PEPE’s Liquidity Pool becomes more active on Uniswap
PEPE (COIN:PEPEEUSD), the hype-fueled meme coin that has jumped more than 2,100% in price since it debuted last month, has been sparking interest on decentralized exchange Uniswap. Uniswap’s version (v)2 and v3 liquidity pools for PEPE-WETH were the most active liquidity pool contracts by number of transactions over the last seven days, with over 82,750 and 72,950 transactions respectively. PEPE has been listed on several centralized exchanges such as OKX, MEXC and Huobi, it has also seen its trading volume surpass that of dogecoin (COIN:DOGEUSD) and shiba inu (COIN:SHIBUSD), the biggest meme coins in the crypto ecosystem.
FBI shuts down virtual currency exchanges used to facilitate criminal activity
Nine virtual currency exchanges had their domains confiscated and servers shut down by the US FBI and Ukrainian law enforcement. “Much of the criminal activity taking place on affected exchanges involved cybercriminals responsible for ransomware, but also other scammers and cybercriminals. The service website offers support in Russian and English,” the announcement said. The domains are: 24xbtc.com, 100btc.pro, pridechange.com, 101crypta.com, uxbtc.com, trust-exchange.org, bitcoin24.exchange, paybtc.pro and owl.gold.
US Treasury proposes 30% tax on mining electricity costs
US President Joe Biden’s administration has included a proposal to impose a 30% tax on electricity used by cryptocurrency mining operations in its budget for the 2024 fiscal year. administration introduced the Digital Asset Mining Energy or DAME tax. He said he wants to tax cryptocurrency mining companies because they are not paying for the “full cost they impose on others”, including environmental pollution, high energy prices and the increased impact of greenhouse gas emissions on the climate.
Ark Invest increases Coinbase position
Ark Invest added more shares of Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) to its portfolio on May 1 and now owns nearly 50% more COIN shares than it did last month. ARK’s recent purchases come amid a sharp decline in COIN’s share price on May 1, when it dropped 6.8% after news of a new class action lawsuit against the exchange hit the market. In addition to raising millions of dollars worth of Coinbase stock the previous month, ARK Invest purchased an additional $8.5 million worth of COIN stock on May 1. On May 2, the investment management firm purchased 129,604 COIN shares for its ARK Innovation exchange-traded fund (ETF) and purchased another 23,456 COIN shares for its ARK Next Generation Internet ETF. Additionally, the company purchased 15,809 shares of COIN for its Fintech Innovation ETF. Overall, ARK Invest purchased 168,869 shares of Coinbase worth approximately $8.5 million.
UK creates National Fraud Squad
The UK government will ban cold calling sales of financial products including crypto, according to an announcement by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. “We are going to ban cold calling on all financial products so that anyone who receives calls trying to sell products such as cryptocurrency or insurance schemes will know it is a scam,” he said. Among other announced measures, the country is creating a National Fraud Brigade to fight crimes related to 400 new positions.
Blockchain Association leaves New York
The Blockchain Association, a cryptocurrency industry advocacy group, is pulling out of New York as it prepares to fight federal regulators’ increasingly stringent restrictions on the cryptocurrency industry, according to CoinDesk. “The Blockchain Association is shifting resources away from New York State to focus on federal policy – and we continue to hire and develop our full-time staff in Washington,” said Kristin Smith, CEO of the Blockchain Association.
Crypto influencer notified via tweet
An order from a Florida U.S. District Judge granted The Moskowitz Law Firm permission to legally notify crypto YouTuber Tom Nash via a tweet after the lawyers claimed they could not reach him through other means – which they did on 2 May. “Service by email, through social media or through posting on a designated website is not prohibited by international agreement in this case,” the lawyers argued. Nash is one of 10 named defendants in a class-action lawsuit against influencers who allegedly promoted bankrupt exchange FTX without disclosing their compensation.
