Cryptocurrency
Caroline Ellison speaks on FTX-Binance war, SEC won’t appeal Grayscale BTC ETF: Hodler’s Digest, Oct. 8-14

Top Stories This Week
Caroline Ellison wanted to step down but feared a bank run on FTX
Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research, testified for over 10 hours this week at Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial, offering deeper details on the events that anticipated the FTX debacle in November 2022. From Ellison’s testimony, jurors learned that she planned to leave Alameda months before its collapse, but feared a bank run on FTX amidst the crypto market downturn. The week also featured a recording presented as evidence in the case showing the exact moment Ellison told employees about Alameda’s use of FTX customer deposits. Among the key moments of Bankman-Fried’s trial were revelations of fabricated balance sheets in order to deceive crypto lenders, as well as BlockFi CEO Zac Prince’s testimony. Check out this week’s highlights from Cointelegraph’s team on the ground.
Months before the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was “freaking out” about buying shares in Snapchat, raising capital from Saudi royalty and getting regulators to crack down on rival crypto exchange Binance, according to evidence presented in court this week as a part of the ongoing criminal trial. Bankman-Fried believed Binance leaked an Alameda balance sheet to the media in 2022. According to a document from Nov. 6, 2022, Bankman-Fried wrote that Binance had been “engaging in a PR campaign against us.” It continued, saying that Binance “leaked a balance sheet; blogged about it; fed it to Coindesk; then announced very publicly that they were selling $500m of FTT in response to it while telling customers to be wary of FTX.”
SEC reportedly won’t appeal court decision on Grayscale Bitcoin ETF
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission reportedly has no plans to appeal the recent court decision that favored Grayscale Investments. The ruling requires the SEC to review the firm’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) application. The SEC’s supposed decision not to appeal doesn’t necessarily mean Grayscale’s application is set to be approved. If the reports are true, the SEC will need to follow the court’s August order and review Grayscale’s application to change its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into a spot Bitcoin ETF.
Terraform Labs contends Citadel Securities had a hand in its stablecoin collapse
Terraform Labs has again pointed the finger at market maker Citadel Securities for its role in an alleged “concerted, intentional effort” to cause the depeg of its TerraUSD stablecoin in 2022. On Oct. 10, Terraform Labs filed a motion in the United States to compel Citadel Securities to produce documents relating to its trading activity in May 2022, when TerraUSD Classic depegged. In its motion, Terraform argued that the documents are crucial for its defense in the lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in February, which alleged Terraform Labs and its founder, Do Kwon, had a hand in “orchestrating a multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud.” Citadel Securities has, however, previously denied trading the TerraUSD stablecoin in May 2022.
Mastercard announces successful wrapped CBDC trial results
Mastercard has completed a trial involving wrapping central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) on different blockchains, similar to wrapped Bitcoin and wrapped Ether. The trial was conducted with the Reserve Bank of Australia and the country’s Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre CBDC. Mastercard said the solution allowed a CBDC owner to purchase a nonfungible token (NFT) listed on Ethereum. “The process ‘locked’ the required amount of a pilot CBDC on the RBA’s pilot CBDC platform and minted an equivalent amount of wrapped pilot CBDC tokens on Ethereum,” the payment processor wrote.
Winners and Losers
At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $26,892, Ether (ETH) at $1,551 and XRP at $0.48. The total market cap is at $1.05 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Loom Network (LOOM) at 86.71%, Trust Wallet Token (TWT) at 16.72% and Tether Gold (XAUt) at 5.16%.
The top three altcoin losers of the week are Mantle (MNT) at -17.27%, Rocket Pool (RPL) at -14.39% and Avalanche (AVAX) at -13.39%.
For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.
Read also
Most Memorable Quotations
“That’s our homework, actually. To really educate people about the benefit of using blockchain.”
Grace Sabandar, co-founder of the Indonesia Blockchain and Metaverse Center
“Crypto-assets markets, including DeFi, do not represent meaningful risks to financial stability at this point.”
European Securities and Markets Authority
“I was worrying about customer withdrawals from FTX, this getting out, people to be hurt. […] I didn’t feel good. If people found out [about Alameda using FTX funds], they would all try to withdraw from FTX.”
Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research
“It’s alarming and should be a wakeup call for lawmakers and regulators that digital wallets connected to Hamas received millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies.”
Elizabeth Warren, U.S. senator
“Bitcoin and Ethereum may seem like opposites, but they can co-exist and complement each other.”
