Seoul, Sept 13 (Cryptopolitan) – It’s a wet, gray September afternoon in Seoul, and the city is settling back into its usual routine after the Korea Blockchain Week. 

Most attendees have already packed their bags and left for Singapore’s Token2049, but we’re still here, and there’s one reason for that: Fireant. 

The legendary and anonymous Korean crypto key opinion leader (KOL) has agreed to meet with us in his downtown office.

He’s famously private, and even as we step into his personal space, there’s an eerily quiet sense that we’re entering a world few have ever been allowed to see.

Fireant is one of the oldest and most respected voices in the Korean crypto community. No one knows who he really is, yet everyone knows him. He moves in the shadows, yet his influence is undeniable.

Today, we get to talk to him about everything. From how he started to what drives his vision for the future of crypto. We’re also gonna ask him which ecosystem he likes the most.

The lore

“I started in crypto in 2016 because of my father,” Fireant tells us, without hesitation. “My father invested in crypto first, but my mother was worried. She asked me to stop my father from investing, so I began studying it seriously.”

That was the beginning of a journey that would transform Fireant from a curious onlooker to one of Korea’s most trusted crypto analysts.

He didn’t get his start the way most of us did, stumbling into exchanges or watching YouTube videos, or seeing a cousin’s Bitcoin profits in 2021.

No, Fireant went straight for the source. “I studied the Bitcoin and Ethereum whitepapers deeply,” he says. “When I read those papers, I realized that crypto made sense.”

When we ask about his name, Fireant explains that retail investors in Korea are often called “ants.” “My friend once said I was like a fire-ant because I was always moving, always in the market.”

And the rest is history. The name stuck. Now, it’s a brand.

Fireant’s favorite ecosystem

“So, which crypto ecosystem does Fireant likes the most?” we ask. The answer is simple, but it comes with a twist. 

We watch as he types his response into a translator to double-check specific words and phrases before responding, careful so as to not make a mistake with what he wants us to understand.

“I don’t care about the ecosystem. I care about making money. If there’s an opportunity, I’ll go to any ecosystem.” Yet, he does have a preference. “I lean toward the Ethereum ecosystem. I believe DeFi is the future. DeFi will change the legacy money market,” he says. 

Fireant truly believes that:

“Ethereum has the potential to disrupt how money flows around the world.”

With a tiny chuckle, he makes it clear that he’s not married to Ethereum though. “If another ecosystem offers a better opportunity, I’ll go there too. But for now, Ethereum is my favorite.”

When pressed on what’s next in crypto, Fireant leans back thoughtfully. “DeFi,” he utters after a few seconds.

“I think it’s a past narrative, but it will boom again. Investors are drawn to DeFi because they get better returns than banks offer. Right now, DeFi is struggling because of high interest rates, but when the Federal Reserve starts cutting rates, DeFi will take off again.”

He pauses a bit before adding that:

“DeFi’s success will drive Ethereum Layer 2 solutions. We’ll see a rise in both.”

Meme coins and trading success

Fireant has also made a name for himself trading meme coins. When we ask why he got into the chaotic world of meme coins, he grins, then shrugs. “I trade where there’s opportunity.”

He breaks it down: “I don’t use Pump.fun much, because I prefer trading on centralized exchanges (CEX) using on-chain data.”

Fireant doesn’t follow the hype blindly. He watches what’s happening on-chain, tracking which coins are being accumulated by large entities. “If I see a single entity holding a lot of tokens, I pay attention,” he says.

He’s a data-driven trader, and it’s that sharp focus on metrics that’s helped him win where others have lost. Simple, effective, and not afraid to get his hands dirty.

Building a community, not just a brand

Fireant has built one of the oldest and most active crypto communities in the country, where traders gather to share ideas and strategies. 

When asked if he plans to monetize or expand his brand through merchandise or events, Fireant is quick to clarify his intentions. He cringes as he says:

“I’m focused on growing my community, not on creating a business from it. It’s more important to increase unity and share knowledge.”

