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Ben Weiss

Ben Weiss

Variety

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SEC investigated NBA Top Shot developer Dapper Labs, decided to close case in September

The NFT company still faces an ongoing class action suit in New York that alleges it sold unregistered securities.

11.04.2024 20

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Monad Labs in talks to raise more than $200 million round led by Paradigm, valuing the Jump Crypto-linked startup at $3 billion

As the prices of digital assets skyrocket, the Monad round would be the largest in crypto so far in 2024.

11.03.2024 5

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Drama at Solana: Creation of new corporate entity raises questions of ‘decentralization theater’

"It falls within that overall category of decentralization slash protecting your ass," said one general consul at a crypto firm, in reference to the...

30.01.2024 8

Fortune

Ben Weiss

In a tough venture environment for crypto, here are the most notable fundraises of 2023

Crypto was on 2023’s naughty list, but some startups still managed to avoid coal in their stockings.

25.12.2023 10

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Robinhood’s crypto revenue is the lowest it’s been in 3 years, but it still stans crypto—and Dogecoin

“We don't see Dogecoin as a negative asset for us,” Johann Kerbat, Robinhood’s head of crypto, told Fortune, in reference to the dog-inspired...

22.12.2023 10

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Coinbase, Andreessen Horowitz, Circle among heavyweight donors committing $78 million to new crypto PAC

The PAC has already deployed almost $300,000 for its chosen congressional candidates, with Rep. Patrick McHenry netting the most cash so far.

18.12.2023 5

Fortune

Ben Weiss

SEC rejects Coinbase’s request for a separate regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency industry

“The existing securities regime appropriately governs crypto asset securities,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a letter supporting the rejection.

15.12.2023 5

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Jack Dorsey’s Block opens up preorders for Bitcoin hardware wallet Bitkey in more than 95 countries

Customers will be able to get their hands on the hardware in early 2024.

07.12.2023 10

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Robinhood launches crypto trading in the EU, adds Solana and other tokens delisted in the U.S.

The online brokerage had delisted the three cryptocurrencies in the U.S. in June after the SEC named them in its lawsuits against Binance and then...

07.12.2023 3

Fortune

Ben Weiss

IBM, Meta and more than 50 others launch alliance to challenge dominant AI players

The bullied are fighting back. Against whom? “You know who,” Darío Gil, an IBM executive, told Fortune.

05.12.2023 10

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Wormhole raises $225 million at a $2.5 billion valuation, finalizing split from Jump Crypto amid firm’s recent pullback

Saeed Badreg, CEO of Wormhole Labs, said that raise was in exchange for future Wormhole tokens.

29.11.2023 9

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Coinbase stock surges 18% in a week as CEO Brian Armstrong says Binance settlement closes ‘that chapter of crypto’s history’

“Building a company offshore, skirting regulation, it's just not going to work,” Armstrong said in an interview with CNBC in London.

27.11.2023 5

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Worldcoin’s price seesaws as saga of former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman consumes Silicon Valley

The cryptocurrency dropped almost 10% and then jumped approximately 40% as onlookers watched the chaos at OpenAI unfold.

20.11.2023 20

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Binance is launching an exchange in Thailand with a Thai energy mogul who’s worth $10.6 billion

Sarath Ratanavadi is the second-wealthiest individual in Thailand, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

16.11.2023 6

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas lead $100 million funding round for Fnality International

The U.K.-based firm, which says it uses blockchain tech to speed up financial transactions, has now raised a total of almost $163 million.

14.11.2023 3

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Bitcoin approaches $38,000 and Ethereum crosses $2,000 as ETF fever continues to buoy the crypto market

The market capitalization for all cryptocurrencies is also up over 5%.

09.11.2023 5

Fortune

Ben Weiss

The battle to revive FTX is down to a former NYSE president, a fintech startup, and a private investment firm

Bullish, a crypto exchange run by former NYSE president Tom Farley; Figure, a fintech startup; and Proof Group, a private investment firm are...

08.11.2023 10

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Former Polychain partners raise $25 million for Ritual, a startup focused on decentralizing AI

“It's really only a few companies that own the models, that are improving the models,” cofounder Niraj Pant told Fortune.