Willem Schroé, CEO of Botanix Labs
“People who believe SBFraud is a ‘good guy’ who made ‘mistakes’, and FTX grew too fast and it all got away from him, should NEVER be in charge of other people’s money.”
John Deaton, attorney and crypto advocate
Prediction of the Week
Ethereum losing streak vs. Bitcoin hits 15 months — Can ETH price reverse course?
The price of Ethereum’s native token, Ether, is trading around a 15-month low versus Bitcoin, and the lowest since Ethereum switched to proof-of-stake. The ETH/BTC pair dropped to as low as 0.056 BTC earlier this week. In doing so, the pair broke below its 200-week exponential moving average (200-week EMA; the blue wave) near 0.058 BTC, raising downside risks further into 2023.
The 200-week EMA has historically served as a reliable support level for ETH/BTC bulls.
ETH/BTC stares at similar selloff risks in 2023 after losing its 200-week EMA as support. In this case, the next downside target looks to be around its 0.5 Fibonacci line near 0.051 BTC in 2023, down about 9.5% from current price levels.
Conversely, ETH price may rebound toward its 50-week EMA (the red wave) near 0.065 BTC if it reclaims the 200-week EMA as support.
FUD of the Week
Mistake or money laundering? User pays $1.6 million for CrypToadz NFT
One of the CrypToadz NFTs, whose average price doesn’t exceed $1,000, was bought for an astonishing 1,055 wrapped Ether, an equivalent of $1.6 million. The CrypToadz collection was launched during the NFT boom of 2021 and surpassed a trading volume of $38 million worth of Ether during its first 10 days on the market. The price paid by the anonymous user for the NFT raised questions among the community. Two weeks ago, this item was acquired for 0.95 ETH (around $1,600), only to be sold for a price a thousand times higher.
USDR stablecoin depegs to $0.53, but team vows to provide solutions
Real estate-backed stablecoin USDR lost its peg to the United States dollar after a rush of redemptions caused a draining of liquid assets such as Dai from its treasury. USDR, backed by a mixture of cryptocurrencies and real estate holdings, is issued by the Tangible protocol, a decentralized finance project that seeks to tokenize housing and other real-world assets. During the crisis, a trader reportedly exchanged 131,350 USDR for 0 USD Coin, resulting in a complete loss on investment.
HTX claws back $8M in stolen funds, issues 250 ETH bounty to hacker
Huobi Global’s crypto exchange HTX has confirmed the return of the funds stolen by a hacker in late September and issued a 250 Ether bounty after resolving the issue. One of HTX’s hot wallets was drained of 5,000 ETH on Sept. 25, worth roughly $8 million at the time. Shortly after the hack occurred, the firm contacted the hacker and claimed to know their identity. HTX ultimately offered to pay a 5% bounty worth around $400,000 and not to take any legal action if they returned 95% of the funds before a deadline of Oct. 2.
Beyond crypto: Zero-knowledge proofs show potential from voting to finance
An emerging cryptographic technology may provide help with two gaping 21st-century needs: Privacy and truth.
Eleanor Terrett on impersonators and a better crypto industry
Fox Business producer Eleanor Terrett’s following exploded after she began providing commentary on the SEC v. Ripple lawsuit.
SBF’s alleged Chinese bribe, Binance clarifies account freeze: Asia Express
SBF allegedly bribes Chinese officials with $150 million to unfreeze accounts, Binance justifies blocking Hamas users, meanwhile, Huobi hacker returns all $8M in stolen assets.
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Cryptocurrency
Ethereum Price Analysis: ETH Skyrockets 7% Daily, the Bulls Eye $2,800 Next

Ethereum has shown strength by reclaiming the critical 200-day moving average at $2.5K, signalling growing bullish momentum. If buying interest remains strong, a continued push toward the $2.8K resistance zone appears likely.
By Shayan
The Daily Chart
ETH recently found solid support at the key 100-day moving average near $2K, triggering a surge in buying interest and a shift in momentum.
The asset has successfully broken above the pivotal 200-day MA around $2.5K, a level that has repeatedly acted as resistance in recent weeks. This breakout marks a notable bullish development.
However, to sustain this move, ETH needs to hold above the 200-day average. If bulls defend this area, the path toward the major resistance at $2.8K becomes more viable. For now, the price is likely to consolidate within the $2.5K–$2.8K corridor until a clear breakout determines the next major direction.
