Known lifestyle influencer and former kickboxer Andrew Tate has burned TOPG tokens valued at over million after announcing it on social media. Tate received over 580 million TOPG tokens as a donation from an unnamed party, and announced that he would burn it so “everyone else makes money.” After burning the tokens, Tate celebrated […]
Bitcoin News
By The Numbers: Bitcoin Received $200 Million Investment From This Financial Giant
According to a Reuters report, Founders Fund, the venture capital (VC) firm founded by billionaire Peter Thiel, is once again betting big on the flagship cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. The VC firm is reported to have made significant profits on their last Bitcoin investment and would be hoping that this next market cycle also brings immense rewards.
Founders Fund Already Made A 0 Million Investment In Bitcoin And Ether
From late summer to early fall last year, Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund reportedly invested 0 million in the two largest crypto tokens by market cap, Bitcoin and Ethereum. If so, the VC firm is likely already sitting on unrealized profits, considering these two cryptocurrencies were trading lower during that period.
Notably, the BTC price is known to have traded below ,000 towards the end of summer last year and only rose above that level sometime in October. Meanwhile, although the average prices of Founders Fund’s Bitcoin purchases could not be ascertained, BTC has been trading at its highest level since 2021.
Interestingly, Founders Fund is said to have made about .8 billion in returns on their previous investment in Bitcoin. The Financial Times reported how the VC firm began investing in the crypto token as far back as 2014 and went to liquidate most of its BTC holdings in March 2022, just before the crypto winter started in full force.
Peter Thiel’s Optimism On BTC
Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal and one of the earliest investors in Facebook, is known to be a long-time Bitcoin advocate. He once explained how the flagship crypto token could provide a safe haven for investors and described it as a “hedge” against the “world falling apart.” Thiel also belonged to the school that believed Bitcoin could eventually replace Gold.
When Bitcoin hit its all-time high at the height of the 2021 bull run, Thiel also admitted that he was underinvested in the crypto token. He said he should have bought more BTC rather than hesitating because he thought “everybody already knew the secret.”
The billionaire has also described himself at some point as a “pro-crypto, pro-Bitcoin maximalist.” His affinity for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies generally also stems from his political philosophy of libertarianism, as he sees these virtual currencies as a “force for decentralization.”
Cover image from Dall-E, chart from Tradingview
Solana’s Jupiter Airdrop Allegedly Leaked: A User Received Almost $1 Million Using 9,246 Wallets
The recent airdrop of JUP, the token of the Solana native Jupiter exchange, was allegedly gamed by an individual who avoided established controls. An unknown airdrop hunter received 1.85 million JUP (almost million) using over 9,000 wallets for this task, with some users presuming an insider leaked the airdrop information beforehand.
Jupiter Airdrop Allegedly Leaked by an Insider
Some users have begun to question the fairness of the Jupiter airdrop, an event that distributed over 0 million in JUP tokens to users of the Solana native Jupiter exchange in January. While the airdrop has been recognized as one of the largest in its class, crypto sleuths have detected irregularities in the form in which some approached this event.
X user Open4profit stressed the airdrop was unfair, claiming that an unknown user gamed the system, receiving 1.85 million JUP tokens (almost million) using over 9,000 wallets to achieve this objective.
The leader and founder of Jupiter, also known as Meow in X, recognized that these irregularities did happen and denied that this was related to an insider leak before the airdrop. He stated:
This was something we did not catch. We did not declare an airdrop ahead of time, but someone guessed the airdrop a few days before and farmed it super hard. Will do much better in future.
Nonetheless, X user Lord Ashtray pressed on, declaring that, most likely, the airdrop hunter was tipped off by an insider because he knew exactly how to farm the JUP airdrop without triggering the bot detection algorithms that prevent this kind of farming. He also stated that other teams tried to farm the airdrop without success.
Lord Ashtray said:
Stop being a lying piece of human being and just start investigating which team member leaked all the information and to whom.
However, no relationship has been established between Jupiter team members and the unknown airdrop farmer.
