Aptos Labs co-founder Mo Shaikh has announced his resignation as CEO, stating that he will take “much-needed time to reflect on where the world is headed and to think deeply.”

He has seemingly timed his exit perfectly, leaving just after his mid-six-figure compensation package vested.

Shaikh co-founded the APT coin-supporting company three years ago with Avery Ching who will succeed him as CEO. Since its launch, Aptos has raised $400 million in venture capital funding.

During his “much-needed time to reflect,” Shaikh plans to dial in as a strategic advisor for Aptos, “continuing to support the company’s mission and growth.”

In his announcement, Shaikh comforted his former coworkers while conveniently failing to mention his compensation package. “I will always remain a champion of Aptos,” he swore.

Aptos founder’s well-timed bull market exit

Prior to Aptos Labs, Shaikh worked at a crypto division under Meta (Facebook) that was involved with now-discontinued or jettisoned projects Novi, Diem, and Libra.

Aptos’ platform utilizes the Move programming language, originally created for the Diem (Libra) cryptocurrency proposed by Mark Zuckerberg.

Read more: Aptos token launches to major dump, here’s why we saw it coming

Shaikh’s departure marks a significant change in leadership at Aptos. APT is down 15% over the past 24 hours and -26% over the past week. The coin is languishing 47% below all-time highs.

His payday and departure coincided perfectly with the peak of the recent crypto bull market that took bitcoin above $100,000 for the first time in history.

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Certain members of the crypto community would love to wave goodbye to US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell when Donald Trump becomes president. The two men have sparred for years, and crypto promoters want to see Trump surrounded with loyalists who keep markets sailing smoothly.

Already assuming that Trump will find some way to oust Powell, potential candidates for his replacement are already circulating. Current top guesses include Scott Bessent, Kevin Warsh, Kevin Hassett, David Malpass, and Judy Shelton.

Powell and Trump famously clashed over interest rate policies in 2018 when Powell declared he was prepared to defend the Fed’s independence from the Executive branch in the courts. He further reminded reporters that Trump may not fire him.

Pundits speculated that Trump only backed off Powell in 2018 because his threats damaged confidence in an already shaky stock market.

Now that six years have passed since their last spat, Trump recently granted a conditional pledge to let Powell finish his term through 2026 “if I thought he was doing the right thing.”

Will Trump actually try to fire Jerome Powell?

From the crypto industry’s perspective, the earlier Powell leaves, the better. Lower interest rates, a bigger central bank balance sheet, and quantitative easing at the Fed are a recipe for booming markets.

Unfortunately, Powell is a moderate and has hiked interest rates by hundreds of basis points during Joe Biden’s term.

Incidentally, and important for context, Trump appointed Powell early in his first term as president. Granted, his 2016 appointment certainly does not mean that Trump will not try to interfere with Powell or his Fed governors during the 2025 presidency.

Indeed, Polymarket already brokers crypto-denominated bets that Trump will fire Powell within 100 days of taking office at a 7% odds rate.

How Trump would fire someone who claims the president may not fire him remains to be seen. Powell shows little interest in going anywhere without a fight. 

If Powell does depart, though, who would replace him? Below are some potentials.

Read more: Crypto promises that Donald Trump must now live up to

Scott Bessent

One of George Soros’ former chief investment officers, Bessent is already an economic adviser to Trump. He is keen to see Powell depart and has brazenly proposed a “shadow” Fed chair to effectively sideline Powell until his scheduled departure in 2026.

Bessent has been a generous Republican donor and Trump supporter. His Wall Street experience and conservative values could make him an appealing Fed chair candidate for Trump.

Kevin Warsh

Former Fed governor Warsh lost his bid for a job promotion in 2017 to Powell, but he is hoping for better chances this time. Warsh has close ties to Trump through his father-in-law Ronald Lauder, the Estée Lauder tycoon and longtime friend of Trump.

Warsh is married to Lauder’s daughter, Rachel.

Kevin Hassett

One of Trump’s former senior advisers, Hassett is a Trump loyalist with White House experience. His alignment with the incoming president and experience as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers could give him favorable odds for a Fed chairman nomination.

David Malpass

Appointed by Trump to lead the World Bank, Malpass is an obvious candidate for Fed chair. His experience in international finance and personal connections with central bankers and sovereign wealth managers around the world give him instant credibility.

