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SBF’s Conviction, SEC’s Legal Defeats Against Ripple, Binance’s New CEO: Major Crypto Events That Dominated 2023

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What an eventful year it has been for the crypto industry!

With 2023 coming to an end, the cryptocurrency space has had its share of battles and victories, all of which continue to shape an industry that, though still growing, has managed to make a mark in the global financial sector.

This year, regulators came down hard on key players in the market, one of the biggest and most influential CEOs pleaded guilty to a criminal charge, and the hype around a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) intensified following applications from major financial institutions.

We now go further to explore some of the major events that made headlines in 2023.

Bank Collapses That Affected Crypto Companies

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Signature Bank, and Silvergate, which catered to crypto businesses and tech startups, fell apart within a week in March in what was described as one of the major collapses to rock the American banking sector.

It all started with Silvergate Bank, which revealed that it was struggling to stay in operation after reporting a $1 billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2022 following the collapse of the once-cryptocurrency exchange giant FTX. Days after, the financial institution announced the closure of its Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN) – an instant settlement service that allowed crypto clients to make payments 24/7 – stating that the move was a “risk-based decision.”

Silvergate eventually went into voluntary liquidation even though it was solvent. Amid the bank’s crisis at the time, crypto heavyweights, such as Huobi and Coinbase, cut ties with Silvergate. A few days later, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation closed down SVB, which mostly served the tech industry, becoming the largest bank in the United States to fail after Washington Mutual Bank in 2008.

SVB experienced a bank run after depositors made huge withdrawals. Furthermore, banking Regulators shut down the crypto-friendly Signature Bank, which saw panic from customers after SVB’s fall, resulting in major stock sell-offs and massive outflows.

The collapses, meanwhile, had a significant impact on crypto companies, with one of the biggest clients being Circle. The USDC stablecoin issuer revealed that it held part of its cash reserves in various US financial institutions, including SVB, Silvergate, and Signature banks, with over $3 billion in SVB.

The USDC temporarily depegged as a result of SVB’s failure. Other crypto companies that had exposure to SVB and Signature included Ripple, BlockFi, Coinbase, and Paxos.

The Inscriptions Craze

First started on the Bitcoin network, the inscription mania also found its way to Ethereum and Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) chains.

Inscriptions, simply put, are data files embedded on the blockchain. The fad started on the Bitcoin blockchain with Bitcoin Ordinals, which, similar to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), can be inscribed on a satoshi – the smallest denomination of Bitcoin (BTC).

The ordinals craze prompted a surge in transactions on the Bitcoin network. But the trend has also caused network congestion, along with high fees.

Meanwhile, inscriptions went beyond the Bitcoin network when developers found a way to deploy inscriptions on Ethereum and other blockchains beginning in November. Inscriptions on Ethereum and EMV-compatible chains are embedded in transaction call data.

According to data from Etherscan in December, a spike in transaction activity on EVM chains was majorly attributed to inscriptions.

However, Bitcoin Ordinals, especially, have not been without criticism, with maximalists labeling the trend as spam and a scam. Bitcoin Core developer Luke Dashjr stated that Ordinals creators were exploiting a vulnerability in Bitcoin Core to spam the blockchain. The developer also believes that ordinals are an attack on Bitcoin.

Binance and Coinbase Slammed With SEC Lawsuit

In June, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) went after two of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges – Binance and Coinbase. According to the regulator, in its lawsuits against both companies, which were each filed within 24 hours, both firms violated securities laws and offered assets for trading deemed as securities.

However, Binance and Coinbase denied the SEC’s claims, with both exchanges seeking to dismiss the regulator’s lawsuits. Binance.US, the American affiliate of the international exchange Binance, trimmed down its workforce as the company anticipated a long and expensive legal battle with the SEC.

Ripple’s Victories Against the SEC

A month after the SEC’s lawsuit against Binance and Coinbase, another crypto company, which has been involved in a lengthy legal fight with the regulator, scored a major win in July.

