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The former FTX CEO said he will be speaking at a conference by The New York Times, the same outfit that wrote the recent puff piece on Bankman-Fried. Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has once again attracted the ire of the crypto community — this time over his slated appearance at an upcoming New York City conference on Nov. 30.  Vocal members of Crypto Twitter have questioned why the former CEO of the now-bankrupt exchange continues to walk free, given the events over the last month. In a Nov. 23 Twitter post, Bankman-Fried announced he will be speaking with The New York Times journalist Andrew Sorkin at the DealBook Summit “next Wednesday.” The news was confirmed publicly by Sorkin, who said: “There are a lot of important questions to be asked and answered. Nothing is off limits.” A lot of folks have been asking if I would still be interviewing @SBF_ FTX at the @nytimes @dealbook Summit on Nov 30… The answer is yes. There are a lot of important questions to be asked and answered. ...

John A. DeSalvo allegedly solicited ICO money from police and orchestrated a pump and dump on PancakeSwap shortly after. John A. DeSalvo, a former lieutenant at the New Jersey Department of Corrections, has been charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for orchestrating a crypto scam that specifically targeted police officers and first responders. According to the Aug. 23 announcement, DeSalvo allegedly raised $623,388 from 222 investors through sales of his own Blazar token from November 2021 to May 2022. DeSalvo proclaimed Blazar would "replace traditional state pension systems" for police, firefighters, and paramedics alike, thereby providing lucrative returns. DeSalvo allegedly told investors:  "Blazar Token is the first token or coin that is able to be purchased through payroll deduction every week. It will be taken out of one's weekly earnings pretax similar to payment into a pension, 401k, IRA, or any other retirement savings plans....

Users will still be able to deposit and withdraw after the deadline, but trading will be suspended. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase will suspend trading of Tether (USDT), DAI, and RAI stablecoins for Canadian users beginning August 31. In an August 17 email notice to users , Coinbase said that "we regularly monitor the assets on our exchange to ensure they meet our listing standards," and based on its review, trading of the aforementioned stablecoins will no longer be available to Canadian users starting September. However, Canadian users can still deposit and withdraw the stablecoins after the proposed deadline. In a statement, the exchange wrote: "Coinbase Canada, Inc. has filed an application for registration in certain Canadian jurisdictions but has not yet obtained registration. Until such time as Coinbase Canada, Inc. obtains registration, it has agreed to abide by the terms of an undertaking." This is a breaking news story, and further information wil...

Timothy Massad, the former CFTC chairman, highlighted the benefits of stablecoins and urged regulators not to discredit their utility when it comes to regulations. The previous chairman of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Timothy Massad, highlighted the importance of government attention being paid to the stablecoin ecosystem in an interview with CNBC.  On July 24, Massad told the CNBC interviewer that he sees stablecoins as a bridge between “the crypto world and the real world ” and that governments should not view them as a fad fated to disappear. The ex-chairman said he is “concerned” that the risks of stablecoins are not being properly addressed by regulators, rather they are kept out of the conversation due to the thought that they don’t actually work. “I’m sympathetic to a lot of people in the government saying ... we’re not convinced of the use case here, we don’t really see what the value is in the real world," he said. "But someti...

As accusations are hurled at Ledger over a controversial update, one hardware wallet has decided to open-source its firmware. Others have turned it into a marketing opportunity. Amid fallout over Ledger’s controversial decision to allow private keys to be “recovered” from its devices, cold storage competitor GridPlus has announced that it will move to “open source” the firmware of its crypto wallets.  GridPlus took to Twitter on May 17 to inform its 17,500 followers that it will open source the firmware of all its crypto devices in the third quarter of this year in what it claims is in a bid for greater transparency. The most trusted name in cryptography, relied upon by the world's governments for their highest security applications for decades, sold products backdoored by the CIA. How can we ensure this won't happen again? Open- source software. GridPlus will open- source its firmware in Q3. pic.twitter.com/889OnqXd20 — GridPlus (@gridplus) May 18, 2023 “This week'...

Block’s Q1 earnings report reveals a 25% year-on-year increase in Bitcoin revenue from the fintech firm’s flagship product Cash App. Fintech firm Block, owned by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, has reported a staggering $2.16 billion in Bitcoin (BTC) revenue on its bellwether product Cash App in Q1. According to a shareholder letter announcing its Q1 2023 earnings, Block (NYSE:SQ) reported that its Bitcoin revenue — which counts BTC revenue as total sales of the cryptocurrency to customers — was up 18% from $1.83 billion in Q4 and 25% from Q1 2022. Our Q1 earnings are now available. $SQ https://t.co/oGcnRuzFb3 — Block Investor Relations (@BlockIR) May 4, 2023 Cash App’s total profits reached over $931 million in the first quarter of 2023, marking a 49% increase year-over-year. Notably, Cash App’s profit paled compared to the company’s gross profit, which came in at $1.71 billion. Block also owns the popular business payment service Square, which reported a slight (3.8%) decline in...

