YouTuber BitBoy snubs FTX court for Bahamas cruise, Coinbase goes to Bermuda to escape US regulatory doubts

YouTuber Ben Armstrong opts for Bahamas cruise over mandatory court appearance

“BitBoy Crypto” YouTuber Ben Armstrong intends to snub a mandatory court appearance this week — to attend a BitBoy-themed crypto cruise in the Bahamas.

A judge ordered Armstrong to appear in court this Thursday to answer for alleged harassment towards class action lawyer Adam Moskowitz.

Armstrong has publicly communicated via Twitter and email intentions to “totally blow up” Moskowitz’s $1 billion case, which targets various celebrity promoters such as NFL star Tom Brady and funnyman Larry David.

Coinbase announces plans to expand offshore amid unclear US environment

Coinbase is doubling down on its plans to “Go Broad & Go Deep,” as the company announced in a Wednesday blog that it would expand operations to both Bermuda and Abu Dhabi.

The company disclosed it had received a licence form the Bermuda Monetary Authority, and plans to open an offshore derivatives exchange in the island nation immediately.

CEO Brian Armstrong said Tuesday that crypto firms would relocate to friendlier jurisdictions if the US does not create a regulatory framework for crypto companies.

NOW READ: Why EU is ‘ahead of other jurisdictions’ on crypto as MiCA set to kick in

Mysterious $10m multi-wallet exploit has crypto veterans baffled

Crypto veterans are baffled by a combined $10 million in fund having been drained from various “O.G” wallets since December.

The method of attack is still undetermined, and it doesn’t seems to matter whether or not wallets are protected by advanced security measures.

In terms of what the exploiter is doing with funds, various firms investigating the attack have traced many of the funds to so-called privacy mixers such as Coinomize or Wasabi.

NOW READ: ‘Sandwich bots’ filch millions off unwitting investors during meme coin rally

Russia allowing limited crypto use to cope with sanctions

The Bank of Russia announced Monday it is working on a bill that would allow the use of cryptocurrencies to facilitate import-export deals.

The bank’s chief, Elvira Naiullina, reiterated that crypto trading and payments would still be illegal in the country, but that mining operations to support the new initiative would be assisted by the government.

It is still unclear which types of organisations will be permitted to participate, but talks are reportedly ongoing.

The news comes as sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine has hit the nation hard and deepened its relationship with China.

Russia has had a hot-and-cold attitude to crypto, with the central bank having called for a ban in the past. While President Vladimir Putin has expressed an openness to digital assets, he signed a law in 2022 that prohibited crypto payments.

NOW READ: Pro-Russian neo-Nazis’ Telegram campaigns raise $5m in crypto – but it’s ‘significantly harder’

NY state regulator denies crypto connection to Signature Bank collapse

New York state’s financial regulator again denied a crypto connection to the March collapse of Signature Bank, stating the run on the bank occurred across multiple sectors.

New York State Department of Financial Services Superintendent Adrienne Harris stated at a hearing Wednesday that crypto deposits, as well as outflows during the run itself, were proportional to other sectors, at roughly 20% of activity.

Some crypto advocates have stated that the closure and consequent restructuring of the bank was part of a concerted effort by US officials to attack the digital asset space — an allegation Harris has denied on several occasions.

NOW READ: ‘Regulatory Game of Thrones’ risks derailing crypto rules

Sotheby’s to sell off seized Three Arrows Capital NFTs

Sotheby’s auction house will offload a collection of NFTs seized from Three Arrows Capital, the bankrupt hedge fund that played a large part in the crypto collapses of 2022.

Sotheby’s announced the sale in a Wednesday press release, referring to the so-called Grails collection as “some of the most significant artworks ever assembled.”

The NFTs comprise only a portion of 3AC’s extensive collection, the remainder of which are being managed by liquidator Teneo.

Sam Bankman-Fried’s legal team can’t figure out how to install spyware on his parents’ smartphones — Decrypt

KyberSwap discovers critical bug in ‘elastic’ AMM — The Defiant

Trump’s second NFT collection sells out while prices on first collection plunge — CoinDesk