'Debt ceiling drama' 🗣, Singapore accepts Crypto.com 💯, Gate.io denies liquidity 📛
Daily Crypto, Blockchain & Web3 Update 2023-06-01
CRYPTOCURRENCY
Blackrock CEO issues dire warning over ‘debt ceiling drama’ — Bullish for Bitcoin? (3 min read)
Blackrock CEO Laurence Fink believes the recent “drama” around the United States debt ceiling has deteriorated global trust in the U.S. dollar, something that other analysts predict could provide some tailwinds for Bitcoin.
Fink’s comments came as the U.S. House of Representatives on May 31 passed a highly anticipated bill to lift the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling. The bill now goes to the Senate, which is expected to spend a few days debating it. The U.S. Treasury has indicated that the deadline for raising the debt ceiling is June 5. Any later, the country could begin defaulting on its debts.
Satoshi Nak-AI-moto: Bitcoin's creator has become an AI chatbot (3 min read)
Satoshi Nakamoto may have effectively disappeared over 12 years ago, but two artificial intelligence dabblers are seeking to revive the ability to chat with the famed Bitcoin creator.
On May 31, Bitcoin FilmFest co-organizer Pierre Corbin and co-developer Hugo Ferrer released “Talk2Satoshi,” an AI chatbot that aims to answer questions about Bitcoin and economics as if they came from Nakamoto.
‘The Bitcoin Standard’ author becomes economic adviser to El Salvador (2 min read)
Dr. Saifedean Ammous, the author of an explanatory book about Bitcoin called The Bitcoin Standard, has been appointed the economic adviser to the National Bitcoin Office of El Salvador.
On May 30, the Office announced that the Austrian economist had joined the team as its advisor for matters related to various economic policies.
Crypto.com joins ranks of licensed payment institutions in Singapore (2 min read)
The Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange, Crypto.com, announced on June 1 that it had been granted a major payment institution (MPI) license for digital payment token (DPT) services by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
The announcement comes after Crypto.com received in-principle approval from MAS in June 2022. With the MPI license, Crypto.com is now authorized to offer its DPT services to customers in Singapore.
NFTs
Nifty News: Pixel Penguin accused of ‘charity rug,’ Epic adds new NFT games and more (7 min read)
Nonfungible token (NFT) project Pixel Penguin has caused a stir this week in what blockchain investigator ZachXBT has alleged is a “charity project rug.”
The project quietly launched in February but drew a lot of attention on May 31 following a Twitter thread from Web3 influencer Andrew Wang.
BUSINESS
Blockchain firm raises $25M to develop third-generation architecture (2 min read)
Swiss nonprofit Anoma Foundation has secured a significant funding boost to continue the development and research of its third-generation blockchain architecture.
A third fundraising round secured $25 million for the organization, which is building what it describes as a generalized intent-centric blockchain architecture. The technology is touted to enable the development of completely decentralized applications (DApps) and services, ranging from decentralized exchanges (DEXs) to blockchain roll up protocols.
Gate.io denies liquidity problems after Multichain CEO goes missing (3 min read)
Centralized crypto exchange Gate.io denied rumors of illiquidity on May 31, stating that “there are no issues with our operations or withdrawals as rumored.” The statement comes after numerous Twitter channels had alleged that the exchange was experiencing insolvency due to an alleged connection between it and the cross-chain router protocol Multichain (MULTI).
The Gate.io team said the company’s “operations are running healthy” and that it is focused on establishing an affiliated trading platform in Hong Kong called Gate.HK.
Web3 developer Magic raises $52M in funding led by PayPal Ventures (2 min read)
On May 31, San Francisco-based wallet-as-a-service provider Magic announced that it had successfully raised $52 million in a strategic funding round led by PayPal Ventures. The funding round also saw participation from venture firms Cherubic, Synchrony, KX, Northzone and Volt Capital, bringing Magic’s total funds raised to over $80 million.
XDC Network gets Japanese foothold via partnership with SBI subsidiary (2 min read)
The enterprise hybrid blockchain solution, XDC Network, formerly known as XinFin, has broadened its presence in the Japanese market through a partnership with SBI VC Trade, a cryptocurrency exchange subsidiary of Tokyo-based financial holding company SBI.
On May 31, the XDC Network announced that it would be added to SBI’s crypto exchange subsidiary.
QUICK LINKS
Former SEC chief warns influencers about prosecution for crypto price manipulation (2 min read)
The SEC has started clamping down on crypto influencers, issuing several fines and cease-and-desist orders in the past few years.
Cuba Bitcoin community hosts BTC-only meetup (3 min read)
The Cuba Bitcoin community hosted the country’s first-ever Bitcoin-only meetup in Havana over the weekend, attended by over 60 crypto-curious Cubans.
Fantom starts paying developers to generate gas fees (2 min read)
Developers will get a 15% cut of the fees they generate, but only if their app has done more than 125,000 transactions and has existed for three months.
‘Bitcoin Jesus’ says Ethereum is the front-runner for global crypto adoption (2 min read)
Roger Ver says that Ethereum, not Bitcoin, will attract the most new users to crypto.
Pepecoin (PEPE) price action points to a potential 70% drop (3 min read)
A bearish chart pattern suggests that PEPE could shave off another 70% in value, especially if the wider market continues to trend down.
TRC-20 USDT circulation hits record high 5 years after Tron mainnet launch (1 min read)
Over 60% of USDT's supply is currently issued on the Tron blockchain, according to Tether data.
Indian banks asked ‘to prepare for the future’ with AI and blockchain (2 min read)
Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Mahesh Kumar Jain has told Indian bank directors they should “adopt innovative technologies such as AI and blockchain."
‘Bitcoin Jesus’ says Ethereum is the front-runner for global crypto adoption (2 min read)
Early Bitcoin investor and Bitcoin Cash advocate Roger Ver claimed that Ethereum, not Bitcoin, would be responsible for driving the bulk of new users towards crypto.