U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York ruled on a tentative date for the anticipated weeks-long trial during the former FTX executive’s arraignment in the Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday afternoon. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded “not guilty” to eight charges in federal court, including wire fraud and campaign finance allegations.
(Michael M. Santiago/Unsplash)
The former CEO of the now-bankrupt crypto exchange made his second appearance in a New York courthouse on Tuesday. Bankman-Fried’s first appearance last week resulted in him being released on a personal recognizance bond and, shortly after, flying back to his parents’ home in California. His not guilty plea today was expected, according to an earlier report in The Wall Street Journal.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon told the court that the prosecution expected the bulk of its discovery to be completed within the coming weeks. The government will produce materials it already has accessed within the next several weeks, she said. This includes documents shared by FTX’s bankruptcy attorneys.
Judge Kaplan also granted Bankman-Fried’s application to seal the names of the additional co-signers who, in addition to his parents, guaranteed his $250 million bail bond. Media can object to the redaction of the identities of the bond signers through Jan. 12. Bankman-Fried’s lawyers had argued that there were safety and privacy concerns with revealing the names of the co-signers.
On the government’s behalf, Sassoon asked the court to modify the conditions of Bankman-Fried’s bail conditions, requesting that he be prohibited from accessing or transferring any assets tied to FTX or its affiliated entities. She referenced last week’s discovery that several Alameda wallets had begun moving thousands of dollars worth of crypto into other wallets.
Lido (LDO): Lido DAO or LDO, the governance token of the Lido decentralized autonomous organization, has jumped 19% in the past seven days, with prices reaching a one-and-a-half-month high of $1.30 early Tuesday before settling back to $1.20 in the afternoon. The rally follows Ethereum developers’ Dec. 8 announcement that the network’s next hard fork, or backward-incompatible software upgrade also known as Shanghai, will take place in March. LDO grabbed the trophy as the top performer so far in 2023 in CoinDesk Market Index (CMI).
Solana (SOL): Solana’s SOL surged as much as 20% on Tuesday as a decision by newly launched Shiba Inu-themed token Bonk (BONK) to do a large airdrop generated interest in the Solana community. The SOL token was recently trading at $13.
Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH): Thelargest cryptocurrency by market value was recently trading at $16,655, down 0.4% in the past 24 hours. ETH followed BTC’s trajectory, changing hands at $1,210, off 0.6%. Equities kicked off the first trading day of 2023 with losses. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 0.76%, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed down 0.40% and 0.3%, respectively.
Market Analysis: Consumer Credit Debt Problems
Liquidity continues to ring loudly. The U.S. central bank remains committed to reducing inflation via interest rate increases and balance sheet reductions. “M2” money supply for the U.S. decreased in 2022, as the Federal Reserve worked to slow inflation. Money supply in the Eurozone declined in each of the last two months, although the money supply in China and Japan actually rose.
The push and pull between inflation control and economic stimulus in the world’s two largest economies by gross domestic product (GDP) remains unsettling for global asset markets.
A disconnect also exists between the extension of credit to corporations and the growth of revolving credit among individual consumers.
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