In December 2020, the SEC sued Ripple Labs, the company behind the XRP token, for conducting a $1.3 billion unregistered securities offering through its sale of XRP. Ripple and its CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, fought back against the allegation, maintaining that the firm did not commit any crime.

A partial victory came for Ripple in July 2023 after Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP sales on public crypto exchanges did not violate securities laws. However, Judge Torres stated that the sale of XRP directly to sophisticated investors violated securities laws.

Ripple scored another win in October after Judge Torress dismissed the SEC’s appeal against the judge’s decision in July. A third victory came for the company in the same month after the securities watchdog dropped its charges against Ripple’s top executives — Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen.

BlackRock’s Spot Bitcoin ETF Filing

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager with nearly $10 trillion in assets, made headlines in June after the company filed for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) with the SEC. Following BlackRock’s filing, other companies such as Fidelity Digital, WisdomTree, Invesco, and VanEck resubmitted their applications.

The SEC has yet to approve any spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States, with the regulator only favoring Bitcoin futures ETFs. However, there have been renewed hopes of a possible spot BTC ETF, with reports stating that discussions between potential issuers and the SEC have reached an advanced stage.

Meanwhile, ETF applicants, investors, and the broader crypto community have set their sights on deadlines between Jan. 5th and 10th, 2024 deadline, with the hope the US will finally have a spot Bitcoin ETF product after years of delays and rejections.

Worldcoin: The Crypto Iris-Scanning Project

Worldcoin, co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, launched its WLD token in July 2023. However, the project has faced criticisms for its iris-scanning feature, which users will undergo to get WLD tokens.

Regulatory authorities in France, the United Kingdom,  Germany, and Argentina raised privacy concerns and initiated investigations into the project. Kenya, on the other hand, suspended Worldcoin activities in the country.

Amid regulatory scrutiny, recent reports stated that Worldcoin quietly discontinued its orb verification for offline users in India, Brazil, and France. Meanwhile, the project expanded into Singapore, allowing users to “verify their unique humanness at an Orb.”

Grayscale’s Win Against the SEC

After its defeat to Ripple, the SEC suffered another loss in a legal case involving asset management firm Grayscale. The latter sued the Commission for rejecting its request to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot Bitcoin ETF.

In August, a United States court instructed the regulator to reconsider Grayscale’s application, a ruling that served as a major win for the crypto company. However, some experts at the time noted that the victory did not mean an automatic endorsement of spot Bitcoin ETF.

Sam Bankman-Fried: From Crypto Darling to Criminal

November can be said to be one of the most eventful months in 2023 for the cryptocurrency industry. Sam Bankman-Fried, popularly known as SBF, whose company FTX fell in November 2022, was convicted nearly a year later of a seven-count charge, including fraud and conspiracy.

Following FTX’s collapse, Bankman-Fried resigned from his position as CEO of the crypto exchange. The former chief was subsequently arrested and later extradited to the United States.

After a month-long trial, which began in October 2023, a 12-man jury declared SBF guilty of all seven counts involving fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering, with the charges carrying a combined maximum sentence of 120 years in prison. Following the guilty verdict, Bankman-Fried’s defense lawyer said that his client maintained his innocence and would continue to fight the allegations.

SBF’s sentencing is scheduled for March 28, 2024, with a second trial also to happen in the same month. However, a recent letter, according to Bloomberg, revealed that Bankman-Fried will not face a second trial, with US prosecutors informing Judge Lewis Kaplan of their intention to drop the second set of charges, part of which accuse the former entrepreneur of bank fraud, trying to bribe foreign officials, and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.

CZ Stepping Down and Binance’s $4 Billion Fine

Another major event happened in November, with the largest cryptocurrency exchange by market capitalization, Binance, paying a $4.3 billion fine in a settlement with United States regulators.

