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X Escapes Former Twitter Security Head's Firing Suit
by Gunnar Larson 04 Dec '24

04 Dec '24

X Escapes Former Twitter Security Head's Firing Suit <https://www.law360.com/cybersecurity-privacy/articles/2266726?nl_pk=3dfd2fd…> By George Woolston A New Jersey federal judge has sent a former Twitter security chief's suit claiming he was fired for protesting massive budget cuts to arbitration, ruling that the claims fail under the provisions of the company's arbitration agreement. Order attached | Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/cybersecurity-privacy/articles/2266726?nl_pk=3dfd2fd…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/cybersecurity-privacy/articles/2266726?nl_pk=3dfd2fd…>

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Bloomberg Crypto Summit, July 19, 2022 | New York
by Gunnar Larson 04 Dec '24

04 Dec '24

Dear FBI Director: Today we have a huge problem with Jay Clayton (Former Chairman, SEC, Advisory Board Member, Fireblocks; Of Counsel, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP) and we will sue out of Asia before he sues out of SDNY. Here is the 2022 Bloomberg Crypto Summit as a piece of evidence. Love, Gunnar ✌️ -- https://drive.google.com/file/d/16qFehYvdK0b1bCtjgJ_GDH__7curSPEt/view?usp=… Building the Future July 19, 2022 | New York REGISTER NOW About the Event 2022 is promising to be a historic year for the global cryptocurrency industry. After starting the year on a high, renewed recession fears in May, coupled with the collapse of stablecoin TerraUSD and its sister currency Luna, rattled the broader crypto markets causing additional drops in coins such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Then in June we witnessed further price drops, cost-cutting measures, liquidity events, and fortunes wiped away as fast as they were amassed. Despite the recent downdraft, there is no doubt crypto has firmly established itself in the global consciousness, with many characterizing it as no less than a complete revolution of internet commerce and social media. Still critics say it has little to show for all the action except a handful of new money kings and a long list of economic casualties. The truth, however, is always more complicated. For every meme coin rug pull, there is a legitimate project backed by serious people and discerning between the two is often not easy. At the 2022 Bloomberg Crypto Summit, we’ll bring together top names from the worlds of tokens, blockchain, Web3, NFTs, decentralized finance, economics, investing, venture capital, and more to talk about what’s real and what’s speculation, and what smart money should know about the next phases of growth in this ascendant industry. The Macro Forces in 2022 The recent pullback in digital assets has many questioning their confidence in the broader market. Financial markets overall are watching for signs of a recession, inflation is surging, and the world has been thrown further into chaos by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Amid the current environment, are Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies a future store of value for investors or are they a digital gamble during a period of renewed volatility? What can we take away from recent price swings, job cuts, coin collapses and liquidity events? Do the chills of this crypto winter remain or will seasons start to change? The Regulatory Outlook With some clear regulation in the US, the industry could finally achieve acceptance from the mainstream financial establishment 13 years after the first cryptocurrencies emerged. In 2022, we’ve already seen an executive order from US President Joe Biden, additional protections from the SEC, and a bi-partisan bill in Congress proposing a clamp down on the industry, calls for which only grew louder in May in the wake of the spectacular crash of algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD. So what else is in store for this complex and risky market? Will new rules give increased legitimacy to the crypto industry or dampen the innovative and free-wheeling market the industry is used to? Cryptos and Sustainability The use and mining of cryptos like Bitcoin have a significant environmental impact. The drum is beating louder – sustainability needs to be a pressing part of the conversation. Can the world of crypto really ever be sustainable given its extensive energy consumption? By some measures, the process of generating new bitcoins uses as much electricity annually as small countries. However, for an industry with innovative talent and unlimited capital such as this one, we’ll bring together the bright ideas and big players that aim to bring real solutions to crypto's climate problem. Web 3.0, the Metaverse and Blockchain Gaming The controversial concept of Web3 as the next generation of the internet has fascinated the tech industry and potential investors for more than a year. Is it the truly decentralized idea the crypto ecosystem has dreamt of since its creation, or is it simply a smart re-branding of blockchain technology? Will Web3 take us a step closer to The Metaverse? Are “play to earn crypto” blockchain games poised to dominate the crypto world this year, or will the recent bridge hack endanger the entire ecosystem of Dapps and stall the explosive growth? Is DeFi Going to Weather a 'Crypto Winter?’ Despite it being summer in the US, chills of a crypto winter are being felt and the question is how will DeFi emerge from this season differently than it went in? Who will survive, and who will die? What will happen on the regulatory front, particularly after the TerraUSD fiasco and liquidity events at crypto firms? Can top players emerge to continue to scale this sector and on-board masses of users? Register Now Our Speakers Avery Akkineni President VaynerNFT Sam Bankman-Fried Founder & CEO FTX Kevin Beauregard Founder & CEO Atmos Labs Kathleen Breitman Co-Founder Tezos Kara Calvert Head of US Policy Coinbase Jay Clayton Former Chairman, SEC Advisory Board Member, Fireblocks; Of Counsel, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP Lule Demmissie US CEO eToro Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) New York Helen Hai Executive VP & Head of Charity Binance Brittany Kaiser Chair of the Board of Directors Gryphon Digital Mining Mary-Catherine Lader COO Uniswap Labs Chris Larsen Co-Founder & Executive Chairman Ripple Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R) Wyoming Jack Mallers Founder & CEO Strike Sarojini McKenna Co-Founder & CEO Dacoco Co-Founder Alien Worlds Michael Novogratz Founder & CEO Galaxy Digital Eric Peters Founder, CEO & CIO One River Asset Management William E. Quigley Co-Founder, Tether Co-Founder, WAX Matthew Roszak Chairman & Co-Founder Bloq Craig Salm Chief Legal Officer Grayscale Yat Siu Co-Founder & Executive Chairman, Animoca Brands Founder & CEO, Outblaze John Wu President Ava Labs Emily Yang aka pplpleasr Digital Artist