08.11.2023 2

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Robinhood to launch crypto trading in EU even as cryptocurrency revenue slides almost 26% from last quarter

Crypto revenue also dropped 51% year-over-year.

08.11.2023 4

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Days after laying off 50% of their staff, OpenSea executives are talking strategy at a $9 million mansion once owned by Katy Perry and Russell Brand

OpenSea’s newest vision for its NFT marketplace includes many buzzwords. What do they mean? “I wish I knew,” a source familiar with the matter...

07.11.2023 2

Fortune

Ben Weiss

The SEC is struggling to hire crypto experts—partly because they own cryptocurrencies

The federal regulator has continued to double down on crypto enforcement actions, most recently suing the company SafeMoon and its executives.

06.11.2023 2

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Sam Bankman-Fried’s final hours in court: Gasps, somberness, and despair

Sam Bankman-Fried's parents clutched each other as jurors filed out after finding their son guilty on seven counts of fraud.

03.11.2023 10

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Sam Bankman-Fried’s final hours in court: Gasps, somberness, and despair

Sam Bankman-Fried's parents clutched each other as jurors filed out after finding Sam Bankman-Fried guilty on seven counts of fraud.

03.11.2023 6

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Here are 3 of the most damning documents in the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, according to the prosecution’s final rebuttal

The jury is set to deliberate Thursday afternoon after the judge instructs them on how to weigh the evidence.

02.11.2023 9

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Lawyers swap closing statements in trial of Sam Bankman-Fried: ‘Pyramid of deceit’ or just ‘bad business judgements’?

"The defendant is overwhelmingly, beyond reasonable doubt, guilty," said a prosecutor. "Bad business decisions are not a crime," said Bankman-Fried's...

02.11.2023 3

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Coinbase now lets smaller investors in the U.S. trade Bitcoin and Ethereum futures

The crypto exchange adding futures to its stateside crypto products follows the launch of its exchange in Bermuda.

01.11.2023 7

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Prosecutors say a private message from Sam Bankman-Fried shows criminal intent. SBF says he was just trying to comfort a friend in distress

Bankman-Fried’s differing interpretation of Nishad Singh’s private message came during the cofounder's subtle reframing of FTX’s final days.

30.10.2023 3

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Sam Bankman-Fried can’t shut up. His ‘word salad’ answers were almost 75% longer on average than his 3 FTX lieutenants’

“The witness has what I'll simply call an interesting way of responding to questions,” Judge Lewis Kaplan said of Sam Bankman-Fried’s babble.

30.10.2023 8

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Sam Bankman-Fried wants to throw FTX lawyers under the bus when he takes the stand, per court filing

The defense also plans to prompt Bankman-Fried to testify about common practices in the crypto industry as well as why he pushed for the Bahamas to...

26.10.2023 7

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Jump Crypto and Bain Capital Crypto bet $8 million on Gauntlet founder’s new startup, Aera

In addition to Gauntlet, his $1 billion company, Chitra also has his own venture capital firm, Robot Ventures.

26.10.2023 7

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Fortress CEO Scott Purcell steps down after crypto custodian’s sale to Ripple falls through

The crypto custodian was the victim of a multimillion-dollar hacking incident in September.

24.10.2023 5

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Former top crypto regulator moves to $7.5 billion startup Fireblocks as director of digital identity

Peter Marton was previously the deputy superintendent of virtual currency at the New York Department of Financial Services.

24.10.2023 4

Fortune

Ben Weiss

The last week of FTX, according to the private messages of Sam Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh

“I just had an increasing dread of this day that’s been weighing on me for a long time,” Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research, texted...

20.10.2023 2

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Sam Bankman-Fried used $1.2 billion of customer money to buy out Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, witness says. Will CZ pay it back?

“The amount of customer deposits held in Alameda Research and FTX.com accounts was way less than was owed to customers on FTX,” testified...

19.10.2023 3

Fortune

Ben Weiss

(Crypto) Empire State of Mind: Sam Bankman-Fried allegedly met with Bill Clinton and Kathy Hochul in NYC 2 months before FTX collapsed

Now, Bankman-Fried is back in the Big Apple—but for very different reasons.