He works closely with his community, often trading alongside them. “We’re all members, and we all share ideas. There’s no hierarchy. That’s the strength of our community,” he explains with a smile.

Like the rest of us, Fireant has also been watching the disaster that is 2024 politics, particularly in the U.S. When asked about the upcoming election, he tells us that: 

“If I were American, I’d vote for Trump. He’s positive about crypto. I believe if Trump wins, maybe regulation will be more clear. That’s very important because big businesses in crypto need clear regulation. If regulation isn’t clear, nobody can start or build anything. Builders worry that if they make a new business or company with no regulation, eventually, when regulation comes in, their business could turn illegal. That’s why I support Trump.”

Fireant believes Korea’s regulatory framework could learn a thing or two from this approach. “Korean regulations right now are all about protecting users, but they need to focus on helping builders too.”

He explains that institutional investors in Korea are hesitant to get involved with tokens because the rules are vague. “If Korea wants to lead, it needs clearer rules.”

Despite the challenges, Fireant remains committed to his home country. “I’m Korean, and my first language is Korean. I started here, and I’ll stay here,” he says proudly.

But that doesn’t mean he’s against expansion. When asked if Korean projects should consider going to Dubai for its crypto-friendly regulations, Fireant is open to the idea. 

“Dubai is interesting, but Korean culture and regulation are hard for outsiders to understand. It’s not easy to bridge that gap.”

As our interview winds down, we ask Fireant to drop something for the readers. “I believe the Ethereum ecosystem will remain dominant,” he tells us confidently. 

“Solana is valuable, but it’s focused on consumer applications, not DeFi.” Ethereum, on the other hand, aligns perfectly with decentralized finance, and that’s why Fireant likes it.

He attends blockchain events regularly, but he prefers staying close to home. “I like Korea Blockchain Week. I don’t like traveling too far. I get sick when I go overseas.”

And his favorite food? “Kimchi. Kimchi soup, to be specific,” he says with a grin.

Written by Yaroslav Belkin and Jai Hamid

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A Florida man, Remy Ra St. Felix, 25, received his 47-year sentence following a series of crypto-related home invasions across multiple states. In addition to his prison term, he was given five years of supervised release and ordered to pay $524,153.39 in restitution.

St. Felix was found guilty of committing a series of multi-state robberies

On Wednesday, Remy Ra St. Felix was handed a 47-year prison term for his role in a cryptocurrency home invasion scheme. Between September 5 and September 12, 11 of his co-conspirators were also sentenced in connection with the case. 

St. Felix and his cohorts were found guilty of stealing over $3.5 million. According to the US Department of Justice, they carried out a string of sim swaps and home invasions, which sometimes turned out aggressive. 

For instance, in September 2022, St. Felix and his crew invaded a man and his family’s home in Delray Beach, Florida, holding them at gunpoint before kidnapping the man and leaving him about 120 miles from his home. In December 2022, the criminal gang attacked a Little Elm man’s home in Texas, holding the entire family at gunpoint and restraining them for over three hours.

Additionally, in April 2023, the criminal group broke into a Durham, North Carolina, home, holding a couple at gunpoint, restraining them with cable ties and assaulting them before getting away with over $150,000 in cryptocurrency. Before the break-in, St. Felix’s associates had also hacked the couple’s email accounts and conducted several days of surveillance.

Then again, in July 2023, Felix attempted another home invasion in Long Island, New York, before being identified and arrested. Following a six-day trial, Felix was convicted on June 25 by a federal district court in Greensboro, North Carolina.

St. Felix’s associates also received sentences

On February 6, Jarod Gabriel Seemungal, 23, pleaded guilty to all charges, including his role in the Durham home invasion, resulting in a 20-year prison sentence and over $4 million in restitution. Elmer Ruben Castro, 23, who also admitted to conspiracy to commit kidnapping, is set to be sentenced on October 1.

