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Tether says it would not freeze sanctioned Tornado Cash addresses unless instructed by law enforcement
On Wednesday, U.S. dollar stablecoin issuer Tether (USDT) said that it would not freeze smart contract addresses sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets (OFAC) Control’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) list for cryptocurrency trail-mixer Tornado Cash. In explaining the decision, Tether said: “So far, OFAC has not indicated that a stablecoin issuer is expected to freeze secondary market addresses that are published on OFAC’s SDN List or that are operated by persons and entities that have been sanctioned by OFAC. Further, no U.S. law enforcement agency or regulator has made such a request despite our near-daily contact with U.S. law enforcement whose requests always provide precise details.” Tether pointed out that unilaterally f...
Watchdog: Trump Interior Secretary Zinke lied during casino investigation
The agency noted that Zinke, who served in Congress before joining the Trump administration and narrowly won the Republican primary in June, asked the IG to keep its findings under wraps until after the November election, a request the agency said was not in keeping with its practices. “In his comments, Secretary Zinke cited DOJ guidelines and contended that we should postpone release of this report until after the conclusion of the November 2022 election in which he is seeking public office,” the report states. A lawyer for Zinke blasted the report and its timing. “On the eve of an election, the IG has released a misleading and inaccurate report that suggested Secretary Zinke lacked candor in his interview with IG agents,” Zinke’s attorney, Danny C. Onorato, said in an emailed statement. ...
Blockdaemon Empowers Web3 Developers and Institutions to Run Their Own Collator Nodes on Astar Network
Los Angeles, United States, 24th August, 2022, Chainwire Astar Network, the innovation hub on Polkadot, is thrilled to announce that it has integrated Blockdaemon, the world’s largest institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure company for node management and staking, as a collator. The partnership will enable Blockdaemon’s institutional and individual users to start their own collator nodes with Astar Network. Though Astar supports users who maintain their own collator nodes, it’s still technically out of reach for many individuals and institutions joining its network. Blockdaemon’s suite of products and tools comprise a total ‘node stack’ of blockchain technology empowering any eligible project to access the Astar Network. As a node infrastructure provider, Blockdaemon will provide Web...
BitBoy Crypto sues fellow YouTuber Atozy for defamation over shilling claims
Two prominent YouTube content creators are set to lock horns in a legal battle over a cryptocurrency video allegedly promoting a project that ended up being a scam. Bitboy Crypto, a YouTube channel founded by Ben Armstrong, produces a variety of content focused on cryptocurrency news, projects and tokens and trading advice. The channel has been active since February 2018 and has over 1.4 million subscribers. The channel is known for its news pieces and trading-focused videos with headlines like Top 3 Coins To Outperform Ethereum! (Strong Short Term Play)typifying the type of content disseminated to viewers. While these videos purport to offer trading advice, the channel has a disclaimer clearly stating that Armstrong is not “a professional advisor in business areas involving finance, crypt...
Hodl until mega yacht: Mintable founder shares crypto journey
While other traders may be quick to take profits once they see gains, some are willing to hold on to their digital assets until they can pursue bigger goals, like a “mega yacht.” In a Twitter thread, Mintable founder Zach Burks shared how he found Web3 and went from being broke and jobless to founding a nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace. According to Burks, he found Bitcoin (BTC) when it was just trading at $5.50 at the now defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox in 2012. Since then, Burks went on to keep on buying and trading crypto. At some point, the Mintable founder shared that he switched from trading BTC to accumulating Ether (ETH). “My goal was only to collect ETH and never sell until I can buy a mega yacht. I still haven’t cashed out,” he wrote. Eventually, Burks said that he...
Beijing announces two-year Metaverse innovation and development plan
The Beijing municipal government on Aug. 23 announced a two-year (2022-2024) metaverse innovation and development plan that would require all districts to adhere to the newly released Web3 innovation plan. The development action plan refers to the Metaverse as a new generation of information technology integration and innovation that would drive the growth of the internet towards Web3. The innovation plan focuses on promoting the development of metaverse-related industries and helping Beijing build a benchmark city for the digital economy. The action plan demands that various districts build technological infrastructure at a city level and promote its use in various fields, including education and tourism. The development program would see the Integration of technical means such as 3D...