Judy Shelton

Trump tried to nominate Shelton to the Fed in 2020 without success, but he might try again next year. She’s a former economic advisor to Trump, a fan of the gold standard, and a staunch critic of Jerome Powell.

Her unconventional monetary policies and proven loyalty to Trump could cater to his desires to reshape the Federal Reserve and challenge traditional economic policies.

These six candidates are, of course, only a few names among many that conservatives have floated.

Will Jerome Powell’s successor be a pro-crypto Trump loyalist?

Powell has mixed views regarding digital assets. He once referred to bitcoin as digital gold even though he thought it was too volatile to ever replace the US dollar. He also once acknowledged bitcoin’s “staying power” while testifying before the House Financial Services Committee.

Nevertheless, his incidental comments have not calmed criticisms of his hawkish monetary policies. Crypto would prefer a pro-crypto chairperson who is a Trump loyalist. Anyone who is pro-stimmy will do.

If Trump tries to fire Powell, the two men will probably clash in a legal battle that will determine the president’s level of control over the ostensibly independent Federal Reserve.

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Hamster Kombat, the tap-to-earn Telegram game that boasted a massive 300-million-strong user base back in August, has reportedly shed 259 million players.

The game’s active monthly player count currently stands at almost 41 million and its token, which launched at a high of $0.009993 on September 26, has dropped by 76% to $0.002392 today.

Earlier this year, Telegram’s CEO described Hamster Kombat as “the fastest-growing digital service in the world,” and claimed it’s part of a new era of mini apps that would bring blockchain to the masses.

However, despite the promise of crypto riches, the game’s sloppily put-together AI art and tedious gameplay haven’t been enough to retain its once-strong player base.

Hamster Kombat’s chequered history 

Local media in Nigeria reported that many players were left feeling betrayed and cheated by Hamster Kombat’s token airdrop. Indeed, BeInCrypto reported that most users could only sell their HMSTR tokens for a single-digit figure despite months of grinding on the app. 

Hamster Kombat also frequently delayed this airdrop and disqualified many players unfairly caught off guard by its new anti-cheat system. In total, a reported 2.3 Million users were banned, and 6.8 billion HMSTR tokens were confiscated.  

Read more: Otherside got $450M from Yuga Labs but its latest game is ‘virtually unplayable’

The game even spooked governments. Iran’s military deputy chief claimed that it was distracting voters from its election and called it a “soft tool” used by the West to challenge Iran’s religious government. The chairman of Russia’s State Duma Committee also called for a ban while branding the game a scam. 

More recently, on October 12, Hamster Kombat posted a disclaimer distancing itself from Gotbit which had just been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission and accused of offering “market manipulation as a service.”

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In New York today at 3pm, Nishad Singh entered a federal courtroom to hear a judge read his final sentencing for the crimes he committed at FTX.

After considering statutory minimums, sentencing guidelines, and other documents filed relevant to the decision, Judge Lewis Kaplan decided to administer a sentence of time served with three years of supervised release, according to reporting from InnerCityPress.

For context, FTX’s former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried received a 300-month prison sentence. Former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets Ryan Salame received a 90-month sentence. Caroline Ellison, CEO of Alameda Research which stole funds from FTX customers, received a 24-month sentence.

Singh, FTX’s ex-Director of Engineering, pleaded guilty to six crimes last year. He also filed a sentencing submission — and received written support from bankruptcy cleanup lead John J. Ray III — that stressed his post-collapse cooperation with US authorities.

Both asked judge Kaplan to please avoid administering a prison sentence.

However, a filing today from representatives for the former Chief Operating Officer of FTX Japan challenges Singh’s claim that he took steps to preserve funds at FTX Japan, specifically describing Singh’s claims as “completely false.”

Singh’s hearing was scheduled for 3 pm Eastern Time. The judge handed down the sentence shortly after opening comments, recitations, and other formalities.

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Crypto YouTuber Coffeezilla has received a wave of abusive emails from angry Andrew Tate fans after he quizzed the alleged human trafficker on his sketchy crypto endorsements.

Coffeezilla began receiving the messages just hours after attempting to enquire about a series of crypto projects Tate has promoted, including $VENOM, $DADDY, and the reportedly hacked $ROOST coin.

He also asked Tate about his attempts to get his The Real World coin ($TRW) regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) despite him previously tweeting, “SEC come for me, there’s no SEC in Romania, we’re scammers.” 

