent the first two months in a low-security prison and finished his sentence at a halfway house in Long Beach, California.
…So, now what?
First order of business: reuniting with the fam—his kids and their mother, He Yi, who’s also a big name at Binance.
Second order of business: um, idk, eating a burger or something? ‘Cause it definitely won’t be going back to run Binance. Under his agreement with US authorities, he can’t be involved in the company’s day-to-day (though he still holds influence due to his majority ownership).
There’s a possibility that CZ might turn his attention to philanthropy. Before he got locked up, he launched Giggle Academy, a global initiative offering free educational tools for kids. While things have been quiet on that front (I wonder why), we might see it pick up again soon.
While CZ’s next moves are a bit of a mystery right now, it’s safe to say that someone as high-profile as him isn’t going to vanish from the public eye. We’ll just have to wait and see how things unfold.
🔒 You lose some
If CZ is Celebration Zone, then RS is… Rough Situation? Don’t leave, please, that’s the last one for today.
There’s this thing called Tornado Cash—an Ethereum-based platform that anonymizes transactions. While the idea of giving people complete privacy sounds nice, it so happened to be that most of these privacy seekers were criminals laundering stolen crypto.
Obviously, this didn’t go unnoticed by the authorities. Their solution? Go after the three musketeers who developed this platform—Alexey Pertsev, Roman Storm, and Roman Semenov.
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The first to fall was Pertsev, who got hit with a 5-year prison sentence by a Dutch court.
Now, it seems like Storm is next in line, facing charges for money laundering, violating sanctions, and running an unlicensed money transfer business.
In his motion to dismiss, Storm argued that his role in Tornado Cash was merely writing code, and since it’s decentralized, it’s not under his control. The judge wasn’t buying it, tho, so she allowed the case to continue.
Storm’s trial is now set for December 2, and if convicted, he could face up to 45 years behind bars. He probably won’t serve the maximum, but after seeing what happened to his colleague, it’s safe to say things don’t look great for him.
As for Semenov? He’s still out there, uncaught—yet. That whole “all for one, and one for all” thing is fairytale talk. Once the courts get involved, it’s every musketeer for himself, my guy.
Overall, this situation gives off the same vibes as suing the Telegram founder for what users do on his app. Yeah, you should understand what the consequences might be of building a platform like that. At the same time, do we sue the guy who made a hammer because it was used to break a window? Idk.
📰 News drops
🦈 Mark Cuban has shown interest in taking over as head of the SEC if Kamala Harris becomes president. “Someone needs to replace Gary Gensler. <…> He’s awful, particularly for crypto and for businesses in general,” he said.
📚 Speaking of, Gary Gensler stated that the SEC plans to keep pushing for updates to how “exchange” and alternative trading systems (ATS) are defined. These changes could bring DeFi platforms under the SEC’s watch, potentially forcing them to register as exchanges or ATS.
🇷🇺 US authorities have sanctioned two Russian crypto exchanges for handling transactions linked to ransomware attacks and other illegal activities. On top of that, the State Department is offering up to $10M for any info leading to two Russian nationals accused of financial crimes.
🚓 Federal prosecutors have charged Adam Iza, the founder of a crypto exchange, accusing him of evading taxes and paying off LA cops to help him extort victims. The officers allegedly provided him with access to police data and issued fake arrest warrants in exchange for monthly bribes of up to $280K.
💳 Accountable.US dropped a report claiming that Visa and Mastercard are blocking competition in the debit and credit card industry. The report says the two companies have spent $80M lobbying against laws that would open the door for other players to enter the market.