Uniswap eyes NFT financialization, in talks with lending protocols
Crypto exchange Uniswap engaged in talks with multiple nonfungible token (NFT) lending protocols, according to a social media post from Uniswap’s head of NFT product Scott Lewis. In the tweet, Lewis highlights the company’s interest in tackling both liquidity issues and “information asymmetry” surrounding NFTs. uniswap is the interface for all nft liquidity. we are now in talks with 7 nft lending protocols. we will be working with each one to solve for liquidity fragmentation and information asymmetry. this is the first step to building nft financialization. — Scott (@Scott_eth) August 23, 2022 While Uniswap’s goal of these talks and potential collaborations with lending protocols is NFT financialization, the crowd on Twitter came back with a double-sided response. Some users deemed ...
Here’s why holding $20.8K will be critical in this week’s $1B Bitcoin options expiry
Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a 16.5% correction between Aug. 15 and Aug. 19 as it tested the $20,800 support. While the drop is startling, in reality, a $4,050 price difference is relatively insignificant, especially when one accounts for Bitcoin’s 72% annualized volatility. Currently, the S&P 500’s volatility stands at 31%, which is significantly lower, yet the index traded down 9.1% between June 8 and June 13. So, comparatively speaking, the index of major U.S.-listed companies faced a more abrupt movement adjusted for the historical risk metric. At the start of this week, crypto investors’ sentiment worsened after weaker conditions in Chinese real estate markets forced the central bank to reduce its five-year loan prime rate on Aug. 21. Moreover, a Goldman Sachs investment ...
White hat: I returned most of the stolen Nomad funds and all I got was this silly NFT
Hackers behind the $190 million Nomad Bridge are now being incentivized with “whitehat” themed non-fungible tokens (NFTs) if they return nearly all of the funds they stole from the protocol at the start of this month. The exclusive NFT, which simply depicts a white wizard’s hat, is being offered by NFT firm Metagame and can be minted by those that return at least 90% of their stolen funds to Nomad. 1/ Our friends at @metagame created an earned NFT as a thank you to whitehats who returned funds from the Nomad Bridge Hack. Head over https://t.co/TWwuJwnRXj to claim it! pic.twitter.com/V87rkGhBEE — Nomad (⤭⛓) (@nomadxyz_) August 23, 2022 “If you haven’t yet returned funds, you can still do so now! Metagame checks your on-chain tx history automatically,” the Nomad team state...
64% of US blockchain-versed parents want crypto taught in schools: Survey
Over two-thirds of U.S. parents and college graduates with an understanding or involvement in crypto believe that crypto should be taught in schools in order for students to “learn about the future of our economy,” a new study has found. In a newly released survey from the online educational platform Study.com, the firm found that 64% of the parents 67% of the college graduates surveyed believed that cryptocurrencies should be part of mandatory education. Source: 2022 Study.com Survey Both groups had a slightly different view when it came to the blockchain, the Metaverse, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) however, with only around 40% believing those subjects should be included in the curriculum as well. In order to take part in the survey, the parents and college grads were scree...
Nearly half of US adults say their crypto punts are worse than expected: Survey
Amid the ongoing crypto winter, new data from a Pew Research Centre survey has shown that 46% of adult crypto users in the United States are seeing lower than expected returns on their crypto investments. The survey gathered responses from over 6,000 randomly-selected adults across the United States, with panelists participating in self-administered web surveys. Conducted from July 5 to 22 of this year, the majority of respondents who said they had invested in crypto said they saw lower than expected returns than expected while only 15% of people surveyed said their crypto investments had done better than expected. Meanwhile, around 31% said it was “about the same as they expected.” Source: Pew Research Center It’s unfortunate, given the vast majority of crypto user respondents...
George Lopez Sues Pandora Over ‘Brazen’ Failure to Pay Comedy Royalties
Comedian George Lopez has joined the chorus of comedians suing Pandora over its failure to pay royalties on spoken-word compositions, according to documents filed in California federal court on Tuesday (Aug. 23). In the copyright infringement suit, filed by attorney Richard Busch of King & Ballow, Lopez accuses Pandora of failing to obtain either public performance or mechanical reproduction licenses for – or pay royalties on – the spoken-word compositions for 37 works contained on his albums Right Now Right Now and Team Leader. “The end result is Pandora took the Works, gained listeners, subscribers and market share with full knowledge it did not have licenses and made no royalty payments for the Works,” the complaint reads. Lopez further alleges that Pandora exploited the works witho...
