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Prime 5 Tales of the Week
Sen. Lummis introduces Bitcoin Strategic Reserve invoice in Senate
On July 31, Senator Cynthia Lummis officially introduced the Bitcoin Strategic Reserve bill, which might direct america authorities to begin a reserve fund for the scarce decentralized asset. Extra particularly, the invoice would set up a “decentralized community of safe Bitcoin vaults” beneath the management of america Treasury.
The invoice additionally directs lawmakers and bureaucrats to enact strict cybersecurity parameters and different bodily safety measures to make sure that Bitcoin funds will not be stolen. Moreover, the invoice laid out a objective of accumulating 1 million Bitcoin over time, or roughly 5% of Bitcoin’s complete provide, utilizing present U.S. Treasury funds to accumulate the Bitcoin in quantities that mirror the U.S. Treasury’s gold allocation.
Lummis’ invoice additionally reaffirmed the appropriate to self-custody in america. It seeks to guard this proper, which has come beneath fireplace from sure U.S. lawmakers.
Bitfinex hacker Heather Morgan noticed at Bitcoin Convention 2024
Heather Morgan — a self-styled social engineer and flamboyant rapper additionally recognized by her alter ego “Razzlekhan” — made headlines after being arrested for and subsequently pleading responsible to one of the crucial audacious cyber heists in historical past: the 2016 Bitfinex hack ensuing within the theft of 120,000 Bitcoin, price $4.5 billion on the time of her arrest.
Opposite to widespread perception that she was behind bars, Morgan reportedly appeared at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, sparking curiosity and controversy amongst attendees.
When Morgan pleaded responsible on Aug. 3, 2023, she knew she might resist 5 years in jail and obtain a tremendous of $250,000. Since then, she’s been awaiting sentencing, scheduled for Nov. 8, 2024.
Jameson Lopp, a Bitcoin developer and co-founder of Bitcoin custody agency Casa, discovered her presence extraordinarily suspicious. He suggested Bitcoin occasion organizers to treat her as a menace actor and deny her entry.
Lopp’s issues spotlight the broader unease inside the crypto group concerning Morgan’s intentions and the potential dangers she would possibly pose at these gatherings. He informed Cointelegraph that he believes there may very well be two explanations for her attendance at these occasions.
A “charitable clarification could be that she’s in search of consulting gigs with a view to pay the $250,000 tremendous she owes to the federal government,” in keeping with Lopp. She has reportedly launched herself as a “Web3 adviser” at Bitcoin conferences.
Nonetheless, Lopp mentioned an “adversarial clarification” could be that she’s “in search of to cut back her sentence by accumulating intel on behalf of the federal government.”
4 suspects pressured a Bitcoiner to switch BTC earlier than killing him, police say
Police have arrested four suspects for allegedly kidnapping and murdering an unidentified 29-year-old overseas nationwide Bitcoiner in Kyiv, Ukraine, after stealing $170,000 price of Bitcoin from him.
The 4 suspects — all male and aged between 24 and 29 — reportedly premeditated the assault, launching their assault round midnight on July 29, Kyiv Police mentioned. Residents contacted police after listening to screams and several other individuals beating and forcing a person right into a automotive.
Police mentioned the sufferer was taken to an deserted constructing the place he was pressured to switch roughly 7 million Ukrainian hryvnias price of Bitcoin (round 2.55 BTC), earlier than the assailants strangled the person to loss of life and buried his physique in a forest.
Kyiv Police additionally allege the 4 males modified the looks and quantity plates of the automotive used to attempt to conceal the crime. The suspects then transformed the Bitcoin into stacks of United States {dollars} and euros earlier than being discovered and detained by Kyiv Police.
Trump’s Bitcoin sneakers are already on eBay for $2,500
Listings for pairs of Donald Trump’s limited-edition orange Bitcoin-themed sneakers have already made their means onto eBay, with scalpers hoping to promote their spot within the pre-order queue for as a lot as $2,500.
On the time of writing, there have been 12 listings on eBay for the Bitcoin orange-colored high-tops. Costs begin as little as $700 through a reside public sale however vary as excessive as $2,500 with a “or finest provide” situation. One provide jokingly set a worth of $69,999.
Nonetheless, there’s no telling if the sellers will preserve their phrase or if the listings are professional.
