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Caroline Ellison: Secret recording offers trove of explosive revelations

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The ongoing trial of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has uncovered a series of explosive revelations in the form of testimonies from former key FTX and Alameda Research executives. 

The latest court proceedings on Oct. 12 saw former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison testify for the third day, following which the jury was presented with a recording of a meeting she held with Alameda staffers on Nov. 9, 2022, just days before the collapse of the FTX empire.

The meeting, held in Hong Kong and joined by nearly half of Alameda’s employees, was the key moment Ellison came clean about the ongoing scenario with the crypto exchange to her colleagues. This admission was accompanied by explosive revelations about Alameda’s financial relationship with FTX. Cointelegraph has obtained access to the secret recording, and we have curated a list of four striking elements it revealed.

Alameda’s bad investments led to the financial crisis at FTX

The first and most crucial revelation came early in the meeting when Ellison revealed that Alameda had borrowed money from FTX for a year. She admitted that Alameda had made several illiquid investments using the borrowed funds.

Due to the market downturn, Alameda’s loan positions were called in, creating a shortfall in FTX’s balance sheet. Here’s an excerpt from the discussion:

“Most of Alameda’s loans got called in in order to meet those loan recalls. We ended up borrowing a bunch of funds on FTX, which led to FTX having a shortfall in user funds. And so with the, once there started being like FUD about this and users started withdrawing funds.”

Ellison revealed that Alameda’s bad loans created market panic around FTX, causing users to withdraw their funds. FTX then paused withdrawals to contain the situation, and the exchange came crashing down within days.

FTX planned to raise more funds to compensate users

When one of the employees attending the meeting asked Ellison how FTX intended to pay back its customers, Ellison said that the crypto exchange was planning to raise further funds to fill the gap.

“Basically, FTX is trying to raise in order to do this [compensate users], but yeah, after the crash, no one wanted to invest. I don’t know, obviously, in retrospect, the plan of waiting around for several months and like for the market environment to get better and then raise.”

During the court proceedings on Thursday, Christian Drappi, a former software engineer at Alameda who was present during the meeting, told the court that Ellision’s response about paying back customers sounded concerning to him because he wasn’t aware of a scenario where investors have contributed to making customers whole due to bad financial decisions of the company.

The nervous laughter

As the secret recording was played in the court, the former Alameda employee also pointed out that Ellison had giggled during the meeting. The employee suggested this was Ellison’s “nervous laughter,” something she often did when in a tight spot.

Related: Changpeng Zhao’s tweet ‘contributed’ to collapse of FTX, claims Caroline Ellison

When Ellison was asked by a staffer at the meeting whose idea it was to plug Alameda’s loan losses with FTX customer money, she responded with, “Um, Sam, I guess,” and giggled.

Alameda almost always had access to user’s funds at FTX

Another staffer enquired about the backdoor access of Alameda to FTX and asked how long Alameda had been using FTX customers’ funds to bridge holes in its balance sheet. Ellison responded, “FTX basically always allowed Alameda to borrow user funds, as far as I know.”

Collect this article as an NFT to preserve this moment in history and show your support for independent journalism in the crypto space.

Magazine: How to protect your crypto in a volatile market — Bitcoin OGs and experts weigh in

Cryptocurrency

XRP, SOL, and DOGE ETFs Among 72 Proposals Awaiting SEC Approval This Year

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The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is preparing to tackle a significant influx of cryptocurrency-related exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications.

Currently, 72 such proposals are awaiting approval, ranging from funds that track major assets like Solana (SOL), and Dogecoin (DOGE) to more speculative options tied to meme coins and tokens such as the Bonk (BONK), Official Trump (TRUMP), and even Official Melania (MELANIA) token.

Crypto ETFs Under New Leadership

According to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, 2025 promises to be a “wild” ride for crypto investors and asset managers alike.

The latest development comes as Paul Atkins was sworn into office as the 34th Chairman of the SEC two weeks after he was confirmed by the US Senate. His previous role at the securities regulator saw him championing deregulation, but the rapidly expanding crypto market will likely require him to make some tough decisions, particularly regarding which digital assets qualify as commodities.

These choices will have significant implications for whether certain cryptocurrencies can be traded as commodity-based trusts, similar to gold and other traditional assets.

Last year, under former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, the commission approved spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. The move set a precedent that opened the door for other digital assets to seek similar treatment.

For its part, the SEC, under acting chair Mark Uyeda, had made it clear in its February statement that meme coins are not typically considered securities.

XRP ETF Applications Pile Up

XRP ETFs are part of the 72 applications pending with the SEC. Major asset managers such as Grayscale, 21Shares, Bitwise, CoinShares, Canary, WisdomTree, and Franklin have all submitted S-1 filings to launch these funds in the US. More than 10 asset managers are involved in these proposals.

