TOP STORIES OF THE WEEK
Google Cloud set to accept crypto payments via Coinbase
FinTech Futures
Google Cloud has entered a long-term strategic partnership with Coinbase to cater to the growing Web3 ecosystem and its developers. The partnership, which had been in the works for “many months”, has four parts to it. First, Google Cloud will allow select customers (initially from the Web3 ecosystem) to pay for its cloud services with select cryptocurrencies through Coinbase Commerce, a platform for merchants globally to accept crypto payments. Additionally, the partnership will enable Web3 developers to access Google’s BigQuery crypto public datasets, which will be powered by Coinbase Cloud Nodes, across leading blockchains. The integration will allow developers to “instantly and reliably operate Web3-based systems without the need for expensive and complex infrastructure”. Google will also use Coinbase Prime – an integrated solution offering secure custody and an advanced trading platform for institutional investors and corporates. Lastly, Coinbase plans to leverage Google Cloud’s compute platform to process blockchain data “at scale” and enhance global reach of its crypto services via Google’s fiber-optic network. Coinbase also intends to build its global data platform on Google’s infrastructure to provide its customers with machine learning-driven crypto insights.
BNY Mellon Starts Crypto Custody Service
CoinDesk
The world’s largest custodian bank and the oldest lender in the U.S., Bank of New York Mellon (BK), has added cryptocurrencies to its custody services. To this point, traditional fund managers interested in holding digital assets – who otherwise rely on BNY Mellon (or other custodial lenders) to perform the necessary back-office tasks related to their usual securities holdings – typically would have had to find a firm specializing in cryptocurrency for custody services.
Binance Launches $500 Million Lending Pool for Bitcoin Miners
Decrypt
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has unveiled a $500m lending pool for Bitcoin miners, as a combination of energy costs, low bitcoin prices, and higher-than-ever mining difficulty strains the sector. The company said its Binance Pool project was designed to provide “secure debt financing services to both public and private blue-chip Bitcoin mining and digital asset infrastructure companies globally. Borrowers will have access to loans on an 18- to 24-month term, with interest rates ranging from 5% to 10%. They will also have to offer collateral in the form of mining hardware or cryptocurrencies that will have to be deemed “satisfactory to Binance.”
Developers disclose major vulnerability in all IBC-enabled chains on Cosmos
The Block
Developers have disclosed a critical software vulnerability within all Cosmos blockchains that run the inter-blockchain communication protocol (IBC), the network’s cross-chain messaging and bridge protocol. The developers discovered the security issue during a software audit of the Cosmos network in light of the $100m bridge hack on BNB Chain, a blockchain that uses Cosmos software under its hood, Cosmos co-founder Ethan Buchman wrote in a blog update on the project’s community forum on Thursday. “Members of the core Cosmos and Osmosis teams have been extensively auditing IBC in the aftermath of the BSC exploit. We have discovered a critical security vulnerability that impacts all IBC-enabled Cosmos chains, for all versions of IBC,” Buchman said. To fix its vulnerability, all of the IBC-enabled Cosmos blockchains will have to deploy a public security patch planned for release at 10 a.m. EDT on Friday, Buchman said, adding a private patch was sent to chains and deployed already. He further said that validators of various Cosmos chains may halt their networks during the Friday upgrade.
FASB Mulls Fair-Value Accounting for Crypto Holdings: Report
CoinDeskThe Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has said that firms should use fair-value accounting methods for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Fair-value accounting of crypto would allow companies to report losses and gains immediately and treat the asset class as traditional financial assets. Currently, digital assets are considered indefinite-lived intangible assets that only require reporting once a year. Under current accounting rules, the value of bitcoin must be reported at cost and only adjusted downward if the price goes down or its value is impaired. Conversely, price gains are not reflected in the accounting statements unless the asset is sold. Bitcoin evangelist Michael Saylor tweeted his support for the new accounting system, calling it a major milestone on the road to institutional bitcoin adoption.
BITCOIN
Bitcoin Lightning Network Misses Block After Enormous Multi-Sig Transaction
South African Non-Profit Bitcoin Ekasi Opens Education Center
Tap-to-pay Bitcoin Lightning Bolt cards strike El Salvador
Bitcoiner claims to have found ‘long lost Satoshi Bitcoin code’ with personal notations
Large Bitcoin transaction briefly caused many Lightning Network nodes to fall out of sync
ETHEREUM
You can now search ETH addresses on Google — But what about Bitcoin?