What do you think about the alleged leak that allowed an airdrop farmer to receive almost million worth of JUP tokens? Tell us in the comments section below.
No Evidence Hamas Received Significant Crypto Donations: Elliptic Says Data Has Been Misrepresented
Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic says there is no evidence that Hamas has received significant volumes of cryptocurrency donations, emphasizing that crypto data it provides on the matter has been misrepresented. Noting that crypto accounts linked to Hamas have been seized or frozen, Elliptic says: “This illustrates the weakness of crypto as a terrorism fundraising tool. The transparency of the blockchain allows illicit funds to be traced, and in some cases linked to real-world identities.”
Hamas’ Crypto Amounts Raised ‘Tiny’ Compared to Other Funding Sources
Blockchain analysis provider Elliptic published a blog post on Wednesday to set the record straight regarding crypto crowdfunding by Hamas, the military organization currently at war with Israel. This clarification followed numerous media reports claiming that Hamas had raised significant funds in cryptocurrency, including an article in The Wall Street Journal titled “Hamas Militants Behind Israel Attack Raised Millions in Crypto.”
Elliptic emphasized:
There is no evidence to support the assertion that Hamas has received significant volumes of crypto donations.
The Wall Street Journal article has been referenced by various individuals, including Senator Elizabeth Warren and more than 100 U.S. lawmakers who jointly sent a letter to the White House and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, urging them to take action against crypto citing its use by Hamas. “In the months leading up to their brutal and horrific October 7th attack on Israel, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) raised millions of dollars in crypto — evading U.S. sanctions and funding their operations. Indeed, between August 2021 and this past June, the two groups raised over 0 million in crypto,” wrote Warren and her fellow lawmakers.
However, Elliptic stressed: “There is no evidence to suggest that crypto fundraising has raised anything close to this amount, and data provided by Elliptic and others has been misinterpreted.”
In order to clear up confusion, Elliptic said that it has “engaged with the Wall Street Journal to correct misinterpretations of the level of crypto fundraising by Hamas” and has been “in discussions with the office of Senator Warren to ensure that the relevant parties have a proper appreciation of the complexities and nuances of analyzing these wallets.” Noting that “A full understanding of blockchain analysis and the context of any analysis is needed when using these insights to draw conclusions,” Elliptic said:
We have spoken to representatives of the lead signatory, Senator Warren, as well as the authors of the Wall Street Journal article, to clarify this.
While acknowledging that “Over the past few years, Hamas has begun to experiment with cryptocurrency as a means to crowdfund from the public through social media,” Elliptic clarified: “The unique traceability of these assets has meant that the amounts raised remain tiny compared to other funding sources.”
Furthermore, the blockchain analytics company highlighted that various cryptocurrency wallets associated with Hamas have been seized, and centralized crypto exchanges are collaborating with law enforcement agencies to freeze accounts connected to illicit activities. “This illustrates the weakness of crypto as a terrorism fundraising tool. The transparency of the blockchain allows illicit funds to be traced, and in some cases linked to real-world identities,” the firm described.
Elliptic further detailed that since the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, the most prominent public crypto fundraising campaign has been operated by a pro-Hamas news organization, Gaza Now. However, the firm said only ,000 in cryptocurrency has been donated since Oct. 7, and much of this has been frozen. On Oct. 9, Gaza Now sent around ,000 of the donated cryptocurrency to an exchange, where it was promptly frozen, the firm added, noting that around ,000 in USDT donations were also frozen by Tether.
In contrast, much more funds have been raised to help people in Israel, the blockchain analytics firm additionally pointed out, stating:
Crypto fundraising for humanitarian causes in Israel is flourishing. For example, Crypto Aid Israel had received over 5,000 in crypto donations by October 19th to support those impacted by the attacks.
What do you think about the clarification by Elliptic about how much crypto Hamas had raised? Let us know in the comments section below.
