Coinbase will allow people who deposit their paychecks to buy crypto fee-free — and the exchange is going to help employers offer crypto salaries to their workers.
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CoinMarketRecap: Weekly Crypto News · Episode 9 - 24 September - Crypto drama, Bitcoin scams, Snoop Dogg, NFTs for Afghanistan
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Molly’s Musings 👩💻
Would You Pay $23.7 Million to Send $100,000 on the Blockchain?
No. And nobody should.
But because of the way that Ethereum gas fees work — you can pay a higher gas fee to make sure that your transaction goes through faster — what appears to be a huge fat finger typo has led to this exact situation.
Yesterday, a wallet that belonged to crypto exchange Bitfinex really did pay $23.7 million (at the time) in transaction fees in order to send a mere $100,000 in Tether.
If you don’t believe me, believe Etherscan.
In this particular fat finger gas fee incident, most of the money was actually returned back to the wallet (for a much more reasonable gas fee of about $33) — but another gas fees disaster in the past didn’t have as happy an ending for the sender.
More than a year ago, several small Ethereum transactions by the same sender had the wild sum of $5 million in gas fees. In this case, the sender never came forward, the money was not returned, and for an apparent lack of a better idea, the mining pools that facilitated the transactions decided to distribute the oversized fees back to the miners.
In last year’s case, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin had noted that an upcoming Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP-1559 specifically) would help avoid this typo-problem in the future by removing the need for users to set their own gas fees.
EIP-1559 was activated already back in August, and the latest fat finger gas fee did use the new EIP-1559 type of transaction — so what gives?
DeversiFi (the Bitfinex-connected platform that actually processed the $23.7 million transaction) somewhat ironically promotes itself as giving users access to DeFi protocols “without paying gas fees” — looking forward to their promised “post mortem” in the coming days.
But even without their most likely highly technical explanation for how such a bumble could have occurred, my advice for today is straightforward — always double-check your gas fees!
Bitcoin! 😊 Altcoins! 😺
El Salvador Chivo Stats Revealed 🚀
According to data shared by President Nayib Bukele, El Salvador's adoption of Bitcoin is going from strength to strength. A dashboard suggests that 2.25 million people have now downloaded the official Chivo wallet. The figures also indicate that the system is processing an average of 65,437 transactions per second. Crunch the numbers here.
Coinbase: Direct Deposit Paychecks For Fee-Free Crypto 💸
Coinbase says it is going to allow customers to deposit their paychecks directly into their accounts. From here, they can then snap up crypto without paying fees. The exchange also plans to sign up companies that want to offer their employees the ability to get paid in crypto. Rewards on Coinbase's Visa card are also being expanded. Here's the latest.
DeversiFi Says User Funds Are Safe After $23.7M Gas Fee Blunder 😌
After the fat finger typo that led to almost $24 million paid in gas fees for a $100,000 transaction, DeversiFi Protocol (which processed the transactions) has reiterated that user funds are safe.
FTX Abandoning Hong Kong For Bahamas 🇧🇸
While not directly related to the current crackdown in mainland China, FTX has announced plans to move from Hong Kong to The Bahamas. CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said a friendly government and “comprehensive” legal framework was behind the move, but Hong Kong is following the mainland’s crypto hostility. Learn more here.
Revolut to Launch Crypto Token 💰
Unnamed sources speaking to Coindesk today said that Revolut — a fintech company with a valuation of $33 billion — might be looking to launch its own cryptographic token. Revolut already offers cryptocurrency purchasing as part of its user offering.
Tajikistan National Bank Enlists Fantom, Orienbank to Help Develop CBDC 🇹🇯
The Central Asian country is apparently looking to build its own central bank digital currency on the Fantom blockchain.
NFTs Galore 👾
Snoop Dogg Buys XCOPY Ethereum NFT for $3.9 Million 🖼️
After Snoop Dogg’s alleged reveal of himself as pseudonymous NFT Twitter collector Cozomo de Medici (although Vice thinks otherwise), Cozomo has purchased another pricey NFT — this time from artist XCOPY.
Atari Founder Is Launching Augmented Reality NFTs on Ethereum 🎮
Atari — the world famous video game company — plans to launch a series of NFTs called The Arcade OG Series on marketplace MakersPlace.
DeFi Never Sleeps 💫
Permissioned DeFi Platform Aave Arc Gears Up for Launch 🏌️
Aave Arc — a permission version of Aave — is planning its first deployment after institutional custody firm Fireblocks has made a proposal to be the first whitelister.
How Much Can You Play-to-Earn? 🎲
Philippines’ Central Bank Warns Play-to-Earn Gamers on Potential Illicit Activities 😲
After play-to-earn games like Axie Infinity took off this summer, especially in the Philippines, the country’s central bank is warning the public of possible “illicit activities” that can occur in “the digital space.” The bank has also noted that Axie Infinity is not registered with regulators, and it is keeping an eye on its activities.
No More FUD…😟
ETH Developer Pleads Guilty over North Korea Trip 🇰🇵
Virgil Griffith has pleaded guilty to violating U.S. sanctions by giving a talk on crypto and blockchain at a 2019 conference in Pyongyang. Griffith claimed he discussed basics, but the FBI said he specifically discussed ways to get around sanctions. The plea carries a potential 20-year sentence. Read more here.
Alibaba Says It Will Block Sales of Cryptocurrency Mining Equipment Starting Next Month 🇨🇳
Alibaba, the Amazon of China, has said that it will block all further crypto mining equipment sales on its platform after Oct. 8 — and the most recent Chinese crypto plan is to blame.
SEC Levies Charges Against Alleged 'Meme Stock' Wash Traders
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged two men with wash trading meme stocks in order to make money from rebate programs.
Who Got the Money? 🤑
Immutable X Token Sale Raises Over $12.5M 💰
The Ethereum scaling product’s sale on CoinList sold out in less than an hour.
Clearpool Raises $3M to Build Decentralized Capital Markets on Ethereum 💸
Clearpool — which allows institutions to borrow uncollateralized liquidity — is being incubated by digital asset custodian Hex Trust.
‘Solcial’ Raises $2.9M to Build Censorship-Free Social Media on Solana 🤑
The fundraising for the content sharing hub comes with a valuation of around $58 million.
DeFi Portal Avantgarde Eyes DAO Treasuries, Asset Managers With $5.5M Funding Round 💵
Avantgarde’s funding round was led by Blockchange Ventures, and supported by Acrew Ventures, Jump Capital and Placeholder VC.
Blockchain Startup Swash Raises $4M to Make Data Monetization Click 🤯
Swash’s funding round was led by three companies: KuCoin, Outlier Ventures and Streamr.
African Crypto Exchange Yellow Card Completes $15M Funding Round 🤲
The crypto exchange’s funding round was led by Valar Ventures, Third Prime and Castle Island Ventures — and participants numbered Square, Cash App, Coinbase Ventures, Polychain Capital and Blockchain.com Ventures.
