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🗞️ DOJ taps FRA over Sullivan & Cromwell for Binance's 3-year monitorship: report
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) appointed Forensic Risk Alliance (FRA) to serve as the outside monitor over the crypto exchange Binance, reports Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter.
FRA, a London-based providing services in forensic accounting and compliance consulting services, beat out Sullivan & Cromwell to take on the position, Bloomberg adds. Binance must undergo a monitorship of three years as part of its plea deal with the DOJ related to money laundering violations.
🗞️ FBI Warns Against Using Unregistered Cryptocurrency Money Transmitting Services
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued a warning about using unregistered cryptocurrency money transmitting services that fail to comply with U.S. anti-money laundering laws.
The agency has provided tips for the public to protect themselves, advising them to avoid providers that do not require Know Your Customer (KYC) information.
🗞️ Aptos Strikes DeFi Partnership With Microsoft, Brevan Howard, SK Telecom
Aptos Labs, the developers behind the Aptos layer-1 blockchain, said it is collaborating with Microsoft, Brevan Howard and South Korean wireless telecommunications operator SK Telecom to offer institutions a gateway into decentralized finance.
The partnership will offer Aptos Ascend, a suite of end-to-end institutional solutions like regulatory requirement help, tools to maintain account and transaction privacy and embedded features for know-your-customer (KYC) checks.
🗞️ Next Bitcoin Halving to Propel Prices to Between $150,000 and $169,000, Says Bitfinex
Bitfinex’s Alpha report delves into Bitcoin’s past halving events since the first one in 2012, employing a regression model to forecast the potential impact of the upcoming halving.
Despite acknowledging the simplicity of their model, researchers argue for a significant upswing in bitcoin’s value, projecting it to hit between $150,000 and $169,000.
This optimistic outlook is tempered by the recognition of unprecedented market dynamics, such as pre-halving all-time highs and increased selling pressure from both long-term and short-term BTC holders.
🗞️ Defi Platforms Lose More Than $336 Million in Digital Funds in Q1 of 2024, Study Finds
In the first quarter of 2024, more than $336 million in digital assets were stolen from decentralized finance platforms across 61 incidents of hacking and fraud.
During this period, criminals made off with digital assets valued at $144.48 million in two major hacking incidents. In contrast, centralized finance platforms reported no incidents of hacking or fraud in the first three months of the year.
Autonomous Secure Dollar (USSD) is a low-risk stablecoin that provides a transparent way to earn more than inflation interest. A new ideal stablecoin?
USSD (Arbitrum) is already working as an independent, censorship-resistant stablecoin with no ties to real-world assets - with the opportunity to earn a natural high interest rate (APY 15%+). To enhance the permanent over-collateralization ratio, insurance capital was involved.
Disclaimer
Before we start, I would like to say that this is a post for smart and critical thinking crypto enthusiasts. If you think that Binance exchange is a blockchain (or crypto or other keyword) and USDT is safe or, acting as mommy nihilists, you reject everything and claim expertise in all, please do not proceed.
Anouther thing, USSD smart contracts is already deployed on 12.03.2024, was locked from any changes, and was audited by a famous smart-contract auditor with a high score. No weak ideas and imaginations from fantasists; it is already working.
OK, let's continue.
Main part
Do you know about stablecoins like USDT (Tether), USDC (USD Coin), and UST (from the Terra/Luna project)? USDT and USDC are popular and generally seen as safe options. Yet, there's a risk: the organizations that issue these coins can block certain addresses. If that happens, you might not be able to access your money, which brings up worries about too much power and monitoring by these central authorities.
If you believe I'm overreacting or causing unnecessary drama, take a look for yourself here: https://dune.com/phabc/usdt---banned-addresses. Over 1200 addresses have already been banned, involving around 1 billion dollars. What would you do if it happened to you? How can you prove that you are not guilty and your money should be returned to you?
