Judge refused to let Binance founder Zhao travel to UAE despite his offer to use equity as security

A federal judge last month rejected a request by Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao to travel to his home in the United Arab Emirates for the “hospitalization and surgery” of a person in his life even though he offered to post his Binance equity as security for his return to the U.S., a new court filing reveals.

The equity was worth $4.5 billion, based on Binance’s last round of fundraising two years ago, Zhao’s lawyers noted in their Dec. 22 letter to Judge Richard Jones, according to a filing Wednesday.

Zhao pleaded guilty in November in Seattle federal court to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program at the company, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Binance agreed to pay $4.3 billion in penalties in the case.

Zhao, who stepped down as CEO because of his plea, is due to be sentenced on Feb. 23, but he has remained free in the U.S. on a $175 million release bond.

In the letter last month, his lawyers asked Judge Jones to allow him to travel to Abu Dhabi on Jan. 4 for a period of one to four weeks, so he could be present for the hospitalization, surgery, and subsequent recovery period of a person whose name is redacted in the copy of the letter filed Wednesday.

Details of the medical procedure were also blacked out in the letter, which noted that federal prosecutors had not consented to Zhao’s request.

Jones held a closed hearing on the request on Dec. 29, and denied Zhao’s bid to travel, court records show.

BTC Climbs Above $50,000; Why is Bitcoin Up Today?

Bitcoin has seen an impressive sure today that has seen BTC finally climb above $50,000. The asset has surpassed its two-year high as optimism and institution investment certainly catapulted the asset to the current level. Just one day prior, the cryptocurrency closed at its highest monthly level, surpassing the $48,000 mark.

Indeed, Bitcoin has jumped more than 110% since this point last year and showed impressive growth not even two months into 2024. The landmark approval of 11 Spot Bitcoin ETFs this year undoubtedly had something to do with the increase, but why else has BTC surpassed $50,000 today?

Throughout the closing months of 2023, digital asset investors were immensely optimistic about the performance of BTC heading into the new year. Despite Spot Bitcoin ETFs coming to fruition, that impact was not immediately felt. However, just ten days into February, the asset has reached new two-year highs.

Bitcoin shocked many investors Monday as BTC has officially surpassed the $50,000 level. Indeed, the institutional investment from those Bitcoin ETFs has seemingly fueled the increase. Just a week ago, inflows saw their second-best day, with more than $400 million across nine different products on Friday.

Also Read: Bitcoin Recovers: Surges to $46.3K, Marking Milestone

Additionally, these figures are even more impressive considering the relatively low levels of outflows. Specifically, Daan Crypto Trades took to X (formerly Twitter) to state that the ETF net flows on that sawm Friday saw an increase of $541 million. Thereafter stating that these investment products had seen 11 straight days of net positive inflows.

The overall battle between buyers and sellers caught the attention of investors to start this week. However, it had lent itself to propelling the asset higher, with many predicting it to reach the level it has today. Now, all eyes are on where the price of BTC goes from

Crypto Markets Likely To Go ‘Ballistic’ in 2024 With Altcoins Outshining Bitcoin: Analyst Jason Pizzino

Analyst Jason Pizzino thinks altcoins could outshine Bitcoin (BTC) this year as the crypto markets anticipate two potential bullish catalysts.

In a new YouTube video, Pizzino tells his 307,000 subscribers that two massive events for the crypto space are coming up this year: the Bitcoin halving and the US presidential election.

Pizzino thinks the halving, which is currently slated to happen on April 18th, could pause any ongoing correction. He thinks the election, however, could be an even bigger event for the crypto space.

“What we’ve seen from the [elections in the past is it’s] when the markets go ballistic. Sometimes a month or two earlier, sometimes right on that period. So stay alert coming into quarter three of 2024.”

The analyst sees Bitcoin correcting to around $37,000 in the short term. BTC is trading at $39,922 at time of writing and is down about 3% in the past 24 hours.

Pizzino thinks BTC and Ethereum (ETH) are primed to experience gains this year, but he also thinks altcoins will outperform the top two crypto assets later in the bull market cycle.

Weekly Preview: Top 5 Cryptos To Watch This Week

Despite the ongoing correction in the crypto market, opportunities abound for investors. In the spotlight this week is Bitcoin, but the world of altcoins is equally brimming with potential.

#1 Bitcoin (BTC) – The King Of Crypto
Bitcoin remains the bellwether of the crypto market, and its price action is once again expected to set the tone for the week. Grayscale’s GBTC ETF, which currently holds 566,973 BTC ($23.21B), is a key focal point. The ETF has seen outflows of approximately 52,227 BTC ($2.14 billion) since it was passed, leading to speculation about when these outflows will end.

