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Crypto NFT Today: Week 4 of March
Welcome to another edition of Crypto-NFT today! The last two weeks have been full of unmissable events that will set the tone for the future of blockchain, cryptocurrency, and NFTs.
With FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison, Giga Energy mining bitcoin in Argentina, and more, there’s a lot of essential news you should know. So, let’s dive in and see what’s going on!
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years
On March 28, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried he received a 25-year prison sentence conviction for his involvement in a massive fraud and conspiracy that led to the downfall of his cryptocurrency exchange and affiliated hedge fund, Alameda Research.
The verdict, handed down in federal court in Manhattan, fell short of the 40 to 50 years sought by federal prosecutors, but exceeded the 5 to 6 1/2 years proposed by Bankman-Fried’s defense team. Expressing concern about possible future wrongdoing, Judge Lewis Kaplan sentenced the 32-year-old and imposed a forfeiture of $11 billion on the US government.
TrendCustom software: Why it’s better than standard market options
Giga Energy mines Bitcoin in Argentina
Brent Whitehead and Matt Lohstroh, graduates of Texas A&M University, have been mining bitcoin in the oil fields of East Texas since 2019. Their company, Giga Energy, aims to use flared natural gas to generate electricity for mining operations. bitcoin, known for their significant energy consumption.
Gigaenergy recently announced its expansion into Argentina, marking its first venture outside of the United States and Shanghai. Teaming up with Phoenix Global Resources, an oil and gas company operating in Mendoza, and IT services provider Exa Tech, Giga plans to create a two-megawatt bitcoin mining facility atop Vaca Muerta.
Bitcoin records spikes during the last week of March
At the beginning of the last week of March, Bitcoin rose, recovering the threshold of 70,000 dollars. According to Coin Metrics, the price of the leading cryptocurrency rose 7.8% to reach $70,995.48, briefly touching $71,239.31 in late afternoon trading as the stock market closed. Ether also rose 7.4% to $3,634.80, followed by most other cryptocurrencies.
MicroStrategy, often considered a proxy for The price of Bitcoin, saw a notable increase of 21%, while Coinbase saw an increase of 9%. The mining sector also benefited from Bitcoin’s rally, with Riot Platforms up 9%, CleanSpark up 19% and Cipher Mining up 13%.
KuCoin accused of violating anti-money laundering laws
March 26, US federal prosecutors filed charges against cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin and two of its founders for allegedly violating anti-money laundering laws. Prosecutors said the exchange operated in the United States deceived at least one investor about its U.S. operations and neglected to register with U.S. government authorities or establish an anti-money laundering program.
According to the US Department of Justice indictment, KuCoin and its founders Chun Gan and Ke Tang operated the exchange as a money transmission business serving over 30 million customers. However, they allegedly did not implement a know-your-customer (KYC) or anti-money laundering (AML) program until 2023. Even after its implementation, the KYC program reportedly did not extend to existing customers. Neither Gan nor Tang have been arrested, a Justice Department press release said.