Top Stories of The Week Binance claims ‘no special relationsh
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Top Stories of The Week
Binance claims ‘no special relationship’ with Hamas, argues to dismiss lawsuit
A federal judge has not yet issued a ruling on a motion to dismiss a lawsuit, filed by families of victims affected by the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, against cryptocurrency exchange Binance and its former CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.
On Jan. 30 in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, lawyers representing Binance presented oral arguments in connection with the company’s motion to dismiss the families’ complaint filed in January 2024. According to reporting from Inner City Press, the exchange’s legal team argued crypto was “not inherently dangerous,” pushing back against allegations that Binance facilitated transactions benefiting Hamas.
“There was no special relationship between Hamas and Binance,” said a lawyer for the exchange.
Kraken restores staking services in US after 2-year hiatus
Crypto exchange Kraken has resumed staking services for US clients for the first time in nearly two years. Customers’ ability to stake had been paused since 2023, when the exchange reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission over the services.
Customers in 37 US states will now be able to access staking services for 17 digital assets, including Ether, SOL, and Cardano’s ADA.
Kraken was among the first crypto exchanges to provide staking services to customers, which it began offering in 2019. The exchange agreed to stop providing the services in February 2023 as part of a $30 million settlement with the SEC.
SBF’s parents seek pardon from President Trump: Report
The parents of former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried are reportedly exploring the possibility of a presidential pardon for their son, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison last March.
According to a Jan. 30 Bloomberg report citing anonymous sources, Bankman-Fried’s parents have already met with lawyers and other figures close to the Trump administration to determine whether clemency was possible.
Once considered to be the golden child of crypto, Bankman-Fried’s house of cards fell apart in late 2022 when FTX couldn’t fulfill customer withdrawals. The exchange collapsed in a matter of days, revealing a business built on fraud, embezzlement and misuse of customer funds.
Elon Musk’s dad plans $200M raise with ‘Musk It’ memecoin
Elon Musk’s father may be the next influential figure to raise funds through a memecoin amid growing interest in celebrity-backed meme tokens.
Retail investor interest returned to memecoins after President Donald Trump launched the Official Trump memecoin on Jan. 18 and the Official Melania Meme token on Jan. 19 on the Solana network
Joining the ranks, Elon Musk’s father, Errol Musk, is reportedly looking to launch his own memecoin token project called Musk It.
Musk’s father hopes to raise as much as $200 million from the memecoin project, which he plans to use to support a for-profit think tank called the Musk Institute, he told Fortune.
MicroStrategy announces pricing of strike preferred stock offering
MicroStrategy announced the pricing of its perpetual strike preferred stock offering at a public listing price of $80 per share and will issue the corporate securities on Feb. 5.
The company forecasts $563.4 million in revenue from the tranche of perpetual strike preferred stock, which features an 8% coupon and a liquidation value of $100.
According to the announcement, the proceeds from the sale will go toward acquiring more Bitcoin and covering operating expenses.
MicroStrategy continues to lean into its “21/21” plan of issuing $21 billion in equity and $21 billion in fixed-income securities to finance Bitcoin acquisitions, and it has become the most prominent BTC-holding firm.
Winners and Losers
At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $102,408, Ether (ETH) at $3,311 and XRP at $3.05. The total market cap is at $3.52 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Onyxcoin (XCN) at 63.67%, MANTRA (OM) at 49.60% and Jupiter (JUP) at 24.35%.
The top three altcoin losers of the week are Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) at 36.44%, Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) at 27.96% and Official Melania Meme (MELANIA) at 21.31%. For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.
Most Memorable Quotations
“Bit of a nothing burger FOMC press conference. Not dovish, not hawkish. Walking a very diplomatic line, and I think the market was expecting Powell to be more vocal about Fed independence.”
Huf Haus, founder of Pear Protocol and former TradFi trader
“I think we’re moving past what truly felt like an unlawful war on crypto.”
Brad…
cointelegraph.com