CoinMarketCap News, Jan 17: Three Arrows Capital Execs Face Backlash over Comeback Plan

Three Arrows Capital was one of the biggest crypto bankruptcies of 2022 — dragging several lenders down with it. But now, the doomed hedge fund's co-founders are plotting a comeback. Kyle Davies and Zhu Su want to start a new crypto exchange that's called — wait for it — GTX. The platform would focus on helping people who are owed money by bankrupt companies. They would be able to transfer their claims to the platform, and in return, get immediate credit through a token called USDG. Their plans have gone down very badly in crypto circles. Castle Island Ventures founding partner Nic Carter compared the duo to "arsonists returning to the scene of the crime and hawking buckets of water to their victims."

After suffering reputational damage from his association with Sam Bankman-Fried, former FTX US president Brett Harrison has landed a big investor for his new startup. SkyBridge Capital's Anthony Scaramucci has confirmed he'll be backing the crypto software business with his own funds. Scaramucci was also badly burned by FTX's collapse. Months before the exchange went bust, FTX Ventures had snapped up a 30% stake in his business. Speaking in Davos, Scaramucci said he considered SBF as a friend — and felt close to him and his family. He added: "I have to tell you that the betrayal and fraud — it's bad on a lot of different levels. It certainly hurt me reputationally."

Former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson just received a $1.2 million political donation from a crypto investor. The cash was from Chrisopher Harborne, who was reportedly a shareholder in the parent company of Bitfinex and Tether. According to a Sky News producer, it's the largest-ever donation to a politician in British history — six times higher than the previous record. Last February, Harborne also donated more than $600,000 to the Conservative Party — two months before it unveiled ambitions to make the U.K. a global cryptoasset hub. A rival politician said: "Instead of protecting the public by properly regulating the crypto market, it appears the Conservatives have been looking after the interests of their wealthy donors."

Crushed late last year by its close association with disgraced FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, the Solana blockchain has staged a roaring comeback — rising 60% over the last week and nearly 300% in the past three weeks. Solana's native SOL token hit $24.75 this week, briefly pushing its market capitalization past competing Ethereum-killer blockchain Polygon’s MATIC to enter the top 10. That's up from a seven-day low of $15.37 and 30-day low of $8.14 on Dec. 29. It closed out the year down almost 95%. Bankman-Fried was a strong supporter of the Solana ecosystem, and had backed it heavily. To make matters worse, its treasury was rich with SBF stock and tokens that have now plummeted in value.

Funds stolen in last year's Horizon Bridge attack are on the move. North Korean hackers appear to have funneled about two-thirds of the $100 million stolen through a smart contract called Railgun. The project's been billed as an alternative to coin mixers that makes transactions fully invisible. Binance's CEO, CZ, says his security team have been able to seize $2.5 million in stolen crypto. Horizon was hacked back in June after the Lazarus Group managed to steal passwords belonging to validators. About 65,000 wallets were robbed. Reports have long suggested that North Korea is using stolen crypto to sidestep economic sanctions and fund its nuclear weapons program.