CryptoWatch: Ripple Believes in Crypto Growth 2025, SBF's Appeal, $12M Crypto Heist

In this edition of CryptoWatch, let us look back on the top news in the world of cryptocurrency from last week, centering on the recent comment from Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse about the industry's future, which is to see twice as much growth.

There is also the fight to prove his innocence, with Sam Bankman-Fried sending forth his appeal to the court regarding his conviction and prison sentence.

On the other hand, another reported incident involved a $12 million crypto heist tied to a security engineer who was recently sentenced to three years in prison.

Ripple's Brad Garlinghouse Believes in Crypto's Growth Come 2025

After revealing Ripple's new entry into the stablecoin market with a US dollar-tied new crypto, the company's CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, said he believes the industry will experience massive growth by 2025.

More particularly, he claimed that it would double in size by the end of this year, with 2025 enjoying this significant growth in the market.

Garlinghouse attributed several factors to help in this future growth, including macro factors, the arrival of the first US spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and the Bitcoin halving.

Moreover, he regarded that there is massive demand now and a decreasing supply in the market.

This year alone, Garlinghouse regarded that crypto will reach as much as $5 trillion, with more coming by 2025.

Sam Bankman-Fried Appeals His Conviction, Sentence

Sam Bankman-Fried is not yet done fighting for his case, and the former CEO and co-founder of FTX recently submitted his notice of appeal to the 2nd Circuit US Court of Appeals in Manhattan.

This looks to dispute the massive charges to which he was convicted, centering on fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit fraud, alongside his 25-year prison sentence.

The fight to prove that he is "innocent" is still what the appeal centers on, with Bankman-Fried portraying himself as a 'good' person, compassionate, and more.

Despite this, Judge Lewis Kaplan is known for believing that SBF returning to the public would lead him to do bad things and more, claiming that the former executive had no remorse for his actions.

Security Engineer Faces Prison for $12M Crypto Heist

The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced that it already sentenced a cybersecurity engineer, Shakeeb Ahmed, to as much as three years in prison for his participation in stealing as much as $12 million in cryptocurrency.

Ahmed was given three years imprisonment for his involvement, which centered on hacking into two crypto exchange platforms and orchestrating the stealing of digital assets.

It was revealed that he affected cyberattacks against Crema Finance and Nirvana Finance, stealing $9 million and $3.6 million, respectively.

Ahmed was also revealed to be a former senior security engineer from Amazon but was no longer an employee at the time of his arrest.