Bitcoin Lingers Slightly Below Recent Average, and Europe's New Crypto Guidelines...
Bitcoin dips, why is it stuck in the slump?
Plus - EU approves comprehensive crypto guidelines...
Video courtesy of CNBC
We're learning of this only because PayPal's required quarterly report has now been filed with the SEC, from there you'll have to go 16 pages in before it's even mentioned.
It's rare for a company spend over $300+ million on anything without letting the public/and press know about it - but when PayPal decided to load up on crypto they clearly also decided it would be smarter to stay quiet while doing it.
Why So Secretive?
My guess is; they didn't want prices to go higher... yet.
They did their buying over a 3 month period, and if news got out that the worlds biggest online finance company was spending so much on crypto, other companies may follow. It doesn't help them if prices go up while they're still buying.
While the report does not give the number of Bitcoins PayPal holds, it does give their total USD value of $499 million. This is based on Bitcoin's total value at the end of March, so doing the math and assuming they were paying slightly under market value by doing large OTC trades, we're estimating PayPal holds somewhere around 17,500 BTC.
They also spent another $110 million on Ethereum, and another $19 million on all other cryptocurrencies.
So Far in 2023 PayPal's Added Another $339 Million In Crypto - Bringing Total Near $1B...
PayPal began 2023 already owning over $600 million worth of cryptocurrency, but after the last 3 months of aggressive buying, they're almost able to join the small group of companies and individuals holding over a billion worth of crypto.
However, breaking $1 billion total is now within reach, and can be done without PayPal having to buy more.
We estimate Bitcoin trading around $35k and ETH holding over $2k would be enough to put PayPal's total into the 10-digits.
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Author: Ross Davis
Silicon Valley Newsroom
GCP | Breaking Crypto News
Brian Armstrong, Coinbase CEO, says the United Arab Emirates deserves "a lot of credit" for its commitment to crypto regulation.
Coinbase, the well-known American cryptocurrency company, just dropped some major news: the launch of its newest exchange, "Coinbase International."
Thanks to a recent regulatory license approval from the Bermuda Monetary Authority, this new platform will allow Coinbase to operate globally and expand its reach beyond the US market.
Currently, Coinbase is ranked as the second-largest exchange globally, trailing behind its competitor Binance, which interestingly did the reverse - starting internationally and then launching a US exchange.
However, at the time of its launch, Coinbase International will exclusively cater to institutional investors outside of the United States, meaning that retail traders will have to wait a bit longer to gain access.
With this comes a first for Coinbase - leveraged trading. Coinbase International will offer leveraged trading, but they're starting small with a maximum 5X leverage option.
A Warning Shot...
Coinbase's move into the international market may also serve as a warning to the US government, particularly the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), to provide more clarity and answers to unresolved questions regarding crypto regulations.
If they continue to fail in their duties, they risk pushing companies like Coinbase out of the US market, which could have a significant economic impact, leading investors to seek out unregulated areas of the market.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong was asked if Coinbase would relocate entirely if regulators continued to fail to provide clarity, he said "anything is on the table".
More info soon...
Unfortunately, Coinbase has not revealed which countries will have access to the new exchange, but you can sign up on their platform to see if you're eligible.
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Author: Mark Pippen
London News Desk
Breaking Crypto News
Initially the discovery was credited to a blog post called earlier this week on Andy Baio’s Waxy.org Blog. The blogger says he accidently spotted the hidden file while fixing his printer. Then to make sure it was something inserted into every Mac OS copy, he confirmed his findings by having “over a dozen Mac-using friends.” also see if it was on their computer... it was!
This was the first time it was mentioned somewhere that good number of people would read it.
It turns out - he wasn't the first to find it.
Another Mac user did back in April 2021, and posted it on the Apple support forums however, his post focuses on a hidden image he found burried in the Mac OS code, but at the end mentions "Weirdly there is also a PDF with the original Bitcoin white paper from Satoshi Nakamoto in the VirtualScanner.app Package Content."
But wait... an even earlier post was discovered on Twitter!
A Tweet mentioning it dates back to November 2020, so unless an even earlier dated post is discovered, we're considering Josh D on Twitter the official 'discoverer' of the hidden Mac OS Satoshi Whitepaper.
