{"id":25708,"date":"2023-07-02T21:30:14","date_gmt":"2023-07-02T21:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/?p=25708"},"modified":"2023-08-16T20:20:43","modified_gmt":"2023-08-16T20:20:43","slug":"crypto-collapse-trueusd-in-trouble-prime-trust-and-banq-go-down-europe-hates-binance-blockfi-terra-luna-twitter-is-just-resting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2023\/07\/02\/crypto-collapse-trueusd-in-trouble-prime-trust-and-banq-go-down-europe-hates-binance-blockfi-terra-luna-twitter-is-just-resting\/","title":{"rendered":"Crypto collapse: TrueUSD in trouble, Prime Trust and Banq go down, Europe hates Binance, BlockFi, Terra-Luna, Twitter is just resting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>By <b>Amy Castor<\/b> and <b>David Gerard<\/b><\/em><\/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>. 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><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2022\/12\/16\/twitters-decline-continues-follow-me-on-mastodon\/turkey\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-24362\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-24362\" src=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/turkey.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"340\" height=\"210\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/turkey.png 680w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/turkey-300x185.png 300w, https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/turkey-348x215.png 348w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 340px) 100vw, 340px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Remarkable bird, the South African Blue, idn&#8217;it, ay? Beautiful plumage!<\/h3>\n<p>Twitter has now made it impossible to read tweets without being logged in. As of July 1, you can\u2019t even load more than a few hundred tweets when you\u2019re logged in \u2014 or you hit the rate limiter!<\/p>\n<p>This has broken a pile of links and embeds on our previous posts. <i>Some<\/i> of it should be in the Internet Archive.<\/p>\n<p>Elon Musk was trying to stiff Google on Twitter\u2019s cloud bill \u2014 Twitter owed Google $42 million \u2014 and Google said they\u2019d cut Twitter off as of July 1. Twitter\u2019s new CEO, Linda Yaccarino, said she\u2019d sorted it out \u2014 but then Twitter stopped working around 9 a.m. PST on July 1. This probably isn\u2019t a coincidence. [<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.platformer.news\/p\/twitter-stiffs-google\">Platformer<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2023-06-21\/twitter-resumes-paying-google-cloud-patching-up-relationship\">Bloomberg<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/06\/29\/technology\/twitter-ceo-linda-yaccarino.html\">New York Times<\/a><\/em>]<\/p>\n<p>We don\u2019t know what crypto Twitter will do now. Mastodon and Bluesky are <i>popping off<\/i>, but neither has the sort of audience of suckers that crypto needs and Bluesky isn\u2019t even officially open to the public yet. Bluesky users do a good line in naked hostility to crypto \u2014 even as the CEO used to be a ZCash developer and they tried to seed the userbase with NFT bros.<\/p>\n<p>Using Twitter for actual work now is like using PACER for actual work. Except PACER is more pleasant.<\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, all Twitter links in our posts will include archive links from now on. <em><strong>Archive. Everything.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Prime Trust takes out TrueUSD<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2018\/03\/17\/send-in-the-tether-clones-trueusd-a-usd-backed-stable-cryptocurrency\/\">TrueUSD<\/a> runs TUSD, a supposedly asset-backed stablecoin. It\u2019s pretty clearly unbacked. The entire enterprise has fallen over. You can\u2019t get your money back.<\/p>\n<p>But Binance is still printing its own fresh TUSD.<\/p>\n<p>The market cap for TUSD has risen from $750 million to more than $3 billion in only six months. A pile of fresh TUSD fueled the <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2023\/06\/21\/tis-the-season-to-write-the-bitcoin-goes-up-post-again\/\">recent pump<\/a> in the price of bitcoin.<\/p>\n<p>Binance replaced BUSD with TUSD earlier this year as its stablecoin of choice after US regulators started <a href=\"https:\/\/amycastor.com\/2023\/02\/15\/crypto-collapse-binance-usd-shut-down-celsius-insiders-sued-paxos-voyager-ftx\/\">scrutinizing BUSD and Paxos<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Given all of Binance\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/amycastor.com\/2023\/06\/12\/sec-sues-binance-part-1-the-complaint-binance-us-asset-freeze-tai-chi-plan-sock-puppet-ceos-weird-cash-flows\/\">regulatory issues<\/a> of late, it\u2019s no wonder they&#8217;re still printing. They need the money, whether it\u2019s real or not.