Caroline Ellison Speaks at SBF trial
The SBF trial is well underway in New York and former girlfriend and co-worker Caroline Ellison took the stand this week.
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Ellison said she began to become anxious when the crypto downturn first started in 2022 as many of Alameda Research’s lenders had open-term loans, meaning they could ask for their money back whenever they wanted. This started becoming a reality in June, however the fund was billions of dollars short.
Ellison told the jury that SBF ordered her to illegally take FTX customers’ funds without their knowledge and lie to their lenders by coming up with “alternative ways” to disclose Alameda’s financial situation.
The jury was also taken through Alameda’s balance sheets and learned SBF’s private hedge fund owed FTX customers close to $14 billion (AUD $21.87 billion) by October 2022. She admitted she knew what she was doing was wrong, but continued to do so because “Sam told me to”.
Ellison also added that SBF’s conviction of what he was doing started to impact her ability to see right from wrong.
“I think it made me more willing to do things like lie or steal over time. When I started working at Alameda, I don’t think I would have believed if you told me I would be sending false balance sheets or taking customer money…over time it became something I was more comfortable with.”
She also claimed that Alameda paid a US $150 million ($AUD $236 million) bribe to Chinese government officials to unlock US $1 billion of funds locked up in China.
SBF is charged with seven counts, including fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering, related to accusations that he misused customer funds from the FTX platform. It’s alleged that he used these funds to offset losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research, and to purchase luxury properties, among other personal expenditures.
UK’s FCA Implements New Crypto Marketing Rules
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Moving on to the other side of the world, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has implemented its new regime regarding how crypto companies can market and advertise their products or services. As mentioned in their announcement, this included sending out 146 alerts in the first 24 hours of the regime, which came into effect on October 8.
Companies advertising crypto assets, now deemed restricted mass market investments, must either be registered with the FCA or have their marketing approved by an authorised firm. The guidelines apply to all entities, including foreign and unregistered ones, that promote crypto assets to UK consumers.
Ahead of the launch, the FCA expressed concerns in a letter about the lack of readiness, especially from unregistered foreign crypto firms with UK clients, to adhere to the new rules. The 146 warnings on the first day seem to confirm these worries.
This move is part of the FCA’s ongoing efforts to enhance the safety and quality of financial services in the UK, focusing on their promotion, a major issue highlighted by the Consumer Duty in July.
Standard Chartered predicting $8k ETH?
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According to reports from Reuters, global financial institution Standard Chartered has predicted Ethereum’s price could reach US $8,000 (AUD $12,666) by the end of 2026 – a 5x on its current price.
Geoff Kendrick, who heads FX Research at Standard Chartered, based his forecast on Ethereum’s significant role in areas like smart contracts, gaming, and tokenisation. These sectors have the potential for substantial growth, and he believes this could drive the price of ETH to a range between $26,000 and $35,000 by 2040, assuming that new use cases and revenue sources continue to emerge over time.
Whilst this may excite us crypto enthusiasts, it’s important to note that Standard Chartered previously predicted that the price of Bitcoin (BTC) may reach US $50,000 (AUD $79,000) by the end of 2023 and US $120,000 (AUD $190,000) by the end of 2024. At the time of writing, BTC is trading at $26,730 (AUD $42,330), so the chances of their 2023 prediction is close to none.
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