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Appeals court rejects Sam Bankman-Fried’s bid for release

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FTX founder and convicted fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried will stay jailed after failing to convince a United States appellate court that he should be freed while his legal team appeals his conviction.

In a Nov. 21 mandate, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said Bankman-Fried’s previous attempts to tamper with two witnesses while on pretrial release was a major reason behind rejecting his request.

“We have reviewed the Defendant-Appellant’s additional arguments and find them unpersuasive,” the court said.

Bankman-Fried’s release motion was rejected by a U.S. appeals court. Source: Courtlistener

Government prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried of leaking Caroline Ellison’s diaries to The New York Times in July, which caused his bail to be revoked by a New York District Court.

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65% plunge in Web3 Games in ’23 but ‘real hits’ coming, $26M NFL Rivals NFT: Web3 Gamer

As the year winds down, every gaming company and its dog are dropping year-in-review reports.

A recent report from blockchain gaming accelerator Game7 suggests that many game developers had an enforced nap instead of pumping out new games.

This year, just 223 Web3 games were launched which is a 65% drop from the 640 games launched in 2022, and even more distant from the 811 games launched in 2021.

Web3 game releases per year (Game7)

So what’s the deal with the sudden nosedive in output?

Well, the optimistic answer is Rome wasn’t built in a day.

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Price analysis 11/22: BTC, ETH, BNB, XRP, SOL, ADA, DOGE, TON, LINK, AVAX

Traders hate uncertainty; hence, the settlement between Binance, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao and the United States Department of Justice is likely to be viewed as a positive for the cryptocurrency space. Analysts largely remained positive on the deal, but a few sounded cautious due to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s pending lawsuit against Binance.

Bitcoin (BTC) and several major altcoins fell sharply on Nov. 21 following the Binance news but are finding support at lower levels. This suggests that traders stepped in after the initial knee-jerk reaction, and are buying at lower levels. After the initial bounce, the bulls are likely to head into stiff opposition from the bears.

Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360

Buying on dips and selling on rallies results in a range-bound action as both the bulls and the bears battle it out for supremacy. Generally, a consolidation near the 52-week high is considered a bullish sign, but traders should wait for an upside confirmation before jumping in to buy.

Will Bitcoin and select altcoins remain stuck inside a range for the next few days? What are the important levels to watch out for?

Let’s analyze the charts of the top 10 cryptocurrencies to find out.

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This is your brain on crypto: Substance abuse grows among crypto traders


Although documented statistics about cryptocurrency trading and substance abuse are hard to come by, addiction experts are treating an increasing number of crypto traders.

Abdullah Boulard, founder and CEO at The Balance Luxury Rehab, tells Magazine that a number of crypto traders struggle with substance abuse. “Our client base is diverse, but this is a unique demographic that we’ve seen an increase in over the recent years,” Boulard says. 

According to Boulard, the high intensity of cryptocurrency trading combined with 24/7 accessibility encourages some to use stimulants to keep up the pace. “Substances like amphetamines, cocaine and even excessive caffeine use are common among these individuals,” says Boulard. 

Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, tweeted about the use of stimulants in April 2021.


New York Magazine subsequently reported that a successful trader who met with Ellison commented about her use of stimulants and their overall effects on members of the community. “Crypto really fucked with a lot of people’s perceptions of money. A lot of stuff doesn’t feel real. And if you add speed …”

Prior to that, in September 2019, the former CEO of disgraced cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, tweeted about his use of stimulants and sleeping pills.


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Rethinking Bitcoin 'dominance' at 51% — A misleading metric?

Bitcoin's (BTC) market dominance has traditionally been viewed as a key indicator of its market strength. Currently, the metric is at a multi-year high above 51%

Bitcoin dominance. Source: Coinmarketcap.com

However, a closer analysis suggests that the concept of "Bitcoin dominance" might not be as informative as it seems, especially when considering the broader dynamics of the cryptocurrency market.

Dominance: A misleading BTC indicator?

The term "Bitcoin dominance" refers to BTC's share of the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies. While on the surface, it seems to reflect Bitcoin's market strength, this metric largely represents the trading activity between Bitcoin and Ether (ETH), the second-biggest cryptocurrency and the largest altcoin by market cap. 

This dynamic can distort the perceived dominance of Bitcoin, especially when major shifts occur within the ETH/BTC trading pair.