UST. How about we explore this fascinating option? UST, from the Terra/Luna project, caught attention by offering high interest rates. However, its value fell sharply to just 2-3 cents. The big issue with UST was the unclear origin of its interest payments. Without a clear and lasting plan for its economy, the reliability of such a system remains doubtful.
However, imagine a scenario where there is a solution that allows you to safeguard your cryptocurrency dollars without the risk of being blacklisted by authorities. Also, this solution would enable you to earn interest derived from the natural growth of the crypto market, rather than from an opaque or unsustainable source.
David Lee has developed a solution featuring the following:
- The Smart Contract is immutable and does not contain any functions for blacklisting.
- It boasts a high level of security, having been audited by Hacken with a perfect score of 9.3.
- The stablecoin is backed solely by major cryptocurrencies (BTC and ETH), excluding altcoins.
- A non-withdrawable Insurance fund ensures permanent overcollateralization for this stablecoin.
- USSD holders receive anti-inflation interest, with rewards directly tied to the growth of the crypto collateral - specifically, the increase in value of BTC and ETH within the collateral. This system relies on straightforward mathematics without resorting to unpredictable "black swan" events. No magic interest out of nowhere.
Additionally, USSD community is excited to announce the ICEBreaker program. ICEBreaker is a local currency stablecoin franchise for earning where they are seeking other anonymous founders to champion stablecoins in various markets such as KRW, BRL, etc. USSD community is committing a marketing fund to test all promotional ideas.
I'm not here to push marketing hype. My goal is to encourage you to think critically and make informed choices. I am ready to share all relevant links and am eager to discuss both the strengths and weaknesses of USSD in our Tg community.
What to do next?
Let's stand for autonomy and radical transparency. Analyze with a critical mindset. Here is more info about USSD: https://www.ussd.ai/ and https://www.ussd.ai/docs . Ask anything in front of everyone in our community: /channel/ussdtalk
Author: David Lee
Porsche NFT Collection Is a Reminder to Let Web3 Natives Take the Wheel
“Is it still ok to get a physical Porsche tho?” said Alfonso (Fonz) Olvera, CEO of non-fungible token (NFT) ownership platform Tokenproof, on Twitter Tuesday morning.
“Wen Kia mint? I’m sure I could afford that,” he joked in another tweet.
Olvera’s tweets reflect the broader sentiments felt by some in the NFT community in response to German carmaker Porsche’s debut NFT collection, which opened for minting on Monday. While users took to Twitter to poke fun at the project as it struggled to gain traction in the hours post-launch, the stalled mint served as a lesson to companies on how to build a Web3 strategy with community input at the forefront.
The legacy sports car manufacturer opened its mint on Monday morning, pricing each NFT – a digital replica of the iconic 911 model – at 0.911 ETH, or about $1,490. The company teased future integrations for holders, including the ability to customize the design and rarity of their NFTs.
But it appears Porsche could have used some roadside assistance in its project rollout. As of Tuesday afternoon, only around 1,600 of the 7,500 NFTs had been minted, and many NFTs were selling on secondary marketplaces like OpenSea for less than the mint price.
Noting the lack of momentum, Porsche put its project in reverse and said that it would halt its mint. “Our holders have spoken,” its official account tweeted.
🗞️ Cricket Legend AB de Villiers Reveals How He Got His NFTs Stolen
The South African cricket legend Abraham Benjamin de Villiers, aka AB de Villiers, revealed how he became a victim of NFT hack. At the time of the hack, AB owned as much as 300 NFTs.
In an interview with Cointelegraph, de Villiers revealed that he held over 300 digital collectibles before he became a victim of a hack last year.
AB de Villeres signed a malicious contract
AB, who has vocally embraced NFTs and crypto, got fooled by a malicious NFT masquerading as a new Pudgy Penguin drop, the legendary cricketer inadvertently gave a hacker access to his wallet by signing a malicious contract. AB revealed that tapped on the link as it looked very legit. There was a $1 gas fee. The minute he hit that gas fee, it stalled. AB said that he hit it about five times, giving the hacker complete access to his whole wallet.
