Pepe Unchained (PEPU) is the latest meme coin to catch the attention of retail traders. PEPU’s creators aim to develop their own layer-2 network targeted at joke tokens. And with over .5 million in presale funding raised in just 15 days, the appetite for this ambitious project is strong. Pepe Unchained’s Ambitious Layer-2 Network for […]
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New Solana Meme Coin Presale ‘Sealana’ Has Just Raised $700K – Next Crypto to Explode?
A new seal-themed meme coin is gaining traction in the Solana ecosystem – and investors are taking notice. With a presale that has already raised over 0,000, Sealana (SEAL) may just be the next big thing to explode onto the scene. Chubby Meme Coin SEAL Makes Waves on Solana Sealana is a cheeky new meme […]
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Meme Coin Presale Trend Goes Wild on Solana: Almost $150 Million Raised
An investigation carried out by blockchain sleuth Zackxbt has found that the trend where individuals ask for funds on social networks and promote their meme coin launches has grown in popularity. Almost 0 million has been raised on Solana after Book of Meme (BOME), the token that pioneered this trend, launched earlier this month. Meme […]
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Meme Coin Prices Slide Again But Dogecoin20 Has Raised $3.5m
Meme coin mania has taken a backseat in recent days as the speculation that drove viral tokens to billions in market cap cools off. With the broader crypto market also in the red over the past week, the air has come out of many of these meme-themed projects. However, one presale project that continues to […]
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Slerf and LBank Launch Donation Campaign: Over 2600 SOL Raised in 12 Hours for Compensation Initiative
PRESS RELEASE. In a remarkable show of solidarity and community support, Slerf, in partnership with LBank, has initiated a donation campaign that has garnered extraordinary attention. Within just 12 hours of its launch, the campaign’s dedicated blockchain address, fCuw5ppJ9aZYzjm8EsT2fHwxV1h5JwUfqXM44iX3Pzb, has received over 2600 SOL, roughly valued at 0K USD. This address is publicly available on […]
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Denver Pastor Accused of Misappropriating $1.3 Million Raised via a Crypto Token Sale
The Colorado Securities regulator has accused the pastor of an online-only church of illegally pocketing .3 million which was raised via the sale of a cryptocurrency he created. A judge in Colorado has since ordered the closure of the pastor and his wife’s bank accounts for 14 days.
‘The Lord Brought This Cryptocurrency to Me’
The securities regulator in Colorado has charged Reverend Eli Regalado, creator of the cryptocurrency INDX coin and pastor of the online-only Victorious Grace Church, with selling “worthless” INDX coins for .4 million sometime in 2022 and during the first half of 2023. Tung Chan, Colorado’s securities commissioner, filed a lawsuit on Jan. 16, accusing Regalado of ensuring that investors in his coin did not recoup their investment.
According to a report by the Denver Post, Regalado pocketed .3 million from the token sales, which he spent on a Range Rover, jewelry, luxury handbags, cosmetic dentistry, and boat rentals.
The lawsuit suggests that Regalado used his position as a religious leader to convince his followers to invest in cryptocurrency. For instance, in one sermon on Aug. 22, 2022, Regalado told his followers that his lord had instructed him to create the now-defunct crypto asset.
“It was last October that the Lord brought this cryptocurrency to me. He said, ‘Take this to my people for a wealth transfer.’ It has been confirmed a hundred times since,” Regalado reportedly said.
INDX Coins ‘Technologically Deficient’
Additionally, in what may have been an attempt to dissuade investors from offloading their holdings, Regalado claimed that the Lord had asked his followers to “stay in INDX coins.”
However, in her lawsuit, Chan accused Regalado and his wife Kaitlyn Regalado of falsely claiming that the INDX coins were worth at least each or 0 million for the 30 million coins. Chan also described the cryptocurrency and the only marketplace where INDX coins were traded as being “catastrophically technologically deficient.”
Following the filing of the lawsuit, U.S. Judge David Goldberg ordered the Regalados’ bank accounts and those of associated companies to be closed for 14 days. Additionally, the judge prohibited the Regalados from selling securities in Colorado.
