CoinMarketCap News, August 25: 'Delusional' Man Has 'No Chance' of Getting Bitcoin Out of Landfill

The man being stopped from looking for a hard drive containing 8,000 BTC in landfill claims it's because asbestos has also been buried there. Speaking to CoinMarketCap, James Howells said the Newport site is also situated in a flood zone. It comes after he told the BBC that he had a solution for preventing the hazardous waste from spilling into a nearby river. Newport City Council's told us strict laws are in place to decide which activities are safe, and regular inspections are carried out. Local experts have told CoinMarketCap that Howells is "delusional" — adding: "There's no way in a million years that Newport tip will allow people to dig it up because of the gasses in there." He threw away the hard drive, currently worth $173 million, nine years ago.

A crypto YouTuber has dropped a lawsuit against a rival after a backlash. Atozy was being accused of defamation after repeatedly calling BitBoy Crypto a "dirtbag" in a video last November. He also claimed the streamer "milks his audience for a quick buck rather than giving them genuine advice." BitBoy Crypto was seeking more than $75,000 in damages, but was criticized after the lawsuit was made public. Atozy had raised more than $200,000 to fund his defense, with Cobie donating $100,000. Announcing the U-turn, BitBoy said: "Atozy won. You're the winner here. He's the winner, I'm the loser. I just hope that he listens to this — I'm sorry you had to go through this — and removes the video, or at least takes that part out."

The Ethereum Foundation has revealed that the long-awaited merge will be completed between Sept. 10 and 20. This means the historic switch from a proof-of-work to a proof-of-stake blockchain could take place a few days earlier than advertised. It comes after a series of repeated delays — and it's worth remembering this milestone was meant to have been achieved back in 2019. In other developments, the foundation has also announced that it is quadrupling the bug bounties that are rewarded to people who discover vulnerabilities before the merge. Those who uncover critical bugs could end up receiving $1 million.

Voyager Digital's controversial plan to dish out a $1.6 million bonus between 34 "key" staff has been approved. A committee representing affected customers had reacted angrily to the proposals — not least because they've been locked out of their crypto savings for two months. But in court, the judge gave the green light, arguing it could increase the company's valuation and ensure withdrawals are unfrozen faster. It's worth noting that the approved policy has been slightly watered down. Initially, 38 staff were due to share $1.9 million — and they were set to receive 25% of their annual salary as a bonus, rather than 22.5%. Voyager has also confirmed that it will begin cost-cutting measures to ensure the company saves $4.6 million.

Non-fungible tokens worth more than $100 million have been stolen in the past year, according to a new report. Elliptic claims that cybercriminals netted an average of $300,000 per scam — and in July alone, a record-breaking 4,600 NFTs were stolen. May broke records in terms of the cash value of the crypto collectibles swiped from unsuspecting victims. Over this single month, $24 million worth of NFTs was taken, and the blockchain intelligence firm believes the true figure could be far higher as many crimes go unreported. In other developments, it's been revealed that Nike has made $185 million in NFT revenues — far more than any other mainstream brand. Dolce & Gabbana, Tiffany, Gucci and adidas also make the list of the top 10.