FTX EU opens withdrawal, Elon Musk calls for AI halt, Binance…

Top Stories This Week

FTX EU launches withdrawal website to pay back European users

The European arm of FTX has launched a website to allow customers in Europe to submit withdrawal requests. It comes nearly five months after the global trading platform collapsed and went bankrupt in early November. Meanwhile, in the United States, lawyers for former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried have entered a not-guilty plea for five additional charges, including accusations of bribery in China. On bail since being turned over to U.S. custody from the Bahamas, Bankman-Fried is now prohibited from using any smartphone with internet access as part of a new court agreement.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak were signatories on an open letter signed by more than 2,600 tech industry leaders and researchers calling for a temporary halt on any further artificial intelligence (AI) development. The petition shared concerns that AI with human-competitive intelligence can pose serious hazards to society and mankind. It urged all AI firms to “immediately cease” developing AI systems that are more potent than GPT-4 for at least six months. Although supported by many, the petition has divided the larger tech community over the halt of developments.

Binance and CZ sued by CFTC over US regulatory violations

A lawsuit has been filed by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission against Binance and its CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao. Claims against the crypto exchange include failing to register with regulators, noncompliant trading, obscuring the location of its executive offices, and performing transactions for persons in the United States since 2019, despite a policy of blocking or restricting customers in the country. Binance’s CEO has rejected the allegations, arguing that the crypto exchange “does not trade for profit or ‘manipulate’ the market under any circumstances,” but primarily to cover expenses in fiat or other cryptocurrencies using its crypto revenue.

US and South Korea requested extradition of Terra co-founder Do Kwon

Authorities from both the United States and South Korea have made efforts to have Terra co-founder Do Kwon extradited following his arrest in Montenegro. According to Montenegrin Justice Minister Marko Kovač, decisions regarding Kwon’s custody will go to Montenegro’s high court and will rely on a number of factors, including the severity, location and time of his alleged criminal offenses. During his custody in Montenegro, Kwon may face harsh conditions in the country’s penal system since jail conditions haven’t changed from those described in a 2020 human rights report by the U.S. State Department.

‘Withdrawals are coming!’ — Ethereum devs confirm epoch for Shapella fork

Ethereum core developers shared more details on the highly anticipated Shapella hard fork, which will allow validators to withdraw staked Ether from Beacon Chain. Shapella will take effect at epoch 194,048, which is scheduled for 10:27 pm UTC on April 12. Withdrawals will be enabled by Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 4895 by “pushing” staked Ether from the Beacon Chain to the execution layer. There are 17.81 million Ether staked on the Beacon Chain, with several mechanisms set to ensure a flood of Ether doesn’t disrupt the market.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $28,358, Ether (ETH) at $1,821 and XRP at $0.53. The total market cap is at $1.18 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are XRP (XRP) at 25.40%, Stellar (XLM) at 25.12%, and Conflux (CFX) at 22.77%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week are SingularityNET (AGIX) at -12.85%, Stacks (STX) at -10.19%, and Mina (MINA) at -7.20%.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

“When I think about AI, it shocks me that we’re talking so much about crypto regulation…