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  • 11/22/23: Did CZ Just Sacrifice Himself? 👋⏰☀️

11/22/23: Did CZ Just Sacrifice Himself? 👋⏰☀️

Author

Valko
November 22, 2023

Top News

  • 👋 Binance CEO CZ steps down, pleads guilty to money laundering

  • ⏰ Bernstein says Binance settlement is final step before ETF approval

  • ☀️ Justin Sun confirms Heco bridge was exploited for $97M

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao to Step Down, Plead Guilty to Money Laundering - Decrypt

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has agreed to step down from his role at the world's largest crypto exchange as part of a settlement with DOJ.

⌐◪-◪ → As confirmed by CZ himself, he has stepped down as CEO and named his replacement, Richard Teng. This was after he plead guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by allowing US customers to use the Binance without proper KYC & AML checks. As a result, Binance has agreed to pay $4.3B in fines, BNB plummeted, and the exchange processed ~$1B in outflows. If you’ve been reading Specs, then this isn’t a surprise, as we called it 1 month ago.

I called this 1 month ago on Twitter.

Binance settlement means spot BTC ETF can be approved now: Bernstein

The deal removes the final hurdle before approval of a spot bitcoin ETF, the report said.

⌐◪-◪ → Bernstein believes that Binance’s settlement is the final straw before the establishment feels comfortable approving any Bitcoin ETFs. Travis Kling called this way back in June, tweeting that “there is no chance that this ETF is approved with Binance in it’s current position of market dominance”. There are already conspiracy theories that BlackRock strategically took out Binance to get their ETF approved.

Justin Sun Confirms HTX, Heco Chain Exploited After $100M in Suspicious Transfers

HTX withdrawals and deposits have been temporarily suspended, and all losses will be covered by the exchange, Sun said.

⌐◪-◪ → Justin Sun is really having a bad month. Just under 2 weeks ago his exchange Poloniex was hacked for an estimated $114M. Thats well over $200M lost by Justin Sun owned ventures. I don’t believe in coincidences so either 1) something fishy is going on here or 2) Justin hires incredibly incompetent people. Justin is definitely a figure to keep an eye on, some are worried he might be the next SBF or CZ.

Peripheral Vision

⛓️ Crypto & DeFi

❗️ More Binance Headlines

  • Binance sees $1 billion in net outflows over the last 24 hours

  • Binance must make a complete exit from the US

  • Decrypt’s analysis of whether CZ will go to prison or not

  • Bernstein believes Binance will retain its international dominance

  • CZ released on $175M bail, and will be sentenced in February

  • Treasury brags about “largest enforcement action” on Twitter

  • Degens launch meme-coin “CZ” on Uniswap, it’s up 18,000%

🏛️ Legal & Regulatory

  • Grayscale met with SEC to discuss spot Bitcoin ETF Bid

  • Mt. Gox to start repaying creditors in cash later this year

  • DOJ, CTFC, & Treasury planning “significant” crypto enforcements

  • Genesis sues Gemini to recover “preferential transfers” worth $689M

  • ENS Founder says they are “ready to go to the mat” on patent dispute

  • $9M Tether was seized by US DOJ, linked to 'Pig Butchering' scheme

🌎 Rest of the World

🖼️ NFTs & Metaverse

  • Blast, Blur’s new layer 2, hits $81M in TVL 1 day in

  • Jack Butcher launches new Red Bull collection today

  • Ubisoft partners with Mocaverse for rewards

  • Gucci & Christies partner on new digital art showcase