Robert Kiyosaki Expects Bitcoin to ‘Become Priceless’ When the Fed Launches Central Bank Digital Currency

Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki has predicted that bitcoin will “become priceless” when the Federal Reserve launches a central bank digital currency (CBDC). He warned that privacy will be destroyed, emphasizing that “Big Brother will be watching.” The famous author urged investors to start accumulating bitcoin now “before it’s too late.”

Robert Kiyosaki’s CBDC Warning, Urges Investors to Start Saving Bitcoin Now

The author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, has warned about the risks of the Fed launching a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Rich Dad Poor Dad is a 1997 book co-authored by Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. It has been on the New York Times Best Seller List for over six years. More than 32 million copies of the book have been sold in over 51 languages across more than 109 countries.

Kiyosaki explained in a post on social media platform X Friday that the Federal Reserve’s central bank digital currency is coming and when that happens, privacy will be gone. “Big Brother will be watching,” he cautioned, adding that when the digital dollar launches, gold, silver, bitcoin, and cash will become priceless. He proceeded to urge investors to start saving gold, silver, bitcoin, and cash now before it is too late.

The renowned author is not the only one who is concerned about the Federal Reserve launching a central bank digital currency. Last week, the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services passed the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act with the support of 60 Congress members. “This bill is simple: It halts the efforts of this Administrative State under President Biden from issuing a financial surveillance tool that will undermine the American way of life,” explained Congressman Tom Emmer (R-MN) who introduced the bill. In March, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz similarly introduced legislation to prohibit the Fed from developing a direct-to-consumer CBDC.

However, the Fed is a long way from issuing a CBDC. In September last year, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stressed that the central bank has not reached a decision on whether to issue a digital dollar. “We have not decided to proceed and we don’t see ourselves making that decision for some time,” he noted. “We see this as a process of at least a couple of years where we are doing work and building public confidence in our analysis and in our ultimate conclusion.”

Do you agree with Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki regarding the Fed’s central bank digital currency and bitcoin becoming priceless? Let us know in the comments section below.

source https://news.bitcoin.com/robert-kiyosaki-expects-bitcoin-to-become-priceless-when-the-fed-launches-central-bank-digital-currency/

‘I Won’t Tell if You Don’t’ — SEC Unearths Alleged Scheme by Do Kwon to Fabricate Terra Transactions

In the wake of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) call to depose Terraform Labs creator and former CEO Do Kwon, the SEC unveiled an alleged exchange between him and his former associate Daniel Shin. The ex-Terra boss reportedly claimed he could fabricate transactions on the Terra blockchain to render them authentic and accrue fees, further penning that he could strive to render the doctored transactions “indiscernible.”

‘I Can Just Create Fake Transactions’ — SEC Publishes Leaked Chat Between Kwon and Shin

Court filings submitted by the SEC show a purported conversation between the Terraform Labs founder and former CEO Do Kwon and his business partner the former CEO of Chai, Daniel Shin. “Kwon perpetrated a scheme to fabricate Chai transactions on the Terraform blockchain to make it appear more active, all to dupe investors,” the SEC filing claims.

The U.S. securities regulator added:

For instance, in an extensive private chat between Kwon and Daniel Shin2 during the early stages of Chai and Terraform’s formation and partnership, Kwon details how he intended to use Chai to create fake transactions on the Terra blockchain, which would appear real and generate fees.

The alliance forged between Terra and Chai sparked considerable excitement upon its unveiling on June 11, 2019, with the company elucidating that the pact ushered Terra into South Korea’s TMON, a bustling e-commerce hub retailing a vast array of products from electronics and fashion to home decor and gifts.

The conversation allegedly held between Kwon and Shin, marked May 9, 2019, sees Kwon purportedly saying, “I can just create fake transactions that look real, which will generate fees.”

Within the disclosed dialogue, Shin probes the likelihood of discovery concerning the authenticity of these transactions. Answering the query, Kwon allegedly affirms, “I will try my best to make it indiscernible.”

Subsequent to persuading Shin into endorsing the scheme under a veil of confidentiality — a pact sealed with a playful ‘I won’t tell if you don’t,’ Shin seemingly proposes a smaller-scale trial to “see what happens.”

Recently, following the SEC’s initiative to depose Kwon, his legal representatives outlined the task as “impossible,” spotlighting his detention in Montenegro. The SEC’s legal team contests the stance of Kwon’s counsel, emphasizing the necessity of his interrogation.

“Currently, the SEC is being denied its fundamental right to gather the relevant facts because it has not had an opportunity to depose the most critical witness in this case, who has, through counsel, actively conducted his own discovery from the SEC and third parties,” the SEC document articulates.