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Fwd: UnitedHealthcare CEO shot, killed in Midtown, NYPD says
by Gunnar Larson 04 Dec '24

04 Dec '24

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson shot, killed in Midtown, NYPD says <https://click.lists.wnyc.org/?qs=a618451ad346a1856883af1cff3a251e38679078bd…> NYPD officials have identified a man shot and killed in front of the New York Hilton Midtown Hotel as UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Police were still searching for the gunman mid-morning. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Gothamist News Alerts <gothamist(a)lists.wnyc.org> Date: Wed, Dec 4, 2024, 9:57 AM Subject: UnitedHealthcare CEO shot, killed in Midtown, NYPD says To: <g(a)xny.io> Police were still searching for the gunman mid-morning. View this email in a browser. <https://view.lists.wnyc.org/?qs=1b4e833020ec8ba1b5089c6c7657e75579c6fd6266f…> Gothamist relies on your support to make local news available to all. Not yet a member? Consider donating and join today. <https://click.lists.wnyc.org/?qs=a618451ad346a1859aec3d3d26dc14c5d3d770a4fc…> <https://click.lists.wnyc.org/?qs=a618451ad346a185d51291802d267703b9b9337d3a…> UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson shot, killed in Midtown, NYPD says <https://click.lists.wnyc.org/?qs=a618451ad346a1856883af1cff3a251e38679078bd…> NYPD officials have identified a man shot and killed in front of the New York Hilton Midtown Hotel as UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Police were still searching for the gunman mid-morning. Read More <https://click.lists.wnyc.org/?qs=a618451ad346a185d51291802d267703b9b9337d3a…> [image: We rely on your support to make local news available to all.] <https://click.lists.wnyc.org/?qs=a618451ad346a1859996a42498354c79600e497bdc…> [image: New York Public Radio] WNYC <https://click.lists.wnyc.org/?qs=a618451ad346a1859c94e59ce3749d2bea2dfb162d…> | WQXR <https://click.lists.wnyc.org/?qs=a618451ad346a185d3495219b268fb3a683c226f45…> | NJPR <https://click.lists.wnyc.org/?qs=a618451ad346a185a1cd4f5571794eba97495a64fa…> | GOTHAMIST <https://click.lists.wnyc.org/?qs=a618451ad346a185fcfc7ac79d2ff9469f45615a60…> WNYC STUDIOS <https://click.lists.wnyc.org/?qs=a618451ad346a1855f2d55e6358824b47d50c56645…> | THE GREENE SPACE <https://click.lists.wnyc.org/?qs=a618451ad346a185e61bab45150b4d34c8f6cda8ef…> Copyright © New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. 160 Varick Street, New York, NY 10013 <https://www.google.com/maps/search/160+Varick+Street,+New+York,+NY+10013?en…> TERMS OF USE <https://click.lists.wnyc.org/?qs=a618451ad346a185e4f28d1cd020226d2b4ad33f42…> You can update your PREFERENCES <https://click.lists.wnyc.org/?qs=a618451ad346a18566bae633a6d311e2a283bd7cfe…> or UNSUBSCRIBE <https://click.lists.wnyc.org/?qs=a618451ad346a185ac13f29941f5f172a4a23d3523…> from this list.

