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Tokenizing music royalties as NFTs could help the next Taylor Swift

Since 2021, pop superstar Taylor Swift has been rerecording and releasing her entire back catalog of albums in an effort to break away from her previous record label and gain greater control over her art.

The fact she has to go through such a painstaking, expensive process just to recover what most would consider rightfully hers highlights how the music industry can be a complicated, confusing place for young artists. It has a well-deserved reputation for being a space where enthusiastic musicians often unknowingly enter into unfavorable or exploitative record contracts. 

“I would say maybe 10% of musicians have a good understanding, 1% of musicians have a great understanding, and 0.1% of musicians have an amazing understanding” of the legal and financial structure behind the music industry, Justin Blau tells Magazine. Also known as 3lau, Blau is a popular DJ and the founder of Royal, one of a handful of companies working to bridge the divide between the traditional music industry and blockchain.

Web3 or blockchain is often hyped up as the “Promised Land” for musicians, where the music industry will be democratized and decentralized, and where musicians will earn a larger slice of the profit pie by connecting directly with fans through NFTs. 

One rising use case for “music NFTs” is tokenizing a song’s royalties, allowing fans to earn a percentage of the revenue generated by their favorite artists’ music.

How a song’s copyrights generate multiple royalty streams
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Multichain saga screws users, Binance fires 1,000 staff: Asia Express

Decentralized Web 3 cross-chain router allegedly under control of one-man

Imagine a system where all your money is controlled by one man and his family and when there is cause for concern, the propaganda machine immediately goes ‘brrr’ to put on a facade that everything is just fine despite some alarming withdrawls. Sounds more like a one party state? No, welcome to blockchain, specifically, Multichain.

A man alleged to be Multichain co-founder and CEO Zhao Jun (CryptoRank)

On July 14, Chinese decentralized cross-chain bridge protocol Multichain announced that it would cease operations after three years. The reason? The only person allegedly holding the private keys to over $1.5 billion in users’ crypto stored on Multichain was its co-founder and CEO Zhao Jun and later, his sister (name unknown). Both were arrested by Chinese police — but it’s still not clear why.

Zhao Jun was reportedly arrested as early as May 21, but it appears that Multichain staff did not want you to know that… until now, when one discrepancy after another made it impossible to bury the truth.

The whole ordeal started on or around May 24, when Multichain users reported that funds had not arrived for nearly 72 hours after being sent. Admins immediately responded that the delay was due to a backend node upgrade “taking longer than expected,” and that “all affected transactions will arrive after the upgrade is complete.”

“Most routes are working as usual, as some routes (Kava, zkSync, Polygon zkEVM) are temporarily suspended. All affected transactions will arrive after the upgrade is complete. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused.”

Multichain
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AI Eye: AI content cannibalization problem, Threads a loss leader for AI data?

ChatGPT eats cannibals

ChatGPT hype is starting to wane, with Google searches for “ChatGPT” down 40% from its peak in April, while web traffic to OpenAI’s ChatGPT website has been down almost 10% in the past month. 

This is only to be expected — however GPT-4 users are also reporting the model seems considerably dumber (but faster) than it was previously.

One theory is that OpenAI has broken it up into multiple smaller models trained in specific areas that can act in tandem, but not quite at the same level.

But a more intriguing possibility may also be playing a role: AI cannibalism.

The web is now swamped with AI-generated text and images, and this synthetic data gets scraped up as data to train AIs, causing a negative feedback loop. The more AI data a model ingests, the worse the output gets for coherence and quality. It’s a bit like what happens when you make a photocopy of a photocopy, and the image gets progressively worse.