The peculiar entanglement between Terra and Chai garnered speculation in the aftermath of the ecosystem’s downfall. Adding fuel to the fire, a whistleblower going by the alias “Fatman” unveiled a thread alleging Kwon morphed Chai into his “personal money laundering machine.”

“All he had to do was create the illusion of retail demand and then publicize the narrative that KRT was being used everywhere,” penned the whistleblower on May 28, 2022.

What do you think about the alleged conversation between Shin and Kwon? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.

source https://news.bitcoin.com/i-wont-tell-if-you-dont-sec-unearths-alleged-scheme-by-do-kwon-to-fabricate-terra-transactions/

Ether futures ETFs launching, SBF trial to begin and 3AC’s Su Zhu arrested: Hodler’s Digest, Sept. 24-30

Ether futures ETFs to debut in the United States, Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial to begin and 3AC co-founder Su Zhu arrested.

source https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/ether-futures-etfs-launching-sbf-trial-to-begin-and-3acs-su-zhu-arrested-hodlers-digest-sept-24-30/

Amid Falling Inscriptions, Bitcoin Miners Chip Away at Transaction Backlog

Bitcoin miners have been steadily clearing the mempool of unconfirmed transactions since the number almost reached 700,000 on September 6, 2023. Currently, the number of unconfirmed transactions has dropped to just over 153,000 pending confirmation.

Transaction Backlog Shrinks as Bitcoin Miners Face Fewer Inscriptions

On September 15, 2023, just over 500,000 unconfirmed bitcoin transfers lingered, awaiting miner confirmation, a decrease from the nearly 700,000 a week prior. Yet, as the curtain fell in September, the tally of unconfirmed transactions dwindled to a smidge over 153,000.

Data from both mempool.space and Johoe’s mempool statistics reflect that a substantial portion of the unconfirmed transfers have been processed. A couple of factors have augmented the miners’ capacity to navigate through the immense sea of unconfirmed transactions in the queue.

Firstly, block times have been shaving off a fraction of their 10-minute average, clocking in at around 8 minutes and 48 seconds as of this writing. Secondly, the tally of Ordinal inscriptions has seen a significant dip since September 25.

On that day, a mere 31,251 inscriptions were processed, a stark contrast to the 232,104 handled just a day prior. With a dip in inscriptions, the Bitcoin blockchain is processing significantly fewer transactions since hitting an all-time high earlier this month.

On the very day a mere 31,251 inscriptions were processed, miners confirmed 285,750 transactions. Come the next day, miners upped the ante a hair, confirming roughly 309,789 transfers.

Currently, data indicates a lingering 103.98 megabytes (MB) of block space awaiting confirmation, translating to about 54 blocks. Since April 22, 2023, the mempool hasn’t completely cleared, yet with the ongoing pace, there’s potential for it to clear sometime next month, provided daily inscriptions maintain their lower-than-usual trend.

What do you think about miners clearing the transaction backlog? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.

source https://news.bitcoin.com/amid-falling-inscriptions-bitcoin-miners-chip-away-at-transaction-backlog/

Darknet Marketplace Tor2door Vanishes, Allegedly Swindling a ‘Massive Crypto Escrow Balance’

Numerous reports have detailed that a darknet marketplace (DNM) by the name of Tor2door reportedly pulled off an exit scam, making off with a “massive crypto escrow balance.” Discontent began brewing among Tor2door users when the site vanished from the deep web on September 14, 2023, as per narratives emerging from individuals on the DNM forum Dread.

Tor2door’s Alleged Exit Scam Sends Ripples Through DNM Communities

This week several accounts have surfaced, pointing to a potential exit scam by the Darknet Marketplace (DNM) known as Tor2door, leaving its users and vendors high and dry. The revelation caught eyes on social media platform X, when DNM and Tor researcher ‘Dark Fail’ shed light on the market’s downfall.

“Tor2door darknet market exit scammed this week, stealing a massive crypto escrow balance of pending orders between their narcotics buyers and sellers,” remarked Dark Fail.

Kick-started in July 2020, Tor2door served as a hub for illegal drug transactions, while also offering guides on account hacking, carding, and various types of identity and financial fraud. The narrative of Tor2door’s alleged exit scam was also detailed by the website slcyber.io (Searchlight Cyber), which provided a comprehensive account of the events.