The 4-Hour Chart
On the shorter timeframe, ETH’s price posted a sharp rally after buyers stepped in around the 0.5–0.618 Fibonacci retracement zone, reclaiming the previously broken lower boundary of the bullish flag pattern. This recovery has invalidated the prior bearish breakdown, indicating that the move was likely a bear trap.
Currently, the cryptocurrency is gaining traction, but it’s approaching a key bearish order block between $2625 and $2670, a zone where sellers may re-emerge.
If the buyers can overcome this supply area, a move toward the $2.8K resistance becomes increasingly probable. Conversely, failure to break through could trigger another phase of consolidation or a mild retracement.
By Shayan
Ethereum has just marked a significant milestone in Liquid Staking, reaching its highest monthly growth since June. Over the past month alone, staking activity surged by approximately 1 million ETH, an impressive 2.83% increase, setting a new monthly record for Ethereum staking participation.
As of July 1, Ethereum achieved a fresh all-time high in Liquid Staking, with 35.56 million ETH now staked. This trend is largely driven by accumulation from institutional entities, including ETFs, large holders, and crypto funds. These participants are increasingly opting to earn yield through Liquid Staking protocols while they wait for long-term price appreciation.
This trend reduces the circulating supply and reflects a strong conviction in Ethereum’s future valuation. While a major breakout in ETH’s price has yet to occur, the consistent rise in Liquid Staking and institutional accumulation indicates that Ethereum may be on the brink of a significant upward move.
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Disclaimer: Information found on CryptoPotato is those of writers quoted. It does not represent the opinions of CryptoPotato on whether to buy, sell, or hold any investments. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use provided information at your own risk. See Disclaimer for more information.
Cryptocurrency charts by TradingView.
Cryptocurrency
Cooking.City Bringing Back Value Redistribution to Solana Fair Launches

[PRESS RELEASE – Hong Kong, Hong Kong, July 3rd, 2025]
Cooking.City, a recently introduced fair-launch platform, emphasizes ecosystem sustainability and long-term development. The project is backed by institutional investors including Jump and CMT Digital.
Today, Cooking.City fully launched, revealing its core mechanisms and points system to better align incentives between traders and developers while creating new ways to participate in on-chain launches.
Bringing Back Value Redistribution to Solana Fair Launches
Cooking.City is more than just another launchpad. It is a community-first platform focused on value redistribution instead of value extraction.
With Referral System, Cooking.City shares platform revenues with users. Referrers earn fee rebates and points based on their invitees’ trading activities. As the only launchpad which hasn’t launched its official token, Cooking.City aims to attract early users through highly-anticipated airdrops, encouraging interaction between traders and quality token launches.
Users can check the rules of rewards and point history on the dashboard every day. Top referrers and traders will receive significant reward multipliers to further amplify their future rewards.
Cooking Points: A Multi-Layered Incentive System
The Cooking Points system is now live. It rewards users who actively engage with the platform across multiple dimensions.
- Trading on Cooking.City: Higher trading volumes bring more points. And high market cap with healthy trading volume tokens are designated as Michelin Tokens, and trading them can offer bonus points multipliers.
- Referrals: Users can share referral codes and earn up to 10x points multipliers based on referred users’ trading activity.
- Social Quests: Liking, commenting, sharing official tweets, or using the #CookingCity tag unlocks additional point rewards.
Each user has a personal dashboard that updates daily. Points are retroactively calculated based on activity since launch and will be tied directly to future airdrop events.
Conviction Pool: A Capital-based Launch Feature to Signify Good Launch
Cooking.City’s Conviction Pool is a new mechanism that holds developers accountable and helps traders to tell quality launches from random ones.
- Developer Commitment: To opt in, developers can choose to deposit some SOL and set a price that signals their conviction in the token.
- Soft Price Protection: If the token graduates, the conviction pool will activate. If the price drops to a set level, users can swap their bought tokens into SOL from the conviction pool, acting like an insurance, establishing benchmarks for quality in the market. If the price does not fall below the set level, the developer can claim back the SOL from the conviction pool.
This design filters out low-effort launches, protects traders, and signals serious commitment from builders.
The Birthplace of Onchain Conviction
Cooking.City is creating a marketplace of convictions, allowing builders and investors to actualize and capture their faith through launches and trading. The launchpad is the first step towards its greater on-chain nation, effectively allowing more convicted projects to enter crypto through Cooking.City.
The team expects to diversify approaches of asset issuance and capital matchmaking through their evolving launch infrastructure and mechanisms.