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The earliest mention of it we've been able to find. |
How to find it:
If you’re on a Mac, open a Terminal and type the following command:
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Author: Justin Derbek
New York News Desk
Breaking Crypto News
It's a new month, and the end of 2023's first quarter is in sight.
As someone who watches Bitcoin on an hourly/minute-by-minute basis, it's also important to occasionally take a look at the big picture as well. Taking a step back will often reveal things you didn't notice before. Remember, you can also miss things by looking too closely.
On that note, as I zoomed out from the hourly charts to look at the market from the beginning of the year, I could see just how strong of a start Bitcoin is having in 2023 — things look even better than I was expecting.
This will be Bitcoin's best quarter in 2 years if it maintains its growth through April!
Bitcoin has grown every month of 2023 so far. Exactly 3 months ago, BTC was trading at $16,585 - so we're up approximately $12,000... in just 90 days!
Some analysts are saying they've seen these charts before - in the run-up to 2020's bull run that brought Bitcoin's price to over $60,000+.
Take a look at this tweet from analytics platform Barcharts:
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I'm not someone who makes predictions, I'll share interesting ones made by others if there's data to explain how they arrived at their opinion - but don't ask me when Bitcoin's next big bull run will be.
But when does happen - it's going to break price records.
That's not a prediction - first off, it's tradition - as every crypto-crash has been followed by setting a new high.
However, this time something is very different than before, and there's really only one way this plays out - buyers will be in a bidding war over an INSANELY low supply of Bitcoin being sold.
This has been the case since early February, and we covered this then. Basically, to qualify as a coin that's being held 'off market' it must have have remained in a single wallet, untouched, for 2+ years or more.
We're seeing that Bitcoin believers took advantage of the low prices and spent the bear market accumulating. Now the owners of these Bitcoins are HODLing, and won't be selling anytime soon.
I know countless people in this group, it includes most of the people reading this, and the person writing it as well. I know that each person has a number in mind as their target selling price, and while it varies for everyone, I'm not hearing anyone say they've been holding for years just to sell for $30k, or $40k. I occasionally hear $50k, I occasionally even hear $1 Million, but the majority of people seem to be eyeing somewhere around $60k-$100k.
So as the next bull run brings waves of amateur investors wanting a piece of the action, (it always does) they're going to discover very few people selling to them for anything under $50k, as this record number of people continue holding back a significant portion of the supply.
Do Kwon, the founder of the now-defunct Terra USD (UST) and Luna (LUNA) cryptocurrencies, could face up to five years in a Montenegrin prison before being extradited to South Korea or the United States.
Kwon is currently under quarantine for COVID-19 and will soon be sharing a cell with other inmates in a Montenegrin prison, according to a report by a local lawyer.
The cell Kwon will be occupying is only 8 square meters and is usually filled with between 10 and 11 people, leaving no room for a bed.
Inmates are only allowed a 30-minute walk in the prison yard each day and can only purchase limited items like cigarettes and coffee.
Kwon's initial arrest in Montenegro was due to presenting false documents, is a crime that carries a penalty of up to five years.
While both South Korea and the United States have requested Kwon's extradition, Montenegro has yet to make a decision.
If Montenegro decides to pursue it, this could be the first of three nations aiming for him to serve time in their prisons.
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Author: Mark Pippen
London News Desk
Breaking Crypto News
Officials in Montenegro have arrested Luna founder Do Kwan.
First detained when officials at the Podgorica airport noticed his false documents, the man in custody spent hours denying he was the South Korean fugitive, until South Korean officials provided fingerprint records that were used to confirm his identity.
"The former 'cryptocurrency king' who is behind losses of more than 40 billion dollars, was detained at the Podgorica airport with falsified documents, and the same is claimed by South Korea, the USA and Singapore. We are waiting for official confirmation of identity" Tweeted Montenegro's Minister of Interior.
Then minutes before this story was published, Interpol confirmed to us that a positive ID has been made - the person in custody IS Do Kwon.
Along with him another man stating he was his 'assistant' going by the name 'Han' was also arrested, there is no word on the actual identity of this person.
While charged with crimes in both the US and South Korea, US prosecutors have said that they will seek Kwon’s extradition to the United States where he is charged with 8 federal violations including securities fraud, wire fraud, commodities fraud, conspiracy, and market manipulation.
