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FTX is demanding the return of $5 million that it claims was used to bankroll the purchase of a former hotel that has since hosted events for various right -wing fringe groups.  The property, formerly known as the Rose Garden Inn, is a bright pink manor that is now owned by the non-profit Lightcone Infrastructure in Berkeley, California.  The charity hosts conferences in the former inn for supporters of ‘longtermism,’ ‘rationalism,’ and ‘effective altruism,’ all popular within Silicon Valley.  However, The Guardian reports that supporters of eugenics, scientific racism, and other questionable right -wing movements have spoken at these conference s. Picture of the Rose Garden Inn, now the Lighthaven property, taken from Tripadvisor. Last weekend, the venue hosted $499-a-ticket prediction market-focused conference, Manifest 2024. Guests at the event included Jonathan Anomaly, the author of a paper defending eugenics, and Stephen Hsu, a former ...

The recent surge in FTX claims is being attributed to its early investment in AI companies whose valuation has jumped in recent times. The current claim pricing of FTX has reached a maximum of 57%, according to data from Claims Market. The increase in FTX’s claim pricing is attributed to the valuation of the Artificial intelligence (AI) companies that the now-bankrupt crypto exchange previously invested in.  Creditors stake their claims to try to recoup some of their investment when businesses experience financial difficulties or bankruptcy. Based on their estimates of the total amount recovered, investors frequently trade these claims. There is an increase in the estimated recovery value when the pricing of a claim rises. FTX claims. Source: Claims Market As the value of FTX investment in these AI companies jumped, so did the potential amount that could be recovered from its bankruptcy procedure. A claim is a legal assertion of a certain monetary amount. The claim percentage value...

Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial enters into its seventh day, with witnesses testifying Alameda and FTX’s mishaps led to an industry-wide cascading effect. The 7th day of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s historic trial continues, as former Alameda CEO, Caroline Ellison is cross-examined by the defendant’s lawyers. Two other witnesses also testified today, which included Christian Drappi, a software engineer at Alameda, and Zac Prince from bankrupt crypto exchange BlockFi. Cross-examination of Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research Ellison admits that he found SBF correct in some of his statements and also saw him as ambitious. Ellison admits that SBF was willing to take on more business risk than her. After former Alameda Research co-CEO Sam Trabucco resigned in 2022, SBF wanted to appoint another co-CEO. However, Ellison wanted to remain the sole CEO. Even as a CEO, Caroline Ellison handled most of the core tasks at Alameda, including HR, accounting, and ...

Week 2 of Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial in New York continued after premiere witness accounts from SBF’s inner circle as federal prosecutors pointed the jury to alleged fraudulent schemes masterminded by the FTX founder himself. Day 4 of SBF’s trial ended a few minutes ahead of schedule, but not before Gary Wang dealt potentially heavy blows to the founder’s defense. Wang, former Alameda and FTX CTO, told the court of special code written to allow SBF’s hedge fund withdraw without limits, adding that SBF lied to the public about how FTX treated customer cash and assets, per InnerCityPress. OK – SBF trial restart, Gary Wang still on cross examination, Bankman-Fried's lawyer want to ask him about other lawyers' role in his real estate purchases. On desk (and photogs waiting outside for) Caroline Ellison. Inner City Press will live tweet, thread below pic.twitter.com/qDvMDZberR — Inner City Press (@innercitypress) October 10, 2023 Before that, another childhood fr...

Day one of Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial on charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy was officially scheduled to begin at 9:30am. For unclear reasons, Bankman-Fried arrived, dressed in a court-allowed grey business suit, at 9:55am. The first two orders of business in the courtroom may also have been the most significant news of the day. In statements before Judge Lewis Kaplan, both government prosecutors and Bankman-Fried’s defense team affirmed that he had received no offer of a plea deal from the government. The lack of any plea offer whatsoever explains the biggest mystery of the trial: why there’s a trial at all. Various statements by Bankman-Fried and his parents have made the trio seem borderline delusional in their insistence that Sam is innocent, despite his own executives already having confessed to numerous crimes. But if confessing your guilt gets you little or nothing, why not pretend you’re innocent for as long as you can? The second opening note s...

