A sentencing recommendation said that Do Kwon had caused more losses than Sam Bankman-Fried, Alex Mashinsky and Karl Sebastian Greenwood combined. US attorneys representing the federal government have requested that a judge send Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon to prison for 12 years at his sentencing hearing next week. In a Thursday filing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, prosecutors asked that a judge sentence Kwon “to a term of twelve years’ imprisonment and finalize the forfeiture of his criminal proceeds.” The filing came about four months after the Terraform co-founder pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud. Read more
Texas is now the first US state to purchase and hold Bitcoin, but why did it act during a market pullback, and how could this move influence national crypto policy? Texas has become the first US state to officially purchase and hold Bitcoin (BTC), acquiring $5 million worth of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and authorizing another $5 million for direct, self-custodied BTC. The move comes at an unexpected moment: a market downturn marked by exchange-traded fund (ETF) outflows, institutional caution and stalled legislative efforts across the country. In this week’s episode of Byte-Sized Insight, we explore why Texas stepped in while many others stepped out and what the timing suggests about the state’s long-term view on digital assets. Earlier this year, more than two dozen US states introduced or debated bills that would allow public treasuries to hold Bitcoin or other digital assets. Yet most of those efforts slowed or evaporated as prices fell and political appetite waned. Read more
Bitcoin traders brought back sub-$90,000 BTC price targets amid ongoing weakness after a rejection at the yearly open capped potential upside. Bitcoin (BTC) traders saw fresh downside at Friday’s Wall Street open as $90,000 hung in the balance. Key points: Bitcoin edges closer to $90,000 with traders lining up lower BTC price targets next. Read more
The IMF and South Africa’s central bank are still concerned about stablecoins, while in the US, spot crypto products can now be traded on futures markets. European tech regulators have fined social media platform X 120 million euros ($140 million) for breaking EU rules pertaining to online content. The fine follows a two-year investigation under the Digital Services Act (DSA), which reportedly found that X was not doing enough to tackle illegal and harmful material. Regulators also said that the blue check marks on Elon Musk’s platform were deceiving. They did not follow industry decisions and negatively impacted users’ ability to make informed decisions about the authenticity of an account. Read more