GM. Daily Squeeze here – your crypto marmalade spread, capturing the texture of the market in every spoonful of news.
🐙 Operation Kraken: Aussie cops take down criminals using a secret app called Ghost.
🤞 Diddy hired the lawyer of SBF.
🍊 News drops: Pavel Durov clarifies some misunderstandings regarding the change of privacy policy on Telegram, Binance secures a VASP license in Argentina, Bitwise eyes an XRP ETF + more
🍍 Market flavour today
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| Crypto Market Cap $2.24 Trillion -4.8% (24H) | |||
| Name | Price | 24H % | 7D % |
|---|---|---|---|
 Bitcoin BTC |
$61,262.11 | -2.25% | -3.60% |
 Ethereum ETH |
$2,442.87 | -5.48% | -6.71% |
 BNB BNB |
$544.36 | -3.98% | -8.52% |
 Solana SOL |
$145.42 | -4.84% | -3.37% |
| Prices as of 10:20 AM EST. Click here to see live data. |
The crypto market's taking a bit of a tumble as we kick off October, folks! So much for "Uptober," huh? The Fear and Greed Index has dipped to 42, edging us closer to the "Fear" zone.
What's shaking things up? Recent attacks from Iran against Israel have heightened tensions in the Middle East, causing investors to seek safer havens like gold and government bonds. The US dollar is also gaining strength in this uncertain climate. But here's a nugget of wisdom from Bitwise's Matt Hougan: when you crunch the numbers on risk vs. reward, Bitcoin still comes out on top compared to gold. Take that, shiny metal!
Looking ahead, signals are mixed. While over-the-counter Bitcoin supply has doubled since March, retail activity remains sluggish. Some optimistic traders are still eyeing six-figure Bitcoin prices this year. And don't sleep on Ethereum! Some analysts are predicting a stellar October for ETH, with derivative markets showing signs of a mood lift.
Remember, in the crypto wild west, today's dip could be tomorrow's rocket fuel. Keep your wits about you, your strategy flexible, and maybe invest in a good stress ball 🧘♂️
🐙 Operation Kraken
Just to clear things up, this has nothing to do with Kraken, the crypto exchange. We're talkin' the mythical sea monster that destroys ships and… holds criminals accountable… or something like that; I don't remember the story too well.
Anyways, Operation Kraken is a mission that the Australian Federal Police (AFP) initiated to bust a criminal group linked to an app called Ghost. This secret app is a tool for pretty much anything criminal you can think of—from drug trafficking to finding a guy who can make sure no one can find some other guy anymore.
So, how's this operation going? Well, the AFP managed to infiltrate the app and caught the mastermind behind it, Jay Je Yoon Jung, a few weeks ago.
Jung had a team selling ✨ special ✨ smartphones for about $1.6K, which came with a six-month subscription to the app + tech support. The AFP alleges that there are currently around 376 of these devices in use in Australia.
Now, the latest update: cops searched Jung's house and found his personal devices. With the help of the Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT), they cracked a seed phrase (basically a sequence of random words that give you access to a user's funds on-chain) and confiscated over $6.4M in crypto linked to his shady business.
And not only did Jung lose all his cash, but he's also facing up to 26 years in prison.
Commenting on the situation, AFP Commander Scott Raven warned everyone else involved with Ghost: "We will identify your ill-gotten goods and take them away from you, leaving you with nothing."
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🤞 Prison besties in the making?
I've got a quick riddle for ya.
- There's this guy whose name rhymes with Jam Crankman—Speed. He founded a crypto exchange that collapsed in 2022.
- There's this other guy whose name rhymes with Lawn Gnomes. He's a Grammy Award-winning rapper and record producer.
The question: what's something the two have in common?
If you guessed that we're talking about FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried (aka SBF) and Sean Combs (aka Puffy, aka P Diddy, aka too many stage names to keep track of), you're already halfway there.
And lemme tell you, they've got more in common than you'd think. Let's break it down:
1/ Both got major legal issues
As you probably already know, SBF was found guilty of seven financial fraud charges and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Diddy's now in the criminal spotlight, too, arrested on accusations of assault, racketeering, and even sex trafficking.
2/ They're roomies (kinda)
The New York Times reported that the two are staying in the same cell at a Brooklyn jail. Except they're not the type of cellmates you'd imagine (you know, sharing a bunk bed and reading each other bedtime stories or whatever)—it's more of a big dorm-style room with a bunch of other defendants. But still.
3/ They share a lawyer
Enter Alexandra Shapiro. She's the lawyer working to appeal SBF's conviction and sentence. And now? Diddy's also hired her, hoping she'd help him after his $50M bail offer got rejected.
Crazy how life works. SBF and Diddy—two totally different worlds, colliding in the face of the law… mo money, mo problems.
📰 News drops
💬 Pavel Durov clarified that Telegram has been sharing data of users involved in criminal activities with authorities for years. He emphasized that while Telegram is still all about freedom and privacy, they won't let criminals use the platform to dodge the law.
🇦🇷 Binance is now officially registered as a virtual asset service provider (VASP) with Argentina's National Securities Commission (CNV). This means users in Argentina can enjoy all of Binance's services through the website and mobile app.
🗂️ Bitwise has filed for an XRP ETF with Delaware's Division of Corporations. While this is a big step forward, a formal filing with the SEC is likely still months away.
🌞 Justin Sun scored an $8.75 million airdrop from Eigenlayer, Ethereum's restaking solution. The project dropped its EIGEN tokens six months ago, and they finally became tradable yesterday.
🇪🇺 The European Blockchain Sandbox has revealed the regulators and authorities that have joined its second cohort. This sandbox creates a Europe-wide framework for open discussions between regulators and innovators, aiming to boost legal clarity for new blockchain tech solutions.
🍌 Juicy memes
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