What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Nigerian Crypto Firm Bitmama to Pay $1 Million for Startup That Raised $3 Million in February
The Nigerian crypto platform Bitmama is reportedly set to acquire the African remittances startup Payday for million. Reports of Payday’s acquisition come almost a year after the startup raised million in a funding round.
Bitmama’s Pivot From Crypto
The Nigerian crypto platform Bitmama is set to acquire the cross-border payment startup Payday for a reported sum of million. The acquisition deal, which puts Payday’s value at million, allows Bitmama to broaden its product offering to include cross-border remittances without having to start this service from scratch.
According to a Dec. 5 Techcabal report, Bitmama’s yet-to-be-consumated acquisition deal comes nearly a year after the previously high-flying Payday successfully raised million in a funding round. Commenting on the deal, Favour Ori, founder and CEO of Payday, said:
“The deal is a work in progress. If the deal goes through, the result will be a strong team with much more efficiency.”
When the deal is finalized, Bitmama is expected to take over Payday’s customer deposits and the remittance firm’s liabilities.
Ruth Iselema, who founded Bitmama in 2019, explained how her platform’s pivot away from its crypto-only approach convinced Ori to approach. She also suggested that Bitmama’s desire to become a leading remittance service provider made the deal to buy Payday even more lucrative.
Meanwhile, Payday’s downfall may be linked to the founder’s extravagance and brash management style as well as the company’s failure to effectively deal with customer complaints, according to reports.
What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
This Brand New Meme Coin Just Raised $11 Million In A Firesale With No Roadmap
The cryptocurrency space is indeed full of surprises. Recently, an emerging meme coin called $MEME, which has no roadmap or utility has already raised over million in its ongoing firesale.
Memecoin (MEME) Achieves A Major Milestone With Firesale
MEME is an Ethereum-based memecoin that operates under the ERC-20 network, with a total supply of 69 billion MEME tokens. The token was designed by a web3 startup called Memeland and launched by the team that worked on 9GAG.
According to the Memecoin fire sale page, the brand new meme coin reportedly sold over 11.4 billion MEME tokens selling at .001 in its ongoing firesale. This indicates a significant 150% surge, beating the team’s expectations from the very beginning.
The token’s active firesale which has amassed over million already has done this despite being a waitlist-only sale.
In line with Memecoin’s whitepaper, the team highlighted that the token “has no functions, no utility and no intrinsic value, no promise or expectation of any financial return, profit, interest or dividend.”
The team further asserts that in regard to the Memeland ecosystem, the Memecoin does not represent “any entitlement to any voting rights.”
However, despite the meme coin not having a roadmap, utility, and future return, it did not sway crypto investors from purchasing the meme coin. In addition, the crypto community is still eager to buttress the startup, demonstrating crypto investors’ trust and faith in the new meme coin.
According to data from MEME’s tokenomics, it was revealed that the first 2.7% of the total supply of the MEME token will be released on October 27. Meanwhile, the remaining portion will be “unlocked daily over the course of eighteen months.”
Meme Coin Captures Crypto Investors’ Interest
The cryptocurrency community’s interest in the newly introduced MEME token can be traced back to the future profit potentials of meme coins. Meme coins can offer huge investment returns for investors, although they can also be risky for those who do not engage in proper research before investing in the tokens.
One notable meme coin that has garnered huge returns for investors and produced hundreds of millionaires in the 2021 bull run is the Shiba Inu (SHIB) meme coin.
Related Reading: The Battle of Memecoins: EverLodge vs Shiba Inu – Which Holds the Key to Success?
The Dogecoin rival was launched in 2020 but later rose to fame in 2021 after significant price surges. The token has managed to remain a vital meme coin to this day.
The Shiba Inu was launched with an initial price of .000000001009, according to CoinMarketCap. By May 2021, the token was traded at .00003469, indicating an over 10,000% surge in price. The token is the currency being traded at .000008 as of the time of writing.
Israeli Crypto-Based Aid Organization Says Nearly $200,000 Raised for October 7 Terror Victims
Nearly 0,000 has been raised by a non-profit organization launched by members of Israel’s Web3 community. More than 30 Web3 companies have since joined the campaign while the accounting firm KPMG is said to be assisting with fundraising and distribution.