Related: Ethereum losing streak vs. Bitcoin hits 15 months — Can ETH price reverse course?

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BNB price rallies on news of DOJ-Binance settlement

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BNB’s (BNB) price breakout to a 5-month high at $271.90 comes as reporting from the Wall Street Journal highlighted the United States Department of Justice’s plan to announce a $4.3 billion dollar settlement with Binance to end its case. WSJ also reported that Binance founder Changpeng “CZ" Zhao has agreed to step down as CEO of the crypto exchange 

While the exact details of the settlement remain unclear until the Nov. 21 press conference at 3 pm ET, crypto market participants appear to perceive the end of the Binance legal saga with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and DOJ as a positive outcome with potential bullish ramifications the crypto market.

Historically, crypto markets react negatively to enforcement actions and the threat of new regulations, but data from Coinglass shows BNB volumes, open interest and options volume surging over the past 24 hours.

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Michael Saylor’s a fan, but Frisby says bull run needs a new guru: X Hall of Flame

Dominic Frisby recalls meeting MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor for the first time at a crypto event. What started off as an awe-struck moment became confusing after things took an unexpected turn.

“I saw Michael Saylor there. I was like, ‘Wow, that’s him!’” he tells Magazine. But it was Saylor who quickly came over and introduced himself before Frisby had a chance:

“He just came up to me and said, ‘I’ve seen some of your videos, and I really like your work and what you’re doing. Would you like to come over to dinner?’”

Frisby explains he was thrilled to be hanging with the OG Bitcoin maxi in Saylor’s house, which is “much nicer” than his own.

“Every time I watch a Michael Saylor video, I get orange pilled. The guy is so clever,” he declares.


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Fantom Foundation awards $1.7M bounty for preventing $170M drain

The Fantom Foundation, a nonprofit organization developing the Fantom blockchain platform, has eliminated a significant vulnerability after a $550,000 hack in October.

On Oct. 17, the Fantom Foundation suffered a hot wallet hack, with an unknown attacker draining 1% of Fantom Foundation’s funds. The foundation subsequently stopped using some of the affected wallets, reassigning them to a Fantom employee, making it a “targeted attack.”

Following the incident, an unnamed security researcher found an additional potential risk associated with the hack and alerted the Fantom Foundation, according to a blog post on Nov. 20. The vulnerability was associated with a dormant admin token for Fantom’s ERC-20 FTM contract, which could potentially allow the attacker the ability to mint a portion of Fantom (FTM) for themselves on Ethereum.

According to the Fantom Foundation, the discovered vulnerability could have allowed the hacker to drain $170 million using the wallet access. The organization said the value of the potential loss is based on the token price at the time of the hack, “though this estimate does not consider the market’s insufficient liquidity to absorb the tokens fully.”

The Fantom Foundation said that the vulnerability was “mitigated quickly,” and the organization awarded the unnamed researcher $1.7 million in recognition of the contribution. The announcement added:

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BNB pops after report that DOJ wants $4B settlement with Binance

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BNB (BNB) has gained over 7% in the last day after Bloomberg reported that the United States Department of Justice is contemplating a $4 billion settlement with Binance to resolve its investigation into the company.

Cointelegraph Markets Pro shows BNB spiked 6% to $262 in around 30 minutes after Bloomberg’s Nov. 20 report, which said Binance was negotiating an agreement to resolve a DOJ probe into alleged sanctions violations, money laundering and fraud.

BNB dropped to $252 around four hours later but notched a second spike to $266 — its highest price since June 7 — two days after the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Binance and CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao alleging they violated various securities laws.


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6 Questions for Alex O’Donnell about the future of DeFi

Umami Labs CEO Alex O’Donnell grew up on the outskirts of Philadelphia before attending Temple University to study literature and economics. That path led him to devote seven years of his life as a financial journalist at Reuters, where he specialized in M&As IPOs.

He said his academic focus created a “pretty natural synthesis” when it came ot financial journalism. However, he said he became “disenchanted” with his industry while he was cooped up at home during the Covid-19 pandemic. “There really was a three-way alliance between journalists, government officials and technology companies trying to control the flow of information,” O’Donnell said in an interview with Cointelegraph.

He began tinkering with cryptocurrency, which led to his introduction with Umami DAO — and ultimately his creation of Umami Labs.

O’Donnell and his wife, Sanjana, are preparing for a “third, smaller person” to join their family next year. In the meantime, he said he’s also gearing up for another crypto-related venture. The details aren’t fully public yet, but he said he plans to release more information the months ahead.

