💸 Not Your $450 Million! ❌

In today's edition: Coinbase layoffs, CFTC charges against Avi, former FTX executive’s potential deal, and much more!

January 10, 2023

New Pod Today!

Gabriel Shapiro, general counsel at Delphi Labs, and Collins Belton, managing partner at Brookwood P.C., dive into the controversial case of Avi Eisenberg, the self-described “applied game theorist” who was arrested in Puerto Rico on Dec. 26 on market manipulation and fraud charges. The two crypto lawyers discuss the case’s potential impact on DeFi and DAO governance — and whether “code is law” stands a chance in the courtroom.

Show highlights:

  • whether Avi’s manipulation of the markets constitutes fraud 

  • debating the crypto maxim “code is law”

  • whether it’s wrong to use DeFi code in a “smarter way”

  • how the Mango Markets exploit happened due to poor governance management

  • the consequences of Avi’s arrest for the DeFi space

  • whether MEV could constitute market manipulation, even if it’s democratized for everybody

  • whether members of the Mango Markets DAO are liable because of their role in designing the system

  • how Avi was “naive” to think he could avoid legal liability by returning the funds

  • why Gabe thinks credit protocols are socially positive and why he hopes that prosecutors won’t “throw everyone in jail”

What’s Poppin’?

Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the United States, announced Tuesday morning that it was firing 950 employees.

Mango Markets exploiter Avraham “Avi” Eisenberg has been charged with two counts of market manipulation by the CFTC.

Former FTX Director of Engineering Nishad Singh could be working out a deal with prosecutors, adding to the weight of evidence against Sam Bankman-Fried.

BlockFi’s management team did not withdraw their assets from the platform on the eve of its bankruptcy unlike Celsius, said the firm’s legal counsel in a bankruptcy hearing.

Voyager claims that Alameda Research’s objection to a Binance.US buyout deal concerning a disclosure statement is hypocritical, saying the firm took issue with language that it used in its own statement issued two months ago.

On Unchained Premium

Kevin Kelly, the cofounder and head of research at Delphi Digital, shares his thoughts on the future growth and development of NFTs, gaming, DeFi and other related topics in the coming year.

In Other News…✍️✍️✍️

  • The United States Department of Justice took possession of over $456 million worth of Robinhood shares that were owned by Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang, the cofounders of FTX.

  • Within five days of filing for bankruptcy, FTX moved $10 million from its Dubai subsidiary to a US-based firm owned by Alameda Research.

  • According to a legal document filed in the bankruptcy case of the FTX, there are approximately 117 parties interested in acquiring some of the exchange's assets.

  • A court in California ruled that the founders of Yuga Labs, Wylie Aronow and Greg Solano, must be deposed.

  • The Nepal Telecommunications Authority instructed all internet service providers to block all activities related to cryptocurrency. 

  • Germany's financial regulatory agency, BaFin, warned that hackers are using the "GodFather" Android malware to target mobile apps for both cryptocurrency and traditional banking.

  • Huobi's Korean crypto exchange plans to break its connection with Huobi Global and operate as an independent business.

  • Core Scientific, a Bitcoin mining company, increased its production of Bitcoin by 5.8% in December compared to the previous month, even as it reduced production due to a severe winter storm.

What Do You Meme

📈 Your Market Update 📉

  • BTC is up .19%, trading at $17,253

  • ETH is up .86%, trading at $1,330

  • BTC dominance: 37.64%

  • Crypto market cap: $883 billion

*All data as of today, 5 am ET

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