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Former FTX Exec Ryan Salame Sentenced to 7.5 Years in Prison

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Former FTX co-CEO Ryan Salame was sentenced yesterday to 90 months in prison, according to Damian Lewis, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Salame previously pled guilty to conspiring to make illegal political contributions and defraud the Federal Election Commission and to conspiracy to run an unlicensed money-transmitting business before US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who handed down today’s sentence.

Ryan Salame’s Sentencing

As per the official press release, Salame served as the co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, the company’s Bahamas-based subsidiary, from 2019 to 2021.

His legal representatives argued that he should be sentenced to no more than the minimum term of 18 months. They advocated for leniency by citing that he was the first FTX exec to notify Bahamian authorities about potential fraud in late 2022, just before the company’s bankruptcy filing.

The US probation authorities, on the other hand, recommended an even more severe punishment – a 10-year prison sentence.

Commenting on the sentencing, Williams said,

“Ryan Salame agreed to advance the interests of FTX, Alameda Research, and his co-conspirators through an unlawful political influence campaign and through unlicensed money transmitting business, which helped FTX grow faster and larger by operating outside of the law.

Salame’s involvement in two serious federal crimes undermined public trust in American elections and the integrity of the financial system. Today’s sentence underscores the substantial consequences for such offenses.”

Allegations Against Salame

Filngs and statements made during court proceedings revealed that Salame collaborated with Bankman-Fried and others to run an unlicensed money-transmitting business, using FTX, Alameda Research, and “North Dimension” to transmit customer funds without proper licensing.

They also allegedly made false statements to US banks to sustain these illicit activities. Additionally, from around 2020, Salame, Bankman-Fried, and FTX executive Nishad Singh conspired to donate campaign contributions in a manner that concealed SBF’s involvement.

These donations aimed to boost Bankman-Fried’s reputation in Washington, D.C., enhance FTX’s visibility, and gain favor with candidates that are favorable to their interests. This involved over 300 unlawful political contributions totaling tens of millions of dollars, made under pretenses and leading to incorrect reporting to the Federal Election Commission.

In addition to the prison term, the 30-year-old former FTX exec received three years of supervised release. He was also slapped with over $6 million forfeiture and ordered to provide restitution exceeding $5 million.

Earlier this year, Bankman-Fried received a 25-year prison sentence after being found guilty of using billions of dollars in customer deposits to cover risky investments made by his hedge fund, Alameda Research.

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Ethereum Price Analysis: Can ETH Take Down This Key Resistance Level?

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Ethereum recently bounced off the crucial $1.5K support level, but it’s still struggling to break through the bearish order block near the $1.8K mark. If it fails to clear this resistance, another pullback could follow.

Technical Analysis

By ShayanMarkets

The Daily Chart

The price created a clear bullish reversal pattern at the $1.5K support level and quickly rallied toward the order block located at the $1.8K mark. Meanwhile, if the market experiences a rejection from the order block, the bullish fair value gap located below the price can provide support and push the asset back higher.

With the 100-day MA taking a nosedive around the $2.2K level, this area is a probable bullish target for ETH on the daily timeframe.

The 4-Hour Chart

On the 4-hour timeframe, ETH created a clear bullish market structure shift, with the descending channel broken to the upside. An impulsive rally has taken the price from around the $1.5K area to the $1.8K level in only a few days.

The $1.8K resistance zone is a critical one, as it has previously provided support for the market several times over the last few months. Therefore, a bullish breakout above this area could be the beginning of a further bullish continuation.

Onchain Analysis

The Ethereum Open Interest chart from CryptoQuant offers valuable insight into the current derivatives market sentiment surrounding ETH.

During the last couple of cycles, Ethereum’s open interest has shown a strong correlation with price trends, rising steadily during bullish phases and dropping sharply during corrections.

In recent weeks, a slight recovery is visible. The asset has rebounded to $1.8K, and open interest is climbing again toward the $12B level. This rising open interest during a price recovery signals renewed speculative positioning, possibly anticipating a breakout or continued relief bounce.

However, considering past patterns, this also raises the risk of a volatile flush if the price stalls or reverses sharply again. Therefore, risk management will still be crucial in the coming weeks.

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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.

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Ripple Price Analysis: XRP Hits Key Resistance at $2.4 – Is a Drop to $2 Next?

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Ripple has enjoyed a bullish rally in recent weeks, but the momentum now appears to be fading as buyers confront a significant resistance level. Technical signals suggest that the market is entering a cooling-off phase, marked by consolidation and potential short-term retracement.

