SafeMoon CEO Braden Karony Jailed 100 Months for Fraud
Braden Karony, former CEO and founder of SafeMoon, has been sentenced to 100 months in federal prison for a multi-million dollar crypto fraud scheme. District Judge Eric Komitee delivered the sentence in the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) after U.S. prosecutors presented evidence that Karony defrauded investors by misusing project liquidity and misappropriating over $9 million. He was also ordered to forfeit $7.5 million.
Social media discussions generated overwhelmingly bearish sentiment, with scores frequently observed in the -80 to -90 range. The $SFM token price was $0.000003, showing a 24-hour increase of 2.5% but a 7-day decrease of 0.9%. Mindshare for $SFM also saw a 0.3% change.
Forbes Report, Regulatory Pressure Drive $1.38B Binance Outflows
Binance experienced outflows coinciding with heightened regulatory and investigative pressure on CEO Changpeng Zhao and a Forbes report detailing the exchange's dominant position in the Binance USD ($BUSD) stablecoin market.
The Forbes report highlighted Binance held 87.36% of the total $BUSD supply ($4.69 billion). This concentration was identified as the largest holding of any of the top 10 stablecoins on a single exchange, bringing into focus Binance's control over the $BUSD ecosystem.
Binance Faces Accusations Over Token Listing Programs
Further compounding challenges for Binance, an analyst accused the exchange of misusing its 'Vote to List' and 'Binance Alpha' programs. These initiatives, presented as community-driven, purportedly legitimized insider-associated tokens, facilitating their dumping onto retail investors via disguised paid listing fees. The analyst characterized Binance's listing environment as a 'pay-to-play casino' for 'low-quality tokens' serving as exit liquidity for insiders.
The 'Binance Alpha' program has been noted in relation to the listing of specific tokens, including $WMTX and $EspressoSys, which went live through this now-scrutinized program.
These allegations generated bearish sentiment within the cryptocurrency community, with one GigaBrain user registering a sentiment score of -90 in response to the claims.
Bithumb CEO Grilled Over $40B Bitcoin Valuation Error
Elsewhere in the exchange landscape, South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb faces a formal investigation by lawmakers following a significant Bitcoin valuation error. This discrepancy prompted a legislative probe where Bithumb's CEO was questioned by parliamentary officials. Bithumb officially attributed the $BTC valuation error to a technical system glitch.
The incident generated bearish sentiment, with the overall sentiment for $BTC currently recorded at 56.3% bullish, notably falling below its typical baseline range of 65-75%.
Treasury Secretary Bessent Accuses Coinbase, Projects Spring Clarity Act Completion
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the Clarity Act, a legislative effort for comprehensive crypto regulatory guidelines, is projected for completion this spring. Bessent also indirectly accused Coinbase and CEO Brian Armstrong of obstructing progress toward regulatory clarity within the digital asset industry.
Though his statements lacked specific details of the alleged obstruction, Bessent cited Coinbase and its leadership as impediments to establishing these guidelines.
Following Bessent's announcement and indirect accusation against Coinbase and Armstrong, no immediate or measurable market reaction was observed for major cryptocurrency assets or $COIN.