Short thoughts, notes, links, and musings by Molly White. RSS 
Alex Mashinsky has been sentenced to twelve years in prison for his Celsius fraud, which culminated in the mid-2022 collapse of his US-based cryptocurrency lending firm with customers suffering losses of more than half a billion dollars.
The GENIUS Act stablecoin bill has stalled in the Senate with key Democrats — including some of its early co-sponsors — voting against it. Democratic opposition increased after Trump’s World Liberty Financial cryptocurrency platform released its own stablecoin, allowing the president to profit from transactions including a $2 billion deal between the Emirati state-owned investment firm and the Binance crypto platform.
Senators who voted against the bill include Ruben Gallego (AZ), Mark Warner (VA), Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE), Andy Kim (NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), and Angela Alsobrooks (MD). Gallego was one of the top recipients of crypto industry campaign funds in 2024, receiving $10 million in crypto super PAC backing.
A trader bought 6,000 $TRUMP on April 21, two days before the announcement that top holders would be invited to dinner with the president. They sold it a few hours after the announcement two days later caused the token price to go up, earning $33k on the trade. Impressive timing!
They had traded the Trump token a bit for the first few days after it launched in January, then apparently lost interest until suddenly rediscovering it on April 21.
At the moment they still hold 9,130 TRUMP, so as of now they’ll be joining Trump at the dinner in a few weeks.
They regularly transfer funds from Bybit, suggesting they are not based in the US.
El Salvador's President Bukele is reportedly preparing to arrest the journalists who have reported on the secret deals Bukele struck with Salvadoran gangs that have enabled his consolidation of power.
@molly0xfff Part 1 | April reading wrap up reviewing the 18 books I read this month. #aprilreadingwrapup #readingwrapup #booktok #bookish #bookreview #cozyfantasy #sciencefiction #fantasy #dungeoncrawlercarl ♬ original sound - Molly White
Prosecutors have requested Alex Mashinsky, CEO of the collapsed Celsius cryptocurrency company, be sentenced to at least twenty years in prison for his "sustained, calculated campaign of deceit carried out over years, targeting ordinary people."
Prosecutors say that such a severe sentence is necessary not only for deterrence, but because despite his guilty plea, Mashinsky has not fully accepted responsibility for his actions.
Sentencing guidelines recommend a 30 year sentence, which is only because of the statutory cap resulting from his guilty plea agreement; otherwise the recommendation would be life. Mashinsky has argued he should be sentenced to no more than a year in prison. Sentencing will happen on May 8.
always a little weird to see in politicians' footnotes
happy baby!
few things i enjoy more than unwinding with a cozy fantasy novel, but as someone who is highly suggestible to vivid descriptions of cinnamon buns i’m beginning to worry they’re bad for my health
Looking forward to the full-throated condemnation of this letter by those who accused the Biden administration of pressuring social media firms to moderate COVID-19 and election fraud misinfo! Any second now...