Autor Cointelegraph By Editorial Staff

Coming every Saturday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.Top Stories This WeekNFT creator Yuga Labs raises $450M, bringing company valuation to $4BThe creators of the wildly popular Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, Yuga Labs, raised $450 million in seed funding at a $4 billion valuation. Unsurprisingly, top venture capital firm and cash cow Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) led the round. Yuga Labs, which also recently launched ApeCoin and announced an upcoming metaverse platform, intends to use the funds to increase its employee base, attract more creative, engineering and operations talent, as well as support joint ventures and partnerships.Yuga Labs has been stacking wins over the past 12 months, with CEO Nicole Muniz emphasizing that “there‘s a lot to come” given the “new economy” of intellectual properties in the company’s roster. Yuga Labs recently bought the IP of CryptoPunks and Meebits from Larva Labs and plans to give full commercial rights to NFT holders.Charles Hoskinson cheekily admits: ‘I was wrong’ about DApp rolloutIn a bit of self-aware humor, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson pointed out that his prediction about there being “thousands of assets and DApps” on the network by 2021 fell short significantly. He made the comments on Twitter but appeared to misremember his own words, as he had predicted back in July 2020 that, by 2021, there would be “hundreds of assets and thousands of DApps” on Cardano. The number of assets appears to have exceeded expectations thanks to NFT minting platforms; however, DeFi Llama lists a mere seven DApps on the blockchain, accounting for a total of $315.72 million total value locked (TVL).SEC could approve spot Bitcoin ETFs as early as 2023 — Bloomberg analystsBloomberg’s highly clued-in ETF analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart have suggested that a proposed rule change within the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could result in the regulator approving a BTC spot ETF by mid-2023. Balchunas stated on Thursday that crypto platforms could fall under the SEC’s regulatory framework if the commission were to approve the amendment to the Exchange Act proposed in January, which would change the definition of “exchange.” The move would enable crypto platforms “trading any type of security” to be included under the act. “Once crypto exchanges are compliant, the SEC’s primary reason for denying spot Bitcoin ETFs would no longer be valid, likely clearing the way for approval,” said the analysts in a joint statement.Stargate Finance attracts $1.9B in six daysCross-chain protocol Stargate Finance has attracted more than $1.9 billion worth of TVL in less than a week since launching. The platform’s rapidly growing TVL is most likely a result of the cap of 26% APY offered for farming stablecoin deposits. Stargate Finance touts itself as a protocol that enables users to transact native assets across various chains. Users can also stake assets in pools to receive Stargate token (STG) rewards. Alameda Research CEO Sam Trabucco announced that the firm had heavily backed the project, snapping up all available Stargate tokens that had been auctioned off during Stargate’s launch on March 17.Crypto users in Africa grew by 2,500% in 2021: ReportCrypto use in Africa surged a mammoth 2,500% in 2021, according to a report from crypto exchange KuCoin. The report cited interesting data, such as “more than 88.5% of cryptocurrency transactions made by Africans” being cross-border transfers. It argued that the low fees mean that “users pay less than 0.01% of the overall amount of the transaction transferred in cryptocurrencies.”Johnny Lyu, CEO of KuCoin, told Cointelegraph that “the adoption of digital assets in Africa will continue to grow exponentially,” adding that “African countries have the highest crypto adoption rate in the world, outperforming even the biggest regions, such as the United States, Europe and Asia.”Winners and LosersAt the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $44,118, Ether (ETH) at $3,136 and XRP at $0.83. The total market cap is at $2 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Ethereum Classic (ETC) at 79.59%, Loopring (LRC) at 57.71% and Bitcoin Gold (BTG) at 53.40%.The top three altcoin losers of the week are ApeCoin (APE) at 8.09%, UNUS SED LEO (LEO) at 2.85% and Maker (MKR) at 2.02%. For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis. Most Memorable Quotations“Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that the US Government would be afraid of what we are doing here.” Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador“Avoiding scams should always stem from a common history with the requestor — i.e., to determine if they are who they claim they are — to ask for a common reference. (Yesterday, this type of question was the first I asked this scammer, and the response almost confirmed that he’s not John.)” Felix Crisan, long-time Bitcoiner“Remember when I predicted thousands of assets and DApps on Cardano? Well I was wrong, there are now millions of native assets issued and DApps are now in the hundreds. #SlowAndSteady.” Charles Hoskinson, co-founder of Cardano“You will continue seeing us take that approach as we try to shepherd companies into Web3. A lot of this is driven by ‘how do we accelerate the adoption of Web3?’ because one of the bigger risks as we see it, is that if people don‘t move into the space quickly enough then inadvertently we will perhaps also create another kind of elite.” Yat Siu, co-founder and chairman of Animoca Brands“We have seen the statistics about how few women are part of crypto by comparison, which kind of mirrors the inequality we see in other financial markets. […] Cryptocurrencies started with the goal of being accessible to everyone and breaking down barriers to entry.” Naomi Osaka, pro tennis star“Take a look at the way in which cars, mobile phones and consumer electronics took off on the continent. Africa is a continent where lightning-fast progression and adoption is common.”Nourou, founder of Bitcoin Senegal“If you want to be a pioneer on the virtual frontier of innovation, Australia is open for business. As the Minister for the digital economy and the Minister for financial services, I am backing you.”Jane Hume, Australian Senator“You can’t solicit funds for a business opportunity, abandon that business and abscond with money investors provided you. Our team here at IRS-CI and our partners at HSI closely track cryptocurrency transactions in an effort to uncover alleged schemes like this one.” Thomas Fattorusso, special agent-in-charge at IRS Criminal InvestigationPrediction of the Week Internet Computer eyes 50% move as ICP enters ‘falling wedge’ breakout territoryWith the price of Internet Computer (ICP) on a surge of late, Cointelegraph’s Yashu Gola has read the charts and outlined a bullish scenario in which ICP reaches the $27 region by next month. The move would mark a hefty 50% gain since it was priced at around $17.75 on Tuesday. Gola pointed to a “convincing falling wedge breakout in action” backed by an increase in trading volumes and continual price inclines. “In a ‘perfect’ scenario, breaking out of a falling wedge pattern — to the upside — can see a subsequent price rally by as much as the maximum distance between the wedge’s upper and lower trendline. That may put ICP en route to over $27 — by almost 50% — sometime by April,” Gola said.FUD of the Week Thailand SEC bans crypto payments, seeks disclosure of system failure from exchangesThailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission has banned crypto payments after discussing its implications with the Bank of Thailand (BOT) via a joint study. Some of the risks highlighted by the SEC include a lot of common critiques of crypto, including price volatility, cyber theft, money laundering and personal data leakage. Businesses found in non-compliance with the new crypto laws will be subject to legal actions including temporary suspension or cancellation of the services. “[Crypto payments] may affect the stability of the financial system and overall economic system including risks to people and businesses,” the joint study conducted by the BOT and SEC concluded. Li Finance protocol loses $600,000 in latest DeFi exploitThe Li Finance swap aggregator protocol was the victim of a smart contract exploit that resulted in the loss of $600,000 worth of tokens, including USD Coin (USDC), Polygon (MATIC), Rocket Pool (RPL), and Gnosis (GNO), to name a few. During the early hours of the morning of March 20, the hacker was able to extract varying amounts of 10 different tokens from wallets that had given “infinite approval” to the Li Finance protocol. The team found out about the hack an eye-watering 12 hours later and shut down all swapping functions on the platform in order to prevent any further losses. The team said that the attacker swapped the stolen tokens for a total of about 205 Ether (ETH) valued at roughly $600,000. DeFiance Capital founder loses $1.6M in hot wallet hackThe founder of crypto investment firm DeFiance Capital, pseudonymously known as  “Arthur_0x,” lost a whopping $1.6 million worth of NFTs and crypto via a hot wallet hack. After asking the community to help blacklist the hacker’s wallet, many people also jumped in to help retrieve some of the stolen assets. An NFT proponent going by the pseudonym “Cirrus” even went as far as to buy two of the stolen Azuki NFTs and return them to the founder at cost.  Cirrus told Cointelegraph on Tuesday that he “found out they were hacked, and instead of selling them for profit like the other folks who got some of [Arthur_0x’s NFTs], decided I’d sell them back to him at cost to help him out.”Best Cointelegraph FeaturesPowers On… Biden accepts blockchain technology, recognizes its benefits and pushes for adoptionPowers On… is a monthly opinion column from Marc Powers, who spent much of his 40-year legal career working with complex securities-related cases in the United States after a stint with the SEC. He is now an adjunct professor at Florida International University College of Law, where he teaches a course on “Blockchain & the Law.”DEXs and KYC: A match made in hell or a real possibility?Decentralized exchanges must figure out how to up their Know Your Customer compliance before the regulation wave hits.The metaverse will change the paradigm of content creationThe metaverse is a new frontier for business, and creators will be the first to benefit from showcasing products and services to followers.