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Re: Bloomberg Follow Up
by Gunnar Larson 04 Dec '24

04 Dec '24

Thomas: Sure. How is a call on Friday 13 December, anytime after 9:00am EST. Gunnar Larson On Tue, Dec 3, 2024, 1:38 PM Thomas Murray (BLOOMBERG/ 731 LEX) < tmurray27(a)bloomberg.net> wrote: > Hello Gunnar, > > I hope are well. I am part of the relationship management team at > Bloomberg and was passed along a note that you were interested in the > Bloomberg terminal. Please let me know if we are able to coordinate a call > to discuss your business, what you are looking to solve for and the > Bloomberg solution. If you are able to provide some times that work best, I > will send over a calendar invite. > > Thank you, > > Tom > Thomas Murray > Bloomberg Senior Relationship Manager > 212-617-3923 > tmurray27(a)bloomberg.net > >

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BREAKING: Trump Argues Immunity Extends To Local Prosecutions
by Gunnar Larson 04 Dec '24

04 Dec '24

BREAKING: Trump Argues Immunity Extends To Local Prosecutions <https://www.law360.com/legalethics/articles/2268924?nl_pk=153d4a8a-6fb9-4a5…> By Frank G. Runyeon President-elect Donald Trump told the New York judge presiding over his hush money case that the criminal charges and guilty verdict should be thrown out, arguing in an expansive motion released Tuesday that allowing a local prosecution to proceed would upset the republic's balance of power. Motion attached | Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/legalethics/articles/2268924?nl_pk=153d4a8a-6fb9-4a5…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/legalethics/articles/2268924?nl_pk=153d4a8a-6fb9-4a5…>

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BREAKING: Celsius Founder Cops To Fraud Ahead Of $50M Crypto Trial
by Gunnar Larson 04 Dec '24

04 Dec '24

BREAKING: Celsius Founder Cops To Fraud Ahead Of $50M Crypto Trial <https://www.law360.com/banking/articles/2268668?nl_pk=feb6bbba-7878-4d39-be…> By Pete Brush Celsius Network founder Alex Mashinsky told a Manhattan federal judge Tuesday that he lied when he told the public that the fallen crypto lender's tokens were a safe investment, pleading guilty to fraud charges ahead of a January criminal trial. Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/banking/articles/2268668?nl_pk=feb6bbba-7878-4d39-be…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/banking/articles/2268668?nl_pk=feb6bbba-7878-4d39-be…>

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Use your FSA funds before they run out Many tests available on questhealth.com are FSA/HSA‍-‍eligible.**
by Gunnar Larson 03 Dec '24

03 Dec '24

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This email is intended for adults at least 18 years old in the ‌USA‌. ‌Quest Diagnostics Incorporated‌ 5‌0 <https://www.google.com/maps/search/5+0+0+Plaza+Drive+%0D%0A%09Secaucus,+New…> ‌0 <https://www.google.com/maps/search/5+0+0+Plaza+Drive+%0D%0A%09Secaucus,+New…>‌ ‌Plaza Drive <https://www.google.com/maps/search/5+0+0+Plaza+Drive+%0D%0A%09Secaucus,+New…> ‌ Secaucus, New Jersey <https://www.google.com/maps/search/5+0+0+Plaza+Drive+%0D%0A%09Secaucus,+New…> ‌07094 <https://www.google.com/maps/search/5+0+0+Plaza+Drive+%0D%0A%09Secaucus,+New…> ‌ ‌Attn: Digital Marketing Department‌ Unsubscribe <https://click.e.questdiagnostics.com/?qs=0e98dcb34fade591e5399ecd5baf231d25…> *Up to ‍3‍5 <https://www.google.com/maps/search/5+0+0+Plaza+Drive+%0D%0A%09Secaucus,+New…>‍% discount valid on select tests purchased online through ‍questhealth.com‍ <https://click.e.questdiagnostics.com/?qs=0e98dcb34fade591c0a55dceb1ea19a7af…>. ‍Discount does not apply to the physician fee and tests listed‍ here <https://click.e.questdiagnostics.com/?qs=0e98dcb34fade591fb087a560c06589f8a…>. ‍Single-use only. 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Fwd: The Hidden Grind of Delivering Shein and Temu Hauls
by Gunnar Larson 03 Dec '24