Many of the listings promise to ship the footwear to their purchaser as soon as they obtain it, which is predicted between September and November. Many of the sellers seem to have excessive scores, although a couple of has been accused of being a “rip-off” within the purchaser suggestions part.
Trump’s Bitcoin-themed footwear went reside for pre-order on the official Trump Sneakers web site on July 31, with a restricted version run of 1,000 for the orange high-top footwear. They bought out inside three hours of launch.
Notably, the web site mentioned 5 pairs of the restricted version footwear could be randomly signed by Trump — that means that Trump sneakerheads would have a 1 in 200 probability of receiving a signed pair.
Decide grants ex-FTX exec’s request to postpone reporting to jail
A federal choose has granted a movement filed by legal professionals representing former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame to delay reporting to prison till Oct. 13.
In a July 30 submitting by america District Court docket for the Southern District of New York, Decide Lewis Kaplan authorized a movement permitting Salame to push again his self-surrender date by 45 days as a part of his sentence of seven.5 years in jail. Salame’s authorized group requested the delay as a consequence of medical issues from a canine biting the previous FTX govt’s face on June 29 whereas he was visiting a good friend’s dwelling.
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The July 26 movement by Salame’s authorized group redacted medical info associated to his accidents however claimed {that a} German Shepherd “mauled” him and he would require remedy and surgical procedure earlier than reporting to jail. He was initially going to report back to jail on Aug. 29, roughly three months after being sentenced.
The previous FTX govt returned to the social media platform X after roughly two years following his Might sentencing listening to. On the day of the alleged canine assault, he instructed {that a} surgeon who didn’t maintain his political beliefs could be extra more likely to deliberately hurt him whereas treating the wound.
Winners and Losers
On the finish of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $62,083, Ether (ETH) at $3,038 and XRP at $0.56. The entire market cap is at $2.21 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Among the many greatest 100 cryptocurrencies, the highest three altcoin gainers of the week are AAVE (AAVE) at 14.02%, Bitcoin Money (BCH) at 4.14% and Kaspa (KAS) at 2.45%.
The highest three altcoin losers of the week are dogwifhat (WIF) at 35.25%, Render (RENDER) at 27.10% and Bittensor (TAO) at 24.54%.
For more information on crypto costs, make sure that to learn Cointelegraph’s market analysis.
“The overall premise is that if criminals are much less conscious of you, they’re much less more likely to goal you.”
Jameson Lopp, co-founder of Casa
“There isn’t a cause to assume SEC has determined SOL is a non-security,”
Jake Chervinsky, chief authorized officer at Variant
“As households throughout Wyoming wrestle to maintain up with hovering inflation charges and our nationwide debt reaches new and unprecedented heights, it’s time for us to take daring steps to create a brighter future for generations to return by making a strategic Bitcoin reserve.”
Cynthia Lummis, United States senator
“Politicians are embracing crypto as a result of Individuals are embracing crypto.”
Matt Hougan, chief funding officer at Bitwise Asset Administration
“Tone deaf anybody??? Shifting Silk Street BTC two days after Trumps pledge to not transfer them is simply dumb!!!!”
Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital
“The SEC’s method threatens the livelihoods of artists and creators which can be merely experimenting with a novel, fast-growing expertise or have chosen it as their most popular medium.”
David L. Patron, legal professional at Phelps Dunbar
Prediction of the Week
Ethereum ETFs might attain $10B AUM in first 12 months: Sygnum Financial institution
Spot Ether exchange-traded funds might amass as much as $10 billion in assets beneath administration inside their first 12 months of buying and selling.
Katalin Tischhauser, head of funding analysis at Sygnum Financial institution and a former govt at Goldman Sachs, informed Cointelegraph in an interview that the projections are primarily based on her forecast for spot Bitcoin ETFs. She predicted that Bitcoin ETF inflows could be within the $30 billion to $50 billion vary for the primary 12 months of buying and selling, and Ethereum merchandise would comply with.
“Ethereum’s lesser title recognition is more likely to imply slower adoption,” she mentioned, earlier than including:
“With Ethereum’s market capitalization a 3rd of Bitcoin’s, we count on the relative inflows to be within the 15-35% vary versus Bitcoin, with a ensuing forecast of $5 to $10 billion within the first 12 months.”