According to Searchlight Cyber, the market boasted more than 19,000 distinct listings and had 900 unique vendors. The chatter surrounding Tor2door’s issues reportedly began circulating on September 14, 2023. The ripples of concern transitioned into waves of distress on the Dread forum, as users found Tor2door’s mirror links rendered useless.

The unfolding narrative told by Searchlight Cyber depicted users in the subsequent days reaching out in desperation to Tor2door admins. Official vendors of Tor2door too voiced their grievances, leading to assumptions of either an exit scam or a law enforcement takedown swirling around.

The conversation has further spilled over to the Reddit on the clearnet forum r/topdarknetmarketplace. “Tor2door has been down for 2 days now,” one person wrote. “No sign from admin at this point. Could be DDoS. Do not take any mirror links from somebody or [a] website you don’t know [is] legit. Be careful folks.”

A post, published 11 days ago on r/topdarknetmarketplace, pondered the possibility of the DNM admin having been apprehended and subdued by law enforcement. Ever since the dawn of the Silk Road, DNMs have mushroomed, igniting a relentless cat-and-mouse chase between operators and the law.

Searchlight Cyber noted that competing “rival markets such as Cypher and Dark Matter” are now vying to attract Tor2door “refugees” towards their alternative DNMs.

What do you think about the DNM Tor2door’s possible exit scam? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.

source https://news.bitcoin.com/darknet-marketplace-tor2door-vanishes-allegedly-swindling-a-massive-crypto-escrow-balance/

‘FTX Drainer’ Resurfaces: Moves $8M ETH to Defi Platforms

Per onchain evidence, the culprit dubbed the “FTX drainer” shifted 5,000 ethereum valued at approximately $8 million, gauged by today’s exchange rates. This marked the first movement of the funds in nearly a year, with the malefactor channeling the ether into the decentralized finance (defi) platforms Railgun and Thorchain Router.

‘FTX Drainer’ Diverts $8M in Ethereum

Shortly after the downfall of FTX, the exchange fell victim to a cyber intrusion on November 11, 2022, parting with a substantial amount of ethereum (ETH) and ERC20 tokens. Following a handful of transfers post-hack, the funds lay dormant for almost a year.

However, on the dawn of September 29, 2023, the malefactor opted to relocate 2,500 ether, and merely three hours ensuing, an additional 2,500 ETH was shifted from the same address. The crypto sphere buzzed with the news as onchain sleuths broadcasted the maneuvers on the social media forum X.

Arkham Intelligence reported, “Breaking: The FTX Hacker holding over $300M of assets has moved ETH for the first time since 2022. A total of $8M thus far has been moved via Railgun and Thorchain.”

Thorchain serves as a decentralized cross-chain liquidity conduit permitting the exchange of assets across blockchain networks, while Railgun is engineered as a smart contract framework that extends zero-knowledge privacy for any onchain decentralized application on platforms like Ethereum, Polygon, Binance Smart Chain, and Arbitrum.

Both systems can help cloak transactions and can potentially muddle the hacker’s trail. Despite the migration of 5,000 ETH, the antagonist still commands a crypto arsenal worth $308.93 million. The “FTX drainer’s” hoard encompasses an array of digital currencies like ETH, USDT, BTC, USDC, DAI, BNB, among others. The hacker’s ETH treasure remains the crown jewel, valuing $303.14 million, dispersed across 31 unique blockchain addresses.

What do you think about the FTX drainer resurfacing and moving $8 million in ether? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.

source https://news.bitcoin.com/ftx-drainer-resurfaces-moves-8m-eth-to-defi-platforms/

