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SBF’s Dark Money Contributions Prompted FEC Investigation

by Blockchain NewsDecember 12, 2022

An group that keeps an eye on things in the neighborhood has asked for a probe to be conducted into the political contributions that Sam Bankman-Fried has made in the past. The organization asserts that the former chief executive officer of FTX admitted to breaking federal law by clandestinely donating tens of millions of dollars to Republican candidates and campaigns in violation of the law. This violation occurred while the former chief executive officer of FTX was employed by the company.

On December 8, members of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), citing statements made by Bankman-Fried during an interview on November 16 with bitcoin YouTuber Tiffany Fong. The interview was held on November 16, and the remarks were uploaded on YouTube on November 29 after they were made public. CREW mentioned in its lawsuit that wealthy contributors frequently make use of the Citizen United case in order to circumvent federal disclosure standards by employing intermediaries and claiming that they were unaware of where the money was going. This is done under the pretense that they were unaware of where the money was going. This is done with the intention of avoiding complying with the requirements of the law.

According to the group, Bankman-Fried had engaged in “direct and severe violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act.” A single calendar year’s worth of political donations that add up to more than $200 are subject to this law’s requirement that they be disclosed to the public. This statute, according to the organization’s allegations, had been broken by Bankman-Fried.

During the conversation that he had with Fong on November 16th, Bankman-Fried said that he had “donated roughly the same to both parties.”

According to OpenSecrets, he was the Democrats’ second greatest donor; hence, it is reasonable to conclude that the “hidden” contributions include a substantial amount of money given that he was the Democrats’ second highest contributor.

Bankman-Fried has been on what one could call an apology tour ever since his fall from prominence. [Here’s a good example:] Among his many other public engagements, he has taken part in a wide range of interviews, some of which have been broadcast on Good Morning America, The New York Times’ DealBook Summit, and other Twitter Spaces.

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3Commas Refutes Allegations That Employees Stole API Keys

by Blockchain NewsDecember 12, 2022

The firm that trades in cryptocurrencies provides another denial of the claim that the API keys of users were stolen and urges consumers to file a complaint with the local authorities in reaction to the issue.

The firm that deals in bitcoin trading known as 3Commas has refuted allegations that its staff stole API keys belonging to customers, alleging that images that have been going around on social media are fakes. Users who have had their API keys stolen have also been encouraged by the corporation to submit police complaints in order to prevent the criminals from making off with their money.

Yuriy Sorokin, co-founder and CEO of 3Commas, wrote in a blog post that was published on December 11 that fake screenshots of Cloudflare logs are circulating on Twitter and YouTube. He stated that this was “in an attempt to convince people that there was a vulnerability within 3Commas and that we were irresponsible enough to allow open access to user data and log files.”

The goal of the screenshots that are being claimed is to illustrate how the 3Commas dashboard that is housed on Cloudflare was used to make the API keys of customers publicly available.

In a subsequent blog post that was made public on December 10, 2018, Sorokin extended an invitation to affected people, requesting that they report the occurrence to the appropriate authorities in order to have their exchange accounts suspended.”

“Because the majority of cryptocurrency exchanges comply with Know Your Customer standards, users are required to provide identifying information in order to trade cryptocurrencies or withdraw funds from their accounts.

According to the company, if users who were affected by the issue filed a complaint with the police, Exchanges would be permitted to share this information with the relevant authorities.

Phishing efforts were a “contributing element” in the loss of client information, according to 3Commas, which claims to have uncovered data that supports this assertion.

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Tagged : 3COMMAS / API KEYS / News

Bank Of England Accepts CBDC Wallet “Proof Of Concept” Applications

by Blockchain NewsDecember 12, 2022

The bank stipulates that the wallet must be capable of performing fundamental functions such as exchanging currency and requesting payments, and has fixed its price at close to $255,000. The Bank of England (BOE) is interested in receiving a “proof of concept” for a wallet that will have the capacity to store a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). The Board of Exchange (BOE) published a call for proposals on the Digital Marketplace of the United Kingdom government on December 9. The Digital Marketplace is a website where government entities may seek employment for digital initiatives.

In addition, the wallet has to demonstrate that it can be loaded and unloaded using a CBDC, that it can request peer-to-peer payments using an account ID or QR code, and that it can be used to pay online with companies. All of these capabilities need to be present.