However, FTX creditors express discontent and urge the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of FTX (UCC) to contest the agreement. FTX, the troubled cryptocurrency exchange, and its CEO John J. Ray III have filed a motion seeking to reach a settlement of $176 million with Genesis entities.  As per a legal document, FTX Trading and related debtors have formally requested a court mandate to resolve their disagreement with Genesis entities , aiming to settle claims amounting to nearly $176 million. The claims put forth by Genesis entities involve around $176 million in customer claims against FTX Trading and its affiliates. However, FTX creditors expressed discontent and have urged the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of FTX (UCC) to contest the agreement. They point to Alameda's transfer of significant FTX customer funds to Genesis in 2022 as a concern. FTX asks court to settle Genesis dispute for a $175 million Genesis claim, the release of a $175 million customer...

Ryan Salame plans to plead the Fifth if he is asked to testify at Sam Bankman-Fried's criminal trial, according to United States prosecutors. Former FTX executive Ryan Salame will reportedly avoid testify ing about his role in FTX’s alleged illegal campaign donation scheme if he is subpoenaed in Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial. Lawyers representing the former FTX co-CEO said that Salame will be unavailable as a witness to the case, according to an Aug. 14 motion filed by United States federal prosecutors. “Salame’s attorney has represented that if subpoenaed, Salame would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination,” the prosecutor’s motion states, adding that Salame would be “unavailable as a witness.” From the US government's motion in limine in the Sam Bankman-Fried criminal trial: "[Ryan] Salame is unavailable as a witness... Salame’s attorney has represented that if subpoenaed, Salame would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimin...

The study also questioned whether FTX or Alameda had any role in coordinating Twitter bot activity for its own gain. Crypto-spouting Twitter bots could be playing a much larger role in artificially inflating the price of altcoins than previously understood, a new study has suggested. Using a sample of various FTX-listed cryptocurrencies in a study published Aug. 2, the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) said it analyzed over 3 million tweets posted between Jan. 1, 2019, to Jan. 27, 2023, surrounding 18 altcoins. The study found that Twitter bot activity played a crucial role in amplifying the value of these cryptocurrencies, including The Sandbox (SAND), Gala (GALA), Gods Unchained (GODS) and LooksRare (LOOKS), with half of the coins showing signs of price influence as a result of tweet bot activity. It also found that these inauthentic tweet s would increase after FTX posted about the token on social media, which it said raises questions about whether FTX or Alameda Research...

Wrapped Bitcoin garnered DeFi traders' support in the 2021-22 bull season, but the demand started to fade post numerous crypto contagions led to redemptions. The supply of wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC) dropped to its lowest since May 2021 after the second-largest single-day burn on Feb. 27.  A total of 11,500 WBTC worth about $260 million linked to now-bankrupt crypto lender Celsius was burned, turning its growth rate to negative. The current total supply of the wrapped token is 164,396 WBTC, with a monthly growth rate of -7.39. wBTC Daily mint and burn. Source: Dune WBTC is an Ethereum-based ERC-20 token that mirrors the value of Bitcoin and is pegged 1:1 with the Bitcoin (BTC) price. Bitgo co-developed wBTC in 2019 alongside blockchain interoperability protocol Ren and multi-chain liquidity platform Kyber. wBTC is also managed by the decentralized autonomous organization wBTC DAO, which comprises over 30 members. When a merchant wants to exchange BTC for wBTC, they start a burn transa...

In a superseding indictment revealed today, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is facing four new criminal charges. Now, after the eight charges made public during his initial arrest, the former CEO of the collapsed crypto exchange has a total of 12 criminal charges placed against him. Bloomberg reported that the charges were unsealed today and could be used to add a defendant to the case. Specifically, the additional charges are focused on fraudulent activity and conspiratorial political donations. JUST IN: SBF charged with conspiracy to make unlawful political donations and defraud the Federal Election Commission. — Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) February 23, 2023 SBF Now Facing 12 Criminal Charges At the time of his arrest in November, Sam Bankman-Fried was facing an abundant eight criminal charges. Those offenses ranged from fraud to conspiracy and were connected to the collapse of his crypto exchange, FTX . Now, with a superseding indictment unveiled today, those ch...

Centralized exchanges, including Binance, have been facing scrutiny ever since the fall of the FTX exchange. There has been diminished trust among users following the collapse of one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges. Binance has proven to be a trustworthy and transparent platform. But, the FTX scenario has fueled the concerns of large cryptocurrency businesses. Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, had faced criticism for FTX ’s fall and was even blamed as the cause of it. In one of the latest reports by The Washington Post, the US federal authorities are looking into the relationship between American hedge funds and Binance. The probe, according to the reports, is part of a possible ongoing money-laundering investigation into CZ ’s exchange. Source: PYMNTS.com US attorneys sent subpoenas requesting records According to the report, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington in Seattle, which heads the investigation, has sent subpoenas to hedge funds i...