ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, records show that former FTX executive Ryan Salame has begun serving a seven-and-a-half-year sentence in a Maryland prison. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website, Salame served as co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, and as of Saturday morning, he is incarcerated at FCI Cumberland in Maryland. The prison is a "medium-security federal correctional institution, adjacent to a minimum-security satellite camp." According to the prison's website, it houses over 1,000 inmates.

ChainCatcher news, former FTX executive Ryan Salame shared his new status on LinkedIn before going to prison, announcing with "joy" his new position as a prisoner at FCI Cumberland.He also updated his profile, adding "cleaning and wood carving" as one of his skills.Previous news, former FTX executive Ryan Salame's request to postpone his prison sentence was denied by the judge.

According to ChainCatcher, as reported by CoinDesk, former FTX executive Ryan Salame was sentenced for violating U.S. election laws after donating millions of dollars during the last congressional election. He attempted to delay his prison sentence at the last minute to treat a dog bite on his face, but was denied. Salame had criticized the charges against him on social media; he was originally supposed to begin serving over seven years in prison on August 29, but he told the court that he was bitten by a large German shepherd, which postponed his sentencing to October 11. Earlier this week, he requested another extension. However, during an interview with Tucker Carlson, there were no obvious signs that he was hindered by his injury—when the court rejected Salame's efforts, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York noted this fact.Salame claimed he needed "urgent and necessary medical and surgical care" and could not report to prison immediately, while prosecutors responded that he appeared to be in good condition. The prosecutors stated that when he appeared in court last month, he showed "no signs of drooling or slurred speech" while answering questions, and then he participated in Carlson's interview, during which Salame "appeared to be physically recovered and showed no signs of injury." The judge pointed out that Salame had already "benefited from an extremely generous delay in his incarceration," and the court expressed skepticism about the "validity" of Salame's claims.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets Ryan Salame stated in an interview with Tucker Carlson that the U.S. government is unfairly targeting him because of his support for the Republican Party.Salame claimed he was wrongly accused of "violating campaign finance regulations" because he donated to the Republican Party. He emphasized that convicted former colleagues like FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) "helped Biden get elected," yet never faced the same accusations. Salame stated that he donated a total of $20 million to $30 million to Republican candidates, while SBF donated approximately $60 million to $70 million to the Democratic Party during the 2020 election cycle.Salame explained that the campaign finance violations he was accused of were due to borrowing from Alameda for political donations. At the time, lawyers advised him that this practice was legal. However, he was later accused of orchestrating a "straw donor scheme," which involved illegally using other people's funds to make political donations in his own name.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, a court in Nigeria denied the bail application of Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan on health grounds. The executive is on trial for alleged money laundering and currency manipulation, while the court instructed the prison to send him to the hospital for treatment. Binance's Head of Financial Crime Compliance, Tigran Gambaryan, has been detained in the country since February, and U.S. lawmakers have stated that he is being unjustly detained. His lawyer has repeatedly mentioned his poor health and stated that he requires surgery.

ChainCatcher news, Kronos Research appoints former Tower Research executive Vincent Wang as Chief Technology Officer (CTO).Vincent Wang has over 20 years of experience in technology and finance, having served as the head of Tower Research in China. In his new role, he will focus on building a closely collaborative team, overseeing the design and architecture of major software system projects, and guiding team members in best practices.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, based on a document released on Wednesday, former FTX executive Ryan Salame's lawyer requested the court to postpone his sentencing date from October 11 to December 7 to treat injuries he sustained from a dog attack during the summer. This is Salame's second request to delay his sentencing. His lawyer stated that the government disagrees with their request.Salame served as co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets and was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison last year after pleading guilty. Salame admitted in September to conspiracy to make illegal political donations and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transfer business.

