FTX's Billion-Dollar Repayment Plan Sparks Controversy

FTX's Billion-Dollar Repayment Plan Sparks Controversy

FTX has proposed a repayment plan to address its 2022 bankruptcy, suggesting it may distribute between $14.5 and $16.3 billion to creditors. The plan, pending approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, includes repaying 100% of bankruptcy claims plus interest for non-governmental creditors. 

However, the repayments are based on the assets’ value at the time of FTX’s collapse rather than current market prices, despite substantial recent growth in the cryptocurrency market. This has led to dissatisfaction among some creditors and industry experts, who feel the proposal does not fully cover the current value of their lost investments.

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Sophon Blockchain Raises $60M Through ‘Node Sale’

The blockchain project Sophon has successfully raised over $60 million through a node sale, an innovative fundraising approach gaining traction as token sales face increased regulatory scrutiny. Sophon, focusing on entertainment within blockchain, sold approximately 121,000 nodes from a total of 200,000, earning around 20,391 ETH.

This sale structure, which utilizes pricing tiers increasing costs over time, is designed to help decentralize the network and offers investors the chance to earn future token rewards. Despite its success, the identity of Sophon’s founders remains semi-anonymous, underscoring the project’s speculative nature yet significant investor interest.

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SEC’s Gary Gensler Annoyed by Persistent Crypto Questions

SEC Chair Gary Gensler expressed frustration over the disproportionate amount of attention and questions he receives about cryptocurrencies, highlighting that while the crypto market represents only $2.4 trillion, the broader U.S. capital markets amount to $110 trillion. He emphasized that the focus on crypto is inflated given its size and compliance issues with U.S. securities laws, leading to a significant portion of market scams and frauds. 

Gensler noted the media’s focus seems disproportionately skewed towards crypto, despite its smaller scale compared to the overall financial market. He responded to critiques about the SEC’s approach to regulating cryptocurrencies, stressing that many do not provide necessary disclosures and are considered securities by legal standards.

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LocalMonero Shuts Down After Seven Years in Operation

LocalMonero, a peer-to-peer exchange for the Monero cryptocurrency, announced it will cease operations after nearly seven years, citing “internal and external factors.” The platform, which facilitated direct transactions of Monero between users, did not specify the reasons for its closure. The shutdown process began immediately with new signups disabled, and trading will end on May 14. 

The complete closure, including the website, is set for November. Despite this, LocalMonero expressed optimism about the future growth of the Monero ecosystem, referencing new Monero-focused DEXs and privacy enhancements. This follows a similar shutdown by LocalBitcoins a year earlier.

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Other breaking news

• Polygon Debuts Alpha Testnet for STARK-Based Layer 2 Miden
• Binance Team Helps Arrest ZKasino Scam Suspect
• Wintermute to Supply Liquidity for Hong Kong’s Bitcoin and Ether ETFs
• Validators Now Collect More MEV on Solana Than on Ethereum
• Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund Leads $13.2M Seed Round for Lagrange Labs

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