Today's news tips:
1. The US government seeks to recover $13 million in political donations from former FTX executives
2. The developer of the MAYC clone Mutant Ape Planet was released from jail because the buyer’s actual loss could not be determined
3. Tether announces the launch of a stablecoin pegged to the dirham on the TON chain
4. Grayscale: XRP Trust is now open to qualified accredited investors
5.21Shares has submitted an S-1 application and plans to launch the first XRP ETF "21Shares Core XRP Trust"
6.DWF Labs: Considering taking further legal action against Eugene Ng
The whale who bet $738 million on Trump's victory: no political purpose, just to make money
8. An address spent $58,000 to buy 1.5% of the GOAT supply in the early stage, earning about $7.45 million
Regulation and Policy
US government seeks to recover $13.25 million in political donations from former FTX executive
According to The block, according to a new federal court document, the US government is negotiating to recover up to $13.25 million in political donations donated by former FTX executives. The document was approved by Lewis Kaplan, the judge who is responsible for the criminal case of former FTX executive Sam Bankman-Fried and his subordinates. In the document, the government requested to continue negotiations with multiple political action committees (PACs) before January 15.
The government requested more time to "discuss with PACs the forfeitability of funds these entities received from the defendants and their co-conspirators," and named several groups: Senate Majority PAC, Future Forward PAC and Future Forward USA Action. These groups are often aligned with the Democratic Party or support liberal causes.
According to OpenSecrets data, Nishad Singh, a former head of engineering at FTX, donated about $13.25 million to these groups. Nishad Singh testified that he made donations at the request of Bankman-Fried and sometimes signed blank checks for donations. Singh recently avoided jail time by being sentenced to a term of imprisonment plus three years of supervised release for testifying against his former friend and boss Bankman-Fried.
Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm's trial postponed to April 14 next year
According to Cointelegraph, in a telephone conference of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York held on November 1, Judge Katherine Polk Failla ordered the trial of Tornado Cash co-founder and developer Roman Storm to be postponed to April 14, 2025. The legal team of the Tornado Cash co-founder has been requesting the dismissal of the charges against him, claiming that the charges were based solely on his writing code for cryptocurrency mixing services. In 2023, prosecutors charged Storm and Tornado co-founder Roman Semenov with money laundering, sanctions violations, and operating an unlicensed remittance business.
According to Bloomberg, Aurelien Michel, the developer of the MAYC replica MutantApePlanet series of NFTs, avoided jail time for defrauding buyers. The judge said it was difficult to determine how much money buyers actually lost, so he avoided jail time for defrauding buyers. Aurelien Michel, 26, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in November last year, admitting that he falsely promised "exclusive" benefits to thousands of NFT buyers. Prosecutors from the office of Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn, New York, said he abandoned the project after raising $2.9 million. Federal prosecutors asked for a 37-month prison sentence, but the judge ultimately sentenced him to one month in prison, a $15,000 fine and a $1.4 million confiscation.
Earlier news , the developer of Mutant Ape Planet has pleaded guilty in a fraud case and agreed to pay a fine of $1.4 million.
IRS: Crypto rewards received after account freeze still subject to tax
According to News.bitcoin, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a memorandum in October stating that despite an account freeze, crypto rewards received are still subject to tax in the year they are received, even if the holder cannot access their funds later. The guidance, which was sent to Michael R. Fiore of the IRS Small Business/Self-Employed Division, examines a hypothetical taxpayer (referred to as "Taxpayer A") who held cryptocurrency in an account with a bankrupt platform and received rewards, such as staking bonuses, before the account was frozen.
Project News
According to CryptoSlate, the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has reached a settlement agreement with Evolve Bank and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF), which is expected to recover approximately $21 million in assets. According to court documents on October 30, these settlement agreements still need court approval, and the hearing is scheduled for November 20.
According to the terms of the settlement, Evolve Bank will return approximately $12.77 million to FTX and retain $462,700 as compensation costs. In addition, the bank will waive all claims against FTX. The Silicon Valley Community Foundation agreed to return $8.57 million in cash and 34,208.70 FTT tokens to avoid litigation. The foundation previously raised part of the funds by selling donated FTT for external donations, and now has a partial balance.
Tether announces launch of dirham-pegged stablecoin on TON chain
According to Cointelegraph, stablecoin issuer Tether announced that its UAE Dirham (AED)-pegged stablecoin will be launched on The Open Network (TON) blockchain. At the TON Gateway event held in Dubai, Alessandro Giori, senior strategic partnership manager of Tether, said that TON is the fastest blockchain to reach $1 billion in USDT since its launch, with an average daily transaction volume of 160,000 transactions, 7.6 million USDT wallets, and more than 100 crypto platforms have integrated USDT on TON. In addition, USDT on the TON blockchain will support the Fireblocks platform, further expanding the user base of the ecosystem. This move follows the UAE's approval of the regulatory licensing framework for the issuance of stablecoins, and the UAE's fiat-pegged stablecoin ecosystem is gradually taking shape.
Grayscale: XRP Trust Now Open to Qualified Accredited Investors
Grayscale has announced that its XRP Trust is now open to qualified accredited investors, providing exposure to XRP, the core token of the XRP Ledger, a distributed network that supports cross-border payments.