Flashbots co-founder steps down after disagreements with team over censorship
Ether Turns Deflationary as Experimental Project Pushes Up Gas Prices
Fund managers yank Ethereum holdings over regulatory jitters
ALTCOINS
Uniswap to Deploy on Privacy-Focused zkSync Following Community Vote
Curve DAO Proposal to Enable Easier CRV Rewards Passes With Overwhelming Support
Updates on Ribbon Finance’s Suite of Products
Aave DAO Votes for Fresh Deployment on Ethereum
Binance exchange burns $547M worth of BNB tokens
Sky Mavis to stake over 11 million AXS tokens
Tron Partners With Dominica to Issue National ‘Fan Token’
BNB Chain executes hard fork to secure network after $100 million hack
Solana’s latest downtime caused by code bug and malfunctioning node
Lido launches support for staked ETH on Layer 2 integrations
Smart-Contract Platform Soroban Receives $100M to Build on Stellar Network
Terra Luna Foundation Guard Freezes $100M Compensation Treasury
Decentralized exchange Uniswap v3 gets ‘Warp’ed’ onto StarkNet
Helium Foundation Responds to Binance HNT Delisting
ParaSwap plots reduced token emissions with new social escrow system
Lido Floods Layer 2s with Staked ETH After Launching Incentives Program
Polygon Unveils Public Testnet for Layer-2 Scaling Solution Hermez (zkEVM)
LayerZero will be integrated with Aptos when the blockchain launches
STABLECOINS
Russian stablecoin usage surged after Ukraine invasion: Report
HUSD loses dollar peg after Huobi’s delisting of 21 trading pairs
Tether stablecoin issuer freezes 8.2M USDT on Ethereum: Data
CRYPTO ECOSYSTEM
Crypto Prime Brokerage FalconX Unveils Risk-Management Platform for Institutional Clients
Hidden Road launches OTC prime brokerage for digital assets
How Gitcoin Taps Community Voting to Give Out Millions in Crypto
Bitcoin Firm NYDIG Slashes 110 Jobs Amid Ongoing Crypto Bear Market: Report
Web3 companies launch privacy-focused alliance at Devcon
Digital Asset Bank Custodia Files Petition in US Court Over BNY Mellon’s Crypto Approval
Why Celsius Doxxed Hundreds of Thousands of Users
Mt. Gox Trustee Sets January 2023 As Deadline for Creditors To Register and Select Repayment Method
Spanish Crypto ATM Company Bitbase Eyes European and Latam Expansion
The Web3 Foundation taps edX for free courses on blockchain and Polkadot
NFTS / GAMING / METAVERSE
Magic Eden Losing Market Share as Solana NFT Traders Reject Royalties
Anthony Hopkins’ Metaverse Debut Sells Out in Seven Minutes
Budweiser turns scoreboards into NFTs for FIFA World Cup
Mutant Ape NFT trading volume spikes over 300% following news of SEC probe into Yuga Labs
Damien Hirst live streams the burning of $10M in art for NFT project
OpenSea NFT Marketplace Launches on Avalanche Blockchain
It’s Lonely in the Metaverse: Decentraland’s 38 Daily Active Users in a $1.3B Ecosystem
Fidenza artist Tyler Hobbs has a new idea: buy now, mint later NFTs
Barbie aims to inspire with upcoming NFT series
Metaplex token crashes 60% amid second airdrop
CNN suddenly shutters its NFT marketplace and collectors are calling it a ‘rug pull’
MINING
Crypto Mining Firm BitNile to Start Bitcoin-Based Marketplace Next Year
Crypto Hardware Maker Fabric Systems Raises $13M in Seed Funding
Bitcoin Miner Stronghold Digital Bolsters Balance Sheet by Cutting Costs, Slashing Debt by More Than 60%
Core Scientific wants Celsius to pay its mining bills amid bankruptcy process
Hive Blockchain says GPU mining revenues plunged in September
Further BTC mining consolidation as Crusoe acquires peer mining firm
Argentinian Tax Authority Strengthens Crackdown on Illegal Crypto Miners
Bitcoin companies join in push to promote Stratum V2 adoption, launch open-source test version
City of Niagara Falls orders Blockfusion facility to cease and desist crypto mining
Bitcoin miner Iris Energy considering mergers and acquisitions after fresh capital raise
Block Subsidiary Spiral, Mining Tech Firm Braiins Spearhead Push for Bitcoin Mining Upgrades
Bitcoin SV Launches New Mining Software to Freeze Lost or Stolen Coins
Computer Graphics Card Prices Fall by Nearly 60% Following Ethereum Merge
Bitcoin miner TeraWulf raises $17 million as it ramps up infrastructure build-out
Luxor Technologies Now Allows You to Bet on Mining Revenue With New Derivative
Bitcoin Miners Under Immense Pressure as Mining Difficulty Increases by 13.55%
Kenyan Firm Using Wasted Energy to Mine Bitcoin — Business Model Said to Potentially Help Decentralize Mining