The company, which is facing regulatory issues from different watchdogs, chief among them the SEC, paid the hefty settlement., in addition to pleading guilty to various charges, including knowingly violating the Bank Secrecy Act.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, popularly known as CZ, also pled guilty to contravening the Bank Secrecy Act, agreed to step down from his position and pay a personal fine of $50 million.

Meanwhile, CZ, who also resigned as chairman of the board of directors at Binance.US, will remain in the U.S. until his sentencing on Feb. 23, 2024, with a United States district court ruling in favor of the government, which claimed that he was a flight risk.

Binance’s former head of regional markets outside the U.S., Richard Teng, became the company’s new CEO.

Major Hacks in 2023

While hacking incidents in 2023 recorded less volume compared to 2022, there were still some notable hacks that occurred this year.

DeFi lending protocol Euler Finance lost $197 million worth of customer assets in March through a flash loan attack. In April, the project announced that the attacker returned all recoverable funds.

Crypto exchange Poloniex also fell victim to a hacking incident, causing the platform to lose $125 million in various assets, including Ether (ETH), USDT, USDC, and Shiba Inu (SHIB).

Another project, Mixin Network, suffered a $200 million loss in September after attackers exploited a vulnerability in the database of its cloud service provider. Shortly after the attack, the Mixin team appealed to the hacker to return the stolen funds while offering them a $20 million bug bounty reward.

Fingers Crossed for 2024

With 2024 just around the corner, the industry seems to be optimistic about a potential crypto bull run. Already, there have been massive Bitcoin (BTC) price predictions for 2024, which analysts and stakeholders believe will be propelled by a potential spot Bitcoin ETF approval and the upcoming Bitcoin halving event.

Bitwise recently predicted that BTC’s price will hit a new all-time high of $80,000 in 2024. Other predictions put the value of the crypto asset at $100,000 and above per coin also in 2024.

It remains to be seen how the new year will shape the crypto industry, with various activities and anticipations, but hopefully, the leap year will be good for the market.

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Cryptocurrency

Can ETH Challenge $2K After 10% Weekly Surge? (Ethereum Price Analysis)

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Following a notable surge, Ethereum has approached a critical resistance zone around $1.8K and has begun losing momentum. Nevertheless, the emergence of a bearish divergence suggests a potential short-term corrective consolidation before the next bullish continuation.

Technical Analysis

The Daily Chart

Following the substantial price increase as of late initiated by strong buying pressure at the critical $1.5K support level, ETH has reached a significant resistance zone near $1.8K. This upward displacement has resulted in the formation of a fair value gap, highlighting the presence of smart money on the buyers’ side. However, the $1.8K region coincides with a prior order block, likely filled with supply, making it a formidable barrier.

Consequently, Ethereum is expected to enter a temporary consolidation phase, potentially followed by a minor correction before the next major move. Should buyers manage to breach this resistance, the next target would be the crucial $2.2K level.

The 4-Hour Chart

On the lower timeframe, ETH’s bullish market structure shift was confirmed after a breakout above a multi-month descending channel, leading to a strong surge toward the $1.8K resistance zone. This level aligns with previous significant swing lows, reinforcing its importance. However, momentum has stalled upon reaching this critical threshold, with the price entering a low-volatility consolidation phase.

Simultaneously, a bearish divergence between the price and the RSI indicator has emerged, suggesting the likelihood of a short-term corrective move. As a result, extended consolidation or a minor pullback is anticipated before any further bullish breakout attempt.

Onchain Analysis

The Binance liquidation heatmap continues to offer valuable insights into Ethereum’s current market structure and potential future price movements. Liquidity zones, often clustered around key psychological levels, tend to act as magnets, attracting the price as market participants seek to trigger stop-losses and liquidations.

Following the recent significant downtrend, a sizable concentration of liquidation levels has formed just above Ethereum’s previous swing high around the critical $2K mark. Historically, during periods of recovery or bullish sentiment, markets are drawn toward such liquidity pockets, as institutional players and smart money participants look to exploit trapped sellers by triggering forced liquidations.