<\/p>\n<p>The ownership of TrueUSD is murky. It was launched in March 2018 by Rafael Cosman and Danny An, who cofounded TrustToken, which later became Archblock, a San Francisco firm with offices in Ireland and Poland. The company got funding from Thiel\u2019s Founders Fund, Stanford\u2019s StartX, a16z, and Jump Trading.<\/p>\n<p>Archblock manages TrueUSD\u2019s reserves, its banking partners, and its compliance. The token\u2019s intellectual property is owned by a hitherto unknown BVI-registered investment company called Techteryx. Justin Sun totally doesn\u2019t own TrueUSD, honest. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2023-06-22\/an-obscure-stablecoin-tusd-is-at-the-center-of-binance-reclamation-attempt\"><i>Bloomberg<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/protos.com\/whats-up-with-trueusd-and-the-rest-of-trusttokens-stablecoins\/\"><i>Protos<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>The problem, we\u2019re guessing, is that TrueUSD minting and custody partner Prime Trust \u2014 also a former custodian for Binance.US, FTX, and Celsius \u2014 has gone broke.<\/p>\n<p>Prime is an actual trust company that holds people\u2019s crypto for a fee. How do you go broke in that business? Prime\u2019s current story is that they &#8230; lost the keys to the cryptos in custody. <i>Whoops<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>Prime Trust is short $83 million \u2014 that they\u2019ll admit to. The Nevada Department of Business and Industry has put Prime Trust (Prime Core Technologies and subsidiaries) into receivership. They\u2019ve halted all withdrawals. [<a href=\"https:\/\/fid.nv.gov\/uploadedFiles\/fidnvgov\/content\/Opinion\/Prime%20Trust%20-%20C%20and%20D%206.21.23.pdf\"><i>Nevada order<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.docdroid.net\/Q5WNMMS\/prime-core-technologies-et-al-petition-pdf\"><i>Petition for a receiver<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>BitGo, another crypto custodian, put together a \u201cpreliminary non-binding agreement\u201d to buy Prime Trust on June 8 \u2014 but walked away from the deal two weeks later after Nevada sent the cease and desist order. [<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.bitgo.com\/bitgo-signs-letter-of-intent-to-acquire-prime-trust-to-expand-digital-asset-and-fintech-b1868391784a\"><i>BitGo<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BitGo\/status\/1671869979321577472\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a><i>, <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/8tb4S\"><i>archive<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>TrueUSD assures its users that everything is <i>fine<\/i> and that they have other banking partners. \u201cRest assured, all your funds are safe with TUSD.\u201d At the same time, they\u2019ve been sending notices to customers telling them they can\u2019t redeem TUSD: [<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tusdio\/status\/1671898163039596544\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a><i>, <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/8PQex\"><i>archive<\/i><\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kyleTwang\/status\/1671940755273797632\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a><i>, <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/FLNIK\"><i>archive<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8230; you will be unable to mint and redeem TUSD as well as any of our TrueCoin\u2019s including TAUD, TCAD, and TGBP while Prime Trust operations are suspended.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>How screwed is TUSD? \u201cpeople try to redeem tusd and it just gets reminted to them a couple of days later lmao\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/protos.com\/tusd-says-everythings-fine-its-not\/\"><i>Protos<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/etheraltog\/status\/1672178922488844288\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a><i>, <\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20230627132111\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/etheraltog\/status\/1672178922488844288\"><i>archive<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>But that\u2019s okay! TUSD is still worth a <i>genuine*<\/i> dollar on Binance!