The researcher mentioned that there have been important benefits to ETFs for conventional traders as a result of they’re largely not set as much as commerce, settle, and risk-manage direct crypto investments:
“A well-recognized regulated product corresponding to ETFs makes Ether simply accessible to traders who’re involved in easy funding publicity.”
FUD of the Week
SEC doubtless nonetheless believes SOL is a safety, say crypto execs
The US Securities and Trade Fee hasn’t necessarily let Solana off the hook as a safety regardless of retracting its request for a courtroom to resolve on the matter as a part of its Binance lawsuit on July 30.
“There isn’t a cause to assume SEC has determined SOL is a non-security,” mentioned Jake Chervinsky, chief authorized officer at crypto-focused enterprise capital agency Variant Fund, in a July 30 submit on X.
Chervinsky’s submit refers back to the newest response from the SEC, in search of to amend its grievance concerning the “Third Social gathering Crypto Asset Securities,” basically telling the courtroom it’s not asking to find out whether or not the tokens listed within the lawsuit are securities or not.
Whereas Chervinsky didn’t broaden on what that “litigation tactic” could also be, he highlighted that the SEC nonetheless refers back to the identical tokens as securities in different crypto trade lawsuits, together with its one with Coinbase.
In separate posts, Miles Jennings, common counsel and head of decentralization at a16z Crypto, and Justin Slaughter, coverage director at Paradigm, appeared to agree.
Slaughter argued that many are “overreading this submitting” and that it doesn’t imply the SEC has determined that Solana and different tokens will not be securities.
Jennings defined that Decide Amy Berman Jackson had set such a excessive bar to determine the Howey take a look at within the Binance case that it wasn’t definitely worth the SEC’s effort and time to show these tokens had been securities.
SEC Prices BitClout founder Nader Al-Naji with fraud
On July 30, america Securities and Trade Fee (SEC), alongside the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the Southern District of New York, announced charges against BitClout founder Nader Al-Naji.
The SEC’s grievance alleged the BitClout founder bought $257 million in unregistered securities by means of BitClout’s native token, BTCLT, and defrauded traders by misusing a portion of these funds. The SEC additionally named Decentralized Social (DeSo), a more recent undertaking from Al-Naji, within the grievance and a corresponding press launch.
Extra particularly, the grievance accused Al-Naji of spending $7 million in buyer funds on luxurious objects like leasing a Beverly Hills mansion and giving beneficiant money items to members of the family regardless of promising traders that funds wouldn’t be used as compensation for any BitClout group members.
The SEC grievance claimed that Al-Naji additionally mischaracterized the core inside workings of the BitClout undertaking. In accordance with the securities regulator, the BitClout founder misled traders and authorized companies by claiming the undertaking was decentralized, with no governing firm controlling It, but was operating the undertaking behind the scenes.
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Crypto sleuth investigates suspect in Sydney Sweeney’s hack
Just a few weeks after American actress Sydney Sweeney suffered a major cryptocurrency-related hack on X, some new particulars on the assault and the alleged hacker have surfaced.
ZachXBT, a pseudonymous, impartial on-chain sleuth, took to X on July 30 to submit his investigation into the latest hack of Sydney Sweeney’s X account and the alleged connection of convicted hacker Gurvinder Bhangu to the incident.
The X account of the actress was hacked on July 2, 2024, with the attacker selling a Solana-based token, SWEENEY, in a pump-and-dump scheme.
In accordance with findings by ZachXBT, Bhangu was one of many individuals behind the hack.
Bhangu, additionally known as “Gurv” within the submit by ZachXBT, is described as a convicted hacker who has served time in the UK for hacking into Instagram accounts and blackmailing customers.
Prime Journal Tales of the Week
How crypto bots are ruining crypto — together with auto memecoin rug pulls
Crypto buying and selling can not perform with out crypto bots, but they also manipulate markets, break airdrops and extract billions in MEV.
‘Elon Musk at Bitcoin 2024’ rip-off, Lazarus Group hacks, MOG phishing: Crypto-Sec
Traders misplaced $79K to deepfake Elon Musk at Bitcoin 2024, MOG holder phished a nasty, ransomware backdoor in ESXi server software.
Backlash as WazirX ‘socializes’ $235M loss, $10B metaverse plan for shut-ins: Asia Categorical
Japan’s ‘hikikomori’ may very well be a $10B opportunity in the metaverse, clock is ticking for Binance within the Philippines, and extra.
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