A US Senate hearing will discuss FTX, New York bans proof-of-work and FTX evaluates its assets: Hodler’s Digest, Nov. 20-26

Coming every Saturday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.

Top Stories This Week

BlockFi files for bankruptcy, cites FTX collapse for its troubles

Digital asset lending company BlockFi announced on Nov. 28 that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New Jersey. The bankruptcy filing revealed, among other details, that BlockFi aims to restructure and keep specific employees on board. BlockFi has eight daughter companies that are also included in the bankruptcy motion. Later news revealed bankruptcy proceeding details, including BlockFi’s attorney reporting that $355 million of the organization’s capital is sitting frozen on FTX.

Kraken settles with US Treasury’s OFAC for ‘apparent’ sanctions violations

In a settlement with the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), U.S. crypto exchange Kraken will pay a fine of approximately $362,000 for breaking sanctions against Iran. The firm self-reported the violation to the OFAC, according to comments from Marco Santori, Kraken’s chief legal officer. Kraken allegedly allowed usage of its exchange by Iran-based participants and did not have a proper system in place for banning certain IP addresses. The firm has agreed to put $100,000 toward sanctions compliance measures as part of the settlement, in addition to the $362,000 fine.

FTX was the ‘fastest’ corporate failure in US history — Trustee calls for probe

FTX headlines keep rolling in as events unfold. FTX’s bankruptcy case has prompted the U.S. trustee working the case to request an independent examiner to come look into the details surrounding FTX’s downfall. Another headline revealed that bank accounts of sister entity Alameda Research were reportedly used for FTX customer fund activities without the exchange working with a bank directly. FTX was also the subject of a Dec. 1 meeting of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. Additionally, Bahamian authorities are investigating FTX.

Binance hires audit firm that served Donald Trump to verify crypto reserves

Binance continued to work on increasing its transparency regarding its reserves. The crypto exchange hired Mazars, an accounting firm known for retaining former U.S. President Donald Trump as a long-time client, to perform its proof-of-reserves (PoR) audit. Mazars and the Trump family cut ties in 2022. In another development related to the PoR audit, Binance has recently moved large amounts of cryptocurrencies, raising concerns in the crypto community.

3AC bankruptcy process faces challenges amid unknown whereabouts of founders

Three Arrows Capital liquidators are having difficulties engaging with Su Zhu and Kyle Davies, the hedge fund’s founders. During a virtual hearing in the Southern District of New York Bankruptcy Court, lawyers representing the liquidators said the founders did not engage with them in recent months, despite being active on social media. Zhu and Davies are believed to be currently based in Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates, where it is difficult to enforce foreign court orders.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $17,002, Ether (ETH) at $1,288 and XRP at $0.39. The total market cap is at $857.72 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Fantom (FTM) at 32.0%, ApeCoin (APE) at 20.85% and GMX (GMX) at 20.67%. 

The top three altcoin losers of the week are BinaryX (BNX) at -18.11%, Nexo (NEXO) at -9.53% and Convex Finance (CVX) at -7.48%.

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

Most Memorable Quotations

“I think that the crypto industry will have to take a more focused approach, shifting from hype cycles…