🐋 Mysterious Crypto Whales Awaken

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A long-dormant Ethereum address that took part in the ETH ICO has become active after 7.7 years. The sudden activity has sparked speculation about the identity of the owner and their intentions for the funds. In Africa, Zimbabwe's central bank governor, has reportedly announced the country's plans to launch a gold-backed digital currency. The move is seen as an attempt to stabilize the country's volatile economy, which has been struggling with hyperinflation and currency devaluation for years.

KuCoin, experienced a Twitter hack that resulted in a loss of $22,000 of funds from its users. The hackers gained access to KuCoin's official Twitter account, where they posted a fake giveaway. And In South Korea, the central bank has been granted increased authority to scrutinize cryptocurrency issuers and service providers.

Markets

Ethereum ICO participant awakes after 7.7 years of dormancy (3 minute read)A long-dormant Ethereum address that took part in the blockchain's initial coin offering (ICO) has become active after 7.7 years. In its first transaction, it transferred one ether to a new address, leading to speculation that this may be a test transaction. The wallet had received 2,365 ether during Ethereum's genesis, valued at around $4.42 million today. The current price of one ether is $1860, a far cry from its ICO price of approximately $0.31. This recent activity follows similar moves from old bitcoin whale addresses, which has led to speculation that long-time crypto users are moving old funds to new wallets amid a rumored wallet-draining operation targeting old wallets, although the exact details of this operation remain scarce.

Zimbabwe is bringing in a gold-backed digital currency with its own dollar ravaged by inflation (2 minute read)Zimbabwe's central bank governor, John Mangudya, has reportedly announced the country's plans to launch a gold-backed digital currency. The tokens will serve as a hedge against currency volatility and provide a more stable store of value than the Zimbabwe dollar, which has suffered from hyperinflation for over a decade. The move towards a gold-pegged digital currency comes amid a weakening of the Zimbabwe dollar against the US dollar since the beginning of 2022.

Tech

Judge Rules Bored Ape Yacht Club Ripoff NFTs Violated Yuga Copyright (3 minute read)Yuga Labs, the company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT collection, has won a partial summary judgment in its case against Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen, who created the RR/BAYC NFT collection as a satirical response to Yuga Labs. The court case, which took place in California, accused Ripps and Cahen of intentionally creating confusion between the two collections, and generating millions in unjust profits while damaging BAYC's reputation with allegations of racism and Nazi imagery. However, while the narrative has gained traction in some online communities, BAYC's founders have denied the accusations.

Now valued at $500M, Cosmose ditches Stripe to adopt Near’s crypto solution (3 minute read)Singapore-based Cosmose AI, which uses AI analytics to track in-store foot traffic and engage with shoppers online, is teaming up with Near, a blockchain protocol that competes with Ethereum, to build a payment system for crypto adoption. This partnership aims to offer a payment method that allows users to shop with cryptocurrency at low transaction fees, benefiting both buyers and sellers. Near Foundation, the non-profit arm of Near, has made a strategic investment in Cosmose to support the protocol's ecosystem development. The investment has increased Cosmose's valuation from $100 million to $500 million. The collaboration between Cosmose and Near is one effort among several aimed at creating meaningful use cases for cryptocurrencies.

Misc

KuCoin Regains Twitter Access After Hacker Stole Over $22K From Users In A 45-Minute Hack (2 minute read)KuCoin, a global centralized cryptocurrency exchange with over six million users, experienced a hack that resulted in a loss of $22,000 of funds from its users. The hack lasted for about 45 minutes and was carried out through a tweet that tricked users into clicking on malicious links. KuCoin advised users not to click on suspicious links and later announced on Twitter that it would fully reimburse all verified asset losses caused by the social media breach and the fake activity. The exchange identified 22 transactions that resulted in around $22,638 total loss.

Normies Don’t 'Actually Care About Decentralization': Arthur Hayes (4 minute read)Arthur Hayes, former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX, has stated that although decentralization is fundamental to cryptocurrencies, people's preferences when dealing with digital assets are not the same. Hayes said that Satoshi Nakamoto's 2008 vision for Bitcoin emphasized the importance of the distribution of decision-making and control, but it does not matter to the masses. In the latest episode of Decrypt's gm podcast, Hayes argued that the average person is not concerned about centralization or decentralization. According to him, becoming one's financial institution and taking charge of one's finances is more challenging and less user-friendly.

Bank of Korea given right to investigate local crypto firms (2 minute read)South Korea's central bank, the Bank of Korea (BoK), has been granted increased authority to scrutinize cryptocurrency issuers and service providers, amid ongoing discussions on virtual asset legislation in the country. According to local media reports, the BoK will have the right to investigate operators of cryptocurrency-related businesses. The move comes as the country's financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), continues to compete with the BoK over jurisdiction of the digital asset sector. However, the FSC will ultimately have the final say in governing cryptocurrency regulation.

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