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A Conversation with Jonathan Levin at Strictly VC NYC 2024

Yashad Kulkarni — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 02:30:00 +0000

Rebecca Bellan in conversation with Jonathan Levin, co-founder and CSO of Chainalysis at Strictly VC NYC 2024. Subscribe for more on YouTube: https://tcrn.ch/youtube Follow TechCrunch on Instagram: http://tcrn.ch/instagram TikTok: https://tcrn.ch/tiktok X: tcrn.ch/x Threads: https://tcrn.ch/threads Facebook: https://tcrn.ch/facebook Bluesky: https://tcrn.ch/bluesky Mastodon: https://tcrn.ch/mstdn Read more: https://techcrunch.com/

FTX bankruptcy estate sues Anthony Scaramucci, FWD.us, others

Anthony Ha — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 00:05:30 +0000

Bankrupt cryptocurrency company FTX filed 23 lawsuits Friday against Anthony Scaramucci (pictured above), his hedge fund SkyBridge Capital, and other organizations, including Crypto.com and the Mark Zuckerberg-backed lobbying group Fwd.us. These lawsuits are an attempt to claw back money for FTX’s creditors following the company’s collapse. FTX claims that the money targeted in these suits […]

Block scales back TIDAL investment and shutters TBD in favor of Bitcoin mining

Maxwell Zeff — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 03:41:02 +0000

Jack Dorsey’s Block is scaling back its investment in TIDAL, the music streaming platform once owned by Jay-Z, according to a shareholder letter on Thursday. Block is also shutting down TBD, a Bitcoin-focused arm of the business that previously set out to build a decentralized internet, dubbed “Web5.” These cuts will free up the company […]

Crypto CEO kidnapped in Toronto, released after paying $1M ransom

Maxwell Zeff — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 00:44:50 +0000

The CEO of Canadian cryptocurrency firm WonderFi was kidnapped and held for ransom on Wednesday, according to CBC. Dean Skurka was reportedly shoved into a vehicle in downtown Toronto during rush hour, only to be released uninjured after electronically sending $1 million (presumably CAD) to his captors. The WonderFi CEO is the latest crypto celebrity […]

Three venture capitalists try to find the consensus of crypto VC

Yashad Kulkarni — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 20:25:00 +0000

In the crypto space, it’s time to scale. All signs point toward a period of growth with high market prices, a more favorable regulatory landscape and a large ecosystem of scaling solutions that work. Watch as TechCrunch Reporter Romain Dillet talks with NFX General Partner Morgan Beller, Galaxy Ventures General Partner Will Nuelle, and Dragonfly […]

Prominent crypto critic says someone offered bribes to take down a blog post

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 17:49:11 +0000

Crypto critic Molly White received emails from a purported lawyer and someone working for a “reputation management company” offering bribes in exchange for the takedown of a blog post about the arrest of an alleged crypto fraudster.

6 days to go: TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 kicks off and ticket prices go up

TechCrunch Events — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 15:44:23 +0000

The clock is ticking down! Just 6 days to go until TechCrunch Disrupt 2024! Join 10,000 industry leaders from around the world at Moscone West in San Francisco from October 28-30 to witness groundbreaking discussions with top-tier industry experts, elite networking, an exciting showcase of the newest tech innovations, and so much more. Time is […]

Sam Altman’s Worldcoin becomes World and shows new iris-scanning Orb to prove your humanity

Maxwell Zeff — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 20:10:40 +0000

Worldcoin, the Sam Altman co-founded “proof of personhood” crypto project that scans people’s eyeballs, announced on Thursday that it dropped the “coin” from its name and is now just “World.” The startup behind the World project, Tools for Humanity, also unveiled its next generation of iris-scanning “Orbs” and other tools at a live event in […]

African crypto startup Yellow Card raises $33M led by Blockchain Capital to scale its B2B pivot

Tage Kene-Okafor — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 16:36:58 +0000

Africa’s blockchain and crypto space is receiving a much-needed venture boost during a tough time for startups, some of which have retreated from specific markets or completely shut down due to issues like harsh regulatory environment, macros, or downright mismanagement. The boost involves Yellow Card, the U.S.-founded crypto platform launched in Nigeria in 2019, which […]

