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- đ° Binance CEO Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering
đ° Binance CEO Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering
And Nvidia Q3 revenue soars 206%...
TOP STORY
Binance CEO Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering in $4.3B Settlement
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This week, Changpeng âCZâ Zhao, the CEO of Binance, the worldâs largest cryptocurrency exchange, resigned after pleading guilty to U.S. anti-money laundering violations as part of a $4.3 billion settlement.
CZ also agreed to pay a personal penalty of $50 million, one of the largest individual penalties in U.S. history.
This comes only a few weeks after Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the worldâs former second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, was found guilty of seven counts of fraud and money laundering (read more about that here).
âBinance made it easy for criminals to move their stolen funds and illicit proceeds on its exchangesâ
Binance faced intense legal scrutiny for failing to comply with U.S. anti-money laundering and sanctions laws, and allegations of not reporting transactions linked to terrorist organizations (e.g. al-Qaeda and ISIS) and websites with illegal content involving minors.
Following his resignation, CZ tweeted about his future plans:
Today, I stepped down as CEO of Binance. Admittedly, it was not easy to let go emotionally. But I know it is the right thing to do. I made mistakes, and I must take responsibility. This is best for our community, for Binance, and for myself.
Binance is no longer a baby. It is⊠twitter.com/i/web/status/1âŠ
â CZ đ¶ BNB (@cz_binance)
8:36 PM âą Nov 21, 2023
CZ plans to take a break, his first in over six years since starting Binance in 2017. Post-resignation, he aims to focus on passive investments in blockchain, Web3, DeFi, AI, and biotech startups.
Zhao highlighted that the legal settlement with U.S. agencies did not accuse Binance of misappropriating funds or market manipulation, and expressed confidence in the new leadership under Richard Teng.
âOn that note, I am proud to point out that in our resolutions with the U.S. agencies they:
- do not allege that Binance misappropriated any user funds, and
- do not allege that Binance engaged in any market manipulation.â
Changpeng âCZâ Zhao, CEO of Binance
While it has been a rocky year for the crypto kingpins, Bitcoin price is up 127% YTD, with many anticipating the approval of Bitcoin ETFs in the US by major players like BlackRock, Ark Invest, Fidelity, and a dozen others.
Even so, the SEC has consistently blocked bitcoin ETFs from coming to market for a decade or so. These funds, if approved, would hold BTC directly and give investors exposure to the asset within an investment vehicle accessible via traditional brokerage accounts.
FROM OUR FRIENDS @ CHEXY
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Chexy now counts as a ârecurring bill paymentâ, which often means a much higher cash-back reward from your credit card.
For instance, the Scotia Momentum Visa pays 4% cash back on groceries and recurring payments, so if you use that card for Chexy you earn 4% cash back on your rent! Chexy charges a 1.75% fee (mostly to cover the âmerchant feesâ they have to pay to Visa/Mastercard), but even after the fee, youâre still netting 2.25% on your rent. So if your rent is $2500/month, thatâs $675 in free money over a year.
Chexy has a handy rewards calculator on their website so you can do the math on how much youâd earn with your credit card.
MORE DRAMA IN THE AI WORLD
đ Sam Altman Emerges Victorious, Back as CEO of OpenAI
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This is the third week in a row that weâve reported on OpenAI, covering the launch of the GPT Store and the firing of Sam Altman last week. Why? Because this is probably the most exciting saga in tech since the ousting of Steve Jobs from Apple.
After essentially a coup from the board, leading to the ousting of Sam Altman from OpenAI (a company he founded), Microsoft (which was blindsided by the OpenAI boardâs decision) swooped in and hired Sam, before Sam was finally reappointed as CEO of OpenAI. Letâs take a step back and recap some of the events this weekâŠ
NOV 17: Sam Altman Ousted As CEO
Read the full story in the last Weekly Buzz here.
NOV 20: Appointment of New CEO to OpenAI
After Samâs ousting, Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Twitch, was appointed the interim CEO role at OpenAI.
Shear described the role as a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" and planned to investigate the events leading to Sam Altmanâs firing.
âBefore I took the job, I checked on the reasoning behind the change. The board did not remove Sam over any specific disagreement on safety, their reasoning was completely different from thatâ
NOV 20: Microsoft Swoops in and Hires Sam Altman
On the very same day, Microsoft (which owns 49% of OpenAI) hired Altman to spearhead a new advanced AI research team, a big slap in the face to the OpenAI board.
At the same time, over 740 of OpenAI's approximately 770 employees signed an open letter, demanding the resignation of the current board and appointment of new directors, threatening to resign and join the new Microsoft subsidiary under Sam Altman and Greg Brockman if Sam was not re-instated.
NOV 22: Altman is re-instated as CEO at OpenAI just two days later, replacing the board that fired him.
Emmett Sheer says he is âdeeply pleasedâ by Samâs return, even though this means he will have to step aside.
Shear and Altman, who was previously the CEO of Y Combinator, share a deep-rooted history, as they were both in the first-ever Y-Combinator class in 2005.
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/b66f0752-202d-41cb-b180-f23c7d576e64/F_W28BUbMAA0i8H.jpeg?t=1700892790)
Emmett Shear and Sam Altman in 2005
EARNINGS
đ± Nvidia's Revenue Soars 206% as AI Chip Demand Continues
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This week, Nvidia reported a staggering 206% year-over-year revenue growth in its Q3 earnings report, significantly beating Wall Streetâs expectations.
â Revenue: $18.12 billion (vs. $16.18 billion expected)
â Earnings: $4.02 per share (vs. $3.37 expected)
Here are some key highlights from the report:
đ€ Data Center Revenue Skyrockets: Data center revenue reached $14.51 billion, up 279% from the previous year. This growth comes from the increasing use of Nvidia's GPUs in cloud infrastructure.
Nvidia datacenter revenue, by @Thomas_Woodside:
â Paul Graham (@paulg)
1:44 AM âą Nov 25, 2023
đźïž Gaming and New Developments: Nvidiaâs gaming segment also showed robust performance, contributing $2.86 billion, up 81%.
đšđł China Concerns: The company expects a decrease in sales next quarter due to export restrictions in China and other countries. However, Nvidia remains positive.
The company is developing new data center products to comply with government policies and is working towards expanding its supply.
đĄ This week Nvidia was the #29 most bought stock on Blossom but the #4 most mentioned.
đ Nvidia ($NVDA) stock was down -3.40% this week but is up 233% YTD.
FROM THE BLOSSOM COMMUNITY
đ Top Discussions This Week
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Bradley (@bradleytalksmoney)
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L G (@junky12)
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Brandon Beavis (@Brandon)
đïž What else you mightâve missed:
Amazon ($AMZN) debuted its first-ever NFL Black Friday game.
Visa ($V) hit an all-time high signaling its strongest month since January.
iRobot ($IRBT) was up 39% on reports that its Amazon deal is set to get EU approval.
Shopify ($SHOP) merchants hit $4.1 billion in Black Friday sales, a record.
Tesla ($TSLA) is ready to invest $2 billion to build a factory in India.
Black Friday shoppers in the U.S. spent a record-breaking $9.8 billion on online sales, up 7.5% from last year.