A mobile app for iOS and Android, a website for the wallet, an example merchant website, and the back-end infrastructure to service the wallet website and applications while also keeping user data and transaction history are key deliverables for the project. The project will also generate these deliverables.

The bank stated that there had been “no work done” on a CBDC sample wallet, and that it “will not construct a user wallet itself.”

For the proof-of-concept project, which is projected to last for a total of five months and have a cost of 244,500 dollars (or 200,000 British pounds), the BOE has decided to analyze five different vendors.

At the time this was written, there had been no applications submitted.

The BOE has announced in the past that it intends to work toward establishing a CBDC by at least 2030.

The BOE’s work as part of Project Rosalind, a collaborative experiment it is carrying out with the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub, is supported by the sample wallet. Project Rosalind’s goal is to create prototypes of an application programming interface (API) for a CBDC.

The Rosalind application programming interface will also be tested for implementation alongside the proof-of-concept wallet.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, presented a series of reforms to Britain’s financial services industry on the 9th of December. One of these measures includes conducting a consultation on ideas for the formation of a CBDC.

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Tagged : Boe / CBDC / News / Wallet

Caroline Ellison hires former top SEC crypto regulator

by Blockchain NewsDecember 12, 2022

According to a story published on the 10th of December by Bloomberg, Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, would be represented in an ongoing federal investigation by a former senior crypto regulator who worked for the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Stephanie Avakian and a team of lawyers from WilmerHale will be Ellison’s legal representatives in this matter.

At this time, Avakain is serving as the law firm’s department chair for the Securities and Financial Services division.

She worked as a director in the Enforcement Division of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where she was responsible for expanding cryptocurrency supervision and launching lawsuits against Robinhood and Ripple Lab.

The website of the legal firm reportedly states that “Ms. Avakian was responsible for supervising the roughly 1,400 professionals and staff members who worked in the Division.

During the four years that she led the Division as Chief, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought more than 3,000 cases of enforcement action, obtained judgments and orders for more than $17 billion in fines and disgorgement, and returned approximately $3.6 billion to investors who had been harmed.

Additionally, she was in charge of guiding the Enforcement Division through the process of addressing unique concerns that are at the forefront of the markets today, such as initial coin offerings, digital assets, and cybersecurity.”

According to a report by Cointelegraph, there are a number of investigations now being conducted, and at least seven class action lawsuits have been filed against FTX Group and its executives.

An investigation into the defunct cryptocurrency exchange and its subsidiaries is being conducted by attorneys from the United States attorney’s office for the district of Manhattan in New York and with the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation of the state of California.

Prosecutors from the federal government have also started looking into whether the former CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, was responsible for the collapse of the Terra ecosystem.

Prosecutors are investigating whether Bankman-empire Fried’s intentionally caused a flood of “sell” orders on Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD Classic as part of a larger investigation into FTX’s own collapse. This investigation is being conducted as part of a broader investigation into FTX’s own collapse (USTC).

The bulk of the sell orders for USTC securities were placed by Alameda Research, as stated in an article published by The New York Times.

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Tagged : CAROLINE ELLISON / Crypto / FTX / News / SEC

Terra Co-Founder Do Kwon Allegedly Hiding In Serbia

by Blockchain NewsDecember 12, 2022

In order to send Kwon back to South Korea so that he may face charges there, South Korean officials have made a request for assistance from the government of Serbia.

Do Kwon, the controversial founder and CEO of Terraform Labs, has been on the run since leaving Singapore in September, and the search for him continues throughout the world. Authorities in South Korea now believe that he is in Serbia, but they are not certain.

Chosun Media published a story on December 11 stating that South Korean police followed a tip-off concerning Do Kwon’s whereabouts saying that he is currently in Serbia and have been able to corroborate it. An official was quoted as saying to the site, “Recently, we acquired intelligence that CEO Kwon was in Serbia, and it was proved to be accurate.” [C]ompany CEO Kwon was in Serbia.

In addition to this, the report claims that the Ministry of Finance of South Korea “is in the process of asking assistance from the government of Serbia” as part of the inquiry that is now underway.

Since Terra’s collapse, the police in South Korea have been looking for Do Kwon, but they haven’t had a lot of success in locating him until recently.

