2024-04-30 13:56

"There's no evidence that the defendant was ever informed" of illegal activity at Binance, the judge said. Binance's CZ got a four-month prison sentence. "There's no evidence that the defendant was ever informed" of illegal activity at Binance, the judge said. SEATTLE — Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, the founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, was sentenced Tuesday to four months in prison. U.S. Judge Richard Jones immediately sounded skeptical during a hearing of the Department of Justice's arguments for a years-long sentence. "There's no evidence that the defendant was ever informed" of illegal activity at Binance, the judge said in a Seattle courtroom, before saying he disagreed with the U.S. Department of Justice's recommendation for an increase from the baseline sentencing guideline of 10 to 16 months in prison and up to three years of supervised release. "The court finds the defendant has accepted responsibility," the judge said. "Everything I see about you and your characteristics are of a mitigating nature," the judge said to Zhao as he began to read through his order. A court document released after the hearing concluded also notes the judge recommended Zhao serve his sentence at the Federal Detention Center, SeaTac, though the Bureau of Prisons will make a final decision. The Probation and Pretrial Services Office will set a reporting date for Zhao to surrender himself. Zhao, with buzz-cut hair and wearing a navy blue suit and light blue tie, learned his fate accompanied in court by his mother, sister, nephew and son. Zhao's plea deal last year saw him agree to pay a $50 million fine, a small fraction of his estimated net worth. Bloomberg reported Monday that he might have some $43 billion in assets to his name. "I think the first step to taking responsibility is to fully recognize the mistakes. Here, I failed to fully set up a [know-your-customer program]," Zhao said moments before hearing the judge's decision. "I also recognize the importance of having a robust KYC/[anti-money-laundering] program. That is why I directed Binance to cooperate with the U.S.'s investigation." The former head of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange pleaded guilty in November to one count of violating the Bank Secrecy Act, a charge that might normally carry up to 10 years in prison. But his guilty plea and cooperation reduced that. A presentence report filed by the court's Probation Office recommended he spend just five months in prison. Prosecutors and defense lawyers had vastly differing recommendations: The DOJ asked a federal judge to sentence Zhao to three years in prison, twice what was laid out in his plea agreement. His defense, on the other hand, asked for no prison time, suggesting he just get probation. His sentence contrasts with the 25-year penalty his former rival, FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried, recently got. Binance agreed to pay a $4.3 billion fine the same day Zhao pleaded guilty last year. The agreement also saw him step down from the exchange he'd founded in 2017. A prosecutor argued Tuesday that the Bank Secrecy Act guidelines were too lenient, pointing to Binance's huge size as evidence for why Zhao should spend a "meaningful" amount of time in prison, if not three years. "If Mr. Zhao does not face incarceration after deliberately and willfully planning to violate U.S. law to build the largest crypto exchange in the world and get rich in the process … then no one will face incarceration and the BSA will for intents and purposes be a dead letter," a prosecutor said Tuesday. The judge should be able to infer Zhao's understanding of any illicit activity occurring on his platform, even in the absence of specific evidence, the prosecutor said. Zhao's defense attorneys pointed to a lack of precedent in arguing for no prison time at all, saying there have been no cases with similar circumstances where a defendant was incarcerated. The U.S.'s previous case against BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes was one such example, the defense said. Moreover, Zhao cooperated with the U.S. government, one defense attorney argued, saying this cooperation was "well-documented" and even acknowledged by the DOJ. https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/04/30/binance-founder-changpeng-zhao-to-appear-in-court-today-for-sentencing/