AB de Villiers ended up losing a good chunk of his collection before sending the remainder of his NFTs to another wallet for safekeeping. The South African cricketer admitted that the experience had made him recognize some of the challenges of navigating Web3.
🗞️ DeFi poised for major comeback amid Bitcoin’s rally, predict Bernstein analysts
With bitcoin approaching all-time highs amid strong spot exchange-traded fund inflows, analysts at research and brokerage firm Bernstein anticipate a “big bang” DeFi recovery to come next.
The DeFi segment got “completely wiped out” during the last cycle, playing a game of unsustainable yields driven by subsidies from token incentives (inflation) that ultimately came crashing down, the analysts argued.
🗞️ MSTR rallies 10% as MicroStrategy buys $155 million Bitcoin in 10 days
MicroStrategy bolstered its Bitcoin reserves by purchasing 3,000 BTC for approximately $155 million within ten days.
This purchase takes the business intelligence and Bitcoin development firm’s total holding to 193,000 BTC, acquired for around $6.09 billion at an average price of $31,544 per BTC.
According to Nasdaq data, the news has positively impacted the early trading of its MSTR shares, which rose by around 10% to $751 as of press time.
🗞️ Mint Square NFT Marketplace to Discontinue Trading Services By June’s End
The Mint Square NFT marketplace will shut down on June 3. The team has yet to explain the decision, but it could be due to poor traction.
The Mint Square NFT marketplace will stop trading services from June 30, the team announced over Twitter on June 6. The team explained that buying and selling would continue until that date, after which trading would no longer be possible.
Mint Square NFT Marketplace Shuts Down
Mint Square did not offer an explanation for why it was shutting the marketplace down. It could possibly be because of poor performance. There have been several NFT marketplaces that have shut down in recent times.
In February, WazirX shut down its NFT marketplace because of poor traction. Around the same time, the Solana NFT marketplace Formfunction also shuttered. Then there’s CNN, the broadcaster which abandoned its NFT project late last year.
Mint Square is an NFT marketplace that runs on Ethereum layer-2 ZK-rollups-based networks like StarkNet and zkSync Era.
Being on a layer-2 network, NFTs on Mint Square were cheaper and were confirmed faster. Top collections on Mint Square include Stark Agents, Starkpunks, and StarkRock.
Mondelēz International Partners With Hedera on Distributed Ledger Technology
The Hedera Council announced a new partnership with food giant Mondelēz International, the company behind popular brands such as Toblerone, Cadbury, and Oreo. As the governance body for the Hedera public network, the council will assist Mondelēz in developing distributed ledger technology solutions for internal use.
Currently, the Hedera network is governed by a wide array of industry leaders such as Dell, IBM, Google, Deutsch Telekom, Ubisoft, and plenty more.
Solana hits 100k preorders for second mobile device, five times original production
Solana Mobile said in a Feb. 12 announcement that it has attained 100,000 preorders for its upcoming “Chapter 2” mobile device. The firm said that those 100,000 preorders occurred over less than 30 days, noting that this number means that the early preorder price ($450) will end in 48 hours.
Solana Mobile’s website adds that the product should ship in the first half of 2025 now that this milestone has passed.
Metaverse sexual assaults could be difficult to prosecute
Though the attack took place in virtual reality, Nina Jane Patel was surprised to feel her real heart racing in her chest.
Three male figures surrounded her avatar in Horizon Venues, a virtual live events program created by Meta. They touched her avatar’s breasts and pressed their torsos rhythmically against her, telling her that she wanted it. A fourth took photos of the incident in the app.
Ok x Introduces New Ordinals Marketplace Amid Bitcoin Inscription and BRC20 Buzz
On Tuesday, the crypto firm Okx announced the launch of a new Ordinals marketplace. The platform is accessible via the Okx Wallet and will enable users to mint and trade Ordinal inscriptions and BRC20 tokens. While the Ordinals marketplace is still in its early stages, users can take advantage of the ability to view and transfer Ordinal inscriptions using the multichain wallet.
