ChainCatcher news, according to The Block citing Business Insider, after the unannounced release of an interview between FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) and Tucker Carlson on Thursday, SBF's crisis PR manager has resigned. Mark Botnick started representing SBF after the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange FTX in November 2022, and he resigned on Thursday after learning about the interview. This is the second interview SBF has given since breaking his two-year public silence after being incarcerated. These interviews seem to be part of his attempt to seek a presidential pardon. In both interviews, SBF praised President Trump, criticized the previous Biden administration, and argued that he began to take the Republican Party more seriously after failing to engage with former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.SBF was perhaps best known before his arrest as a billionaire practicing "effective altruism," having donated large sums to Democratic politicians. From the billions in funds collapsing at FTX to the year he faced court proceedings, SBF has given countless media interviews, sometimes getting himself into trouble. On one occasion, he even showed a reporter his ex-girlfriend's diary, which led to his imprisonment to prevent potential witness tampering. Botnick reportedly worked with SBF during this time. It is said that the PR manager was also caught off guard when SBF posted on X about the Trump administration's attempts to fire federal employees.

ChainCatcher news, according to official sources, former Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks will become a member of the newly established Advisory Committee of the Axelar Foundation.

ChainCatcher news, Wintermute trader Jake O stated on social media that the cryptocurrency market can no longer trade in isolation and is currently in a macro-driven market environment.Jake O pointed out that this trend has repeatedly appeared throughout the market cycle, although it is not persistent, especially when the market fear index (VIX) is above 20. In this market environment, investors should pay extra attention to U.S. economic data and the dominant narratives in the market—currently mainly focused on tariff issues, which will drive marginal capital flows.

ChainCatcher news, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin commented on "Bitcoin Jesus" Roger Ver, stating that being sentenced to life imprisonment for non-violent tax crimes is absurd.Vitalik indicated that the case against Roger Ver seems to have strong political motives; like Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, many individuals and companies have been charged with much more serious crimes yet face far lighter sentences than what Roger is facing.If the IRS indeed threatened Roger's lawyer to obtain confidential information, that is a malicious act; the right to attorney-client privilege must be protected as inviolable. Genuine good faith errors should be corrected by giving the parties the opportunity to pay taxes (including interest and penalties), rather than through prosecution.

ChainCatcher message: According to an announcement from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, between December 30, 2021, and March 12, 2022, London resident Osunkoya operated unregistered cryptocurrency ATMs at 28 different locations through his company GidiPlus Ltd, with a value exceeding £2.5 million. He was ultimately sentenced to 4 years in prison. This ruling marks the first time in the UK that someone has been sentenced for unregistered crypto asset activities.Previously, the FCA collaborated with law enforcement agencies to crack down on illegal crypto ATMs nationwide. In 2023, the FCA visited 38 locations and dismantled 30 machines. The number of crypto ATMs advertised on CoinATMRadar in the UK has decreased from over 80 in 2022 to zero in 2024.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has appointed Tyler Williams, regulatory legal advisor at Galaxy Digital, as the digital asset and blockchain policy advisor. Williams currently serves as the head of regulatory and legislative affairs and regulatory legal advisor at Galaxy Digital, while also being a part-time lecturer at George Washington University Law School.Williams has extensive government experience, having served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for digital asset-related matters at the Treasury Department under Mnuchin from 2018 to 2020. He has also worked for Senator Thom Tillis in the Senate and served Representatives Robert Hurt and John Boehner in the House.

ChainCatcher news, on-chain detective ZachXBT announced joining the venture capital firm Paradigm as an incident response advisor.

ChainCatcher news, according to Forbes business reporter Eleanor Terrett, former North Carolina Congressman and Chairman of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee Patrick McHenry will join a16z as a Senior Advisor for Technology Policy.

ChainCatcher news, RootData has released a price comparison overview for RedStone (RED) on the X platform, showing that the pre-market price of RED on Whales Market is $1.49.It is reported that the pre-trading start time for RED on Binance is February 28 at 6 PM (UTC+8), with a total supply of 1,000,000,000 RED; the initial circulating supply is 280,000,000 RED (28.00%); and the Launchpool supply is 40,000,000 RED (4%).According to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, RedStone is a cross-chain data oracle technology that provides fast and cost-effective data access, complete historical audit trails, and an insurance-backed decentralized dispute mechanism, offering users recourse in case of inaccurate data provision. The Arweave blockchain project is used to store data and track reputation.

