🎲 Drake loses Bitcoin bet again

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Goerli ether (gETH) saw a dramatic price surge over the weekend, with these testnet tokens jumping to over $1.60 from just 7 cents the previous Friday. It's worth bearing in mind that these tokens are supposed to be free! Meanwhile, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler has claimed that all cryptocurrencies except Bitcoin are securities under the agency's jurisdiction, sparking debate among legal experts. In other news, Ameen Soleimani has hinted at a possible revival of the controversial Ethereum transaction mixer Tornado Cash, and Canadian rapper Drake lost $400,000 in Bitcoin after betting on a boxing match.

Markets

Start of the End? Testnet Goerli Ether Spikes to $1.60 as Traders Jump on Opportunity Meant for Developers (3 minute read)Over the weekend, the price of Goerli ether (gETH) rose to over $1.60 from 7 cents the previous Friday, with a market capitalization of up to $15 million. However, it's important to note that Goerli ether is not a trendy Ethereum fork or an Ethereum rival. Instead, these tokens serve as a testnet version of actual ether for developers to test transactions, smart contracts, and other activities before deploying on the Ethereum mainnet. Therefore, these tokens are meant to be free and issued exclusively for testnet developers. The sudden spike in gETH prices has been met with criticism from the cryptocurrency community. Many argue that testnet ether is supposed to be free and that the increase in price is the result of speculators.

Solana in the Green After Weekend Deep Freeze (4 minute read)Solana has gained an early 4% increase after the protocol experienced two crashes over the weekend, which resulted in transactions being frozen. The Solana Foundation has stated that an investigation is ongoing to determine the cause of the crashes and results will be available soon. Bitcoin, the largest digital asset, is trading flat at $23,475, but has seen a 1.5% increase in the past 24 hours. Ether has seen a 2.7% increase, trading at $1,636.

Crypto lawyers flame Gensler over claims that all crypto are securities (4 minute read)Recently, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler claimed in a New York Magazine interview that all cryptocurrencies except Bitcoin are securities under the agency's jurisdiction. However, cryptocurrency lawyers have disputed this claim. Gensler stated that other crypto projects are securities because there is a middle group, and the public expects profits based on that group. However, lawyer and policy lead at the Blockchain Association, Jake Chervinsky, argued in a tweet that Gensler's opinion is not the law, despite his authority over the crypto sector.

Tech

SpankChain co-founder teases Tornado Cash 'sequel' (2 minute read)Ameen Soleimani, the co-founder of SpankChain and Reflex Labs, has hinted at a possible revival of Tornado Cash, the Ethereum transaction mixer that has faced controversy in the past. Soleimani's tweet indicated that Moloch DAO, which provides grants for Ethereum project development, may be involved in this revival. Transaction mixing protocols like Tornado Cash are designed to obscure the origin of cryptocurrency, a feature that has come under scrutiny from regulators. Last year, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control accused Tornado Cash of enabling money laundering by a North Korea-linked hacking group called Lazarus.

Trezor takes the wheel of Model T chip production (2 minute read)Trezor, a popular crypto hardware wallet, has taken control of the production of silicon chips for its Model T product by producing its key component, the chip wrapper. The move allows Trezor to optimize the production process of its Model T device by eliminating its reliance on third parties in the manufacturing supply chain, according to a statement released on Monday. Trezor, which pioneered the first-ever bitcoin hardware wallet, Model One, has been exposed to unreliable component availability due to the global chip shortage caused by geopolitical disruptions and COVID-19 labor shortages. However, demand for its devices has increased due to market conditions and consumer interest in self-custody of crypto assets, with a 300% increase in hardware wallet sales following the implosions of centralized platforms including FTX, Celsius, and BlockFi.

Misc

Sam Bankman-Fried Did ‘Immeasurable’ Damage to Crypto Industry: Ava Labs CEO (4 minute read)Last fall, the collapse of FTX had a negative impact on the credibility and trust of the crypto industry, tarnishing its reputation. According to Emin Gün Sirer, the CEO and Founder of Ava Labs, the damage caused by FTX's implosion is significant and immeasurable. He expressed his views on the latest episode of the Decrypt podcast, where he stated that "All of that goodwill that we built over many, many years of hard work is just usurped by some guy who comes in and puts on this boy genius act."

Drake Loses Bitcoin Bet Again — This Time, $400K On Jake Paul Vs Tommy Fury (1 minute read)Canadian rapper Aubrey Drake Graham, popularly known as Drake, suffered a loss on Sunday after his bet of $400,000 in Bitcoin on YouTuber Jake Paul's boxing match did not pan out. Drake had posted a screenshot of his bet on Instagram, in which he had wagered a considerable sum of Bitcoin on Paul to win by knockout for a potential payout of $1.44 million worth of Bitcoin. However, in a closely contested fight, Tommy Fury emerged victorious, defeating Paul in an 8-round battle. The outcome of the match resulted in Drake losing his bet.

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