Here’s what happened in crypto today

Need to know what happened in crypto today? Here is the latest news on daily trends and events impacting Bitcoin price, blockchain, DeFi, NFTs, Web3 and crypto regulation.

The U.S. Department of Justice is negotiating with Binance to resolve its investigation of the crypto exchange. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s CEO announced that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman will join Microsoft after their abrupt departure as heads of OpenAI, and Ethereum Name Service (ENS) developers warned Unstoppable Domains to drop patents or face a lawsuit.

DOJ is ready settle with Binance for $4 billion: Report

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is willing to negotiate a settlement with crypto exchange Binance — but only if the exchange pays $4 billion in fines. 

The details were disclosed in a Nov. 20 report from Bloomberg, which cited unnamed sources. The reported agreement would require Binance pay the hefty fine in exchange for being allowed to continue operating in the country. The agreement could be finalized “as soon as the end of the month,” the report said.

*US SEEKS MORE THAN $4 BILLION FROM BINANCE TO END CRIMINAL CASE

Source: Bloomberg | Coins: BNB

— db (@tier10k) November 20, 2023

As part of the agreement, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao would face the possibility of criminal charges related to money laundering, bank fraud and sanctions violations. Zhao is currently living in the UAE, which doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the U.S., the report states.  

Zhao sued a Bloomberg subsidiary in 2022 for allegedly publishing false stories claiming he was operating a Ponzi exchange. 

Microsoft hires Sam Altman, Greg Brockman after departure from OpenAI

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella posted on X, stating that the company is hiring both former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and president Greg Brockman.

On Nov. 20, Nadella posted that he is “extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team.”

We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners. We look forward to getting to know Emmett…

— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) November 20, 2023

The post also said that the company remains committed to its partnership with OpenAI and looks forward to getting to know its new CEO Emmett Shear, who replaced Altman on Nov. 20.

Altman was ousted from OpenAI by its board of directors on Nov. 17 due to being allegedly “not consistently candid in his communications with the board,” after which Brockman stepped down from his position on the OpenAI board.

Worldcoin price on rollercoaster with OpenAI saga

Worldcoin (WLD) has seen wild price swings amid OpenAI’s dramatic firing, possible rehiring then eventual replacement of its co-founder and former CEO Sam Altman.

WLD is the token of Altman’s eyeball-scanning project of the same name. While Worldcoin and its token has nothing to do with OpenAI — it still saw its price drop after the AI firm’s shock announcement that it fired Altman.

In the following days OpenAI’s board faced pressure to bring Altman back and entered talks with the outed co-founder about a possible return which saw WLD’s price surge 12% over 24 hours to reach an intraday high of $2.54 during Monday morning Asian trading hours.

WLD then dropped dropped to $2.30 after Altman was replaced as CEO by Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear.

Meanwhile, AI-related crypto assets notched a market capitalization rise of 7.2% to $6.5 billion with tokens such as Fetch.ai (FET), SingularityNET (AGIX), and Akash Network (AKT) notching up double-digit gains according to CoinGecko.

ENS devs warn Unstoppable Domains: Drop patents or face lawsuit

ENS founder and lead developer Nick Johnson recently posted an open letter on X (formerly Twitter) urging Web3 firm Unstoppable Domains to relinquish a blockchain tech patent or else face potential litigation.

Failing that, ENS Labs stands ready to challenge this patent, which we believe is entirely derivative of our own inventions; a position we are able and willing to demonstrate.

— nick.eth (@nicksdjohnson) November 16, 2023

Unstoppable Domains received its first U.S. patent in January 2023. According to the patent, Braden River Pezeshki, Matthew Everett Gould and Bogdan Gusiev are the inventors of a technology that uses blockchain technology to determine domains.

Johnson disputes this claim and says ENS is the rightful creator of the patent. The ensuing discussion laid bare the disconnect between the two companies.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.