Here are some of the major developments from the world of crypto over the past few days
Lawyers representing Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX have filed an appeal in a US court against his conviction on seven felony counts and his 25-year prison sentence on charges of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering.
Bankman-Fried’s lawyers filed a 102-page brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on September 13, 2024, claiming that the former FTX CEO was “never presumed innocent”. They said he was also subjected to scrutiny that allegedly affected prosecutors as well as the presiding judge.
Earlier in April 2024, a few weeks after a federal judge sentenced him to 25 years in prison, his legal team had announced that they would file an appeal against his conviction.
According to the appeal, his lawyers have alleged the jury was “only allowed to see half the picture” with FTX user funds. They said prosecutors had “presented a false narrative” that the money was permanently lost and Bankman-Fried had intentionally caused that loss. They also claimed that counsel for the FTX debtors worked with the US government in a way that was above and beyond “cooperation,” providing information allegedly as an “arm of the prosecution”, Cointelegraph reported.
Tether Makes Jesse Spiro As Head Of Government Affairs Amid Scrutiny
USDT Stablecoin issuer Tether has appointed Jesse Spiro to the position of head of government affairs following a three-year stint at PayPal.
According to an official announcement on September 13, 2024, Spiro’s brief will be managing the firm’s policy and engagement efforts to lawmakers and main stakeholders, and regulators.
Spiro previously served as the head of regulatory relations for the Blockchain and crypto division at PayPal, and for a time at Chainalysis, handling policy and government affairs before joining the firm.
Tether’s chief Paolo Ardoino told Cointelegraph that Spiro’s appointment to the new role testifies to the company’s commitment toward responsible innovation in the crypto space.
Spiro also said that the creation of the position was actually to cooperate with industry leaders and lawmakers in such a way that growth in the ecosystem should be ensured.
The move comes amid increased scrutiny on Tether, which some, including Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, say may be in line for an enforcement action by the US officials.
Recently, Tether had helped the US Justice Department seize funds involved in scams and paid a $41 million fine to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in 2021 over misrepresentations of its reserves. The job notice is pretty timely, given that US lawmakers are now weighing legislation to regulate Stablecoins through the bipartisan Lummis-Gillibrand Payment Stablecoin Act.
Worldcoin Integrates World ID Into Solana Blockchain With Wormhole Protocol
Worldcoin has announced the introduction of the identity platform called World ID on the Solana Blockchain through an all-new cross-chain protocol introduced by the Wormhole Foundation. This will pave the way to easier access to verification for decentralised apps (DApps) on Solana, enabling superior user verification without exposing their privacy.
World ID, which is fuelled by the layer 2 Ethereum chain of Worldcoin, more commonly referred to as World Chain, enables DApps to securely log in with privacy capabilities, among other services. The latest development allows cross-chain compatibility with services existing on Ethereum, further extending use cases for World ID.
Robinson Burkey, co-founder at Wormhole Foundation, has emphasised that bringing World ID to Solana is a big step forward for identity verification.