Today in crypto, the FTX bankruptcy estate has filed a $1.8 billion lawsuit against Binance, CryptoQuant boss Ki Young Ju thinks Bitcoin could end 2024 under $59,000 despite it hitting new highs, and Elon Musk has voiced his support for ending the United States Federal Reserve.
FTX bankruptcy estate files $1.8 billion lawsuit against Binance, CZ
The FTX bankruptcy estate is continuing its pursuit of lawsuits against cryptocurrency companies as part of its ongoing proceedings, with the latest filing targeting Binance.
A group of firms involved in the FTX bankruptcy proceedings have initiated a lawsuit against cryptocurrency exchange Binance, seeking to recover $1.8 billion, according to a complaint filed on Nov. 10.
In the filing, the plaintiffs argued that Binance, its former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao and other Binance executives received at least $1.76 billion worth of cryptocurrency in a fraudulent transfer from FTX.
The FTX estate claims the fraudulent transaction stems from a July 2021 repurchase deal with Sam Bankman-Fried, the FTX co-founder who is now serving a 25-year prison term.
Bankman-Fried sold approximately 20% of FTX International and 18.4% of FTX US, also known as West Realm Shires Services.
An excerpt from the FTX estate’s complaint against Binance. Source: Kroll
According to the filing, Bankman-Fried paid for the stock repurchase using a mix of FTX’s FTX Token (FTT) and Binance-operated BNB (BNB) and Binance USD (BUSD), valued at $1.76 billion at the time.
The filing further claims that FTX and its sister firm, Alameda Research, were insolvent by early 2021, making the share repurchase deal fraudulent.
Bitcoin futures “overheated,” could end year at $58,000 — CryptoQuant
CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju believes Bitcoin could end the year at just under $59,000 as he thinks the cryptocurrency’s futures market is overheated.
“I expected corrections as BTC futures market indicators overheated, but we’re entering price discovery, and the market is heating up even more,” he said. “If correction and consolidation occur, the bull run may extend; however, a strong year-end rally could set up 2025 for a bear market, [in my opinion].”
CoinGlass data shows Bitcoin has a record level of open interest — a measure of how many active positions are open on Bitcoin derivatives like futures and options — at nearly $50 billion.
Open interest on Bitcoin is sitting at record levels. Source: Coinglass
Collective Shift CEO Ben Simpson told Cointelegraph that a pullback to $58,000 was possible, but he believed it was “very unlikely” to happen by the end of this year pointing to Donald Trump’s election win, possible interest rate drops and consistent Bitcoin exchange-traded fund volumes.
Bitcoin has continued to climb since Trump’s win on Nov. 5, hitting its current all-time high of $81,943 on Nov. 11 on Coinbase.
Elon Musk wants to end the Fed
Billionaire Elon Musk appeared to back calls to end the Federal Reserve Bank by retweeting a social media post from Utah Senator Mike Lee, who argued that the Bank needs greater oversight from the Executive Branch of the United States.
Lee claimed that the current lack of sufficient executive oversight over the bank is a deviation from the Constitution of the United States and called for ending the Fed entirely.
Source: Elon Musk
Musk reposted Lee’s argument with a 100% emoji — echoing widespread calls from sound money advocates to abolish the central bank established in 1913.
