Last week came with its fair share of new developments, speculation, and crime.
Donald Trump was elected President of the United States
Caroline Ellison has started her 2-year prison sentence.
WonderFi CEO Dean Skurka was kidnapped and forced to pay $1 million as ransom.
Roman Sterlingov, the creator of Bitcoin Fog, has been handed a 12-year prison sentence.
One of the biggest highlights of last week was the conclusion of the US presidential election on November 5 and 6.
Donald Trump won and is now the 47th president of the United States.
Not only that, he is also both predecessor and successor to incumbent president Joe Biden.
Another highlight from last week was the FTX camp, where the former Alameda CEO and ex-girlfriend of Sam Bankman-Fried began her two-year prison term.
We now have a possible Gensler resignation and replacement, with nearly ten candidates for the SEC chair position.
In other news, the CEO of Wonder-Fi got kidnapped for a $1 million ransom, and the creator of Bitcoin Fog got an insane prison sentence of 12 long years.
Here are some of the biggest events in crypto from last week:
Last week, two whales raked in $142 million worth of Bitcoin, according to Arkham Intelligence data.
Interestingly, this happened right after Donald Trump emerged as the 47th president of the United States.
President-elect of the United States
Considering that Donald Trump is viewed as more favorable for crypto than his opponent, Kamala Harris, the crypto community has been abuzz with speculation, predictions, and hope for the past week.
Soon after the election winner was announced, BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF alone notched $1 billion in daily inflows for the first time since its launch earlier in the year.
Bitcoin, by the end of the week, was trading at around $80,000.
One of the most heavily discussed topics in the crypto space now is Donald Trump's promises before being elected President.
These include preventing a CBDC, supporting Bitcoin mining within the country—and, more importantly, electing a new SEC Chair.
Last week, soon after Donald Trump was elected President, the American Securities Association (ASA) began calling SEC chair Gary Gensler to resign immediately.
This move was possibly fueled by Donald Trump’s campaign promise to “fire Gensler on day one” because of his famously harsh approach to regulating crypto.
Possible replacements for Gensler
So far, several contenders have emerged for the role, including Chris Giancarlo, Hester Pierce, the crypto dad, and Crypto Mom.
Others include Robinhood executive Dan Gallagher, Paul Atkins (a former GOP SEC commissioner), and, very recently, Wall Street Lawyer Richard Fairley.
Gensler is expected to complete his term as SEC chair by early 2025 and could be replaced by chairs with varying levels of crypto-friendliness.
Ex-Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison was a key witness in the case against Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced CEO of FTX, who was directly responsible for mismanaging billions of dollars in customer funds.
Ellison has been free on bail since the exchange’s collapse and her guilty plea in 2022.
Last week, however, she reported to a minimum security facility near Boston on Thursday, 7 November, to begin her two-year prison term.
Keep in mind that Ellison is the third witness named in the lawsuit against Bankman-Fried.
She pleaded guilty to wire, commodities, and securities fraud, as well as to more counts of money laundering and misuse of user funds.
A year after this, she appeared as a key witness at the criminal trial of Bankman-Fried in 2023.
Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 long years in jail after being found guilty on all counts and is reportedly planning to appeal his sentence.
Last week, Dean Skurka, the CEO of WonderFi, was "forced" into a vehicle on the streets of Toronto on 6 November and wasn't released until he made a $1 million transfer to his kidnappers.
At the time of this writing, the authorities are in the middle of an investigation and have not released any more details.
However, the incident highlights a disturbing trend of crypto-related abductions, robberies, and even murders.
For example, four people were arrested earlier this year for kidnapping and then murdering a 29-year-old foreign national Bitcoiner in Kyiv, Ukraine.
These individuals reportedly stole $170,000 worth of Bitcoin from the victim.
The incident with Skurka highlights the need to keep a low profile and be security-conscious, especially as a well-known person in the crypto industry.
The last few years have been earmarked by jail sentences for Bitcoin mixer founders.
The latest incident in this line of jail terms came from Bitfog founder Roman Sterlingov.
Sterlingov received a 12.5-year sentence and is also required to "pay a forfeiture money judgment" of around $395.5 million.
He was convicted in March for several charges of money laundering, transmitting money without a license, conspiracy to launder money, and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
According to a statement released by the US DOJ on 8 November, Bitcoin Fog has been the go-to money laundering service for criminals over the last ten years.
The agency also mentioned that Bitcoin Fog processed transactions worth over 1.2 million Bitcoin (approximately $400 million at the time the transactions occurred).
Miscarriage of justice?
Sterlingov stated during the trial that he was only a Bitcoin Fog user and not its operator, amid comments from the public about the entire case being a "grave miscarriage of justice."
Disclaimer: Voice of Crypto aims to deliver accurate and up-to-date information but will not be responsible for any missing facts or inaccurate information. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile financial assets, so research and make your own financial decisions.