Turkey temporarily suspends crypto ban for earthquake donations
A major earthquake has hit Turkey, inflicting heavy casualties and spurring a humanitarian response from the crypto space. Despite a Turkish crypto ban, rockstar Haluk Levent convinced the government to give crypto donors a one-week window to send donations. Blockchain organisation the Avalanche Foundation, headed by Turkish-American Emin Gün Sirer, and crypto exchange Binance have both donated more than $1 million. As of this writing, the death toll is believed to be above 8,700 people in Turkey and Syria, with the WHO estimating that the final number could rise to 20,000.
The Avalanche Foundation has donated $1M in AVAX to the disaster relief efforts, organized by @haluklevent, for the earthquake that has affected Turkey and Syria. We encourage others to join the effort. https://t.co/Inr7oLX28q
— Avalanche 🔺 (@avax) February 7, 2023
MicroStrategy may explore Bitcoin futures, suggests Michael Saylor
Bitcoin enthusiast Michael Saylor has hinted at expanding the company’s strategic repertoire, with Bitcoin futures contracts now a possibility. This is in contrast with MicroStrategy’s former dealings, where the option of lending through other companies was not pursued. The MicroStrategy Executive Chairman, whose Bitcoin bet has been a source of derision amidst heavy losses in the past year, remains vigilant in his conviction. MicroStrategy is the world’s largest publicly traded holder of Bitcoin.
US Fed’s Powell lightens up; Bitcoin rallies
‘This will be a process that takes quite a bit of time’
Investors seem optimistic after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s comments on Tuesday indicated mild confidence that inflation is manageable in 2023. Strong job numbers on Friday stirred worries that the Fed’s inflationary policy would remain hawkish, but Powell’s outlook highlighted long-term ambitions of inflationary reduction. Bitcoin rose as high as $23,380 on the news.
‘Britcoin’ idea makes UK wary of crypto associations
The UK government is looking into the creation of a digital pound, but don’t call it crypto. Dreamt up as far back as April 2021 by then-finance minister, now Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the digital pound is planned in the latter half of the 2020s. As UK regulators tangle over what a digital pound actually is and how it will be implemented, Bank of England Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe nixed comparisons of the future CBDC to crypto. The CBDC-curious can look to China to see how that technology has fared thus far, with Beijing having trialled its digital yuan since April 2021. At the same time as HM Treasury and the Bank of England launched a consultation into what shape the so-called Britcoin would take, the Exchequer closed its recruitment for a new CBDC head.
Coinbase manager pleads guilty
Former Coinbase manager Isahn Wahi pleaded guilty in what is being dubbed the first insider trading case involving crypto, Reuters reports. Courts alleged that Wahi shared confidential information with his brother and a friend which yielded more than $1.5 million in illegal gains. The former Coinbase employee faces up to 47 months in prison.
CoW Swap hacked with solver exploit
Blockchain security firm PeckShield estimated that 551 Binance Coins worth around $181,600 were stolen from DEX protocol CoW Swap on Monday, marking the fifth significant exploit of 2023. CoW Swap attempted to reassure users via Twitter, stating that traders would not be affected. The exploit was determined to be a “solver” hack, which takes advantage of weaknesses in third party routers, aka. solvers. In this case, the solver approved a malicious contract that made the exploit possible.
Judge denies SBF
Sam Bankman-Fried’s legal woes continue, with the FTX founder’s request to use certain messaging apps having been “denied without prejudice” by a judge. The restrictions, placed by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, apply to encrypted communication apps such as Signal. Bankman-Fried is permitted to use traceable apps such as FaceTime and Zoom, reports CoinDesk. The restrictions come in the wake of a message sent by SBF to a former employee that many, including the prosecutors, considered to be witness tampering.
The new #FTX CEO says SECURITY at the crypto exchange was so bad, execs could have stolen $500m & walked away.
— Altcoin Daily (@AltcoinDailyio) February 7, 2023
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