Okx, the crypto firm, exchange, and Web3 company, has announced the Okx Wallet now provides seamless access to the groundbreaking Ordinal and BRC20 ecosystem.
Okx has always believed in the power of Bitcoin to revolutionize global markets and bring us closer to a truly decentralized system, Jason Lau, the chief innovation officer at Okx, said.
We are embracing Ordinals and BRC-20, despite early criticisms about their impact on transaction costs, because we see the potential of Bitcoin to expand its use cases into areas previously dominated by Ethereum-based applications, Lau added.
🗞️ Jito becomes largest protocol on Solana with $1.4 billion in TVL
Liquid staking and MEV infrastructure project Jito has become the largest protocol on Solana, with $1.4 billion in total value locked. At the equivalent of around 10 million SOL, Jito accounts for some 38% of the Solana ecosystem’s $3.7 billion TVL, according to DeFiLlama data.
Staking protocol Marinade is second with $1.37 billion in TVL, followed by Kamino, Raydium, and Marginfi at $1 billion, $613 million, and $424 million, respectively.
🗞️ DeGods NFT Solana Return Teased a Year After Ethereum Migration
The popular DeGods NFT collection may be set to make a shock homecoming.
In 2022, DeGods shot into the limelight on Solana, becoming the most prominent and arguably the most successful NFT collection on the network.
In Q1 2023, however, while Solana reeled from the knock-on effects of FTX’s collapse in light of their strong ties to the exchange’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, DeGods decided to migrate to Ethereum supposedly to explore new opportunities.
🗞️ An atomic swap protocol aims to bring DeFi on Bitcoin without wrapped tokens
AtomiqDeFi, powered by Mintlayer’s innovative atomic swap technology, aims to enhance interoperability, eliminate reliance on custodians and unlock new possibilities for decentralized finance on Bitcoin.
Creating a decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem on Bitcoin had never gained mainstream blockchain adoption before the Taproot upgrade, which has opened the door to smart contracts —self-executing codes that eliminate intermediaries— on Bitcoin’s layer 1 blockchain.
Bitcoin rose by 3,230% on average after each halving
According to the report, after each mining reward was halved, the Bitcoin (BTC) rate increased by an average of 3,230%. The first halving, dated Nov. 28, 2012, reduced the reward from 50 BTC to 25 BTC.
Within 12 months of the halving, the asset’s value rose from $12 to $1,075. Over the year, the rate jumped by 8,858%. By January 2022, the inflation rate changed from 25.7% to 12%.
🗞️ Estonia passes legislation to regulate crypto service providers
The government of Estonia has enacted a bill that introduces stringent legal requirements for digital assets service providers, local media reported on March 21.
Estonia has been a significant location for crypto service providers, with estimates in 2021 suggesting that nearly half of the world’s crypto service companies were registered in the country.
🗞️ Sаo Paulo enshrines in law the use of blockchain for data collection
In the legislative act, blockchain refers to an immutable registry where transactions are recorded and through which the use of various assets based on a computer network can be tracked. The law does not spell out exactly where its use will improve the efficiency of data access and openness tasks.
Some experts in the local media are convinced that the term was included in the law at random, as it does not describe any practical application of the technology.
"Institutions recognize blockchain technology as a positive factor for the economy, but there is no clear prescription for the use of the technology, which creates some risks," said Machado Meyer lawyer Marcelo Castro.
Earlier, representatives of the Brazilian Securities Commission said that the regulator should pay special attention to the supervision of the cryptocurrency industry.
🗞️ 'MadWorld' Mobile NFT Shooter Launches in Early Access as Studio Raises $11 Million
MadWorld, a post-apocalyptic shooter game for iOS and Android, opened up registration for its early access playtest on Thursday, giving players an opportunity to test out its NFT-based territory control elements. And the studio behind the title, Carbonated, also shared that it has raised $11 million in fresh funding from prominent backers.
