Cryptocurrency Crackdown Steps Up

Recent Bitcoin price rallies have been dampened by an array of enforcement actions, including Terraform Labs' multibillion-dollar collapse.

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‍"Just a fraud,"

The judicial crackdown on cryptocurrency's alleged villains, fraudsters, and fallen stars has intensified, a change that is causing the price of digital assets to fluctuate more frequently.

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The S.E.C.'s decision to accuse Singapore-based Terraform Labs and its founder Do Kwon of committing a multibillion-dollar scam topped the crypto crime blotter on Friday. That revelation came as a federal judge in New York gave the impression that Sam Bankman-Fried, the creator of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, would be subject to jail time and/or stricter bail conditions unless he reduces his internet usage.

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It will be difficult for the SEC to prosecute Terraform's Kwon. The South Korean national has been evading capture ever since he started the cryptocurrency crash that destroyed investors and brought down other businesses last spring.

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According to Gurbir Grewal, head of SEC enforcement, the fall of Terra "sent shock waves through the crypto markets." A complex mathematical formula was designed to link the stablecoin's value to those of other tokens. Grewal declared that to be "just a fraud," accused Kwon of purposefully misleading investors. Singaporean officials are also looking for him.

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Meanwhile, Mr. Bankman-Fried may forfeit his valued internet access or worse. Bankman-Fried is currently under house arrest at his parents' California home while he awaits his fraud and conspiracy trial. With reference to his use of a virtual private network, or VPN, and an encrypted chat software, prosecutors told the judge that present bail restrictions failed "to limit a technologically sophisticated man... with the will to escape detection and monitoring."

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The VPN, according to Mr. Bankman-attorneys, Fried's was used to stream football games, and the judge ordered both sides to submit fresh restrictions for him to examine the following week. Mr. Bankman-Fried, a devoted gamer, might stop playing League of Legends if the prosecution has its way. a letter from "S." addressed to the court Texas resident Keithley questioned, "Why not just revoke his bail and throw him in jail? ”

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The cryptocurrency exchange Binance is being examined more closely. Last week, due to "unresolved difficulties" about its partnership with Binance, the New York Department of Financial Services ordered the cryptocurrency company Paxos to stop releasing a well-known dollar-pegged stablecoin bearing the Binance logo. The founder of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, is taking a backseat and calling the stablecoin a Paxos offering.

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Around 7 a.m., the price of Bitcoin dropped by about 5% to $23,798. Friday at EST. The law-and-order news and Fed officials' hawkish remarks on interest rates appear to be putting the brakes on a recent Bitcoin rally.

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Avoiding A Blow?

On the agenda for the heads of state, diplomats, and corporate executives attending the Munich Security Conference when it begins on Friday will be Russia's invasion of Ukraine and how Vladimir Putin's "weaponization of energy has ushered in a global energy crisis."

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Analysts have been estimating what lies ahead as the war in Ukraine near its one-year anniversary, assessing the enormous economic toll.

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Germany and the surrounding nations believe that Europe has escaped serious harm. The cause is a sharp decline in energy costs, driven primarily by natural gas and starting in late summer.

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It looks that Europe has enough natural gas reserves to prevent a recession. "In our basic case, the E.U. is anticipated to survive the upcoming winter as well, according to Salomon Fiedler, an economist at Berenberg Bank, in a research note published on Friday.

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The optimistic estimate makes the following assumptions: that weather will not become abnormally cold; that Europeans will continue to conserve natural gas (they have, according to Mr. Fiedler, managed to reduce usage by 20% since the war began); and that energy imports from countries other than Russia — for example, liquid natural gas from the United States — will remain at the same brisk level.

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China poses risks to that model. The global energy market may be disrupted if China's demand for LNG soars amid a further openness of its economy.

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What will Murdoch do next?

After abandoning his intentions to combine the remaining pieces of his empire into one company, Rupert Murdoch has left media analysts wondering how he could please shareholders and close one final deal before the 91-year-old hangs up his hat. Ed Lee of The Times describes one probable situation.

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Investors are worried that integrating Fox, his television company, with News Corp, his newspaper company, will undervalue the latter. (The opinion of Mr. Murdoch's children, who sit on the trust that manages 40% of the shareholder vote, was divided.)

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One option that would be in line with what activists are urging is to spin off Dow Jones, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, into a different company, which may provide News Corp shareholders with the value they're looking for. Also, Mr. Murdoch would be able to generate cash through a new share sale and split off his real estate listings business, as urged by at least one activist. The combined value of the two spinoffs may exceed the existing amount.

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Based on the price-earnings multiple of comparable media organizations, such as The New York Times, journal publisher Dow Jones may be worth as much as $8.9 billion if sold separately. The valuation of News Corp. alone is only $11 billion.

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Such a calculation is made slightly more urgent by the $1.6 billion Dominion lawsuit that Fox is presently dealing with in relation to its Fox News network. A legal defeat might be a serious setback for the company.

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"We want to compete with China, not fight them. We don't want a fresh Cold War.

In an effort to ease tensions caused by the outcry over Chinese aerial espionage in North America, President Biden says he will speak with President Xi Jinping of China. Furthermore, Biden made it clear that the three most recent objects that were shot down were probably research balloons rather than spy ships and were not necessarily connected to China.

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A Course On Managing A Team Of Employees

This week, employees at a Tesla factory in Buffalo began their union drive. If successful, it would create the company's first union, a feat already accomplished in recent years by employees at Starbucks, Apple, Trader Joe's, and Amazon. The most common management advise given to executives regarding organized labor is to stay away from it. However, Trade Algo claims that it is no longer a practical education.

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DealBook chatted with Mr. Bahat about his upcoming M.B.A. course at the University of California, Berkeley on managing a team of employees. Editing was done to the interview.

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What must managers in businesses with organized labor do differently?

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A bad conclusion for everyone becomes much more likely if they prepare for conflict and believe organized labor will ruin their industry. Corporate executives that know how to cooperate with the union effectively can greatly improve operations. Businesses have reportedly paid for their negotiating team and a union's participation in a negotiation training course.

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You suggested that a union might ease management. Why do you say that, exactly?

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Changes are typically implemented by businesses through a random procedure among their workforce. Sitting down with elected officials from that workforce and saying, "Hey, we'd want to innovate by introducing the following new technology," seems so much simpler. How can we try to implement it together? There are businesses where it really does work that way. Business executives who believe that unions are detrimental to their interests are lacking in creativity.

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Many business executives believe that a union will make reform difficult or amplify the radical elements among their workforces.

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You develop trust, just like you would in any business partnership. You demonstrate your dependability and honesty in your communications. You test things out to check if they function. Everything is the same.