Kategorie: Crypto News

Key Takeaways

• Sam Bankman-Fried has been arrested in the Bahamas and faces extradition to US
• Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison was reportedly spotted in New York
• Former CEO Sam Trabucco resigned in August and has largely avoided the same levels of scrutiny as the other two

 

Oh, Sam.

Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested Monday by the Bahamas Police Force, after the US filed criminal charges against him. The Bahamas have stated that it expects US also to request extradition imminently.

“As a result of the notification received and the material provided therewith, it was deemed appropriate for the Attorney General to seek SBF’s arrest and hold him in custody pursuant to our nation’s Extradition Act,” the statement, attributed to Attorney General Ryan Pinder, said.

Charges against Bankman-Fried reportedly include wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and money laundering. The charges could land Bankman-Fried decades in jail. Whoops.

What happens next?

That’s a funky selection of charges, revealing Bankman-Fried really did do it all.

He was meant to testify before the House Financial Services Committee at 10AM EST today on hearing about the FTX crash. That is no longer the case, instead, Bankman-Fried will appear in Magistrate Court in Nassau, Bahamas.

Once Bankman-Fried gets back on American soil, a trial won’t happen anytime soon. This is a crime of historic scale across myriad jurisdictions, and the case will take a lot of time.

The SEC also made separate charges that Bankman-Freid defrauded investors.

We allege that Sam Bankman-Fried built a house of cards on a foundation of deception while telling investors that it was one of the safest buildings in crypto,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler. “The alleged fraud committed by Mr. Bankman-Fried is a clarion call to crypto platforms that they need to come into compliance with our laws.”

What happens Caroline Ellison?

The elephant in the room is what happens to Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison. Alameda is the trading firm also founded by Bankman-Fried, and where customer funds on FTX were sent to in order to shore up large trading losses.

Ellison was thought to have been in Hong Kong at the time of the arrest, but she may have been spotted at a café in Manhattan, meaning she is already on US soil.

PLEASE CONFIRM: A user claims that they spotted Caroline Ellison at Ground Support Coffee on West Broad in SoHo Manhattan at 8:15 AM. This would mean she is not in Hong Kong and is in NY not in custody. pic.twitter.com/QUduYO9GfZ

— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) December 4, 2022

This sparked speculation that a plea deal may have been reached, although that is all speculation. 

Bankman-Fried has repeatedly denied that he had full oversight over all operations, contesting that he “wasn’t running Alameda” and “he didn’t know the size of their position”. 

This suggests that Bankman-Fried is throwing Ellison, his former girlfriend, under the bus. Ellison has not tweeted since November 9^th, with radio silence since the bankruptcy.

She had previously tweeted on November 6^th to Binance CEO Zhao, attempting to buy the collapsing FTT tokens – the low liquidity native token of the FTX exchange that was artificially propping up the whole ecosystem – from Zhao at $22 per share (Zhao himself is also facing criminal charges relating to a separate case).

Time will tell what happens to Ellison, but it seems almost impossible to believe that both Bankman-Fried and Ellison were not aware of what was happening at both their companies, given the size of the damage – $8 billion. That and the fact that that, you know, they were both CEOs of the respective entities.

What about Sam Trabucco?

Then there is the case of Sam Trabucco.

Trabucco is the former co-CEO of Alameda, alongside Ellison. His timing was, how should I say this, interesting. He announced his retirement less than three months before the house of cards collapsed, when Ellison became the sole CEO.

In an infamous tweet thread, he cited increasing work hours and a change of priorities for stepping down.

“I’ve reached a point in my life where I want other things. What other things? I’m not really sure, exactly. Lately I’ve been really happy, spending a lot of time travelling, visiting friends and family, working on ‘myself’ and whatnot. Also I bought a boat, that’s been cool”.

I’m not sure why Trabucco is not facing scrutiny. The LUNA death spiral of May is supposedly what triggered a lot of the losses for Alameda that led to the commingling of funds from FTX. It was three months after this collapse, in August, that Trabucco resigned. As CEO, he must have known what was going on, yet is largely escaping scrutiny.

He also has gone silent since the bankruptcy, his final tweet from November 8^th wishing that the “road ahead is brighter”.

Much love to everyone — I’m sure the past few days have been dark for many and I hope the road ahead is brighter.

— Sam Trabucco (@AlamedaTrabucco) November 8, 2022

He was also revealed to have purchased two properties worth $8.7 million in all cash last year. This is in addition to the yacht purchase mentioned above, which he reportedly hired a freelancer on Fiverr to design the logo for (he named it “Soak my Deck” apparently).  

So let us not forget that he is a key figure in all this.

Final thoughts

There will likely be more twists in the tale, but now that one of the three top execs are arrested, I am curious to see what will happen the other two.

Bankman-Fried’s trial likely won’t start for quite a while, and the whole thing won’t be resolved for years. As for the other two, all bets are off, but I would be surprised if they don’t receive a knock on their doors anytime soon.

What a complete mess, and a sad story for the entire industry.

The post Bankman-Fried arrested, what happens now? And where are Caroline Ellison and Sam Trabucco? appeared first on CoinJournal.

Metacade is a brand-new metaverse platform that connects play-to-earn enthusiasts with exciting opportunities in the world of Web3 and GameFi. With its native MCADE token just starting its presale event, many investors are expecting big gains.