EXCHANGES
BitMEX adds 14 tokens as it moves beyond derivatives trading
South Korea’s Biggest Exchanges Pen Crypto Crime-fighting Deal with Police
Kraken poaches Gemini’s head of UK to run its UK operations
Crypto.com Follows Binance Into France, Invests $145M in Paris HQ
Crypto Exchange Coinbase Locks in Regulatory Approval To Expand to Singapore Market
Blockchain.com gets regulatory nod from Singapore’s central bank
Binance Focuses on Crypto Safety in New MoU with Kazakhstan
Gemini expands into Europe, becomes first VASP in Ireland
Crypto.com downsizes some sports partnership deals amid market downturn: Report
Sam Bankman-Fried announces efficiency updates to FTX
CAPITAL RAISES
Uniswap Fulfills its Unicorn Destiny with $165M Funding Round
Circle backs blockchain developer platform Tatum in $42 million raise
Crypto Custodian Copper Raises $196M in Series C Funding Round
Stellar Development Foundation launches $100M fund to support native smart contract adoption
Step secures $300 million in debt funding, launches crypto investment service
Paradigm leads blockchain indexer Nxyz’s $40 million raise
Zerion Raises $12.3M to Facilitate Interoperable Web3 Identity
Blockchain Development Platform Tatum Raises $41.5M From Octopus, Circle, Others
BNB Chain to boost European Web3 startups with DApp incubator program
Crypto and digital bank MinePlex secures $100M in funding from GEM
INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
Valkyrie Funds to liquidate Bitcoin-related ETF by late October
Crypto Investment Product Firm 21Shares Launches Bitcoin ETP in Middle East
Digital Asset Giant Grayscale Launches New Bitcoin and Crypto Infrastructure Investment Product
Coatue loses two more partners, including one who led firm’s crypto investments: The Information
TRADFI / TECH
Robo-Adviser Betterment Launches Cryptocurrency Offering
SWIFT action: JPMorgan and Visa team up on cross-border blockchain payments
Microsoft and Meta partnership brings Office 365 apps to the Metaverse
CBDC
China’s CBDC Transactions Reach $14B as Uptake Slows: Report
India Will Soon Test ‘E-Rupee’ Digital Currency
REGULATORY / COUNTRIES
Office of Foreign Assets Control Sued by Crypto Think Tank Over Tornado Cash Bans
IOSCO demands tighter scrutiny over ‘finfluencers’
El Salvador focused on bringing investment to Bitcoin City, says ambassador
US SEC Probes Yuga Labs to Determine If Bored Ape NFTs Are Securities
Kazakhstan Legislature Pushes New Crypto Rules Forward: Report
US Judge Allows Crypto Advocates to Join Ooki Defense Against CFTC
OECD Presents Crypto Tax Reporting Framework
Ooki DAO Case So ‘Egregious,’ CFTC Had No Choice, Chair Behnam Says
Financial Stability Board opens proposed crypto regulatory framework for public comments
Crypto Mixers Haven’t ‘Slowed’ DOJ Investigations, Director Says
Rio de Janeiro to Allow Citizens to Pay Property Taxes in Crypto from 2023
‘No Justification’ for SEC to Deny Bitcoin Trust Conversion Into ETF: Grayscale
EU Lawmakers Pass Landmark Crypto Assets Regulation Bill
Multiverse Labs launches government-backed metaverse city in UAE
Ripple Builds New Partnerships in France and Sweden Despite Crypto Bear Market
Portugal will implement 28% tax on crypto in 2023
European Authorities Want Automated Software to Monitor DeFi Activity on Ethereum Blockchain
SURVEYS, HACKS, MISC
Hodlers prefer centralized exchanges over DeFi for security: Chainalysis
French cyber-crime authority leverages ZachXBT’s research to apprehend NFT scammers
Law firm Roche Freedman removed from suit against Tether and Bitfinex: Bloomberg
‘Baby Al Capone’ Agrees to Pay $22M in AT&T SIM-Swap Case
Couple sent $10.5M by Crypto.com claim they thought they won a prize
Barely halfway and October’s the ‘biggest month’ in crypto hacks: Chainalysis
Mango Markets attacker puts forward proposal that would pay them $70 million bounty
Seven Bored Apes Worth $700K Stolen
Crypto executive exits continue as firms trudge through bear market
PayPal says policy to punish users for misinformation was ‘in error’
Main hacker in Transit Swap exploit agrees to return remaining funds
Zero-knowledge KYC could solve the privacy vs compliance conundrum — VC partner
Economists debunk the banking system and win the Nobel Prize
Sequoia Capital and Binance Will Still Support Elon Musk in His Twitter Acquisition
SushiSwap’s Grey Hit By Wild Allegations of Impropriety
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