China News Daily Official TheBitTimes.com

Several bankrupt cryptocurrency firms, including Alameda Research, Blockfolio, Celsius, and Voyager, previously received Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loans through the pandemic-era program. The Payroll Protection Program was a pandemic-era business stimulus program that offered loans to businesses that maintained employment of its employees through the beginning of the pandemic; these loans could then be forgiven. The program was plagued by fraud, with the Small Business Administration inspector general identifying $78.1 billion in potentially fraudulent loans. Sam Bankman-Fried’s failed trading firm, Alameda Research, received a $370,518 loan from Signature Bank and successfully paid back the loan. Bankman-Fried was subsequently convicted of multiple felony counts related to fraud conducted at Alameda Research. Data via ProPublica. Read more: Scammers pose as bankrupt cy firm to drain Celsius users’ wallets Blockfolio, a firm that would end up as part of the Bankman-Fr...

Following the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s trading empire, Cumberland has emerged as arguably the most important trading firm in cryptocurrency. Protos analysis showed in 2021 that Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research and Cumberland had received the majority of all tether (USDT) ever made. Since then, Alameda has gone bust and its largest shareholder, Bankman-Fried, has been convicted of multiple felonies. When we published the Tether Papers in late 2021, Alameda was responsible for at least $36.7 billion in USDT issuance; Cumberland for $23.7 billion at minimum. SCOOP: Tether minted most USDT to just 2 firms — Alameda and Cumberland Read more: Tether gives FBI peek behind the curtain What’s Cumberland? Cumberland is a subsidiary of Chicago-based DRW, named after its founder Donald R. Wilson. DRW is an important commodities trading firm that has previously jousted with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The CFTC filed a lawsuit in November 2018 ...