Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyers deride ‘extremely thin’ DoJ motion, MicroStrategy bought $361.4m in Bitcoin Q2

Happy hump day!

In legal news, Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyers have dismissed a motion by the US Department of Justice to have him jailed for witness tampering.

In other news, MicroStrategy has bought 12,800 Bitcoins, worth $361.4 million, since the first quarter of 2023.

Elsewhere, a Three Arrows Capital founder used his renounced US citizenship as an excuse to avoid a subpoena.

Binance CEO and founder Changpeng Zhao tried to shutter the company’s US branch to save the wider business earlier in 2023, according to sources.

All this and more!

Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyers scoff at remand request

Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyers said that a DoJ motion to have their client remanded into custody was based on “extremely thin” factual evidence, in a Tuesday court filing.

Prosecutors claimed the disgraced FTX founder had shared former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison’s personal diary with the New York Times in order to harass her and tamper with her testimony as a potential witness in his upcoming criminal trial.

MicroStrategy adds 12,800 Bitcoin to its coffers

MicroStrategy has bought 12,800 Bitcoin, worth $361.4 million, since the first quarter of the year, the company said as it announced its second-quarter earnings.

The business software company is back in the black after it posted revenues of $120.4 million on the quarter.

Binance almost shut US branch

Zhao nearly closed Binance’s US branch in an effort to save the international business, according to The Information.

The board of directors for Binance.US could not reach a consensus to liquidate the company, with CEO Brian Shroder the lone holdout in the vote, sources told the publication.

3AC co-founder says US laws don’t apply to him

Three Arrows Capital co-founder Kyle Davies said him having renounced his US citizenship in 2020 means the country’s laws no longer apply to him, in an attempt to avoid contempt proceedings in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Davies — whose fund collapsed in 2022 after the fall of the Terra ecosystem — wrote a judge on Tuesday in lieu of appearing in person.

Litecoin halving set for today

Cryptocurrency Litecoin’s third halving takes place today, which will see the coin’s emissions cut in half.

Litecoin creator Charlee Lee said in a Twitter stream last week that the halving should slow inflation and help to achieve mass adoption.

What we’re reading from around the web

ApeCoin price sinks to all-time low as Bored Ape NFTs dip again — Decrypt

GameStop’s quest for relevance—following meme-stock madness—won’t include crypto wallets, which it’s ending amid ‘regulatory uncertainty’ — Fortune

MakerDAO’s MKR, Ripple’s XRP and Stellar’s XLM led crypto gainers in July — CoinDesk