The project itself is well-positioned for success in Web3 and has plans for a big expansion. Metacade spans several key areas of technological advancement while offering a range of benefits to community members. In sum, Metacade has a broad value proposition that can serve countless people and avid traders are claiming the MCADE token could potentially triple in value over the coming weeks. But just how much can Metacade grow? It’s time to take a look!

GameFi: Pushing the Boundaries of Gaming

The term GameFi is a combination of “gaming” and “finance”, a new realm unlocked by blockchain technology. Moreover, the combination of playing and earning is made possible by sustainable liquidity generation within in-game economies. This is something that legacy games simply can’t even begin to match.

GameFi is a rapidly growing sector of blockchain technology. Integrated marketplaces form the foundation of a fully-functioning in-game economy where users can buy and sell digital assets to access gameplay features and customisable items. It’s also a space where players can earn while they play.

These days, we’re seeing an increasing number of innovative developers switch to building their games on-chain. Looking ahead, it’s only expected that the GameFi industry will grow even more. At the moment, gaming is a multi-billion-dollar industry with over 3 billion individuals around the world describing themselves as a gamer. Now, they can all access titles that provide rewards in the form of digital currency.

Being built on the blockchain, the process of buying and selling is a natural liquidity generator for GameFi platforms. This liquidity can be used to pay players for the time they spend in-game. Whether token rewards are gained through improving their skills, progressing through levels, or beating opponents, the play-to-earn aspect is an extremely attractive proposition to gamers from all over the world.

The Value of Virtual Reality

Right now, the metaverse is a hotbed of technological development. There are a range of virtual worlds being built with some being designed for leisure and others for work. Predominantly, these are being created to house massive open-world gaming titles that fully immerse players in sensational digital environments.

Blockchain gaming and the metaverse go hand-in-hand. Self-owned digital assets provide a greater level of user control and the metaverse itself provides users with a never-before-possible level of immersion. These characteristics combine to create almost life-like landscapes where players can explore, adventure, and – thanks to blockchain technology – earn.

One project that looks set to dominate this future domain is Metacade. The Metacade platform is building a sprawling metaverse that offers a range of arcade-style play-to-earn games alongside some unique benefits. The project is inherently community-driven, aiming to provide a host of useful services that can help to expand the world of GameFi and Web3.

What exactly is Metacade (MCADE)?

Metacade is a Web3 platform that’s positioned to be the one-stop space for P2E and Web3 gaming. Think of it as a sort of online arcade for crypto enthusiasts. Of course, instead of having just one game title, Metacade is going to host a whole range of games. And more excitingly, some of those games will be planned and developed by Metacade users.

In addition to offering a range of play-to-earn titles within Metacade, the project offers some unique earning opportunities to users. Metacade aims to encourage the continued growth of the GameFi sector by incentivising a community-centric approach to tackling the latest play-to-earn games.

Simply put, users can share their knowledge of their favourite games, such as tips on how to improve performance or how to maximise earning potential. Then, Metacade will reward users for sharing and engaging with the community. 

Special roles in GameFi

The Metacade community also gains access to some unique job opportunities. Some of the best up-and-coming GameFi games will advertise testing roles within the Metacade metaverse, looking for GameFi enthusiasts and Web3 natives to look for bugs and provide feedback.

This will be an amazing opportunity to access the hottest games before they officially go live. The Metacade community can play these titles and earn MCADE tokens as a reward for the service they provide to the game development teams.

Boosting innovation

Metacade has also incorporated a feature that will allow the best innovators in GameFi to launch their creations into the world of Web3. Funding is an integral aspect of the development process. For games to reach their full potential, and fully deliver on the baseline ideas that gamers want to see, then early-stage funding is crucial.

The Metagrants program has been designed to help game developers in this process. Community members will decide which game proposals they’d most like to see developed and can vote for one winner to receive the grant as part of the program. In this way, the Metacade community will directly influence the future of the GameFi industry as they get to form early relationships with innovative developers and lend a helping hand during the development process.

Why does Metacade (MCADE) have such high potential in particular?

At the moment, the MCADE token is underpriced – significantly underpriced. The token has just started its presale, so early investors have a prime opportunity to make some major gains as the ground-breaking metaverse world continually grows.

The project has taken a strong position at the intersection of technology sectors that are constantly expanding. Between 2016 and 2021, the total number of crypto holders grew from less than 5 million to almost 300 million. That’s a 59X increase in just 5 years.

During that time, the industry has seen major technological improvements in some key areas. dApp ecosystems such as Ethereum and Solana have improved transaction speeds, which massively favours the future of Web3. Metacade looks to serve Web3 users in a number of key ways, connecting the community and providing crypto rewards in the process.

MCADE Price Prediction

With so many amazing features on offer, the Metacade project looks set to be a major player in the metaverse. Whether being discussed in terms of innovative decentralised applications (dApps), pushing forward technological development through the metaverse, or in terms of providing exclusive earning opportunities to gamers with a selection of arcade-style games, the Metacade project is truly expansive.

Since the MCADE token is only just starting its presale, crypto investors everywhere are keen to get involved. Expert traders are expecting between 100% and 200% gains with some saying it could go even higher than that. One thing is for certain, the MCADE token is currently underpriced and it’s being released for just $0.008 per token during the presale. With all the value being offered, it may rival the biggest GameFi platforms the world over in the coming years.

You can participate in the MCADE presale here.

The post Metacade Could Triple Its Price in Presale, Experts Predict appeared first on CoinJournal.