The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has issued an order in the SEC’s case against Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao. The court allowed most claims to proceed, including those related to unregistered crypto sales and fraudulent practices, while dismissing some claims related to BUSD and secondary BNB sales. Some Charges Against […]
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Ripple Legal Chief Countered SEC Allegations: No Victims to Compensate
Ripple’s chief legal officer has countered the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s allegations following the crypto firm’s proposal to limit its penalty to no more than million. The legal chief highlighted that the SEC is “raging” and emphasized that, unlike the Terraform Labs case, there are no victims to compensate in Ripple’s case. […]
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Memecoin Fight: DADDY Surpasses MOTHER Despite Insider Trading Activity Allegations
The celebrity memecoin mania has added a new player with the recently launched Daddy Tate (DADDY). The token, promoted by the controversial figure Andrew Tate, has gained traction, surpassing Iggy Azalea’s MOTHER. However, Tate is now accused of some concerning activity for crypto investors.
Andrew Tate Endorses DADDY
On June 11, former pro kickboxer and controversial online figure Andrew Tate started promoting a new memecoin. The DADDY token was marketed as the direct competition to Iggy Azalea’s MOTHER, the most successful celebrity launch.
Before he endorsed DADDY, Tate stated he held zero tokens but was aware there were hundreds of memecoins related to his likeness. Days later, he invited popular crypto trader Ansem to fight him in a boxing match, claiming this was “his cycle.” He also suggested that the loser donates million to a token of the winner’s choosing.
Tate’s approach received mixed reactions from the members of the crypto community. Content creator Jakey jokingly claimed that Crypto Twitter was the new YouTube. Another user stated, “Every day we get further away from god.”
On Tuesday, Tate promoted the Daddy Tate memecoin, which was also received with mixed feelings and some criticism. The promotional posts targeted Azalea’s MOTHER while making sexist “jokes” and using domestic violence as a punchline.
I heard about a coin called mother so now I’m supporting a coin called $DADDY to flip it for the patriarchy. We’re bringing the Gs back make me a fucking sandwich females.
Tate’s Memecoin Called Out For Insider Trading
On Wednesday, crypto analytics firm Bubblemaps accused the token of having “huge insider activity.” According to the firm, they found suspicious activity before Tate started promoting DADDY.
Bubblemaps revealed that insiders allegedly bought 30% of the token’s supply at launch. On June 9, Daddy Tate’s team sent 40% of the total supply to the former kickboxer, which he promised not to sell. Additionally, he bought ,000 worth of DADDY and burned it.
Despite this, the token seems to “have a catch.” Per the report, 11 wallets are holding 20% of the supply. These wallets were founded through Binance with “nearly identical amounts at the same time.” Moreover, they bought the tokens, worth around million, on June 9, before the team started to promote the token on X.
The firm claims that the timing and amounts “strongly suggest” the wallets belong to the same group. Similarly, two other clusters hold an additional 10% of the supply and seem to be linked through a third wallet.
Bubblemaps urged investors to remain cautious as the insiders “seem to be active on $DADDY and are trying to cover their tracks.” The firm warned that “one of these wallets could nuke the liquidity pool.”
DADDY Surpasses MOTHER
After Tate’s post about DADDY, the crypto community called him out for his posts. Some users suggested he returned when the token was a MOTHER’s level. At the time, Daddy Tate had a million market capitalization and was trading at .1499.
Nonetheless, DADDY gained traction on Wednesday, surging to .36. In 24 hours, the token increased by 143% to a new all-time high (ATH) and reached a 0 million market capitalization. This performance saw the memecoin surpass MOTHER despite the controversial promotion and insider activity allegations.
Since then, the token has retraced to the .24 price level, a 32% decline in the last 12 hours. DADDY had a market cap of 0 million at the time of writing.
Meanwhile, MOTHER saw a 46% surge on Wednesday, which propelled the price from .15 to .22. In the following hours, the memecoin’s price declined 36% to the .14 range before recovering.
As of this writing, Azalea’s token is trading for .17 and has a market capitalization of 9 million. Despite retracing nearly 40% since its June 5 all-time high, MOTHER still exhibits a 1,900% increase from its launch two weeks ago.
Allegations of ‘Rug Pull’ Arise After Gemholic Team Withdraws $3.5M in Previously Locked ETH
On June 7, the team behind the Zksync project Gemholic withdrew 921 previously locked ethereum tokens in a suspected rug-pulling incident. The Gemholic team executed the theft despite reportedly completing the blockchain security firm Solidproof’s Know Your Customer (KYC) process. Zksync’s v24 Upgrade The layer two (L2) Ethereum blockchain scaling protocol, Gemholic, faced allegations of […]
Bitcoin News
Vijay Chetty Steps Up as CEO of Eclipse Labs After Founder Neel Somani’s Departure Over Allegations
Vijay Chetty, the newly appointed CEO of Eclipse Labs, has announced his commitment to leading the company’s mission of bridging the gap between Ethereum and Solana with a high-performance and trust-minimized blockchain. Formerly the Chief Growth Officer, Chetty brings firsthand experience of Eclipse’s potential and has expressed his excitement about the project. He acknowledges the […]
Bitcoin News
Eclipse Labs CEO Steps Down After Sexual Misconduct Allegations Surface
Eclipse Labs founder and CEO Neel Somani has decided to reduce his public role within the company temporarily amid allegations of sexual misconduct, asserting his innocence and readiness to defend his reputation on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. Eclipse Labs, aiming to uphold the highest standards of professionalism and gender equality, […]
Bitcoin News
Latam Insights: Venezuela to Leverage USDT for Sidestepping Sanctions, Chivo Wallet Disregards Hacking Allegations
Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of Latin America’s most relevant crypto and economic news during the last week. In this issue: Venezuelan oil company PDVSA could use USDT to sidestep U.S. sanctions, Chivo Wallet denies hacking allegations, and Nubank expands its crypto functionality in Brazil. Venezuela Might Use USDT for Sidestepping Sanctions Venezuela is […]
Bitcoin News
Terraform Labs Founder Do Kwon Faces Extradition Delay in Montenegro Amid SEC Fraud Allegations
Do Kwon, the embattled former CEO of Terraform Labs, is currently stranded in Montenegro due to extradition delays, following accusations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of conducting a massive fraudulent crypto scheme. Last year, the SEC charged that from April 2018 to May 2022, Terraform and Kwon’s operations resulted in at least […]
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L2 Protocol Manta Network Suffers DDoS Attack, Project Leaders Face Money Laundering Allegations
Manta Network, a modular layer two (L2) protocol, said a distributed denial-of-service attack on Jan. 18 resulted in the network accumulating a large queue of recent transactions. The attack, which occurred during a token-issuing event, is believed to have severely limited communication between the protocol and Manta Network apps.
