Tether freezes $225M, Kronos gets hacked, Apple gets sued, Bittrex to shut down, and Microsoft hi…

Frozen funds API hacks class action Lawsuits shutter doors and much More good morning you're listening to The ryzen crypto podcast by coin Telegraph with me Robert bags steering You through the crypto Cosmos with daily Dispatches from the digital Frontier if You want to stay ahead of the curve in Crypto make sure you click that follow Button grab yourself a coffee let's get Into [Music] It okay that intro was not high perb There really is some craziness today so Let's do a quick rundown of what we will Be covering tether has frozen $225 Million worth of usdt connected to a Romance scam Kronos research halted Trading after $25 million of eth was Stolen apple is being sued for blocking Crypto technology in peer-to-peer Payment apps bitrex Global announced all Trading will be disabled as it winds Down operations and Microsoft hires Sam Alman after the open AI firing and Microsoft stock price it's an all-time High right let's start with that big Number the stable coin issuer tether has Frozen around $225 million of usdt Tether that are reportedly connected to A crime syndicate in Southeast Asia Syndicate in question is running what is Known as a pig butchering romance scam I Couldn't have been alone on having no

Earthly idea what that meant so I went Down the rabbit hole it is essentially a Blend of two different types of scam the First is a typical romance scam where Victims are contacted through social Media or dating apps and time is spent Growing a long-distance relationship Once the relationship is established Enough the scammer will present small Investment opportunities and in some Cases will even give the victim returns To keep cultivating the fake Relationship this is where the Metaphorical term Pig butchering comes In it refers to the scammer fattening up A victim with more and more investment Opportunities before eventually Financially slaughtering them and Running so yeah it's as gross as it Sounded tether announced yesterday that Has been working with doj and the crypto Exchange okx to freeze the $225 million Of usdt in and I quote external Self-coded wallets remember that line we Need to come back to it it is an Insidious and callous practice that can Devastate its victims from multiple Angles and ought to be prosecuted as Aggressively as possible but I need to Step back and be more objective about This and there are two areas of Interest Firstly and again I can't be alone on This $225 million being frozen that a

Staggering amount of money from scams And presumably not the totality of the Scams loot either I was not aware these Scams were being conducted on such an Industrial scale the second thread I Think worth pulling is found in that Quote about the self- custo wallets as Mor clearcut as the case seems on the Face of things an issue of Cryptocurrency stable coin or otherwise Being able to freeze assets in a self- Custodi wallet fills a odds with the Crypto ethos in some way Turner Wright Is The Man Behind the article yesterday So I decided to speak to him about this In regards to tether freezing $225 Million worth of its stable coin usdt Following a request from US law Enforcement it seems to be purely Targeting this crime syndicate Behind These romance scams but my concern in All of this is having a central Authority in this case tether the stable Coin issuer uh having the ability to do So even if it is in response to a Legitimate request it's the same um same Kind of position we see around crypto Exchanges that have to reply to law Enforcement requests when they're based In the country uh where the enforcement Action occurs but for people who hold Private keys on their own crypto and Don't engage this kind of activity it Could raise a few red flags what do you

Make of this tweet me at RK Bags okay let's get all of the stories Of duplicitous Behavior out of the way In one go shall we the quantitative Trading firm Kronos research revealed on Sunday the 19th of November that was Having to Halt trading while they Investigated a security issue Kronos Wrote on Twitter sorry X in the interest Of transparency around 4 hours ago we Experienced unauthorized access of some Of our API Keys We paused all trading While we conducted an investigation Potential losses are not a significant Portion of our equity and we aim to Resume trading as soon as possible a Classic ship steadying Tweet now enter The blockchain sleuth and digital Detective Zack xbt who seems to be a bit Of a regular on this show now Zack Tweeted some further information on the Story noting that around $25 million of Eth was siphoned to six different crypto Wallet addresses from a chonus research Account across six transactions the Hacker stole 12,800 eth I spoke to the author of this Article arit SAR for the current Situation preventing hacks is often out Of our control but how you react to the Situation in that moment determines your Long-term fate as a company that being Said kudos to the Kronos research team For being proactive in inform ining the

Community about the hack and sharing a Recovery plan right after we published The report on the hack Kronos confirmed The loss of funds which is now around $26 million but thankfully they decided To cover the losses internally which Essentially helps build investor Confidence during tough times in these Situations You' often see the entire Community like exchanges private Investigators and the media like Ourselves come together to help out in Their own ways which I think is awesome Konos research has indefinitely Haled Trading services until the internal Investigations uncover how exactly the Hacker gained access to some of kronos's API Keys so Apple has found itself the Subject of another lawsuit pertaining to Antitrust and anti-competitive actions But this time it directly involves Crypto Apple was originally unwilling to Allow any crypto or blockchain apps or Games on its app store which it has Always exerted careful and restrictive Control over although this was Eventually lifted Apple did secure their 30% Apple tax act which irked a lot of People in the space however a new Lawsuit filed in a federal court in San Jose California alleges wrongdoings over Peer-to-peer P2P payments a group of Consumers from various states around the