18.10.2023 5

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Former FTX executive Nishad Singh describes conversation with Sam Bankman-Fried over customer funds: ‘I was blindsided and horrified’

While Bankman-Fried lounged on a white chaise chair, Singh realized that FTX was a "force for evil," not good.

17.10.2023 3

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Inside the meeting where Caroline Ellison came clean to Alameda staff, per a secret recording from an employee who started 3 days earlier

“I’m sure this wasn’t a YOLO thing, right?” Christian Drappi, another Alameda employee, asked the crypto hedge fund's former CEO.

13.10.2023 9

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Sam Bankman-Fried laughed, scoffed, and visibly shook his head during Caroline Ellison’s second-day testimony, prosecutor tells judge

The FTX founder’s alleged behavior stands in contrast to how he’s previously reacted to other witnesses.

12.10.2023 7

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Caroline Ellison’s latest testimony included utilitarianism, Saudi money, Thai prostitutes, and ended in tears: ‘The worst week of my life’

“Rules like 'don’t lie' or 'don’t steal' didn’t fit in that framework,” the former Alameda CEO said of Sam Bankman-Fried’s utilitarianism.

12.10.2023 3

Fortune

Ben Weiss

FTX was a boys’ club. When Caroline Ellison asked Sam Bankman-Fried for equity in the hedge fund she ran, he said ‘it was too complicated’

The former CEO of Alameda Research had only a half-a-percentage-point stake in FTX and no equity in the crypto hedge fund she once led, she testified...

11.10.2023 2

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Amazon Web Services adds blockchain gaming company Immutable, valued at $2.5 billion, to roster of partners

Cloud computing giants like AWS and Google Cloud continue to announce partnerships with high-profile crypto companies.

11.10.2023 2

Fortune

Ben Weiss

FTX cofounder Gary Wang says he took out $200 million to $300 million in loans from Alameda Research for investments he couldn’t ‘recall’

Interest payments for the loans became so cumbersome that Wang took out a loan just to pay for them.

10.10.2023 3

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Bankman-Fried’s trial enters week 2: What’s happened so far, and what to expect when his ex takes the stand

Ellison is the former CEO of Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend, and the prosecution’s star witness.

09.10.2023 6

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Is Sam Bankman-Fried a bad ‘man’ or a good ‘boy’? Lawyers swap opening statements before first witnesses take the stand

A former FTX developer, a French commodities trader, and Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, all came to court.

05.10.2023 7

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Sam Bankman-Fried got a haircut, and everything else we learned on the first day of the FTX founder’s trial

A haircut, a commodities trader, and "discussions" of a plea deal that never materialized for the former FTX CEO.

03.10.2023 4

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Anna Wintour’s people told Bankman-Fried he would ‘never step foot in fashion’ after he blew off the Met Gala

The Vogue editor isn’t the only person the former CEO of FTX blew off during his reign as crypto wunderkind, according to an excerpt of Michael...

02.10.2023 2

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Sam Bankman-Fried’s day in court is just days away. Who are the key players in the blockbuster trial of the former CEO of FTX?

From Bankman-Fried to his parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, to U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, meet the cast of the crypto news event of the...

29.09.2023 6

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Judge Kaplan really wants Sam Bankman-Fried to stay in jail: FTX cofounder’s latest request for pretrial release is rejected

The denial likely puts (at least a temporary) end to weeks of motions from Bankman-Fried's lawyers asking for his release.

28.09.2023 2

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Is your designer bag really a designer bag? IYK has raised almost $17 million to help you prove it

The a16z-backed startup, cofounded by Ryan Ouyang and Christopher Lee, wants to put T-shirts—and a lot of other merchandise—on the blockchain....

28.09.2023 2

Fortune

Ben Weiss

Coinbase to let retail users outside the U.S. trade Bitcoin and Ethereum futures on its Bermuda exchange

The crypto exchange's expansion to retail customers in Bermuda comes just months after Coinbase officially launched its international outpost.

28.09.2023 2

Fortune

Ben Weiss

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