NFT News Official TheBitTimes.com

Anthony Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge Capital, anticipates a challenging criminal trial for Sam Bankman-Fried, predicting that experienced prosecutors will find weaknesses in his defense. In an Oct. 25 interview on CNBC’s Last Call, Scaramucci expressed his belief that the United States Department of Justice prosecutors will easily dismantle Bankman-Fried’s defense, potentially adding years to his sentence. “He’s gonna get skinned alive ; there’s no way to escape. He thinks he’s going to outfox the prosecutors, but they’re very, very well experienced with this stuff.” Anthony Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge Capital Scaramucci’s comments come amid growing scrutiny of Bankman-Fried, who was once viewed as a philanthropic figure in the crypto industry. “A year ago, he was considered a congenial nerd who planned to give all his money away,” Scaramucci said. However, recent testimonies from former executives at FT...

Federal prosecutors told jurors that Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) lied to the world about FTX’s finances but confided in Ellison and his inner circle, while defense attorneys moved to shift the blame on Alameda’s former CEO and Bitcoin volatility during opening statements on trial day 2. On day 1 of the voir dire, eight prospective jurors cited the 60 Minutes interview with author Michael Lewis. A handful referenced Bernie Madoff and one juror’s company lost money to FTX/Alameda. 18 jurors -12 primary and 6 alternates, were assigned from a pool of 50 potential candidates on Oct. 4, day 2 of the trial, according to InnerCityPress. “It’s our boys big day,” said pharma bro Martin Shkreli as he live-streamed his commute to SBF’s trial in lower Manhattan just as Judge Kaplan finalized jury selection around 11:30 am ET. Shkreli once told Terraform founder Do Kwon that “jail isn’t that bad”, on a podcast hours before FTX crashed on November 11, 2022. Kwon is now an international f...

Slack conversations between Terraform Labs' co-founders Do Kwon and Daniel Shin have exposed their contemplation of orchestrating fraudulent transactions on the Terra blockchain. Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon has refuted the significance of Slack messages as evidence , which involved discussions with his co-founder Daniel Shin about manipulating transactions on the Terra blockchain to attract investors. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) included the Slack conversation between the two co-founders, which was dated back to September 2019, in a recent court filing. Slack message report between Do Kwon and Daniel Shin. Source: Docdroid The message report suggests the two co-founders were brainstorming strategies to increase investor interest in the Terra blockchain. However, Kwon showed the intention of influencing transactions to create a more appealing image: “I can just create fake transactions that look real.” Kwon further elaborates that these transact...

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is scrutinizing the advertising strategy of the now-bankrupt crypto exchange, FTX. This scrutiny comes in light of advertisements featuring celebrities Larry David and Tom Brady. According to the DOJ, it did not clearly demarcate between the global platform and its US subsidiary, FTX.US. FTX’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, finds himself at the center of a legal maelstrom, vehemently disputing the evidence the government plans to present in the upcoming trial scheduled for Oct. 2. The array of charges against him includes wire fraud, with Bankman-Fried denying any wrongdoing and accusing the DOJ of indirectly introducing allegations of corruption and campaign finance violations. Bankman-Fried’s legal representatives argue for a clear separation of the US operations from the current allegations, which they claim are primarily focused on the international business segment. However, the government contends that the distinction is not as ...

Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX’s embattled founder, is reportedly planning to hire seven expert witnesses for his upcoming fraud trial at rates up to $1,200 per hour. According to a report dated Aug. 31, among the experts being considered is Bradley Smith, a law professor at Capital University Law School and a former commissioner of the Federal Election Commission. Smith has confirmed in a court filing that he is being compensated at a rate of $1,200 per hour. Other potential witnesses could charge between $400 and $1,100 per hour for their expertise. These witnesses would provide insights into campaign finance laws, scrutinize the operations of FTX favorably, and delve into its terms and conditions. Despite Bankman-Fried’s previous claim of having only $100,000 left in his bank account following the collapse of FTX, he is funding his legal defense with $10 million of company funds that he had earlier gifted to his father.  Lawyers handling the FTX bankruptcy case have...

A U.S. federal court recently used on-chain tech to lock criminals out of their crypto on the Jurat Network. Its founder, Mike Kanovitz, admits it could see hate from crypto purists. The founder of layer-1 blockchain Jurat has defended his protocol against potential haters, arguing that on-chain legal enforcement is a necessary trade-off for crypto mass adoption.  On Aug. 8, a U.S. District Court used Jurat’s on-chain enforcement tool to lock several sanctioned individuals out of their crypto accounts. These individuals were sanctioned for money laundering and using ransomware to extort cryptocurrency payments to benefit North Korea’s weapons program. A court just entered final judgment in a federal lawsuit and the court used @JuratNetwork to enforce its order on -chain ! The judge enjoined Russian and North Korean hackers from accessing their accounts, making $JTC the first crypto currency to comply with @USTreasury… — Mike Kanovitz (@MikeKanovitz) August 8, 2023 Speaking to C...

The country’s supreme court released two decisions for cases in which different crypto users gained profits from sales of BTC “made for the purpose of speculation” and mining. The Justices of the Supreme Court of Denmark have handed down two judgements on whether the sale of Bitcoin (BTC) under certain circumstances qualifies as a taxable event. In a March 30 notice, Denmark’s Supreme Court said a party who gained profits from selling Bitcoin acquired through several purchases and donations was required to report the sale as a taxable event, adding the purchase was “made for the purpose of speculation.” In a separate case, the court ruled a user who mined their own BTC and later sold the coins would be subject to the same tax consideration. Both cases considered by the supreme court involved the acquisition of BTC between 2011 and 2013, with sales between 2017 and 2018, suggesting a price difference in the thousands of dollars. The court cited sections of the country’s National Ta...