Coming every Saturday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.Top Stories This WeekUkraine’s president signs law establishing regulatory framework for cryptoCrypto regulation has received approval from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The bill, titled “On Virtual Assets,” was signed by the president, opening the door to government oversight of the domestic cryptocurrency industry.Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation said: “The signing of this law by the president is another important step towards bringing the crypto sector out of the shadows and launching a legal market for virtual assets in Ukraine.”Among other details, the bill specifies that Ukraine’s National Securities and Stock Market Commission will govern the industry on multiple levels, such as digital asset-related licensing.European Parliament votes against PoW ban, providing huge relief to the crypto industryA significant European Union (EU) regulatory bill known as Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) has moved forward, leaving behind wording that essentially would have barred proof-of-work (PoW) crypto assets in the region.  An extensive bill pertaining to crypto regulation in the EU, MiCA had two drafts up for debate — one version that would essentially ban PoW mining and related cryptocurrencies, and another that hosted more favorable language concerning the technology. Long story short, the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs voted for the option that did not ban PoW. The bill will now proceed through further approval processes.It’s official: Binance secures a license to operate in DubaiIt was a busy week for cryptocurrency exchanges, which earned regulatory approvals in multiple jurisdictions. Binance secured licensing in Dubai and Bahrain. FTX also received a Dubai license.Thanks to the Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license it secured in the region, Binance can now establish an office in Dubai, among other rights newly afforded by the license. Additionally, Binance received a virtual asset exchange (VAX) license in Dubai. FTX also unveiled that it received Dubai’s VAX this week.ApeCoin announcement surges BAYC floor price to near-ATH before correctionOwners of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs stand to receive a considerable sum of ApeCoin (APE) — a new governance and utility token for the project. APE is an ERC-20 token.  If they do so within 90 days of March 17 (12:30 pm UTC time), BAYC owners can claim 10,000 APE, which totaled $72,000 in value at the time of Cointelegraph’s coverage in the article linked above. FTX, Gemini and other exchanges plan on listing APE.   Trading volume and pricing for BAYC NFTs saw turbulence surrounding the APE token news. Among other reported details, the token will have a supply of 1 billion.Diem team members raise $200M to launch blockchain derived from itAvery Ching and Mo Shaikh, two former Meta crypto division leads, are building a layer-1 blockchain with some of its roots based on Move — the Diem project’s programming language. Known as Aptos, the project led by Ching and Shaikh recently announced securing $200 million worth of funding, with names such as Coinbase Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz contributing. Aptos aims for its mainnet to go live in the latter half of 2022. Publicized earlier in 2022, Facebook-turned-Meta’s stablecoin Diem essentially saw an end to its journey, with Silvergate Capital Corporation buying the project’s nuts and bolts (intellectual property, etc.) from Meta. Winners and LosersAt the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $41,727, Ether (ETH) at $2,936 and XRP at $0.79. The total market cap is at $1.87 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are ApeCoin (APE) at 1,338.31%, Aave (AAVE) at 38.53% and THORChain (RUNE) at 37.67%. The top three altcoin losers of the week are Anchor Protocol (ANC) at -19.20%, Stacks (STX) at -9.20% and Kadena (KDA) at -9.18%.For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis. Most Memorable Quotations“If you are an avid crypto trader like me, I am sure that the thought of who will inherit your crypto has come to mind.” Jeetu Kataria, CEO of Digital Financial Exchange (DIFX)“Orange pill your neighbor, your favorite shop, bar, cinema, start sharing your sats. It’s easy for them to learn from a known face like yours. Be that little pebble that you throw in the lake, and it will create ripples that coming generations will benefit.”Paco de la India, Bitcoiner and runner“Our hope is that when the government does this study [as established by the executive order], […] the conclusion they will reach is we will not compete against China — an authoritarian dictatorship — by also acting like an authoritarian dictatorship. Instead we will empower our private sector to come up with competitive solutions.”Jake Chervinsky, head of policy for the Blockchain