Web3 Companies Join Campaign
Crypto Aid Israel, a non-profit organization launched by influential leaders within the Israeli Web3 community, said nearly 0,000 has been raised as part of the Emergency Relief Initiative. Some of the funds raised have been distributed to organizations leading relief efforts for victims of the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas.
.@CryptoAidIsrael with almost 0K in Donations as 30+ Global Web3 Companies Join The Initiative
Am Israel Chai
#StandWithIsrael pic.twitter.com/WAU5FpTj5N
— CryptoAidIsrael (@CryptoAidIsrael) October 24, 2023
According to a statement issued by the aid organization, more than 30 Web3 companies have joined the campaign. The accounting firm KMPG is said to be assisting with fundraising and distribution of the funds. The other companies contributing to the campaign include crypto wallet provider Zengo, Fuse, Wonderland and Psagot Equity.
Commenting on his organization’s achievement, Tim Freed, a senior leader within Crypto Aid Israel, said:
We are deeply humbled by the outpouring of support from the global crypto community. Together, we have made significant strides in our mission to assist those affected by the recent wave of Hamas terrorism. The completion of two rounds of aid distribution shows how crypto can be used as a force of good in the world.
Freed added that Crypto Aid Israel remains committed to transparency and is still determined to continue with its objective of assisting those directly affected by the Hamas attacks. Some of the non-government organizations that have already funding from Crypto Aid Israel include the Foundation for Advancing Citizens of Eshkol Regional Council, Zaka, Lev Echad by Or Hanegev veHagalil and Latet.
Although Crypto Aid Israel has committed itself to helping victims of the terror attacks, the organization’s platform has suffered serious phishing attacks. However, according to the statement, after the attackers briefly took the aid organization’s website this interruption was promptly addressed by Crypto Aid Israel’s hosting provider.
What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Block.one’s Settlement Offered a ‘Tiny Fraction’ of the $4.1 Billion Raised — EOS Network Foundation CEO
According to Yves La Rose, the founder and CEO of the EOS Network Foundation (ENF), the blockchain software company Block.one’s failure to financially back the EOS ecosystem after the 2018 initial coin offering (ICO) is one of the many reasons why the community felt compelled to take over.
Building Everything From Scratch
However, in written answers sent to Bitcoin.com News, La Rose revealed that the EOS community had to build everything from scratch since it didn’t “own any of the existing intellectual property.” In addition, La Rose said capital had to be injected” as quickly and effectively as possible” since the ecosystem had been starved of capital for years. This, however, had to be done before processes and frameworks that drive the decision-making were in place.
When asked about Block.one’s settlement proposal and why she urged the community to reject this, La Rose said the offer represented just “a tiny fraction of the .1 billion that Block.one raised from the community in its ICO sale.” She also argued that the proposed settlement fell well short of the billion that the blockchain software company promised but failed to inject into the EOS Network and community.
As has been reported by Bitcoin.com News, in the years that followed the ICO, interest in EOS waned and this is evidenced by the drop in the crypto asset’s price from an all-time high of .89 seen in April 2018 to .57 on Sept. 21, 2023. However, despite this, La Rose suggested in her answers sent via Telegram that the crypto asset is on a path to recovery. She pointed to the Japanese Virtual and Crypto Asset Exchange Association’s recent decision to give the crypto asset whitelist approval.
Below are all of Yves La Rose‘s answers to questions sent.
Bitcoin.com News (BCN): Back in 2018, EOS had the biggest and most hyped Initial Coin Offering (ICO) ever at .1 billion. It had enough resources to build and scale the biggest blockchain network in the world. In your opinion, what went wrong and why did the community feel compelled to take over?
Yves La Rose (YR): The EOS community did not benefit much from the .1 billion raise because that capital went to the private entity that conducted the token sale (Block.one) rather than back into the EOS ecosystem. Only a small fraction of that capital ended up being deployed to the benefit of the EOS community.
Rather than re-investing capital into the EOS ecosystem and community, as promised during the ICO, Block.one instead invested the majority of the capital into Bitcoin, shareholder buybacks and private for-profit businesses unrelated to EOS.
Throughout the early years of EOS, the software development was very strong and was way ahead of its time. The community may have grown disappointed in the lack of ecosystem investment, but the technical contributions to the protocol were still meaningful for a while.
