Happy Valentine’s Day, Rebel!
Thank you for making a space in your heart and in your inbox for us. ❤️
Today’s digest is specially wrapped in bouquets and love, to remind you of how special you are.
In today’s issue;
Let’s get the details.
We’re gearing up for a tough week for cryptocurrencies. In the past 7 days, regulators have clamped down on some of the biggest players in the space and are coming for stablecoins.
This led to a significant loss in overall industry valuation. Yesterday, the global cryptocurrency market plunged below the $1 trillion capitalization to stand at $997.98 billion.
The crypto market has proven itself to be one tough cookie, and we're waiting to see how it will make a comeback.
Coinbase has listed $BLUR. After being unlocked, the token pumped up by 700% to $46 but has since dropped back to $23. Read more
TL: DR
In addition to love, there is palpable FUD in the air. Yesterday, New York’s top financial regulator ordered the stablecoin issuer Paxos to stop minting Binance’s stablecoin BUSD due to concerns about its relationship with the mega exchange.
Paxos agreed to stop minting new BUSD tokens but said in a press release issued Monday that all BUSD tokens it issued were fully backed by U.S. dollar-denominated reserves.
On the contrary, an NYDFS spokesman alleged that Paxos was not issuing BUSD in a “safe and sound” manner, and had thus “violated its obligation to conduct tailored, periodic risk assessments and due diligence.
Paxos is fighting back. It has categorically rejected the labelling of BUSD as unregistered security by the SEC and is willing to go to court to battle it out.
There are reports that BUSD’s stablecoin rival, Circle, may have been the one who snitched on Binance back in the fall of 2022. They complained that Binance did not have enough reserves to back up the stablecoins issued by Paxos.
Binance’s CZ has reacted to the news, tweeting that all funds are #SAFU, and that the exchange will continue to support BUSD despite the order.
In other news,
TL: DR
The gloves are coming off!
Coinbase’s frontman, Brian Armstrong took to Twitter to announce that the company will “happily defend” its staking services in court against claims that they need to be classified as securities.
This comes after the SEC slammed the rival exchange Kraken with a hefty $30 Million dollar fine for offering staking a service without registering it. The company has been forced to shut its staking service.
Since the ruling, Brian has fervently maintained that staking services are not securities. He has argued that crypto staking does not meet any of the four prongs of Howey.
In the first place, staking is not an investment because users don't give up their digital assets to get something else. They own exactly the same thing they did before and they always have the option to “unstake” their assets.
Our take
Coinbase may just be fighting for dear life. The company’s shares, which have lost almost 90% of their value compared to all-time highs, fell another 4% on Friday amid the news. Recall that in January, S&P Global downgraded the crypto exchange’s debt one position from “BBB” to “BB-,” moving it from “investment grade” to “speculative grade”.
In other news
TL: DR
Champagne Papi just went from 0 to 100 after winning a $1.2M on a Super Bowl Bet. He wagered $700,000 worth of bitcoin on the Kansas City Chiefs to win the match for which he profited $777,000 in BTC.
Drake’s second bet included Patrick Mahomes scoring a touchdown, staking $50,000 worth of BTC. The athlete finished the game with three touchdowns earning the rapper another $700K.
In other news.
Paris Hilton just launched a month-long dating game to help you find love in the metaverse. Read more.
Europe's most influential blockchain event begins tomorrow February 15, at the 5-star hotel Hyatt Regency Barcelona. The event will welcome more than 3,000 attendees - making it the largest edition since the event launched in 2018.
Since its inception, the European Blockchain Convention has been the annual meeting point for the crypto and Web3 industry in Europe. It brings together hundreds of startups, investors, developers, industry experts, and global media.
Use our code RBL-LAB25 to get a discount on your tickets.
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art just grew by 22 new digital artwork. The donations came from the Twitter personality and NFT bro Cozomo de’ Medici. The collection includes CryptoPunks NFT #3831, which was last sold for $2.1 million worth of ETH in 2021. It also features Art Blocks NFTs from Dmitri Cherniak’s "Ringers" and Monica Rizzolli’s "Fragments of an Infinite Field".
Other notable creators whose NFT art was donated in the set include noted photographer Justin Aversano, World of Women artist and creator Yam Karkai, and Claire Silver and Pindar Van Arman—both known for using AI as a tool for generating NFT artwork.
In the announcement made about the donation, it was noted that LACMA and de’ Medici avoided the use of the word ‘NFTs’ to describe the art, opting for a more subtle ‘blockchain or on-chain art’. He explained that the term NFT has a stigma attached to it and is stepping away from using it.
In other news,
The community members of the AavegotchiDAO have voted in favour of launching the Forge, a new upgrade to the crypto collectibles game. The upgrade is dedicated to improving Aavegotchi’s wearables market. Read more.
We are deeply saddened by the recent earthquakes in Turkey, Syria and neighbouring countries. Since the deadly earthquakes last Monday, over 36,000 people have lost their lives, with many more still missing.
We will never be able to replace the lives lost, but we can support them through this difficult time with our donations.
You too can make a donation to support the ongoing relief efforts.
Click on the link belowto donate with a credit card.
The government of Turkey has permitted Haluk Levent to receive crypto donations for earthquake victims. He is the founder of the Ahbap Association.
Ahbap is an NGO operating in 68 Turkish cities since 2017. They work in areas such as social aid, animal rights, humanitarian aid, natural disaster coordination and assistance.
ERC20 Network Transfers: 0xe1935271D1993434A1a59fE08f24891Dc5F398Cd
BEP20 Network Transfers: 0xB67705398fEd380a1CE02e77095fed64f8aCe463
Avalanche Network Transfers: 0x868D27c361682462536DfE361f2e20B3A6f4dDD8
Thank you for your support.
