Illustration by Mitchell Preffer for decoding
Legal intrigue was the theme this week, and crypto Twitter was left sitting on the edge of its seat as it booed and cheered in equal measure.
On Monday, a federal judge refused to be fired The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)'s ongoing lawsuit against Coinbase has found most of the regulator's key arguments to be “plausible,” and is largely based on the fact that the SEC has jurisdiction over much of the crypto industry. Agreed.
Coinbase leadership predictably quickly dismissed the ruling, making it clear that the ruling in no way means the crypto exchange has lost, only that the case is now heading to trial. did.
But legal experts say the judge in the case at one point It seemed like he was persuaded. Coinbase's discussion shows that much of the logic behind the SEC's argument is sound.
The buzz surrounding this decision became so large that even Edward Snowden weighed in, dismissing the decision as meaningless, and other decisions, political developments, and legal structures in the United States ultimately led to the SEC It predicted that it would be forced to suspend law enforcement operations against a wide range of countries. Cryptocurrency industry.
Of course, the biggest legal news of the week came on Thursday. That's when FTX founder Sam Bankman Freed was sentenced in disgrace. sentenced to 25 years in prison He is in federal prison for his role in a criminal fraud on a virtual currency exchange.
Details of the sentencing hearing were filtered primarily from the Manhattan courtroom and broadcast around the world through a single Twitter account.inner city press-Which He often live-tweeted court proceedings in New York City.
Bankman Fried's sentencing record was filled with gems that quickly spread online. The former billionaire's lawyer praised Bankman Fried as a “beautiful puzzle,” while the judge in the case, Lewis Kaplan, slammed the cryptocurrency founder's testimony as the worst ever. This will be the first time in approximately 30 years that the defendant will appear in court.
Many crypto users who voraciously consumed live tweets of sentencing hearings were clearly more comfortable tracking ever-changing crypto prices than focusing on hours-long legal proceedings. was. Nearly two hours into the hearing, in which Mr. Bankman Fried, his attorney, the FTX victim, and Judge Kaplan all gave lengthy speeches, some Twitter users reached their breaking point and weighed in on the length of the defendant's sentence. I was desperate for news.
The news came soon. And when it did, crypto Twitter was divided between those who expected Bankman Fried to receive a harsher sentence and those who were sentenced to 25 years in prison. Probably a run-down federal prison That would be sufficient punishment for a first-time non-violent offender.
But make no mistake, the Bankman Freed verdict was a historic and cathartic milestone for the crypto industry, and the verdict has quickly become immortalized. usually dark A provocative work by digital artist Beeple.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