In the year or two leading up to the founding of the ENF [EOS Network Foundation], we had seen a significant decline in the rate of code production and the quality of the code that was being output for the open-source EOSIO software stack that powered EOS. What we saw was that a lot of the developers that were remaining in Block.one were repurposed to their centralized exchange, Bullish. So there were very few people still remaining on EOSIO core code development and those that were senior and still capable of doing a very high level of code, qualitatively, were repurposed for Bullish. At the same time, many engineers began exiting the company due to their discontent with the new direction and lack of focus on open-source blockchain development.
At a certain point, it was clear that the incentives were no longer aligned between EOS and Block.one. This was exacerbated after Block.one attempted to sell their unvested token stake, which is what led to the EOS node operators reaching a consensus to stop their token vesting and essentially fired Block.one for not fulfilling their commitments.
Shortly after that, the EOS community forked the codebase, hired all of the best engineering talent with deep EOSIO protocol experience, and then rebranded it to what we now call Antelope. The EOS Network officially hard-forked to our community-led Antelope codebase almost exactly one year ago on what we referred to as EOS Independence Day.
BCN: The EOS community members have come together under the umbrella of the EOS Network Foundation (ENF) to revive and nurture the ecosystem. Can you talk about the biggest obstacles to the community-led revival of a blockchain network which was apparently abandoned by the company that launched it?
YR: After founding the EOS Network Foundation two years ago, the project was already [an] established four years old project. The EOS community didn’t own any of the existing intellectual property: the website, Github, social media accounts, documentation, or even the name of the technology itself. All of this had to be built again from scratch and existing listing sites, data aggregators, and exchanges, all had to be contacted individually to be made aware of the leadership change and new digital properties. This was quite a difficult process and took a long time to overcome. We had to essentially build a brand new identity from scratch.
Another obstacle was that the ecosystem had been starved of capital for so long that we had to find ways to deploy capital as quickly and effectively as possible without necessarily having the time to develop processes and frameworks to drive the decision-making. What helped us get through this period was that many of the top ecosystem contributors had essentially been on a 4-year job interview at that point, so we had a pretty good idea of who and what to support. We formed multiple working groups, or think tanks, with the best and brightest in the ecosystem to help develop the roadmap and priorities for the network. We’ve been working diligently on executing the results of that work, and much more, ever since then.
BCN: The community and Block.one have been locked in a legal battle for a while now, and recently you urged the community to reject its million settlement proposal. Why did you do this and what are the implications of of accepting such a settlement in the future?
YR: The proposed settlement amount of million represents a tiny fraction of the .1 billion that Block.one raised from the community in its ICO sale and the billion that Block.one promised to invest in the EOS Network and community but failed to do. On behalf of the EOS community, the ENF will continue to engage with stakeholders to ensure that Block.one is held to account for its promises to invest billion in the EOS Network and community.
Block.one and its representatives made strong formal public commitments that led to stakeholders making investment and development decisions during and well beyond the year-long ICO. It has become apparent that there was no intention of following through on the commitments which has led to significant financial losses.
While EOS community members who joined the settlement may recover a small percentage of the losses that they suffered, the benefit to Block.one is much greater as community members who joined the settlement will be barred by the terms of the settlement from bringing any future claims against Block.one and its founders: million is too small a price for Block.one to pay to avoid having to be held to account for their bad acts in the future.
BCN: Your background suggests you’ve been committed to the EOS network for a long time. Can you talk about your journey from EOS Nation to the EOS Network Foundation (ENF)?
YR: My journey in the EOS ecosystem began as the CEO and co-founder of the EOS Network block producer prior to the mainnet launch in 2018. We started out as a relatively unknown standby block producer, but over the years we gained credibility through leading many different ecosystem initiatives. We also led the coordination of several EOS system upgrades. We eventually became the #1 ranked block producer.
Over time it became more and more clear that EOS was in need of a focused entity that has, at its core, fulfilled a mission to enable developers, businesses, and individuals to build on EOS. A top-down appointed hierarchy responsible for the urgently needed allocation of funding and coordination of resources that is common in other ecosystems, but was lacking in EOS due to Block.one’s failure to take on this role, despite their .1b token sale.
