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It’s on: U.S. enters the ring to battle China on clean energy
It also spurred hopes that U.S. economic competition might succeed where the diplomacy of Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry has largely failed — by extracting new commitments from Beijing to reduce China’s greenhouse gas output. “What this does is show to the Chinese that the U.S. is actually going to be real in this game and not actually just going to talk about it, and I think that’s a benefit to everyone,” said Jake Schmidt, senior strategic director of international climate with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental research and advocacy group. “The planet will benefit from that healthy competition.” The IRA was signed less than two weeks after Beijing suspended its cooperation with the U.S. on climate change — a dialogue that had been fostered by Kerry and viewed as a...
Crypto Biz: Crypto VC is back with a vengeance
You’ve no doubt heard the expression, follow the money. Well, if you do that in the venture capital world, you’ll be led directly to crypto, blockchain and digital assets. After a modest summertime lull in venture financing, this week saw the announcement of two massive raises worth a combined $500 million. That’s $500 million VCs are allocating to crypto-focused startups at the intersection of Web3, blockchain infrastructure and decentralized communities. If you think funding deals have stopped amid the bear market, think again. I mentioned “summertime lull” at the outset, but that doesn’t mean funding has stopped. There are so many deals, in fact, that I’ve had to start a separate series called VC Roundup just to keep track. Data from Cointelegraph Research also shows that Q2 fundi...
Binance vs. FTX: CZ calls out ‘bad players’ for crypto exchange jitters
The CEO of crypto exchange Binance, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, raised concern for traders after learning about the infamous phenomenon of trade jitters on other crypto exchanges. Jitters in crypto trading relate to a trade event wherein an investor’s buy or sell order gets stuck and moves down in the list, allowing newer trade orders to go through. Just learned a new word, jitters. On 1 particular exchange, sometimes your orders will be stuck for a bit, and a few other orders will get in front of you. Apparently, this happens often enough on this exchange that the traders coined a term for it, jitters. (Front running) — CZ Binance (@cz_binance) August 19, 2022 While CZ’s concerns against jitters did not explicitly target any particular exchange, the crypto community on Twitter assumed it w...
The Real Deal? Peter McCormack’s Bedford Bitcoin Bet scores more than goals
The Bitcoin Standard has many formations. For some, selling all possessions and living off magic internet money is key; for others, it’s about sweeping every spare penny into Satoshis. For popular podcaster Peter McCormack–an avid football fan–it meant buying his local club and signing Bitcoin (BTC) onto the team sheet. Bitcoin advocate McCormack acquired his hometown football club in December 2021. He renamed and rebranded the club to Real Bedford, and at the ground, Bitcoin qualifies as payment for shirts, drinks and tickets. But with the price of Bitcoin wallowing in the $20,000s, can the ethos behind a falling currency transform a football club’s future? And more importantly, why has this lower league club caught the attention of Bitcoin advocates around the world? Pitchside, Coi...
Fei Protocol founder proposes ghosting Tribe DAO following hack repayment
An attack in April 2022, which drained off nearly $80 million from various Rari Fuse pools, required the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Fei Protocol to come up with a solution that minimizes damage to the ecosystem. Fei Labs’ latest proposal, which partly recommends revoking participation from Tribe DAO, received mixed sentiments from the community. Fei Protocol founder Joey Santoro announced the latest proposal, TIP-121: Proposal for the future of the Tribe DAO, revealing the company’s intent to reimburse Fuze victims. It also details plans for asset redemption and the distribution of protocol-controlled value (PCV) assets that manage the liquidity and yield. I hope this proposal resonates with the community and thank you for your support.https://t.co/RjpS9j4x2H — Joey ’s ERC-4626 ...
R. Kelly Witness Says She Cooperated With Investigators Because She Didn’t Want to ‘Carry His Lies’
A woman who says she was sexually abused hundreds of times by R. Kelly before she turned 18 testified Friday (Aug. 19) that she agonized several years ago about whether to cooperate with federal investigators who were looking into child abuse allegations involving the singer, but that she ultimately did because she didn’t want to “carry his lies.” Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news But the witness — who is now 37 years old and going by the pseudonym “Jane” at the trial — also conceded that even after she began cooperating, she lied at one point when she told federal agents that she wasn’t sure if Kelly had abused minors other than her. She said she lied because she didn’t want to get others in trouble. Jane testified for over four hou...