03 Dec '24

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Donald Trump’s Treasury Nominee Made Big Bets this Year on Chinese Stocks and a Big Short on the U.S. Market
by Gunnar Larson 03 Dec '24

03 Dec '24

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2024/11/donald-trumps-treasury-nominee-made-… Donald Trump’s Treasury Nominee Made Big Bets this Year on Chinese Stocks and a Big Short on the U.S. Market By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: November 25, 2024 ~ Hedge Fund Manager, Scott Bessent, Is Trump’s Nominee for U.S. Treasury Secretary Last Friday, in a flurry of announcements of cabinet nominees, President-elect Donald Trump dropped the name that the entire world had been waiting to hear: his pick for U.S. Treasury Secretary. The man Trump chose, Scott Bessent, is the founder and majority owner of the hedge fund, Key Square Capital Management LLC. If confirmed by the Senate, Bessent will inherit sprawling powers. He will sit at the helm of a federal agency that includes the IRS; the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates national banks and reports on their hundreds of trillions of dollars in derivatives; the Bureau of Engraving and Printing; the U.S. Mint; the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) which is tasked with combating money laundering but has failed miserably in the job; and numerous other units. In addition, legislation passed by Congress will put Bessent in charge of the slush fund known as the Exchange Stabilization Fund; make him Chair of the Financial Stability Oversight Council; and, thanks to stealthy legislation passed during the first Trump administration, the Treasury Secretary is now a permanent member of the National Security Council (NSC). The National Security Council was created in 1947. For the next 70 years the Treasury Secretary was invited to sit on the NSC at the invitation of the President. Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary in his first term, Steve Mnuchin, who came to that role after serving as National Finance Chairman of Trump’s presidential campaign, became the first Treasury Secretary to be a permanent part of the NSC thanks to a provision added to the 2018 Foreign Investment Regulatory Review Modernization Act. That provision is now codified into law at 50 U.S. Code § 3021. Also, as a result of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation, the Treasury Secretary is permitted to take the Federal Reserve hostage during a financial crisis. Section 1101 of the Dodd-Frank Act provides that the Federal Reserve Board, “may not establish any program or facility under this paragraph without the prior approval of the Secretary of the Treasury.” The referenced paragraph pertains to the Fed’s ability to enact emergency lending facilities during a financial crisis. In other words, assuming Bessent is confirmed, the Federal Reserve must now say “may I” to a career hedge fund manager (who has lots of powerful hedge fund pals on Wall Street) before structuring or implementing any new emergency lending programs. So much for Fed independence. Despite the sprawling duties and demands of the U.S. Treasury Secretary, Trump has chosen a man with no prior government experience. According to the most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), his hedge fund employs less than 25 people. The U.S. Treasury has more than 100,000 workers. Equally troubling, Bessent’s hedge fund has made large, erratic bets over the past year according to the 13F forms it has filed with the SEC. When Key Square Capital Management filed its 13F form for year-end 2023, it had a portfolio value of $469,992,491. It had taken massive stakes in Chinese stocks – not a particularly patriotic thing to do for an American. Bessent had invested more than $170.7 million in call options in an iShares China Large Cap Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) and more than $121.8 million in call options in KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF, which invests in Chinese Internet companies. The long positions in Chinese stock exposure represented 62 percent of the hedge fund’s positions. Just three months later, when Key Square filed its next 13F form with the SEC for the quarter ending March 31, 2024, the long exposure to Chinese stocks was gone and, instead, Bessent was now shorting the U.S. stock market – also not a very patriotic thing to do. The 13F shows that out of a portfolio of $528,653,631, Bessent had a put option (betting on a decline) in the Nasdaq stock market via Invesco’s QQQ ETF. That put option was valued at $515 million on March 31, representing an astonishing 97 percent of the Key Square portfolio. We don’t know how Bessent’s positions worked out this year because the public isn’t informed as to when positions are bought and sold by hedge funds. But we do know this: in years past, Bessent managed billions of dollars. By June 30 of this year, his 13F showed just $14 million invested. By September 30, Key Square was showing zero invested.