AI tweet
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XRP is not a security, Celsius CEO arrested on criminal charges, and more: Hodler’s Digest, July 9-15

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Judge rules XRP is not a security in SEC’s case against Ripple

Ripple Labs scored a victory in a district court in New York on July 13, with Judge Analisa Torres ruling partially in favor of the company in a case brought forth by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dating back to 2020. According to court documents, Judge Torres granted summary judgment in favor of Ripple Labs, ruling that the XRP token is not a security, but only in regard to programmatic sales on digital asset exchanges. XRP’s price skyrocketed within minutes of the news breaking. The case has been ongoing since December 2020, when the SEC sued Ripple and two of its executives over allegations of offering an unregistered security. Despite the positive outcome, several lawyers warned against celebrating too soon, noting the ruling is only partial and does not set a precedent. In addition, the SEC may appeal the decision, which could result in a reversal by a higher court.

XRP becomes 4th largest crypto after Ripple’s partial win over SEC

XRP has become the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization this week after Ripple’s partial victory over the SEC. The price of XRP surged as much as 98% in the hours following the decision, reaching as high as $0.93, according to data from TradingView. Meanwhile, its market cap surged a whopping $21.2 billion to reach a new yearly high of $46.1 billion. The new ruling has also sparked a fresh wave of re-listing activity from mainstay U.S. exchanges, with Coinbase, Kraken and iTrustCapital making the token available for trading on their respective platforms.

Celsius Network fined $4.7B by FTC, and CEO arrested under criminal fraud charges

U.S. authorities have announced charges against the former CEO of bankrupt crypto lender Celsius, Alex Mashinsky, over securities fraud, commodities fraud and wire fraud. Former chief revenue officer Roni Cohen-Pavon and Mashinsky will also face charges of conspiracy, securities fraud, market manipulation and wire fraud related to manipulating the price of the Celsius token. Authorities arrested Mashinsky as part of the indictment, which includes seven criminal counts. In parallel, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced a complaint against Celsius along with a $4.7 billion fine, claiming its co-founders marketed the platform as a “safe place” for consumers to deposit their cryptocurrency while misappropriating over $4 billion in consumers’ assets. Under similar allegations, the SEC also filed a lawsuit against the company. While Celsius is cooperating with regulators, Mashinsky pleaded not guilty to charges of misleading customers and inflating the CEL token.

Europe’s first spot Bitcoin ETF eyes 2023 debut after year-long delay

Europe’s first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) is set to debut later this year after a long delay. The Bitcoin ETF, created by London-based Jacobi Asset Management, was set to debut in July 2022 but was postponed due to market conditions. The asset manager now sees a gradual shift in demand compared with 2022. A related development also took place in Argentina this week, as the nation welcomed its first Bitcoin futures contract. According to Matba Rofex, the trading platform behind the investment vehicle, it is the first Bitcoin futures contract in Latin America.

Binance has reportedly laid off hundreds of employees in recent weeks. According to former employees, cuts were global and customer service workers were heavily affected, particularly in India. Including this week’s layoffs, over 1,000 employees have lost their jobs at the exchange. Before the slash, Binance’s global headcount was estimated at 8,000. The reorganization could cost Binance more than a third of its staff. The crypto exchange announced the 20% reduction in staff on May 31, claiming it was not downsizing but reallocating resources amid the ongoing crackdown in the United States. Binance’s most enduring challenge is reportedly an ongoing investigation of its activities and executives by the U.S. Justice Department.


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Interactive NFTs the future for sport, Vegas Sphere excites: NFT Collector

Greg Oakford, co-founder of NFT Fest Australia, is your guide to the world of NFTs from a collector’s and fan’s perspective.

Andy Murray x Wimbledon x Refik Anadol

A special open edition NFT collaboration between tennis star AndyMurray, Wimbledon and well renowned digital artist, Refik Anadol. To commemorate the 10th anniversary of tennis star Andy Murray winning Wimbledon.

Andy Murray wearing sensors. (Twitter)

The Exposition” describes itself as ‘a world first exploration into the marriage of fine art, high performance sport and data science’. In the teaser video it reveals how the artwork is a visual representation of points played including body movement across Murray’s illustrious career at the last remaining grass court tennis major. 