About Cooking.City
Cooking.City is a pioneering platform designed to revolutionize token fair launches. By aligning values between builders, believers, and traders, Cooking.City creates new opportunities to reward quality launches and early support on token projects, encouraging builders and investors to grow together.
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Cryptocurrency
Gate Launches xStocks Trading Section, Bridging Crypto Finance and Global Capital Markets

[PRESS RELEASE – Panama City, Panama, July 3rd, 2025]
In July 2025, Gate, a global leading digital asset trading platform, officially launched its xStocks trading section, covering both spot and futures markets. The initial listings include 8 popular tokenized stocks, such as COINX, NVDAX, CRCLX, AAPLX, METAX, HOODX, TSLAX, and GOOGLX, enabling global users to trade tokenized stocks directly with crypto assets like USDT. Gate Alpha has also rolled out support for xStocks, listing MSTRx, CRCLx, SPYx, NVDAx, TSLAx, and AAPLx, further expanding users’ access to on-chain assets and strategic trading options.
This initiative not only diversifies investment channels for crypto users but also marks a new phase in the convergence of crypto finance and traditional markets. Gate is now the first platform to launch a futures market for tokenized stocks, establishing a fully closed-loop trading infrastructure at the intersection of digital and traditional finance.
Removing Barriers: Connecting Global Users to Wall Street
Gate’s xStocks trading section adopts a compliant, asset-backed tokenization model. All tokens are fully collateralized and represent publicly traded U.S. stocks. These tokens are freely transferable and compatible across multiple blockchains and ecosystems.
Unlike traditional brokers that require regional accounts, complex KYC, and fiat settlement, Gate’s tokenized stocks services are globally accessible and require no KYC, allowing users to invest using USDT and other crypto assets. This borderless trading model significantly lowers entry barriers for global participants, offering a seamless path for cross-border capital movement and global portfolio allocation.
The platform also supports 24/7 trading, fractional investment, and on-chain liquidity, breaking down traditional time and regulatory constraints, and delivering a highly flexible, decentralized investment experience that links TradFi and DeFi.
World-First Futures Market for Tokenized Stocks, Redefining Derivatives Boundaries
As the first platform globally to launch the futures market for tokenized stocks, Gate enables users to apply leverage and execute two-way strategies on U.S. stocks, all under a USDT pricing system, empowering more dynamic risk and return management.
The trading infrastructure has been fully optimized for this launch, with upgrades to matching engines, pricing models, and risk control systems. Tailored to the liquidity profiles of U.S. stocks and the behavioral patterns of crypto-native traders, the system delivers high responsiveness, strong compatibility, and robust user experience across both spot and futures markets.
A Strategic Leap Toward the Next-Generation Crypto Exchange
Gate’s expansion into tokenized stocks represents a key milestone in its long-term strategy of bridging traditional and future finance. By building crypto-native infrastructure for traditional assets, Gate is redefining how users access and interact with global capital markets.
Dr. Han, Founder and CEO of Gate, stated: “Our mission isn’t just to add a new asset class, but to transform the relationship between users and assets. We aim to create a truly global, borderless investment platform that empowers everyone to access financial opportunities worldwide.”
In 2025, Gate completed a major brand upgrade and transitioned to the unified domain Gate.com, marking a new chapter in its global strategy. The platform currently ranks Top 2 globally in spot trading volume, with continued strength in derivatives, liquidity depth, and user activity, reinforcing its position as a leader in global crypto financial infrastructure.
As the digital transformation of global finance accelerates, Gate’s launch of tokenized stocks offers a model for the industry and demonstrates a pioneering approach to integrating decentralized infrastructure with traditional capital markets, propelling the platform toward its vision as the next-generation crypto exchange.
About Gate
Gate, founded in 2013 by Dr. Han, is one of the world’s earliest cryptocurrency exchanges. The platform serves over 30 million users with 3,600+ digital assets and pioneered the industry’s first 100% proof-of-reserves. Beyond core trading services, Gate’s ecosystem includes Gate Wallet, Gate Ventures, and other innovative solutions, while its global partnerships extend to top-tier sports brands like Oracle Red Bull Racing in F1 and Inter.
For more information, users can visit: Website | X | Telegram | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube
Disclaimer:
This content does not constitute an offer, solicitation, or recommendation. You should always seek independent professional advice before making investment decisions. Gate may restrict or prohibit certain services in specific jurisdictions. For more information, users can read the User Agreement via https://www.gate.com/user-agreement.
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