Friday October 27, 2023
In a stunning turn of events, the judge presiding over Sam Bankman-Fried's (SBF) fraud trial unexpectedly dismissed the jury and summoned SBF to testify. This development stems from a prior ruling by the judge, which had prohibited the use of an "advice of counsel" defense. The judge is seeking to hear SBF's testimony and will subsequently determine whether to present it to the jury this morning.
◾ Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Representative French Hill (R-AR) asked the Attorney General to make a determination regarding Binance's alleged involvement in facilitating support to Hamas. (Senate.gov)
◾ The United Nations is establishing a 39-member AI Advisory Body to support the international community’s efforts to govern artificial intelligence. (UN)
◾ The UK has officially approved the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, granting law enforcement agencies the authority to confiscate cryptocurrency accounts involved in criminal investigations. (Gov.uk)
◾ SBF carefully danced around his response to question with the Judge stating SBF “has an interesting way of responding to questions,” and instructing him to “listen to the question and answer the question directly.” (Bloomberg)
◾ SBF admitted that efforts to safeguard assets “would include not embezzling them.” (Bloomberg)
◾ SBF stressed that FTX’s lawyers had extensive involvement in drafting FTX’s policies around record keeping. (Bloomberg)
Government & NGO Actions
◾ The government of Turkey intends to issue a final crypto regulation framework in 2024. (Cointelegraph)
◾ Lawmakers in Taiwan formally introduced the Virtual Asset Management Bill to the Legislative Yuan for its first reading. (CoinDesk)
◾ Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown (D-OH) called for a crackdown on the use of cryptocurrency to fund terrorism and evade sanctions. (TheBlock)
◾ The SEC announced that it has as many as 10 spot bitcoin ETFs under consideration. (Reuters)
◾ Italy’s government is being criticized for appointing an 85-year old former prime minister with limited tech experience to head up the country’s AI initiatives. (FoxNews)
Restructuring, Losses and Legal News
◾ A US Circuit Court rejected an appeal by the Estate of David Kleiman against his former partner and self-proclaimed bitcoin creator Craig Wright. (U.today)
◾ A US District Court award Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs $1.5 million in damages from a trademark infringement offering by Ryder Ripps. (Decrypt)
◾ The estate of FTX transferred $28 million in alt coins to centralized exchanges likely signifying that the tokens will either be sold or staked. (News.bitcoin)
AI Announcements
◾ Citigroup (C) plans to provide all of its coders with access to generative AI. (Bloomberg)
◾ Google intends to require developers of Android applications, available on its Play Store, include a feature enabling users to report or flag offensive AI-generated content. (TechCrunch)
◾ OpenAI is establishing a "preparedness" team to craft a strategy for safeguarding against the potentially devastating risks linked to AI. (OpenAI)
◾ Google Maps is gaining new AI-powered features including more immersive navigation, easier-to-follow driving directions, and better organized search results. (TheVerge)
◾ The remaining members of the Beatles plan to release a new song next week featuring the AI-generated voice of late member John Lennon. (Reuters)
Protocols, Applications & Business News
◾ Citadel Securities refuted Terraform Labs' assertion that it played a role in the May downfall of the algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD (UST). (CoinDesk)
◾ Scammers created a fake website impersonating the crypto news service Blockworks, with the intention of deceiving unwary readers into engaging with a phishing site. (Cointelegraph)
◾ The Bloomberg Billionaires Index reports that Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao lost $12 billion in net worth during the recent crypto sell off. (Bloomberg)
Metaverse & Gaming Briefings & Activations
◾ Three years after its release Sony has announced that the PlayStation 5 has resolved all supply chain problems and is readily available for purchase. (BBC)
Market Data
◾ Coinbase (COIN) released the Q3 update for its State of Crypto Report finding only 9% of Gen Z (ages 18-25) and 19% of Millennials (26-40) say the American Dream is achievable for everyone. (Coinbase)
◾ The discount to NAV for Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) closed at 14.2%. (Grayscale)
Exchange, Custody and Product Updates
◾ Crypto trading platform MultiBank.io is launching a ‘Panic Sell’ feature enabling users to quickly convert all positions into a digital asset or fiat currency with a single tap. (Finbold)