{"id":25317,"date":"2023-04-23T20:18:35","date_gmt":"2023-04-23T20:18:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/?p=25317"},"modified":"2023-04-23T20:37:26","modified_gmt":"2023-04-23T20:37:26","slug":"crypto-collapse-reggie-fowler-sentencing-delayed-sec-charges-bittrex-coinbase-looks-to-leave-the-us-scaramucci-and-ftx-bitfinex-ripple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2023\/04\/23\/crypto-collapse-reggie-fowler-sentencing-delayed-sec-charges-bittrex-coinbase-looks-to-leave-the-us-scaramucci-and-ftx-bitfinex-ripple\/","title":{"rendered":"Crypto collapse: Reggie Fowler sentencing delayed, SEC charges Bittrex, Coinbase looks to leave the US, Scaramucci and FTX, Bitfinex, Ripple"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i>By <\/i><b><i>Amy Castor<\/i><\/b><i> and <\/i><b><i>David Gerard<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">ONE WEIRD TRICK <b><i>they<\/i><\/b> don\u2019t want you to know: Send us money! Here\u2019s<a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/amycastor\"> Amy\u2019s<\/a> Patreon, and here\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/davidgerard\/\">David\u2019s<\/a>. Help us with this work \u2014 sign up today!<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Our patrons can also get a couple of <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/bitcoin-it-cant-be-that-stupid.png\">\u201cBitcoin: It Can\u2019t Be That Stupid<\/a>\u201d stickers just by messaging one of us and asking.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">David has<a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2020\/11\/26\/get-signed-copies-of-libra-shrugged-and-attack-of-the-50-foot-blockchain\/\"> signed author copies of his books<\/a> for sale.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Sign up on<a href=\"https:\/\/amycastor.com\/\"> Amy\u2019s blog<\/a> to see every new post she makes as it goes up, and<a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/#byemail\"> click here and enter your email address<\/a> for every new post on David\u2019s blog as it goes up.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cfirst they came for \u2018Mr. Crimes\u2019, the guy who did a bunch of crimes, and i said nothing\u201d \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Mike271828\/status\/1641569821644161024\">Michael May<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2023\/04\/23\/crypto-collapse-reggie-fowler-sentencing-delayed-sec-charges-bittrex-coinbase-looks-to-leave-the-us-scaramucci-and-ftx-bitfinex-ripple\/reggie-fowler-header\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-25318\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-25318\" src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/reggie-fowler-header-300x185.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"510\" height=\"315\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/reggie-fowler-header-300x185.jpg 300w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/reggie-fowler-header-348x215.jpg 348w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/reggie-fowler-header.jpg 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 510px) 100vw, 510px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Good<b> news for Reggie Fowler: another month of freedom<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>Bitfinex\/Tether money mule Reggie Fowler&#8217;s sentencing has been postponed \u2014 again.<\/p>\n<p>Less than 12 hours before the hearing was set to take place, Fowler\u2019s attorney Ed Sapone asked for an adjournment. Prosecutors had filed a 16-page sentencing letter with 300 supporting exhibits two days before the hearing. Sapone wanted more time to digest everything.<\/p>\n<p>There was still a hearing on April 20, sort of. One victim spoke \u2014\u00a0but the sentencing didn\u2019t happen. Sentencing is now scheduled for May 17. Reggie has another month to get his affairs in order. [<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.nysd.513750\/gov.uscourts.nysd.513750.126.0.pdf\"><i>Request for adjournment<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ua3yPzRPXi\"><i>Inner City Press<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Seven years is a good amount of time for Reggie to spend behind bars, prosecutors say. They also want Reggie to forfeit $740 million and pay the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Alliance_of_American_Football\">Alliance of American Football<\/a> (AAF), the football league he defrauded, $53 million in restitution.