Cryptocurrency
Caroline Ellison: Secret recording offers trove of explosive revelations
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.”
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Cryptocurrency
Ethereum Price Analysis: This Support Is Crucial for Ethereum to Reach $4K
Ethereum is grappling with a decisive support range between the 100-day MA ($3.2K) and the 200-day MA ($3K), a critical region serving as the buyers’ last line of defense.
The outcome at this level is expected to shape Ethereum’s mid-term trajectory.
Technical Analysis
By Shayan
The Daily Chart
ETH recently encountered heightened volatility as it approached the significant $3.2K-$3K price range, reflecting an intense battle between buyers and sellers. The price action highlights sellers’ attempts to push the asset below these key moving averages, signaling a potential bearish breakdown.
Currently, Ethereum is finding temporary support within this range, with the price confined between the $3.2K level and the bullish flag’s upper boundary. A decisive breakout in either direction is likely to determine the next major trend for Ethereum.
The 4-Hour Chart
On the 4-hour chart, Ethereum consolidated near the 0.5 ($3.2K) and 0.618 ($3K) Fibonacci retracement levels before briefly breaking below this critical support zone. However, strong buying interest quickly drove the asset back above the $3.2K mark.
This region remains pivotal as it represents the final primary support zone for buyers. A sustained hold above the $3.2K level could reignite bullish momentum, targeting a recovery toward higher resistance lines.
Conversely, a breakdown below this range could trigger liquidations, potentially driving the price toward the $2.5K support zone. For now, Ethereum is consolidating near this critical region, with a battle between buyers and sellers dictating the market’s next move.
Onchain Analysis
By Shayan
The Binance liquidation heatmap provides insights into key levels where significant liquidation events are likely. Based on the clustering of liquidation levels for long and short positions, these levels often act as magnets, driving price action toward them as market participants aim to capture liquidity.
During the recent shake-off, Ethereum grabbed liquidity at the $3K mark, resulting in a sharp price recovery. A notable cluster of wrecked levels still exists just below the critical $3K support, representing long-position liquidations. This makes the $3K area highly attractive to bears and institutional sellers, increasing the probability of a bearish breakout toward these levels in the mid-term.
However, a significant liquidity pool also rests at the $4K threshold, marking a potential ultimate target for buyers. However, it is likely that the price may grab liquidity below $3K first, creating a shakeout phase before resuming a bullish trajectory toward $4K. While Ethereum’s current price action reflects consolidation, the $3K level remains pivotal. A bearish breakout to capture liquidity below $3K is plausible in the short-to-mid term.
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Cryptocurrency
AiSweat.Shop Secretly Airdrops 700M of $DEFAI to Arbitrum’s DefAI Ecosystem
[PRESS RELEASE – San Francisco, California, January 18th, 2025]
AiSweat.Shop (A.S.S.), the pioneering DefAI Agent Launchpad backed by Arbitrum, has discreetly airdropped 70% of its $DEFAI tokens to a select group of communities and supporters. Without prior announcement, this significant token distribution was allocated to AiSweat.Shop communities, Arbitrum DeFi OGs, Open (known as @WebisOPEN on X) early supporters, and the Arbitrum Foundation. Recipients also include members from renowned DeFi platform communities on Arbitrum, such as Aave, GMX, Curve, Compound, Camelot, Pendle, and Wombat.
https://x.com/aisweatshop/status/1879139584912826845
Backed by Arbitrum and Open
AiSweat.Shop (A.S.S.) is the first-ever DefAI Agent Launchpad, leveraging the power of Arbitrum and Open. It provides users with the tools to deploy autonomous DefAI Agents equipped with decentralized finance (DeFi) abilities and tokenization capabilities. This innovation is part of a broader effort to reimagine DeFi through AI-driven, adaptive, and frictionless financial experiences. Arbitrum recently announced a grant to AiSweat.Shop, further cementing its commitment to advancing the DefAI landscape. Open also revealed that AiSweat.Shop users can now earn $OPEN points through its DefAI Agents like Overlord.bot and Gameboi.ai.
https://x.com/arbitrum/status/1877055247484416060
The Vision Behind $DEFAI
The $DEFAI token merges the principles of decentralized finance with the transformative potential of artificial intelligence, creating a seamless DefAI ecosystem. All trading pairs on AiSweat.Shop’s platform and its DefAI Agents will feature $DEFAI pairs, tightening the integration of AI-driven liquidity. The team has hinted at additional utilities for $DEFAI and announced a partnership with Camelot, a leading decentralized exchange (DEX) on Arbitrum. This collaboration aims to enhance liquidity, improve user experiences, and introduce yield mechanisms, with further updates anticipated.
https://x.com/aisweatshop/status/1878418433152368835
Token Distribution Breakdown
- 55%: A.S.S. Community, Arbitrum DeFi OGs, and Open community.