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Author: Adam Lee
Asia News Desk / Breaking Crypto News
The surge in Bitcoin's value over the last week is credited to a couple factors, the main driver seems to be the growing mistrust of traditional banks. As reports of bank failures and bailouts continue to make headlines, investors are turning to alternative forms of investment to safeguard their wealth. Bitcoin's decentralized nature has made it an attractive option for those looking to spread risk across different investment types.
The Federal Reserve's announcement of an emergency loan program to backstop depositors as three regional U.S. banks collapsed only added to Bitcoin's momentum.
That momentum hit bump today as the Federal Reserve's decision to raise its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, as well as its indication that it is unlikely to cut its key interest rate this year, led to a pullback.
Despite the setback, in the big picture Bitcoin remains largely unaffected having surged from $22,000 to $28,000 over the past week, and today's losses have it settling around $27,000 (at the time of publishing) - the overwhelming majority of its recent gains remain intact.
The reasons that sparked the last bull run remain present, and may even intensify - unless there's some unexpected bad news, things could turn bullish again at any moment.
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Author: Mark Pippen
London News Desk
Breaking Crypto News
Wedbush Securities Managing Director of Equity Research David Chiaverini talks about Silvergate's collapse, stablecoins, and the current state of the cryptocurrency market.
Video courtesy of Yahoo Finance...
According to court records that have just been made available to us, there has been nothing less than a massive army of professionals working non-stop to clean up the mess at FTX.
They've been tasked with examining every bit of FTX's business, due to the lack of record keeping during the reign of it's former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried.
Of course, hiring a large amount people qualified to review complex financial data doesn't come cheap -but no one seems to have expected it would be this expensive either, as these firms have now billed FTX $38 million PLUS expenses...and that's just for January!
On the financial front, Alvarez & Marsal and Perella Weinberg Partners were tasked with sorting through FTX's accounting records and determining which assets it could sell. According to court filings, Sullivan & Cromwell billed $16.8 million for January, while Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan billed $1.4 million, and Landis Rath & Cobb billed $663,995. Collectively, the three firms have over 180 lawyers assigned to the case and over 50 non-lawyer staff, such as paralegals.
What's more, court filings show that Sullivan & Cromwell lawyers and staff billed a total of 14,569 hours for January. The largest project that Sullivan & Cromwell worked on was discovery, followed by asset disposition and asset analysis and recovery.
Interestingly, the U.S. Department of Justice initially objected to FTX hiring Sullivan & Cromwell, citing potential conflicts of interest. Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX's founder, also objected to the bankruptcy administrators hiring the firm, claiming that the law firm's staff had pressured him into filing for bankruptcy in November. However, in late January, a Delaware bankruptcy court judge approved the firm to continue representing FTX.
In early February, Sullivan & Cromwell submitted a bill for $7.5 million for the first 19 days of bankruptcy work after FTX filed in November. The majority of billed time for Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan was spent on Asset Analysis and Recovery as well as Avoidance Action – legalese for attempts to undo certain transactions that the debtor engaged in before bankruptcy. As for Landis Rath & Cobb, a significant amount of time was billed for hearings, litigation, and asset disposition.
But that's not all. AlixPartners billed $2.1 million for 2,454 hours of work. Investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners billed $450,000 (its monthly fee), and court documents show that it spent a significant amount of time on developing a restructuring strategy, as well as correspondence with third parties.
According to its billing breakdown, the bank spent a large amount of time working on the sale of FTX assets LedgerX and FTX Japan. In January, a bankruptcy judge gave the sale the green light to create liquidity to pay back creditors.
Last but not least, Alvarez & Marsal billed $12.3 million, the second-largest charge for the month, behind Sullivan & Cromwell. Some of the largest items it billed for were Avoidance Actions, at 3,370 hours, financial analysis, at 1,168 hours, and accounting at 1,106 hours.
In November, shortly after FTX declared bankruptcy, interim CEO John J. Ray III said that the exchange had a "complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information." Ray, who also oversaw the liquidation of Enron and Nortel Networks when they collapsed, called the FTX situation "unprecedented".
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Author: Mark Pippen
London News Desk
Breaking Crypto News
The amount of 'saved Bitcoin' (coins being kept at a single wallet address for at least two years) has reached a new all-time high.
According to data compiled by the analytics firm Glassnode, these coins total over 49% percent of the total Bitcoin supply, which comes to 9.45 million BTC. Nearly half of all Bitcoin's are in the hands of long term investors.
