Market Watch | Bitcoin | $10,726 | 7 day: +3.6% | | Ethereum | $356 | 7 day: +8.3% | | All crypto | $344b | 7 day: +6.2% | | Bitcoin dominance | 57.6% | 7 day: -1.4% | Prices as of 4:30 p.m. EDT
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The Verge publishes an exposé of Tron's (TRX) founder and BitTorrent (BTT) CEO Justin Sun. A reporter from Decrypt recently named Justin Sun "the P.T. Barnum of Crypto." - The report begins with the well-known history of Tron's plagiarized whitepaper, with copied text and code from Ethereum and Filecoin. The report raises criminal concerns, including Chinese actors' disappearance of a Reddit moderator known as "perogies," and alleged workplace violence.
- Reporters identify unethical behaviors and quote BitTorrent employees, some of whom are suing Justin Sun.
- Sources include Lucasz Juraszek, Richard Hall, & Cong Li.
- The majority of business activity on Tron (TRX) today revolves around gambling.
- Justin responded with an open letter denying the allegations, saying that disputes are pending arbitration.
- Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin calls it an "amazing long read."
- We have been following Justin Sun's relationship with Changpeng Zhao, Dan Larimer's Steemit (STEEM), and other issues here at Inside Cryptocurrency Premium.
The Verge 
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 On Monday, Coindesk Research released its Sept. 26 analysis of Silvergate Bank (NYSE:SI). Importantly, Silvergate's cryptocurrency deposits are not growing, as illustrated on page 11 of the report. - Despite increased competition, Coindesk affirms that Silvergate Bank remains a dominant bank for USD-to-crypto fiat onramps.
- Silvergate is a crypto-friendly bank based in the U.S whose customers include large digital asset businesses like Coinbase, Bitstamp, Gemini, and Genesis Capital.
- The bank offers a digital currency service called Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN) and other crypto-friendly services.
- SEN expedites transfers between Silvergate customers. During Q2, SEN reportedly handled over $22b and onboarded 881 customers.
- Silvergate bank applied for a New York State license to establish a bitcoin custodial service, per an amended filing with the SEC on Aug. 15, 2019. Its application is still under review.
- Silvergate (NYSE:SI) went public in November 2019. Its current market cap is $265m.
Coindesk
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 Estonian E-Residency ID Card Officers of Estonia's Financial Intelligence Unit have issued a report that details several foreign clients of the country's e-residency program who are involved in crypto scams abroad. Estonian e-residents do not have to maintain a physical presence in the country. - Through its e-residency program, foreigners can access Estonia's digital infrastructure remotely and use an Estonian residency card while traveling in other countries.
- Law enforcement officers link many Estonian e-residents to offshore cryptocurrency crimes.
- Clients of the e-residency program have been involved in misappropriation of funds, exit scams, and dubious initial coin offerings (ICO).
- Estonia has issued approximately 70,000 digital IDs for e-residents in 174 countries.
Bloomberg
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New Zealand's Inland Revenue Department (IRD) asks companies for details about their crypto-asset customers. - IRD officials have requested that companies share personal details of customers, including the type and value of crypto-assets held on their behalf.
- IRD published a tongue-in-cheek rationale for the request: "so we can work out how best to help taxpayers meet their income tax obligations."
- IRD published new guidance on crypto-asset taxation on Sept. 7, describing new tax treatments of crypto-asset transactions.
- The IRD considers crypto-assets to be a form of property. Profits from swaps, trades, mining rewards, or sales crypto-assets are taxable.
Radio New Zealand
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 Overstock Coliseum The U.S. District Court of Utah grants Overstock.com's Motion to Dismiss a consolidated complaint by Mangrove Partners Master Fund. The lawsuit case number is 2:19-cv-00709 and titled Mangrove Partners Master Fund v. Overstock.com et al. - Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) won its Motion to Dismiss the lawsuit filed by Mangrove Partners Master Fund on Sept. 27, 2019, which accused the home goods retailer of manipulating markets and misstating financial conditions of its retail division.
- The plaintiff faulted Overstock.com for failing to disclose its inability to obtain Director and Officer (D&O) liability insurance.
- The plaintiff also alleged that Overstock.com misrepresented the purpose of a digital asset dividend.
- A Utah federal judge granted the defendant's two motions to dismiss the consolidated complaint on Sept. 28.
Law360
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Bitpanda raises a $52m in a Series A funding round. Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures participated in the round. Thiel was a co-founder of Paypal. - SpeedInvest, a Vienna-based venture capital firm, led the round.
- Bitpanda offers cryptocurrencies on a purportedly decentralized exchange platform operating in 34 countries. Co-CEO Paul Klanschek indicated that in 2021, the platform might also include stocks and commodities.
- Bitpanda recently expanded to France, Spain, and Turkey.
- Co-CEO of Bitpanda Eric Demuth said that the company will use the funds to further expand in Europe and fund various upcoming products. As part of the deal, Andrew McCormack, founding partner of Valar Ventures, will join Bitpanda's Board of Directors.
Bitpanda
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Quick Hits: - Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong responds to recent employee walkouts. He describes new policies around employee-driven activism and his shift in the company's focus. Armstrong is offering an exit package for employees who disagree.
- Changpeng Zhao speaks about Binance's DeFi initiatives in a video interview. He claims that his focus is not to build centralized finance (CeFi) but to "merge" DeFi projects into its ecosystem through Binance's Smart Chain-powered decentralized exchange (Binance DEX). His appeal to the DeFi community overlooks the reality that Binance's decentralized exchange processed just $250,000 in transactions today, versus Binance centralized exchange's $5b.
- SEC charges Thomas Gity with fraud and implicates his company, Treasure Coast, as well as his son.
- FinCEN warns banks about their cryptocurrency liabilities.
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 |  | Written and curated by wide-eyed bitcoin watcher since $1, Aaron Wise. Streaming headline junkie, Associated Press fanboy, eye-strained news terminal watcher, 2017 founder of Cryptocurrency Newsfeed. Temporarily based in Florida while awaiting the construction of cryptopia. |  | | Editor | Written and curated by Eduardo Garcia in New York. Eduardo is writing an illustrated book about climate change that will be published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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