First Mover Americas: FTX Faces Whopping Claims, Ackman's Hot for Helium

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Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX owes its largest creditor $226 million, recently filed court documents show. The second-largest claim is for $203 million. The identities of the creditors weren’t named in the report, but collectively, their claims are worth $3.1 billion.

TradFi investor Bill Ackman, a billionaire who founded hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, said he likes Helium, a decentralized network that allows users to set up their own wireless network for low-power internet-of-things devices. Helium has been accused of using fraudulent endorsements from tech giants like Salesforce and mobility company Lime to give its network legitimacy, while also reportedly exaggerating its relationship with Dish Network, which it claimed would grant it access to Dish's 5G spectrum. HNT is down nearly 95% during the last year according to CoinGecko data and was recently trading at $2.23.

FTX’s Japanese arm is preparing to resume customer withdrawals by the end of the year, according to a report by broadcaster NHK. An unnamed executive of the exchange said in an interview that withdrawals cannot be resumed immediately because FTX Japan uses the same payment system as its parent company, and that system is now suspended.

Chart of the Day

• The chart tweeted by pseudonymous crypto analyst @GameofTrades_ shows bitcoin recently fell to a two-year low with record trading volumes.
• Historically, big spikes in trading volume have marked a significant turning point for bitcoin.
• The analysis is performed on spot bitcoin (Coinbase) on the weekly chart.

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