This line of questioning clearly rubbed Tate the wrong way. He promptly uploaded a dramatic and rambling video response in which he implies that Coffezilla is investigating memecoins going up and down, and even shouts “I’m loved, nobody likes you, nobody’s scared of your fucking investigations, your emails sound gay.”

“I asked Andrew Tate about his crypto scams and I think he sent the ‘War Room’ after me,” tweeted the YouTuber. He then posted a screenshot of Tate asking his followers to call him “gay” in emails. 

Many of the emails subsequently aimed at Coffeezilla do indeed use a raft of homophobic slurs — in between promoting Tate’s $DADDY crypto.

Read more: Andrew Tate brags he made millions on PancakeSwap, disses meme coins

At one point, Tate suggests he “accidentally leaked” Coffeezilla’s email. Despite this, he immediately claims he “regrets nothing I’ve ever done,” and later encourages his followers to send more abusive emails. 

“Once I bust this case for sex trafficking, keep your fucking sister, mother, away from me or they’ll end up working,” Tate said. Needless to say, his video failed to answer any of Coffeezilla’s questions.

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Do Kwon has allegedly been able to make several crypto payments from a Montenegro prison after authorities took 72 days to seize his crypto wallet login details and various electronic devices.

The disgraced Terra founder was arrested on March 23, 2023, but his electronic devices weren’t handed over to the investigating judge until June of that year, according to a report published by Portal ETV.

An official from Montenegro’s Special Police Department told Portal ETV that laptops, mobile phones, crypto wallet login details, and “other codes for accessing the blockchain,” were all found during a search of prison detainees including Do.

Read more: Montenegro’s PM likely lied about Do Kwon meeting after Luna buy

Two sources claim that at least three crypto transactions were made using Do’s crypto wallet during his time in custody. They were allegedly made through an account tied to a Podgorica mobile telephony firm. It’s worth noting Portal ETV could not confirm these alleged transactions.

Sources from Montenegro’s National Security Agency (ANB) also claim that the devices were only confiscated from Do after the Minister of Police and Police Directorate requested the removal of “everything that should have been confiscated on the first day of arrest.”

Do Kwon’s arrest may have been a planned operation

Before Montenegro, Do flew to Serbia after an international arrest warrant was issued in September 2022. Portal ETV reports that he was eventually forced out of Serbia due to media pressure in late 2022 and early 2023 over the country hiding a crypto fraudster.

Do was allegedly driven from Belgrade to Montenegro with Serbia’s state security accompanying him as part of a plan to fly him to a country in the Middle East with lax extradition policies. Sources, however, claim his arrest was planned and that Montenegro’s border force was tipped off about Do’s forged passports.

Read more: Do Kwon was leverage in South Korea airport deal, ex-minister claims

The article also reports that Do’s mobile phone, one of the devices that was actually confiscated by police during his arrest, suddenly turned on when a secret tunnel leading to the High Court evidence room was discovered. Authorities reportedly failed to investigate if it was a coincidence or suspicious event.

Do’s extradition to either South Korea or the US is still yet to be decided by Montenegro’s justice minister.

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The post Do Kwon transferred crypto from prison after police failed to seize keys, report appeared first on Protos.

US presidential candidate Kamala Harris was roundly criticized after she proudly tweeted a list of campaign promises targeted squarely at black male voters. As one of her five promises, she swore to ‘protect cryptocurrency investments so black men who make them know their money is safe.’

The problems were immediately obvious and her post went viral for all the wrong reasons. Almost without exception, comments were negative.

“Pandering to Black American men is disgusting and degrading,” wrote one observer. “Buying votes should be criminal,” posted another. Many noted, “This is overt racial discrimination.”

Thousands of people also liked comments calling her policy racist, confused, wild, absurd, and desperate. Almost no one posted a positive reaction to her announcement.

Read more: Crypto runs with fake Kamala Harris-Gary Gensler news

Harris crafted her announcement to appeal to a large voting population ahead of the November 5 election, but it’s unclear whether her initiative will have any positive impact. Indeed, the black demographic has been a source of concern for Democratic polling amid questions over Harris’ role in that community.

Some polls by pro-crypto groups have indicated that black men disproportionately invest in crypto assets. Although there are important reasons to question this statistic and the pollsters behind it, Harris’ campaign might have issued this promise as a way to respond to pressure from groups that cite this statistic.

