CoinMarketCap News, Jan 6: New Developments on Celsius Network, FTX and Three Arrows Capital

The former CEO of Celsius Network is being sued by New York's Attorney General for "defrauding hundreds of thousands of investors out of billions of dollars." Alex Mashinsky is accused of "repeatedly making false and misleading statements." Letitia James claims 26,000 New Yorkers were affected when Celsius went bust, including a disabled veteran who lost $36,000. The lawsuit aims to bar Mashinsky from serving as a director of any company doing business in New York — and secure damages and restitution for those affected. "Alex Mashinsky promised to lead investors to financial freedom but led them down a path of financial ruin," the attorney general said in a statement.

According to a new report, the fallout from the collapse of the world's second-largest exchange had the potential to be even more disastrous. Bloomberg News has seen an email that suggests FTX US was planning to offer individual retirement accounts to American consumers. Had such ambitions been realized, there would have been an acute danger of substantial pension pots being wiped out overnight — meaning hard-working savers could have seen their dreams of retirement disappear before their eyes. Swan Bitcoin's chief executive Cory Klippsten, a long-time critic of FTX, told the news outlet that it's a good thing SBF's empire went bust when it did — as it could have gotten much bigger.

In a surreal turn of events, the co-founders of Three Arrows Capital have been served subpoenas on Twitter. Liquidators at the doomed crypto hedge fund have long accused Kyle Davies and Zhu Su of failing to cooperate with their inquiries — but both men have claimed this isn't the case. Given both entrepreneurs are relatively active on Twitter, those handling the bankruptcy sought court approval to reach them on social media instead. In public messages, the official account for the liquidation process tagged Davies and Su respectively. Images of the subpoena document were also provided, with sensitive details redacted. At the time of writing, Twitter data shows the posts have been viewed 350,000 times.

Hackers have stolen the information of 235 million Twitter users — amid fears that crypto-focused accounts may be a prime target for cybercriminals. Alon Gal, who discovered the hack, said: "This is one of the most significant leaks I've seen." Worryingly, the data has been posted for free on a hacking forum — featuring users' email addresses, Twitter handles and follower counts. Gal fears that hackers will primarily target Crypto Twitter accounts, meaning those with .eth in their name could be especially vulnerable. High-profile accounts with a large number of followers may also be in the crosshairs of malicious actors, as well as so-called "OG" accounts with good usernames. Anonymous users could end up being doxxed, too.

Bitcoin is now on the brink of enduring the longest bear market in its 14-year history. Blockworks editor David Canellis says the current crypto winter has been running for 337 days. Previous routs in 2014 and 2018 lasted for 374 and 390 days respectively. And the next bull market could also be different, as Bitcoin has never operated in a world where interest rates have been this high. Canellis believes the halving is the primary bull case for Bitcoin between now and the middle of 2024 — but that could mean another six months of painful price action. And if we start to see the world's biggest cryptocurrency rally again, the era of face-melting returns may be well and truly over.