According to SEC documents, 21Shares has submitted an S-1 application and plans to launch the first XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF), "21Shares Core XRP Trust". The fund will track XRP prices and plans to be listed on the Cboe BZX exchange. The trust does not involve leverage or derivatives and aims to reflect the dollar performance of XRP through the CME CF Ripple-Dollar reference rate (New York version). Coinbase Custody will serve as the XRP custodian of the trust and will be responsible for the safekeeping of all assets.
DWF Labs: Considering taking further legal action against Eugene Ng
DWF Labs co-founder Andrei Grachev said on the X platform that he was shocked when he saw the surveillance video. This is the worst thing a person can do. Eugene Ng should be severely punished. We have withdrawn our funds from (OpenEden) and are considering taking further legal action against Eugene Ng.
Earlier news came out that DWF Labs had dismissed the management and operations positions of the partner who was accused of "attempted rape" .
The whale who bet $38 million on Trump's victory: no political purpose, just to make money
According to the Wall Street Journal, Théo (pseudonym), a user who spent more than $30 million betting on Trump's victory, said that "there is no political purpose, just to make money." Théo claims to be a Frenchman who once lived in the United States and worked as a trader in a bank. If the bet is successful, he can get a return of more than $80 million; if the bet fails, he may lose all or most of the money. Théo admitted that he was nervous. He said he believed Trump would win, but he was worried that unexpected news developments at the last minute might disrupt his bet.
Three Arrows Capital co-founder Zhu Su's wife sells $38 million Singapore mansion
Evelyn Tao, the wife of Zhu Su, co-founder of the bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, has sold a luxury home she owns in Singapore for S$51 million ($38.5 million), despite some of the couple's other assets being frozen by the court, Bloomberg reported. The deal was signed in July and completed last month. The so-called Good Class Bungalow sits on Dalvey Road near the Singapore Botanic Gardens and covers an area of 1,446 square meters (15,568 square feet). Evelyn Tao bought the house in 2020 for S$28.5 million and has since redeveloped it.
Michael Saylor: MSTR has a unique relationship with BTC and announced MicroStrategy's 9 principles
MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor said on the X platform that MSTR has a unique relationship with BTC and announced MicroStrategy's nine principles, specifically:
- Buy and hold BTC indefinitely, exclusively and securely
- Prioritizes long-term value creation for MSTR common stock
- Treat all investors with respect, consistency and transparency
- Building MSTR through smart leverage to outperform BTC
- Continue to buy BTC and realize positive BTC income
- Grow quickly and responsibly based on market dynamics
- Issue innovative fixed income securities backed by BTC
- Maintain a healthy, solid and clean balance sheet
- Promoting global adoption of BTC as a fiscal reserve asset
Investment and Financing
Stablecoin payment platform Bridge acquires Web3 wallet infrastructure platform Triangle
According to CoinDesk, the stablecoin payment platform Bridge, which payment giant Stripe plans to acquire, announced the acquisition of Web3 wallet infrastructure platform Triangle for an undisclosed amount. Triangle was founded by former Stripe employee Tasti Zakarie and focuses on simplifying the integration of digital asset wallets through developer APIs to drive mainstream users into the blockchain field. The acquisition will allow the Triangle team to join Bridge and further promote the development of a scalable stablecoin system.
Bridge itself is about to be acquired by Stripe for $1.1 billion, becoming one of the largest mergers and acquisitions of crypto assets in the payment industry. Triangle is backed by investors including Social Capital, Alchemy Ventures, DCG and WndrCo, and this acquisition will expand Bridge's technological advantages.
Superscrypt is looking to raise up to $100 million for its second investment fund
According to Bloomberg, Singapore’s state-owned investment company Temasek-backed blockchain venture capital firm Superscrypt is planning to raise up to $100 million for its second investment fund. People familiar with the matter revealed that Temasek will serve as the fund’s lead investor and general partner together with New York fintech company Republic.
Temasek lost $275 million in 2022 due to the bankruptcy of FTX and cut executive salaries as a result. After experiencing a market downturn, venture capital in the blockchain field has gradually recovered. Superscrypt focuses on early investments in blockchain protocols and Web3 applications, and has invested in more than 20 projects including Space and Time and Aptos Labs.
Important data
NFT sales in October were approximately $361 million, down 36% from the previous month
According to News.bitcoin, NFT sales fell 36% in October after a 47.9% drop in September. Sales for the month were approximately $361.5 million, with Ethereum NFTs dominating. Ethereum-based NFTs brought in more than $120 million in revenue, down 34.11% from September. Bitcoin NFTs followed closely behind with sales of $69.6 million, down 27.17%. Solana ranked third with sales of $66.26 million, down 22.94% from September.
According to Arkham monitoring, an address with the wallet beginning with 4Jpef spent $58,000 to purchase 1.5% of the GOAT supply in the early stage, earning about $7.45 million. The address previously received 104,000 DADDY from a wallet holding 1.4% of the DADDY supply. These DADDY tokens were also purchased within 2 hours of DADDY's launch.
