SBF trial to begin as judge says he faces “very long sentence” if convicted
Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial is beginning this week with jury selection on Tuesday morning. SBF, the 31-year-old man behind bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is facing seven criminal charges with maximum sentences adding up to 110 years.
“Your client in the event of conviction could be looking at a very long sentence,” US District Judge Lewis Kaplan told SBF’s lawyers in a hearing on Thursday while rejecting the defense’s request for a temporary release from jail.
“If things begin to look bleak… maybe the time would come when he would seek to flee.”
Source: Arstechnica
Canadian Exchange TMX Soon to Start Bitcoin Futures Trading
TMX Group, the largest Canadian exchange, said Tuesday its derivatives trading platform will soon introduce bitcoin futures contracts.
“Montréal Exchange (MX) is launching the Bitcoin Price Index Futures to meet rising market demand for digital cryptocurrency asset classes,” an announcement on the firm’s website said.
“Despite growing interest, investors face limitations when evaluating vehicles to manage their exposure to bitcoin price movements.”
The futures will be cash settled in U.S. dollars, meaning that dollars change hands at settlement instead of the underlying instrument (bitcoin, in this case). The futures settlement value will be determined by the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX).
Source: CoinDesk
Celsius seeks court approval to start repaying customers by year-end
Embattled crypto lender Celsius Network has told a judge it plans to start paying back its customers by year’s end, amid an Oct. 2 hearing seeking approval for its reorganization plan.
In his opening statements at the confirmation hearing in New York, Celsius’ legal counsel, Christopher Koenig, said the new company dubbed “NewCo” will emerge from the proceedings with $450 million in seed funding.
A filing on Sept. 29 shows that Celsius plans to partially repay its creditors using $2.03 billion in Bitcoin, Ether and stock in the new company
Source: Cointelegraph