To top that, several exchanges, including Cboe and NYSE Arca, have filed 19b-4 applications with the agency to allow the trading of XRP ETF shares.

Meanwhile, betting markets on Polymarket have currently placed the chances of an XRP ETF approval at 70% this year.

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This Altcoin Soars by Double Digits Following Support From Binance, Upbit: Details

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TL;DR

  • A low-cap altcoin has taken the main stage on X due to a massive surge over the past day or so.
  • Its impressive price increase was likely triggered by backing from Binance and Upbit.

Reacting to the News

Although most of the cryptocurrency market has turned green on a daily scale, one low-cap altcoin has stolen the show. DeepBook (DEEP) is not among the top 100 club, but has outperformed almost all assets from that list in the past 24 hours.

Earlier today (April 22), its price was trading at around $0.09. Just an hour later, though, it jumped to a seven-week high of $0.16. DEEP’s peak was short-lived, and it later retraced to the current $0.11, which represents a 22% ascent for the day.

DEEP Price
DEEP Price, Source: CoinGecko

The rally was likely fueled by the support from the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange as Binance Futures launched the DEEP/USDT perpetual contract with up to 50x leverage. The product has no expiration date and allows traders to bet on the price of the cryptocurrency without actually owning it. 

The exchange clarified that futures and spot token listings are not correlated. This means that a cryptocurrency listed on Binance Futures does not guarantee that it will be added to Binance Spot. 

Upbit, which listed the DEEP/KRW trading pair earlier today, may have also contributed to the asset’s price increase. Thus, South Korea’s leading crypto exchange doubled down on its backing for the token since it previously introduced the DEEP/BTC and DEEP/KRW pairs. 

Examples in the Past

Support from major exchanges like the aforementioned ones increases the liquidity of the involved cryptocurrencies, enhances their visibility and availability, and gives them a reputational boost. 

Earlier this month, Binance placed the meme coin Cat in a Dogs World (MEW) in its Binance Alpha section – a platform within the exchange’s ecosystem that serves as a pre-listing selection pool. The token’s price rallied by 15% shortly after the inclusion. 

In February, Upbit introduced the trading pairs TRUMP/KRW, TRUMP/BTC, and TRUMP/USDT. The meme coin launched by US President Donald Trump pumped by 10% following the announcement.

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Cryptocurrency

Warning: Dogecoin (DOGE) Risks a 65% Price Crash if It Doesn’t Reclaim This Support Level

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TL;DR

  • Despite a recent uptick, one analyst warns that DOGE’s price could plunge significantly if it stays below a certain support zone.
  • Others, though, foresee a rally to as high as $0.44, citing specific technical chart patterns.

Is DOGE Poised for a Massive Slump?

The price of the largest meme coin has been on an uptrend in the past week, rising by 3% and currently trading at around $0.16. However, some analysts believe a collapse could replace the minor resurgence if Dogecoin (DOGE) fails to rise above a specific level.

Ali Martinez told his 135,000 followers on X that the meme coin’s valuation could plummet by 65% to as low as $0.06 if it doesn’t turn the resistance at $0.17 into support.

Certain technical indicators also suggest DOGE could be on the verge of a pullback. One example is the Relative Strength Index (RSI), which is a momentum oscillator that measures the speed and magnitude of recent price changes in a particular asset. It varies from 0 to 100 and helps traders determine whether a token is overbought or oversold, which in turn could signal a reversal point.

Readings above 70 typically indicate that the asset has entered overbought territory and might be headed for a correction. On the contrary, anything below 30 is considered a bullish factor. DOGE’s RSI has been on the rise in the past 24 hours, currently set just south of the bearish ratio of 70.

An important event that could catalyze further gains for the meme coin is the potential approval of a spot DOGE ETF in the United States. The prominent names racing to launch such a product include Grayscale, 21Shares, Bitwise, and others. 

Earlier this year, the approval odds (before the end of 2025) on Polymarket stood at over 75%. In the past several weeks, though, the chances started to erode and currently stand at 52%. Moreover, the odds of the investment vehicle seeing the light of day before July 31 dropped to 20%.

The Bullish Predictions

Crypto X is full of analysts who believe Dogecoin has yet to chart substantial peaks. ZAYK Charts recently assumed that the price has completed a breakout on a falling wedge pattern, suggesting this could result in a pump to almost $0.28. 

Clifton Fx shared a similar thesis. They claimed DOGE “is forming a falling wedge on the 2d timeframe,” predicting that a breakout might trigger a price explosion to as high as $0.44. 

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