- Circle is relocating its global headquarters to New York City, specifically to the One World Trade Center.
- CEO Jeremy Allaire announced the move on September 13, emphasizing the convergence of web3 and traditional finance.
- Circle's headquarters have been in Boston, Massachusetts since its founding in October 2013.
- The decision comes despite Circle's recent criticisms of the U.S. regulatory environment for crypto.
- The move received mixed reactions from the web3 community, with some welcoming the decision and others expressing skepticism.
- Soneium, Sony's upcoming Layer 2 network, is integrating support for Bridged USDC, a stablecoin by Circle.
- The integration is part of a strategic collaboration with Sony Block Solutions Labs (Sony SBL), which oversees Sony's web3 initiatives.
- USDC will be one of the primary tokens facilitating value exchange on Soneium.
- Jun Watanabe, chairman of Sony SBL, expressed excitement about integrating Circle’s financial infrastructure to create a more interconnected digital ecosystem.
- Bridged USDC acts as a proxy for native USDC on Ethereum, enabling digital dollar payments on Layer 2 blockchains like Soneium.
- This integration also sets the stage for deploying native USDC on Soneium in the future.
- Bitcoin dipped 2.7% to around $58,551 and Ether slid 5.38% to $2,289 over the past 24 hours, following a weekend high of $60,600 for Bitcoin.
- The price declines coincide with expectations of a U.S. Federal Reserve interest-rate cut and reports of an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
- Analysts suggest the drop is more likely due to crypto markets giving up Friday's gains and a broader risk-off sentiment ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.
- The FOMC meeting, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, is anticipated to announce a rate cut.
- Market experts believe the Trump assassination attempt is not a significant factor for macro markets at this time.
- Despite recent fluctuations, Bitcoin's price has remained relatively stable between $54,000 and $60,000 over the past two weeks.
- Hedera has become a founding premier member of the Linux Foundation’s new decentralized trust initiative, contributing its entire source code, including the hashgraph consensus algorithm, to the foundation.
- The contribution forms the basis of a new project called “Hiero,” aimed at fostering global collaboration on decentralized trust technologies under an open-source framework.
- Daniela Barbosa of the Linux Foundation emphasized that open-source development is crucial for the future of decentralized technologies across various sectors.
- Charles Adkins, president of Hedera, highlighted that the open-source model will benefit developers by enhancing collaboration and interoperability, accelerating innovation and adoption.
- On Sept. 5, Hedera and IOHK joined the Decentralized Recovery Alliance (DeRec Alliance) as final founding members, contributing to the Technical Oversight Committee to shape policies and standards for crypto recovery.
- The move signifies a significant shift towards decentralization and aims to create a more inclusive and collaborative environment for developers.
- **DeltaPrime Exploit**: Over $6 million in tokens were drained from DeltaPrime wallets due to a private key leak, specifically affecting the Arbitrum version of the project.
- **Hacker's Method**: The hacker gained control over an admin proxy and redirected it to a malicious contract, leading to significant financial losses.
- **Impact on Users**: Users on Arbitrum could not withdraw funds due to the platform's borrowing and lending mechanisms.
- **Technical Details**: The hacker controlled the admin proxy (0xx40e4ff9e018462ce71fa34abdfa27b8c5e2b1afb) and upgraded it to a malicious contract (0xD4CA224a176A59ed1a346FA86C3e921e01659E73).
- **Affected Pools**: Security firm Cyvers identified affected pools including #DPUSDC, #DPARB, and #DPBTCb.
- **Market Reaction**: DeltaPrime’s PRIME tokens fell 6.5% in the past 24 hours, amid a broader market decline led by ether (ETH).
- BaseBros Fi, a DeFi protocol on the Base blockchain, vanished after executing a rug pull via an unaudited smart contract, deleting its website and social media on Sept. 13.
- Blockchain security firm Chain Audits revealed that the rug pull was conducted through an unaudited and unverified Vault contract, which was not part of their audit scope.
- The unaudited contract had a backdoor vulnerability, allowing BaseBros owners to withdraw funds from the 'Strategy' contract, affecting only BaseBros and not the Seamless protocol.
- Approximately $130,000 was siphoned through Tornado Cash, but Seamless confirmed its protocol and investors' funds were safe.
- BaseBros had around 2,000 followers on X and over 3,300 members on Telegram before disappearing.
- The incident highlights ongoing vulnerabilities in DeFi projects, emphasizing the importance of comprehensive audits.
- **Delta Prime Hack**: DeFi platform Delta Prime has been hacked, resulting in a loss of nearly $6 million in digital currency, primarily stablecoins swapped to ETH.
- **Initial and Ongoing Losses**: The first wave of the attack saw a loss of approximately $4.5 million, with subsequent transactions increasing the total stolen amount.
- **Cause of Breach**: The attack likely stemmed from a private key exploit, allowing hackers to take control of the admin wallet and upgrade contracts to drain funds.
- **Security Insights**: Onchain security platform Cyvers and its CTO, Meir Dolev, confirmed the breach and detailed the method used by the hackers.