At a price point of $147, 248 editions have been minted to date with the mint window closing on 16 July. Buyers can mint using crypto or via a credit card on Manifold. Holders of the token will also later be afforded the opportunity to buy a physical print edition of the artwork.

The Exposition” describes itself as ‘a world first exploration into the marriage of fine art, high performance sport and data science’. In the teaser video it reveals how the artwork is a visual representation of points played including body movement across Murray’s illustrious career at the last remaining grass court tennis major. 

Andy Murray
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Experts want to give AI human ‘souls’ so they don’t kill us all

Until now, it’s been assumed that giving artificial intelligence emotions — allowing them to get angry or make mistakes — is a terrible idea. But what if the solution to keeping robots aligned with human values is to make them more human, with all our flaws and compassion?

Robot Souls book cover. (Amazon)

That’s the premise of a forthcoming book called Robot Souls: Programming in Humanity, by Eve Poole, an academic at the Hult International Business School. She argues that in our bid to make artificial intelligence perfect, we have stripped out all the “junk code” that makes us human, including emotions, free will, the ability to make mistakes, to see meaning in the world and cope with uncertainty. 

“It is actually this ‘junk’ code that makes us human and promotes the kind of reciprocal altruism that keeps humanity alive and thriving,” Poole writes.

“If we can decipher that code, the part that makes us all want to survive and thrive together as a species, we can share it with the machines. Giving them, to all intents and purposes, a ‘soul.’”

Of course, the concept of the “soul” is religious and not scientific, so for the purpose of this article, let’s just take it as a metaphor for endowing AI with more human-like properties.

Robot Souls
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China expands CBDC’s tentacles, Malaysia is HK’s new crypto rival: Asia Express

Chinese president shills CBDCs

On July 4, Xinhua News Agency, China’s state broadcaster, published a transcript of President Xi Jinping’s address to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit (SCO). The SCO is one of the world’s largest regional organizations for political, economic and security cooperation, and was established by China and Russia in 2001.

During the speech, President Xi welcomed Iran as a full organisation member, and praised the move for Belarus to join. He also talked up the importance of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs):

“The Chinese side proposes to expand the share of local currency settlements of SCO countries, expand sovereign digital currency cooperation, and promote the establishment of SCO development banks.”

In January, the People’s Bank of China reported that there were 13.61 billion digital yuan (e-CNY) CBDCs in circulation, representing around 0.13% of the monetary supply. Since then, the CBDC’s use has expanded to the country’s Belt and Road Initiative, various consumer airdrops, and as a means of payment for everyday transportation. However, experts have warned that despite the constant promotion, the currency has struggled to gain traction

On July 10, local news outlet East Money reported that a SIM card linked to the e-CNY CBDC will soon be available to Chinese consumers. Because the e-CNY CBDC digital wallet is embedded in the SIM card itself, individuals can pay for their phone bills via a point-of-sale machine even if their phone has no power. 


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BlackRock bullish on Bitcoin, Gemini CEO’s ‘delusion,’ and CEXs’ unhappy staff: Hodler’s Digest, July 2-8

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Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, has recently delivered pro-crypto remarks, claiming “Bitcoin is an international asset” and suggesting U.S. regulators consider how an ETF directly linked to Bitcoin could democratize finance in the country. Under Fink, BlackRock has attempted to launch a spot BTC ETF with crypto exchange Coinbase acting as a surveillance partner. It’s unclear if the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve the investment vehicle, given its track record of rejecting all previously filed spot BTC ETF applications to date.

Gemini files lawsuit against Digital Currency Group and Barry Silbert over Genesis and Earn program

Gemini has announced legal action against the conglomerate Digital Currency Group (DCG) and its CEO, Barry Silbert, claiming “fraud against creditors.” Genesis, a DCG subsidiary, had been the crypto lender responsible for operating an Earn program in partnership with the crypto exchange. The suit follows an open letter published by Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss, which slammed Silbert for allegedly trying to play the victim card while owing over a billion dollars to Earn’s investors. “Not even Sam Bankman-Fried was capable of such delusion,” Winklevoss wrote in the letter.