Association, regarding a United States central bank digital currency“The creator is where the power begins, and that’s where the power should stay.”Darryl McDaniels, founding member of Run-DMC“My office has received numerous tips from crypto and blockchain firms that SEC Chair @GaryGensler’s information reporting ‘requests’ to the crypto community are overburdensome, don’t feel particularly… voluntary… and are stifling innovation.”Tom Emmer, United States congressman“There is no doubt that blockchain gaming is a revolutionary concept, but at the moment, I don’t think it will be enough to support me financially by itself. […] I think I will have enough courage to leave my job to pursue blockchain gaming once the P2E ecosystem has become mature and sustainable.”Jesus Dawal Jr., Filipino gamer“With proper research and understanding, regulators will find a much easier time regulating DeFi and preventing malicious behaviors compared to the legacy financial infrastructure.”Eric Chen, co-founder and CEO of Injective Labs“You should never define any technology by its worst uses. […] There’s more to crypto than ransomware, just like there’s more to money than money laundering.”Ritchie Torres, United States representativePrediction of the Week Bitcoin faces new ‘milestone’ in 2022 as new forecast predicts BTC price ‘in the millions’This past week, crypto’s largest asset, Bitcoin, traded both below $38,000 and above $41,000 inside the seven-day period, according to Cointelegraph’s BTC price index. Based on global conditions, Bloomberg Intelligence’s Mike McGlone and former BitMEX brass Arthur Hayes both see Bitcoin ultimately coming out on top. McGlone sees the current landscape as one that may help BTC along. “Facing the #FederalReserve, inflation and war, 2022 may be primed for risk-asset reversion and mark another milestone in #Bitcoin’s maturation,” McGlone tweeted. Meanwhile, Hayes sees Bitcoin taking on a value of more than $1 million per coin based on the events currently unfolding, although he noted a decade-long time horizon with BTC suffering downward price action first.FUD of the Week Blockchain forensics firm finds millions in sanctioned crypto walletBlockchain analytics outfit Elliptic has come across a crypto wallet that could be of particular interest that could potentially be connected to prominent sanctioned Russians. The wallet’s contents total millions of dollars in value, although further specifics were not given. “It’s not proving out realistic that oligarchs can completely bypass sanctions by moving all their wealth into crypto,” Tom Robinson, Elliptic’s co-founder, told Bloomberg. “Crypto is highly traceable. Crypto can and will be used for sanctions evasion, but it’s not the silver bullet.”Millions of crypto addresses have been traced to crime associated with Russia, with hundreds of digital asset services facilitating anonymous crypto swapping via the Russian ruble, based on Elliptic’s sleuthing. RBI seemingly wants to ban cryptocurrencies, but not for the reasons you might thinkIndia’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), expressed a desire to ban crypto assets, as per a statement published this week. The RBI fears that crypto adoption could undermine the usage and dominance of the rupee, India’s national currency, and cause other issues. “Historically, private currencies have resulted in instability and therefore, have evolved into fiat currencies over centuries,” the RBI said in the statement. “The retrograde step back to private currencies cannot be taken simply because technology allows it […] without considering the dislocation it causes to society’s legal, social and economic fabric of society.”‘Unlucky:’ Agave and Hundred Finance DeFi protocols exploited for $11MDecentralized finance (DeFi) solutions Hundred Finance and Agave were exploited for $11 million by an attacker who managed to exploit a wrapped Ether (WETH) contract function on Gnosis Chain, a stable payments platform. Put simply, the attacker was able to drain more funds by continually borrowing against the same collateral they were posting. The $11 million sum was stolen via a number of different crypto assets, including the aforementioned wETH, but also wrapped BTC (WBTC), Chainlink (LINK) and USD Coin (USDC). Agave and Hundred Finance both halted their protocols in tandem amid the investigation.Best Cointelegraph FeaturesYou don’t need to be angry about NFTsIf you’ve never been angry about JPEGs you don’t need to be angry about JPEGs people can own.‘We don’t like our money’: The story of the CFA and Bitcoin in AfricaAfrican crypto experts and entrepreneurs explain why the CFA franc is an uncomfortable currency and why Bitcoin is making waves as a replacement.Russia’s central bank goes to war: Is cryptocurrency a friend or foe?Policymakers in Moscow are scrambling to rethink their approach to digital currency as one of several means of protecting the increasingly isolated economy.