Jose Alfredo Avila, 27, of West Palm Beach, received a 20-year sentence for kidnapping and robbery, along with four years of supervised release and restitution of $365,100. Contreras was sentenced to 15 years in prison, five years of supervised release, and $355,800 in restitution. Daily received a 25-year sentence, four years of supervised release, and $524,153.39 in restitution.

Both Gonzalez and Silva were sentenced to 12 years. Nathan Noel Quintana, 24, of Royal Palm Beach, Florida, was sentenced to 16 years, while Salazar and Gamez, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to interfere with commerce through robbery, were sentenced to five years and $355,800 in restitution for Salazar, and eight years with $355,800 in restitution for Gamez.

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The global digital asset market printed green indexes all around as Bitcoin (BTC) regained the crucial $60,000 level. The return of bulls has helped the biggest crypto to surge by over 12% in the last 7 days, while bears’ estimates failed heavily.

The cumulative crypto cap surged by more than 3% over the last day to stand at $2.11 trillion. The biggest of the altcoins like Ether (ETH) and Dogecoin (DOGE) recorded a gain of 3% and 5%, respectively, in the last 24 hours. However, the fear and greed index flashed a “Neutral” sentiment signal with 50 points, rebounding from the fear zone.

Bitcoin bears bleed

As per the data shared by Coinglass, more than 35K traders betting on the different crypto price actions got liquidated in the last 24 hours. The total liquidations come in at $127.96 million, while the largest single liquidation order was executed on the largest crypto exchange, Binance of BTC/USDT, worth $14.18 million.

Alone Bitcoin saw $53.5 million worth of liquidation in the past 24 hours. Over $48.67 million worth of liquidated bets (90%) turned out to be short positions set by the traders on Bitcoin price performance. This suggests that bears were hoping for BTC to continue on its downward trend, meanwhile, the biggest crypto breached the $60K mark.

The biggest crypto price dropped below the $57K level following the US Presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Bitcoin price jumped by more than 4% over the last 24 hours, clearing the losses seen in the longer time frame. BTC is trading at an average price of $60,307 at press time. Its 24-hour trading volume jumped by 5% to stand at $32.5 billion.

BTC ETFs post $263M inflow

BTC linked ETFs also reflected bullish sentiments returning to the market as they posted an inflow of massive $263 million on September 13. These funds have managed to maintain the green index for the second consecutive day after witnessing an outflow of $43.97 on September 11.

MicroStrategy (MSTR) just made another big Bitcoin move by accumulating $1.1 billion worth of Bitcoin, sending its stock soaring 8% on Friday. MSTR share price has risen by 18% in the last 5 days as it closed trading at $141.4 on Friday.

Its founder, Michael Saylor, revealed that MicroStrategy’s average Bitcoin purchase price over the last four years stood at $38,585 per coin. The company now holds 244,800 BTC, worth $14.6 billion. He introduced the BTC yield metric, showing a 17% increase in shareholder value from selling stock to buy Bitcoin.

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$360 billion asset manager Janus Henderson has stepped into the ring with other Wall Street giants in the amusing movement toward blockchain technology.

They’re taking over the management of the $11 million Anemoy Liquid Treasury Fund, which invests in short-term US Treasury bills. This fund’s been tokenized. 

What does that mean? They’re turning the fund’s shares into digital tokens on the blockchain, essentially putting this money on-chain.

You’ve probably heard the names before. BlackRock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton. These companies are already tokenizing Treasuries and money markets. Janus Henderson is now following their lead.

But what’s different here is that they’re doing it through a British Virgin Islands-based fund, which caters to non-US professional investors.

Nick Cherney, the head of innovation at Janus Henderson, said:

“We need to be in a position for what’s next. The way I see it, huge parts of the financial system will likely move onto distributed ledger technology in the coming years.”

Why blockchain? Why now?

Why the shift? It all boils down to cost and efficiency. Blockchain offers a way to cut out the middlemen and make financial products available to investors faster and cheaper. 

“You can cut out a lot of steps, save on fees, and make the process smoother overall,” said Cherney. “It’s a more efficient way to get financial products to investors with fewer people involved.”

