Crypto

Former FTX Boss Sam Bankman-Fried Using Privacy Messaging App Signal

Federal prosecutors of the Southern District of New York overseeing the current case against Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder and former CEO of FTX, want the court to impose tighter bail conditions on the defendant.

SBF Using Signal

Based on their investigations, they discovered that Sam Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF, had messaged the general counsel of FTX US via Signal.

Signal is a messaging app similar to WhatsApp. The platform offers instant messaging across platforms, allowing people to communicate privately. Signal creators’ primary focus is on security and privacy. The application is run as a non-profit managed by a foundation. Over 40 million people use it, and per court filings, SBF is one of them.

Investigators said messages sent to the general counsel of FTX US, an individual who can be a potential witness in the ongoing criminal case against SBF, were “suggestive of an effort to influence a witness’ potential testimony.”

On January 15, SBF, prosecutors say, messaged the general counsel asking if they could “reconnect” and “if there’s a way for (for them) to have a constructive relationship, use each other as resources.”

Investigators claim these messages are concerning because, considering the nature of the current investigation, the general counsel might have access to information that might help indict the defendant.

For his action, federal prosecutors are asking the overseeing judge to prevent SBF from communicating with former employees and to stop using Signal. His continued communication would be contrary to the bail terms.

Even in his house arrest, the former CEO continues to receive visitors. For instance, there are reports that author Michael Lewis visited SBF. He is writing a book about the crypto entrepreneur.

The Collapse Of FTX

SBF managed FTX, an exchange that was at one point one of the most liquid in the world, only after Binance and Coinbase, since launch. However, it later emerged that through Alameda Research, SBF was misusing user funds to recklessly trade, invest in crypto projects, and donate to U.S. political parties.

Falling crypto prices also accelerated the collapse.

Following the collapse of FTX and the revelation of the extent of SBF’s misappropriation, U.S. authorities are charging the 30-year-old with, among others, money laundering, fraud, and campaign finance violation.

SBF is out on a $250 million bond and has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. Apart from the various interviews he did earlier before his arrest, it has emerged that the former CEO has begun mounting a defense of his own. Recently, it was revealed that he had been laying out his turn of events leading to the collapse of FTX on Substack, a media platform.

Crypto

Parts of Twitter Source Code Leaked Online

Coinspeaker
Parts of Twitter Source Code Leaked Online

As per a legal court filing, some parts of Twitter’s source code have been leaked as Elon Musk‘s Twitter is now seeking information about the responsible person.

Last week on March 24, Twitter issued a subpoena to the software collaboration platform GitHub for a user identified as “FreeSpeechEnthusiast”. The user had reportedly shared excerpts of Twitter’s source code without permission. In the court documents, the Twitter counsel said that the purpose of this subpoena was to identify the users responsible for sharing this source code.

As a result, social media company Twitter asked the US District Court for the Northern District of California to order GitHub to produce all information of the “FreeSpeechEnthusiast” user. GitHub hasn’t commented on this matter yet.

However, the Microsoft-owned platform complied with Twitter’s request of removing the source code last Friday. A GitHub spokesperson also told CNBC that the company shares all DMCA takedowns publicly. This specifically occurs when a copyright holder requests the removal of content from a website.

As per the DMCA request shared by GitHub, the company removed “proprietary source code for Twitter’s platform and internal tools”. GitHub hasn’t said whether any of its users were able to access the repository before they took it down. As per an internal investigation by Twitter, people who were responsible for the leak left the company last year.

Twitter to Open Source Its Code

Last week, Twitter chief Elon Musk announced that the company has planned to open source its code on March 31st. In his tweet last week on March 18, Musk wrote:

Our “algorithm” is overly complex & not fully understood internally. People will discover many silly things , but we’ll patch issues as soon as they’re found! We’re developing a simplified approach to serve more compelling tweets, but it’s still a work in progress. That’ll also be open source. Providing code transparency will be incredibly embarrassing at first, but it should lead to rapid improvement in recommendation quality. Most importantly, we hope to earn your trust.

Elon Musk has been working actively ever since he acquired Twitter in October 2022 to make the company profitable. For this, the billionaire took some radical steps such as introducing mass layoffs, relaunching a new verification program with a Twitter subscription, etc. During one of the recent conferences, Elon Musk mentioned how poorly monetized is the Twitter platform.

“Every single day on, average, which is – I think it comes to a really interesting point which is to – just it’s startling how poorly monetized that is – because you have to say like how valuable is that attention 100 to 130 million hours of human attention per day of people that read – so these are the generally the smartest people in the world, the most influential people in the world,” he said.