- 15%: Allocated to the Arbitrum Foundation for ecosystem support.
- 30%: Reserved for future strategic growth and ecosystem expansions.
This distribution strategy aligns with AiSweat.Shop’s goal of fostering a robust, collaborative DefAI ecosystem while introducing cross-platform and cross-agent incentives.
Innovative Tools and Features
One of the standout DefAI Agents on AiSweat.Shop is Gameboi.ai ($GMB), an anti-Sybil airdrop AI. Gameboi.ai revolutionizes the airdrop process by using a human-centric approach that evaluates eligibility based on humor, wit, and on-chain criteria. By countering spammy addresses and low-effort participants, this agent addresses long-standing challenges in traditional DeFi airdrops.
Expanding Partnerships
AiSweat.Shop’s collaboration with Arbitrum and Open reinforces its commitment to innovation:
- Arbitrum: Partnerships with top-tier DeFi platforms like Aave, GMX, Pendle, and Curve ensure robust liquidity and growth opportunities for $DEFAI.
- Open: The Compute Wormhole bridging decentralized compute onto blockchains, delivering scalable and verifiable processibility to DefAI Agents.
RSS3: As a decentralized Data Wormhole, RSS3 delivers structured data across Web1, Web2, and Web3 to DefAI Agents, further augmenting their capabilities.
How to Get Involved
- Stay Connected: Follow AiSweat.Shop on X (@aisweatshop) for updates.
- Launch Tokens: Use Overlord.bot (@overlordbot_ on X) to launch tokens with a simple tweet.
- Earn Airdrops: Interact with Gameboi.ai (@gameboiai on X) by tweeting a joke with your EVM wallet address to receive airdrops.
- Join the Community: Follow Open (@WebisOPEN on X) and participate in Discord, Spaces, and AMAs.
- Engage with Builders: Follow Arbitrum on X and collaborate with community members.
- Contribute to Development: Explore AiSweat.Shop developer documentation and the OpenAgent AI Framework on GitHub.
About AiSweat.Shop
AiSweat.Shop ($DEFAI) is redefining decentralized finance as the leading DefAI Agent Launchpad. Backed by the Arbitrum Foundation, it empowers users to launch autonomous AI Agents with DeFi abilities, revolutionizing traditional front-ends with AI-driven, trust-minimized AgentUI interfaces. With its roots firmly planted on Arbitrum, AiSweat.Shop is spearheading the DefAI revolution and setting the stage for a new era of decentralized finance.
For more information:
GitHub: OpenAgent Framework
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Cryptocurrency
Solana (SOL) Rockets to New All-Time High as TRUMP Mania Sweeps the Market
The cryptocurrency market has a new superstar that has evidently pushed the native token of the blockchain it is based on to a new all-time high.
More specifically, the newly launched OFFICIAL TRUMP meme coin has propelled a massive rally for SOL, which became the top gainer from the 10 largest alts and briefly spiked to $270 for a fresh peak, according to CMC and most exchanges.
CryptoPotato reported earlier today the biggest news in the cryptocurrency industry as of late – the launch of an official meme coin by the president-elect, Donald Trump.
Given his popularity and significance not only in the crypto and financial markets but also in the entire world, the token (TRUMP) gained massive attention, and its market cap has skyrocketed to roughly $6 billion as of now, making it the 33rd largest digital asset by that metric.
Being based on Solana’s blockchain, the demand for the asset, which saw trading volumes of over $11 billion in the past 24 hours, impacted the former’s native token as well.
In a landscape where most altcoins, as well as BTC, are posting daily declines, SOL has exploded by 18% within the past 24 hours and now sits at $255. Moreover, it briefly spiked to $270 on Coinbase and other exchanges to chart a new all-time high by breaking the November peak of $265.
SOL’s market cap has blown up as well and is now above $120 billion, which made it the fifth-largest cryptocurrency, surpassing BNB’s $102 billion.
Aside from the obvious TRUMP meme coin mania, SOL’s price was recently boosted by other positive developments related to the US front.
According to recent reports, the president-elect plans to boost the local crypto ecosystem, which includes US-based projects like Ripple and Solana.
Separately, the prospects of an SOL ETF have grown exponentially since Trump’s re-election and his upcoming inauguration, given that he has shown a substantially more positive approach to crypto.
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