It was obvious that this void needed to be filled, so in 2021, I stepped down as CEO of EOS Nation and began taking proactive steps towards gathering consensus from the network to support and fund a dedicated non-profit foundation to act as stewards for EOS. After several months of planning and coordinating the block producers, the EOS Network Foundation was born.
BCN: EOS recently received whitelist approval from the Japanese Virtual and Crypto Asset Exchange Association, allowing the native token to trade against the yen on regulated exchanges in the country. How important is the Japanese market, and the Asian market in general for EOS?
YR: EOS receiving regulatory approval in Japan was a huge accomplishment that only 78 out of the thousands of cryptocurrencies have been able to achieve.
Clearly defined regulatory frameworks are the holy grail of the crypto industry and Japan is one of the few countries that has one in place. I believe that there is still an incredible opportunity for more countries offering clarity and oversight to absorb market share. Hong Kong is another area that stands out in this regard with their recent initiatives.
Japan is important for EOS because it is a major growing market for web3 with an established regulatory framework and a supportive government. Their prime minister recently stated “Web3 is the new form of capitalism” in his keynote speech at the WebX Tokyo conference. Japan is also significant to the web3 space due to its established gaming industry and gaming intellectual property that are ripe for tokenization.
Asia has always been an important geographic area for EOS going back to its earliest days and it is where the vast majority of token holders and token weight resides. I strongly believe that the next wave of innovation in web3 will come in the form of blockchain-based gaming and Asia is clearly a leader in that space.
The Asian markets are also offering more welcoming rules to regulate crypto-related activities during a time when regulation is tightening in other parts of the world. In addition to the advantageous regulatory climate being offered, there is just a much larger population that is incomparable to other parts of the world so there are many more individuals who are able to participate as more retail markets continue to open up in places like Hong Kong.
BCN: In your opinion, what are the biggest problems with the crypto industry right now and how can they be solved?
YR: Generally speaking, blockchains and blockchain-based applications are still clunky and difficult to use for new users. They need to become easier to gain any kind of mass adoption.
Most people outside of crypto don’t want to use a blockchain or an NFT, they just want to use things that make their life better or more enjoyable. Mass adoption will come by using the technology to build things people want, but making the blockchain invisible to end users.
BCN: What’s the future direction of the EOS blockchain, especially considering there are a plethora of layer-ones vying to grab a piece of the pie?
YR: EOS is focused on delivering a user experience similar to what Web2 users expect and have become accustomed to. This means abstracting away most, if not all, of the cumbersome realities of Web3, including resource management. As more stakeholders start leveraging blockchain technology and we, as an industry, move towards mass adoption of various use cases and applications, high-frequency low-value transactions will become the norm and the EOS model will be there supplying the vast demand.
Users shouldn’t have to worry about managing their own resources or paying gas fees. EOS’s scalability offers developers low, predictable costs, allowing them to manage user resources on their behalf, offering a far better UX.
Mass adoption of blockchain won’t come from an app that’s simply built on top of a blockchain. It will come from apps that are made better by a blockchain but hide the clunky blockchain UX from its users.
BCN: EOS recently launched EOS EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) to bring EVM support in an attempt to revitalize the platform. Can you talk about the role of EVM compatibility in building a multi-chain future and why it’s important for different crypto market players to combine resources?
YR: What the EVM brings to EOS is essentially the ability to open the doors to an immense amount of developers that didn’t previously have the means to come into the EOS ecosystem and the EOS EVM opens that door for them.
The Ethereum Virtual Machine has undoubtedly become the standard for web3. This doesn’t mean that technologies outside of the standard cannot exist, but they must be interoperable with Ethereum to remain competitive. In our latest release of the EOS EVM, smart contracts on EOS native can read and call smart contracts to generate atomic transactions on EOS EVM and vice versa. The concept of interoperability between virtual machines is quite exciting.
EOS EVM allows EOS to leverage the largest developer community in web3 and developer tooling such as Hardhat and Openzeppelin. These developers are already familiar with EVM and have built a wealth of applications that can run on it. All of the tooling, protocol improvements, and open-source code from Ethereum is now at the fingertips of EOS developers. At the same time, our own engineers are also making their own innovative contributions to code such as the EOS EVM version of the Silkworm C++ Ethereum implementation, which is accessible to the rest of the Ethereum community since it is open source. Everyone benefits.
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