2024-04-30 12:41

The token has $75 million in trading volume in the hour after claims went live. Renzo has allocated 32% of the total tokens to the community. The protocol tweeted that the token was not yet available on decentralized exchanges, however Dextools data shows the token is being traded on Uniswap. 50% of the tokens accumulated by users with more than 500,000 ezPoints are subject to a three-month vesting period. Liquid restaking protocol Renzo has opened airdrop claims for its native token (REZ), which has debuted at a $289 million market cap, according to CoinMarketCap. The initial circulating supply of REZ is 1.15 billion, with the remaining 8.85 billion tokens remaining locked up until various criteria are met. 31% of the tokens have been allocated to investors, 32% to the community and 20% to core contributors, who are subject to a 1-year lock up and 2-year vesting period. Renzo is a protocol that acts as a portal to EigenLayer by securing actively validated services (AVS). Users that stake ether (ETH) on the platform generate a yield and automatically receive ezETH, Renzo’s liquid restaking token, which can be used to generate a higher yield across various decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. Users holding more than 500,000 ezPoints, which were accumulated by staking on Renzo following its launch in January, are subject to a 50% lockup over a three-month vesting period. Renzo said in a tweet that REZ was not available to trade on any decentralized exchange, although the official token contract posted on Renzo’s website had racked up $75 million in trading volume an hour after claims went live, Dextools data shows. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/04/30/liquid-restaking-protocol-renzo-airdrops-rez-token-debuts-at-289m-market-cap/

2024-04-30 09:32

Asia's first spot bitcoin and ether ETFs debuted in Hong Kong with dismal trading volumes. BTC, ETH nurse losses after weak demand for Hong Kong ETFs. The six ETFs registered a first-day trading volume of just $11 million. Bitcoin (BTC) faced selling pressure during European hours after data showed poor uptake for Hong Kong’s newly listed exchange-traded funds tied to bitcoin and ether. The leading cryptocurrency by market value fell nearly 2% from $63,300 to under $61,000 in 60 minutes to 09:00 UTC, CoinDesk data show. Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency, slipped 2.8% to $3,066. The six ETFs that commenced trading in Hong Kong on Tuesday fell far short of expectations, with a combined trading volume of just $11 million, a fraction of the expected $100 million. Bitcoin ETFs accounted for $8.5 million of the tally, while ether ETFs contributed the rest. The cumulative volume is also significantly lower than the U.S.-based spot BTC ETFs' first-day tally of $655 million. Nearly a dozen spot BTC ETFs began trading in the U.S. on January 11 and have pulled in nearly $12 billion in investor funds since then. Inflows, however, have recently slowed, stalling bitcoin’s uptrend. Spot ETFs allow investors to take exposure to cryptocurrency without having to own it. They are considered a better option than futures-based ETFs, which are subject to rollover costs. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/04/30/bitcoin-slips-under-62k-as-hong-kong-etfs-disappoint/

2024-04-30 08:50

The volume of crypto exchange-traded funds came in at just over $11 million. Hong Kong’s crypto ETFs had a soft debut, with trading volume much lower than expected. The total trading volume for bitcoin ETFs was $8.5 million, while ether ETFs saw $2.5 million. Hong Kong’s bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) ETFs failed to lift off on their trading debut in Hong Kong, coming dramatically under initial expectations. The six listed crypto ETFs pushed $11 million in volume, with bitcoin ETFs posting $8.5 million in volume and ether ETFs coming in at $2.5 million. Issuers expected the initial volume to be over $100 million, according to local media reports. Ether ETFs are allowed in Hong Kong’s market, as regulators in the Chinese territory don’t have the same concerns about ether being a security as their counterparts in the U.S. A U.S. ether ETF won’t be listed for quite some time as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) won’t clearly say if they consider ether to be a security. Ether ETFs are also listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange via issuers such as Evolve and Purpose Investments. On the first day in the U.S., total trading volume hit $655 million. Bitcoin was down over 1%, trading near $62,100, according to CoinDesk Indices data. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/04/30/hong-kong-bitcoin-and-ether-etfs-have-soft-debut/