Indeed, it’s not clear which black men asked for such protection nor is it clear that any person of any race expects a president to divert their attention away from national matters to somehow ‘protect’ voluntary, self-directed investments within one of the most obviously risky categories of speculation.

But if the initial reaction to her announcement is any indication, the bizarre move could actually cause voters to question her discernment and priorities altogether.

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TikTok has been accused of operating as an unlicensed crypto exchange in the UK in a letter sent to the country’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) by a former compliance consultant for a leading private bank.

As reported by Financial News, the letter claims that TikTok’s virtual currency can be indirectly exchanged for fiat through the platform’s reward system. As a result, it says the social media giant should be placed under the FCA’s anti-money laundering and terrorist regulations.

“TikTok via its rewards programme is facilitating money transmission to [money service businesses] and exchanging, or arranging or making arrangements with a view to the exchange of, cryptoassets for money or money for cryptoassets,” the letter says.

Read more: TikTok ‘guru’ launders COVID loans with crypto, spoils girlfriend

Users can purchase so-called TikTok Coins and use them to send ‘gifts’ to content creators. These gifts can then be converted into ‘diamonds’ and cashed out for fiat. The letter claims that because TikTok is not registered with the FCA, the app is at risk of being used by criminals for illicit activities and money laundering without the proper anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. 

However, it’s unclear from the Financial News report how TikTok Coins are classed as cryptocurrency since they are only referred to as “virtual coins” and “virtual tokens.” The report also fails to disclose the identity of the compliance expert, referring to them only as “a former compliance officer at a leading private bank and asset manager.”

TikTok has previously been referred to Australia’s AML authority by Shadow Minister James Paterson and is currently hiring more compliance staff. The state of Utah is also suing the platform over alleged money laundering through its reward system and for facilitating the sexual exploitation of minors. 

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A crypto CEO accused of stealing bitcoin and ether currently worth more than $170 million has gone on the run after tampering with his ankle tag, prosecutors announced on Thursday.

According to an October 10 filing in New York, sixty-four-year-old Horst Jicha “tampered with his ankle bracelet on Friday, October 4, 2024, and has absconded in violation of his pretrial conditions.”

Pretrial services reportedly alerted the government 12 hours after the bracelet stopped working and an arrest warrant was requested that evening.

Read more: Binance exec accused of tax evasion flees Nigeria during mosque visit

German citizen Jicha ran USI-Tech, an alleged multi-level marketing scheme that claimed to be a crypto-mining investment firm. From December 2017, USI-Tech received various cease and desist letters from US and Canadian securities authorities before shutting down in January 2018.  

After this Jicha halted withdrawals and blamed investors for the shutdown, accusing them of misrepresenting the firm. He then allegedly ignored investor complaints and between 2017 and 2018, moved USI’s crypto holdings (worth ~$94 million at the time of the indictment) to a crypto account under his name. 

Jicha, who had lived outside the US for five years, was arrested during a 2023 vacation in Miami. At this point, the missing 1,774 bitcoins and 28,589 ether were worth $150 million and he was charged with money laundering, wire fraud conspiracy, and securities fraud. 

Jicha was released on bail with a $5 million bond and subsequently moved to New York where he remained under house arrest. According to the New York Daily News, his lawyer last contacted him on September 28.

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Russia has sentenced a former chief investigator to 16 years in jail after he was caught accepting a 1,032-bitcoin bribe, now worth $65 million, from a group of hackers. 

Marat Tambiyev was accused last year of accepting the bitcoin bribe from a duo involved with the Infraud Organization hacking group he was investigating while working for the Investigative Committee of Russia.

As part of the deal, Tambiyev agreed not to confiscate the group’s illegally obtained bitcoin. He subsequently received half of the illegal assets on April 7, 2022.

Read more: Supreme Court won’t stop sale of 69,370 Silk Road bitcoins

In 2023, Russian authorities discovered the bitcoin on a Mac under a file labeled ‘Pension.’ Authorities deduced that the sum made no sense given his job could have only made him 11.7 million rubles ($144,000).

Tambiyev reportedly denies the charges and claims he was framed. He intends to appeal the sentencing alongside Kristina Lyakhovenko, a colleague who was jailed for nine years for her role in the same case. 

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