Bitcoin bull run incoming: Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao reveals when

Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has delivered his prediction for the next Bitcoin bull market. In a July 5 “ask me anything” session on Twitter, CZ gave his thoughts on the next bull run, explaining that the price of Bitcoin has historically moved in four-year bull cycles, and his best bet was that this would continue to occur. While admitting he couldn’t predict the future, Zhao emphasized the upcoming Bitcoin halving event in 2024 and declared 2025 to be the most likely year for the next bull market, stating: “The year after Bitcoin halving is usually the bull year.“

Lawmakers in the United Kingdom are moving forward with legislation aimed at expanding authorities’ ability to target cryptocurrencies used for illicit purposes. A June 27 version of the bill included provisions to allow authorities greater flexibility in the confiscation and civil recovery of crypto assets. In addition, the legislation clarified the government’s authority over digital assets “intended to be used for the purposes of terrorism” or related reasons. The lawmakers will consider all amendments to the bill before it can be made law by royal assent.

Binance, Coinbase and Gemini staff are among the least happy, data suggests

According to a quadrant chart by tech recruitment firm TrueUp using data from Glassdoor, crypto exchanges, including Gemini, Binance and Coinbase, are home to some of the least happy employees in the industry. The chart shows the happiest and least happy workers across over 27 of most valuable crypto firms on different stages of maturity. The defunct crypto lender Celsius, crypto exchange Gemini and trading firm Amber Group top the list of least satisfied employees, followed by Binance and Coinbase. Binance said its “hardcore” work culture could explain some of the results, while Crypto Recruit founder Neil Dundon warned that the data should be taken with a grain of salt.


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Why Coin Stories’ Natalie Brunell doesn’t want a Bitcoin ATH anytime soon: Hall of Flame

Coin Stories host Natalie Brunell — who has 302,600 followers on Twitter — recalls feeling very tense before meeting with Salvadoran President and Bitcoin maximalist Nayib Bukele in March 2022.

“It was very formal, there were guards outside his office. What is funny is it felt very formal outside of his actual office. Then you walk in, and he’s very warm, very gracious and very humble,” she says.

Brunell was blown away by Bukele’s knowledge of Bitcoin.

“He was very educated and well-read on the topic of Bitcoin and economic theory, and he seemed to genuinely want positive change for his country through expanding monetary freedom.”

Brunell, who is also the host of the Hard Money show, took an unconventional approach to get the meeting, relying on the power of memes suggesting Bitcoiners will all end up working at McDonald’s every time the price goes down — so she put out a call on Twitter asking which McDonald’s she could find Bukele at.


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Super Mario: Crypto Thief, SEGA blockchain game, AI games rights fight — Web3 Gamer

Valve allows AI content on Steam

Game developers can use AI-generated content in games listed on Steam. But only if it isn’t generated using copyright-infringing content.

That’s the official line from Valve, the creators of game publishing platform Steam, which it made in response to a June Reddit post that’s been making the rounds about a developer who had his game rejected by Steam for using AI.

Developer Artoonu, who specializes in creating NSFW games (think furries and hentai), said the company asked him to “affirmatively confirm that you own the rights to all of the IP used in the data set that trained the AI to create the assets in your game” for it to be accepted, which is an impossible ask.

Valve, it seems, is worried about the legal implications of hosting AI-generated content. And perhaps they should be. Artists are furious about the fact that AI image generators are trained on their work. ChatGPT pulls massive amounts of data from the web, much of which is copyrighted. Recordings of voice artists from years ago have been dug up and are being used by companies to train AI voice models without their explicit consent.

Valve spokesperson Kaci Boyle told Gizmodo this week that the introduction of AI was making it harder to show that a developer has sufficient IP rights when they use AI to create assets, including images, text, and music.

Gamer 1
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Should you ‘orange pill’ children? The case for Bitcoin kids books

“Any kid who doesn’t learn something about Bitcoin is missing out,” says Bitcoin advocate Ben De Waal.