The previous record amount of saved Bitcoin was set between the end of 2020 and the start of 2021. This coincides with the start of the bull market that year - with the rising price being driven by a lack of people willing to sell their BTC.
So far, we're seeing a similar path ahead now, as Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency market appear to be beginning a price recovery cycle.
Since the beginning of this year, bitcoin has increased by almost 40%. and is hanging around $23,000 -reclaiming a price not seen since August 2022.
Last week it became official that the majority of Bitcoin holders have made a profit at current prices.
So far, are bullish, according to a majority of analysts.
However, you may not be feeling it yet - the first few months of 2023 are anticipated to be slow, followed by a large increase in the price of BTC in the second half of the year.
Will Bitcoin repeat its traditional cycle of crashes, followed by setting a new all time high? That would mean Bitcoin breaking the $70,000 ceiling.
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Author: Justin Derbek
New York News Desk
Breaking Crypto News
These highs have not been witnessed since early November of last year, just before the FTX meltdown and accompanying drop in bitcoin's price.
Based on data from the blockchain explorer blockchain.com, miners were making about $16.1 million per day at the start of the year. In the meantime, as of 30 January 2023, the amount is $23.8 million daily. In this light, January's growth rate stands at 48%.
Because miners are paid in BTC, the value of Bitcoin has major significance. On that note, after beginning the month at around $16,500, January ended around $23,000.
The mining profitability increase began to stand out about halfway through January, when profitability for miners hit USD 77 PH/day, signaling a clear upward trend in miner performance metrics.
After a depressing 2022 characterized by a significant bear market and a 65% loss in BTC's market value, miners are optimistic about 2023 with their surprisingly strong start.
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Author: Adam Lee
Asia News Desk / Breaking Crypto News
Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud and money laundering on Tuesday. From what you hear in the press, you would reasonably assume there is a mountain of evidence against him - so is Sam crazy?
Well, he may not be as crazy as it sounds.
Why Risk More Years in Prison Instead of Negotiating? To Get ZERO Years in Prison...
Approximately 97% of cases are resolved with a plea deal. Sam, like most defendants, had the option to negotiate how long he would stay in prison, in exchange for pleading guilty.
We don't know what that deal would have been, but with the charges against him, it's reasonable to think he could have reduced his time behind bars by 10+ years. Turning this down is not a decision someone takes lightly.
If you choose to be among the 3% of people to go to trial, you must be confident that you can win.
Why Sam Believes the Jury Will find Him INNOCENT...
What Sam and his legal team believe they can prove to a jury revolves around the fact that there is no FTX'- there's two of them, completely separate companies, functioning independently.
No country in the world charges people with crimes committed in foreign nations with foreign victims. Bankman-Fried can only be charged with crimes he committed while in the US or against US citizens.
This also reminds me of when after his arrest in the Bahamas, he said he planned on fighting being extradited to the United States, then suddenly reversed this and fully cooperated to insure his trial would take place in the US.
Bankman-Fried's Defense is NOT that He Did Not Break The Law, But Rather that Any Alleged Wrongdoing Occurred Outside the US and Involved Foreign Victims...
Meaning that the alleged crimes were committed by a separate, foreign entity and involved funds belonging to users of FTX International.
Structurally, the companies remained separate, there were no (known) shared accounts, no fiat or crypto spilling from one to the other. The company/exchange for US citizens had its own website at www.FTX.us - then there was FTX International at www.FTX.com.
If someone from the US attempted to sign up on the FTX international site, they would simply get an error message redirecting them to the US site.
With everything separate, it would have been easy for Sam to simply leave all funds related to FTX US alone, and this is exactly what Sam claims happened.
So Far, There's No Evidence Saying Otherwise...
In every interview, Sam said that 'all funds in FTX US were "never touched" and they could give users access to it right now if they wanted to. This statement is included in the testimony he was planning to give Congress, under oath, but he was arrested the day before that was set to happen.
But let's forget what Sam has to say, he's a proven liar on other related matters. - what's been found since he lost control of the company?
John J. Ray is the acting CEO of FTX appointed to oversee the company being dismantled in the bankruptcy process, and he is no fan of Bankman-Fried.
When testifying to Congress a couple weeks ago, he shared in his opening statements his belief that FTX US funds were involved, but later, during the portion where he takes questions from lawmakers, he was asked what they had found so far - and so far, nothing.
