Axios

How Americans experience inflation depends not just on what they purchase, but also where they live. November’s Consumer Price Index report offered good news on that front: price gains slowed in every region, most notably in the West.

• There, inflation rose 7.1% in the 12 months through last month, dropping a full percentage point from the last reading in October.

Between the lines: Of the major regions, inflation is highest in the South — thanks in part to shelter costs accelerating at a more rapid pace.

• Prices in that region increased 7.7% in the year ending in November, still well-below the peak of 9.8% in June.

The South is home to one metro area where prices are rising faster than most others tracked by the government.

• In Florida's Tampa Bay area, prices rose 9.6% over the 12 months ending in November — falling below 10% for the first time since January.

The only thing moving faster than this year's crypto collapse is its aftermath.

Why it matters: Authorities, courts and lawmakers — who for years largely observed the industry's rapid growth from the sidelines — are now elbowing each other out of the way to get involved as confidence in the industry crumbles, and new shoes drop.

The latest: Sam Bankman-Fried, whose face became synonymous with crypto, was charged today with eight counts of fraud, conspiracy, campaign finance violations and money laundering.

• Only a day earlier, the FTX founder was readying for a remote appearance before the House Financial Services Committee.

The intrigue: He was arrested by Bahamian authorities late Monday at the request of the U.S. Government. But that caught another part of the U.S. Government completely by surprise.

• "My staff and I have been working diligently for the past month to secure Mr. Bankman-Fried’s testimony before our Committee tomorrow morning," committee chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) said in a statement.
• SBF was still scheduled to appear, "but then he was arrested," Waters added.

The timing of arrest was "dictated by law enforcement," U.S. Attorney Damien Williams said in a press conference.

Meanwhile, a battle is heating up between FTX's U.S. bankruptcy team and Bahamian authorities: both are claiming jurisdiction, and openly accusing the other of foul play. U.S. regulators also jumped into the fray today.

• The SEC filed a civil complaint, while the CFTC charged SBF and his companies with fraud, in connection with the loss of over $8 billion in FTX customer deposits.

The bottom line: Crypto, a once little understood corner of finance, now has everyone's attention.

The Arena Group, a publicly traded digital-publishing company, plans to acquire the digital assets of Men's Journal and of Adventure Sports Network from Accelerate360 for $28.5 million, the company said.

Why it matters: Arena Group aggregates lots of smaller digital media properties and scales them using shared backend technology and infrastructure. Sports is by far its most-trafficked vertical, according to monthly traffic data provided by a spokesperson.

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday called the stunning collapse of FTX "one of the biggest financial frauds in American history," charging that founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) defrauded investors while enriching himself.

• In his first public address following Bankman-Fried's sudden arrest in the Bahamas late Monday, Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, outlined existing evidence, while insisting the investigation was far from over.

Driving the news: SBF was indicted on eight counts, but outlined several areas of misconduct, including defrauding FTX's investors and customers, and misleading lenders to Alameda (FTX’s sister company and hedge fund).

• He also accused SBF of funneling "illegal" campaign contributions to both parties.

Zoom out: FTX's collapse last month destroyed billions of dollars of customers' funds, and has severely undermined confidence in the still developing crypto ecosystem.

Of note: There was a question about the timing of SBF's arrest, which subsequently made him unable to appear before an expected appearance in Congress to answer questions from lawmakers, under oath.

• Williams said that he authorized charges last Wednesday, and the indictment happened last Friday. The timing of arrest was "dictated by law enforcement."
• He could not speak to the extradition process, but said SBF is still currently in the Bahamas.

Between the lines: Other charges may come later.

• "To anyone who participated in wrongdoing and has yet not yet come forward, come see us before we come see you," Williams said.

Who's who: Representatives of partner task forces were present:

• Michael Driscoll, assistant FBI director in charge of the New York Field Office
• Gurbir Grewal, director of SEC's Division of Enforcement
• Gretchen Lowe, Acting Director of CFTC's Division of Enforcement

Bottom line: Williams said the extradition effort is ongoing,

There is more good news for an American consumer bedeviled by soaring prices, and policymakers racing to tame them: inflation slowed even further in November, the latest clue that the worst of it may be behind us.

The big picture: Similar optimism this summer was quickly crushed by subsequently higher inflation readings. But there are good reasons to believe this time really is different, with key inflation drivers — housing, goods and services — all pointing in a favorable direction.

Snyk, a Boston-based developer security company, said that it raised $196.5 million in Series G funding led by Qatar Investment Authority.

Why it matters: Because the company isn't shying away from the fact that this is a down round, as its $7.4 billion valuation is 12% lower than when Snyk raised money last fall.

The race to ship Christmas gifts — or order them for delivery — is on with most holiday shipping deadlines earlier than last year.

The big picture: Deadlines from shipping retailers and USPS are the recommended last days to ship gifts in order to have expected delivery before Christmas, but delays can still happen.

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried with eight counts of fraud, conspiracy, campaign finance law violations and money laundering.

Driving the news: The disgraced crypto wunderkind was arrested Monday by police in the Bahamas and is expected to be extradited to the U.S.

The highly anticipated Avatar sequel "The Way of Water" is expected to dominate this week's box office when it hits theaters on Friday, 13 years after the original James Cameron Avatar film first debuted in December 2009.

Why it matters: The new film "is under tremendous pressure to deliver the goods, reinvigorate late-year moviegoing, and give Cameron the de facto green light for the future planned installments of this mega-high profile movie brand," said Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian.

Following a cooler-than-expected inflation reading in October, consumer price gains slowed even further last month: the Consumer Price Index rose 7.1% in the year ending in November, down from 7.7% the prior month, the Labor Department said on Tuesday.

Why it matters: Inflation is still way too high, but the data offers some hope that it can ease alongside a still-healthy economy.

Low-interest rates giveth, high-interest rates taketh away.

What happened: American households saw the third consecutive quarterly decline in net worth during Q3, as stocks were pummeled by rising interest rates.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday filed a civil complaint accusing Sam Bankman-Fried of "orchestrating a scheme to defraud equity investors in FTX" and seeking to ban him from the cryptocurrency industry.

What to watch: This comes ahead of criminal charges that will be announced later this morning by prosecutors for the Southern District of New York.

Siemens eMobility is establishing a manufacturing hub in Carrollton, Texas, to meet the rapidly growing U.S. demand for electric vehicle (EV) chargers, Axios is first to report.

Why it matters: EVs are a tiny fraction of today's U.S. auto market, accounting for 6% of new car sales and less than 2% of all vehicles in operation. But ownership is forecast to grow significantly over the next decade, meaning the country will need millions of new chargers.

Bari Weiss, the New York Times columnist turned independent newsletter writer, has hired ten full-time employees and over a dozen contractors to help build her new media company, The Free Press, Weiss told Axios in an interview.

Why it matters: The success of Weiss' Substack newsletter and podcast, both of which she launched last year after leaving The New York Times, shows there's an appetite for coverage that's meant to rebuke traditional media products.

Twitter disbanded its "Trust and Safety Council," according to an email sent Monday night to the members of the panel that was obtained by news outlets including Axios.

Why it matters: It's another example of owner Elon Musk rolling back years of efforts designed to make the social media site a more civil and safer place, per the Washington Post.

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and former CEO of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, was arrested and taken into custody on Monday by police in the Bahamas.

Why it matters: This appears to set up an extradition of Bankman-Fried to the U.S., as the Bahamian attorney general's office says it received notice of a U.S. criminal complaint and "likely" extradition request.