US filed the suit on Friday though it Was only yesterday that the story really Made it to the public Martin Young wrote An article about the class action Lawsuit against apple and its agreements With PayPal's venmo and blocks Previously square cash app the Plaintiffs alleged that these agreements Restrict competition in features most Notably the use of decentralized Cryptocurrency technology in P2P payment Apps what this means is Apple's control Over apps and web browser technology on IPhones and iPads has extended to P2P Payment apps necessarily excluding Crypto that is if you want to have a P2P Payment app on Apple you need to exclude Crypto the plaintiffs argue that this Has led to an increase in prices for Transactions and services with no Competitive checks what caught my eye With this story is that the suit is Solely against apple and it's not Against PayPal and block as far as I can Tell the most likely reason for this is That Apple was making the exclusion of Crypto in P2P payment apps Non-negotiable PayPal and block were Essentially forced to adhere even if it Is a misuse of Market Power by Apple as The class action lawsuit suggests look We're a long way from any sort of Outcome on this and I don't imagine the Ring would move the crypto needle but it

Would be a positive if all the biggest P2P payment apps on Apple devices Allowed Crypto next up is the bitrex story Bitrex is one of the best known Exchanges in crypto and it Formed back In 2014 earlier this year bitrex us Announced plans to wind down operations In the US due to continued regulatory Uncertainty bitrex us filed for chapter 11 protection in the US bankruptcy court And settled with the SEC for $24 million In penalties and interest in April of This year the SEC also charged bitrex Global the headquarters based in Lonstein in connection with its Operation of a single shared order book Along with bitrex now it's not known Whether this is the cause but yesterday Bitrex Global announced that it too was Winding down operations they wrote Effective Monday the 4th of December 2023 all trading activity on bitrex Global will be disabled after that date Customers will only be able to withdraw Assets as part of the winding down Process all of our customers are Strongly encouraged to log into their Account and withdraw assets as soon as Possible all funds remain safe and Secure on the bitrex global platform and Are available for withdrawal in Accordance with applicable law and our Terms of service at any time what adds a

Little bit more Credence to the SEC as a Motivation for winding down Global Operations is that bitrex wrote that Additionally the exchange will not pay Out in US Dollars it instructed Customers to convert the US Dollars into Crypto or Euros prior to withdrawing This is a bit of a sad day for the space Really bitrex has been a staple exchange For years still if you have ever used The platform make sure you log in and Check if you have any funds on It okay finally we have to talk about The chaos unfolding the world of AI as It does affect crypto to catch you up in Case you missed any of this the founder Of open AI Sam mman was fired by the Board of directors open AI is best known For creating chat GPT and Orman has Headed up this incredible feat after the Shock announcement co-founder and President of open AI Greg Brockman also Stepped down as a result the story gets Even more absurd though Microsoft has a Partnership with open Ai and owns what Is thought to be around 49% of the Company so it wasn't unexpected when Microsoft CEO Satia nadela came out on Social media to say that they are still Committed to the partnership what was Surprising however is that Microsoft in The same breath announced that Alman and Brockman among others will be joining Microsoft to lead a new Advanced AI

Research team the impact of this little Saga will be far reaching there's no Doubt of that but in the immediate term Microsoft stock hit an all-time high Parenthetically related nvidia's stock Also hit an alltime high partially Propelled by their position as the go-to Outlet for artificial intelligence Training Hardware as Tristan green put In this article this will inevitably Impact crypto in a few ways Microsoft Has active involvement in blockchain Ai And blockchain have been converging more And more of late Alman created the bio Metric cryptocurrency project for Digital identity worldcoin and Nvidia is Central to the crypto mining industry so Yes this bizarre story and reshuffle is Going to have effects that for count in All directions from the point of impact Many of which will likely affect crypto So although this doesn't seem on the Face of things like a crypto story it is Worth planting a flag Here okay I'm introducing a new speed Brand well I will briefly mention a Story that didn't Warr on a full section But is worth knowing the crypto exchange Bullish has bought 100% % stake in the Crypto media site coindesk for an Undisclosed fee the site will now work Under an independent editorial committee Chaired by former Wall Street Journal Editor and Chief Matt

Murray wow that was a lot of information For one episode but that is it for today Consider yourself informed thank you for Listening to the ryen crypto podcast by Coin Telegraph if you're enjoying these Daily updates please please please make Sure you let us know by following Subscribing or leaving a review have a Great day let's do this again tomorrow [Music] One