- **Context**: This incident follows a $230 million hack on WazirX, marking another significant cybersecurity event in the crypto space.
- **Future Threats**: Experts warn that North Korean hackers, including the Lazarus Group, may target U.S.-based Bitcoin ETFs next, which hold a cumulative $53.4 billion in BTC.
- Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) experienced significant declines, with BTC falling 3% to below $58,400 and ETH dropping 5.5%, marking its worst one-day slide since early August.
- The declines come ahead of anticipated U.S. Federal Reserve rate cuts, which have historically influenced market sentiment by making borrowing cheaper and spurring growth in riskier sectors.
- U.S.-listed Bitcoin ETFs saw substantial inflows of over $263 million, the highest since July 22, while Ether ETFs saw smaller inflows of $1.5 million, indicating continued investor interest.
- Other major cryptocurrencies also saw declines: Cardano’s ADA fell 5%, Solana’s SOL lost 4%, and BNB Chain’s BNB had a smaller loss of 1.1%.
- Futures traders betting on higher prices lost over $143 million due to the sudden market drop, according to CoinGlass data.
- The BTC/ETH ratio fell to four-year lows, reflecting Ethereum's increased competition from other chains like Solana, Base, and TON, as well as Sony’s Soneium, which will offer USDC on its chain.
- **ETH Price Drop**: Ether's price fell 6% to $2,260, hitting its lowest ETH/BTC ratio since April 2021, amid market jitters and a wave of "FUD" on social media platform X.
- **Federal Reserve Anticipation**: The crypto market is on edge as traders await the Federal Reserve's rate cut announcement scheduled for Sept. 18.
- **Trump Assassination Attempt**: Market volatility was also influenced by news of a second reported assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
- **Brazil's Social Media Ban**: Brazil's Attorney General supported the Supreme Court's ban on social media platform X, despite Elon Musk's compliance with financial penalties.
- **MicroStrategy's Bitcoin Purchase**: MicroStrategy acquired 18,300 Bitcoin for $1.11 billion, bringing its total holdings to 244,800 BTC, valued at approximately $14.14 billion.
- **Circle Blacklists Lazarus Group**: Circle blacklisted over $1.5M in USD Coin (USDC) tied to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, following similar actions by Tether, Paxos, and Techteryx in April. Blockchain sleuth ZachXBT criticized Circle for the delay, noting Lazarus laundered over $200M from 25 hacks between 2020-2023.
- **Ethereum Researcher Exits**: Danny Ryan, a key Ethereum Foundation researcher, announced his departure after 7 years, citing personal reasons and a desire to explore new opportunities. Ryan played a significant role in Ethereum's transition to proof-of-stake in 2022.
- **Trump DeFi Platform Advisor**: World Liberty Finance, a DeFi platform linked to Donald Trump, appointed Sandy Peng, co-founder of Ethereum layer-2 solution Scroll, as an advisor. The platform, operated by Trump’s sons, is set to launch on Sept. 16, aiming to integrate US dollar-pegged stablecoins in DeFi.
- **Catizen Airdrop Controversy**: Telegram’s Catizen players expressed dissatisfaction over the tokenomics of the upcoming CATI token airdrop, with only 15% allocated for “Season 1.” The developers cited bot activity as the reason for the reduced community allocation, leading to backlash and the hashtag “#catizenscam.”
- **Other News**: Former President Trump was reported safe after gunshots were heard near him at a golf club in Florida. Chinese lawmakers are considering revising anti-money laundering laws to better monitor risks associated with cryptocurrencies.
- Ether (ETH) dropped 6% in 24 hours, falling from $2,425 to $2,260, amid broader crypto market jitters and a 4.5% market retreat.
- The decline is attributed to a wave of "FUD" (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) on social media, with analysts and industry observers contributing to negative sentiment.
- The ETH/BTC ratio hit its lowest level since April 2021, now at 0.038, with even Bitcoin Cash (BCH) outperforming Ether over the past year.
- The slump coincides with anticipation of a Federal Reserve rate cut, with a 41% chance of a 25 basis point cut and a 59% chance of a 50 basis point cut.
- Former President Donald Trump survived a second assassination attempt, though its impact on ETH markets remains unclear.
- Circle has partnered with Sony Block Solutions Labs to expand USDC adoption on Sony’s layer-2 blockchain, Soneium.
- The collaboration aims to integrate Circle’s Bridged USDC Standard, making USDC a primary token for value exchange on Soneium.
- Soneium, a public Ethereum layer-2 blockchain, was launched in August 2024 by Sony Block Solutions Labs, a joint venture with Sony Group Corporation and Startale Labs.
- The Bridged USDC Standard allows USDC to be deployed on EVM-compatible blockchains, facilitating digital dollar payments on L2 chains.
- Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire and Sony Block Solutions Labs Chairman Jun Watanabe highlighted the partnership's potential to enhance the digital ecosystem and Web3 experiences.
