Alameda Seeks to Recover $446M in Crypto Paid to Voyager After Lender’s Bankruptcy

Voyager had 10 different loan sheets with Alameda at the time it filed for bankruptcy, the filing said. In various filings in September and October 2022, Voyager claimed it held FTT (an exchange token issued by FTX) and SRM (the token for the Serum protocol) as collateral for loans made to Alameda in the form of various cryptocurrencies including bitcoin, dogecoin, ether, USDC, litecoin and others. Source

How Bitcoin mining saved Africa’s oldest national park from bankruptcy

Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has become the first national park in the world to run a Bitcoin (BTC) mine in an effort to protect its forests and wildlife. Cointelegraph spoke with Sébastien Gouspillou, CEO of Big Block Green Services, and the man who introduced Bitcoin mining to the park.  Speaking via video call, Gouspillou said with a smile: “Bitcoin mining saved the park from bankruptcy.” Virunga is Africa’s oldest protected park and a symbol of the continent’s biodiversity. A report by journalist Adam Popescu,…

Crypto Services Company Prime Trust Lays Off One-Third of Staff

Last week, Prime Trust said it would be suspending business operations in Texas by Jan. 31 after withdrawing its applications to receive a money transmitter license (MTL) in the state. The company declined to comment at the time on why the application was withdrawn, but public records show Prime Trust was fined nearly $30,000 by Texas regulators in 2022 for conducting money transmission activities in the state without a license. Source

Osprey sues Grayscale for misrepresenting likelihood of GBTC ETF approval

Digital asset manager Osprey Funds filed suit against Grayscale Investments in Connecticut Superior Court on Jan. 30, alleging violation of the state’s Unfair Trade Practices Act. The suit concerns Grayscale advertising and promotion of the Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) it is seeking to create.  Osprey stated in the suit that it is the only competitor to Grayscale on the over-the-counter traded Bitcoin trust asset management market, and Grayscale maintained its leading position through deceit: “Only because of its false and misleading advertising and promotion has Grayscale been able to…

Justice Dept defends motion to bar SBF from accessing FTX, Alameda assets

United States prosecutors in the criminal case against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried have released text and email messages from SBF to current CEO John Ray. In court documents released on Jan. 30, the Justice Department responded to a motion from Bankman-Fried’s legal team attempting to remove some of the proposed modifications for his bail conditions, which included barring contact with former and current FTX employees. According to prosecutors, SBF attempted to contact both current FTX CEO John Ray and FTX US general counsel Ryne Miller. In an email to…