Crypto analyst Ignas | DeFi Research pointed out the psychological impact of Grayscale’s continuous selling: “Grayscale’s continuous dumping every working day gave the market trauma. Now, everyone expects another BTC transfer from GBTC to Coinbase and BTC dumped in advance. A massive rebound awaits when that anticipated morning transfer never happens.”

Thus, the spot Bitcoin ETF flows in general (how can the “newborn nine” absorb the GBTC outflows) and the GBTC outflows particular will be key data points, which will determine the price trend this week. At press time, BTC was falling towards the 6-week low at $40,270.

Cryptocurrencies priced in cents set to reach $1 in 2024
The foundational story of cryptocurrencies is one of democratizing money and preventing major institutional abuses such as those that caused the crash of 2008. It also represents the ambition to provide greater efficacy and anonymity to the world’s financial system.

It has also, through the crypto market, become a popular and lucrative investment avenue and, along its idealistic foundation. The fact that part of its appeal comes from the fact that these assets have a demonstrated ability to rise millions of percents within relatively short timeframes simply cannot be ignored.

Looking at the world’s first and foremost cryptocurrency – Bitcoin (BTC) – and its price history, this ability and the appeal it offers becomes self-evident. In fact, a person who invested just $1 in Bitcoin in 2010 – a time when it was worth between around $0.0008 and $0.08 – would, by press time, have approximately $500 million.

Major Binance Announcement Concerning Many Crypto Users

Check out what Binance plans to do today (January 22).

TL;DR

The exchange plans to burn a substantial amount of Binance-pegged assets.

Following a recent BNB token burn, the price showed a minor fluctuation.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange will burn “a significant amount of Binance-pegged” assets on various chains today – January 22.

“The equivalent amount of these tokens on their native networks, which were used as collateral, will then be released,” the company said.

However, the exchange’s statement failed to name the exact tokens that will be affected by the burn.

Such burning programs, adopted by numerous crypto organizations, aim to reduce the circulating supply of a certain asset, making it scarcer and potentially more valuable in time. One of the most popular projects utilizing this strategy is Shiba Inu, whose ecosystem burns tokens quite frequently.

#Dogecoin (DOGE) Explodes 8% Daily, Bitcoin (BTC) Continues Trading Sideways (Weekend Watch)

Dogecoin is among the few altcoins with impressive gains over the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin’s untypical lack of volatility continues as the asset has failed to move during the weekend from the $41,500 mark.

Most altcoins are also quite sluggish now, with minor gains seen from the likes of ETH, SOL, XRP, BNB, and ADA.

BTC’s Stagnation Continues
The ETF approvals from last week came amid enhanced volatility that saw BTC going up and down by several thousand dollars. The peak came on Thursday when the products reached the US financial markets, and Bitcoin skyrocketed to a 21-month high of $49,000.

Hours later, though, all gains were erased, and a further dump to $41,500 came on Friday evening. As Saturday arrived, the cryptocurrency recovered a portion of its losses and stood at around $43,000. Since then, there have been very few actual price movements.

In fact, BTC has remained at around and below that level for the past week. This weekend has been quite uneventful as well, with the asset struggling to overcome $42,000.

#BTC BINANCE TRADER SETS BITCOIN TARGET PRICE AT $100K FOR THIS DATE
Bitcoin’s price trajectory is a hot topic among cryptocurrency enthusiasts, and Jesse Myers, a Bitcoin investor and author, has weighed in with his perspective. According to Myers, Bitcoin’s journey to six figures won’t be realised until the block subsidy halving event in 2024.

He believes that the cryptocurrency market will only fully “price in” the impact of the halving after it has occurred. In this article, we’ll delve into Myers’ insights and explore the significance of the upcoming Bitcoin halving event in 2024.

Bitcoin’s Current Status
As of the latest data from Coinmarketcap, Bitcoin (BTC) is currently trading at $43,119 per BTC/USD, with a market capitalization of $845,256,764,589. The 24-hour trading volume stands at $23,133,685,419. Bitcoin has seen a modest increase of 0.17% in the last 24 hours, with a circulating supply of 19,600,325 BTC.CoinGecko also reports that the global cryptocurrency market cap is currently at $1.77 trillion, reflecting a slight 0.06% decrease in the last 24 hours. Compared to one year ago, the market has experienced significant growth, with a 71.66% increase in market cap. Bitcoin (BTC) dominates the market with a market cap of $843 billion, representing a Bitcoin dominance of 47.51%. Additionally, Stablecoins’ market cap stands at $135 billion, accounting for 7.62% of the total crypto market cap.

Trader turns 4.3 ETH into $1m after Elon Musk became CTO

On-chain data shows that a trader made a huge profit after Tesla CEO Elon Musk inspired the creation of a new meme coin.