Report: Tom Brady Received $55 Million for FTX Commercials Before Its Collapse
According to a report, former National Football League quarterback Tom Brady was paid million to feature in the collapse cryptocurrency exchange FTX’s advertisements. As part of the arrangement, Brady would devote 20 hours of his time each year for three years.
Celebrities Paid to Promote FTX
The former U.S. National Football League (NFL) quarterback Tom Brady was paid million just to feature in the collapse crypto exchange FTX’s sports commercials. Brady’s fellow celebrity sportsman and basketball star Stephen Curry was reportedly paid million to promote the crypto exchange.
Details of Brady and Curry’s outsized payments from Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF)’s crypto exchange were made public by author Micheal Lewis. In his comments made during an interview, Lewis, who claims to have seen confidential documents that back his story, said as part of the deal Brady would devote just 20 hours of his time each year for three years.
Despite receiving millions of dollars worth of FTX stock as payment right before the crypto exchange’s collapse, Brady is thought to have suffered a loss of million. As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News, Brady’s then-wife Gisele Bündchen similarly saw her net worth drop by million after her FTX stock went up in smoke.
Discussing SBF’s then blossoming friendship with Brady, the author Lewis reportedly said:
“He really liked Tom Brady. And Sam wasn’t, like, a big sports person, so it was funny to watch that interaction. It was like, ‘These two people actually get along.’ It’s like the class nerd and the quarterback.”
However, according to Lewis, after FTX’s abrupt collapse in late 2022, an angry Brady was of the opinion that Bankman-Fried had tricked him into endorsing the crypto exchange. At that point, the former NFL quarterback did not want to “have anything to do with it [FTX] anymore.”
What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Garlinghouse: SEC Official Received ‘Millions’ From Vested Interests, Tradfi Heavyweight Crypto Exchange EDX Launches, Peter Schiff on USD Decline — Week in Review
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse recently asserted that former SEC Division of Corporation Finance Director William Hinman “received millions of dollars of payments from his law firm” which had a vested interest in a well-known 2018 speech given by the then SEC official. In other news, crypto exchange EDX has launched backed by Charles Schwab, Citadel Securities, Fidelity Digital Assets, Paradigm, Sequoia Capital, and Virtu Financial, featuring four cryptocurrencies. This and more in the latest Bitcoin.com News Week in Review.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse: Former SEC Official William Hinman Received ‘Millions of Dollars’ From Law Firms With a ‘Vested Interest’ in His Speech
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has blasted the enforcement approach of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after the release of the Hinman docs, which contain internal discussions that the institution had before the now famous 2018 speech offered by former SEC Division of Corporation Finance Director William Hinman. Garlinghouse stated that while he was a public servant, Hinman “received millions of dollars of payments from his law firm,” part of an alliance with a vested interest in his speech.
Crypto Exchange Backed by Fidelity, Schwab, Citadel Launches With Trading of 4 Cryptocurrencies
The cryptocurrency exchange backed by Charles Schwab, Citadel Securities, Fidelity Digital Assets, Paradigm, Sequoia Capital, and Virtu Financial has launched and completed a new funding round. The platform offers the trading of four cryptocurrencies.
Valkyrie Funds Joins Race for SEC Approval as It Files Application for Spot Bitcoin ETF
On Wednesday, Valkyrie Funds, a Tennessee-based asset manager offering a bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF), a defi fund, and a bitcoin mining industry ETF, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the launch of a spot bitcoin ETF.
Economist Peter Schiff: US Dollar Decline Will Be ‘Far Greater’ Than Yellen Warns — Fed Chair Powell ‘Clearly Worried’ About Financial Crisis
Economist Peter Schiff says the U.S. dollar decline will be “far greater” than what Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned. “This portends a significant decline in our standard of living,” he cautioned. Furthermore, the economist stressed that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell “is clearly worried about the evolving financial crisis, but doesn’t want to spook markets.”