<\/p>\n<p>We seriously doubt Reggie has that kind of money left. Prosecutors also aren\u2019t happy that he blew $200,000 at the casinos as opposed to using those funds to pay back victims. [<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.nysd.513750\/gov.uscourts.nysd.513750.125.0.pdf\"><i>Sentencing submission<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.nysd.513750\/gov.uscourts.nysd.513750.125.1.pdf\"><i>Proposed forfeiture<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.nysd.513750\/gov.uscourts.nysd.513750.125.2.pdf\"><i>Proposed restitution<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.nysd.513750\/gov.uscourts.nysd.513750.125.6.pdf\"><i>Account balance sheet<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF<\/i>]<\/p>\n<h3>The world\u2019s tiniest violin for Bitfinex<\/h3>\n<p>iFinex, wearing their Bitfinex hat, submitted a 13-page victim impact statement in the Fowler case. Bitfinex claims it\u2019s the biggest victim of Reggie Fowler\u2019s crimes \u2014 rather than the AAF. [<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.nysd.513750\/gov.uscourts.nysd.513750.127.2.pdf\"><i>Victim letter<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>Bitfinex is asking for $385 million in restitution. It says that Reggie used the money in the accounts he set up for Bitfinex via shadow bank Crypto Capital for his own purposes \u2014 to pay off mortgages on his properties and to fund a volleyball club in Arizona.<\/p>\n<p>Apparently, Bitfinex has been in touch with the Southern District of New York for a while as a claimed victim in the Fowler case:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Bitfinex\u2019s outside counsel met with DOJ to make the initial criminal referral on January 23, 2019 and provided additional information about Crypto Capital\u2019s suspected crimes against Bitfinex during a presentation on February 25, 2019. Bitfinex also provided DOJ with voluminous documents regarding, and communications with, Crypto Capital.<\/p>\n<p>We appreciate the efforts of the prosecution team to keep Bitfinex, as a victim, apprised of the status of this matter.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Bitfinex lost $850 million it had entrusted to Crypto Capital when dozens of bank accounts that Reggie had set up in the US and overseas were frozen or seized by various authorities. Bitfinex is still trying to recover its frozen funds in Poland and Portugal.<\/p>\n<p>Bitfinex hooked up with Crypto Capital in 2014. After Bitfinex was cut off from its banking partners, it relied heavily on Crypto Capital through 2018. Most of the money flowing through Reggie\u2019s bank accounts was Bitfinex customer money.<\/p>\n<p>Bitfinex details all the ways that Oz Yosef of Crypto Capital lied to them. This is the company that Bitfinex handed hundreds of millions of actual dollars to without a written contract:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>On July 30, 2018, Yosef told Bitfinex, in substance, that the delays in returning Bitfinex funds were caused by Crypto Capital needing to file its 2017 taxes in Poland.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In October 2018, Bitfinex was frantically trying to get its money back from Crypto Capital, fearing that <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2021\/02\/03\/tether-printer-go-brrrrr\/\">bitcoin might drop below $1,000<\/a> if they didn\u2019t have these funds on hand \u2014 for some reason.<\/p>\n<p>By November 2018, Bitfinex realized that Yosef was never calling them back. Bitfinex claims they had never heard of Fowler before December 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Pages 7\u20138 of the victim statement detail some of the accounts that Fowler was putting Bitfinex money into at this time. Bitfinex says that Fowler opened these accounts without their knowledge, including one at HSBC. They knew <i>nothing:<\/i><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Unbeknownst to Bitfinex, Crypto Capital had provided various Fowler Accounts to Bitfinex for use by its customers, with Crypto Capital representing that it controlled the accounts. As Bitfinex customer funds flowed to these accounts, millions of dollars were wired or otherwise transferred to other Fowler Accounts without Bitfinex\u2019s knowledge.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>These are the accounts that Larry Cermak at The Block was <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/10\/15\/is-bitcoin-going-to-the-moon-no-its-tether-going-down-the-plughole\/\">finding<\/a> over and <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/10\/17\/bitfinexs-banking-problems-solved-snitches-get-stitches\/\">over<\/a> at the time as the accounts that Bitfinex was telling its customers to use \u2014 including the HSBC account! [<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/lawmaster\/status\/1048515520482484224\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a><i>, 2018, <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20181025130353\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/lawmaster\/status\/1048515520482484224\"><i>archive<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblock.co\/post\/1272\/bitfinex-moves-its-banking-relationship-to-hsbc\"><i>The Block<\/i><\/a><i>, 2018<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>So we would apply a <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2023\/03\/31\/the-block-fires-a-third-of-staff-larry-cermak-is-ceo-wintermutes-evgeny-gaevoy-joins-board\/\">skeptic\u2019s lens<\/a> to Bitfinex\u2019s claims. We suspect iFinex is begging now because it may be running short of actual dollars.