Currently, Ethereum’s price action indicates growing strength, having successfully rebounded from the key $1.5K support area and reclaimed important technical levels. Should the asset continue its upward momentum and enter the $2K liquidity cluster, a cascade of short liquidations could be unleashed. This would likely inject additional volatility and amplify buying pressure, pushing Ethereum rapidly toward the next critical resistance zone near $2.5K.

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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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Global Web3 Giants Bitget and Avalanche Join Forces to Boost Web3 Ecosystem in India

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[PRESS RELEASE – Victoria, Seychelles, April 28th, 2025]

Bitget, the world’s leading crypto exchange and web3 company announced a strategic collaboration with Avalanche, the fastest and most reliable smart contracts platform in the world. Bitget and Avalanche are leaders in the field of digital asset trading and blockchain technology, respectively, and the partnership is aimed at leveraging the combined strength of both global brands to enable grassroots adoption of web3 technology.

Avalanche has expanded its initiatives in Indian region, working closely with more government agencies on welfare projects and rolling out a mini-grants program to encourage builders at all stages to build on their platforms. Bitget’s Blockchain4youth program has pledged $10 million over 5 years, offering scholarships, workshops, and hackathons to the web3 community in India and across the globe. Bitget’s Blockchain4Her initiative is aimed at supporting women-led web3 projects in India and across the globe.

The first leg of the program kicked off with the ‘HODL ON’ tour, which conducted their first two meetup events in Delhi & Bangalore with the mutual agenda to boost education & knowledge about blockchain & cryptocurrencies in the region.

Commenting on the development, Devika Mittal, Regional Head at Ava Labs, said: “India has a very robust Web3 community. Our goal with events is to provide a space to any web3 enthusiast – whether in Delhi or Varanasi, or anywhere else – to connect and build. She emphasized that in 2025, down the year, lots of L1s are launching on Avalanche & promising very strong activity from builders across the board is expected.”

Commenting on the development, Jyotsna Hridyani, South Asia Head at Bitget, said: “Empowering users with the right knowledge is essential to unlocking the full potential of blockchain in India’s digital future. At Bitget, we’re committed to bridging this gap through community programs, partnerships with universities, and accessible learning tools.”

The goal of the partnership is to widen the reach for awareness across cities in India via more such events & workshops to educate the youth on the potential benefits & applications of blockchain technology. Bitget and Avalanche both have committed to partner for more such initiatives & investments for the rest of 2025.

Global organisations like Bitget and Avalanche are betting big on India as it is the world’s top nation in terms of crypto adoption and the second-largest market for web3 developers. India’s tech talent is capable of delivering world-class web3 applications if supported by timely grants, experienced mentorship, and global exposure. India is home to more than 1000 web3 startups, and Bitget’s mission is to double this number in 2025 through dedicated funding and mentorship channels. The ‘HODL ON’ tour offers a unique platform for web3 startups in India to showcase their work and secure funding to succeed in their respective field.

Commenting on the success of the Delhi and Bangalore chapters, Akshay Aggarwal, Co-founder & Leading Contributor, Blockchained India, added, “India, with its scale and digital depth, has a unique opportunity to shape how Web3 delivers real value — especially across consumer and enterprise applications. At Blockchained India, we’ve always believed that relevance is earned through consistent action, not noise. This is an inflection point. Let’s continue building with those who see long-term value and are committed to shaping what Web3 can truly become for the masses.”

About Bitget

Established in 2018, Bitget is the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company. Serving over 100 million users in 150+ countries and regions, the Bitget exchange is committed to helping users trade smarter with its pioneering copy trading feature and other trading solutions, while offering real-time access to Bitcoin price, Ethereum price, and other cryptocurrency prices. Formerly known as BitKeep, Bitget Wallet is a world-class multi-chain crypto wallet that offers an array of comprehensive Web3 solutions and features including wallet functionality, token swap, NFT Marketplace, DApp browser, and more.