MJ Lytle, the CEO of Tabula Investment Management (the arm of Janus Henderson that will manage the fund), is struggling with rising costs in the investment industry. 

“We’ve seen management fees fall drastically, but other costs haven’t come down nearly as fast,” he said. Blockchain might be the solution. 

Lytle added that traditional structures struggle to bring costs down quickly enough, especially when so many people are involved in things like custody and administration.

Custody, administration, and even just holding assets are labor-intensive, expensive processes with lots of people involved. “If you’re one of the big custody providers, cutting costs is tough,” Lytle pointed out. 

“You can’t just fire thousands of employees overnight.” But with blockchain, you don’t need third-party custodians, clearinghouses, or other intermediaries. That’s a lot of money saved.

“Trustless” systems

This is where trustless decentralized blockchains come into play. Martin Quensel, co-founder of Anemoy, claims tokenization allows investors to trade units in the fund at any time, with settlement happening almost instantly. 

Anemoy has built a network of paid market makers and liquidity providers to make this work. Right now, the fund yields more than 5%, and its tokens can even be used as collateral for other blockchain transactions.

This is where things get interesting. These tokens, as Quensel puts it, offer an alternative to stablecoins like USDC and Tether. Stablecoins are pegged to real-world assets like the US dollar, but they offer no yield. 

Tokens in this fund, however, yield more than 5%. So now we’re looking at a future where tokenized funds could rival stablecoins—especially since stablecoins have now amassed a combined market capitalization of $170 billion.

Anemoy is planning a second one, this time focusing on music-based intellectual property. Anil Sood, Anemoy’s chief investment officer, sees long-term potential here and thinks tokenization could even threaten the fast-growing ETF market.

Is tokenization coming for ETFs?

Sood, who has a background in exchange-traded funds (ETFs), believes that tokenization is a major threat to the ETF industry.

“We’ve seen people convert mutual funds into ETFs. But in the future, mutual funds might skip ETFs altogether and go straight to digital tokens.”

And why not? The biggest names in finance are already onboard. According to Sood, once these companies start talking to their clients about tokenization, it’s game over for traditional mutual funds.

Cherney agrees. He even sees this disruption as more significant than the rise of ETFs themselves. 

“Twenty years ago, only a few people really saw how ETFs would shake things up,” Cherney said. “Now, everyone gets it. And I think blockchain will be even more disruptive.”

Let’s not forget the Bitcoin ETFs. On September 12, they saw a net inflow of $39 million. Grayscale’s GBTC, had an outflow of $6.5 million, but others like ARKB saw a surge with $18.3 million in inflows.

A summer note from Rosenblatt Securities shows that $9.5 billion has already been poured into Wall Street’s digital infrastructure to handle assets like these. 

Compare that to all of 2020, and it’s almost the same amount, just in the first half of 2021. If the trend continues, The Tokenizer estimates that up to $370 billion will be invested in tokenization infrastructure by the end of the year.

Institutional adoption is happening fast, according to Vikas Shah, managing director at Rosenblatt Securities. “We’ve entered a new phase in crypto,” Shah said.

“It’s all about institutional adoption now. Hedge funds, family offices, banks—they’re all getting involved.”

Real estate, NFTs, and beyond

Tokenization is coming for everything—real estate, NFTs, art, sports, you name it. Real estate, in particular, is moving quickly. Shah even believes it has the potential to become the next Bitcoin.

As Wall Street continues to push ahead, true blockchain believers are skeptical. 

The question remains: should these institutions get seriously into the decentralized finance (DeFi) world or stick to safer, centralized blockchain-based systems? 

DeFi is all about autonomy. What if these guys start wanting control? We all know Wall Street thrives on control. Steven Hu, head of digital assets at Standard Chartered, said:

“Full decentralization is unrealistic. We need some central authority to guarantee authenticity and proper use of assets.”

Still though. Standard Chartered is betting on tokenization, expecting a market of about $30 trillion by 2034.