<\/p>\n<h3>Good news for Bittrex<\/h3>\n<p>At the end of March, the Bittrex crypto exchange announced it was <a href=\"https:\/\/amycastor.com\/2023\/04\/04\/crypto-collapse-no-cashing-out-from-binance-us-catherine-coley-lawyers-up-voyager-binance-deal-on-hold-celsius\/\">leaving the US<\/a> because \u201cregulatory requirements are often unclear and enforced without appropriate discussion or input, resulting in an uneven competitive landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What they meant was that they\u2019d gotten notice from the SEC telling them that they were about to be sued \u2014 and so they were. Charges were filed on April 17. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/news\/press-release\/2023-78\"><i>press release<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/litigation\/complaints\/2023\/comp-pr2023-78.pdf\"><i>complaint<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>The SEC contends that Bittrex offered trading in securities. The complaint calls out several tokens listed on the exchange \u2014 OMG, DASH, ALGO, TKN, NGC, and IHT \u2014 with detailed rundowns on why these constitute securities.<\/p>\n<p>Bittrex had a pretty good idea that a lot of these were securities:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Bittrex routinely directed that crypto asset issuers \u201cscrub\u201d their offering and marketing materials of \u201cinvestment-related terms,\u201d including language that would \u201cget unwanted attention from the SEC.\u201d Bittrex regularly asked issuers to remove \u201cproblematic statements\u201d from their marketing materials \u2014 statements indicating that the asset was marketed as a security\u2014as a prerequisite for making the issuers\u2019 crypto assets available for trading on the Bittrex Platform. Bittrex unofficially dubbed this practice the \u201cproblematic statement cleanup.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>You have to register with the SEC to run an exchange for securities. Also, you\u2019re absolutely not allowed to combine the functions of exchanges (bringing together buyers and sellers), clearing houses (moving the securities from the sellers to the buyers), and brokers (the intermediary between the exchange and the customers). There\u2019s too much conflict of interest in combining these.<\/p>\n<p>We also recommend Matt Levine\u2019s summary. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/opinion\/articles\/2023-04-17\/the-sec-comes-for-bittrex\"><i>Bloomberg<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>The SEC\u2019s rules, as cited in this complaint, make it extremely hard to operate a crypto exchange in the US that trades in anything other than bitcoin and maybe ether.<\/p>\n<p>And nobody seems to have noted the most startling change visible in the Bittrex complaint: the SEC changed its font from Times New Roman to Monotype Garamond.<\/p>\n<h3>Good news for Coinbase<\/h3>\n<p>We\u2019re pretty sure that Coinbase is next in the SEC\u2019s sights after Bittrex. In fact, Coinbase lists two of the tokens \u2014\u00a0DASH and ALGO \u2014\u00a0that the SEC named as securities on Bittrex.<\/p>\n<p>Coinbase has got itself a license to operate in Bermuda and will apparently be setting up an offshore exchange within weeks. Coinbase Bermuda Limited has a \u201cClass F\u201d license (\u201cFull\u201d) from the Bermuda Monetary Authority, issued on April 19. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coinbase.com\/blog\/an-update-to-coinbases-global-scale-to-go-broad-and-deep?__cf_chl_rt_tk=pyobBu_9ronOR938yF1RP0Ogpg.OuumWJGHCo.yuXSE-1681945001-0-gaNycGzNCvs\"><i>Blog post<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/crypto\/2023\/04\/19\/coinbase-gets-bermuda-license-plans-to-launch-offshore-exchange-in-coming-weeks\/\"><i>Fortune<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bma.bm\/regulated-entities\"><i>BMA<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Brian Armstrong and other Coinbase executives went to Washington, DC, to get \u201cregulatory clarity.