Elizabeth Lopatto
“This wasn’t a mistake, it wasn’t a regulatory oops,” says Kevin Mosley, the prosecutor.
As a result of asking forgiveness, not permission, Changpeng Zhao made himself a billionaire and celebrity, Mosley says.
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Elizabeth Lopatto
Court finds the defendant has accepted responsibility, says Judge Richard Jones.
We are now going to hear from the government, then probation, then the defense. No one else will speak, as far as we know.
Elizabeth Lopatto
We are having an argument about legal standards for punishment enhancements.
The prosecution is trying to get some enhancements on CZ’s sentencing. We will be sorting out this objection before we go farther.
Elizabeth Lopatto
Judge Richard A. Jones is attending to “a personal matter.”
We’re delayed until 9:30AM PT / 12:30PM ET.
Elizabeth Lopatto
Changpeng Zhao has entered the courtroom.
He’s taking a seat with his legal team. Judge isn’t on the bench yet. CZ’s in a dark blue suit with a light blue tie, and he looks tense.
Elizabeth Lopatto
Update: CZ has arrived.
And there’s motion in the courtroom. The hearing is expected to begin at 9AM PT.
Elizabeth Lopatto
A relatively sedate morning in Seattle.
Unlike with the Sam Bankman-Fried trial, public interest in the sentencing of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao seems to be low. I did not spend hours standing in line this morning. And as far as I know, CZ is not yet in the building.
Mia Sato
Would you buy toothpaste on Shein?
The e-comm giant is betting you might. Shein, mostly known for its bargain bin fashion items, is now looking to sell more household items from established brands like Colgate-Palmolive or Hasbro. It’s part of a strategy to challenge Amazon as Shein looks to IPO later this year.
Shein Wants to Sell Skincare, Toothpaste and Toys, Too
[The Business of Fashion]
Elizabeth Lopatto
Yuga Labs fires staff.
The company responsible for Bored Ape Yacht Club is restructuring, and as a result, firing some of its employees. In a memo, its CEO complained that “The creative-first spirit that drove this company from inception has been getting muddied by labyrinthine corporate processes.”
Richard Lawler
Amazon reportedly has a ‘framework’ of a deal to stream NBA games.
Following a report by Puck’s John Ourand that ESPN has carved out a piece of the new NBA media landscape, The Athletic added an Amazon rumor:
It is expected that Prime Video’s package will include significant regular season and postseason games, perhaps even some conference finals. The anticipation is that the final contract will be for at least a decade and begin the 2025-2026 season.
If the deals go through, this might add streaming NBA games on Thursdays when Amazon’s NFL games aren’t on.
Amazon Prime has framework deal for NBA broadcast rights
[The Athletic]
Sean Hollister
Richard Lawler
The Onion has new owners.
G/O Media sold Deadspin, The A.V. Club, and The Takeout last month. Now Global Tetrahedron, which includes Twilio co-founder Jeff Lawson and former NBC News reporter Ben Collins, has acquired The Onion.
Taking over as CEO, Collins told the NYT:
We’re keeping all the writers, we’re going to work with the union, we’re going to make it so they can hopefully get paid a little bit more money, and we’re going to give them the room to grow.
The first article published? Give Us $1 Or ‘The Onion’ Disappears Forever.
The Onion Is Sold by G/O Media
[The New York Times]