They believe the future lies in public blockchains. Nana Murugesan, president at Matter Labs, thinks public blockchains like Ethereum will ultimately dominate. “Larger ecosystems will build on public blockchains,” he said.

BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) is also seeing success. Launched in March, the fund has pulled in about $527 million.

Permission-based or not, banks, asset managers, and even regulators are waking up to the potential of tokenization.

Singapore’s Monetary Authority is spearheading Project Guardian, bringing together 24 financial institutions to test asset tokenization use cases. JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, and Ant Group are all involved.

While Singapore’s regulator remains cautious about cryptos that lack underlying backing, they’re bullish on the blockchain. Regardless though. Crypto is inevitable.

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Worldcoin announced that the Wormhole interoperability platform has expanded its World ID feature to the Solana blockchain, according to a Sept. 13 statement.

The expansion is the result of a Worldcoin Foundation grant, which supported the integration of World ID with Solana. However, the feature is not yet active as its smart contracts are still undergoing a security audit, which is expected to be finished in the coming weeks.

WLD climbed 10% to $1.61 following the news before retreating to around $1.51 as of press time, based on CryptoSlate’s data.

World ID on Solana

World ID is key to Worldcoin’s mission. It uses eye scans from Worldcoin’s Orbs to create unique IrisCodes. These codes generate World IDs to verify human identity and tackle the proliferation of bots in the digital world.

Worldcoin stated that the move would allow Solana developers to build applications that “prioritize real humans.”

Wormhole, a cross-chain platform, will enable this on Solana by allowing protocols on the network to seamlessly authenticate people’s World IDs, which were originally verified on Ethereum. World ID is initially built on Ethereum and Optimism.

Robinson Burkey, co-founder of the Wormhole Foundation, commented:

“Bringing World ID to Solana is a big step forward for identity verification. With the integration of World ID and Wormhole Queries, developers can now easily build applications that prioritize real users across chains, improving trust in decentralized ecosystems.”

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Celestia (TIA) aims to popularize its node structure by running a node in anyone’s browser. Using the TIA block explorer temporarily turns every user into a node operator. 

Celestia, the Data Availability network with modular scaling, is trying out a novel way of spreading awareness. Anyone opening the Celestia block explorer starts running a light node, serving to secure and decentralize the network. Celestia is approaching its first anniversary after launching its main net on October 31, 2023. The Celestia chain offered a Data Availability layer even before EigenDA, with the goal of becoming an intermediary between L2 and Ethereum for suitable projects.

The Celenium block explorer has a feature that allows any user to start running a light node, connecting to other peers. The node does not require high-level resources, or overload a computer similar to browser mining. Celestia’s light node can be switched off at any time. Previously, light nodes required manual or command line launching. 

The light node receives Celestia on-chain data, without the need for centralized calls. The lack of RPC also means one less attack vector for network participants. Running a node is strictly for personal usage, as well as for builders that want to deploy to Celestia. The node does not pay out any TIA rewards and does not require staking or other upfront investments. 

The Celestia Data Availability layer is another way for L2 to interact with Ethereum. Celestia already supports projects like Manta. Others, like Arbitrum or Optimism, do not need a Data Availability layer; instead, they rely on direct L1 records by using blobs. In theory, however, Celestia can offer scaling services to existing chains, allowing them to break out of the limitations of their own block size. 

Celestia still relies on its list of validator nodes for verification. It aims to build a scalable Data Availability layer by offering and propagating up to 1GB in block space. For now, this seems redundant, as even the busiest L2 hardly fills up Ethereum blobs. 

Celestia plans to introduce the light node while running every wallet. For now, the light node requires few resources, as Celestia has not onboarded many chains of its own. However, light nodes will not store the whole blockchain and will prune old data. Celestia will turn into one of the most ambitious competitors to EigenDA, with a roadmap to constantly increasing block size. 

Celestia expects large-scale token unlock in November

One of the factors weighing down on Celestia is the upcoming token unlock. TIA is a low-float token with around 200M in circulation and 1.07B in total supply. There is no known max supply for TIA tokens. 

