LBRY Stands By Controversial Tweet In Court, Slams SEC As Unfair
John E. Deaton, a cryptocurrency attorney, has disclosed that the attorneys representing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have been using tweets from both himself and LBRY in court hearings. The case between LBRY and the SEC is still ongoing.
However, according to Deaton, when the judge read the tweets, he chuckled and admonished the SEC’s attorneys for taking the tweets and statements too seriously.
The specific tweet, posted by LBRY, emphasized the need for businesses to conceal their actions from U.S. regulators, as the company had previously tried to be transparent with the SEC but with unfavorable results.
LBRY said that it stands by its statement, and that it hasn’t met a single fair actor in the SEC’s team, only “liars” and “psychopaths.”
In LBRY’s words:
“Hide absolutely everything you can from them (legally) and never cooperate or talk to the SEC.”
SEC At Fault?
According to Deaton’s remarks, Judge Barbadoro expressed empathy towards LBRY’s frustration in the case. He stated that there was no evidence of fraud or deceit and that LBRY conducted all its operations openly during a time when the SEC’s regulation of non-ICO matters was uncertain.
The judge recognized the significant effort and investment the defendants had put into LBRY but acknowledged that they had made a mistaken assumption. He rejected the notion of fair notice, and instead, emphasized that the SEC must take responsibility for its failure to provide clear guidance in the cryptocurrency industry.
El Salvador Pays $800M Bitcoin Bond, President Slams Media
El Salvador, the first country to use Bitcoin as a legal tender, earlier this month passed another legislation to establish a legal framework for a Bitcoin-backed bond known as Volcano Bond. Through this bond El Salvador plans to pay its sovereign debt, sponsor the Bitcoin city construction and create Bitcoin mining infrastructure.
Today, the country’s president Nayib Bukele confirmed via Twitter post that El Salvador has completely paid its $800 million Eurobond repayment which was due in January 2023. This comes after the country was caught into major backlash following its Bitcoin bet. Back then even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had argued that the country’s adoption of Bitcoin as a legal tender will lead to huge volatility.
El Salvador Pays Bitcoin Debt
On the other hand, when FTX collapsed the crypto market had a huge downfall where Bitcoin dropped more than 50%. This raised a concern among investors asking whether El Salvador can pay its next payment which was due on January 24, 2023. However, amidst the slight market pull back, those comments were shut when El Salvador repaid its $800 million debt along with the interest.
Nevertheless, president Nayib Bukele also slashed mainstream media in the US for not reporting such an important event. He claimed that last year when the country adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender, most of the media stated the country would go on default in Jan 2023. The president has also mentioned a few links to these kinds of articles and one such particular mention was New York Times articles.
Currently, Bitcoin is selling at $22,519 after a drop of 1.57% over the last 24hrs. Bitcoin’s immediate resistance lies at $22,600 while the support is positioned at $22,400.
Sam Bankman-Fried is a ‘Terrible Trader’ Slams Ripple CTO, David Schwartz
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, was criticized on Twitter by David Schwartz, the chief technology officer of Ripple, who claimed that SBF has always been taking a significant directional risk.
“I keep hearing people describe SBF as a “great trader”. Is that really true? Everyone in the space made money during the massive bull run, at the same time Sam did. And when things went bad, his trades massively blew up. Maybe he was just taking the massive directional risk all along.”
He said that SBF was a poor trader and compared the situation to that of Celsius. As per David, Celsius did the same thing: they set up the situation so that they receive the majority of the profits, and if the small risks of massive losses materialize, they shift those losses to people who were unaware of the risks they were taking.
Additionally, he singled out SBF and took a dig at the claims that he forgot how much leverage he had and how much risk he was taking. If such is the case, he is a terrible trader since knowing how much and what kind of risk you are taking is the most crucial trading ability, according to him.
“FWIW, I think it’s more likely that he wasn’t taking large directional bets all along. I think I was able to capitalize on inefficiencies in the markets to make outsized profits at first. But when those dried up, he kept the profits coming by increasing leverage and risk.”
After a quick fall and collapse, FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on November 11, 2022. Sam Bankman-Fried, the company’s founder and CEO, saw his $16 billion net worth drop to almost nothing as the company’s valuation plummeted from $32 billion to bankruptcy in a couple of days.