CZ is Back Online After Serving Four Months in Prison

CZ is Back Online After Serving Four Months in Prison

Former Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao was released from prison last Friday after serving 118 days of his four-month sentence for violating US anti-money laundering laws. His early release aligns with federal guidelines allowing weekend exits. Earlier, CZ was fined $50 million and Binance paid $4.3 billion in penalties. The community is now speculating on his next moves and their impact on BNB.

In a post-prison tweet, CZ hinted at future plans, mentioning investments in blockchain, AI, and biotech, as well as his new educational initiative, Giggle Academy. Despite his legal battles, CZ's net worth of $60 billion keeps him as one of the richest figures in crypto. CZ concluded by expressing gratitude for the support and noted that Binance is thriving without his direct involvement.

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FTX Creditors to Receive 25% of Claims Starting Soon

FTX creditors are expected to receive only 10 to 25% of their claims, based on crypto prices at the time of the bankruptcy filing, when Bitcoin was around $16,000. This caused outrage among users who argue they are not being made whole. Distributions for claims under $50,000 are expected to begin by late 2024, while larger claims may not see payouts until early 2025.

Rumors of payments starting on September 30 were false, as the plan is still pending court approval, with a key hearing set for October 7. Creditors are also disputing whether reimbursements should be in cash or crypto, with in-kind payments seen as fairer. Despite this, FTX’s legal team insists that cash payments are necessary to comply with Chapter 11 laws.

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Bitcoin ETFs Log Largest Daily Inflows Since June

US spot Bitcoin ETFs have recorded their highest daily inflows since June, with Friday’s $494.27 million inflow marking a nearly four-month high. This continued inflow streak has pushed the total assets held by US-based spot Bitcoin ETFs to a two-month high, reaching $61.21 billion. At this pace, analysts are predicting that ETFs could surpass top CEXs by Bitcoin treasuries holdings very soon.

Leading the inflows were Ark and 21Shares' ARKB fund, which received $203.1 million, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC and BlackRock’s IBIT fund. The surge in inflows coincides with Bitcoin's price rally, and some analysts speculate that more Bitcoin ETF filings could follow, although concerns about the impact of "paper" Bitcoin on the underlying asset remain.

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Mango Agrees to Destroy MNGO Tokens in SEC Settlement

The US SEC has settled charges with Mango DAO, Mango Labs LLC, and Blockworks Foundation, alleging that the MNGO token was an unregistered security and that they offered unregistered broker services. As part of the settlement (still awaiting court approval), the entities will destroy their MNGO tokens, request crypto exchanges to delist the tokens and pay a combined $700,000 fine.

Mango DAO members had previously voted on this settlement, which came just a month after an earlier vote to settle with the CFTC. The SEC emphasized that DeFi projects, like DAOs, are not exempt from securities laws and must register with regulatory bodies. The future of the DAO remains uncertain as it faces challenges recovering from a 2022 hack that drained $110 million from the exchange.

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Data of the Day

Ethereum transaction fees have spiked by nearly 500% in the past week as on-chain activity has increased, according to Coinbase. The median transaction fee now sits at $1.69, up from $0.09 at the start of September, driven by rising decentralized exchange volumes and ether transfers.

Ethereum’s futures funding rates have also shown signs of bullish sentiment, with the 30-day moving average turning positive, signaling that traders are increasingly willing to open long positions.

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More Breaking News

• Celestia will unlock $1.1 billion worth of TIA tokens on October 31, contributing to over $3.46 billion in total crypto token releases this month.
• BlackRock's Ethereum ETF surpassed $1 billion in total asset value, signaling renewed enthusiasm for spot Ethereum ETFs just two months after launch.
• A crypto whale lost over $32 million in wrapped ether after signing a malicious transaction on the DeFi protocol Spark, according to ScamSniffer.
• CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju called for "smart regulation" to mitigate scams and build trust in Web3, sparking mixed reactions from the crypto community.
• A fake crypto wallet app on Google Play scammed over $70,000 from users before it was removed, with 150 victims out of 10,000 downloads.

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