It may be the 4th of July and a celebration of independence in the US but crypto was rife with conflict to open the week. Clashes ranged from the Gemini-DCG battle to Reserve’s decision to pull up stakes in the Latin America market to the dispute over the beloved Shiba Inu mascot.
Cameron Winklevoss gives Barry Silbert ‘final offer’
The Winklevoss twins’ beef with DCG chief Barry Silbert came to a head overnight when the Gemini founders gave the owner of bankrupt digital asset firm Genesis a “final offer” to settle their dispute.
In an open letter, Cameron Winklevoss decried what he described as a culture of “lies and deceit” that had left Genesis creditors, including customers of Gemini’s Earn programme, out of pocket.
He attached a plan that calls for $1.5 billion of payments and loans denominated in dollars, Bitcoin and Ether, giving Silbert a July 6 deadline to agree or face a lawsuit.
Shibu Inu logo designer clashes with company
Sveinn Valdimarsson, the designer who created the Shibu Inu mascot logo, is considering legal action against the company to stop it from being commercialised in partnership deals.
“You can get a tattoo, put this on your T-shirt or your car and everything is good,” Valdimarsson told DL News. “But if you’re gonna put it on like a cigarette pack and call it Shiba cigarettes, that’s where you’re going to make money off it.
Sam Altman-backed Reserve pulls out of LATAM
Stablecoin issuer Reserve will suspend deposits and withdrawals in local currency in Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama due to “sustainability issues associated with crypto banking challenges” and its “global vision,” according to an open letter by CEO Gabriel Jimenez.
The Sam Altman and Peter Thiel-backed company said it has completed $5.7 billion in transaction volume in Latin America via the protocol’s RPay app since its 2020 launch
Belarus cracks down on crypto
After being alarmed by an uptick of crypto fraud, Belarus is now “working on legislative innovations that prohibit transactions for the exchange of cryptocurrency between individuals,” the Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a statement on Sunday.
“The introduction of a practice similar to the procedure for exchanging foreign currencies will make it impossible to withdraw money obtained by criminal means,” it said.
Ronaldo didn’t get the memo
Ronaldo, the soccer superstar who recently decamped to Saudi Arabia’s professional club league, clearly isn’t phased by the regulatory storm buffeting Binance. On Monday, Ronaldo’s NFT collection went live on Binance’s marketplace with a video of the self-styled GOAT kicking the ball around in a Binance jersey.
Given the heat Binance is taking in the US and Europe, it’s, um, striking to see the Portuguese international embracing the Binance brand so tightly. CZ must be pleased for any distraction from the exchange’s bummer of a summer.
