Former Celsius executive pleads guilty to price manipulation charges

Gm Degens,

Welcome to our weekly dose of No Rug News. We always got you covered on trending topics in Web3.

Don’t forget to follow us on X for giveaways & exclusive whitelists!

Here is what we have for you today

• Former Celsius executive pleads guilty to price manipulation charges

• R3 lays off 20% of staff citing economic challenges

• Deutsche Bank partners with Swiss firm Taurus to offer digital asset services

Trending 🔥

• Crypto rally triggered despite FTX’s liquidation and US CPI hike (cryptonews)

• Voice NFT platform to Shut Down despite $300M (nftnews)

• Italian Luxury Watch Brand Panerai Introduces Digital Passports Generated with NFT (nftlately)

• Binance US was weighing selling CZ’s stake, report says (cryptonews)

• Skoda Auto India sells out NFT collection in 2 hours (nftnews)

• Animoca Brands’ $20M Capital Infusion to Bolster the Mocaverse (nftlately)

• Ethereum sees second-highest on-chain activity in history (cryptonews)

• SEC commissioners disagree with Stoner Cats charges (nftnews)

• Deadfellaz and Unity to Forge New Gaming Frontier (nftlately)

• Enjin Blockchain goes live with new NFT standards (nftnews)

Here is what else we dug for you

Former Celsius executive pleads guilty to price manipulation charges

Roni Cohen-Pavon, the former chief revenue officer at Celsius, has pleaded guilty to four criminal charges before a federal court in Manhattan, New York.

Here is what we know about the story:

• Cohen-Pavon admitted to manipulating the market price of CEL, the primary cryptocurrency issued by bankruptcy digital asset lender Celsius.

• The ruling on Sep. 13 was issued by U.S. District Judge John Koeltl, according to Reuters.

• Following his guilty plea, Cohen-Pavon’s sentencing was set for Dec. 11, 2024.

• The former executive was indicted in July 2024 while federal prosecutors charged Celsius founder Alex Mashinshky with fraud and conspiracy.

• A report from an independent court-appointed examiner found that Celsius, under Mashinsky, operated akin to a ponzi scheme.

R3 downsizing, lays off 20% of staff citing economic challenges

New York’s blockchain company, R3, has reduced its workforce by over 20% as a cost-saving measure due to lower-than-expected adoption rates in the financial sector.

Here is what else we know about the story:

• Bloomberg reported that while R3 have seen potential with central banks, other projects didn’t perform as expected, affecting their revenue.

• Although exact numbers were not provided, anonymous sources indicate that this downsizing will impact multiple departments.

• While R3 has gained attention from central banks for digital currency projects, some areas like trade finance and insurance didn’t meet expectations, affecting the company’s revenue.

• In May 2017, R3 secured $107 million in funding from over 40 institutions, including major players like Barclays, UBS, and Wells Fargo.

• At the time, this was one of the largest fundraising events for a blockchain startup.

• Recent data from PitchBook shows a 76% decrease in funding for digital asset firms in Q2 2023 compared to the same period last year. As a result, many crypto companies are tightening their budgets.

Deutsche Bank partners with Swiss firm Taurus to offer digital asset services

On Sep. 14, Deutsche Bank, an international financial institution headquartered in Germany, divulged its strategic foray into crypto and blockchain technology after collaborating with Taurus, a Swiss enterprise with expertise in multiple domains—ranging from the issuance of digital currencies to the secure custody and trading of tokenized assets and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Here is what we know about the story:

• Paul Maley, the head of Deutsche Bank’s securities services, stated that this move aligns with the growing demand for digital financial products among their clients.

• Initially, Deutsche Bank aims to provide custody services for selected crypto and certain stablecoins, specifically targeting corporate and institutional clients in their home market regions.

• However, Maley did not elaborate on which specific assets would be included in this service. In addition to digital asset custody, Deutsche Bank plans to tokenize traditional financial securities.

• This move is emblematic of a wider industry consensus that views the tokenization of assets as an inevitable progression in the modernization of financial systems.

• Other financial institutions, such as JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Franklin Templeton, are conducting research into the potential of asset tokenization.

NFT Spotlight: Daniel Isles (Dirty Robot)

Throughout the 2021 NFT boom, countless artists launched PFP projects to varying degrees of success. Some, like Clon (Cool Cats), Psych (Deadfellaz), and Burnt Toast (Doodles), achieved a significant degree of staying power during the generative avatar boom.

Yet, in 2022, few could compete with the brainchild of independent illustrator and comic artist Daniel Isles. Better known as Dirty Robot, Isles and his Renga project came to dominate the PFP market last year, creating somewhat of a new archetype for what large-scale avatars can be.

But even so, it hasn’t stopped Isles from continuing to achieve sizeable sales throughout the entire year with his own 1/1s, making him a definite one to follow in 2023.

Essential links: X (Twitter), Instagram

Chart of The Week: BTC/USD

Did the Weekly Timeframe Technical Analysis Chart Turn Bullish?🕵️

Meme Drop