Financial Times issues ’apology’ to Bitcoiners after 13 years of criticism

December 6, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin at $100K: How the media’s perception has shifted since 2009

December 5, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Wall Street Journal corrects article misciting Hamas’ crypto terrorism funding data

October 28, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Elliptic, the firm which Wall Street Journal sourced the data from, said it was “pleased” to see the news outlet acknowledge its mistakes.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has partially corrected an article whic mischaracterized the extent to which Hamas and other militant groups have been funding its terrorism activities with cryptocurrencies.

The Oct. 10 article — titled “Hamas Militants Behind Israel Attack Raised Millions in Crypto” — cited blockchain forensics firm Elliptic to say Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a terrorist organization operating on the Gaza Strip, raised as much as $93 million between August 2021 and June 2023.

In the cited report, Elliptic said Israel’s counter-terrorism unit seized PIJ-linked wallets which received $93 million from over that timeframe. However, Elliptic made it clear that this in no way meant that PIJ raised these funds to finance its terrorism activities.

Research from blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis suggests only $450,000 of these funds were sent to a known terrorism-affiliated wallet.

In WSJ’s correction, it stated PIJ and Lebanese political party Hezbollah “may have exchanged” up to $12 million in cryptocurrency — far less than its initial $93 million figure.

“Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah may have exchanged up to $12 million in crypto since 2021, according to crypto-research firm Elliptic. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said PIJ had sent more than $12 million in crypto to Hezbollah since 2021,” WSJ said.

WSJ said it updated other parts of the article to include “additional context” about Elliptic’s research.

*Corrections made by the WSJ’s Oct. 10 article. Source: WSJ*

WSJ’s retraction follows an Oct. 25 statement by Elliptic which called on WSJ to correct its misinterpretation of the data. Elliptic added that cryptocurrency funding by Hamas remains “tiny” relative to other funding sources.

On Oct. 27, Elliptic was “pleased” to see WSJ acknowledge its mistakes but said it would've liked to see WSJ be more specific about its corrections.

We're pleased to see the Wall Street Journal issue some corrections to their article based on our feedback. While we would like to have seen them go further, we will continue to engage constructively.
— Elliptic (@elliptic) October 27, 2023

Coinbase's chief legal officer Paul Grewal also noted that WSJ's opening paragraph is still framed as though cryptocurrency was the primary funding source behind Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

2/ @WSJ's lede still maintains that the funding supported Hamas attacks hinged on “One answer: cryptocurrency.” There's no evidence of that, and WSJ knows it. pic.twitter.com/BQK80b1jMd
— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) October 27, 2023

"This is barely a correction," he added.

Nic Carter, partner of Castle Island Ventures and others are now calling on United States Senator Elizabeth Warren to retract a related letter backed by over 100 U.S. lawmakers written to the White House on Oct. 17.

The letter cited WSJ’s misinterpreted data from Elliptic in an attempt to argue that cryptocurrency poses a “national security threat” to the U.S. and that Congress and the Biden administration should act swiftly before cryptocurrencies are used to finance another “tragedy.”

Liz Warren wyd? pic.twitter.com/e0Ew2TQzRb
— nic carter (@nic__carter) October 27, 2023

Magazine: US enforcement agencies are turning up the heat on crypto-related crime

Names of non-US FTX users demanded by mainstream media outlets

April 6, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Ad Hoc Committee of Non-US Customers of FTX.com

A number of mainstream media outlets are pushing to publicize the personal details of FTX’s non-U.S. customers, similar to what happened with Celsius.

Some mainstream media outlets have objected to attempts to withhold the identities of non-United States customers of cryptocurrency exchange FTX during its bankruptcy proceedings.

In an April 4 filing to a Delaware Bankruptcy Court, media outlets Bloomberg, The Financial Times, The New York Times, and its parent firm the Dow Jones & Company jointly objected to the names of the customers being redacted, arguing the press and public have "a presumptive right of access to bankruptcy filings.”

Media group files objection to redacting FTX customer names.

If the objection succeeds, the names of up to 1.4 million customers and their FTX balances would be made public. pic.twitter.com/w0avsJ6JYv
— FTX 2.0pium (FTX Creditor) (@AFTXcreditor) April 5, 2023

While FTX’s debtors are able to argue for the names of creditors to be redacted in bankruptcy filings — and have done so — the media outlets believe FTX and its customers have failed to “justify such secrecy.”

The Ad Hoc Committee of Non-US Customers of FTX.com claimed in a Dec. 28 filing that publicly revealing the names and private information of non-U.S. customers leaves them vulnerable to identity theft, targeted attacks, and “other injury.”

In the recent filing, the media outlets argued that if the “permanent sealing” of the users were permissible on the grounds claimed by FTX and the Committee “then sealing customers’ names would be routine in virtually every bankruptcy proceeding.”

They added that “public access is of the utmost importance here,” as the magnitude of the FTX collapse has “ignited intense public interest in the U.S. legal system’s approach to the burgeoning and largely unregulated cryptocurrency market,” and added:

“The sealing of the names of FTX’s creditors to date has significantly impeded reporting on, and analysis of, these proceedings, leaving the public—and creditors— largely in the dark as to the United States’ enforcement of its bankruptcy laws in the crypto context”

In response to the Committee’s Dec. 28 filing, Judge John Dorsey allowed the names and addresses of the customers to be redacted for a further three months on Jan. 11, noting that he “remained reluctant at this point” to disclose the confidential information which may put creditors “at risk.”

Crypto lending platform Celsius had similarly tried to ensure that its customers' names remained redacted during its bankruptcy proceedings but failed to convince the judge, resulting in the personal details of thousands of customers being disclosed on Oct. 5, 2022.

A hearing on the matter is set to occur on April 12 at 1:00 pm Eastern Time.

NFT Creator, Sarah Zucker: The Sarah Show’s analog past meets dizzying digital future

Report: Fed’s Secret Repo Loans to Megabanks in 2020 Eclipsed 2008 Bailouts, Data Dump Shows $48 Trillion in Stealth Funding

April 13, 2022 Bitcoin.com

‘Inflation in the News Driven by Rich People’ — Media Pundits Claim ‘Inflation Is Good’ as Americans Struggle With Less Purchasing Power

November 20, 2021 Bitcoin.com

Mainstream media