The Crypto Stories You Need to Know This Week (#163 - 26 November 2023) - Binance, SEC & Kraken, IOSCO Crypto Guidance, FTX Claims, SBF's Prison Fish

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1. Binance Settles U.S. Government Charges

Binance will pay a $4.3 billion penalty and plead guilty to violating U.S. anti-money-laundering laws.?

Binance CEO CZ will step down, and Richard Teng will become the new CEO.?

This is actually quite positive for the crypto ecosystem as the industry can finally put the uncertainty around Binance behind and move forward.?

Such a settlement was expected for some time, but the uncertainty of “what would happen to Binance” was seen as a major roadblock for many institutional allocators.?

Now that this is over (and that SBF is separately heading to jail), the industry can move forward.?

2. SEC Sues Kraken

The SEC has now sued Kraken.

The lawsuit is somewhat similar to the one against Coinbase and Binance, alleging that digital assets are investment contracts and thus fall under the jurisdiction of the SEC.

The impact of this lawsuit should be minimal, and this question of whether crypto assets are securities in the US will only be solved when the SEC (or the courts) provides more clarity and a path for such exchanges to be regulated.?

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3. IOSCO Releases Crypto Guidance

IOSCO released its final crypto guidance to regulators.?

IOSCO (short for International Organization of Securities Commissions) is the global association of securities regulators.

This guidance is important as it provides a policy framework that regulators can (and will) follow. It covers all the essentials from custody to operational risk.

This is positive as securities regulators (especially those of smaller countries) can now use this as a basis to put together their own rules.

So expect (hopefully) some more consistency globally and (hopefully) more proactive regulations on crypto from smaller jurisdictions globally.?

4. FTX Claims Trading at Over 60 Cents on the Dollar

Over the last month, some larger FTX creditor claims have increased to as high as 65 cents on the dollar.?

The recovery now is looking increasingly more favorable due to the increase in the value of crypto assets (claims are paid in USD), the large number of assets recovered (over $3 billion according to the liquidators) and the VC portfolio (with some investments like Anthropic now unicorns).

And with payout starting mid-2024, according to the liquidators, this is generally positive news for the creditors and former clients.?

5. SBF Paying With Fish

SBF is allegedly giving crypto tips to corrections officers and adapting to the prison barter system, including using mackerel fish as currency to pay for haircuts.?

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Henri Arslanian

*Please note that this newsletter reflects Henri’s personal views and not those of any organisation he is involved with. This newsletter is for educational purposes only, and none of its content should be construed as investment or financial advice of any kind.?

Who is Henri?

Henri Arslanian is the co-founder and managing partner of Nine Blocks Capital Management, an institutional-grade hedge fund focused exclusively on digital assets, with a market-neutral crypto fund focused on generating alpha from inefficiencies in crypto markets using relative value, arbitrage, and quantitative strategies.?

Henri was previously a partner and global crypto leader at PwC. In that role, he advised many of the world’s leading crypto exchanges, investors, financial institutions, and tech firms on their crypto initiatives and numerous governments, regulators, and central banks on crypto regulatory and policy matters.

With over 500,000 LinkedIn followers, Henri is a TEDx and global keynote speaker, a best-selling published author, and is regularly featured in global media, including Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN, BBC, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and the Financial Times.?

Henri was named by LinkedIn as one of the 2022 global Top Voices in Finance and is the host of the CryptoCapsules? social media video series as well as The Future of Money podcast and newsletter.