XRP Analysis

By Shayan

The Daily Chart

On the daily timeframe, XRP’s uptrend has been met with strong resistance around the $2.4 mark, which also coincides with the upper boundary of a prolonged descending wedge pattern near $2.6. This zone is proving to be a robust supply region, as evidenced by the market’s inability to maintain upward momentum.

Despite the prior bullish impulse, the lack of follow-through buying and momentum at this level has triggered a mild rejection. This suggests that the recent rally may have exhausted itself for now, as buyers fail to overcome this decisive resistance.

The result is likely to be a short-term consolidation phase below the $2.4 region. This kind of corrective behavior is not unusual after a strong advance — it allows the market to digest gains, reset indicators, and potentially attract new demand before attempting another breakout.

The 4-Hour Chart

Zooming into the 4-hour timeframe, technical weakness becomes more pronounced. XRP has been rejected at the $2.4 resistance, retracing lower shortly after failing to break through.

A bearish divergence has also formed between the price and the RSI, highlighting weakening momentum even as the price tested new highs. Most critically, Ripple has broken below a prior swing low, printing a lower low, often an early signal of trend exhaustion and a potential structure shift.

This confluence of factors points toward a high probability of a retracement toward the $2 psychological level in the near term. Should demand fail to re-enter around this zone, deeper corrections could follow. However, if buyers step in with conviction, this region may serve as a launchpad for another breakout attempt toward $2.6 and beyond.

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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.

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Interesting Dogecoin (DOGE) Price Predictions: New ATH on the Way?

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TL;DR

  • Dogecoin has surged by double digits in the past 14 days, prompting bullish predictions from analysts who see potential for further gains.

  • Whale accumulation and the possible launch of a spot DOGE ETF approval in the US are two key bullish factors that could support long-term upside, though the impact of recent purchases remains insignificant.

What Does the Future Hold?

The largest meme coin in terms of market capitalization saw its price rally by almost 15% in the past two weeks. It pumped to as high as $0.19 on April 26 before retracing to the current $0.18 (per CoinGecko’s data).

DOGE Price
DOGE Price, Source: CoinGecko

Numerous market observers have noted the positive performance lately, predicting a surge that has yet to stun the community. The X user Trader Tardigrade claimed DOGE has completed a price breakout when crossing $0.175, envisioning a rise above $0.20 in the following days. 

CryptoBullet was also optimistic. The analyst believes the OG meme coin “prints a textbook accumulation cylinder,” and according to this pattern, we might witness a “giant pump” in the next few months. They forecasted a possible cycle top of over $3.20 by the end of the year and then a subsequent drop to the current levels by 2027.

Crypto Patel seems to be among the biggest bulls. The technical analyst argued that DOGE has bounced from the long-term support zone of $0.169 and could now be poised for a massive rally to as high as $32.

Of course, such a price explosion seems highly unrealistic at this stage, as it would require Dogecoin’s market capitalization to exceed $4 trillion. For comparison, the entire crypto sector is currently valued at just above $3 trillion.

The Bullish Factors

One element that could positively impact the valuation of the meme coin is the whales’ activity. X user Ali Martinez revealed that large investors (those holding between one million and ten million DOGE) have accumulated 100 million tokens over the past week. 

The whales now own more than 10.5 billion DOGE, representing roughly 7% of the circulating supply of the asset.

Such accumulations are usually monitored by smaller players and could encourage them to hop on the bandwagon, too. Purchasing DOGE tokens also reduces the asset’s supply on the open market, which, combined with non-declining demand, could trigger price spikes. However, in this particular case the scooped up amount (worth less than $20 million) seems insignificant to propel that type of scenario. 

Another factor worth exploring is the possible approval of a spot DOGE ETF in the United States. The investment vehicle would provide investors with an easy and regulated way to gain exposure to the meme coin.

Much like buying traditional stocks, the spot ETF would be available through authorized brokerage accounts. Investors would hold shares of the fund, while the fund itself would purchase and securely store the actual cryptocurrency to support those holdings.

The companies racing to launch such a product in the USA include 21Shares, Bitwise, and others. Earlier this month, 21Shares filed with the SEC for approval, naming Coinbase Custody as the custodian of the fund. Just a few days ago, Nasdaq submitted a form with the regulator, proposing the listing and trading of shares of the 21Shares Dogecoin ETF on its exchange.

Following that development, the approval chances before the end of 2025 climbed to 75% (according to Polymarket).

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