De Waal explains that his 12-year-old daughter Samantha has already convinced “a couple” of her schoolmates and a teacher to hop on the Bitcoin bandwagon, though she’s not attempting to “orange pill the entire school”… yet.

Ben De Waal. (Supplied)

Thanks to her upbringing in a “Bitcoin family” that has largely abandoned fiat currency, Sam is now a Bitcoin ambassador wunderkind nicknamed The Bitcoin Kid.

De Waal himself discovered Bitcoin “around 2010” and dedicated his life to it around 2016 (sadly, after he deleted 200 Bitcoin!). He’s worked in engineering leadership positions at both Swan Bitcoin and Lightning Labs and explains he first introduced Sam to children’s books about Bitcoin when she was just 10 years old.

Just two years after she read her first Bitcoin book, Sam found herself on the grand stage of BTC Prague 2023 in mid-June, delivering a speech about Bitcoin.

Ben De Waal
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HK crypto ETFs on fire, Binance warns on Maverick FOMO, Poly hack: Asia Express

Hong Kong crypto ETFs’ rise to popularity

During a June 28 interview with Hong Kong’s public broadcast agency Radio Television Hong Kong, Peishan Li, chief executive and board member of Hang Seng Investment Management, disclosed that digital asset ETFs listed in the Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China have now surpassed $12 billion Hong Kong dollars ($1.532 billion) in assets under management (AUM). Li noted:

“At present, there is no clear goal [from our firm] to create an ETF with the theme of virtual assets, but it has paid close attention to the development of related asset classes, and is examining the possibility of deploying virtual currencies in existing investment products.”

According to figures provided by Li, the total AUM of Hong Kong crypto ETFs grew by 80% compared to Dec. 2022, with a daily trading volume of $1.7 billion HKD. This represents 6% of the daily trading volume of all stocks on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. The SAR previously allowed the listing of crypto ETFs in July 2022, which initially struggled in traction.

Binance co-founder warns of altcoin rout

On July 2, Binance co-founder and former Chinese television host Yi He warned “please don’t trust the community’s trading signals [that] blindly chase higher prices,” noting the price of major altcoins “have fallen by 80% to 90%” in recent times. The warning came just days after the exchange listed MAV, a permissionless decentralized finance token, and offered perpetual MAV contracts at 20x leverage.

Launched in March of this year, Maverick boasts an advanced automated market maker liquidity provider network, securing a $9 million founding round in June. The protocol is backed by prominent names such as Jump Crypto, Pantera Capital, Circle, and Gemini. Since its launch, the protocol has reached nearly $55 million in total value locked.


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SEC calls ETF filings inadequate, Binance loses euro partner and other news: Hodler’s Digest, June 25 – July 1

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US SEC deems spot Bitcoin ETFs filings as inadequate

There may be a longer wait for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States, as the Securities and Exchange Commission labeled investment managers’ recent applications inadequate. The SEC told the Nasdaq and the Chicago Board Options Exchange that their filings are not “sufficiently clear and comprehensive.” The regulator returned the filings, citing the lack of information regarding the proposed surveillance-sharing agreement. Asset managers can still resubmit their applications.

Cathie Wood’s ARK reportedly ‘first in line’ for a spot Bitcoin ETF

ARK Investment Management is reportedly ahead of BlackRock in the race for a spot Bitcoin ETF, as it still has a previous application pending with the United States securities regulator. ARK and 21Shares filed their third application for a spot BTC ETF in April, and amended it this week to include a surveillance-sharing agreement, making it similar to BlackRock’s filing. Since BlackRock’s application on June 16, other investment firms such as Valkyrie, WisdomTree and Invesco have reapplied for spot Bitcoin ETFs.