In a previous report, an insider at the company shared that the new CEO believes they just need to dig deeper to find proof that Bankman-Fried did misuse FTX US funds - he just did a better job at hiding it compared to FTX International. It's reasonable to assume that, and the investigation isn't over - but Sam, the one person who would know, just pleaded innocent in court.
Sam May Have Viewed US Funds as 'Off Limits' From The Start...
Ryan Miller, a member of FTX US's legal team used to work for the person in charge of regulating FTX, the current head of the SEC, Chairman Gary Gensler. By the time this all happened, he had been with FTX for nearly a year, tasked with being the contact between the company and regulators.
Sam's mom was a lawyer at one of the top firms in the US with clients like Exxon, JPMorgan, Citigroup, Universal Pictures, Sony and more. His father is considered one of the leading experts in tax law, tax shelters, and tax compliance, and teaches law at Stanford.
Between Miller, someone from the world of financial regulation, and his parents, who would surely advise him of the additional rules and risks attached to US investor funds, it's believable that Sam may have just considered this portion of his businesses off-limits.
Did Sam Plead Innocent Because he Knows They Won't Find Records of Him Misusing US Funds?
This is the big question.
Keep in mind, however, that Sam's original lawyers dropped him shortly after FTX's collapse due to his "incessant and disruptive tweeting" when he kept ignoring their advice to stop publicly speaking about the matter.
Sam clearly believes he has a talent for persuading people, and maybe he once did, but the more he spoke publicly to audiences already suspicious of him, the more hated he became. I'm not sure if Sam ever really accepted that this tactic was a failure and he should have listened to his lawyers.
So is Sam continuing to be a nightmare client for any legal team to represent? He may be pleading innocent because he believes he's so smart, he can just confuse a jury into thinking he's innocent.
Or, does he know prosecutors will fail to find the evidence they need to prove the charges against him?
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Author: Ross Davis
Silicon Valley Newsroom
GCP | Breaking Crypto News
For those of us who have been around awhile, it takes more than another bear market to change our long term expectations for cryptocurrencies.
I've been through three crashes - the first one really had me questioning things, the second time I was more willing to ride it out, 'hopeful but not certain' was my outlook on crypto's future. In both cases the crashes were followed by hitting new all time highs, and this pattern wasn't new, it's what Bitcoin historically had always done, and more recently, the top altcoins were included as well.
So, this time around I feel like I'm just waiting... for our largest bull run yet. Not wondering if it's coming - waiting for it to get here.
Some of the Biggest Names in Investing and Wall Street are Quietly Preparing for a Crypto Boom...
Thankfully, it looks like I'm not the only one making this prediction. In fact, the biggest firms from the world of investing and Wall Street seem to be anticipating this too.
Keep in mind, the firms I'm about to mention don't throw millions at something because one or two executives believe it will pay off - before they invest, teams of analysts with specialists covering multiple aspects, and algorithms pumping out multiple models of possible outcomes, are involved.
Let's look at some of what is happening quietly behind the scenes right now - and ask yourself: does it seem like they see something coming?
Major Investment Firms:
Between just these 2 firms you're looking at over $2 TRILLION in assets under management, twice the size of the entire crypto market currently.
When these firms enter a sector, countless smaller ones follow.
Payment Processors:
The big 3 are all in.
In addition to this, both Visa and Mastercard will expand their current role of providing cards that allow people to spend crypto anywhere that accepts their credit cards. This has become a standard offering from most major exchanges now, and accounts for over $1 billion in transactions for Visa alone.
Start-Ups:
When it comes to startups, those that truly serve a purpose are not struggling to find funding. Here are some of the projects that held investment rounds over just the last month - all hit their targets:
● Aztec Network, an Ethereum security layer geared towards privacy, successful raised $100 million in a round led by prominent venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from A Capital, King River, and Variant, and others.There's only one reason any firm would be investing in new companies that could still be years away from seeing profits - again, the long term outlook.
The Path from Here, to There...
The road from bear to bull market is surprisingly short and straight - plus, following the collapse of FTX, a come-back for crypto also means washing off some of the mud currently splattered on crypto's public image. But all of this is doable, here's how it will go;
Crypto regulations are coming, discussing if you're for or against this is officially a waste of time - we're getting them.
However, the industry has gotten smarter over the last few years and regulations no longer mean a 'crack down' on crypto.