TIA unlocks 998.58K each day, requiring the market to absorb $4.3M in new tokens. From November 1, the supply of TIA will expand by 175.56M, expanding the circulating tokens by 83.3%. This is one of the biggest token unlocks for the year, sparking doubts about whether the market can absorb the dilution. 

TIA tokens peaked at $20.53 in February, through a mix of bull market hype and active marketing. As of September 13, TIA traded at $4.20 on volumes of $43M in 24 hours. 

Early backers control close to 20% of the TIA supply. The November unlock will make the tokens transferable for early backers, seed round investors, and early ecosystem contributors. More than 50% of TIA tokens are set aside for insiders, with only 26% unlocked. 

Some of the early buyers acquired TIA at $0.01 per token, as the project raised $56.6M in a series of VC rounds and public airdrops. TIA is one of the most successful token sales, with a 4X growth in BTC terms, 14X in dollar terms, and 7.8 times against Ethereum (ETH). Even at a lower price, some of the initial buyers may achieve significant gains from realizing profits. 

Even locked TIA tokens can be staked for additional rewards. The rewards will also be added to the total supply. Some of the VC backers may continue to stake, while only selling their reward tokens. TIA tokens will also find additional demand from chains that use the Celestia Data Availability layer, as a payment for data services. 

Cryptopolitan reporting by Hristina Vasileva.

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Google has made available its voice-powered AI chatbot feature, Gemini Live, free to all Android users. The feature, which allows the users to speak to Google’s AI Chatbot via voice commands, was previously available fully to Gemini Advanced subscribers.

The new feature enables all Android users to utilize the chatbot’s dialogue functions which now include asking questions by voice and interrupting answers in the process.

This announcement comes after the first launch of the Gemini Live application last month at Google’s Pixel 9 event. Android users can now easily enable the feature directly by pressing a waveform icon within the Gemini application which allows them to start using voice interactions with the AI. The rollout comes at a time when Open AI’s competing feature, Advanced Voice Mode for ChatGPT has not yet been completely rolled out.

Users can now access Gemini’s voice mode with more control

Gemini Live’s most notable functionality includes the ability for users to ask questions aloud, interrupt responses in the middle of a sentence, and choose different voices for AI’s replies. This hands-free feature adds some degree of flexibility and personalization, making the conversations with AI more fluid and responsive. Apart from managing the discussion in real-time, the participants can also “hold” the responses or “end” the conversation anytime whenever required.

Although, at first, the voice-controlling capacity was a feature of a paid service, this voice-powered feature is now available in the free version of the Gemini application. Android users can start using the app or overlay to have access to it right away. Currently, the voice mode is optimized only to support the English language, however, Google has confirmed plans to add more languages and make this feature available on iOS devices as well although no exact timeline has been given.

Google launches Gemini Live as OpenAI’s voice feature lags behind

The timing of this launch puts Google in front of OpenAI, which made known its Advanced Voice Mode for ChatGPT in May. However, this feature offered by Open AI has not yet been made widely available, having gone on limited availability since late July. Other industry insiders further suggested that the long period of waiting may be because of the high computational power needed to support voice-based AI interactions, especially on a large scale.

The move by Google to launch Gemini Live for free contrasts with OpenAI’s staggered release of a similar feature. While OpenAI keeps developing a strategy for a wider adoption, Google’s release puts Gemini Live in the hands of the users who are keen to interact with AI by speaking as opposed to typing making this a competitive edge between the two companies.

Currently, Gemini Live is accessible on Android devices and Google plans to add more functionality as it develops the service.

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Social media giant, Meta Platforms has reignited its plans to train its AI using UK users’ Facebook and Instagram posts. The company revealed it will soon start training its AI models on data from adults’ posts in the UK and Brazil.

The social media platform said it “incorporated regulatory feedback.” In a blog post, the company also claimed the move would enable its models to reflect British culture, history, and idiom. Meta also spoke of a revised “opt-out” approach to ensure that it is more transparent.