\u201d By \u201cregulatory clarity,\u201d what they\u2019re asking for is for lawmakers to turn a blind eye to crypto \u2014 something that isn\u2019t going to happen after FTX. Coinbase couldn\u2019t even get anyone in the government to pose for a photo op this time. [<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/brian_armstrong\/status\/1649185136833904642\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>In a Twitter Space on crypto policy and national security following the trip, Coinbase was oddly laser-focused on anti-money-laundering and North Korea. Cryptadamus thinks that Coinbase were told that if crypto can&#8217;t solve the massive laundering for Russia, Iran, and North Korea, then Coinbase is going to get shut down real soon. \u201cThey sound &#8230; deflated. Like they heard Bad News.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Cryptadamist\/status\/1649504351474393090\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<h3>Good news for Scaramucci\u2019s tailor<\/h3>\n<p>As FTX was teetering on the brink of collapse in October, SkyBridge Capital\u2019s Anthony Scaramucci took Sam Bankman-Fried on a whirlwind fundraising trip in the middle east to help him raise $1 billion.<\/p>\n<p>Scaramucci even got Bankman-Fried a meeting with Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, one of the richest men in the world \u2014 who apparently didn\u2019t see fit to bring his <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Assassination_of_Jamal_Khashoggi\">bone saw.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>During meetings with officials in Dubai, Sam badmouthed CZ from Binance. Word got back to CZ, who decided to <a href=\"https:\/\/amycastor.com\/2022\/11\/08\/crypto-collapse-j-pierpont-moneygone-ftx-rekt-bought-by-binance\/\">dump FTX\u2019s in-house FTT token<\/a> \u2014 leading to <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2022\/11\/13\/ftx-files-for-bankruptcy-and-the-fallout-begins-whos-next\/\">FTX\u2019s rapid implosion<\/a> in November.<\/p>\n<p>Scaramucci regrets buying Sam a proper business suit for the trip \u2014 \u201cI\u2019m still pissed about it &#8230; because he\u2019s walking around in my suit during the perp walk.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/puck.news\/s-b-f-and-the-moochs-arabian-nights\/\"><i>Puck News<\/i><\/a><i>, <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/09ORn\"><i>archive<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Scaramucci has seen better days. His bet on crypto has gone sour. From the start of 2020 through March, his unhappy clients have watched the value of their investment fall by 30%. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/features\/2023-04-06\/anthony-scaramucci-s-skybridge-capital-woes-predate-ftx\"><i>Bloomberg<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Swift on Securities: singer Taylor Swift turned down a $100 million FTX endorsement deal with FTX, according to Adam Moskowitz, a lawyer for the class action that includes celebrities who promoted FTX. Swift asked <a href=\"https:\/\/amycastor.com\/2022\/10\/05\/the-sec-busts-kim-kardashian-over-ethereummax-pour-encourager-les-autres\/\">the one important question:<\/a> \u201cIn our discovery, Taylor Swift actually asked them, &#8216;Can you tell me that these are not unregistered securities?\u2019\u201d As it happens, Swift\u2019s father was a stockbroker. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblock.co\/post\/226981\/taylor-swift-ftx-shaquille-oneal-lawsuit\"><i>The Block<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s young Caroline Ellison, a couple of decades before her Alameda adventures, talking about \u201cscary stories\u201d in an episode of <i>Arthur<\/i> in September 2003. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QINco_FGGhQ\"><i>YouTube<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<h3>Good news for other bankrupts<\/h3>\n<p>The Voyager Unsolicited Creditors\u2019 Committee, Voyager Digital, and the US government have agreed to let the Voyager sale to Binance US proceed without the <a href=\"https:\/\/amycastor.com\/tag\/catherine-coley\/\">hilariously broad exculpation provision<\/a>, which purported to protect the parties in the bankruptcy from <i>criminal<\/i> charges for their actions in the case, not just from being sued by other parties. The government appeal against this provision proceeds. [<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VoyagerUCC\/status\/1648753618084847637\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>In the Celsius Network bankruptcy, the auction for which bid to accept is on April 25. The Novawulf bid is the stalking horse bid. The other two bidders are Fahrenheit \u2014 yes, \u201cFahrenheit,\u201d really \u2014 and the Blockchain Recovery Investment Committee. [<a