Latest News: SBF Arrested + CPI Announced

GM Readers!📪 It's BitDegree Insider, and let's see what Tuesday's got for us.

⭐️Today's selection:

• 👮‍♀️SBF Arrested
• 📈November CPI
• 😱Binance FUD
• 😎Cool Fact Tuesday
• 👌Selected Meme of The Day
• 📰Bite-Sized News

SBF ARRESTED

Bahamian authorities have arrested Sam Bankman-Fried on fraud charges. So yeah. that happened. And it took them long enough.

It is clarified that the detention was carried out "after official notification from the US of a criminal investigation and likely extradition request".

This information has been confirmed by various sources, including US authorities. Apparently, the main reason behind it was a closed indictment filed by the Southern District of New York (SDNY).

According to the New York Times, SBF faces such charges:

• Bank Fraud;
• Conspiracy to commit bank fraud;
• Securities fraud;
• Money laundering.

What is surprising, however, is the timing of the arrest. SBF had a hearing scheduled for today before a US House of Commons committee chaired by committee chairwoman Maxine Water.

Why the arrest was delayed for so long (or wasn't carried out after the hearing) is the big question.

Nevertheless, it is expected that the U.S. will request The Bahamas to extradite SBF.

This would mean that SBF would face American law on American soil. And that could get heavy since SBF would be facing federal criminal charges.

Do Kwon is probably observing this situation unfold while on the edge of his seat. Especially since his whereabouts have been recently located.

At least that's what South Korean prosecutors have said. According to them, Do Kwon is hiding in Serbia.

You never know, we may soon hear the news about yet another arrest.

TL;DR: Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested. The arrest came after the U.S. filed criminal charges against him. He may be extradited to the U.S. soon.

NOVEMBER CPI ANNOUNCED

November's consumer price index rose 0.1% from the previous month. And, compared to a year ago, it rose 7.1%.

This means the prices rose less than expected. This means the inflation was not running amok, and it's actually getting tamed.

Experts expected these numbers to be a 0.3% monthly and a 7.3% annual increase.

But they were wrong. This is good. Because if we receive new CPI data and the rate is gonna be over 0.4%... It's sure that the FED would hike the interest rates yet again.

But the most important fact here is this.

Whenever CPI is over 0.3%, it signals that the market is bearish. But when it's less than 0.3%... It's bullish time!

But... Tomorrow FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) are gathering for their meeting. They will announce updates about the interest rates situation.

If the interest rates will see a 50BPS hike (this is the market expectation) we will likely see continued relief into the new year.

However... if the FED announces something higher than this... The market's sentiment will flip bearish very quickly.

TL;DR: November's consumer price index was 7.1%. Lower than expectations.

BINANCE FUD

Yesterday we wrote about Reuters suddenly publishing a fear-inducing article about how Binance is about to go through hard times.

People raised their eyebrows - why is this happening? What's the reason for such a seemingly random "attack on crypto"?

Well, more publications have joined the list of these 'attackers'.

The Wall Street Journal, The Block and other publications posted negative news about Binance. What is going on?

These outlets reached out to Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), and asked for their take on Binance's financial health state.

And they had a problem with Binance's Proof of Reserves.

You see, BUSD (Binance USD stablecoin) accounts for 26.2% of Binance's reserves. And the way BUSD is intertwined with other blockchains is kinda messy.

Kraken's Jesse Powell also recently highlighted all the red flags in Binance's report.

He complained that the audit failed to disclose information about the quality of Binance's internal controls.

The lack of coverage about how the system liquidates assets to cover collateral loans was also emphasised by him.

This sounds like a competitor's move against their opponent. BTW, If you're interested, check out our video where we analyse what exchange can challenge Binance.

Well, such optimistic coverage resulted in people becoming scared. Millions of Dollars have been withdrawn from Binance overnight.

But CZ communicated confidence and the fact that they're not affected:

'We saw some withdrawals today (net $1.14b ish). We have seen this before. Business as usual for us. I actually think it is a good idea to "stress test withdrawals"'

At the end of the day, CZ summed the situation up by tweeting that people's 'deposits are not affected 😆🙏'. And yes... he used the emojis.

Well, things have calmed down for a while. But you can never be too sure. Let's believe in good things... but keep our assets in our wallets.

TL;DR: News outlets continue posting negatively about Binance. But CZ communicates calm, and confidence, thus dispersing the newly-formed FUD clouds.

COOL FACT TUESDAY

Okay, let's take Tuesdays and turn them into Cool Fact Tuesdays. And this Tuesday is special.

Exactly 12 years ago Satoshi left his last message on the Bitcointalk forum. This marked the end of his journey on this iconic forum.

P.S. Satoshi Nakamoto is the creator(-s) of the bitcoin protocol. But you know that, c'mon.

SELECTED MEME OF THE DAY

BITE-SIZED NEWS

• Crypto Exchange Bybit Rolls Out Merkle Tree-Based Proof of Reserves System. The new rules of the game are called 'transparency'.
• Sam Bankman-Fried Denies Participation in "Wirefraud" Group Chat. At this point, it's difficult to believe what the man says.
• JPMorgan Report Reveals that 13% of Americans Had Owned or Owns Crypto. That's over 40 million people.