<\/p>\n<h3>Banq, Prime Trust, Jon Jiles, and NFTs<\/h3>\n<p>Crypto payments company Banq \u2014 not, in fact, a bank \u2014 was founded as a subsidiary of Prime Trust. It was spun out and is now a partner company. Banq filed for voluntary bankruptcy on June 13. The reorganization plan lists $190,000 in assets and $5.4 million in liabilities. [<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.nvb.411794\/gov.uscourts.nvb.411794.1.0.pdf\"><i>Petition<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.nvb.411794\/gov.uscourts.nvb.411794.5.0.pdf\"><i>Plan of Reorganization<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/67498178\/banq-inc\/\"><i>case docket<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>In its reorganization plan, Banq says that $17.5 million of its assets were blown on a May 2021 plan by former CEO Scott Purcell to pivot from payments to NFTs. Banq is suing to get the money back.<\/p>\n<p>According to Banq&#8217;s filing, the company made a large payment to Fortress NFT Group \u2014 a new company founded by Purcell, Banq CTO Kevin Lehtiniitty, and Banq general counsel George Georgiades. Purcell abandoned the NFT plan in December 2021 when Apple barred NFTs from the iOS App Store. He wound down Banq\u2019s operations and the three executives resigned.<\/p>\n<p>In May 2022, Banq sued Purcell, Fortress NFT, and Purcell and Georgiades\u2019 new company Planet NFT for that $17.5 million. Banq claims a breach of trade secrets. This case was sent to arbitration but is now proceeding again. Banq\u2019s opening brief is due on 21 September 2023. [<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.nvd.156303\/gov.uscourts.nvd.156303.1.0.pdf\"><i>Complaint<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/63316196\/banq-inc-v-purcell\/\"><i>case docket<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/67551001\/banq-inc-v-scott-purcell\/\"><i>appeal docket<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>In the course of the pivot to NFTs, Banq borrowed $3 million from N9 Advisors. In September 2022, N9 sued to get that money back. This has left Banq without enough money to keep its business running.<\/p>\n<p>N9\u2019s suit is against Banq, Prime Trust, and Jon Jiles \u2014 who was the chair of the board at Banq and also the managing member of Prime Trust.<\/p>\n<p>N9 alleges that in July 2021, Jiles threatened to use his family\u2019s controlling interest to assume control of Banq. Jiles then demanded that Purcell sign a non-compete barring him from competing with <i>Prime Trust<\/i>. N9 says that Purcell, Lehtiniitty, and Georgiades resigned <i>en masse<\/i> in protest at Jiles\u2019 actions. [<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.flsd.619889\/gov.uscourts.flsd.619889.1.2.pdf\"><i>Complaint<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>The case has been remanded to Florida\u2019s 17th Circuit. We haven\u2019t found the records of how it\u2019s going there. [<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.flsd.619889\/gov.uscourts.flsd.619889.30.0.pdf\"><i>Order<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>Banq&#8217;s replacement CEO, Joshua Sroge, was the CFO of Binance.US in 2020 and 2021, and the interim CEO after Brian Brooks left. [<a href=\"https:\/\/protos.com\/banq-alleges-founder-stole-assets-to-start-crypto-custodian-fortress\/\"><em>Protos<\/em><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>We hope that everyone involved just has a fun time.<\/p>\n<h3>Europe <i>really<\/i> hates Binance<\/h3>\n<p>Binance had big plans for expansion in Europe and hoped for licenses in all sorts of markets. But following its woes with US regulators, all of those dreams have come crashing down.<\/p>\n<p>CZ from Binance claimed in 2020 that Binance was allowed to operate in the UK: \u201cwe did partner with a local fully regulated entity, so yes &#8230; Binance UK is fully regulated by the FCA.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/27\/binance-crackdown-accelerates\/\"><i>New Money Review<\/i><\/a><i>, 2021; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/CdX1W0cDzd0?t=2679\"><i>YouTube<\/i><\/a><i>, 2020, 44:39 on<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>The FCA kicked Binance out of the UK in <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2021\/07\/03\/news-binance-vs-the-world-vaneck-etf-robinhood-fined-africrypt-ponzi-mass-ransomware-attack\/\">June 2021<\/a>. Binance Markets Limited still existed and had an application in with the FCA. They pulled their application in May 2023 \u201cfollowing intensive engagement from the FCA.