Join us as we discuss whether cryptocurrency mining is still worth it in 2023 and all the latest updates regarding the mining industry. In this week’s episode of Market Talks, Cointelegraph welcomes Justin Kramer, CEO of Badgerland Home Crypto Mining and a long-time cryptocurrency investor. When he is not attending to his own mining rigs, Kramer provides consultation services to home-based operations and larger startups on how to set up mining farms. We start things off with miner prices and how they have changed in the last few months. Have the prices gone up or down, and what kind of impact does Bitcoin (BTC) have on prices? Which miners are the most in-demand right now, and who is buying them — small-scale miners or larger operations? Mining operations that paid extremely high prices for mining rigs, which are now not worth even close to the same amount, how are they managing in this market? What is their plan for getting their investments back? Is it a lost cause at this point sin...

Swiss regulators reaffirm the soundness of the Swiss financial system, following recent concerns about Credit Suisse. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) have released a joint statement March 15 on the stability of the Swiss banking system and Credit Suisse (CS). The problems of “certain banks in the USA” do not pose a risk for the Swiss financial system, they wrote. The regulators said Credit Suisse meets all capital and liquidity requirements, but “if necessary, the SNB will provide CS with liquidity.” The statement comes as CS shares fell up to 30%. According to a Reuters report, European Central Bank officials have contacted banks they supervise to ask about their CS exposure, and the French finance minister would call his Swiss colleague to discuss the developments at CS. Source: https://thebittimes.com/swiss-national-bank-says-it-would-support-credit-suisse-if-necessary-tbt40926.html?utm_source=blogger_source&utm_medi...

Coinbase assured users that their BUSD funds will remain accessible and that they will still be able to withdraw funds at any time. US-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced the suspension of trading for the Binance  USD (BUSD) stablecoin on March 13 via Twitter.  We have disabled trading for Binance USD (BUSD). Your BUSD funds will remain accessible to you, and you will continue to have the ability to withdraw your funds at any time. https://t.co/jfpCZX7UTC — Coinbase Assets (@CoinbaseAssets) March 13, 2023 On Feb 27, Coinbase cited “listing standards” as the reason behind its decision to disable trading for BUSD on March 13. The February announcement read;  We regularly monitor the assets on our exchange to ensure they meet our listing standards. Based on our most recent reviews, Coinbase will suspend trading for Binance USD (BUSD) on March 13, 2023, on or around 12pm ET. According to Coinbase’s Feb 27 Twitter thread, the decision to disable trading for BUSD will apply t...

Trezor plans to build its hardware wallet chips, but other crypto companies still prefer third-party imports due to technical and financial barriers. Crypto wallet maker Trezor recently decided to start manufacturing its own hardware wallet chips to respond quickly to demand-triggering events like the FTX collapse. Trezor announced on Feb. 27 that it would begin producing the chip wrapper, a crucial component for the Trezor Model T — its flagship device. The move will reportedly cut the supply cycle lead times from two years to a few months in the production of Trezor wallets. According to Trezor, the decision will also address shipment delays of finished products and shield customers from price swings caused by component supply and demand changes. After the FTX crash in November 2022, investors rushed to move their crypto holdings off of centralized crypto exchanges, which caused the demand for Trezor wallets to increase by over 300%. Štěpán Uherík, chief financial officer at Trezo...

The move will allow Brazilian taxpayers to easily settle their tax liabilities, meanwhile expanding "access" to the digital asset ecosystem. A major Brazilian bank is offering a new and convenient option for taxpayers to settle their dues using crypto currencies. According to a statement published by Brazilian bank Banco do Brasil on Feb. 11, it is now “possible” for Brazilian taxpayers to pay their tax bill with crypto, in a joint initiative with Brazilian-based crypto firm Bitfy. It is available to Brazilian’s who have their crypto under the custody of Bitfy, which will act as a “collection partner” for the major Brazilian bank. It noted that besides the convenience it brings to customers, it makes it possible to “expand” the use and access to the digital asset ecosystem with “national coverage," with the comfort of a reputable bank providing consumer protection. Lucas Schoch, Bitfy’s founder and CEO added that the “new digital economy is a catalyst for a future full ...

Blockchain technology may be a solution when it comes to anti-theft measures for retailers. The retail industry is one of the most important sectors of the United States economy. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has left the trillion-dollar retail sector vulnerable to in-store theft.  Findings from the National Retail Federation’s 2022 Retail Security Survey show that retail losses from stolen goods increased to $94.5 billion in 2021, up from $90.8 billion in 2020. Some retail ers also have to lock away certain products to prevent theft , which may lead to decreased sales due to consumers’ inability to access goods. Retailers look toward blockchain to solve retail theft Given these extreme measures, many innovative retail ers have started looking toward Technology to combat retail theft . For example, Lowe’s, an American home improvement retail er, has recently implemented a proof-of-concept called Project Unlock, which uses radio frequency identification (RFID) chips, Interne...