Techmeme
November 30, 2022, 12:45 PM

Top News

Financial Times:
Interviews detail FTX and SBF's lavish spending, aided by minimal internal controls, including $300M+ on Bahamas real estate and chartering Amazon deliveries  —  When crypto exchange FTX moved its headquarters to the Bahamas from Hong Kong last year, employees discovered that Amazon did not deliver to the island.
Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez / Fortune:
In an interview, SBF claims he donated about the same amount to both parties in 2022 but the GOP donations were “dark” money, discusses Alameda, FTT, and more  —  Sam Bankman-Fried's donations to Democrats are well documented.  In an interview released Tuesday …
Gregory Zuckerman / Wall Street Journal:
Sources detail Alameda's early years, starting in fall 2017, as SBF shrugged off concerns about risky investments, leading several employees to quit in 2018  —  ‘We ended up not really knowing how much money we even had,’ one former employee says  —  Why FTX Picked the Bahamas, and What Happens Now to the Crypto Hub
Juliana Liu / CNN:
Chinese state media: a five-day COVID lockdown in Zhengzhou, home of Foxconn's “iPhone City”, has been lifted; an analyst says disruptions cost Apple ~$1B/week  —  Hong Kong CNN Business —  The central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, home to the world's largest iPhone factory …
Danny Nelson / CoinDesk:
US crypto exchange Kraken plans to lay off 1,100 people, or 30% of its workforce, citing a need to “adapt to current market conditions”  —  The crypto exchange is laying off 1,100 people, sending its headcount back 12 months.  —  Crypto exchange Kraken said Wednesday …
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
The European Central Bank says that bitcoin is “rarely used for legal transactions” and is on the “road to irrelevance”, without citing any strong data points  —  European Central Bank officials alleged on Wednesday that bitcoin is “rarely used for legal transactions …
Jackie Davalos / Bloomberg:
Memo: DoorDash plans to lay off around 1,250 employees, aiming to curb expenses; sources say that represents around 6% of its workforce  —  DoorDash Inc. is cutting about 1,250 jobs to rein in expenses, acknowledging that a rapid expansion during the pandemic boom has led to mounting losses.
Platformer:
Sara Dorn / Forbes:
Ariel Shapiro / The Verge:
Spotify releases Wrapped 2022 for users, adding a “music personality” feature, and says Joe Rogan, Emma Chamberlain, and others were its top podcasters  —  Spotify Wrapped is here, and with it, a slew of year-end charts, data, and graphics ripe for sharing.
Christiana Loureiro / The Block:
IBM and Maersk plan to shutter their blockchain supply chain service TradeLens, launched in 2018, in Q1 2023; Maersk blames a lack of industry collaboration  —  - The companies made a viable platform but couldn't get a global collaboration going.  —  Danish shipping company Maersk and IBM …
Olivia Carville / Bloomberg:
A look at TikTok's role in spreading the “blackout challenge”, leading some kids to choke themselves to death, as critics say the company could be doing more  —  “Sissy's tangled!”  —  The 5-year-old boy's panicked cries echoed down the hallway of the Arroyos' three-bedroom clapboard house in Milwaukee.
Financial Times:
A look at China's growing interest in the open-source Risc-V chip architecture after US sanctions, including enlisting Alibaba and Tencent to help design chips  —  Chinese government steps up push to use Risc-V in move aimed at boosting domestic production of semiconductors
Emily Nicolle / Bloomberg:
Emboldened by FTX's collapse, the disgraced founders of Terra, Celsius, and Three Arrows Capital have reemerged, offering their thoughts on SBF, FTX, and more  —  Welcome to Bloomberg Crypto, our twice-weekly look at Bitcoin, blockchain and more.  If someone forwarded this to you, sign up here.
Annie Lowrey / The Atlantic:
A look at Black American crypto investors, many of whom bought in near the top, as the market declines from its 2021 peak and some lose significant sums  —  Two years ago, a Maryland-based information-technology specialist—who asked to remain anonymous for reasons that will become apparent in a minute …
Kristin Majcher / The Block:
Brazil's Chamber of Deputies has approved a longstanding crypto bill defining digital assets and their service providers; bill now requires president's approval  —  - Brazil's chamber of deputies finally approved a long-awaited crypto regulation bill.  — The bill could now go to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for approval.
The Intercept:
Some prominent antifascist organizers and journalists have had Twitter accounts suspended in the past week, after right-wing operatives appealed to Elon Musk  —  Elon Musk claims to be “fighting for free speech in America” but the social network's new owner appears to be overseeing a purge of left-wing activists from the platform.
Yogita Khatri / The Block:
Binance acquires Japan-based licensed exchange Sakura Exchange BitCoin for an undisclosed sum, the exchange's re-entry to Japan and first license in East Asia  —  - Binance has entered Japan by acquiring the locally licensed exchange Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC).  — The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
CNBC:
In a bankruptcy hearing, BlockFi's lawyers say the lender plans to reopen withdrawals, BlockFi lent $671M to Alameda and has $355M frozen on FTX, and more  —  - BlockFi's first bankruptcy hearing in New Jersey kicked off on Tuesday, with lawyers emphasizing the crypto lender's strong corporate controls and customer prioritization.

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