Weekly Crypto News Recap - August 25, 2023

Tornado Cash Founders Face US Charges for Handling $1B in Dirty Money

Roman Semenov and Roman Storm, the Founders of Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency privacy protocol, have been charged with assisting criminals to launder over $1 billion in illicit funds. The US Department of Justice noted in a statement released on Wednesday that it had charged Semenov and Storm with conspiracy to commit money laundering, sanctions violations, and for operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. According to the law enforcement agency, the executives received complaints and calls from victims of cybercrimes but deliberately avoided implementing any controls to stop the criminals from using its platform to launder the illicitly obtained cryptocurrencies. This story is far from over, though, as Coin Center's research director argued that Tornado Cash is an anonymizing software provider, not a money transmitter, further stating that the facts offered thus far don't show any clear violations of money-transmitting-related offenses.

Solana Pay Integrates With Shopify for Instant Payments With USD Stablecoins

The Daily Hodl

Solana Pay will be integrating with Shopify, one of the world’s biggest e-commerce platforms in the world for a new payment function, and Circle's USDC will be the first stablecoin payment option available for the new integration. Solana said, "Payments should be accessible, fast, and frictionless: With no intermediary, Solana Pay eliminates bank fees, chargebacks, and holding times while enabling immediate, direct payment settlement of USD stablecoins compatible with Solana."

Binance Data Tells All: Accused of Violating Russian Sanctions: WSJ

Crypto Briefing

The world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, faces allegations surrounding its operational ties in Russia, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. Claims suggest Binance’s pullback from the region might be less extensive than initially believed. After Russia started its war on Ukraine, Binance confirmed a reduction in its Russian operations, complying with European Union sanctions. However, the WSJ alleged that the data paints a different picture with persistent ruble trading on Binance, and peer-to-peer trades by Russians averaging a monthly $428 million over a six-month period.

Balancer Depositors Pull Nearly $100M in Crypto After Vulnerability Warning

CoinDesk

One of Ethereum’s top decentralized crypto trading projects, Balancer, urged its customers to withdraw their tokens after the discovery of a critical vulnerability that could place tens of millions of crypto dollars at risk. The disclosure sent the decentralized protocol into lockdown; Balancer’s crisis response group activated and hit pause on many pools to prevent their draining. But “there are some pools that could not be ‘paused’ and are therefore at high risk,” that Xeonus said must be secured through user withdrawals. While TVL has plummeted as a result, the team has been lauded by the broader ecosystem for their exceptional crisis management.

Coinbase Gets a Stake in Stablecoin Operator Circle and USDC Adds 6 New Blockchains

CoinDesk

Coinbase is getting a minority stake in Circle and the companies are dissolving their Centre Consortium partnership that had issued USDC historically. The announcement didn’t disclose how big of a stake Coinbase would get, but Coinbase did not pay cash for the stake, according to a person familiar with the matter. The move will bring issuance and governance of USDC fully in-house. Circle simultaneously announced that USDC would add native support for six additional (unnamed) blockchains, bringing the total to 15.

BITCOIN

Bitcoin gains traction in West Africa with educational drive
Bitcoin’s DeFi Ecosystem Continues To Grow: Pyth Networks Integrates with Stacks
FBI Says North Korean Hackers May Try to Sell $40M of Bitcoin
Vast Majority of Bitcoin Transactions Involve Ordinals, Despite Large Volume Decline
Mysterious Bitcoin wallet becomes 3rd largest BTC holder in 3 months

ETHEREUM

Base Commits to Decentralization, Collective Growth of The Optimism Collective’s L2 Ecosystem
Ether Whales Scooped Up $94M in ETH as Price Plunged to $1.6K
Bitstamp Halts ETH Staking for US Customers Amid Regulatory Uncertainty
Ether Staking Demand Remains Unfazed as EigenLayer 100K ETH Cap Limit Filled Within Hours
BNB Token Stumbles to 1-Year Low Amid Mounting Scrutiny Over Binance
ETH Linked to Ethereum ICO Participant, Vitalik Buterin Is on the Move

ALTCOINS

Default of Tokenized Loans on Centrifuge Puts MakerDAO’s Investment at Risk
PEPE Plummets 17% as Team Transfers Million of Dollars to Exchanges
PancakeSwap v3 launches on Ethereum layer 2 Linea
Weird PEPE Transfers Spook Crypto Investors and Prompt Meme Coin's 15% Plunge
Lido Set To Complete Final Token Unlock
1inch Network Joins DeFi Heavweights Launching on Ethereum Layer-2 Base
Pendle Finance Users Can Now Profit From Real World Assets
dYdX Declares War On MEV Ahead Of Appchain Migration
EigenLayer Pulls In $160M Of Deposits Within Two Hours
Mobile RPG Champions Arena Launches on Gala Games
Chainlink’s Oracle Network Rolls Out Integration for Scroll Foundation Developers
XRP Gives Up All Gains Made After Ripple Labs’ SEC Victory
World Mobile launches on Google Play for customers in Australia, Canada, UK and US
Stellar joins Bytecode Alliance to help develop EVM alternative Wasm
Update: Shiba Inu’s Shibarium Almost Ready to Reopen After Failed Initial Launch
Mantle Stakes $66M of Ether on Lido as Part of Treasury Management Strategy
Maple Finance Eyes Asian Expansion With $5M Investment, Returns to Solana
Shibarium Devs Say Enhanced Network ‘Almost Ready’ to Reopen
$99M Avalanche Tokens to Unlock This Saturday
THORChain Processes Record Volume After Introducing ‘Streaming Swaps’
LiFi launches multi-bridge governance solution after Uniswap debate
What’s a DAO to Do? Gitcoin Backlash Shows Crypto Governance Is More Than a Meme
Mantle User Raises Eyebrows On Proposed Auto Migration Of FTX $43 Million BIT Tokens

