The biggest crypto news and ideas of the day |
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White House Crypto Mining Report Draws Praise From Advocates and Critics Alike: The Biden administration's Office for Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a report on bitcoin mining's impact on the national electricity grid. While more research is necessary, the government suggested issuing standards to limit the industry’s environmental footprint – or else limit the industry itself. One theoretical avenue to “minimize harm” would be for Congress to “limit or eliminate the use of high-energy-intensity consensus mechanisms for crypto-asset mining” through legislation. Bankrupt Crypto Lender Hodlnaut May Liquidate Assets Before the Ethereum Merge: The Singapore-court-appointed managers of Hodlnaut, a crypto lender that froze withdrawals in August, said the forthcoming Ethereum upgrade known as the Merge poses a liquidation risk to the company's distressed assets and it is considering selling them to limit potential losses. Meanwhile, the Algorand Foundation, which oversees the development of the Algorand blockchain, disclosed Monday it had $35 million in exposure to Hodlnaut. Starbucks Will Offer NFT-Based Loyalty Program Alongside Polygon: The so-called “Starbucks Odyssey” non-fungible token program, announced Monday, will allow customers to purchase and earn digital collectible stamps that offer rewards and immersive experiences. It will be built on the Ethereum-compatible Polygon network. The coffee conglomerate’s first leap into Web3 was a separate NFT set providing “unique experiences, community building and customer engagement" announced in May. Bolt Axes Ended a $1.5 Billion Deal to Buy Crypto Infrastructure Provider Wyre: A landmark deal that would have seen payments firm Bolt Financial acquire crypto infrastructure provider Wyre for $1.5 billion has been scrapped by mutual agreement. Bolt instead will license Wyre’s one-click technology for its client-facing platform, in what is still a rare example of fintechs paying for crypto-based infrastructure. Near Blockchain Moves Ahead with Phase One of Sharding Upgrade: Near protocol, a layer 1 blockchain geared for building applications, initiated a key phase of a planned upgrade that will introduce “sharding” into the proof-of-stake network. The four-step upgrade, called Nightshade, will be completed in 2030. In the “near term,” Near’s developers hope to increase the network to 200 validators up from 100 currently. – Xinyi Luo |
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Putting the news into perspective |
Bitcoiners Owe Andrew Ross Sorkin a Big Thank You Anyone who holds bitcoin (BTC), monero (XMR) or another censorship-resistant cryptocurrency should be lining up to shake Andrew Ross Sorkin’s hand. The New York Times columnist took a victory lap this weekend when the International Standards Organization (ISO) created a new merchant category code (MCC) for credit or debit card purchases at gun stores to make those transactions stand out. Until now, such stores have been included in the broader category of sporting goods stores (code 5941, should you be wondering). For years Sorkin had been advocating the creation of such a code to help financial institutions flag suspicious activity in the hopes of preventing mass shootings, and criticizing Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) for resisting such calls. His campaign followed a Times investigative series on the unwitting role the banking industry played in financing such massacres. Amalgamated Bank, the union-owned New York lender, applied for the code’s creation earlier this year, was rejected, then tried again. In the wake of the May school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, the second application succeeded. On the eve of the code’s creation, Sorkin declared that it would “test the resolve of business leaders and their commitment to American lives.” Never mind that any gun buyer trying to fly under the radar now has an incentive to pay with cash (or perhaps cryptocurrency, where it’s accepted), or to make the purchase at Bass Pro Shops rather than a specialist firearms retailer. Never mind that, as Sorkin acknowledges, it’s unclear whether the code will be used. That’s up to the “acquiring” banks that plug merchants into the card networks. Shrewd acquirers, subject to audits by Visa and Mastercard, might advise their gun-shop clients to start selling tents and canteens to justify using a different code. |
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New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin at CoinDesk's Invest 2018 (CoinDesk) Never mind that, depending if the code is used and how “suspicious activity” is defined, law-abiding gun buyers could end up the subjects of suspicious activity reports (SAR) filed by bankers erring on the side of caution. Those SARs, including subjects’ sensitive personal information, will sit in a government database for an indefinite period. The code is also likely to become a “high-risk merchant” category, meaning gun sellers would end up paying steeper fees for access to the card networks, to compensate banks for the added monitoring burden, two industry veterans said. Never mind that clamping down on how mass shootings occur is at best a short-term fix, and not the same thing as addressing the underlying reasons why they occur. If nothing else, Sorkin has succeeded in further politicizing the payment system and further deputizing financial institutions as unpaid informants for law enforcement. And that, all else equal, is bullish, over the very long term, for bitcoin and at least a few of its competitors. To be clear: I am not claiming that Sorkin’s victory will have any direct or immediate effect on the price of any coin. You will find no “trading signals” in this article. I am talking, rather, of second- and third-order effects. Read the rest of the essay here. – Marc Hochstein |
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Overheard on CoinDesk TV... |
"[ETH] has both the sound money function as well as the store of value function [of money]." – ConsenSys Head Economist Lex Sokolin, on Ethereum's upcoming Merge, on CoinDesk TV's "First Mover" |
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What’s left for Ethereum GPU miners after The Merge? (The Block) Could ‘Big Time’ Change the Trajectory of Crypto Gaming? (Decrypt) A Bad Year for Crypto Is a Really Bad One for Crypto Miners (Wall Street Journal) The Ethereum Merge Matters for Everyone in Crypto (Decrypt) |
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