On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve issued its latest interest rate increase in response to inflation. Federal funds rates have been hiked up to a target of 4.5%.

Surprisingly, the Fed’s projections for the duration and value of interest rates may be higher than predicted. Almost all board members estimate that an interest rate slightly above 5% will be appropriate for next year, even as far as Q4.

So, are prolonged and higher interest rates a new critical blow for bitcoin and crypto?

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How far can a digital asset exchange go to shut down somebody’s account? As famous trader CoinMamba discovered, a centralized exchange like Binance can close accounts for the same vague, hand-wavy reason as any other financial institution — especially when its account owner threatens to create social media drama.

This week, Binance placed an account belonging to an influential trader who goes by the name ‘CoinMamba’ in withdraw-only mode after he claimed to have been a victim of an exploit of his account’s API key.

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Crypto exchange FTX, trading firm Alameda Research, and news of the hundreds of other companies exposed to their collapse has kept the spotlight off a few floundering projects. Take, for instance, Justin Sun’s personal “algorithmic” stablecoin USDD.

FTX withdrawals stopped functioning on November 6 and 7. Two days later, something broke for USDD. Price briefly spiked to $1.01 on November 9 and then began to drop. USDD slipped from its $1 peg, falling to as low as $0.97. 

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On Tuesday, it was announced that Sam Bankman-Fried, former CEO of crypto exchange FTX, had been arrested and indicted. Various fraud and money laundering charges filed against him by three US authorities provide new insight into how he operated.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) states in its complaint: “Bankman-Fried was orchestrating a massive, years-long fraud, diverting billions of dollars of the trading platform’s customer funds for his own personal benefit and to help grow his crypto empire.”

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Recently appointed chief exec of crypto exchange FTX, John J. Ray III, provided new insight into the firm’s collapse in prepared testimony on Tuesday.

At a US House Financial Services hearing on the subject, Ray explained that the firm seems to have failed due to “the absolute concentration of control in the hands of a very small group of grossly inexperienced and unsophisticated individuals who failed to implement virtually any of the systems or controls that are necessary for a company that is entrusted with other people’s money.”

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The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is conflicted on whether a longstanding investigation into Binance and its executives should end with indictments or a plea, according to an investigation by Reuters.

Sources told the outlet that the charges under investigation are unlicensed money transmission, money laundering conspiracy, and sanctions violations. Law firm Gibson Dunn, which represents the crypto exchange, reportedly met with the Justice Department to discuss outcomes.

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The Attorney General of the Bahamas has announced the arrest of Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). The FTX founder is being detained by the Royal Bahamas Police and awaits criminal extradition to the United States. 

The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York confirmed the arrest on Monday and its intent to unseal the criminal indictment on Tuesday. In addition to criminal charges, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is also charging SBF on civil charges of securities violations.

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The infamous co-founder of failed crypto stablecoin TerraUSD, Do Kwon, has been spotted by authorities in Serbia. He continues to evade an Interpol arrest warrant on charges of fraud and tax evasion in South Korea. It's unclear what Kwon is doing in the country, or how much freedom the crypto entrepreneur currently enjoys. However, Kwon frequently denies that he's on the run.

Indeed, there’s too much to see and do in Serbia’s capital Belgrade to stay indoors. The city has a rich culture, with plenty of hidden gems for Kwon to enjoy. A few curated recommendations by the Protos team.

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Last week, the European Council proposed anti-money laundering regulations, including a new EU rule which would demand crypto exchanges conduct due diligence on every crypto transaction worth €1,000 or more.

The rule, which applies to all crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), has yet to be approved by the European Parliament. However, it's likely to go through -- legislative processes are in their final and concluding stages.

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It’s been a weird month for everyone in the cryptocurrency industry, to say the least.

A CoinDesk article put its parent organization, into a bit of a bind; the mainstream media seemed to whitewash Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) at first blush; and now it comes to light that The Block’s former CEO borrowed money from SBF to buy the controlling interest in the company. Not to mention, a crippling crypto bear market has impacted readership, ad revenue, and other parts of every media company’s business practices.

It’s hard to take it all in — but here’s why I’m still bullish on my favorite journalists in the cryptocurrency industry.

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