The studio previously raised $8.5 million in 2020 with Andreessen and Bitkraft both attached then, as well.
Big Move: How Bitcoin Ordinals Is Taking NFTs To New Heights
Wu reported that the BSV community has been instrumental in developing Bitcoin Ordinals and BRC 20. Unisat, the core wallet of BRC20, was created by the Chinese development team of the former BSV community, which also developed Sensible Contract, a smart contract solution on BSV.
The BSV community has extensive participation in Bitcoin Ordinals and BRC 20. Behind Unisat, the core wallet of BRC20, is the Chinese development team of the previous BSV community, which has developed Sensible Contract, a smart contract solution on BSV. By TechFlowPost
— Wu Blockchain (WuBlockchain) May 9, 2023
The team behind Ordswap, the first BRC20 trading platform, developed RelayX, the first decentralized trading platform on the BSV network. Twetch, a social application built on BSV, is behind the Ordinals Wallet. Additionally, the founder of the Mempool mining pool is a core member of the BSV community.
These advancements have paved the way for Binance NFT Marketplace to announce its upcoming support for Bitcoin Ordinals. Bitcoin Ordinals are a way to create NFTs by attaching data to individual satoshis on the blockchain. Each bitcoin consists of 100,000,000 satoshis, and the protocol allows each satoshi to be identified and transacted with extra data attached. The additional data can include text, images, videos, or other content and is added to each satoshi through inscription.
The Taproot and SegWit upgrades to the Bitcoin protocol have made this possible. As a result, ordinal inscriptions do not require a sidechain or separate token and allow the creation of true, immutable collections on the Bitcoin blockchain. More than one million inscriptions have been made in the first three months since the Bitcoin Ordinals launch, creating yet another use case for Bitcoin beyond simple value transfer or storage.
🗞️ Dogecoin Bullish Bets Reach Record $1B
Traders are continuing to use prominent meme tokens as ecosystem bets on their respective blockchains, boosting dogecoin (DOGE) futures to set a record level.
DOGE tokens were up as much as 40% before giving back some gains in the past 24 hours as bitcoin (BTC) rallied to over $63,000 from $59,000.
DOGE led gains among major tokens and significantly beat the broader CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index, which is up nearly 7.8% in the same period.
🗞️ NFT Platform Launches Nintendo Emulator on Bitcoin
The introduction of this N64 emulator marks a significant stride in leveraging blockchain technology for gaming enthusiasts. Emulators, a crucial component, enable gamers to experience video game consoles on alternative devices without the need to possess or operate the original console.
Pizza Ninjas emphasizes the pivotal role played by Google’s Brotli Compression method in enabling the encoding of progressively larger items.
🗞️ From Vintage to MNTGE: Digital Fashion Brand to Release NFT Patches Linked to IRL Rewards
Digital fashion brand MNTGE is gearing up to release its Patchwork collection, comprised of a series of non-fungible token (NFT) patches paired with a physical counterpart.
MNTGE Patchwork features 13 unique digital patches designed by 11 artists including Jen Stark, Bored Ape Yacht Club artist Seneca and Nyan Cat meme creator Christopher Torres. The entire 7,500-unit collection will open for sale on July 27 on NFT marketplace OpenSea. Each NFT will be priced at 0.07 ETH, or $130, and the artwork will be revealed upon mint.
Each NFT is linked to an identical physical patch. Embedded with a near-field communication (NFC) chip, owners can scan the real-world patch to claim the digital token in their crypto wallet. By holding the patch on the blockchain and IRL, users can trace ownership as well as attend token-gated events and exclusive MNTGE experiences.
Additionally, the patches aren’t just one-off collectibles. In the physical world, they can be sewn onto MNTGE’s “base garments,” including t-shirts, jackets and denim. In the digital realm, the patches can be “owned” by the base garment itself. By implementing an ERC-6551 token standard, the digital wearable becomes a token-bound account that can custody the patches – creating an added layer of digital ownership.