What are your thoughts on this week’s hottest stories from Bitcoin.com News? Be sure to let us know in the comments section below.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse: Former SEC Official William Hinman Received ‘Millions of Dollars’ From Law Firms With a ‘Vested Interest’ in His Speech
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has blasted the enforcement approach of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after the release of the Hinman docs, which contain internal discussions that the institution had before the now famous 2018 speech offered by former SEC Division of Corporation Finance Director William Hinman. Garlinghouse stated that while he was a public servant, Hinman “received millions of dollars of payments from his law firm,” part of an alliance with a vested interest in his speech.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse Blasts Former SEC Official William Hinman’s Actions
Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of cryptocurrency-focused company Ripple, recently released a video where he comments on and criticizes the content of the Hinman docs, a set of documents that show internal discussions of the agency before the speech given in 2018 by William Hinman, a former director of the Division of Corporation Finance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
According to Garlinghouse, the documents, which were finally unsealed after seven court orders and over a hundred million dollars in legal bills, show that “at best, senior officials couldn’t agree on the law, and told Bill Hinman directly he would confuse the public even more about the rules for crypto.” Garlinghouse considered that, at worst, these documents show Hinman “deliberately ignored the law,” stating that:
While he was a public servant, Hinman received millions of dollars of payments from his law firm, which was part of an alliance with others that had a vested interest in this speech.
Fake ‘Open Arms’ Policy
Ripple’s CEO accused the SEC of professing a fake “open arms and come in and register” policy. In his video statement, he explains that he met with former SEC Chair Jay Clayton and Hinman, answering all their questions and being fully open with the company’s operations. However, Garlinghouse detailed the SEC took advantage of this openness to turn it against the company.
Garlinghouse stated:
Not once did they suggest to me that xrp was a security.
Garlinghouse believes that the SEC is trying to “kill crypto innovation” in the U.S. by weaponizing the lack of regulatory clarity to exert jurisdiction over the entire crypto space, something he had mentioned before. Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, one of the largest U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchanges — also being sued by the SEC on charges of operating as an unregistered securities brokerage — has alerted about the dangers of driving the crypto industry outside the country and the possible costs of repatriating it in the future.
What do you think about the statements of Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse on the recently unsealed Hinman docs? Tell us in the comment section below.
PancakeSwap TVL Drops 12%, Did This Exchange Received A Lethal Blow?
PancakeSwap (CAKE), the leading multichain decentralized exchange (DEX) running on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), has suffered a significant 12% drop in its total value locked (TVL) to .4 billion.
The crypto crackdown by regulators targeting Binance’s stablecoin BUSD triggered a decrease in the stablecoin supply. This has negatively impacted the growth of the BNB Smart Chain, affecting protocols and DEX’s TVL.
What has set PancakeSwap apart from UniSwap and SushiSwap exchange since its inception is that it runs on the BSC instead of the Ethereum smart chain. However, PancakeSwap has gone multichain, launching on both Ethereum and Aptos.
Unlike traditional exchange models, the AMM allows traders to use permissionless liquidity pools to exchange digital assets, which are given a liquidity provider (LP) token for which they decide to add funds to the liquidity pool.
According to DeFiIgnas, decentralized finance (DeFi) researcher, PancakeSwap overtook UniSwap by total value locked on November 29.
PancakeSwap Able To Mitigate The Losses?
In a bold move to address liquidity issues affecting the decentralized exchange, PancakeSwap launched its market maker integration on Ethereum and Atpos in February. The market maker integration will serve as an additional source of liquidity to the existing AMM to help traders operate and “enjoy better liquidity,” according to the exchange.
By integrating PancakeSwap’s MM with its AMM, the exchange will improve swaps of ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum smart chain. In addition, PancakeSwap’s integration with market makers on Ethereum will also result in the introduction of Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Stablecoin trading pairs on the exchange.
The anonymous developer behind the exchange Chef, the co-founder of the exchange, noted:
We thought about how we could best serve our community and new Ethereum users without excessively emitting precious CAKE to acquire extremely high levels of TVL
With the integration on Ethereum, PancakeSwap will allow customers to be directed to approved market makers and the AMM, according to DeFiIgnas, which explained that this would result in lower fees and better spot prices. He claimed:
It is a creative solution to the liquidity problem. Liquidity Providers (LPs) don’t deposit assets into an AMM if there’s no trading volume to generate yield. And user’s don’t trade where slippage is high. So, market maker integration solves this Chicken & Egg dilemma.