The Ledger: Concert Companies Are Maintaining a Rosy Outlook for the Rest of 2022
The Ledger is a weekly newsletter about the economics of the music business sent to Billboard Pro subscribers. An abbreviated version of the newsletter is published online. Strong demand for live music is not a surprise given fans’ time away from concerts in 2020 and 2021. But it’s not straightforward, either. Fans are dealing with inflation and high gas and airfare costs. Companies face staffing shortages and higher costs. Artists are flooding markets’ venues seeking to recapture lost business. Still, judging from some companies’ statements around their latest quarterly results, indications point to an exceptional second half of the year. Live Nation’s second quarter earnings showed a company is primed for a record year. Live Nation sold more than 100 million tickets to its concerts this ...
FTX US among 5 companies to receive cease and desist letters from FDIC
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has issued cease and desist letters to five companies for allegedly making false representations about deposit insurance related to cryptocurrencies. FDIC issued a Friday press release disclosing cease and desist letters for cryptocurrency exchange FTX US and websites SmartAssets, FDICCrypto, Cryptonews and Cryptosec. In the letters, which were issued on Thursday, the government agency alleges that these organizations misled the public about certain cryptocurrency-related products being insured by FDIC. “These representations are false or misleading,” the FDIC said in regard to “certain crypto-related products” being FDIC-insured or that “stocks held in brokerage accounts are FDIC-insured.” The regulator said these companies must “take immed...
FTX blocks Aztec Network privacy DApp, calling it a ‘high risk’ mixer
FTX has reportedly begun blocking accounts that have sent coins through zk.money, a private layer-2 chain provided by the Aztec Network on Ethereum. According to Twitter users, FTX has identified the DApp as a mixer — a service it deems a “high-risk activity” prohibited by the exchange. Reports of blocked transactions on FTX began appearing on Twitter on Thursday, sometimes with commentary about FTX’s motives and allegations that zk.money is not a mixer. Twitter users also noted that blocking transactions connected to the protocol may imply a ban with far-reaching effects, similar to the sanctions imposed by the United States Treasury Department on Tornado Cash users. The U.S. agency placed over 40 USDC and ETH addresses on the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) List of Specially ...
United Texas Bank CEO wants to ‘limit the issuance of US dollar-backed stablecoins to banks’
Scott Beck, chief executive officer of United Texas Bank, called on members of the state’s blockchain working group to recommend policy for leaving stablecoins to banks rather than crypto firms. Speaking before the Texas Work Group on Blockchain Matters in Austin on Friday, Beck suggested limiting the issuance of U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins to licensed banks rather than issuers like Circle. The United Texas Bank CEO cited a November report from the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets, in which the group said stablecoin issuers should be held to the same standards as insured depository institutions including state and federally chartered banks. “If such stablecoins are defined to be ‘money’, banks are the proper economic actor to issue and manage stablecoins,” said Beck. “Bank...
3 reasons why Bitcoin’s drop to $21K and the market-wide sell-off could be worse than you think
On Friday, August 19, the total crypto market capitalization dropped by 9.1%, but more importantly, the all-important $1 trillion psychological support was tapped. The market’s latest venture below this just three weeks ago, meaning investors were pretty confident that the $780 billion total market-cap low on June 18 was a mere distant memory. Regulatory uncertainty increased on Aug. 17 after the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce announced that they were “deeply concerned” that proof-of-work mining could increase demand for fossil fuels. As a result, U.S. lawmakers requested the crypto mining companies to provide information on energy consumption and average costs. Typically, sell-offs have a greater impact on cryptocurrencies outside of the top 5 asset...
Louisiana officials stall New Orleans flood funds over abortion
“This is them coming right out to the rest of the citizens of the state saying, ‘We don’t care what your law is,’” Landry said at yesterday’s commission meeting. Louisiana’s abortion ban does not include exemptions for rape or incest, and has forced closure of abortion clinics throughout the state, including in New Orleans. City officials have made their opposition clear, with the City Council passing a resolution this summer asking police, sheriff’s deputies and prosecutors not to enforce the ban. In response to the resolution, which has support from New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, the sheriff said she would not accept inmates accused of violating the ban at the jail, and the district attorney said he would not prosecute abortion providers or patients. While New Orleans police officers...
