The drama between Binance and the United States SEC continued this week and crypto enthusiasts would agree with me that it is no longer intriguing at this point. Amidst the heat, Reuters has reported that the US affiliate of the world’s largest exchange has laid off around 50 staff.
To mark a turbulent week for the industry, on Thursday, the price of Bitcoin dipped below the $25,000 mark for the first time since March 17. It has however recovered and is now trading a bit above the region as of press time.
Here are crypto stories from around the world this week.
FTX Co-founder, Sam Bankman-Fried facing two Criminal trials
According to a Thursday ruling from a United States District Court Judge, Lewis Kaplan, criminal charges against FTX co-founder, Sam Bankman-Fried have been split and the former CEO is now facing two separate trials for his alleged mismanagement of the crypto exchange.
The FTX founder was extradited to the United States in December 2022 on eight criminal charges. Further indictments added another five charges in February and March 2023. The new trial will focus on the charges of bribery conspiracy, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business, bank fraud conspiracy along with derivatives and securities fraud.
Ray Youssef pushes for pan-African crypto
In a tweet on Wednesday, Ray Youssef, the former CEO of Paxful, expressed his belief that a pan-African currency backed by cryptocurrency could revolutionise the African economy:
“A pan-African currency would sprout 100 Dubai’s in 2 decades. That is how fast Africa would move if it had ultrasound hard money connecting all its states.”
Ray Youssef
That comment came as a response to a Twitter user who suggested that the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s vision to establish a single African currency, the dinar, played a role in his demise. The statement highlighted the potential political and economic implications of unifying Africa under a single currency.
Youssef’s vision, on the other hand, focused on leveraging the power of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as the foundation for a pan-African currency:
“We have Bitcoin now; we need it to power all trade.”
Binance US fires 50 staff
Per a Reuters report that cited two anonymous sources, the US affiliate of Binance has laid off around 50 staff across divisions in the latest round of workforce reduction.
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The report detailed that the laid-off staff belonged to Binance.US’ legal, compliance, and risk departments. Binance.US did not confirm the layoffs officially, however, at least two employees of the US-based crypto exchange confirmed their exit on Wednesday on Linkedin.
The latest layoffs came after the US SEC brought a civil lawsuit against Binance, its two US affiliate firms, and CEO Changpeng Zhao.
Jack Dorsey donates $5m to Bitcoin initiative
Brink, an NPO aimed at supporting Bitcoin developers, has announced a $5 million donation from Block CEO, Jack Dorsey and his Start Small funding group.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Brink said Dorsey and Start Small pledged to make $1 million in donations annually for the next five years as part of “developer funding efforts.” Dorsey launched the fund in April 2020 prior to his departure as CEO of Twitter, in an effort to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Founded in 2020, Brink offers fellowships and grant programs to support open-source Bitcoin developers and engineers.
Voyager would be back soon
Almost a year after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, crypto brokerage, Voyager Digital is preparing to reopen its app and allow customers to finally withdraw their funds, Voyager’s bankruptcy plan administrator Paul Hage said in a Wednesday court filing.
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Binance suspends withdrawal in the US
According to his estimation, the withdrawal period would start somewhere between June 20 and July 5. Notably, the plan was first approved in court on May 17 and will result in customers initially receiving 35.72% of their claims by withdrawing crypto through the Voyager app or in cash after 30 days.
That is all from us this week. See you same time next week!
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