CoinMarketCap News, Jan 10: Is Apple About to Declare War on Meta with New Mixed-Reality Headset?

A third member of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's innermost circle is being investigated by federal prosecutors looking into the collapse of the second-largest crypto exchange in a torrent of fraud allegations. Head of engineering Nishad Singh has met with detectives and is reportedly seeking a cooperation deal, following in the footsteps of Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang. However, he hasn't been accused of wrongdoing — and no charges have been filed. This follows allegations that Singh helped make code changes that gave Alameda Research "a virtually unlimited line of credit" funded by FTX customers. Further plea deals could leave SBF looking increasingly isolated ahead of a planned trial in October.

In a bankruptcy court hearing on Monday, crypto lender BlockFi went to some pains to make the case that senior executives — including CEO Zac Prince — did not drain their own funds in advance of filing for bankruptcy. BlockFi appears to be seeking to get ahead of questions about why Prince withdrew more than $9 million in April, and why the company appeared to pay him and four other executives $15 million in August. Sharing a month-by-month timeline documenting the personal accounts of top BlockFi bosses, an attorney representing the company said: "I think the important takeaway here is that there was no situation where insiders were pulling money off the platform on the eve of or anywhere near this bankruptcy file."

Andrew Tate is appearing in court today to challenge his 30-day detention following an arrest on suspicion of human trafficking. The controversial internet personality, along with his brother Tristan and two women, were arrested in Romania late last month pending a criminal investigation. Reports suggest Tate's lawyer will argue that their detention is unlawful — and claim that there is no substantial evidence against his client. Tate, a former kickboxer, was known for creating "Hustler's University," a platform that offered content on how to trade cryptocurrencies. Some critics have accused the site of being a scam and a pyramid scheme. Tate's been using his Twitter account to protest his innocence, claiming: "The Matrix has attacked me."

Apple is about ready to launch its highly anticipated (if sparsely detailed) mixed-reality headset, which could give it a key role in the creation of Web3 and the metaverse. Bloomberg is reporting that the alternate reality/mixed-reality headset Apple has been working on since 2017 is scheduled to be revealed in June and put on sale before the end of the year. The headset, said to be called Reality Pro, will likely be a standalone device with a built-in computer rather than relying on an iPhone. The price has been estimated in various sources as at least $2,000 to $3,000. In many ways this puts Apple on track to be in direct conflict with Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, which is essentially betting its business on the metaverse as the future of social media.