FTX Creditors Could Get 37 Cents on the Dollar

ALSO: CoinDesk wins Loeb awards, Su Zhu arrested and more |

Sept. 29, 2023 The biggest crypto news and ideas of the day  Were you forwarded this newsletter? Sign up here. Don't want this newsletter? Unsubscribe Supported By Welcome to The Node! This is Daniel Kuhn here to take you through the latest in crypto news and why it matters.   In today's news: FTX creditors could get back 37 cents on the dollar. Su Zhu arrested in Singapore. Fireblocks acquires tokenization firm BlockFold. Circle writes "friend of the court" brief defending Binance. And Gemini proactively withdrew $282M in users funds in 2022.   The takeaway: Gary Gensler is wrong about proof-of-stake tokens, Polymesh's Graeme Moore writes. Redemption Arc Sam Bankman-Fried's attorneys have lost their third bid to have the former FTX CEO released from jail ahead of trial. Judge Lewis Kaplan argued SBF has enough time to prepare for the trial and poses a flight risk, saying he "could be looking at a very long sentence." SBF has pleaded not guilty to several fraud-related charges, and was revoked bail after being accused of witness tampering. Meanwhile, the estimated payout to FTX creditors has more than tripled this year, with former users and investors expected to receive an average of $0.37 on the dollar. FTX holds about $7.3 billion in assets including $3.4 billion in crypto, $200 million in Bahamian real estate and a valuable stake in Amazon-backed AI startup Anthropic. Finally, past and present CoinDesk reporters and editors Ian Allison, Nick Baker, Nikhilesh De, Reilly Decker, Sam Kessler, Cheyenne Ligon, Sam Reynolds and Tracy Wang won several Gerald Loeb awards, a top prize in financial and business journalism, for their reporting on FTX.  Zhu Down Su Zhu, co-founder of defunct hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, was apprehended at Changi airport in Singapore on Friday, according to the company's liquidator Teneo. 3AC, as the massive trading firm was called, collapsed in 2022 contributing to a drawn out contagion and liquidity crisis across the industry. Zhu and co-founder Kyle Davies (whose whereabouts are reportedly unknown) were sentenced to four months' imprisonment for failing to comply with a court order, and in September were banned by Singapore's Monetary Authority from running a capital markets firm for nine years. Dubai's crypto regulator reprimanded the pair in May over their unlicensed new venture, a bankruptcy exchange called OPNX, which has seen its native token drop 40%. Friend of Binance Stablecoin issuer Circle wrote a "friend of the court" brief in support of major crypto exchange Binance in its legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, arguing securities laws shouldn't spread to stablecoins. In June, regulators accused Binance of a litany of legal violations, including breaking financial rules over "investment contracts" by marketing and offering yield on the Binance-branded BUSD stablecoin. Circle Chief Legal Officer Heath Tarbert (a former chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which is also suing Binance) said dollar-pegged assets like BUSD and USDC fall outside the SEC's domain, in part because users do not expect a profit. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao filed to dismiss the SEC case last week. A message from Foundry The staking market on Ethereum, Tezos, Cosmos, Solana, Cardano and others, as investors tackle regulation and uncertain conditions.   Where Liquid Staking Meets Tokenization The staking powerhouse dominates the market for liquid tokens. Is this a problem? Marin Tvrdić, a protocol relations contributor at Lido, responds.   Opposing Centralization in Ethereum Staking Nix.eth argues that dominant decentralized staking provider Lido is exploiting a flaw in Ethereum that threatens some of the industry's core values. Tokenization Acquisition Crypto custody tech company Fireblocks has purchased tokenization firm BlockFold reportedly for $10 million (though deal terms were not officially disclosed). The acquisition will expand the non-custodial software provider, Fireblock's, capabilities around trading, tracking and issuing traditional assets like stocks and bonds on-chain. Tokenization has become a hot topic among some bankers, and Boston Consulting Group predicted the market for tokenized assets could spike to $16 trillion by 2030.  Gem of a Story Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini said it withdrew $282 million of its Earn users' funds from crypto lender Genesis Global Capital in August last year to hold in a "liquidity reserve." The company was responding to a recent New York Post article, which claimed co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss "secretly withdrew" more than $280 million in personal and corporate funds before a liquidity crisis shut down Gemini's lending platform. "As a result of our risk management, Earn users had $282 million less exposure to Genesis when Genesis halted redemptions on November 16, 2022," Gemini said, referring to CoinDesk's sister company that  froze Gemini's Earn customers' access to assets and filed for bankruptcy in January 2023. The Takeaway: Misleading Position This article is part of CoinDesk's "Staking Week." Graeme Moore is the head of tokenization at the Polymesh Association.   U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler has long taken the position that the majority of crypto tokens should be treated as securities. In March 2023, Gensler stated: "The investing public is investing anticipating a return, anticipating something on these tokens, whether they're proof-of-stake (PoS) tokens, where they're also looking to get returns on those proof-of-stake tokens and getting 2%, 4%, 18% returns. Whatever they're promoting and putting into a protocol, and locking up their tokens in a protocol, a protocol that's often a small group of entrepreneurs and developers are developing, I would just suggest that each of these token operators ... seek to come into compliance, and the same with the intermediaries." This is a false or misleading position as proof-of-stake, or PoS, tokens are not securities – even if some PoS token holders purchase them as investments with the expectation of profit. Even if most token holders purchase PoS tokens due to an economic incentive, not every purchase made as an investment is an investment in a security. People often treat sneakers as investments, but this doesn't make buying a pair of Yeezy's automatically the same as buying a stock.   PoS tokens are a critical component of proof-of-stake consensus mechanisms. Their function is to secure the blockchain by providing economic incentives to align participants' behavior. Staking PoS tokens enables token holders to benefit economically from their tokens, but the primary purpose is to secure the network. Gensler is wrong to blanket an entire token class as securities only because some can be loosely bent to fit provisions of the Howey Test. He would classify your house as a security if he could, citing that it is an investment in a common enterprise with a reasonable expectation of profits to be derived from the efforts of others (contractors, painters, landscapers). An increase in disclosures required for investors looking to purchase PoS tokens could make sense, so that individuals can decide if it's the right investment for them. However, classifying things that are not securities as securities is where we must draw the line. PoS tokens, as United States District Judge Analisa Nadine Torres pointed out in the recent XRP ruling, could be sold in such a manner that would necessitate an investment contract (i.e. sales by an insider team to investors clearly expecting profit), but the actual tokens themselves are not securities simply because some people expect their price to appreciate.   Read the article online.   – Graeme Moore @MooreGrams A message from Phemex Future 'Shock'? Phemex Probably Won't Be Even Mildly Surprised   Phemex, a centralized exchange making moves to partially decentralize, is celebrating Bitcoin's 15th anniversary by placing a big bet: If the bellwether token is worth $50,000 or more on October 31st, the exchange will pay out 1,000 BTC to Phemex Soul Pass holders. To do the easy math, that's $50 million. Sure, it's unlikely that BTC's dollar-denominated value will double in the short term – but would you bet that much that it won't?   In the more likely scenario that BTC stays in its current $25,000 to $30,000 trading range – where it has been, given a little leeway, since March – Phemex is still giving away 1 BTC. Continue Reading Off-Chain Signals  Is Gary Gensler Stuck on Replay? – Unchained OX token plummets after co-founder Zhu's arrest – Blockworks Jade Protocol mulls 'good faith' proposal to dissolve $32m DAO treasury – DL News Bitcoin Rises as Crypto Traders Turn Bullish on Government Shutdown – Barron's Napster's new CEO has a big, crypto-based idea for the next phase of music – Fortune Hong Kong police say JPEX suspect caught shredding and bleaching files – Protos Catharsis or Cardiac Arrest? We are committed to making sure Consensus is a place where the women of crypto, blockchain and Web3 feel they belong. We know the first step to doing that is making sure that women have representation in our speaker lineup and attendees.   Now is your chance to join our Women of Consensus community and get a pair of Pro or Explorer passes for 90% off. These passes are limited so act fast!    Use code C24WOMEN at checkout and secure your women's passes now. The Node: A newsletter from CoinDesk Were you forwarded this newsletter? Sign up here.  Don't want this newsletter? Unsubscribe. Copyright © 2023 CoinDesk, All rights reserved.  250 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10003, USA See all of CoinDesk's newsletters | Manage subscriptions | Opt out