According to data provided by Lookonchain, a trader withdrew 4.3 ETH from Binance after Musk changed his X bio to “(CTO) Chief Troll Officer.” The investor then spent the ETH to purchase 19.37 trillion TROLL coins.

https://twitter.com/lookonchain/status/1747489572001587630?s=20
Following Musk’s bio update on Jan. 8, the TROLL token witnessed a 57,000% rally over the past week — currently trading at $0.0000001256. The asset’s market cap surged to $120 million with a daily trading volume of roughly $38 million. #Ethereum2_0

Franklin Templeton CEO says ETF has shown ‘demand’ for Bitcoin is ‘everywhere’
Jenny Johnson said the launch of Franklin Templeton's Bitcoin ETF is a strategic response to the increased use of Bitcoin in transactions and its integration into the broader financial system.

XRP ADVOCATES CLASH WITH SEC OVER CRYPTO REGULATION INTEGRITY
XRP advocate John Deaton, known for his outspoken criticism of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has once again voiced his dissatisfaction with the regulatory body’s stance on cryptocurrency.

In a recent development, Deaton accused the SEC of lacking integrity rather than intelligence in its approach to digital asset regulation.

This comes in response to comments made by Stuart Alderoty, Chief Legal Officer at Ripple, who criticized the SEC’s legal arguments, referring to the historic Howey case.

#XRPBurn

#ETH-ETF Crypto Trader Makes $6.7 Million In 3 Hours With Ethereum Token, Here’s How

One crypto trader has been making the rounds on social media after making more than $6 million in profit on the Ethereum blockchain. This incredible trade took place in less than a day, translating to an almost 600% gain for the whale trade. So how did they do this?

Crypto Trader Makes $6.7 Million In 3 Hours
According to Lookonchain, an on-chain data tracker, a single wallet has made almost $7 million off a particularly hyped launch in the last day. The project, Satoshi VM which is a Layer 2 network for the Bitcoin blockchain, launched on Thursday amid much fanfare as it was shilled by some notable influencers in the space.

The IDO was oversubscribed as 47,000 participants registered, and only a small percentage of people got in. For those who got in, the gains have run up as influencers continue to push the coin, crossing the $100 million market cap mark in a matter of hours.

At the time of writing, the Ethereum-based token had reached a peak of $14.8, with a market cap above $150 million. At this price, the IDO participants were recording an over 250x return on investment. However, the price has since retraced to $11.6, putting the market cap at $120 million at the time of this writing.

Sidrabank Revolutionizes Cryptocurrency Distribution With Presale-Free Sidra CoinIn a groundbreaking move challenging traditional norms in the cryptocurrency market, Sidrabank has announced a bold decision – there will be no presale for their digital currency, Sidra Coin.

Instead, the innovative cryptocurrency will be distributed freely among community members based on their contributions to validating transactions. This unprecedented approach is aimed at fostering a democratic and community-driven model, ensuring fair and equitable access to Sidra Coin.

Sidra Coin, conceived by Sidrabank, is not just a digital currency; it’s a visionary project with a clear goal – to empower the community and prevent wealth concentration among a select few. Sidrabank’s team is steadfast in their belief that digital currency should be accessible to everyone, irrespective of their financial status.

#Solana-SOL Solana, Avalanche Tumble as Bitcoin Slides Towards $40,000
Bitcoin is down bad—but major altcoins like Solana, Avalanche, and Cardano are also experiencing a brutal selloff.
(BTC) is taking a nosedive—and bringing major altcoins with it. The biggest digital coin by market cap is now trading for $40,640, having plunged by almost 4% in the past day, according to CoinGecko.

00:21

15:02
Over the past week, BTC has shed more than 6% of its value. Last week, the asset increasingly dubbed "digital gold" was fast closing in on $49,000 per coin for the first time since 2021.

BTC's tumble comes after the historic approval of spot BTC exchange traded funds (ETFs). The popular investment vehicles started trading in the U.S. after 10 years of regulators saying no to them.

#sol Solana’s competitor, Priced at $0.08, is ready to top the Market Cap of SOL

As crypto enters a new era, an unlikely challenger has emerged to take the crown from the troubled kingdom of Solana. Read on as we dive into the surging growth of Retik Finance (RETIK) and explore how this young upstart could soon become crypto’s reigning DeFi leader.