Binance to lose support of its euro banking partner

Crypto exchange Binance informed users that its current euro banking partner, Paysafe Payment Solutions, will no longer support the exchange after September 25. Binance said it will switch to a new service provider for euro deposits and withdrawals via SEPA bank transfer, though it didn’t name which provider that would be. In recent months, Binance has been facing waves of backlash from regulators around the world, leading to a cessation of operations in various countries.

FTX has recovered $7B in assets so far, has almost $2B to go to cover misappropriations

FTX has recovered about $7 billion in liquid assets so far, and the search for additional assets is continuing, according to an interim report released June 26. The extensive commingling of funds complicates their efforts, however. The FTX Debtors, made up of FTX and affiliates, currently estimate the amount of misappropriated customer assets at $8.7 billion. Most of that money, about $6.4 billion, was in fiat and stablecoins. The former FTX leadership “did not commingle and misuse customer deposits by accident,” the report alleged.

3AC liquidators look to recoup $1.3B from founders

Teneo, the liquidator behind bankrupt hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) is seeking to recover roughly $1.3 billion in funds from its founders Su Zhu and Kyle Davies. The debt reportedly incurred when 3AC was already insolvent, adding to creditors’ losses. The company owed creditors $3.5 billion, making the founders’ potential liability more than a third of the total debt. Davies and Zhu have maintained active social media profiles, but their physical whereabouts are unknown, delaying the liquidation process. Both 3AC founders have received digital subpoenas during the bankruptcy proceedings. To date, they have not cooperated.


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NFT Collector: Snoop’s NFT nostalgia, The Goose draws Gen Y to Sotheby’s 

Greg Oakford, a co-founder of NFT Fest Australia, guides you through the Web3 digital art world from a collector’s perspective. 

Turning concert merchandise and memories digital 

Snoop Dogg’s recent announcement of the Snoop Passport — an evolving concert tour collectible — is a trend I believe we’ll see get more and more traction among musicians and entertainers. 

They tap into those fan moments we’ve all had: whether it’s dusting off an old concert T-shirt, rustling through a shoe box full of ticket stubs from sporting events and concerts you’ve attended or putting your favorite musician/band poster on your bedroom walls as a kid.

All these examples create feelings of nostalgia; they take you back to a moment in time and act like the timestamps of your life. But they are fragile at best over time, and at least half of my cherished ticket stubs are dog-eared with fading ink. 

Snoop Dogg Passport Series. (Twitter)

So storing nostalgia on the blockchain in durable digital goods is just the base case for why we’re likely to see more artists after Snoop follow suit. But there are plenty of other reasons for artists and fans to get on board 

Snoop Dogg Passport Series
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AI Eye: AI travel booking hilariously bad, 3 weird uses for ChatGPT, crypto plugins

Can you book flights and hotels using AI?

The short answer is… kind of, but none of the AI chatbots are reliable, so you’ll still need to do your own research at this stage.

Having recently spent hours researching flights and accommodation for a three-week trip to Japan, I decided to compare my results to Bard and ChatGPT’s suggestions.

It turns out that Bard is actually surprisingly good at finding flights. A simple request for flights from Melbourne and Tokyo on a particular day returned options with major carriers like Qantas and Japan Airlines, which is probably what many people would be after.

Bard was then able to further refine the results to “cheapest direct flight, with seat selection, a minimum 15 kilograms of luggage and a meal,” finding an Air Asia flight from Melbourne to Osaka that was cheaper than the one I’d booked to Tokyo.

Bard found a very good value flight after the search query was refined.

The AI was also pretty good at determining the seat width, pitch and recline angle for the Air Asia flight to work out if actually flying with the airline was going to be a nightmare.

AirAsia X
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How smart people invest in dumb memecoins: 3-point plan for success

Back in 1984, a U.K. television advertisement for Kit Kat chocolate bars was set in a music label’s office where a keen young band played their demo for a bored music executive. Afterward, they were served the famous chocolate bars and the manager said:

“You can’t sing, you can’t play, you look awful… you’ll go far.”

This is as close as I can get to explaining the appeal of memecoins to sensible, smart and intelligent people. But don’t be fooled: Smart people are making a lot of money out of dumb memecoins — invariably at the expense of not-so-smart people without good timing.