\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/8bc0e5e0-2705-496d-a265-acccaffaee87\"><i>FT<\/i><\/a><i>, <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/o7BCJ\"><i>archive<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>The FCA now states that Binance cannot operate in the country: [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fca.org.uk\/news\/news-stories\/consumer-warning-binance-markets-limited-and-binance-group\"><i>FCA<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Following the completion of the cancellation of permissions the firm is no longer authorised by the FCA. No other entity in the Binance Group holds any form of UK authorization or registration to conduct regulated business in the UK.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Binance executives in Germany and Austria have jumped ship. Michael Wild, who was planning to expand the business in the German-speaking markets (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland), is no longer the managing director of the local Binance companies. At the European level, several high-ranking managers are also fleeing. [<a href=\"https:\/\/financefwd.com\/de\/binance-management\/\"><i>FinanceFWD<\/i><\/a><i>, in German<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>German financial regulator Bafin has denied Binance\u2019s application for a custody license, limiting Binance\u2019s ability to expand or even advertise in the country. [<a href=\"https:\/\/financefwd.com\/de\/binance-lizenz-deutschland\/\"><i>FinanceFWD<\/i><\/a><i>, in German; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/policy\/2023\/06\/29\/binance-crypto-custody-license-application-denied-by-german-regulator-bafin-report\/\"><i>Coindesk<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Binance\u2019s Cyprus unit has moved to withdraw its registration with the country\u2019s regulator. Binance said that it was registered with the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission in October 2022. But apparently, they never launched their business in the country. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cysec.gov.cy\/en-GB\/entities\/crypto-asset-services-providers-casps\/casp-register\/93362\/\"><i>Cyprus SEC<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/technology\/binances-cyprus-unit-seeks-deregistration-crypto-service-provider-2023-06-14\/\"><i>Reuters<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Binance has also quit the Netherlands after the Dutch regulator denied its applications for a virtual asset service provider (VASP) license, which attests that it meets AML guidelines. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.binance.com\/en\/support\/announcement\/notice-on-changes-of-services-in-the-netherlands-b5a647be31cf469b87fc3337fd461ced\"><i>Binance<\/i><\/a><i>, <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20230616171924\/https:\/\/www.binance.com\/en\/support\/announcement\/notice-on-changes-of-services-in-the-netherlands-b5a647be31cf469b87fc3337fd461ced\">archive<\/a><\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>And Belgium\u2019s financial regulator ordered Binance to cease offering any crypto services of any kind in the country. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/technology\/binance-ordered-stop-all-digital-currency-services-belgium-2023-06-23\/\"><i>Reuters<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>In France, Binance got a no-knock raid from the money-laundering cops. Binance wants to assure everyone that no-knock raids without the slightest heads-up are perfectly normal in France! \u201c4. FUD,\u201d tweeted CZ. They really are not normal. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/technology\/binance-under-investigation-france-illegal-canvassing-le-monde-2023-06-16\/\"><i>Reuters<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Dubai and Paris have become regional hubs for Binance \u2014\u00a0The Block details Binance\u2019s many local offices around the world. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblock.co\/post\/234577\/why-binance-tells-staff-not-to-talk-about-its-offices\"><i>The Block<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>EU officials suspect that Binance has been setting up numerous shell companies and bank accounts in Ireland and Malta, and using them to funnel money from other countries while dodging regulators and tax authorities. Binance isn\u2019t licensed to operate a crypto exchange in either Ireland or Malta. [<a href=\"https:\/\/protos.com\/scoop-eu-officials-suspect-binance-is-faking-accounts-in-ireland-and-malta\/\"><i>Protos<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<h3>Everybody else still hates Binance<\/h3>\n<p>In the SEC case against Binance, Judge Amy Berman Jackson tells Binance that the court is not going to police the SEC\u2019s press releases: [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/67474542\/securities-and-exchange-commission-v-binance-holdings-limited\/\"><i>case docket<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>it is not apparent that Court intervention to reiterate that point is needed at this time, or that it is necessary or appropriate for the Court to get involved in wordsmithing the parties&#8217; press releases. Nor is it clear that the agency&#8217;s public relations efforts to date will materially affect proceedings in this case.