Parts of Twitter Source Code Leaked Online

Crypto

Binance.US Acquisition of Voyager Digital Halted by Federal Judge

Coinspeaker
Binance.US Acquisition of Voyager Digital Halted by Federal Judge

Judge Jennifer Rearden, a new Federal Judge for the US District Court in New York has temporarily halted the proposed sale of Voyager Digital to Binance.US. According to the judgment passed, the proposed $1 billion sale will now only be concluded once a decision has been made concerning the final details of the bankruptcy proceedings.

The decision to suspend the completion of the acquisition was granted to give the government ample time to prepare for the appeal of the judgment passed by Judge Michael Wiles back on March 7. In her own words featuring the order passed, Judge Rearden declared saying:

“Upon consideration of all parties’ written submissions, as well as the conferences and oral argument held in this matter, the Government’s emergency motion is hereby GRANTED.”

According to the Judge, a detailed opinion on why she took the position will be published at a later date and industry participants are already expectant of the insights that will be gleaned from the message.

Voyager Digital filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy back in July last year and the firm has been very proactive in the search of solutions that will help it refund both its secured and unsecured creditors. Among the solutions explored was a sale to FTX Derivatives Exchange, a move that tanked when the trading platform also hit the rocks in the fourth quarter of last year.

The restructuring plans to sell its assets was revealed in a court filing in February with about 97% of 61,300 creditors backing the deal. The next best alternative found in Binance.US has always been opposed by the government. If allowed to pass, the Voyager Digital customers will be receiving back as much as 73% of their assets locked on the platform.

Opposition to the Binance.US and Voyager Digital Deal

Since the time of the auction and the bidding process, US regulators have expressed a lack of confidence in the sale of the company to Binance. The position of the Department of Justice was that selling Voyager Digital to Binance.US will foster fraud, theft, or evasion of taxes.

While Judge Wiles disagreed with the assessment of the regulators when he passed his first ruling, the latest position of Judge Rearden will grant ample time to prove its case and possibly get the decision upturned.

While it is assumed unconnected, the recent crackdown and lawsuit slammed on Binance by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for violating American derivatives law might also complicate the entire sale proceedings. There is notably a high level of uncertainty surrounding Binance as a business and a crypto trading outfit and Voyager Digital might want to desist from anything that will further complicate its restructuring plans moving forward.

The Voyager Committee of Unsecured Creditors says it will continue to oppose the government in its attempt to frustrate the deal.

Binance.US Acquisition of Voyager Digital Halted by Federal Judge

Crypto

UK Government Suspends Plans to Launch State-Owned NFT

Coinspeaker
UK Government Suspends Plans to Launch State-Owned NFT

The UK Treasury Department has revealed it will no longer be going forward with its initial plans of launching a non-fungible token. According to an April 2022 proposal, which was put forward by then Chancellor of the Exchequer and current prime minister Rishi Sunak, the plans were part of a broader effort to make the UK a global crypto hub. At the time, Coinspeaker also reported that the British government was working on bringing stablecoins within its regulatory framework. This was to ensure that stablecoins may be used as a form of payment.

However, new updates can confirm that the Royal Mint will not be pursuing the said plans any further at this moment. Nonetheless, the proposal will remain under review, according to Treasury minister Andrew Griffith.

Economic Reasons Underlie Decision of UK Treasury Department

In a statement about reasons why the NFT plans appear to have come to a sudden halt, Chair of the Treasury Select Committee Harriet Baldwin cited the economic uncertainty across the cryptocurrency sector. According to a BBC report, Baldwin believes that the economic environment has played a major role in shutting down the NFT collection launch. And while the decision has been jointly made by the Royal Mint and the UK Treasury Department, the government will seek to establish whether issuing an NFT remains a reasonable cause. Baldwin said:

“We have not yet seen a lot of evidence that our constituents should be putting their money in these speculative tokens unless they are prepared to lose all their money.”

Meanwhile, it might be worth noting that UK’s recent decision has made it a horse of different color. The decision comes at a time when other nations are beginning to align with NFTs and other Web3 technologies. One such country is Japan. In October, the East Asian country announced plans to invest in its digital transformation through NFTs and metaverse services. China also followed suit in January by launching an NFT and digital asset marketplace. China’s move was particularly impressive given the strict crypto regulations that are in place in the country.

UK Government Suspends Plans to Launch State-Owned NFT