As politicians began considering passing finance laws specific to crypto assets, the crypto industry became major Washington DC influencers, and almost overnight began supporting pro-crypto politicians campaigns at such large amounts that crypto is outspending the industries that have typically spent the most for decades, the defense industry and pharmaceutical companies.
Until recently we were truly were at risk of tech-illiterate politicians passing poorly-written regulations that could bring everything to a halt, that no longer longer seems possible. This level of involvement has given the industry a place at the table with lawmakers.
If you're outside of the US thinking this doesn't involve you, I wouldn't count on that. Some regulations will address the situation FTX is in, requiring exchanges to prove the assets they hold and auditing their total value regularly. It wouldn't surprise me if US companies and investors could only do business with foreign firms that follow similar guidelines - setting a standard that will quickly become global.
Over the span of just a few days: Crypto's current public image gets fixed as politicians pat themselves on the back for 'fixing crypto' with 'new investor protections'. The largest investment firms have citied the lack of these regulations as the only reason they haven't yet gotten involved - so now the floodgates open.
I believe the next bull market doesn't just set new all-time highs for the top cryptocurrencies, but does it at record speed as well - Bitcoin gaining $10,000 per week for 5 weeks would get us past it's previous high, and it wouldn't surprise me if that's how it went.
Remember - there's never been so many people and companies aware of what a Bitcoin bull run can do, and it will be a lot harder to justify sitting it out.
In Closing...
There's nothing fun about a bear market, except looking forward to it ending. Based on current indicators, it seems we may have a lot to look forward to!
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Author: Ross Davis
Silicon Valley Newsroom
GCP | Breaking Crypto News
While watching Sam Bankman-Fried's recent media appearances, a theory entered my head - a gut feeling, but a strong one saying "He's been told he has nothing to worry about" and the more I listened with this theory in mind, the more convinced I became.
Take a look for yourself and tell me if you see a man in fear of spending years in a federal prison - I don't think anyone could hide how stressful that possibility would be, but at no point did Sam show he was feeling any significant amount of stress. Not in some delusional way either - I don't believe his lack of stress comes from him being detached from reality, pretending everything is fine.
While it was met with disbelief every time he said it, he remained firm on not knowing vital details about Alameda Research, even though it is a company he created, that he has majority ownership of, and is holding a massive amount of the funds from investors he brought in. I doubt his pitch to investors was 'put a few million in to this company, which I have nothing to do with'.
My point is, he isn't making these public appearances to claim innocence, or even explain what happened. He's making them with the goal of getting people to say "Sam's a good guy who just made some mistakes".
But in order to objective, i'm open to the possibility that I'm just misreading him. So I set aside any of my own opinions and 'gut feelings' and re-examined the situation strictly looking at the facts to see if I come to the same conclusion in the end.
Starting with some things worth a deeper look.
Those who graduate from Stanford law school are considered among the top of the legal field - so you can imagine what it takes to be hired to teach those students - both of Sam's parents worked as Stanford Law professors.
What kind of law do they specialize in? The kind that someone in Sam's position would be hiring right now.
The mother worked at Paul Weiss, one of the top firms in the US with clients like Exxon, JPMorgan, Citigroup, Universal Pictures, Sony and more. She is one of the founders of a "secretive Silicon Valley PAC that supports Democratic candidates" called Mind The Gap.
Sam's father is considered one of the leading experts in tax law, tax shelters, and tax compliance, according to his Stanford bio page. I found this video uploaded by Stanford Law School featuring him speaking on the topic.
In other words, Sam Bankman-Fried was born with the perfect legal team already in the room.
On this note, Sam has repeated in every interview that none of these questionable actions were done with funds from the US version of FTX. There indeed was a completely separate site for US investors, and if someone from the US tried to access the FTX for the rest of the world, they would find themselves blocked from signing up.
Sam remaining in the Bahamas doesn't help him avoid anything, the Bahamas does have an extradition treaty with the US, so if US regulators charged him with a crime, the government in the Bahamas would arrest Sam and put him on an airplane. Most seem to believe he's 'obviously guilty' - so why hasn't he been extradited?
Unfortunately, internationally, anything goes. There is no organization that would take the lead on a case like this. There is no International police force that investigates financial crimes, and no International court for white-collar criminals.
All Sam has to do is not set foot in any of the countries with laws he violated, with citizens who had funds in FTX international, and Sam remains a free man... probably.