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The Fed Rings a Warning Bell: Hedge Funds and Life Insurers Are Reporting Historic Leverage
by Gunnar Larson 03 Dec '24

03 Dec '24

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2024/12/the-fed-rings-a-warning-bell-hedge-f… By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: December 3, 2024 ~ Jerome Powell (Thumbnail) Jerome (Jay) Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board The semi-annual Financial Stability Report released recently by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors rang a loud warning bell about high levels of leverage at hedge funds and life insurers. Wall Street watchers will no doubt recall that in 2008, during the worst Wall Street collapse since the Great Depression, Bear Stearns went under after it blew up two internal hedge funds the prior year and the giant life insurer, American International Group (AIG), blew itself up by acting as a counterparty to Wall Street’s derivative schemes and had to be taken into receivership by the U.S. government. On the matter of leverage at hedge funds, the Fed wrote this in its most recent Financial Stability Report: “Comprehensive data collected through SEC Form PF indicated that measures of leverage averaged across all hedge funds were at or near the highest level observed since these data became available in 2013. Relative to the previous report, leverage increased when measured using either average on-balance-sheet leverage…or average gross leverage of hedge funds…a broader measure that also incorporates off-balance-sheet derivatives exposures, but which does not account for netting of offsetting exposures.” And just who was providing this leverage to hedge funds? It was the federally-insured megabanks on Wall Street, of course. You won’t find that information in the Fed’s report but you can gain an in-depth understanding of this issue from our September 3 article titled: Three Megabanks Had Loans Outstanding of $1.832 Trillion to Giant Hedge Funds on March 31. The Fed seems to be a serial protector of the illusion that U.S. megabanks are doing just swell. It says this in its current report: “The banking system remained sound and resilient, with regulatory capital ratios approaching or exceeding historical highs.” That statement on capital levels would be much more convincing from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors if researchers at one of their 12 regional Fed banks, the New York Fed, had not just told the public in October that 27 percent of bank capital is “extend and pretend” commercial real estate loans. On the issue of high leverage at life insurers in 2024, the Fed’s Financial Stability Report tells us this: “Life insurers continued to allocate a substantial percentage of assets to risky and less liquid instruments, such as leveraged loans, collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), high-yield corporate bonds, privately placed corporate bonds, and alternative investments. Moreover, life insurance companies have material direct exposures to commercial mortgages and are large holders of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS). This exposure to illiquid and risky assets makes life insurers vulnerable to an array of adverse shocks, including that of an economic downturn or of a significant further deterioration of the CRE [commercial real estate] market.” Another section of the Fed’s Financial Stability Report that looks highly suspect is the list of the most cited potential shocks that two dozen sophisticated contacts expressed as top concerns that might occur over the next 12 to 18 months. The Fed explains the survey as follows: “As part of its market intelligence gathering, staff from the Federal reserve bank of New York solicited views from a wide range of contacts on risks to U.S. financial stability. From late August to late October, the staff surveyed 24 contacts, including professionals at broker-dealers, investment funds, research and advisory firms, and academics. This section is a summary of the views provided by survey respondents and should not be interpreted as representing the views of the Federal reserve bank of New York or the Federal reserve board.” The chart below is the list of the most cited concerns. We do not find the list credible. From August to late October, tens of millions of Americans could think of little else than the possibility that Donald Trump might return to the White House for a second reign of chaos. But we are asked to believe that not one person out of the two dozen the New York Fed spoke to mentioned Trump as a key concern according to the chart the Fed released. Two days after the presidential election, on November 7, when it was clear that Trump had won both the electoral college and the popular vote, the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper summed up the view around the world on its front cover with this: “American dread.” A column headlined on the front page read: “Time to Rethink Everything We Thought About the U.S.” Tens of millions of Americans were thinking those exact words with many doing a Google search on how to relocate to a foreign country. Vanity Fair’s digital front cover on November 6 captured the mood perfectly with these words: “34 Felony Counts; 1 Conviction; 2 Cases Pending; 2 Impeachments; 6 Bankruptcies; 4 More Years: The 47th American President.”

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