FTX’s Ryan Salame posts jokes on LinkedIn as he heads to prison

Amanda Silberling — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 20:03:55 +0000

After the criminal implosion of the crypto exchange FTX, many of the company’s executives have been found guilty on various counts of fraud or conspiracy to commit such acts. Ryan Salame, the former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, is starting his seven-and-a-half-year fraud sentence today, but not before posting an all-time absurd LinkedIn post (and […]

Chainalysis CEO Michael Gronager steps down in move described as temporary

Connie Loizos — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 02:25:45 +0000

Michael Gronager, co-founder and CEO of Chainalysis, has taken a personal leave of absence from the company. The blockchain analysis outfit isn’t sharing why but says the development is temporary. According to The Block, which first reported the news, Chainalysis President and COO Sari Granat, who joined the outfit in 2022, is acting as interim […]

Binance founder ‘CZ’ released from custody after four-month sentence

Maxwell Zeff — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 22:20:07 +0000

Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao was released from U.S. custody on Friday after serving out his four-month sentence in a low-security correctional facility. CZ’s sentence was the product of a federal investigation that found Binance had failed to stop widespread criminal activity on the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. CZ pleaded guilty to the DOJ’s charges, […]

Last hours to snag up to $600 off TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 passes

TechCrunch Events — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 14:30:00 +0000

We’re in the final hours to save up to $600 on TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 tickets! Grab your tickets now and seize this final opportunity for major savings before the countdown to Disrupt 2024 starts. This special discount offer ends tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT. Join a global community of over 10,000 tech, startup, and VC […]

2 days left to save up to $600 on TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 tickets

TechCrunch Events — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 14:30:00 +0000

We’re in the final stretch of Ticket Reboot Week with just 48 hours remaining! You can still save up to $600 on individual ticket types to TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. Don’t wait — this offer ends on September 27 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Don’t miss out on this last big sale before the countdown to Disrupt […]

Tomasz Tunguz’s Theory Ventures bets $12M on Initia, the ‘iOS for web3’

Rita Liao — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 13:00:00 +0000

The promise of blockchain to change the world hasn’t materialized. For the most part, the technology has instead enabled people to speculate on a new asset class. A big hurdle to realizing blockchain’s full potential, web3 proponents argue, is that decentralized services are incredibly hard to build. Tomasz Tunguz, best known for his popular startup […]

Caroline Ellison sentenced to two years in prison for FTX fraud

Amanda Silberling — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 21:11:58 +0000

Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of FTX affiliate Alameda Research, was sentenced to two years in prison on Tuesday. Ellison pled guilty to conspiring with FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried to steal $8 billion worth of customers’ funds, but she was an exceedingly cooperative witness, helping law enforcement to investigate the massive fraud scheme. Her two-year sentence […]

A walk through the crypto jungle at Korea Blockchain Week

Kate Park — Sun, 15 Sep 2024 11:17:00 +0000

Blockchain technology is all about decentralization and virtualization. So it’s a little ironic that humans love to come together in person at big blockchain events. Such was the case last week in Seoul, where a record 17,000 people and 300 speakers came together for Korea Blockchain Week. Like traditional tech conferences, the event featured a […]

Sam Bankman-Fried appeals conviction, criticizes judge’s ‘unbalanced’ decisions

Anthony Ha — Sat, 14 Sep 2024 18:14:56 +0000

Lawyers representing Sam Bankman-Fried, the FTX CEO and co-founder who was convicted of fraud and money laundering late last year, are seeking a new trial. Following crypto exchange FTX’s collapse, Bankman-Fried was found guilty on all seven counts, then sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay $11 billion in forfeiture. He has […]

Telegram CEO Durov’s arrest hasn’t dampened enthusiasm for its TON blockchain

Rita Liao — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 15:46:48 +0000

Telegram has had a tough few weeks. The messaging app’s founder, Pavel Durov, was arrested in late August and later released on a €5 million bail in France, charged with running a company complicit in distributing child sexual abuse material and facilitating drug trafficking and organized fraud. Predictably, that crashed the price of the network’s […]

Bitcoin and NFTs may get greater legal protections as ‘personal property’ under proposed UK law

Paul Sawers — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 13:24:01 +0000

The U.K. government has introduced a new bill to Parliament which proposes new legal protections for digital assets such as Bitcoin.