Meta got greenlight to implement the plan

According to a report by TC, AI at Meta tools are yet to be introduced in the UK and EU due to previously raised concerns by regulators about its plans, which resulted in a deadlock between the tech firm and EU over the matter.

However, Meta revealed on Friday that it will soon start using data from adult accounts to train its AI models in the coming months after carrying out positive engagements with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is the UK’s data protection regulator. Meta added the company had received the green light to proceed with the process.

The US tech giant said it would begin the process in the coming months after positive discussions with the ICO.

“This clarity and certainty will help us bring AI at Meta products to the UK much sooner,” said Meta in a blog post.

“We welcome the ICO’s guidance supporting Meta’s implementation of the legal basis of ‘Legitimate Interests’, which can be a valid legal basis for using certain first-party data to train generative AI models for our AI at Meta features and experiences.”

Meta.

While it is not very clear how the latest plan differs from the previous, Meta indicated it would not use private messages with friends and family to train it AI models. the company will also not use data from accounts that belong to users who are below the age of 18.

The social media giant recently admitted before Australia’s lawmakers that it used public posts from Facebook and Instagram to train it generative AI models, although it also revealed accounts for users below the age of 18 were excluded.

We’re pleased to announce that, after taking onboard regulatory feedback, we will begin training our AI at Meta models using public content shared by adults on Facebook and Instagram in the UK and Brazil.

— Nick Clegg (@nickclegg) September 13, 2024

Meta to start training on users’ data in the next months

Meta has also revealed that beginning next week, UK users will start to see notifications that explain what the tech giant intends to do and explain the scheme. The notifications will also give guidance on how UK users can opt out of the scheme to use their data for training.

The social media firm indicated that plans to start using data to train its models is expected to start in the coming months.

ICO executive director of regulatory risk, Stephen Almond said the regulator would monitor the situation in the next weeks.

“We have been clear that any organization using its users’ information to train generative AI models to be transparent about how people’s data is being used.”

Almond.

“Organizations should put effective safeguards in place before they start using personal data for model training, including providing a clear and simple route for users to object to the processing,” added Almond.

Almond also explained that the ICO had not given any regulatory approval for the processing, but , this remained Meta’s responsibility to demonstrate compliance. Meta’s announcement comes three months after the company paused its plans following regulatory objections raised by ICO.

Among the issues raised included how Meta was to gain user consent to process their personal data.

Lead privacy regulator in the EU, the Irish Data Protection Commission also flagged Meta’s proposal after receiving feedback from several other data protection authorities across the EU.

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Sam Bankman-Fried, known as SBF, the founder and ex-CEO of FTX, has officially filed an appeal to overturn his fraud conviction after spending five months in jail.

Court documents filed today reveal that his legal team is pushing for a retrial, claiming that the first trial was unfair and biased from the start. 

They argue that everyone involved (media, federal prosecutors, the FTX debtor estate, and even the judge) had already made up their minds that he was guilty before the trial even began.

‘SBF is not the architect of FTX’s collapse’

SBF’s lawyers are telling a different story about what led to FTX’s downfall. They say that by November 2022, FTX was still solvent, and had even grown to $1 billion in revenue. 

According to them, the company didn’t collapse because of fraud, but due to external market pressures and a liquidity crisis, which was triggered by a wave of customer withdrawals.

They claim FTX’s legal advisors then pushed the company into bankruptcy, mismanaging billions in the process, while blaming SBF for the chaos. 

The defense maintains that SBF never intended to defraud anyone and believed that loans made from FTX to Alameda were backed by legitimate collateral. 

They are saying that both companies could have repaid all customers if they had been given a bit more time. 

The defense tried to present evidence showing that FTX had enough assets to make every customer whole within weeks, but the court didn’t allow this to be shown to the jury.

The prosecution told the jury that both companies were insolvent. They claimed $10 billion had gone missing and told the jury that SBF had stolen the money, using it for personal luxuries and risky investments. 

The defense wasn’t allowed to dispute these claims in court, which they argue in the appeal were completely false. 

