Bitcoin phone home ☎️, Disney's AI task force 🤖, Alert: 2/3 of AI Chrome extensions 🌐
Daily Crypto, Blockchain & Web3 Update 2023-08-08
CRYPTOCURRENCY
Bitcoin phone home: Use crypto to buy sim cards in 140 countries with Bitrefill (2 min read)
A partnership between crypto e-commerce platform Bitrefill and eSIM Go enables crypto users to buy eSIMs in 140 countries worldwide.
Crypto advocates can now swap crypto for data at the checkout, using Bitcoin, the Bitcoin Lightning Network, Ether and stablecoins like Tether. The move makes it easier to live on crypto and travel the world.
Bank of England will get more power in regulating stablecoins (2 min read)
The United Kingdom government could rebalance the power between the Bank of England (BoE) and the country’s principal financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), in the former’s favor, according to a 40-page consultation response published by His Majesty’s Treasury on Aug. 7.
Bitcoin funds see weekly outflows of $111M, most since March: CoinShares (3 min read)
Weekly cryptocurrency asset flows for the week ending Aug. 4 reconciled at $107 million in outflows, continuing a three-week negative trend totaling $134.8 million.
Solana bucked the trend, with its $9.5 million in inflows taking the top spot over the past week.
UAE signs deal to develop carbon credit system on Venom Foundation blockchain (2 min read)
The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MCCE) is developing a carbon credit system in a preliminary partnership with the Industrial Innovation Group and the Venom Foundation.
The UAE recently announced that it intends to reduce carbon emissions by 40% by 2030, a marked increase over its previous pledge.
BUSINESS
Telegram crypto bots gain momentum in the market: Binance Research (3 min read)
Telegram bots have been increasingly emerging as a new tool to get exposure to cryptocurrency markets and a number of related services.
According to a report by Binance Research, the total trading volume of Telegram bots surpassed $190 million by early August 2023.
PayPal USD: Boon for Ethereum but not decentralization, says community (5 min read)
PayPal’s new Ethereum-based stablecoin, PYUSD, has been seen as bittersweet news for the crypto community.
The community warns that although Ethereum may become more mainstream, it could also threaten decentralization and personal control of assets.
Cypher Protocol freezes smart contract after an estimated $1M exploit (2 min read)
Solana-based decentralized futures exchange Cypher Protocol halted its smart contract after an estimated $1 million exploit.
On Aug. 7, Cypher notified its 13,500 X followers (formerly known as Twitter) about a security incident. As a result, it suspended its smart contract.
Japanese startup to use stablecoins and CBDC to link Asian countries (2 min read)
Japanese blockchain startup Soramitsu is exploring new central bank digital currency (CBDC) applications with a new project on the cross-border payment system for Asian countries.
Soramitsu is developing a cross-border payment system that uses Cambodia’s CBDCs and targets Japan, India, China, and Southeast Asia.
QUICK LINKS
Binance sold USDC for BTC and ETH after Silvergate Bank collapse: PoR report (3 min read)
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance released its latest proof-of-reserves (PoRs) on Aug. 1, offering transparency into its crypto reserves. However, the movement of its USD Coin reserves at the time of Silvergte’s attention became a topic of discussion on X (formerly Twitter).
Bitstamp crypto exchange to raise funds for global expansion: Report (2 min read)
Bitstamp, one of the world’s longest-running cryptocurrency exchanges, is moving forward with its global expansion ambitions, reportedly working to raise new funds to scale operations.
PayPal stablecoin launch sparks wave of fake PYUSD tokens (3 min read)
Since the launch of PayPal’s new stablecoin (PYUSD), opportunists, degens, and potential scammers are already attempting to cash in on the hype with their own copycat tokens.
Nearly 30 fake PYUSD tokens cropped up in the wake of PayPal’s most recent announcement.
Disney creates an AI task force to explore the tech and cut costs: Report (2 min read)
Disney has formed a task force to study artificial intelligence (AI) and how it can be used in different ways across the company, according to a report from Reuters.
OpenAI launches web crawler 'GPTBot' amid plans for next model: GPT-5 (3 min read)
Artificial intelligence firm OpenAI has launched “GPTBot”, its new web crawling tool that it says could potentially be used to improve future ChatGPT models.
ChatGPT users have the option to scrap the web crawler by adding a “disallow” command to a standard file on the server.
Zoom updates terms after backlash, won’t train AI without consent (2 min read)
Zoom has updated its terms of service due to concerns about AI data scraping. The update clarifies that Zoom will not use user content to train AI algorithms without consent.
Blockchain.com scores payment license from Singapore central bank (1 min read)
Crypto exchange Blockchain.com has been granted a payments license from Singapore’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
The crypto exchange is the 12th to receive a crypto-dealing license in the country, allowing it to service accredited investors and institutions.
Brazilian CBDC gets official name and logo (1 min read)
The Brazilian central bank digital currency (CBDC), previously commonly referred to as the “digital real,” has been given its official brand name: the Drex.
Two-thirds of AI Chrome extensions could endanger user security: Data (2 min read)
Over two-thirds of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered extensions for the Google Chrome browser have a high-risk impact and could be “highly damaging” to user cybersecurity if breached, according to data from a new Incogni report.