Former Three Arrows Capital Executive Su Zhu Arrested in Singapore

Su Zhu, a founding member of the now-insolvent Three Arrows Capital, was apprehended in Singapore at Changi Airport on Friday, as per the firm’s liquidator, Teneo. Zhu received a four-month prison sentence for failing to cooperate in the bankruptcy proceedings, Teneo revealed.

Crackdown at Changi Airport: 3AC’s Su Zhu Detained, Associate Kyle Davies Fugitive

Teneo, overseeing the liquidation of Three Arrows Capital, reported that co-founder Su Zhu was seized and sentenced to four months’ incarceration. His associate, Kyle Davies, remains at large; however, Teneo confirmed he was given an identical penalty.

Zhu allegedly tried to flee Singapore when he was intercepted at Changi Airport, situated approximately 25 miles east of Singapore’s Downtown Core. The Singapore court decreed that Zhu and Davies had not been collaborating with the liquidation procedure – an issue previously reported by the media months prior to his apprehension.

The defunct Singapore-based cryptocurrency hedge fund once supervised over $10 billion in assets at its height. However, a confluence of perilous trading tactics, Terra’s collapse, and plummeting cryptocurrency values obliterated the firm’s assets. Consequently, 3AC declared bankruptcy and was mandated to liquidate by a British Virgin Islands court on June 27, 2022.

Squawk Box posted on X that Kyle Davies, the co-founder of Three Arrows Capital, was asked if he was in Bali because Indonesia is one of seven countries that will not extradite him to the United States. While that interview was in November 2022, Davies is believed to be still in Bali.

What do you think about the 3AC co-founder’s arrest? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.

source https://news.bitcoin.com/former-three-arrows-capital-executive-su-zhu-arrested-in-singapore/