ChainCatcher news, former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame will report to a federal correctional institution on October 11 to serve a sentence of 7 and a half years.Since the sentencing hearing on May 28, Salame has hinted on social media that prison will be an "exciting" experience and claimed he would treat his time in prison like summer camp. His lawyer is seeking for Salame to serve his sentence at a medium-security facility in Cumberland, Maryland, which is near Salame's home.As one of the executives facing criminal charges following the collapse of FTX, Salame pleaded guilty in September 2023 to conspiracy to make illegal political donations and to deceive the Federal Election Commission. Following SBF's 25-year sentence handed down in March of this year, Salame will be the second FTX executive facing imprisonment. In September of this year, a judge sentenced former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison to two years in prison.Other executives named in the same indictment, Nishad Singh and Gary Wang, are scheduled to be sentenced on October 30 and November 20, respectively.

ChainCatcher news, according to DL News, Youssef Amrani, co-founder and general manager of Atom Accelerator DAO, was dismissed last week, with the core issue of controversy being the planned performance bonuses. On September 25, the employees of Atom Cooperative unanimously voted to remove general manager Youssef Amrani, with September 30 being his last day in the organization.Atom Accelerator co-founder Ryan Orr refused to continue leading the organization and suggested either dissolving it or finding someone "willing to drive the community update plan" to take over. Communications head Syed Choudhury stated he would leave by the end of this year, and CFO Patricia Mizuki also announced her departure.It is reported that Atom Accelerator has distributed millions of dollars in funding to support the Cosmos cryptocurrency, and the organization was founded by Amrani and Orr in 2023, with a small number of employees mostly funded by Cosmos Hub.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, Coinbase's Vice President of Enterprise and Business Development Shan Aggarwal stated that there has been a "shift" in negotiations between Coinbase and traditional financial institutions over the past six to nine months, which is accelerating, especially as issues related to cryptocurrency in the U.S. gain more support from both Republicans and Democrats. The dialogue could ultimately attract more traditional financial institutions into Web3, driving the mass adoption of digital assets.

ChainCatcher news, according to Fortune, the trading volume and inflows of BlackRock's recently launched Ethereum ETF are far below those of the Bitcoin ETF, and the company's head of digital assets, Robert Mitchnick, expects this situation will not change anytime soon.At the Messari Mainnet conference held in New York, Mitchnick acknowledged that the performance of BlackRock's Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETHA) has been "disappointing" compared to its Bitcoin ETF. However, he urged the audience to compare ETHA with ETFs: "It is very rare for an ETF, like ETHA, to reach $1 billion in assets under management within seven weeks. In most cases, new ETFs take years to reach $1 billion."

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, the executive director of the crypto think tank Coin Center, Jerry Brito, will step down at the end of this year, and Coin Center's senior policy advisor, Robin Weisman, will also be leaving.Jerry Brito stated that both will continue to serve on the organization's board and will provide advice to the team in the future. Research director Peter Van Valkenburgh will succeed Brito as executive director on January 1, 2025. Policy advisor Landon Zinda will take on the role of policy director.Brito mentioned that operations director Antonie Hodge and communications director Neeraj Agrawal will also play a larger role in fundraising and management.

ChainCatcher news, the banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform OpenPayd has made two senior appointments in London, hiring Lux Thiagarajah and Richard Usher from the cryptocurrency major broker FalconX. Thiagarajah joins the payment company as the Director of Growth, while Usher will serve as the Director of Trading.The new employees will maintain their connections with FalconX, where they joined in May as consultants to help the company expand its foreign exchange trading products.