It was believed that the 31-year-old relocated to Singapore near the end of April, only a few days before the abrupt collapse of the Terra environment.

Kwon was issued a warrant for his arrest on September 14 by the Financial and Securities Criminal Unit of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office. The order was issued because it is believed that Kwon violated South Korean rules pertaining to the capital markets.

It was not long after that when, on September 26, it was revealed that Interpol had issued a “Red Notice” on Kwon.

However, as of the 11th of December, Do Kwon does not appear to have been added to the Red Notice database that is hosted on Interpol’s website.

On October 6, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in South Korea issued a directive that required Kwon to hand over his passport.

Later on in that month, prosecutors in South Korea verified information that Do Kwon had traveled to Dubai for a probable layover before travelling to another destination, which, as it turns out, could have been Serbia. The reports had been circulating since earlier in that month.

If it turns out that Do Kwon is hiding out in Serbia, then it remains to be seen what, if any, legal threads may be pulled from South Korea in order to try to extradite the founder of Terraform Labs.

Serbia is not one of the 31 countries with whom South Korea has signed a bilateral extradition treaty; nevertheless, South Korea has signed such a pact with 31 other nations.

Kwon has insisted that he is not “on the run” and that he is “making zero attempt to conceal.”

Over the course of the past several months, he has maintained a high level of activity across all of his social media platforms.

The depegging of the algorithmic stablecoin known as Terra USD Classic, also known as USTC (formerly UST), in May was a contributing factor that led to the collapse of the Terra ecosystem. This, in turn, caused a nearly one hundred percent decrease in the value of the sister asset known as Luna Classic, also known as LUNC (formerly LUNA).

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Tagged : News / Terra

SBF Wishes To Create A Company, Formally Added As Hearing Witness

by Blockchain NewsDecember 12, 2022

The former CEO of FTX has shown interest in launching a new company in order to satisfy all of the company’s debtors, who number over one million and are owed up to fifty billion dollars.

Bankman-Fried has indicated that he would be open to the idea of launching a new business with the purpose of compensating the clients who are owed money by him.

Also, I’m going to give it a go and see if I can, “During an interview that took place on December 10 with the BBC, Bankman-Fried was asked whether he would establish a new firm in order to repay the investors in FTX.

“I’m going to be thinking about how we can assist the world, and if users haven’t received much back, I’m going to be thinking about what I can do for them,” he continued. “If we haven’t gotten much back, I’m going to be thinking about how we can help the globe.” I believe that at the very least I have a responsibility to FTX users to do what is right for them to the best of my ability. According to the bankruptcy documents made on November 14, Bankman–exchange Fried’s may have “more than 1 million creditors,” and estimates on how much money FTX may have lost vary from $10 billion to $50 billion.

In keeping with claims made previously by Bankman-Fried on his so-called apology tour of the media, he said once again that he: “Did not intentionally engage in fraudulent activity.

I don’t believe that I committed any kind of deception.”

Additionally, he said that he “was by no means even close to being as capable as I had imagined I was.

Following several days of back-and-forth between Representative Maxine Waters of the United States House of Representatives and Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX has finally been officially confirmed as a witness for the hearing that will take place on December 13 with the House Committee on Financial Services.

Since the 11th of December, his name has been added to the official list of witnesses who will be present at the hearing on the 13th of December titled “Investigating the Collapse of FTX, Part I.”

The second witness, who was already present as of the 9th of December, is none other than John Ray, who was just appointed to his position as CEO of FTX.

A Senate Committee hearing on the FTX collapse was set to take place on December 14. Controversially, the time for Bankman-Fried to confirm his participation at the hearing passed without his doing so.

Sherrod Brown, who serves as the chair of the Committee, sent a letter to Bankman-Fried on December 7 in which he warned that he is prepared “to issue a subpoena to compel your testimony.”

Bankman-Fried did not answer to the deadline, which was highlighted in a statement released on December 9 by Brown and Senator Pat Toomey. The statement also indicated that the Committee “will continue to work on having him come before Congress.”

On December 9, Toomey tweeted that he is “happy” Bankman-Fried would attend at the House hearing. He also added that he anticipates the FTX founder to appear at the Senate hearing the following day.

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Tagged : Blockchain / Cryptocurrency / FTX / News