3 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Cryptocurrency Archive

Archives for October 2023

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Things did, indeed, get worse.

That is a theme of Caroline Ellison’s remarks about Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX during his trial on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy.

“[SBF] was very ambitious,” she said. Besides telling her about his presidential chances, he also told her that if there was a coin flip where tails destroyed the world and heads made the world twice as good, he’d flip the coin. He called this being “risk-neutral,” which seems like a fancy way of saying he was a gambling addict.

Ellison is back on the stand today, and I can’t wait for the next big update.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Sam Bankman-Fried wanted to buy Snapchat.

That’s one of the things mentioned during the ongoing testimony of former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison against her terrible ex-boyfriend, as well as the idea SBF sought to have regulators “crack down on Binance,” the competing crypto exchange that sparked the run that took FTX down.

You can expect more updates from Wednesday’s events in the Sam Bankman-Fried / FTX fraud trial to come later today.

Sam Bankman-Fried was a terrible boyfriend

Bankman-Fried thought Alameda’s brand wasn’t as good as FTX’s — so he put his sometime-lover in charge of it.

Elizabeth Lopatto
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Maybe it’s the new haircut?

Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly is sporting a jailhouse haircut during his fraud trial over FTX’s failure, and observers, including this NPR reporter and CNBC, note that his ex, Caroline Ellison, needed a little time to find him in the courtroom.

According to CNBC and the New York Times, once her testimony began, she wasted little time:

“Sam directed me to commit these crimes,” she said. He “directed us to take customer money to pay loans.”

Expect a full report from Liz Lopatto later today.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
He’s over there...

Former Alameda Research CEO and ex-girlfriend of Sam Bankman-Fried Caroline Ellison has begun testifying in the fraud trial against SBF.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
True, yet misleading.

On the stand today during Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial, Gary Wang dove into his evolving explanation of the infamous (and now-deleted) SBF tweet saying that “FTX is fine. Assets are fine,” that he posted the day before Binance’s acquisition announcement, which is when things truly came apart.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
The Sam Bankman-Fried fraud trial continues.

The Verge reporter Liz Lopatto is back in a New York City courtroom today, as Sam Bankman-Fried’s friends turned cooperating witnesses continue to take the stand in the case against the fallen FTX boss.

We broke down FTX CTO Gary Wang’s testimony / code review on Friday, and today the case restarted with him still on the stand, and former Alameda CEO and SBF ex Caroline Ellison is expected to make her appearance later today. Stay tuned here for all of the latest updates from the crypto exchange fraud trial.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
BAYC layoffs.

Yuga Labs, the $4 billion outfit behind the Bored Apes and other NFT projects, announced recently “that a number of roles have been eliminated across the company,” with restructuring cutting jobs in the US and leaving international roles under evaluation.

Now Yuga’s going “all-in on our Otherside strategy,” referring to its metaverse gaming land grab.

Meanwhile, someone continues to trade the tokens at prices of more than $40,000, and despite the NFT market’s ongoing slide, projects like Starbucks Odyssey and Nike’s .SWOOSH keep trying to make it catch on.

On Today's News

[Yuga Labs News]

Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
FTX liquidation could further hurt crypto startups.

Before they collapsed, FTX and Alameda Research “massed a roster of portfolio companies that included major names in the industry, such as stablecoin providers Circle and Paxos, blockchain developer Aptos Labs and crypto bank Anchorage Digital,” Bloomberg writes.

But venture funding for the crypto world has plunged; selling those stakes could further depress startup valuations.

Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
Michael Lewis would like Sam Bankman-Fried’s jury to read his book.

“If I were a juror, I would rather hear my story than either defense or prosecution,” Lewis tells Andrew Chow at Time. Also:

I want to ask about some details that appeared in various charging documents and complaints against Sam but are featured less prominently or not at all in your book. One is that Bankman-Fried allegedly bribed Chinese officials to release money from a frozen Alameda account.

I know too much about that, and it seemed like a distraction.

The FTX jury suffers through a code review

Gary Wang supervised the code that gave Alameda special privileges at FTX. But it’s hard to conclude anyone but Sam Bankman-Fried gave the orders.

Elizabeth Lopatto
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Former FTX CTO Gary Wang is on the stand.

The government’s prosecution of Sam Bankman-Fried continues where it left off Thursday, with another former college roommate and alleged co-conspirator testifying against the former FTX CEO about exactly how all that customer money ended up being used for SBF’s other interests.

You can read up on all of the details about the missing billions right here, ahead of another trial update later today from The Verge’s Liz Lopatto, who is in the courtroom right now.

Was Sam Bankman-Fried’s bean bag chair a lie too?

Two of Bankman-Fried’s MIT roommates make a damning case for the prosecution.

Elizabeth Lopatto
Kevin Nguyen
Kevin Nguyen
Full court press.

Liz Lopatto is on the ground, covering the Sam Bankman-Fried trial. But if you want even more curly-haired crypto baby in your life, our pals at New York will be reporting it out in their excellent newsletter Court Appearances.

Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
SBF Day 3: Bankman-Fried’s roommate’s testimony continues.

I expect to hear a lot more about that expensive Bahamas penthouse during today’s hearings in the case of the former FTX CEO, and possibly some fireworks on the cross, as Adam Yedidia is immunized from prosecution.