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Judge Jackson has a good handle on how Binance plans to approach this case \u2014 by throwing up absolutely all the chaff it possibly can. Jackson isn&#8217;t putting up with any of that.<\/p>\n<p>Financial regulators and police in several countries in Europe are helping the US SEC with its investigation. [<a href=\"https:\/\/protos.com\/scoop-european-states-working-with-sec-on-binance-investigation\/\"><i>Protos<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Someone at Binance insider-traded on their own SEC indictment. [<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DefiSquared\/status\/1665772137829875713\"><i>Twitter<\/i><\/a><i>, <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/dKmJ0\"><i>archive<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>CZ says that Binance Nigeria \u2014 which was <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2023\/06\/16\/sec-sues-binance-part-2-asset-freeze-securities-coley-and-brooks-genslers-alleged-coi\/\">banned in June<\/a> by the SEC Nigeria \u2014 was not in fact a Binance entity. [<a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/cz-says-binance-has-issued-a-cease-and-desist-notice-against-nigerian-scammer-entity\/\"><i>news.bitcoin.com<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Binance cofounder Yi He tells Bloomberg: \u201cIf they really took the time to understand our industry, they would see that if Binance isn\u2019t compliant, then practically no other global trading platform or offshore company is.\u201d Yes, that\u2019s correct. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/features\/2023-06-28\/binance-co-founder-yi-he-on-crypto-regulation-and-changpeng-cz-zhao\"><i>Bloomberg<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<h3>BlockFi creditors get spicy<\/h3>\n<p>The BlockFi official Unsecured Creditors\u2019 Committee has asked the judge to send BlockFi into Chapter 7 liquidation. They argue that the company has reached a dead end and they\u2019re just burning through creditors\u2019 money now: [<a href=\"https:\/\/restructuring.ra.kroll.com\/blockfi\/Home-DownloadPDF?id1=MTU0MDA4NA==&amp;id2=-1\"><i>Doc 1131<\/i><\/a><i>, PDF<\/i>]<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The administrative burn is a staggering $16 million per month (on average). The Debtors continue paying, among other things, the salaries to more than 100 individuals \u2013 many of whom, to the best of our knowledge, have had little to do but work on their golf game. The Official Committee has repeatedly asked the Debtors to cut the waste. All such requests have been denied, like other forms of cooperative interaction. Mediation has now failed and negotiations are over.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The UCC also asks the judge to unseal the investigative report:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>It is time for the Debtors\u2019 unsecured creditors to finally come to know what BlockFi truly was, who Zac Prince truly is, how much he personally profited from the company, and what he and certain of his colleagues were doing (in juxtaposition to what they promised customers) when no one was watching. It is time for the Court to order an end to the burn and, thereby, end the extortion tactics.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3>Don\u2019t Kwoff<\/h3>\n<p>Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon, the guy who <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2022\/05\/10\/terras-stablecoin-does-a-2008-crisis-ust-crashes-and-takes-bitcoin-with-it\/\">crashed all of crypto<\/a> in May 2022 and was a fugitive from justice until <a href=\"https:\/\/amycastor.com\/2023\/03\/24\/do-kwon-arrested-white-house-hates-crypto-coinbase-wells-notice-sec-charges-justin-sun-signature-sold-ftx-bahamas-party-fund-returns\/\">quite recently<\/a>, will be held in Montenegro for another six months while the Montenegrin local High Court considers extraditing him to South Korea. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.slobodnaevropa.org\/a\/kralj-kriptovaluta-pritvor-crna-gora\/32460870.html\"><i>RFE<\/i><\/a><i>, in Bosnian<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, Kwon has started his first prison sentence: four months for a local charge of forgery of documents. [<a href=\"https:\/\/sudovi.me\/ospg\/sadrzaj\/D264\"><i>Courts of Montenegro<\/i><\/a><i>, in Montenegrin<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>Do Kwon\u2019s arrest in March upended local Montenegrin politics. He wrote a letter from jail saying that crypto \u201cfriends\u201d of his \u2014 though not him personally! \u2014 had financially supported the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Europe_Now!\">Europe Now<\/a> Party. Kwon wrote of \u201ca very successful investment relationship,\u201d funding the party in return for \u201ccrypto-friendly policies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Europe Now was the frontrunner in the June 11 general election, but its support suffered a major hit when Kwon\u2019s letter came out. Europe Now still came first in the election, but by a much smaller margin than they were hoping for.<\/p>\n<p>Europe Now&#8217;s leader, Milojko Spajic, said that Kwon\u2019s claims were false \u2014 though Spajic has a history of good words for crypto and there\u2019s a photo of him with Vitalik Buterin. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/06\/24\/world\/europe\/montenegro-do-kwon-crypto.html\"><i>New York Times<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<h3>Books!<\/h3>\n<p>French journalist Nastasia Hadjadji\u2019s new book on crypto is out! It\u2019s called <i>No Crypto: Comment Bitcoin a envo\u00fbt\u00e9 la plan\u00e8te<\/i> (How Bitcoin captivated the planet). Neither of us can read French, but Nastasia is very cool and the book looks good! [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.editionsdivergences.com\/livre\/no-crypto-ideologie-et-populisme-au-royaume-des-cryptomonnaies\"><i>Editions Divergences<\/i><\/a><i>; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.fr\/No-Crypto-Comment-Bitcoin-envo%C3%BBt%C3%A9\/dp\/B0BT982YTP\"><i>Amazon.fr<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>UK sceptical blockchain academic Peter Howson\u2019s book <i>Let Them Eat Crypto: The Blockchain Scam That&#8217;s Ruining the World<\/i> is also out shortly. [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Let-Them-Eat-Crypto-Blockchain\/dp\/0745348211\/\"><i>Amazon<\/i><\/a>]<\/p>\n<h3>Media stardom<\/h3>\n<p>David wrote up something about five books on cryptocurrency and financial crimes for Shepherd. Well, one is <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2017\/10\/22\/bitcoin-in-popular-culture-andrew-hickey-the-basilisk-murders-chapter-1-the-main-character-encounters-the-sort-of-person-who-runs-singularity-conferences\/\"><i>The Basilisk Murders<\/i><\/a> \u2014 but the LessWrong crew are <a href=\"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/2023\/02\/06\/ineffective-altruism-ftx-and-the-future-robot-apocalypse\/\">disconcertingly on-topic<\/a> in crypto these days. [<a href=\"https:\/\/shepherd.com\/best-books\/cryptocurrency-and-finance-crimes\"><i>Shepherd<\/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>&#8220;Submarines are like Bitcoin. The billionaires in them prove that billionaires aren&#8217;t very smart.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24362,"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":[3553,2166,1237,3545,1226,568,1795,2134,2949,2158,466,3556,3452,492,3549,1238,3546,3552,3548,3544,3557,3555,3551,3558,417,1446,2020,3239,3550,985,3547,33,2946,522,487,457,3554,3053],"class_list":["post-25708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-amy-berman-jackson","tag-austria","tag-bafin","tag-banq","tag-belgium","tag-binance","tag-blockfi","tag-cyprus","tag-do-kwon","tag-elon-musk","tag-europe","tag-europe-now","tag-fortress","tag-france","tag-george-georgiades","tag-germany","tag-jon-jiles","tag-joshua-sroge","tag-kevin-lehtiniitty","tag-linda-yaccarino","tag-milojko-spajic","tag-montenegro","tag-n9-advisors","tag-nastasia-hadjadji","tag-netherlands","tag-nevada","tag-nft","tag-pete-howson","tag-planet-nft","tag-prime-trust","tag-scott-purcell","tag-sec","tag-terra","tag-trueusd","tag-twitter","tag-united-kingdom","tag-yi-he","tag-zac-prince"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/turkey.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25708","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=25708"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25890,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25708\/revisions\/25890"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgerard.co.uk\/blockchain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}