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Nearly two weeks after he was released by a Manhattan judge on a $250 million bond and ordered to stay with his parents in Palo Alto, Calif., Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced cryptocurrency executive, returned to New York and pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges that he engaged in widespread fraud, paving the way for a possible trial, the New York Times reported. Bankman-Fried appeared in Federal District Court in Manhattan, where he faces charges stemming from the implosion of FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange he founded and led. Its collapse resulted in billions of dollars in customer losses. Bankman-Fried could ultimately change his mind and plead guilty to at least some of the charges. But his initial response tees up a potentially titanic court fight. The judge, Lewis A. Kaplan, set a tentative trial date of Oct. 2.

Cineworld, the British cinema operator in bankruptcy proceedings, said today that it would not sell any of its assets individually, and that it had not held discussions with AMC Entertainment about the sale of any of its theaters, Reuters reported. The British company said it would focus on selling the group as a whole rather than disposing of individual assets, along with its restructuring efforts, and was expecting to start reaching out to potential parties for a sale later this month. Cineworld said today that it had not held discussions with AMC about the sale of any of its cinema assets, in response to media reports, and that talks about a reorganisation of its U.S. operations were ongoing. In October, Cineworld, the world's second-largest cinema chain operator, announced a bankruptcy settlement with its landlords and lenders, clearing the way for the company to borrow funds and make a $1 billion debt repayment.

Cinema chain AMC Entertainment Holdings said on Wednesday it was no longer in talks to acquire some theaters owned by now bankrupt Cineworld Group following initial discussions with some lenders, Reuters reported. AMC said the earlier talks were focused on the acquisition of certain theater assets of Cineworld in the United States and Europe, which would be financed partly through issuance of its preferred stock and debt financing provided by the lenders. AMC in August announced its preferred share APE as a special dividend for shareholders and a means to raise capital in the future. The company listed these shares in New York under the ticker 'APE'. Shares of AMC rose nearly 2% in trading before the bell, while its preferred shares were up more than 3%. Cineworld shares fell 5%. During the discussions, AMC said that Cineworld did not provide any confidential or non-public information, analyses, compilations, forecasts, among other documents to the lenders.

Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network LLC has received multiple bids for its retail platform and mining businesses, according to a company presentation delivered in court yesterday, Bloomberg News reported. Terms of the bids weren’t disclosed. They included offers for the retail platform, the mining business and a combination of the two, a lawyer for Celsius told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn in the hearing Tuesday. The potential buyer pool includes 30 parties. Celsius advisers haven’t yet decided whether they’ll sell the crypto lender as whole, in pieces or if they’ll pursue a different restructuring plan. They intend to work with potential buyers in the coming weeks to improve existing bids and announce in mid-January whether a sale will occur, company lawyer Chris Koenig said in the hearing. Celsius, which went bankrupt in July, held crypto worth $2.6 billion as of Nov. 25, according to the presentation. There remains about a $1.2 billion gap between the value of its assets — including non-crypto — and its total debts. Celsius mining operations have generated positive operating cash flow every month this year, Interim Chief Executive Officer Chris Ferraro said in the hearing. The company continues building out the mining business, he said.

Crypto firm Voyager Digital Ltd said on Monday it will sell its assets to Binance.US in a deal valued at about $1 billion following a review, Reuters reported. Palo Alto, California-based Binance.US, which operates as an independent legal entity and has a licensing agreement with Binance.com, will make a $10 million deposit and reimburse Voyager for certain expenses up to $15 million. Nearly $2 trillion in value has been wiped out from the crypto sector this year on rising interest rates and exacerbating worries of an economic downturn. The slump has eliminated key industry players such as Three Arrows Capital and Celsius Network. However, the bigger blow came after larger crypto exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy protection last month. Its swift fall has also sparked tough regulatory scrutiny of how major exchanges hold user funds. In September, Voyager Digital said FTX won an auction for its assets, in a bid valued at about $1.42 billion after Voyager filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July.