Nick Adler, co-founder of MNTGE, told CoinDesk that the company was rooted in the goal of selling vintage fashion and utilizing the blockchain to revitalize its origins.
🗞️ US investigates Trust Wallet iOS app for vulnerability
An agency of the United States Department of Commerce is analyzing the "Binance Trust Wallet app" for a vulnerability that could allow an attacker to steal funds from crypto wallets.
According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) — the agency tasked with promoting U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness — a specific version of the Trust Wallet app “misuses the trezor-crypto library” to generate mnemonic words that can be verified only at the entropy source.
BNB Chain-Based DEX Level Finance Votes on Transferring $200M to Treasury
The community of Level Finance, the decentralized crypto derivatives exchange, is voting on moving over $200 million of its native LVL tokens to its decentralized autonomous organization (DAOs) in a move that is expected to bolster value for token holders.
The proposal, which began on Thursday and is set to close on Friday, comes ahead of a protocol upgrade meant for mid-April.
“The entirety of the remaining ~$200m LVL [ex-team allocation] will be transferred to the DAO’s administration and fully owned by the Treasury,” the proposal read.
“Rewards, incentives, as well as all emissions will be made directly out of the DAO. Proposals and delegations of votes will be live, and the community (along with our new ecosystem partners), will collectively materialize the full potential of the project alongside our team,” it added.
At writing time, 100% of all voters were in favor of the move. Level’s native LVL tokens were nominally down – but may gain in the weeks ahead as newer incentives are created for token holders from the capital infusion.
Level allows users to trade financial derivatives, such as futures on bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), with low slippage and cheap fees. It also offers high leverage of up to 30 times the initial collateral.
The protocol has seen immense growth despite launching in early January. Over $6 billion worth of tokens has been traded on Level in the past three months, with liquidity providers earning over $7 million in cumulative fees.
Deltec Bank's Funds Seized by U.S. Secret Service in Money Laundering and Fraud Probe
The U.S. Secret Service seized multiple corporate accounts last month controlled by Deltec Bank, a Bahamian bank with ties to crypto-related firms.
New documents unsealed in a federal court on Monday reveal that the secret service seized several U.S bank accounts controlled by Deltec last month. As per the documents, the amount seized by the U.S authorities is above $58 million.
The seizures were made amid an investigation into organized, international criminal money laundering syndicates operating cryptocurrency investment and other wire fraud scams.
The bank accounts that were seized by the secret service were custodial accounts with Mitsubushi Bank UFJ Trust in New York, opened by Deltec on behalf of corporate clients.
U.S authorities linked certain Bahamian bank’s customers to shell firms involved in a cross border scheme. The scheme allegedly involves creating fake crypto websites to dupe victims into depositing their assets or cash.
🗞️ Blockchain Startup Story Protocol Secures $54 Million Funding Led by Andreessen Horowitz
Story Protocol, a startup that uses blockchain tech to track intellectual property (IP), has secured more than $54 million in funding driven by venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) crypto.
The open-source platform was launched Wednesday and aims to “democratize” IP creation through a worldwide extensible IP vault, a company release noted. Put simply, Story Protocol would simplify the process associated with maintaining IP and address creators’ concerns, particularly around the recent rise in generative AI (artificial intelligence).
“In a world of total abundance catalyzed by generative AI, blockchain technology presents the perfect solution for transparent provenance tracking and fair attribution,” Story Protocol Co-Founder Seung Yoon Lee said in a press release.
Lee noted that the company aims to create a “new era of entrepreneurial creators” by helping existing IP holders to engage audiences and advance their IP.
Furthermore, the platform’s framework manages the entire lifecycle of intellectual property development by enabling features including provenance tracking, licensing and revenue sharing.
The company’s vision is to create, govern, and license intellectual property on-chain, forming an ecosystem of story legos that can be remixed and composed. This approach enables creators to build narrative stories with ownership and incentives.