I’d been a journalist for the better part of a decade primarily covering mergers and acquisitions. I always had an interest in finance and tech. But I started becoming a bit disenchanted with the mainstream media around the time of the pandemic. That was the first time I started becoming a bit more cynical about my own industry’s role in the information economy. So I started paying more attention to issues like privacy, censorship and other things I had not taken as much interest in before.

Alex O'Donnell at his wedding in 2023.
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Crypto traders are looking at Dogecoin (DOGE) again — Here’s why

When memecoins go parabolic, it’s usually a market top signal and a warning that investors’ euphoria has peaked. The market witnessed similar speculative fury in the 2020–2021 bull market when Dogecoin (DOGE) chased after $1, Shiba Inu (SHIB) rallied by tens of thousands of percentage points, and nonfungible token prices hit eye-watering highs of six to seven figures.

DOGE/USDT vs. BTC/USDT weekly chart. Source: TradingView

Despite only being up 13.6% for the year, DOGE’s 33.2% gain over the last month has put the asset on some analysts’ radar.

Take, for example, crypto trader Tony “The Bull,” who pointed out that DOGE price rallied into the one-month parabolic SAR indicator, a move that the trader says was previously followed by a 23,000% rally.

For traders who use technical analysis, the parabolic SAR is generally used to pinpoint “stop and reverse” signals from an asset. In short, it is used to determine the price levels where an asset could stop in its current direction and begin a trend reversal.

Traders have also pointed to DOGE’s Fibonacci levels as a guide to where the price could head in the medium term. Citing the monthly time frame, $0.12 at the 0.618 Fib level has been identified as a medium-term target, whereas the 1.618 Fib level suggests $0.23 as the terminus of the current DOGE swing trade.

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Price analysis 11/20: SPX, DXY, BTC, ETH, BNB, XRP, SOL, ADA, DOGE, LINK

The S&P 500 Index (SPX) rose 2.24% last week, its third consecutive weekly gain. In comparison, Bitcoin (BTC) managed a minuscule gain of 0.8%, indicating consolidation below $38,000. The prospects for risky assets remain bullish as the U.S. Dollar Index has started to turn down. 

Cryptocurrency investors have not parted with their Bitcoin holdings, even after the 125% rally in 2023, indicating their long-term bullish view. Reflexivity co-founder William Clemente posted a chart sourced from Glassnode to X (formerly Twitter), which showed that 70% of Bitcoin in circulation has not been sold or transferred in the past year.

Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360

Investors have also increased exposure to global cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs) in 2023, according to a report by the digital asset platform Fineqia, which was seen by Cointelegraph. Fineqia reported that crypto ETP assets under management ballooned by 91% from Jan. 1 to Oct. 31, 2023.

If Bitcoin fails to break above its resistance, will it start a deeper correction? Will altcoins also turn lower, or could they buck the trend? Let’s analyze the charts to find out.

S&P 500 Index price analysis

The S&P 500 Index surged above the downtrend line on Nov. 14, signaling an end of the corrective phase.


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Atomic Wallet asks to toss suit over $100M hack, saying it has ‘no US ties’

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The company behind Atomic Wallet has asked a United States court to dismiss a class action suit seeking damages from a $100-million hack, arguing the claims should’ve been filed in Estonia, where it’s based.

In a Nov. 16 dismissal motion in a Colorado District Court, the Estonian firm argued it has “no U.S. ties,” and its end-user license agreement required all litigation against it to be filed in its home country of Estonia.

Atomic pointed out that only one user in Colorado was allegedly affected.


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SOL, LINK, NEAR and THETA flash bullish as Bitcoin takes a breather

Bitcoin (BTC) has been consolidating above $35,000 for several days, but the bulls have failed to resume the uptrend above $38,000. This suggests hesitation to buy at higher levels. BitGo CEO Mike Belshe said in a recent interview with Bloomberg that there is likely to be another round of rejections of the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications before they are finally approved.

Multiple analysts believe Bitcoin will enter a correction in the near term, with the worst outcome projecting a drop to $30,000. However, the fall is unlikely to start a bear phase. Look Into Bitcoin creator Philip Swift said that on-chain data suggests that the Bitcoin bull market is still in its early stages as there is “no FOMO yet.”

Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360

As Bitcoin takes a breather, several altcoins have witnessed a pullback, but some show signs of resuming their uptrends. Fidelity and BlackRock’s applications for a spot Ether ETF show strong demand for investment in select altcoins.

Could Bitcoin stay above $35,000 over the next few days? Is it time for altcoins to start the next leg of their up-move? Let’s look at the charts of the top five cryptocurrencies that may rise in the short term.

Bitcoin price analysis

Bitcoin faces stiff resistance near $38,000, but a positive sign is that the bulls have not allowed the price to dip below the 20-day exponential moving average (EMA) at $35,666.


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dYdX raises margin requirements in some markets, bans “highly profitable trades”

Decentralized crypto exchange dYdX has disclosed new measures to mitigate trading-related risks after burning $9 million of its insurance fund on Nov. 17 to cover users’ losses.

According to an announcement on X (formerly Twitter), the exchange increased margin requirements on several “less liquid markets,” affecting tokens such as Eos (EOS), 0x Protocol (ZRX), Aave (AAVE), Algorand (ALGO), Internet Computer (ICP), Monero (XMR), Tezos (XTZ), Zcash (ZEC), SushiSwap (SUSHI), THORChain (RUNE), Synthetix Network Token (SNX), Enjin Coin (ENJ), 1inch Network (1INCH), Celo (CELO), Yearn.finance (YFI) and Uma (UMA).

DYdX triggered its insurance fund to cover users’ trading losses on Nov. 17 after a profitable trade targeting long positions on the YFI token caused the liquidation of positions worth nearly $38 million.

DYdX founder Antonio Juliano dubbed the move a “targeted attack” on the exchange. According to him, YFI’s open interest in dYdX spiked from $0.8 million to $67 million in a matter of days as a result of the actions of one individual. The same individual, according to Juliano, attempted to attack the SUSHI market on dYdX a few weeks earlier.

“We did take action to increase initial margin ratios for $YFI prior to the price crash, but this was ultimately not sufficient. The actor was able to withdraw a good amount of $USDC from dYdX right before the price crash,” he wrote.

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One year on: Top 3 gainers after the ‘FTX crash bottom’

It’s been a year since the demise of the FTX exchange — an event that’s now increasingly looking like it was the Bitcoin (BTC) bottom, which is up roughly 120% from a year ago.

In November 2022, the FTX collapse wiped nearly $300 billion off the market cap, impacting several cryptocurrencies. The ones that suffered the most were tokens with deep financial ties to FTX, including Solana’s (SOL), Serum (SRM) and the exchange’s native FTX Token (FTT).

Crypto market capitalization daily price chart. Source: TradingView

But a year later, things have improved for BTC and most cryptocurrencies impacted by the FTX collapse.

Here are the top gainers (from the top 30 by market capitalization) that would have yielded the biggest profit if bought in November 2022.

Solana up 660% from FTX crash bottom

Solana’s price plummeted by over 50% to $8 after the FTX collapse. The sell-off occurred primarily because FTX and its sister firm, Alameda Research, held about 55 million SOL, triggering fears of a dump to plug liquidity holes.


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OpenAI’s Sam Altman ousted, BlackRock and Fidelity seek Ether ETF, and more: Hodler’s Digest, Nov. 12-18

ChatGPT developer OpenAI removed founder Sam Altman from his CEO position on Nov. 17. Chief technology officer Mira Murati is now serving as interim CEO. According to a blog post, the board of directors engaged in a “deliberative review process,” which resulted in the conclusion that Altman “was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities.” Shortly after, OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman revealed his exit from the organization.

The world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, officially filed for a spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Nov. 15. The ETF, dubbed the iShares Ethereum Trust, aims to “reflect generally the performance of the price of Ether,” according to the S-1 filed with the SEC. The iShares brand is associated with BlackRock’s ETF products. The move by BlackRock comes nearly a week after it registered the iShares Ethereum Trust with Delaware’s Division of Corporations and almost six months after it filed its spot Bitcoin ETF application. Following BlackRock’s filing, asset manager Fidelity also sought a green light for its own Ether ETF.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued guidance on capital gains tax (CGT) treatment with regard to decentralized finance and wrapping crypto tokens for individuals, confirming that Australians are liable for capital gains taxes when wrapping and unwrapping tokens. The transfer of crypto assets to an address that the sender does not control or that already holds a balance will be regarded as a taxable CGT event, the ATO said in its statement. The CGT event will trigger depending on whether the individual recorded a capital gain or loss. A similar approach has been considered for taxing liquidity pool users, providers and DeFi interest and rewards. In addition, wrapping and unwrapping tokens will also be subject to triggering a CGT event.

