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Web3 is Going Just Great

...and is definitely not an enormous grift that's pouring lighter fluid on our already smoldering planet.

Created by Molly White. Subscribe to her newsletter for weekly recaps.

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Senators Lummis and Gillibrand solicit feedback on their proposed crypto legislation via Github and it's off to a predictably chaotic start

Github issue titled "Floppa Thread", with a comment reading "Feds are not looking post floppa". There's an image of an upside-down caracal wearing a crocheted red and white hatOne of several Github issues on the proposed legislation (attribution)
After announcing their crypto-friendly proposed legislation earlier in June, Senators Lummis and Gillibrand have uploaded it to Github to solicit feedback, as was apparently widely requested of them by crypto advocates.

As one might expect, apparently-unmoderated open comments from some of the most online people out there has been off to a chaotic start. The first comment on the proposal, by a user with a Pepe the Frog avatar, is titled "Taxation is theft!" and reads, "Why should we pay any taxes to a corrupt government that prints money out of thin air and gives it away for free! Eliminate the FED!!! BITCOIN FOREVER!"

Another comment thread begins, "Feds are not looking post floppa" and accumulated over 100 replies containing photos of caracals within half an hour.

A different person submitted a pull request replacing the entire text of the bill with "cryptocurrencies are banned lmao".

On July 13, the creators of the Github repository removed all the issues and archived the repository, apparently bringing the experiment to its end.

Theme tags: Bad idea, Law

CoinFLEX stops withdrawals due to "continued uncertainty involving a counterparty"

Yield farming platform CoinFLEX is the latest crypto platform to stop allowing customers to withdraw their money. Customers had raised concerns about withdrawals not processing, to which a team member repeatedly replied that "we haven't stopped withdrawals" and urged chatters to "please stop spreading FUD".

The company then posted an announcement that they would be "pausing all withdrawals" due to "extreme market conditions last week & continued uncertainty involving a counterparty". They were cagey about the identity of the counterparty, though the announcement explicitly stated it was not the underwater hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, which has been causing a domino effect throughout the crypto industry. They later alleged the counterparty was Roger Ver, though he denied the claim.

CoinFLEX began allowing customers to withdraw up to 10% of their funds on July 14, but the remaining 90% continued to be inaccessible to them.

Theme tags: Contagion

Hostess announces $TWINKcoin snack cakes

A box of Hostess snack cakes, showing a disc-shaped twinkie cake, and the red text "$TWINKcoin"$TWINKcoin (attribution)
In a decision that makes you wonder if there was one single queer person in the room during the branding meetings, Hostess has announced $TWINKcoin snack cakes. The limited-edition product "is a play on the current cryptocurrency frenzy and features coin-shaped cakes", or, as most people would call them, cake-shaped cakes.
Theme tags: Bad idea

Invictus Capital suspends withdrawals

Invictus Capital, the group operating several cryptos in the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands, announced to investors that it would be suspending redemptions. The company cited exposure to both Terra and the Celsius project, both of which have gone under in recent months. According to the announcement, the group is pursuing restructuring. The group claimed to have over $135 million under management.
Theme tags: Collapse, Contagion

Ontario Securities Commission settles with Bybit, bans and fines KuCoin for securities violations

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) accused crypto trading platforms Bybit and Kucoin of operating unregistered platforms and offering unregistered securities to Ontarian investors.

Bybit opted to settle with the OSC, disgorging about CA$2.5 million (US$1.9 million) and has begun working with the OSC to become compliant.

OSC accused KuCoin of not complying with the investigation, and permanently banned the exchange from operating in Ontario. The OSC also levied a CA$2 million (US$1.5 million) fine against the exchange.

Theme tags: Law

Voyager Digital reduces withdrawal limit after reporting $660 million exposure to Three Arrows Capital

Voyager Digital disclosed that they had loaned $350 million in stablecoins and 15,250 Bitcoin (around $310 million) to Three Arrows Capital, a crypto hedge fund that could not meet its margin calls amidst a crypto downturn and the failure of large projects like Terra. Voyager asked 3AC to repay the loan, but reported they were "unable to assess at this point the amount it will be able to recover". They did not disclose whether they held collateral for the loan. After the announcement, shares of the publicly-traded company plummeted more than 60%.

Later that day, Voyager reduced the daily withdrawal limit from $25,000 to $10,000, suggesting they were having trouble meeting customer demand for withdrawals.

The prior week, Voyager announced they had secured a line of credit from Alameda Research amounting to $200 million in cash and 15,000 Bitcoin. Alameda Research is a trading firm founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, who also runs the FTX crypto exchange.

Theme tags: Contagion

Vauld lays off 30% of workforce and slashes executive pay

The Peter Thiel- and Coinbase-backed Vauld cryptocurrency exchange laid off 30% of its 100–200 employees, reportedly due to falling prices, low trading volumes, and tax concerns. They also halved executive salaries and drew back on their marketing expenses and vendor contracts.

Almost a year earlier, in June 2021, Vauld raised $25 million in a Series A round led by Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures, which was also joined by Coinbase and Pantera Capital.

Theme tags: Collapse, Layoffs

Sam Bankman-Fried performs second bailout, loaning $250 million to BlockFi

Crypto exchange FTX loaned $250 million to BlockFi, a crypto lending platform that recently announced 20% layoffs as they struggled to weather the crypto downturn. BlockFi also had loaned funds to Three Arrows Capital, an insolvent crypto hedge fund, although they claim to have successfully liquidated 3AC's positions.

The FTX loan represents the second bailout of a crypto firm by Sam Bankman-Fried's companies, after his Alameda Research trading firm extended credit equivalent to around $485 million to floundering crypto platform Voyager.

Theme tags: Collapse, Contagion

Bybit plans to cut 20–30% of its workforce

Bybit, a Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange, is reportedly joining the group of crypto companies laying off employees amidst plummeting cryptocurrency markets. Journalist Colin Wu reported that Bybit plans to lay off about 20–30% of its 2,000 employees, or around 400–600 people.
Theme tags: Layoffs

Two QAnon influencers running crypto scams steal more than $2 million from their followers

Research firm Logically published an investigation into two QAnon influencers who successfully convinced their follower to put more than $2 million into crypto scams. Telling their followers that they could predict the success of cryptocurrencies because of access to "secret military intelligence", they capitalized on QAnon conspiracy theories to defraud their followers through various pump-and-dump schemes. The influencers made claims including that they had personal connections with Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and John F. Kennedy, Jr. (who died in 1999, despite some QAnon theories), or that "aliens want us to trade cryptocurrency 'as an on-ramp to familiarize ourselves with the quantum financial system until we can evolve into 5D and trade assets with our consciousness'".

According to Logically, the "vast majority" of people following the influencers' investment advice "lost anywhere between several hundred and tens of thousands of dollars". One man lost more than $100,000, resulting in him also losing his house and construction business. The man ultimately died by suicide.

Theme tags: Hack or scam

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