Emerging Crypto Project Offers Innovation and Accessibility

As the crypto market enters 2024, Solana (SOL) faces fresh competition from an ambitious upstart looking to disrupt the status quo. Enter Retik Finance (RETIK), an emerging DeFi platform priced at a modest $0.08 but equipped with industry-leading utilities that could catapult it ahead of its more established rival. Retik’s suite of real-world solutions aims to bridge the gap between decentralized finance and daily life, connecting crypto’s potential to mainstream workflows. The project’s cornerstone product, the Retik debit card, allows users to directly spend crypto balances anywhere, merging decentralized assets with the real world. Beyond enabling seamless spending, Retik’s hybrid card also unlocks unique crypto-backed features, including cashback rewards, instant loans via DeFi protocols, and enhanced transaction security through blockchain. This utility-first approach could drive rapid mass-scale adoption, bringing DeFi into the daily routines of regular consumers. As Retik expands crypto’s accessibility, Solana faces rising barriers to entry and declining developer interest, struggling to keep pace with the demands of real-world users. Congestion issues continue to plague Solana’s network, with infrastructure inadequacies preventing smooth onboarding at scale. These limitations have not gone unnoticed, with Solana relinquishing its spot as the second-largest DeFi ecosystem. Meanwhile, the total value locked into Solana DeFi has sunk under $1 billion, having peaked near $10 billion. As developers and liquidity migrate to alternatives, doubts have emerged over Solana’s capacity to support substantial growth.

#XRP sell-off alert: Analyst warns of crash to $0.34

XRP is often haunted by whale movements, such as the recent 440 million XRP whale and Ripple’s monthly sell-offs. Moreover, court developments on the SEC vs. Ripple case directly impact the token and investors’ confidence.

In the meantime, the cryptocurrency trading expert Ali Martinez warned of a possible sell-off scenario brewing for XRP. Martinez posted a technical analysis on X (formerly Twitter) on January 18, showing a multi-year trend threatened to break down.

“XRP is currently grappling to maintain its footing at the crucial $0.55 support level. Should this support fail to hold, be prepared for a possible sell-off scenario that could see XRP descending toward $0.34!”
XRP price analysis and possible bearish breakout
Notably, the parallel channel spotted by Ali Martinez dates from 2022, and XRP has so far respected its range. XRP traded as high as $0.92 in July 2023. Meanwhile, reaching its lowest price within the channel between December 2022 and January 2023, at around $0,33.

$XRP

Pi Network IOU Price Hits $29.53, IOU Market Thrives Ahead Of Official Exchange Listings

In a dynamic turn of events, the live price of the Pi Network IOU Pair has surged to $29.53 per (PI / USD), creating a buzz in the cryptocurrency market. The current market capitalization is reported at $0 USD, with a 24-hour trading volume reaching $315,085.39 USD. This real-time update reflects the active trading and growing interest in the Pi Network IOU.
Pi Network, a decentralized cryptocurrency project, has garnered attention for its unique approach to mining and distribution. The IOU Pair, denoting “I Owe U,” plays a pivotal role in the speculative market before the formal listing of Pi Coin on exchanges. The current price of $29.53 signals investor confidence in the potential value of Pi once it officially hits the market.

It’s noteworthy that the circulating supply is currently listed as 0, reflecting the fact that Pi Coin is not yet formally listed on exchanges. Despite this, the live price is actively updated, providing insights into the market sentiment surrounding the IOU Pair.

#MANTA XRP price prediction amid Ripple’s potential ties with U.S. government
Ripple has been in a legal battle with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for years, accused of selling unregistered securities in the form of XRP tokens. Despite the court declaring that the tokens are not securities, the case is ongoing with a potential appeal.

In an unexpected turn, Ripple has shared its possible status as a federal contractor or subcontractor. This revelation surfaced in a job opening, where the company required applicants to fill out a Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability form as mandated by law.

BlackRock now holds 25,067 $BTC worth over $1.06 billion for their spot Bitcoin ETF.

New Bitcoin ETFs did in 3 days what Gold took 36 days to achieve with $1.8 billion in assets
Bitcoin ETFs are showing that digital gold can acquire new funds much faster than physical gold at current inflow rate.

one ofthe most common comparisons we’ve seen concerning the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States is the one with the launch of the first gold ETF (GLD) in 2004. Interestingly, comparing the two asset classes’ premieres through their daily attestations reveals some illuminating data.

For clarity and transparency, all data below excludes the Grayscale and ProShares BITO ETFs. Adding Grayscale skews the data due to the enormous volume and substantial value of assets under management due to its conversion from a trust. BITO is removed due to it not being a spot ETF. The BTC Value was calculated using the BRR New York Variant reference rate for each day, as per the ETF prospectuses.

From the table below, we can see that Bitcoin was able to completely obliterate gold’s historic launch volume. On its first day, GLD saw around $265 million in volume, whereas Bitcoin saw almost ten times that, at $2.3 billion. Moreover, while GLD saw a total of $1.32 billion traded, Bitcoin ETFs have seen $3.69 billion in volume