PEPE is making memecoins great again. (Twitter)

And timing is everything in memecoins, which typically have no utility for anything except having fun and making money. So, without any fundamentals to trade on, can you still take a “smart” approach to making money by trading memecoins?

On Yavin, co-founder and head of business at Syndika, comes in with a hard “no” to that idea.

Pepe
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Huobi sues… Huobi? 3AC rises from ashes, Korea crypto contagion: Asia Express

Huobi co-founder sues own company for copyright infringement

According to local news reports on June 21, Leon Lin Li, former co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Global, has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the company in Hong Kong. Li claims that despite selling his majority stake to an entity controlled by Chinese blockchain personality Justin Sun last November, his company, X-Spo, still possesses trademark rights associated with the term “Huobi Global,” and that “Huobi Global,” the actual exchange, has been using the trademark without authorization. 

Former Huobi co-founder Leon Li (Twitter)

Though it’s not immediately clear why Li seeks litigation against the very company and brand he previously built, a series of heated exchanges between Li and Justin Sun last month may offer some hints.

On May 16, Sun published a series of allegations against Wei Li, Lin Li’s brother. In the Twitter post, Sun accused Wei Li of “receiving millions of Huobi (HT) tokens through “abnormal means” at zero cost and of “consistently selling off these HT tokens and cashing out.” To which Lin Li replied: “I hope Huobi can provide evidence. If it is confirmed that it is zero-cost HT was obtained through illegal means, I will personally pay 10 times the HT [amount] to Huobi company.”

Hodlnaut’s last voyage? 

According to a recent court filing, the fate of whether troubled Singaporean crypto lending firm Hodlnaut is to be dissolved or restructured will be sealed on August 7. Last August, Hodlnaut halted operations after disclosing that it lost over $300 million of its client’s assets from the implosion of the $40 billion Terra Luna ecosystem in May 2022. 

Holdnaut team members before the onset of the crypto winter (SMU)

The firm faces approximately $300 million in claims from creditors, who mostly wish to see the firm dissolved. That said, both co-founders Juntao Zhu and Simon Lee want to continue Hodlnaut’s operations, even though the company had reportedly lost 69% of users’ deposits. Last November, Singaporean police began a probe into Hodlnaut’s activities as the firm initially denied exposure to the Terra Luna ecosystem. 


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Bitcoin’s ‘Great Accumulation,’ Binance.US resumes fiat withdrawals, and other news: Hodler’s Digest, June 18-24

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‘The Great Accumulation’ of Bitcoin has begun, says Gemini’s Winklevoss

Recently renewed optimism for an approved Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) is igniting “The Great Accumulation Race” for Bitcoin, according to industry pundits. Over the past week, Fidelity, Invesco, WisdomTree and Valkyrie have followed investment giant BlackRock in applying for a Bitcoin spot ETF with the United States Securities Exchange Commission, which some analysts believe is the reason for Bitcoin’s price surge in the past days.

Binance.US solves USD withdrawal issues but warns it won’t last long

Crypto exchange Binance.US informed customers that it has resolved U.S. dollar withdrawal issues after working with its banking partners, though it warned the relief may not last. The exchange suspended dollar deposits and notified its customers of an incoming pause to fiat withdrawal channels on June 9, amid its ongoing battle with the SEC. Binance.US has encouraged customers that have a failed withdrawal attempt to resubmit their requests. Any remaining USD balances held in customer accounts will be converted into Tether at a future date.

Atomic Wallet gives major update on hack but questions remain unanswered

Atomic Wallet users have been left wanting more answers, despite the decentralized wallet provider finally releasing a full “event statement” about the June exploit — which some estimate has run up to $100 million in losses. In the statement, Atomic didn’t point to what exactly led to the exploit, only laying out the four most “probable” causes, including a virus on user devices, an infrastructure breach, a man-in-the-middle attack or malware code injection. According to the company, “less than 0.1%” of app users were affected, but the figure is still rebuffed by many online.