ChainCatcher news, according to IT Chosun, an executive from a subsidiary of South Korean internet giant Kakao is suing Kakao's blockchain division GroundX, claiming approximately 10 billion won (7.6 million USD).This legal action stems from a cryptocurrency hacking incident involving the integrated crypto wallet Klip in the Kakao Talk messaging app. The hacking incident occurred in March 2022, when the executive's Kakao Talk account was compromised. After the account was breached, the stolen cryptocurrency was transferred to overseas exchanges. During the lawsuit, a spokesperson for Kakao stated that the company is currently optimizing the integration of GroundX and lacks sufficient personnel to handle the situation.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, ECB Executive Board member Fabio Panetta stated that while central banks have long provided central bank money for wholesale transactions, we do not yet have a digital form of cash. As the use and acceptance of cash decline, this issue is becoming increasingly prominent. Therefore, the European Commission has proposed a legislative initiative to ensure the acceptance of cash, and the ECB is also committed to maintaining the widespread availability and accessibility of euro cash.Nevertheless, the trend of reducing the use of banknotes in everyday transactions may continue, reflecting the digitalization of economic activities and the patterns of many developed economies. We must act swiftly to address the risks posed by Europe’s current inability to ensure the integration and autonomy of its retail payment systems. This is a key motivation behind the digital euro project: to bring central bank money into the digital age, providing digital currency equivalent to banknotes and strengthening our monetary sovereignty.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee has passed a resolution demanding the Nigerian government immediately release Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan, whose health is deteriorating in prison.He and another Binance executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, were detained upon their arrival in Nigeria in February this year due to allegations that Binance was illegally profiting from trading in the country. They were formally charged on February 28. Anjarwalla later escaped Nigeria on March 22. Gambaryan's health has sharply declined during his imprisonment, suffering from a herniated disc and pneumonia, and is "mostly bedridden."The resolution was introduced by Republican Congressman McCormick and was passed by a voice vote during a hearing on Thursday, demanding the Nigerian government release Gambaryan and provide him with "unrestricted medical care." It also calls on the U.S. State Department to "utilize all available assets and means to ensure his release" and to officially declare that Gambaryan is "wrongfully detained." The resolution will next be presented for a vote by the full House of Representatives.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Ledger's Chief Experience Officer Ian Rogers emphasized the importance of maintaining security awareness during bull market cycles in an interview at the Token2049 conference in Singapore. Rogers stated, "In every bull market cycle, there are always people who find seemingly reasonable justifications to compromise on security or self-custody." He specifically mentioned that during periods of rapid market expansion, many cryptocurrency holders tend to store their assets on centralized exchanges rather than opting for self-custody.In response, Rogers emphasized, "If you are not doing self-custody, then what is the point of choosing cryptocurrency?" He warned investors against over-relying on centralized exchanges, especially during market downturns, and cited the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX as an example. "What they did was simply hand over funds to someone in the Bahamas and then add a column of data on a spreadsheet. That is not called cryptocurrency; that is called fraud."Beyond the cryptocurrency space, Rogers also pointed out the rising trend of global cybercrime. He predicted, "From now on, you can say every year that this year is the worst year for cybercrime, and that statement will always be accurate." To address this increasingly severe threat, Rogers suggested achieving secure self-custody of digital assets through hardware solutions and clear signature technology, ensuring that users fully understand the transactions they are authorizing.

ChainCatcher news, at the Solana Breakpoint 2024 conference, PayPal's blockchain strategy and cryptocurrency head José Fernández stated that Ethereum is not the best solution for the payments space, which is also the reason why PayPal chose to issue stablecoins on the Solana network.Fernández pointed out that Solana offers token scalability, lower transaction costs, and the ability to process 1,000 transactions per second, making it very suitable for mainstream adoption.

ChainCatcher news, Standard Chartered's Head of Foreign Exchange and Digital Assets Research, Geoff Kendrick, stated that after the Federal Reserve's recent decision to cut interest rates by 50 basis points, Bitcoin and the broader digital asset market are expected to receive a sustained boost.Kendrick believes that macroeconomic factors will drive the prices of digital assets higher, a trend that is unaffected by the upcoming results of the U.S. presidential election.He noted that Bitcoin and other digital assets performed strongly after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) cut rates on Wednesday. Kendrick stated that the steepening of the U.S. Treasury yield curve is favorable for digital assets, and he anticipates inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs in October.Kendrick reiterated his previous prediction that Bitcoin will reach new highs by the end of the year, with a target price of $125,000 if Trump wins, and $75,000 if Harris wins.