Binance founder’s release date, Trump’s crypto venture, Token2049 | Weekly Recap

In today’s edition of the weekly recap: Binance founder Changpeng Zhao’s release date; Ex-President Donald Trump and his sons officially launch a crypto venture; Token2049 wraps; MicroStrategy buys more Bitcoin; market recovers following Fed Reserve rate cut.

Binance founder’s release date

• Last week, reports confirmed that Binance founder Changpeng Zhao is set to be released from prison on Sept. 29, citing official data from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons. 
• Recall that Zhao and Binance pleaded guilty to charges bordering on violations of AML provisions. The former Binance CEO was sentenced to four months in prison, starting June this year. 

Trump launches crypto venture

• Former U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled World Liberty Financial, a new crypto venture.
• The project, championed by Trump and his two eldest sons, Eric and Don. Jr., aims to disrupt the traditional banking system. A WLFI token is set to be released and sold only to accredited investors. 

Token2049 highlights

• Crypto conference Token2049 ran from Sept. 18 to 19 in Singapore. One of the highlights included a panel discussion on the future of the crypto industry featuring Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, among others.
• Buterin supported the adoption of crypto for more real-life use cases and less focus on NFTs. BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes predicted that the Fed’s interest rate cut could trigger a short-term market drop. OKX founder Star Xu stressed the importance of self-custody.

Iggy Azalea throws shade at TOKEN2049

• Iggy Azalea recently hosted a crypto-themed party in Las Vegas to promote her meme coin MOTHER and her newly launched casino called Motherland.
• Some crypto enthusiasts criticized Azalea as videos and images from the gathering surfaced. The “Fancy” singer clapped back, and proceeded to poke fun at attendees of TOKEN2049, including Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin who sang at the event.

Markets recover on Fed rate cut

• On Sept. 18, the Federal Reserve reduced interest rates by 0.50%, marking the first cut since the COVID-19 pandemic began over four years ago. In response, the crypto market staged a recovery.
• Following the rate cut, Bitcoin (BTC) rebounded above $64,000 for the first time in September, catalyzing the broader market momentum. However, some analysts warned that the rate cut could be detrimental to the market. 

MicroStrategy buys 7.4k more BTC

• Last week, software development company MicroStrategy concluded a convertible note offering worth $1.01 billion four days after announcing it.
• Following this development, the firm accumulated 7,420 BTC with proceeds from this sale, amounting to $458 million. This brought MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin stash to 252,220 tokens.

For last week’s Weekly Recap, click here.