ChainCatcher news, according to a post by Slow Mist CISO 23pd on platform X warning, "Attention, the latest SMS phishing attacks targeting Binance users have emerged. Recently, two individuals received the same phishing SMS on the same day, and the phishing SMS even appeared in the conversation thread of official Binance messages, appearing in the same context as previous genuine official messages, sharing the same channel. Even more astonishingly, there was a significant time span, precisely forging the official SMS environment.The current possible explanation is that the SMS channel has been exploited or hijacked by the phishers. The first SMS indeed came from the official number, but the subsequent scam messages may indicate that:Scammers spoofed the official SMS source (SMS Spoofing)• They used technical means to spoof the SMS sending number, making it appear consistent with the official number, allowing phishing messages to blend into the official conversation thread.They exploited vulnerabilities in the SMS gateway or supply chain attacks• Scammers may have attacked the SMS gateway or exploited security vulnerabilities of carriers/third-party SMS service providers, successfully embedding phishing messages into the official channel.• There may even be collusion with unscrupulous SMS providers to directly spoof official SMS replies, making it difficult for users to discern authenticity.Please have Binance officials investigate the issue, and everyone is advised to enhance security awareness and pay attention to fund safety."

According to ChainCatcher news and the Guangzhou Daily, Guangdong courts recently concluded a virtual currency fraud case. The defendant, Xie, established Company A and issued a virtual currency named "AA Chain," promising investors that the currency would be listed on exchanges and yield high returns.The case shows that in May 2018, Xie established Company A in Guangdong and served as its legal representative. He promoted "AA Coin" on internet platforms as having appreciation potential and promised victims that it would be listed for trading on exchanges, with expected returns of no less than 5 million yuan. One investor thus invested 990,000 yuan to purchase over 1.6 million AA Coins, but these tokens remained locked and could not be traded.The court found that the defendant, Xie, aimed to illegally possess others' property by fabricating facts to defraud them, with the amount being particularly large. He was ultimately sentenced to 11 years in prison for fraud and fined 50,000 yuan. The judgment has taken effect.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs) has invested in the crypto AI startup Vana, with the specific amount not disclosed.As part of the investment, Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao has joined Vana as an advisor. Zhao has been actively involved in YZi Labs since its rebranding from Binance Labs.It is reported that Vana is the first AI investment for YZi Labs since its name change last month.A spokesperson for YZi Labs stated that the company's focus has now expanded from web3 to include artificial intelligence and biotechnology. While the company continues to explore opportunities at the intersection of these fields, it is also willing to invest in independent AI and biotechnology projects "to capture the full spectrum of innovation."

ChainCatcher message, Binance founder Zhao Changpeng posted on X that he has updated a security advisory article from 5 years ago, reducing its content from 5,500 words to 4,300 words. He recommends users read it to avoid potential hacking attacks and included a relevant link.

ChainCatcher news, former CEO and co-founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), took a pro-Trump stance in his first interview since going to prison. SBF claimed in the interview that he is also a victim of "politicization by the Department of Justice," and that his support for Republican causes is greater than people realize.According to an interview with SBF by a reporter from The New York Sun, SBF donated $40 million to the Democratic Party in 2020 and $5.2 million to the Biden campaign. He is currently serving a 25-year sentence at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, New York, on multiple charges including fraud.Previous reports from U.S. civil groups indicated that the likelihood of SBF receiving a pardon is very low, although he seems to be seeking a pardon from the current U.S. president.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Straits Times, former Bybit payroll head Ho Kai Xin, who embezzled $4.2 million in public funds, refused to comply with a court order and spent nearly $840,000 on a permanent ownership penthouse and Louis Vuitton luxury goods after the court ruling.For violating the High Court's order, the 32-year-old woman was sentenced to six weeks in prison for contempt of court on January 27.Previous news, in July 2023, the cryptocurrency exchange Bybit sued Ms. Ho for abusing her power by transferring a large amount of USDT to addresses she secretly owned and controlled.On July 25, the Singapore High Court upheld the ruling, stating that cryptocurrencies are generally recognized as property, and holders of crypto assets have, in principle, intangible property rights recognized by common law, which can be enforced in court as items in litigation. The court ordered Ms. Ho to immediately pay Bybit all transferred amounts and interest.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cryptonews, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken plans to return to the Indian market and has hired Shiprocket co-founder Vishesh Khurana as an advisor to assist with local regulatory affairs.