href=\"https:\/\/cases.stretto.com\/public\/x191\/11749\/PLEADINGS\/1174904222380000000030.pdf\"><i>Doc 2519<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF<\/i>]<\/p>\n<h3>Good news for Wyoming<\/h3>\n<p>Wyoming has asked to join <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2023\/04\/09\/so-much-for-wyoming-blockchain-regulatory-capture-the-fed-blocks-custodia-bank\/\">Custodia\u2019s lawsuit against the Fed<\/a> over access to the central bank\u2019s payments system. Wyoming attorney general Bridget Hill says that in denying Custodia&#8217;s application for a master account, the Fed has \u201cquestioned the legitimacy\u201d of Wyoming&#8217;s SPDI charter for crypto banks. The judge knocked Wyoming back because they didn\u2019t check with either current party first \u2014 but Wyoming is sure to return. [<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.wyd.61107\/gov.uscourts.wyd.61107.133.0.pdf\"><em>Motion,<\/em><\/a><em> PDF; <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.wyd.61107\/gov.uscourts.wyd.61107.133.4.pdf\"><em>D<\/em><i>oc 133.4<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.wyd.61107\/gov.uscourts.wyd.61107.133.0.pdf\">]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s Custodia\u2019s 40-page opposition to the Fed\u2019s motion to dismiss the suit. Mostly it asserts once more that their original claims were correct. [<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.wyd.61107\/gov.uscourts.wyd.61107.135.0.pdf\"><i>Doc 135<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>Former Senator Pat Toomey submitted an amicus brief wherein he argues that the law he put into place saying that the Fed has discretion, that the Kansas Fed and the Board are relying on, doesn\u2019t mean what it says. [<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.wyd.61107\/gov.uscourts.wyd.61107.146.1.pdf\"><i>Doc 133<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF<\/i>]<\/p>\n<h3>Good news for Ripple<\/h3>\n<p>Ripple told the world for years that its XRP token was the finest possible currency for remittances. But every one of their partnerships turned out to be Ripple-funded trials, rather than economically viable enterprises \u2014 when the \u201cpartners\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2019\/02\/02\/news-ripples-partners-are-fog-bitcoin-ups-and-downs-and-downs-kik-vs-sec-unbanking-the-banked\/\">even existed.<\/a> The company\u2019s only profitable line of business was dumping XRP on retail investors, which <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2020\/12\/22\/sec-sues-ripple-labs-claiming-xrp-is-a-security\/\">the SEC sued it over<\/a> in late 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Recent SEC filings by Tranglo, a Malaysian payments company that is 40% owned by Ripple, detail how Ripple dumps XRP in 2023. Tranglo offers on-demand liquidity (ODL) \u2014 Ripple lends XRP to Tranglo, then Tranglo sells the XRP to crypto exchanges and pays the loan in actual money.<\/p>\n<p>ODL is the new way for Ripple to dump XRP without it looking like they\u2019re dumping XRP. Ripple made a $2.7 billion profit from \u201cODL-related\u201d XRP sales in 2021 and 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Eight of Tranglo\u2019s 91 active customers send remittances via XRP. 73% of the volume is just one of these, GEA \u2014 which is controlled by Kong, Tranglo\u2019s other major shareholder.<\/p>\n<p>Martin Walker, who\u2019s long been on the XRP trail, says that \u201cRipple continues putting huge efforts into promoting the story they are improving remittances and cross border payments but whenever information about the reality comes out, is it\u2019s all about selling XRP.\u201d\u00a0 [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/johnhyatt\/2023\/04\/19\/what-a-sputtering-spac-reveals-about-ripples-billion-dollar-xrp-business\/\"><i>Forbes<\/i><\/a><i>, <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20230419161828\/https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/johnhyatt\/2023\/04\/19\/what-a-sputtering-spac-reveals-about-ripples-billion-dollar-xrp-business\/\"><i>archive<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<h3>The rest of the good news for bitcoin<\/h3>\n<p>The rising price of bitcoin \u2014 from $20,000 to $30,000 over the past month or so \u2014 is manipulation. There&#8217;s no BTC trading volume. What trading is happening is mostly BTC-tether and BTC-BUSD on Binance. And Binance can\u2019t get a reliable supply of BUSD any more, so it\u2019s turning to tethers to pump the market. Tether is printing furiously \u2014 there are 81 billion tethers sloshing around in the crypto markets, but fewer and fewer actual dollars. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2023-04-21\/a-closer-look-at-bitcoin-s-btc-rally-suggests-the-depth-of-demand-is-deceptive\"><i>Bloomberg<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>That big \u201cbipartisan\u201d stablecoin bill is unlikely to happen any time soon. Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, was apparently sandbagged by the Republicans. The posted bill in no way represents negotiations between her and Patrick McHenry (R-NC), she said. \u201cWe must get a stablecoin bill,\u201d she said, \u201cbut disregard the bill that has been posted altogether.\u201d So expect everything to be back in discussion for a while. [<a href=\"https:\/\/democrats-financialservices.house.gov\/news\/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=410328\"><i>Press release<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Canada has just let loose a <a href=\"https:\/\/amycastor.com\/2023\/02\/26\/crypto-collapse-new-sam-bankman-fried-charges-new-york-targets-coinex-coinbase-losses-voyager-celsius\/\">searing blast of regulatory clarity<\/a>, and crypto companies are leaving. Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini say they\u2019ll be registering, but then so does Binance. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2023-04-17\/canada-s-new-crypto-rules-push-coinbase-coin-binance-to-comply\"><i>Bloomberg<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Ray Youssef, the founder and former CEO of closed peer-to-peer bitcoin marketplace <a href=\"https:\/\/amycastor.com\/2023\/04\/16\/crypto-collapse-treasury-comes-after-defi-sec-comes-after-crypto-exchanges-stablecoin-bill-ftx-first-interim-report\/\">Paxful,<\/a> says withdrawals are unfrozen and customers can now retrieve their money. \u201cRay\u2019s not running off with anyone\u2019s money.\u201d But users say they still can\u2019t get their funds out of Paxful. [<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/raypaxful\/status\/1647743677366665217\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/137000\/paxful-ceo-ray-yousseff-claims-withdrawals-available-users-disagree\"><i>Decrypt<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>During the bubble, Intel furiously promoted its hot (ahahaha) new Blockscale 1000 bitcoin mining chips! A year later, Intel\u2019s just quietly discontinued the line. Customers can order new chips until October 2023, and shipments will end in April 2024. There are no plans for upgraded replacement models. Ah well. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomshardware.com\/news\/intel-discontinues-bitcoin-mining-blockscale-chips-no-future-gens-announced\"><i>Tom\u2019s Hardware<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<br><br><div align=\"center\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=8420236\"><img src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/become_a_patron_button.svg\" alt=\"Become a Patron!\" title=\"Become a Patron!\" width=217 height=51><\/a><br><p style=\"align:center;\" class=\"patreon-badge\"><i>Your subscriptions keep this site going. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=8420236\">Sign up today!<\/a><\/i><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We only ever post good news for bitcoin!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3499,1400,1706,3197,3496,568,21,38,168,3501,951,3341,916,288,1265,3440,1402,5,3491,3500,1515,1798,1357,3495,3505,3503,1133,206,3102,1717,3497,3494,3487,3492,1520,2436,1815,3504,1269,338,2491,1819,33,1449,3498,39,3493,3502,2697,1556,339],"class_list":["post-25317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-adam-moskowitz","tag-algorand","tag-alliance-of-american-football","tag-anthony-scaramucci","tag-bermuda","tag-binance","tag-bitcoin","tag-bitfinex","tag-bittrex","tag-blockchain-recovery-instrument-committee","tag-canada","tag-caroline-ellison","tag-celsius","tag-coinbase","tag-crypto-capital","tag-custodia","tag-dash","tag-dubai","tag-ed-sapone","tag-fahrenheit","tag-federal-reserve","tag-ftx","tag-ifinex","tag-iht","tag-intel","tag-kong","tag-larry-cermak","tag-martin-walker","tag-maxine-waters","tag-mining","tag-mohammed-bin-salman","tag-ngc","tag-novawulf","tag-omg","tag-oz-yosef","tag-pat-toomey","tag-paxful","tag-ray-youssef","tag-reggie-fowler","tag-ripple","tag-sam-bankman-fried","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-sec","tag-stablecoin","tag-taylor-swift","tag-tether","tag-tkn","tag-tranglo","tag-voyager-digital","tag-wyoming","tag-xrp"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/reggie-fowler-header.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25317"}],"version-history":[{"count":40,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25358,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25317\/revisions\/25358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}