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Weekly Recap: CZ Quote, DeFi Token Fall, and Tether Triumph
This Week in Crypto: Stablecoin Regulation Stalls, Hong Kong Debuts Spot ETFs, a16z Buys Optimism, FTX Offloads Solana Holdings, and More!
Posted May 3, 2024 at 10:07am EST.
In this weekly roundup, we cover:
- Changpeng Zhao sentenced to four months: Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, commonly known as “CZ,” was sentenced to four months in prison for violating the Bank Secrecy Act, concluding a lengthy Justice Department investigation into Binance’s anti-money laundering practices.
- Decline of DeFi tokens after airdrop: DeFi protocol tokens Renzo and Kamino suffered sharp declines after their market debut.
- Tether records a stellar Q1: Tether made a record profit of $4.52 billion in the first quarter, thanks to large holdings in US Treasuries, Bitcoin and gold.
- Regulatory hurdles for stablecoins: Efforts to regulate stablecoins in the United States have suffered setbacks as proposed legislation was not attached to the FAA reauthorization bill.
- Hong Kong leads with Spot ETFs on Bitcoin and Ethereum: Hong Kong financial markets marked an Asian first with the successful launch of six spot ETFs on Bitcoin and Ethereum.
- A16z’s strategic investment in optimism: Venture capital firm a16z has invested $90 million in Optimism’s OP token, reinforcing its commitment to Ethereum’s Layer 2 scaling solutions.
- Tax Fraud Accusations Against “Bitcoin Jesus”: Roger Ver, also known as “Bitcoin Jesus,” faces tax fraud charges for failing to report capital gains from significant Bitcoin sales in 2017.
- FTX continues liquidation with Solana token sales: FTX Assets continued its liquidation efforts, concluding a second auction of locked Solana tokens with significant interest from investors.
- Legal control over cryptocurrency privacy tools: Keonne Rodriguez, co-founder of Samourai Wallet, has pleaded not guilty to charges related to running a privacy-focused encryption service.