Bitget is at the forefront of driving crypto adoption through strategic partnerships, such as its role as the Official Crypto Partner of the World’s Top Football League, LALIGA, in EASTERN, SEA and LATAM markets, as well as a global partner of Turkish National athletes Buse Tosun Çavuşoğlu (Wrestling world champion), Samet Gümüş (Boxing gold medalist), and İlkin Aydın (Volleyball national team), to inspire the global community to embrace the future of cryptocurrency.

For more information, users can visit: Website | Twitter | Telegram | LinkedIn | Discord | Bitget Wallet

For media inquiries, please contact: media@bitget.com

Risk Warning: Digital asset prices are subject to fluctuation and may experience significant volatility. Investors are advised to only allocate funds they can afford to lose. The value of any investment may be impacted, and there is a possibility that financial objectives may not be met, nor the principal investment recovered. Independent financial advice should always be sought, and personal financial experience and standing carefully considered. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Bitget accepts no liability for any potential losses incurred. Nothing contained herein should be construed as financial advice. For further information, users can refer to Terms of Use.

About Avalanche

Avalanche is the fastest, most reliable smart contracts platform in the world. Its revolutionary consensus protocol and novel L1s enable Web3 developers to easily launch highly-scalable solutions. Deploy on the EVM, or use your own custom VM. Build anything users want, any way they want, on the eco-friendly blockchain designed for Web3 devs. Avalanche is an open-source platform for launching decentralized finance applications and enterprise blockchain deployments in one interoperable, highly scalable ecosystem. Avalanche uses Proof-of-Stake, which allows tens of thousands of validators to have a first-hand say in the system while consuming minimal energy. For more information, users can visit https://www.avax.network/

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3 Possible Reasons Behind PENGU’s 160% Weekly Surge

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TL;DR

  • PENGU briefly entered the top 100 cryptocurrencies club with a market cap of just south of $900 million.
  • Over the past week, it outperformed the leading meme coins, Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB), which are also well in the green.

Rising Through the Ranks

The meme coin sector is notorious for its enhanced volatility. Tokens of that type often stun the community by registering steep price declines or whopping surges in a short period of time. One asset that recently experienced a solid increase is Pudgy Penguins (PENGU).

The Solana-based meme coin saw its valuation skyrocketing by roughly 160% in the past seven days, climbing to a local top of $0.014 today (April 28).

PENGU Price
PENGU Price, Source: CoinGecko

PENGU’s market cap briefly exceeded $880 million, thus positioning the asset among the top 100 cryptocurrencies. Later, the capitalization retraced to around $815 million, causing the coin to drop out of the elite club. 

The exact catalyst behind PENGU’s rally over the past week remains unclear, though it likely stems from a combination of several factors. Those include the resurgence of the entire cryptocurrency market, the overall bullish sentiment among industry participants, and the recent celebration of World Penguin Day.

The event is celebrated every year on April 25 and aims to raise awareness about the flightless birds and the threats they face, such as climate change, overfishing, and habitat destruction. It may have spurred speculative interest in penguin-themed assets like PENGU, contributing to its price rally.

The community quickly picked up the price rally, with analysts predicting a further surge to a $1 billion market cap.

Outperforming the Big Names

Although all of the top 10 meme coins have posted impressive gains over the past week, none of them can match PENGU’s explosive performance for that timeframe.

The largest meme in terms of market capitalizationDogecoin (DOGE)is currently worth around $0.18, representing an 11% rise on a seven-day scale. 

Shiba Inu (SHIB) is trading at roughly $0.00001396, a 10% weekly increase. The next down the list are PEPE (+15%), TRUMP (+84%), BONK (+66%), and others.

The market cap of the meme coin niche has spiked above $61 billion, which is a serious uptrend compared to the sub-$40 billion level observed at the start of the month. However, it remains far from the peak of over $120 billion witnessed towards the end of 2024. 

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