Is XRP on its approach to $3.20? SEC drops Coinbase lawsuit, and extra: Hodler’s Digest, Feb. 16 – 22

Prime Tales of The Week

Bybit alternate hacked, over $1.4 billion in ETH-related tokens drained

Cryptocurrency alternate Bybit has been hacked for over $1.4 billion in liquid-staked Ether, Mantle Staked ETH and different ERC-20 tokens, in keeping with pseudonymous onchain safety analyst ZachXBT, who noticed the incident shortly after it occurred.

Following the exploit, the onchain sleuth warned customers to blacklist addresses related to the hack. Bybit co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou confirmed the incident and offered an replace on the safety breach.

Zhou confirmed {that a} switch was constructed from the alternate’s multisignature pockets to a heat pockets roughly one hour prior. The CEO additionally stated the particular transaction was masked to look reliable however contained malicious supply code designed to change the sensible contract logic of the pockets and siphon funds. 

SEC agrees to drop enforcement case towards Coinbase

The US Securities and Change Fee has agreed to dismiss its lawsuit towards centralized alternate agency Coinbase, which had accused the corporate of working as an unregistered securities dealer.

In accordance with an announcement from Coinbase, the dismissal remains to be topic to approval by an SEC commissioner earlier than the go well with is formally withdrawn. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated:

“If this goes by means of, it’s a extremely large deal, not only for us, however for the entire crypto business, the 50 million Individuals who maintain crypto, and I feel for the remainder of the world as a result of this is a crucial sign about the place issues are going.”

Ross Ulbricht requires ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ Roger Ver to be freed subsequent

Pardoned Silk Highway creator Ross Ulbricht is asking for clemency for Roger Ver, also called “Bitcoin Jesus,” who’s going through a potential decades-long jail sentence for alleged tax evasion.

In a Feb. 20 assertion to X, the not too long ago freed Ulbricht stated Ver advocated for him whereas he was imprisoned, and now he desires to return the favor.

“Roger Ver was there for me after I was down and wanted assist. Now Roger wants our assist,” he stated. “Nobody ought to spend the remainder of their life in jail over taxes. Let him pay the tax (if any) and be carried out with it.”

SBF cozies as much as Republican Social gathering amid clemency push

Former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried has spoken out from jail about his political donations, citing a political shift following high-profile contributions throughout the 2020 United States elections.

In an interview with The New York Solar, SBF stated he gave cash to the Democratic Social gathering within the 2020 election to forestall the political faction from “turning into the celebration of Bernie Sanders” — a Democrat senator from Vermont well-known for his socialist views.

The previous FTX government briefly outlined his rightward political shift over the past a number of years. SBF instructed the interviewer:

“I’d say that I considered myself on the time as type of center-left. And that’s not how I really feel myself anymore. It isn’t how I got here to view myself by 2022.”

Nigeria recordsdata $81.5B lawsuit towards Binance alternate: Report

The federal government of Nigeria has filed an $81.5 billion lawsuit towards Binance, the world’s largest centralized alternate by buying and selling quantity, for $2 billion in again taxes and $79 billion in financial damages for allegedly crashing Nigeria’s native fiat foreign money.

In accordance with Reuters, Nigeria’s Federal Inland Income Service (FIRS) stated Binance has a “important financial presence” inside Nigeria and unpaid taxes from 2022 and 2023.

FIRS can be reportedly demanding a 26.75% curiosity cost on the again taxes allegedly owed by the corporate and continues to say that the alternate was instrumental in reducing the worth of the Nigerian naira in overseas alternate markets.

The West African nation beforehand charged and detained two Binance executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, alleging tax fraud and cash laundering. FIRS later dropped the tax fees towards each executives.

Winners and Losers

On the finish of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $95,770, Ether (ETH) at $2,646 and XRP at $2.56. The whole market cap is at $3.14 trillion, in keeping with CoinMarketCap.

Among the many largest 100 cryptocurrencies, the highest three altcoin gainers of the week are Story (IP) at 160.53%, Sonic (prev. FTM) (S) at 55.42% and Maker (MKR) at 44.09%.

The highest three altcoin losers of the week are Raydium (RAY) at 22.96%, Official Trump (TRUMP) at 22.44% and Jupiter (JUP) at 19.45%. For more information on crypto costs, make certain to learn Cointelegraph’s market evaluation.

Most Memorable Quotations

“I’d say that I considered myself on the time as type of center-left. And that’s not how I really feel myself anymore. It isn’t how I got here to view myself by 2022.”

Sam Bankman-Fried, former CEO of FTX

“The honeymoon part [for Bitcoin L2s] is just a little bit over.”