An Aggressive and Timed Attack
On Jan. 18, the Manta Network, a modular layer two (L2) protocol, announced that it was a victim of a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. The attack resulted in a sharp increase in the number of pending transactions. According to Kenny Li, who shared the DDoS attack alert via X (formerly), the attack initially saw 135 million requests hitting remote procedure call (RPC) nodes, proving that “a very aggressive and timed attack” was underway.
DDoS Attack Update on @MantaNetwork
Hey everyone, we are experiencing a calculated DDoS attack on the network. This happened at 9:30AM UTC, exactly the same time as our TGE event. Since that time, we have seen over 135m requests hit the RPC nodes, which indicates that this is a… pic.twitter.com/EgjUiOvRl0—
Kenny.manta
(
,
) (@superanonymousk) January 18, 2024
The attack, which occurred during a token issuance event, is believed to have severely limited communication between the protocol and Manta Network apps. Some of the apps affected include New Paradigm and Into the Blue. Manta Network initially said it would take steps to counter the impact of the DDoS attack.
“We are working around the clock as a team to get through this. We are creating more DDoS mitigation efforts and communicating with partners and service providers to deploy counteractive measures,” Li, a co-founder at Manta Network, said.
Money Laundering and Scam Allegations
Li, who also identifies himself as a marketing intern, implied in the X post that since the attack was much larger and had lasted longer than the norm, resolving this would require more time. While he did not identify the culprits behind the attack, Li’s post on X appeared to suggest that the Manta Network team may have been aware that certain individuals or organizations were determined to impede the project.
. @MantaNetwork was suspected of money laundering through Bithumb on the day of listing
– 2M $MANTA transferred to personal wallet of MANTA’s Korean BD
– 2M $MANTA was deposited into Bithumb deposit wallet, accounting for more than 75% of Bithumb’s total circulation volume.
-… pic.twitter.com/uMWq6J6D37— Definalist (@definalist) January 18, 2024
Although the post did not elaborate on why anyone would want to harm the project, several scam or money laundering allegation posts on X appeared to offer some clues. For instance, a user named Definalist raised money laundering allegations against the Manta Network team and warned of dire consequences should this turn out to be true. However, in an apparent response to the allegations, Manta Network said it only dispersed the funds in question “to Bithumb to secure liquidity.”
Another user claimed that the Manta Network team had copied a token-dumping tactic usually performed by insiders, particularly developers.
Meanwhile, the Manta Network team disclosed on Jan. 19 that it was still working to resolve the issue. At the time of writing (11 am EST on Jan. 19 ), the MANTA token was changing hands at .27 which translated to a market capitalization of just over 0 million.
What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Former FTX Law Firm Denies Role in Collapse; Challenges Allegations as ‘Fatally Deficient’ in Court Motion
San Francisco-based law firm Fenwick & West LLP is denying allegations from FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried that the firm provided legal advice enabling the alleged fraud that led to the cryptocurrency exchange’s collapse. In a recent court filing, Fenwick & West asserts the allegations are “fatally deficient” and should be dismissed with prejudice.
Law Firm Challenges FTX Founder’s Claims
In a motion to dismiss filed Wednesday in Florida federal court, Fenwick & West argues the complaint fails to state viable claims for conspiracy, aiding and abetting fraud, negligence, or racketeering. The firm asserts the allegations improperly seek to hold it liable based on providing routine legal services to FTX within the scope of representation. Fenwick & West claims the complaint does not show it acted outside its role as legal counsel, an essential element for the asserted causes of action against a law firm.
“A lawyer’s representation of a client and knowledge of their employees does not make them omniscient as to the client’s inner workings,” the motion insists.
Additionally, Fenwick & West contends the complaint lacks plausible allegations the firm had actual knowledge of the alleged fraud by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and other insiders. The firm states the claims fail to specify the purported misconduct with sufficient particularity, as required for fraud-based cases under court procedural rules. Fenwick & West further argue that the complaint does not establish the firm substantially assisted the alleged fraud or proximately caused claimed damages.
“Each of these claims against Fenwick is fatally deficient, and the Complaint should be dismissed in its entirety,” Fenwick & West wrote.
The law firm asserts the complaint is deficient in pleading a claim under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, lacking allegations Fenwick & West agreed to participate in a criminal enterprise or that such an enterprise even existed. Fenwick & West maintain the alleged enterprise comprises only FTX and employees acting within their roles, which recent precedent indicates cannot sustain a RICO claim.
In contrast, attorneys for Bankman-Fried claimed in a separate filing he was assured his actions complied with the law, based on legal advice. The lawyers said Bankman-Fried understood lawyers had reviewed and approved FTX policies, refuting accusations he intended to defraud.
What do you think about Fenwick & West’s court motion? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.