Coming every Saturday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.Top Stories This WeekBiden to sign executive order on crypto, authorize all-government effort to consolidate regulationWhile many in the crypto community previously feared the worst regarding regulation, President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order on digital assets that had a relatively favorable approach to the crypto sector. While the order didn’t explicitly outline the scale of regulatory measures that could be expected, the general sentiment from the U.S. federal government appeared to be constructive as opposed to stifling. Per the order, the federal government’s regulatory oversight of the crypto sector will focus on six areas: consumer and investor protection; financial stability; financial inclusion; responsible innovation; the United States’ global financial leadership; and combating illicit financial activity. The order directs specific agencies to lead in designated policy and enforcement domains.Bain Capital Ventures sets up a half-billion-dollar fund for crypto projectsMulti-billion-dollar startup investment firm Bain Capital Ventures (BCV) has unveiled a new $560 million crypto ecosystem fund, with the company already reported to have splurged $100 million on 12 undisclosed projects.A BCV representative emphasized to Cointelegraph that the fund will be used to back entrepreneurs developing the next generation of open Web3 internet infrastructure: “We believe this seismic shift will be one of the most important technological developments since the advent of the web and will require a new type of investment firm – one that can support the needs of the founders and the ecosystem from ideation through scale.”Crypto.com gives users in excluded countries one week to repay loansMany Crypto.com users were reporting on Wednesday that the platform was giving them until March 15 to pay down their crypto loans or face liquidation to recoup the borrowed value of the assets. Users from nations such as Germany, Switzerland and the U.K. were notified via email after Crypto.com updated the list of countries barred from its loan program. This list now includes the United States and 38 other counties.  The sudden policy change left customers anguished and in disbelief, with many claiming that the exchange‘s recent splurge on advertisements and marketing has started to take a toll on its balance sheet. Crypto.com has not yet responded to Cointelegraph‘s requests for comment.Sanctions on Russia and Belarus will include crypto — European CommissionThe European Commission stated on Wednesday that its latest sanctions on Russia and Belarus would also extend to crypto assets, with member states agreeing that the amended crackdowns will ensure “even more effectively that Russian sanctions cannot be circumvented, including through Belarus.”The expanded sanctions came after the commission announced last month that it would be booting several Russian banks from the SWIFT cross-border payment network. Under the crypto-related sanctions, digital assets fall under the scope of “transferable securities,” while loans and credit provided via crypto will not be permitted as part of these restrictive financial measures.Crypto-friendly Yoon Suk-yeol wins South Korean presidency, ICX surges 60%Crypto-friendly South Korean presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol won the country’s election on Thursday, with digital asset policy playing a key role in the nation’s election debate. Suk-yeol’s pro-crypto stance appeared to be a breath of fresh air to the majority of citizens, especially among the younger crowd, after outgoing president Moon Jae-in actively worked to crack down on the space last year. Speaking at a virtual asset forum in January, Suk-yeol promised to deregulate South Korea’s crypto industry and establish a progressive approach to digital assets, stating:“To realize the unlimited potential of the virtual asset market, we must overhaul regulations that are far from reality and unreasonable.”Winners and LosersAt the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $38,751, Ether (ETH) at $2,561 and XRP at $0.72. The total market cap is at $1.72 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Waves (WAVES) at 35.89%, Stacks (STX) at 24.45% and Zcash (ZEC) at 24.34%. The top three altcoin losers of the week are Anchor Protocol (ANC) at -33.46%, Fantom (FTM) at -30.64% and Cosmos (ATOM) at -16.64%.For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis. Most Memorable Quotations“Trying to obscure large transactions using open and transparent crypto technology would be far more difficult than other established methods (e.g., using fiat, art, gold, or other assets).”Paul Grewal, chief legal officer at Coinbase“The more I learned, the more I realized we need this. This kind of money will help overcome so many issues. Not only is Bitcoin a tool for freedom, but the technology underpinning Bitcoin such as blockchain and decentralization will change Africa’s development.”Bineta (a.k.a. Mama Bitcoin), Senegalese Bitcoiner and owner of Bleu comme la mer“Usually, a fan sits back and watches a game, follows on social media and maybe buys a jersey. NFTs give an opportunity for true engagement, ownership and in some cases, decision-making power. […] Just like we’ve seen with sports betting, NFTs are another lever for leagues to create additional engagement with fans and therefore another way to monetize IP.”Dan Porter, CEO and co-founder of Overtime“We need to see Bitcoin as not maybe digital gold, but as a currency that doesn’t follow the whims of a central bank, but rather has a very finite quantity.”Joe DiPasquale, CEO of Bitbull Capital“Cryptocurrency remains an important humanitarian tool, especially at a time when many around the world can no longer rely on traditional banks and custodians.”Jesse Powell, CEO of Kraken“While I agree with the President’s desire to combat money laundering and defend America’s national security, I think his executive order misses the fact that the overwhelming majority of digital asset users are law-abiding and trying to make our financial system better.”Cynthia Lummis, United States senator“We want to identify and invest in one or two targets in every economic sector and try to bring them into crypto.”Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, CEO of Binance“In the U.S., where most people have access to traditional banking, crypto is often viewed as more akin to gambling than to investing. The space can also feel pretty intimidating from the outside looking in — things move so quickly, a lot of the lingo is new and confusing, and the way it’s portrayed in the media is overwhelmingly negative.”Jackie Rose, head of institutional business development at Blockchain.com “It makes much more sense to replace a resistive heater (like a space heater) with a Bitcoin miner, as both of them will turn electricity into heat, while the Bitcoin miner also generates Bitcoin.”Michael Schmid, Bitcoin minerPrediction of the Week $40K Bitcoin price is in reach, but analysts warn that a sweep of recent lows is likelyBitcoin had a week of indecisive price action filled with notable ups and downs. Inside the week, BTC visited lows below $37,500 and highs above $42,500, based on price data from Cointelegraph’s BTC price index.  Cointelegraph’s Jordan Finneseth wrote an article, published on Thursday, detailing a number of points regarding Bitcoin. Among other quotes and data, the article included a possible outcome explained by ExoAlpha chief investment officer and managing partner David Lifchitz. “BTC remains still stuck in the $33,000-$45,000 range,” Lifchitz said. “Without any follow-through in the next 48 hours and a possible break above $45,000 toward $50,000, BTC will probably keep on bouncing in the range.”FUD of the Week DeFi ‘Godfather’ Cronje quits as TVL and tokens tank for related projectsRespected developer and Yearn.finance founder Andre Cronje deleted his Twitter account after he and his long-time colleague Anton Nell both stepped away from the crypto sector altogether.   Nell stated on Sunday that the duo will no longer contribute to the DeFi and crypto space moving forward, as he announced that they will be shutting down roughly 25 apps and services that they were operating. The community reaction was mixed, with some sympathetic toward the duo needing a long-overdue break. However, others grabbed the pitchforks when crypto prices and total value locked (TVL) across DeFi started to tank.  “Was this a RUG? Nah. I see a developer who signed up to build but didn’t sign up for all the bullshit & drama that comes with it. He reached a tipping point where it wasn’t worth it for him anymore,” said The DeFi Edge on Twitter. DeFi detective alleges this ‘suspicious’ smart contract code may put dozens of projects at riskPseudonymous online DeFi detective Zachxbt highlighted that 31 nonfungible token projects may be exposed to financial risk due to “suspicious code.” Zachxbt initially pointed to NFT project The Starslab, which was allegedly compromised for 197.175 Ether. The detective quoted fellow pseudonymous blockchain investigator MouseDev, who noted, after reviewing the code behind The Starslab (which is prevalent in a lot of other projects):“The smart contract [for this project] can never truly be renounced or transferred! Only an additional owner. The original deployer will always be considered the owner! […] This means if they still have the private key of the deployer, they can pull the money, even though the owner is the null address.”Siblings charged over mining coin that turned into alleged $124M fraudJohn Albert Loar Barksdale and JonAtina “Tina” Barksdale, a brother and sister duo, were charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly defrauding over 12,000 “retail investors out of more than $124 million” via a scheme dubbed Ormeus Coin. The U.S. Department of Justice also arrested John — who was described by the SEC as a “snake-oil salesman” — abroad and charged him with wire fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy, among other alleged crimes. According to court documents, the fraud allegations stem from two initial coin offerings in 2017. The Barksdales allegedly lied about “the size, value, and purported profitability of Ormeus Coin’s cryptocurrency mining assets” to garner capital from unsuspecting investors. “We will continue to vigorously pursue persons who sell securities in schemes to defraud the investing public no matter what label the promoters apply to their products,” said Melissa Hodgman, an associate director for the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.Best Cointelegraph FeaturesManzi the magnificent: From millionaire at 16 to incredible IoT inventor“Devices now, for the first time, can kind of open up and start talking to each other because of the technology that blockchain provides.”Stablecoins will have to reflect and evolve to live up to their nameStablecoins have the possibility to become a promising alternative system amid global inflation, but they must be auditable to remain stable.Crypto mining’s cost: How has hardware availability changed the industry?Is accessible mining possible? How easy is it to buy mining equipment, and how can this happen affordably?