Muneeb Ali, co-founder of Stacks

“Memecoins are cooked.”

Nic Carter, founding companion at Citadel Island Ventures

“DeFi summer time, in folks’s minds, is like three months of loopy events. I feel this quick interval is behind us. I feel it will likely be a really lengthy celebration for months and months.”

Charles d’Haussy, CEO of the dYdX Basis

“We wish to make ICOs nice once more.”

Zak Folkman, co-founder of World Liberty Monetary

“We central bankers ought to examine it and discover the expertise it’s constructed on. Learning Bitcoin received’t hurt us—quite the opposite, it is going to strengthen us.”

Aleš Michl, governor of the Czech Nationwide Financial institution

Prime Prediction Of The Week

XRP worth will see $3.20 subsequent if key assist stage is reclaimed — Analyst

XRP continued to commerce sideways between $2.85 and $2.30 even because the US Securities and Change Fee acknowledged a slew of XRP exchange-traded fund filings. XRP’s worth rebounded above $2.60, with a number of analysts highlighting the significance of breaking the $2.75-$2.80 space subsequent. 

Egrag Crypto, a pseudonymous XRP market analyst, highlighted that XRP was buying and selling inside an ascending triangle within the 12-hour timeframe.

In accordance with the analyst, the value must “shut above the apex” of the prevailing chart sample at $2.75 to “proceed the upward trajectory.” 

“Closing above this stage will present bullish affirmation to proceed the upward trajectory, with a measured goal of $3.20,” Egrag Crypto stated.

Prime FUD of The Week

Girl who defrauded Bybit of $5.7M will get 10 years in jail: Report

A girl who falsely amended payrolls and defrauded $5.7 million from the crypto alternate Bybit has been sentenced to just about 10 years in jail by a Singapore court docket.

The Straits Occasions reported on Feb. 20 that Ho Kai Xin was handed a nine-year, 11-month sentence after she pleaded responsible to 44 fees, together with 5 dishonest fees together with eight counts of coping with the advantages of prison conduct.

Ho dedicated the offenses whereas working on the crypto networking platform WeChain, which dealt with payroll for Bybit. Ho led the payroll workforce.

She was sentenced to 6 weeks behind bars late final month for contempt of court docket after she spent the ill-gotten funds regardless of the court docket ordering her in any other case. Ho’s practically 10-year sentence will begin after she completes her present sentence, which began on Jan. 27.

Argentine President Milei arrives in US amid fallout from LIBRA scandal

Argentine President Javier Milei arrived in the USA on Feb. 20 for a visit of diplomacy and deal-making, and maybe searching for a rebound from the unfolding LIBRA memecoin scandal that threatens his administration.

In accordance with Bloomberg, his itinerary features a assembly with supporter Elon Musk and a session with Kristalina Georgieva, the chief of the Worldwide Financial Fund. Milei will even converse on the Conservative Political Motion Convention, a Trump-friendly occasion.

The journey might serve to reshape the picture and narrative surrounding Milei, each of which have taken hits following the memecoin scandal that native Argentine publications have dubbed “Cryptogate.”

Pig butchering scams stole $5.5B from crypto buyers in 2024 — Cyvers

Pig butchering scams have emerged as one of the vital pervasive threats to cryptocurrency buyers, with losses within the billions of {dollars} throughout 200,000 recognized circumstances in 2024, in keeping with a report from onchain safety agency Cyvers, shared solely with Cointelegraph.

Pig butchering is a sort of phishing scheme that includes extended and complicated manipulation ways to trick buyers into willingly sending their belongings to fraudulent crypto addresses. Pig butchering schemes on the Ethereum community price the business over $5.5 billion throughout 200,000 recognized circumstances in 2024, in keeping with the report.

Among the many high 10 most affected platforms, Cyvers recognized three of the 5 largest centralized exchanges, a crypto-friendly financial institution and an institutional buying and selling platform.

Prime Journal Tales of The Week

ETH whale’s wild $6.8M ‘thoughts management’ claims, Bitcoin energy thefts: Asia Specific

Malaysian Bitcoin miners drown landlords in debt, cryptic Ethereum messages declare thoughts management tech, and extra.

Trump-Biden guess led to obsession with ‘idiotic’ NFTs —Batsoupyum, NFT Collector

A DM from Polymarket’s CEO led a “actually unhealthy dependancy to NFTs” for batsoupyum.

MegaETH launch might save Ethereum… however at what price?

MegaETH is sacrificing some decentralization for Web2 like velocity. Are the trade-offs value the price?

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