An employee of FTX’s charity wing recruited by Sam Bankman-Fried is trying to get paid $275,000, the remainder of his claimed 2022 salary bonus. Ross Rheingans-Yoo’s lawyers argued in a court filing that only $375,000 of his $650,000 bonus was paid by FTX. They claim the remaining funds were owed when the crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy in November 2022. The fate of Rheingans-Yoo’s bonus will be determined by a Delaware bankruptcy judge who is overseeing FTX’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

WisdomTree filed an amended Form S-1 spot Bitcoin ETF prospectus with the U.S. SEC on Nov. 16. The update comes a few months after WisdomTree refiled its spot Bitcoin ETF application in June 2023, proposing a rule change to list and trade shares of the WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust. The amended prospectus mentions that the WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust ETF will trade under ticker symbol BTCW, with Coinbase Custody Trust serving as the custodian holding all of the trust’s Bitcoin on its behalf.


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Yearn.finance token tumbles 43%, community speculates on exit scam

Yearn.finance’s (YFI) governance token plummeted over 43% in just five hours on Nov. 18 after rallying almost 170% early in the month, stirring fears about a possible exit scam. 

During the dramatic drop in value, over $300 million was wiped out in market capitalization from November’s gains, according to data from CoinMarketCap. At the time of writing, the YFI token is trading at $9,069 from $14,185 a day before. However, the token is still up 83% over the past 30 days.

The sell-off has triggered another weekend of fear, uncertainty and doubt, or FUD, within the crypto community. On X (formerly Twitter), some users claim that 50% of the token supply was held in 10 wallets controlled by developers. However, Etherscan data suggests that some holders may be crypto exchange wallets.

YFI token holders on Nov. 18, 2023. Source: Etherscan 

In addition, some X users pointed out that opening short positions may have triggered the move. Data from Coinglass shows a jump in YFI open interest, indicating that traders are shorting the coin after November’s gains.

“I bought the dip… someone sold 1000 coins perhaps that’s why it dropped massively. Will see,” commented a trader on X. According to another user, YFI’s price movement after the decline is unusual for exit scams:

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3 metrics DeFi traders can watch in order to spot the next crypto bull market

The decentralized finance (DeFi) market has been one of the most exciting and volatile sectors in the crypto outside of Bitcoin (BTC). In 2020, the DeFi sector experienced a bull market that saw the total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance protocols surge from $1 billion to over $100 billion. However, the DeFi market has also been prone to significant corrections. In 2021, the DeFi market experienced a correction that saw the TVL fall from $100 billion to $40 billion.

Despite the volatility of the DeFi market, there are ways for traders to catch onto when the niche crypto sector begins to show sustained bullish momentum. Three of the most important metrics to watch are TVL, a platform’s fee revenue and the number of non-zero wallets holding tokens.

Let’s dig in a bit deeper to explore how these metrics can be used to guage the health of the DeFi sector.

Increases in the total value locked

TVL is one of the most widely used metrics to measure the overall health of the DeFi ecosystem. TVL represents the total amount of cryptocurrency assets locked in DeFi protocols. When TVL rises, it suggests increasing demand and use of DeFi services, which can signify a bull market.

While current TVL is slightly below the 2023 peak set on April 15 of $52.9 billion, it has risen since the start of the year. Since Jan. 1, TVL across the crypto market is up $7 billion, eclipsing $45 billion.

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Bitcoin traders' BTC price dip targets now include $30.9K bottom

Bitcoin (BTC) circled $36,000 after the Nov. 16 Wall Street open as analysis hoped for a deeper BTC price comedown.

BTC/USD 1-day chart. Source: TradingView

Bitcoin traders map out likely bottoms

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed a retracement from intraday highs of $36,600.

Having failed to establish a breakout beyond 18-month highs during the week, Bitcoin was uninspiring for market participants, some of whom hoped to see a fresh correction to retest lower levels.

“Would be happy to see this latest rally complete the round trip back to $35k. Would be even happier to see a retest of $33k,” monitoring resource Material Indicators wrote in part of the day’s X commentary.

A snapshot of BTC/USDT order book liquidity showed support building at $35,000.

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