PancakeSwap Set To Launch V3 On BSC
PCS continues to bring innovation to the protocol with the launch of V3 on April 1. The upgrade will add features such as improved liquidity provision, competitive trading fees, trading incentives, and yield farming tools that allow users to maximize their returns and rewards.
These products can attract more users and capital to the exchange, increasing the protocol’s revenue and enhancing PCS’s value to investors. DeFiIgnas concluded:
DEX space is the most fun to watch due to cut-throat competition. My prediction for 2023 is that it will lead to a diversification of their business model. The Market Maker integration, uniqueCAKE veTokenomics, and various incentives make PCS different.
After burning 7 million tokens with a total value of million on Monday, the DEX’s native token has been downtrend from its annual high of .68 in February. Currently, the token is trading at .56 following the ongoing problems on the exchange despite the recent announcements from PancakeSwap.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView.com
Facebook Officials Claim Novi Received Approval From Major U.S. States
David Marcus, an executive in Facebook, released the regulatory information concerning Novi. The update states the current status of Diem’s crypto wallet.
Through a recent blog post, Marcus confirmed the approval for Novi in almost every state in the United States. Also, he revealed that it will not be launched in places where it has yet to get approval.
The Facebook executive mentioned that project commits not to launch Novi on Diem without the necessary clearance. Moreover, he states that the project still keeps to its commitments. As such, there’s an ongoing consultation with international regulators.
Furthermore, Marcus disclosed some information about Novi’s features and functions. According to him, the crypto wallet will enable free person-to-person payments within and outside the U.S. He explained the possibility for a future Novi’s profitability from merchant payments. This could be effective if the project will build a larger customer base.
Related Reading | Solana Continues Bullish Trend, Becomes The 10th Largest Cryptocurrency
Marcus added that they could diversify and provide a range of other financial services. These could be achieved through collaborations with prominent, reputable, and regulated partners that will bring expansion.
How has The Facebook Project Fared?
From the current news on Facebook’s crypto, the project is progressively moving to its launching period. This’s after over 2 years through the period of development and delay in the project.
The announcement of the project was in June 2019. However, some issues surrounded it immediately after that. Also, most of the project members exited the Diem Association in early October 2019.
Some of the old members to exit the group include Paypal, Mastercard, and Visa. Consequently, many European regulatory made moves to crack down on the project within the period. The same time brought Mark Zuckerberg to face the U.S. Congress concerning Facebook involvement.
From the multiple issues, Diem was forced to move for a rebrand this year. This probably shifted its attention to the US.
The rebranding process is meant to give the project independence from Facebook’s involvement. However, the project before its rebranding had several concerning Facebook’s direct involvement. Some of the concerns were the misuse of Facebook in legitimate activities and funding of terrorism.
Related Reading | Coinbase States Infrastructure Bill Could Impact 60 Million American Crypto Owners
Additionally, to boost its new stance, Diem, through its rebranding, selected some new members to its team. The move was for better repositioning in compliance with regulations and regulatory bodies. So, the aim is not just to create a name but to perform beyond the name.
Recall that before now, Diem has passed through several tracks as different brands and trademarks. Some of the previous brands include Globalcoin, Facebook Coin, and Libra.
Also, Facebook, in May, revealed its plans of launching Diem as a stable coin with the U.S. dollar’s backing. Invariably, it took the project out from several other international currencies.
However, neither Marcus, Facebook, nor the Diem Association gave any possible release date for the wallet or stable coin.
Featured image from Pixabay
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Mt. Gox Trustee Announces Creditors Received Decisions Over Rehabilitation Claims
n Nobuaki Kobayashi, trustee of the notorious Japanese Bitcoin BTC exchange Mt. Gox, has sent the decisions on rehabilitation claims to customersn
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