FTX Debtors have since confirmed that customer funds would eventually be repaid, with billions of dollars in assets still available.

The defense is also angry at how the court handled evidence during the trial.

For instance, the prosecution was allowed to claim that billions were missing. But when the defense tried to present evidence to contradict those claims, the judge blocked it.

SBF’s team says they had solid proof that investments he made in companies like Anthropic and Solana were actually smart and profitable, just not liquid at the time of the liquidity crisis. 

This, according to them, was not properly presented to the jury.

SBF’s lawyers also claim that the prosecution relied too much on statements made by the FTX Debtors, who had a vested interest in blaming Sam instead of owning up to their own mishandling of the company’s assets. 

‘It was a forced testimony’

Another big issue in the appeal involves how the court handled SBF’s testimony. The defense says SBF was forced to preview his testimony about relying on legal counsel, which gave the jury a biased view of his actions. 

They added that he was following legal advice and didn’t know he was breaking any laws. 

SBF’s team also claims that the US government violated discovery rules by allegedly hiding evidence that could have helped clear his name.

A separate concern raised is Judge Lewis Kaplan’s bias. In the appeal, SBF’s lawyers ask for the case to be reassigned to a new judge if the retrial is granted. 

They cite comments Kaplan made during sentencing, like when he said: 

“There is a risk that this man will be in position to do something very bad in the future.”

While SBF is busy appealing his conviction, other former executives at FTX and Alameda have already pleaded guilty. 

Caroline Ellison, who ran Alameda, Ryan Salame, who was CEO of FTX Digital Markets, Gary Wang, FTX’s former CTO, and Nishad Singh, FTX’s engineering chief, have all admitted guilt. 

Their testimonies were key to the prosecution’s case, as they helped prove that SBF was the mastermind behind everything. 

But the defense insists that these executives were also heavily involved in FTX’s failure and shouldn’t be let off so easily.

Caroline is currently asking for a no-jail sentence, and Ryan has managed to piss off Kaplan, who is now threatening to sanction him for lying in his guilty plea.

The post SBF officially files appeal to overturn fraud conviction after 5 months in prison appeared first on Top Crypto Game.

Tether is working to improve its relations with regulators following the recognition of its USDT stablecoin as property in the UK.

On Sept. 13, Tether announced that it hired Jesse Spiro to spearhead its global engagement efforts with lawmakers, regulators, and key stakeholders.

Strengthening government relationship

According to the statement, Spiro’s extensive background in the legislative and regulatory industry would help to advance Tether’s goal of building a “future-proof financial and technological ecosystem.”

Spiro said:

“Tether plays a significant role in the current and future development of the digital economy and US dollar hegemony. The ever-evolving legislative and regulatory landscape will continue to require strong collaboration between the public and private sectors. “

Meanwhile, observers noted that Spiro’s hire could help improve Tether’s strained relationship with regulators. Over the years, the company has faced regulatory scrutiny over the reserves backing its USDT stablecoin.

However, Tether has made significant progress by consistently publishing quarterly attestation reports to ease these concerns.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino acknowledged this, stating:

“[Spiro’s] deep expertise in government relations and blockchain technology will be invaluable as we continue to navigate the complex and rapidly changing regulatory environment.”

Spiro previously served as PayPal’s Head of Regulatory Relations for its Blockchain and Digital Currencies division and was Chief Government Affairs Officer of the leading blockchain analytics firm, Chainalysis.

Legal recognition

On Sept. 12, a UK judge ruled that USDT is considered property under English law.

High Court of Justice Deputy Judge Richard Farnhill ruled:

“USDT attract property rights under English law. It is neither a chose in action nor a chose in possession, but rather a distinct form of property not premised on an underlying legal right. It can be the subject of tracing and can constitute trust property in the same way as other property.”

Notably, this ruling came a day after the UK Parliament introduced a bill to recognize digital holdings legally.

The post Tether eyes enhanced government relations after UK deems USDT a distinct property appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The post Tether eyes enhanced government relations after UK deems USDT a distinct property appeared first on Top Crypto Game.