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U.S. prosecutors aren’t keen on CZ leaving the country and asked a judge to block him from leaving. Meanwhile, BlackRock met with the Securities and Exchange Commission to discuss a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) and OpenAI is set to rehire Sam Altman as CEO.
US wants CZ to stay in country
Changpeng “CZ” Zhao is a flight risk and shouldn’t be allowed to leave the U.S. for Dubai ahead of his sentencing in February, say U.S. prosecutors.
In a filing to a Seattle federal court, prosecutors asked a judge to review and overturn a decision allowing Zhao to return to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on a $175 million bond under the condition he comes back to the U.S. two weeks before his sentencing.
If Zhao decided not to come back to the U.S., the government “would not be able to secure his return” due to his favored status in the UAE, the country’s lack of an extradition treaty with the U.S. and his wealth — which is held away from U.S. jurisdiction and vast enough for him to live on indefinitely.
“He has three young children and a partner in the UAE; once in the UAE and faced with the prospect of traveling back to the United States to face up to 18 months in prison, he may elect to instead simply stay in the UAE with his family.”
Zhao recently confessed to failing to maintain an effective Anti-Money Laundering program at Binance and part of his plea agreement saw him step down as CEO of the exchange and pay a $50 million fine.
BlackRock met with SEC regarding spot Bitcoin ETF
Representatives from BlackRock met with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to discuss pathways for launching the country’s first spot Bitcoin
BTC exchange-traded fund.
According to a recently released SEC memo, BlackRock presented the regulator with potential redemption models for its proposed spot Bitcoin ETF. It’s unclear whether the securities regulator responded to any of the proposed models.
BlackRock is said to be the front-runner in the quest to launch the U.S.’s first spot Bitcoin ETF. The asset manager has a nearly perfect approval record for its various fund offerings. BlackRock’s initial application was submitted to the SEC in June.
OpenAI to rehire Sam Altman as CEO with new initial board members
Two days after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella hired former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to lead a new advanced artificial intelligence (AI) research team, OpenAI backtracked its decision to fire its co-founder.
On Nov. 22, OpenAI announced a new agreement that would see Altman return as CEO. The company confirmed the agreement in a post on its official X (formerly Twitter) account.
According to OpenAI, the company and Altman “are collaborating to figure out the details.” Altman reciprocated his willingness to join OpenAI by reposting the announcement with a heart emoji.
Altman openly expressed his “love” for OpenAI, apparently withdrawing from his new role at Microsoft, adding, “I’m looking forward to returning to OpenAI, and building on our strong partnership with Microsoft.”
Source: Cointelegraph.com