UK government moves forward on financial markets bill for potential regulation of crypto

Lawmakers in the United Kingdom are moving forward with legislation that could help support the adoption of crypto in the country. First introduced to the U.K. Parliament in July 2022, the Financial Services and Markets Bill was aimed at ensuring the country maintained its place in the financial world following Brexit, including granting authority on digital asset regulation. The bill went through a third reading in the House of Lords, one of the final stages in passage before considering any additional amendments and being signed into law.

Fed sees stablecoin as form of money, wants ‘robust’ role in its oversight, Powell says

The U.S. Federal Reserve Board sees payment stablecoins as a form of money, Chair Jerome Powell said on June 21 when addressing Congress about the proposed stablecoin bill. Powell took a position that runs contrary to that of SEC chairman Gary Gensler. Last year, Gensler spoke at a Senate Banking Committee hearing saying that stablecoins may require registration and regulation with the SEC. Gensler has also consistently stated that all cryptocurrencies, except Bitcoin, are securities.


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Crypto City guide to Sydney: More than just a ‘token’ bridge

This “Crypto City” guide looks at Sydney’s crypto culture, the city’s most notable projects and people, its financial infrastructure, what retailers accept crypto and where you can find blockchain education courses — along with a history of its crypto controversies.

Jump to: Crypto culture, Projects and companies, Financial infrastructure, Where can I spend crypto? Controversies and collapses, Education, Notable figures.

Fast facts

City: Sydney
Country: Australia
Population: 5.2 million
Established: 1788

Sydney is Australia’s first, oldest and second-most populous city (just), world-famous for its harbor views and iconic landmarks, such as the Opera House and Harbor Bridge — affectionately nicknamed “The Coathanger” by locals. The Harbor City’s second-most notable feature is 100 beaches across the metropolitan area with Bondi Beach the best known.

Sydney has one of the world’s largest natural harbors. (Pexels)

Located on Australia’s east coast, Sydney was established as a penal colony for the British Empire, which needed somewhere to transport criminals after losing control of its colonies in the American Revolution. It’s probably no surprise then it earned the moniker “Sin City” in the second half of the 20th century due to rampant organized crime that corrupted judges, the top brass of the police and, maybe less surprisingly, politicians.

Sydney has one of the world's largest natural harbors
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Bitcoin 2023 in Miami comes to grips with ‘shitcoins on Bitcoin’

Among the more memorable displays at Bitcoin 2023 is a real-life toilet with the logos of various non-Bitcoin cryptocurrencies. It’s an ad for a booth selling “buttwipes” that are “moistened with the tears of no-coiners.” The marketing message is clear: Bitcoin is the real thing — everything else is a shitcoin that belongs in the toilet. 

But only a few steps away is another booth selling trading solutions for BRC-20 tokens, which some have labeled shitcoins for Bitcoin. Across the walkway are more booths slinging NFT minting software — also on Bitcoin. The conference even hosts a Bitcoin NFT art gallery. 

As Miami hosts the largest Bitcoin conference for the third year in a row in May, the air feels markedly different. Though there are only 15,000 attendees compared to last year’s 35,000, the atmosphere has an energy and freshness that’s a world away from the gloom and bear-market blues that one might expect after the massive drops from the 2021 highs.

Bitcoin is the real thing — everything else belongs in the toilet (Elias Ahonen)

What’s changed this year is the ordinal renaissance, brought on by the recent reality of not only NFTs but tokens being issued on the Bitcoin blockchain. There are certainly haters — with some calling for a fork to undo the Taproot updates that made “spam” possible on the chain. 

But despite the Bitcoin community’s traditional hatred for NFTs, tokens and DeFi, however, things are surprisingly quiet. Despite the blowback online, almost no one Magazine encounters at Bitcoin 2023 has anything particularly bad to say about Ordinals — and some did not even realize they are related to Bitcoin. 

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