Fuse Blockchain promises ecosystem development
On May 3, tier 1 blockchain Fuse announced that it would pledge $10 million to “invigorate the Fuse ecosystem and drive growth in multiple areas.” The program, named “Fuse Ignite”, is structured between liquid incentives and donations. As reported by the developers: “Teams can apply for grants between $5,000 and $25,000, depending on the focus of their project or service. DeFi projects can apply for incentives designed to increase liquidity and overall user activity when deploying on the Fuse Network.” Portions of the $10 million budget are also allocated to adoption incentives and community airdrops.
BitFlyer USA fined $1.2 million by NYDFS
The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has fined cryptocurrency exchange bitFlyer USA $1.2 million for failing to meet the state’s cybersecurity requirements. According to a consent order, “Through examinations, the Department has discovered several weaknesses in the company’s cybersecurity program as required by the Cybersecurity Regulation and the Virtual Currency Regulation.” The NYDFS recognized the company’s efforts to improve its cybersecurity.
Moonpay launches app in over 130 countries
MoonPay, a cryptocurrency infrastructure company, has launched its app in over 130 countries, offering over 5 million claimed users a simplified multi-wallet management solution. The app, which had a soft launch in March to 15,000 early access users, is now available for MoonPay users on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, according to Bitcoin Magazine. “The all-in-one platform provides an easier way for Bitcoin holders to view their transactions, price history and top-ups on the go, leading to a more informed and active community,” said Ivan Soto-Wright, CEO and co- founder of MoonPay.
Hashflow and MoonPay enter into partnership
Hashflow, a decentralized financial trading (DeFi) platform, has announced a partnership with infrastructure company Web3 MoonPay to integrate cryptographic on-ramps into the exchange. Merchants can now buy digital assets and trade on Hashflow using credit cards and bank transfers in 160 countries, they said.
Sotheby’s launches secondary on-chain NFT marketplace
Sotheby’s Metaverse, the metaverse sector of the luxury goods auction house, announced another step into the NFT market through its platform. According to the company, the platform now allows secondary sales of NFTs from the Ethereum (COIN:ETHUSD) and Polygon (COIN:MATICUSD) network. Sotheby’s claims it will honor royalties and artist fees through smart contracts. The platform launched in 2021 for auctions of staff-curated articles. In an announcement made on Twitter on May 1, the platform said that it would launch with works from 13 digital artists who see potential, including XCOPY, Claire Silver, Tyler Hobbs and Hackatao.
Fineqia Glass Slipper Ventures will invest in companies focused on digital assets
Fineqia International, a digital asset and fintech investment firm, plans to start a new venture capital fund that will invest in innovative companies in the digital asset sector and transfer a selection of its investments to a new company called Fineqia Glass Slipper Ventures (FGSV). The new fund will be regulated in Europe, he said, and Fineqia will seed this VC fund with some of its existing investments, including a stake in Wave Digital Assets, a US SEC-registered digital asset investment manager.
Hashgraph Association appoints new CEO, former IBM leader
The Hashgraph Association, a not-for-profit organization that helps with the adoption of the Hedera network, announced the appointment of Heran Shah as the new Executive Director of Global Business Development. As a former global sales leader at IBM (NYSE:IBM), Shah “will lead the growth of Hedera solutions in markets around the world while identifying opportunities in the new three-dimensional world of IoT, Blockchain/DLT and AI,” the announcement said.
Rumors circulate that Amazon’s NFT marketplace will launch this month
CryptoSlate reports that Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is set to launch its NFT marketplace by May 15, citing sources including Web3 enthusiast and non-fungibles collector Moritz. Moritz admitted that a lack of official details has been circulating – meaning “nothing is 100% confirmed yet”. However, he stated that NFTs can be paid using standard payment methods, similar to any other Amazon purchase. Likewise, NFTs are storable in the user’s Amazon account. “You won’t need any technical knowledge about blockchain or self-custodial wallets, just an Amazon account“. He also stated that Amazon would launch its own private blockchain that is interoperable with Ethereum, Avalanche and Chainlink – with plans to integrate more blockchains in the future.