STABLECOINS

Num Finance launches Colombian peso stablecoin on Polygon
Tether maintains $3.3B in liquidity cushion: USDT transparency report
DAI Stablecoin Surpasses $5B Market Cap on Higher Yield, Lifting Spark Protocol
Euro Stablecoin on Solana Expected to be Fully MiCA Compliant
Stablecoin Buying Rises in Argentina as Peso Tumbles
PayPal’s new PYUSD stablecoin faces legal headwinds and ‘less functionality’
Spark Protocol Users Max Out $200M DAI Debt Ceiling
Tether USDT stability tested amid crypto market shakeup

CRYPTO ECOSYSTEM

OnlyFans Accounts Take Over Friend.tech as Crypto App Adds Photo Feature
FTX files motion for Galaxy Digital to manage recovered crypto holdings
Dubai’s VARA Unleashes Crypto Staking through Custody Services
Road to Europe: B2C2 Acquires France-Regulated Market-Maker
Farcaster To Migrate From Ethereum To Optimism Superchain
Central African Republic Eyes Tokenizing Its Natural Resources
Gaming Titans FaZe Banks and Nadeshot Among Friend.tech's Top Earners
Kresus launches curated marketplace for Polygon projects
Nomura-Backed Crypto Custody Firm Komainu Wins Operating License in Dubai
Social Platform Friend.tech Gains 100K Users in Days Even in Depths of a Bear Market
Base Network Sees Activity Soar Past Arbitrum, Optimism Amid Friend.tech Frenzy
Celsius set to vote on asset sale plan after court approves disclosures
Friend.tech generates over $1M fees in 24h, surpassing Uniswap, Bitcoin networks

NFTS / GAMING / METAVERSE

Ronin Network, Zillion Whales Partners to Launch First Real Time Strategy Game
NFL and Mythical Games Unveil NFL Rivals: The First Web3-Powered NFL Game
ZTX to Launch Genesis Home Mint with OpenSea and Reward Presale Contributors
Donald Trump NFTs Up Bigly After Indicted Former Pres. Skips GOP Debate
Earl Sweatshirt Drops Surprise Album via Gala Music
NFT marketplace Rarible sees uptick after commitment to royalties
Social Poker App PokerGO Play Lands on Gala Games
K-Pop Titans Blackpink Launch Roblox Metaverse Experience
Gaming Influencers FaZe Banks, Nadeshot Among Friend.tech's Top Earners
Crypto and NFT Games Are Still Launching on Steam Despite Ongoing Ban
China Is Taking Its Social Credit System to the Metaverse: Report
NFT Platform Recur to Shut Down Despite $50M Raise and Big Name Backers
Yuga Labs of Bored Apes fame draws away from OpenSea over royalty fee policy
Bitcoin Ordinals NFT trading volume tanks 98% since May — DappRadar

MINING

Bitcoin mining giants lose $2.8B in market cap to crypto market’s sudden crash
Bitcoin difficulty jumps 6% to new peak as miners ignore BTC price dip
Bitcoin Mining Startup Raises $13 Million to Turn Trash Into BTC
Oman launches $350M crypto mining center: Report
Bitcoin Miners Pivot To Other Areas In Quest To Diversify Earnings: JP Morgan
Renewable energy Bitcoin mining company powers up in Sweden
Gryphon Digital seeks court dismissal of Sphere 3D's lawsuit
Another Lucky Solo Miner Nabs $160,000 Bitcoin Block Reward

EXCHANGES

Coinbase Is Talking With Canadian Banking Giants to Promote Crypto
Uniswap Spot Volume Surpassed Coinbase In 2023
Binance's Ether Futures See Lowest Open Interest Since July 2022
Binance’s Card Retreat: Withdraws Crypto Debit Cards from Latin America and Middle East
Nigerian crypto exchange’s token launch draws scrutiny
Aevo Trading Activity Shows Degen Traders Still Bullish on Friend.tech
Indian Crypto Exchange CoinDCX Lays Off 12% of Staff Citing Prolonged Bear Market and TDS
Coinbase Adjusts Debt Buyback Offer Due to Moderate Demand
Crypto Exchange Bitget to Tighten ID Requirements as Regulators Cite Fraud Concerns
HashKey exchange set to debut retail crypto trading services in Hong Kong on Aug. 28
Legal Action Contemplated by Binance Following Termination of Partnership with Checkout.com
Kraken introduces support for PayPal’s stablecoin, PYUSD
Huobi Announces Strategic Partnership With TradingView
Coinbase Halts USDT Trading for Canadian Users Starting August 31
Bitget's ClearLoop Integration: Institutional Traders Get Off-Exchange Settlement Solution

INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

Vessel Capital secures $55M to invest in Web3 infrastructure: Report
ARK Invest, 21Shares join queue to offer Ethereum futures ETF
Pantera predicts 322% Bitcoin price surge to $148k after halving in 2024
Momentum Capital Gains $10M Investment to Hunt for Crypto's Next 'Apple'
Securitize acquires $40B crypto fund manager Onramp

TRADFI / TECH

A third of US investors are open to trusting AI financial advice: Survey
JPMorgan Sees Limited Downside for Crypto Markets in the Near Term
Nvidia's Earnings: Could it Be a Catalyst for Movement in AI-Linked Crypto Tokens?
AI-Related Tokens Hold Gains After Nvidia's Big Beat Solidifies Bullish Outlook
NVIDIA’s role in Nasdaq rally underscored as Q2 earnings report comes in

CBDC

Only 17% of Russians would agree to store more than $200 in CBDC
South Korean Central Bank Set to Unveil CBDC ‘Blueprint’ Next Month
Digital Yuan ‘Spurs Rise in Mainland China-Hong Kong Cross-border Payments’
Reserve Bank of Australia issues report on CBDC use cases
Payments Giant Mastercard Launches New Program With Ripple and Other Firms To Foster Collaboration on CBDC

REGULATORY / COUNTRIES

Australian exchange enlists PayPal as banks ‘close ranks’ against crypto
US DEA loses over $50k USDT to scammer in botched transaction: Forbes
UK Plans To Ban Crypto Cold Calls, Seeks Public Opinion For Evaluation On Businesses
SEC v. Ripple: Attorneys leave SEC side, both groups add new lawyers
Tornado Cash indictment fails to show ‘clear violation’ of certain laws: Coin Center
Coin Center Sends Letter to Congress Seeking Clarity on Crypto Tax Regulations
Chamber of Digital Commerce assigns lawyer to argue against SEC in court as part of Coinbase case
Indian Crypto Tax Rules Cited as One of Three Reasons for CoinDCX’s Job Cut of 12%
SEC Granted Permission To Go After Do Kwon’s Close Associate in Korea
Lugano teams with Tether to drive citywide blockchain adoption
Crypto’s ‘Illusory Appeal’ Should Be Met by Regulation, Not Bans, BIS Study Says
Friend tech renames token to Keys amid speculation of SEC scrutiny
Central African Republic expands Sango project to land, resource tokenization
Coin Center responds to US lawmakers’ request for crypto tax guidance
Crypto Fund Misled Clients With Promises of 2,700% Returns, SEC Claims
Crypto Exchange Gemini Slams SEC in New Court Brief in Lawsuit Over Earn Program
Federal Court Supports Sanctions on Tornado Cash Crypto Mixer Despite User Protest
Somalia bans Telegram and TikTok over misinformation
Kenya forms parliamentary committee to investigate Worldcoin
China Wants To Implement Social Credit System With Digital IDs In The Metaverse
Tornado Cash Sanctions Affirmed by Federal Court
Ripple CTO clarifies on SEC appeal, highlights case complexity
Ether Futures ETFs could all get approval at same time: Report

SURVEYS, HACKS, MISC

Vauld gets permission for board restructuring from the court
Cybersecurity Breach at Kroll Affects FTX and BlockFi Claimants' Data
Magnate Finance’s $6.4M TVL Appears to Be Pulled
Prime Trust Lost $8M in Doomed Terra Stablecoin Investment, CEO Says
Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm released on bail, lawyer says
WinRAR patches zero-day bug that targeted stock and crypto traders
FTX Bankruptcy Burning Through $1.5M in Legal Costs Every Day
Sam Bankman-Fried can meet with lawyers outside of jail with 48 hours’ notice, says judge
Balancer Lauded for 'Excellent Communication' of Multi-Million-Dollar Vulnerability
Exactly Protocol Announces $700,000 Bounty For Information on Hacker
Atomic Wallet faces lawsuit over $100M crypto hack losses: Report
BlockFi Challenges FTX, Three Arrows in Legal Dispute Over Repayments
Nate Chastain sentenced to three months for insider trading at OpenSea
Chinese official sentenced to life in prison for Bitcoin mining, corruption
Terra.money website frozen to prevent more phishing scams
FTX bankruptcy hearing set for Thursday outlines key agenda
Sam Bankman-Fried will get one day in court to meet with lawyers
Blockchain Capital Co-Founder Sues Hacker For Stealing $6.3 Million in a SIM-Swap Attack
Scientists reverse-engineered the Luna flash crash using particle physics
Cryptocurrency Startup Sues Crypto.com Exchange After Falling Victim to Scam
Sam Bankman-Fried Wants Regular Release From Jail, May Blame Lawyers In His Defense
DeFi protocols Exactly, Harbor hacked in separate attacks

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