2024-04-30 08:09

The broker cut its price target on the firm to $1,590 from $1,810, while maintaining its buy rating. Canaccord cut its price target for MicroStrategy to $1,590 from $1,810. The company bought more bitcoin in the first quarter and now owns a total of 214,400 BTC worth about $13.6 billion, the report said. MicroStrategy reported a first-quarter net operating loss of $53.1 million after taking a digital asset impairment charge of $191.6 million. MicroStrategy (MSTR) raised over $1.5 billion in the first quarter and used the proceeds to acquire an additional 25,250 bitcoin (BTC) and now owns 214,400 BTC worth around $13.6 billion, broker Canaccord Genuity said in a research report on Monday. MicroStrategy’s corporate strategy is partly based on the acquisition and holding of bitcoin. The firm’s total holding is almost 1% of bitcoin’s total circulating supply of 19.7 million tokens. The software company achieved double-digit subscription services revenue growth in the first quarter as it moved its business to the cloud, the report said. Still, it reported a net operating loss of $53.1 million after taking a digital asset impairment charge of $191.6 million, the company said in a press release Monday. The company could have adopted the new digital asset fair value accounting standard and reported a large profit due to the rally in bitcoin in the first quarter, but it decided not to do so. Canaccord cut its MicroStrategy price target to $1,590 from $1,810 while maintaining its buy rating. The stock slipped 2.5% to $1,261 in after-hours trading. “The main drivers are of our new price target are continued appreciation of BTC and some revaluation up for the software business,” analysts led by Joseph Vafi wrote, adding that “given MSTR’s current premium to its BTC holdings, we are not assuming this to be an upside driver from current levels.” “We note that the current 71% equity value premium to the HODL is still quite significant, and thus contraction here should be viewed as a risk factor,” the authors wrote. There is a scarcity value to MicroStrategy’s bitcoin holdings, given it remains one of the best ways for most equity investors to gain exposure to the digital asset, Canaccord said, and this setup “provides the potential for an additional premium to spot to re-emerge in MSTR shares.” The setup for bitcoin is also positive.“BTC is biased higher given recent approvals of U.S. BTC spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) coming from heavyweight asset managers and the very strong adoption there combined with the recent BTC halving,” the report added. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/04/30/microstrategy-now-holds-136b-worth-of-bitcoin-1-of-total-circulating-supply-canaccord/

2024-04-30 07:33

Bitcoin's dominance rate has risen past key level, signaling further upside, according to Fairlead Strategies. Bitcoin is about to snap a seven-month winning streak due to several factors, including a slowdown in demand for spot ETFs. According to Fairlead Strategies, Bitcoin’s dominance rate has risen past a critical level, signaling further upside. Bitcoin (BTC) appears on track to end a seven-month winning streak. Still, the largest token by market value is likely to become more dominant in the crypto market, according to one analyst. As of the time of writing, bitcoin changed hands at $63,200, representing an 11% monthly loss, the first since August 2023, according to data source CoinDesk and TradingView. The CoinDesk 20 Index, a measure of the most liquid digital assets, traded nearly 20% lower for the month at 2,185 points. A bevy of factors like the dwindling probability of the Fed rate cuts, reduced demand for the U.S.-based spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and broad-based risk aversion in financial markets have taken the wind out of the bitcoin bull run this month. Meanwhile, a continued expansion of prominent stablecoins has been a supportive factor. Analysts are now closely watching Wednesday’s quarterly refunding statement by the U.S. Treasury. According to Singapore-based QCP Capital, a higher issuance of short-term bills could free up liquidity, supporting risk assets. “The upcoming Quarterly Refunding Announcement (QRA) on May 1 could also see higher issuances of short-term U.S. bills. This will drain the RRP, which currently has USD 400 billion, and also increase liquidity,” QCP said in a market note. The U.S. Treasury said on Monday it plans to borrow more in the April to June quarter. Higher-than-expected borrowing means more bond supply, higher yields or risk-free rates and less reason to invest in risky assets. The Treasury also said it expects to maintain a balance of $850 billion in its Treasury General Account by the end of September, slightly higher than the $750 billion expected. BTC to become more dominant Bitcoin’s dominance rate, or the share in the crypto market, recently rose to a three-year high of 57%, breaking higher from a six-month consolidation pattern. The breakout means bitcoin could continue to outshine alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) in the coming months. “It [the dominance rate] recently had a breakout favoring bitcoin over altcoins in the intermediate-term, which is in line with the weekly RRG [relative rotation graph] where most altcoins point lower,” Fairlead Strategies said in a note to clients Monday. “The breakout in the index marks a continuation of a long-term turnaround phase, which has reversed much of the altcoin gains made in early 2021,” Fairlead Strategies added. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/04/30/bitcoin-set-to-become-more-dominant-even-as-btc-stares-at-first-monthly-loss-since-august/