- Circle is the second-largest stablecoin issuer with a $35.7 billion circulating supply, and USDC supply has increased 47% this year despite being down from its peak in June 2022.
- **Creator Disavows**: Dong Nguyen, the original creator of Flappy Bird, has distanced himself from a group claiming to revive the game, stating he has no relation to the project and does not support crypto.
- **Trademark Acquisition**: The Flappy Bird Foundation acquired the rights to the game from Gametech Holdings LLC, which won the trademark after Nguyen abandoned it.
- **Crypto Integration**: Hidden website pages suggest the revived game will feature crypto elements, including a token on Solana, a play-to-earn model, and potential airdrops.
- **Research Findings**: Researcher Varun Biniwale discovered references to a $FLAP token and a "flap-to-earn" event linked to the TON blockchain, indicating deeper crypto integration.
- **Project Leadership**: Michael Roberts, head of studio at crypto game developer 1208 Production, is reportedly leading the revival of Flappy Bird.
- **Community Skepticism**: There are concerns that the project aims to capitalize on the nostalgic appeal of Flappy Bird while integrating cryptocurrency and Web3 elements for profit.
- The CFTC has raised concerns about potential manipulation in prediction markets, citing incidents on platforms like Polymarket and PredictIt.
- Kalshi, a US predictions market, faced legal challenges from the CFTC, which partially lost its initial case but secured a temporary stay order to halt Kalshi's election betting.
- Despite a brief launch of its election market, Kalshi had to take it down due to another stay order from the appeals court.
- The CFTC argues that allowing election betting could cause significant public harm, while Kalshi claims the stay order would cause them financial damage.
- A key issue in the case is whether Kalshi's operations fall under the CFTC's regulatory authority as "gaming."
- The Sept. 6 ruling in favor of Kalshi was seen as a positive development for the broader crypto industry, emphasizing the importance of market participation.
- A Reddit user named "SentuBill" reported that ChatGPT initiated a conversation by asking about his first day of school, inferring this from previous interactions.
- The conversation, verified by Cointelegraph, suggests that this capability is part of a new upgrade called the ChatGPT Strawberry Upgrade.
- Launched on September 13, 2024, the upgrade allows ChatGPT to reason and conduct independent internet research, with response times of 10-20 seconds.
- Originally set for a November 2024 release, the upgrade may launch earlier, and OpenAI has revised its model naming conventions to reflect significant advancements.
- OpenAI's products have seen a surge in popularity, reaching over 1 million users and 600,000 premium subscribers as of April 2024.
- The company is considering introducing high-end subscription plans that could cost over $2,000 per month.
- World Liberty Financial, a Trump-backed crypto project, is set to launch on Monday, September 16, at 8 p.m.
- Sandy Peng, co-founder of Ethereum Layer 2 network Scroll, joins as an advisor, bringing extensive blockchain experience.
- The project will be built on Aave and the Ethereum blockchain, focusing on a "credit account system" and stablecoin adoption.
- Former President Trump emphasized the project's aim to move away from traditional banking systems.
- Trump confirmed his safety after gunshots were heard near him while golfing on Sunday.
- Bitcoin (BTC) surged back to $60,000 on Sept. 13, marking a 10% rally this week and turning September's returns positive.
- Investors are eyeing the upcoming FOMC meeting on Sept. 18, with a 50% chance of a 50-basis point rate cut, which could impact crypto markets.
- MicroStrategy acquired 18,300 BTC between Aug. 6 and Sept. 12, increasing its holdings to 244,800 BTC at an average price of $38,585.
- Fetch.ai (FET) is forming an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern, potentially signaling a new uptrend if it breaks above $1.51.
- Sui (SUI) shows signs of a trend change, with potential momentum if it breaks the $1.11 to $1.18 resistance zone.
- Aave (AAVE) and Injective (INJ) are also showing bullish signs, with AAVE targeting $160 and INJ potentially breaking out of a descending channel pattern.
- **Surprise Airdrop Changes:** Catizen players are upset after developer Pluto Studio revealed undisclosed changes to the airdrop criteria for the upcoming CATI token launch on September 20.
- **Disappointing Allocations:** Many players, who expected larger rewards for their efforts in the Telegram game, expressed their dissatisfaction on social media, with some receiving only single or double-digit CATI tokens.
- **Transparency Issues:** Players criticized the lack of transparency, especially after Pluto announced that only 30% of the token supply would be circulating at launch, contrary to the previously stated 43%.
- **Criteria Shift:** Pluto Studio altered the airdrop criteria to focus on genuine player activities like on-chain interactions and in-game purchases, after discovering bot accounts exploiting the original rules.
- **Community Backlash:** The changes, perceived as favoring players who spent money over those who invested time, led to the hashtag “#catizenscam” trending on Twitter.
- **Developer Response Pending:** Decrypt reached out to Pluto Studio for comments on the controversy and the decision to change the criteria instead of banning cheaters, but has yet to receive a response.
- **Hamster Kombat**: A popular Telegram game with 300 million players, set to launch a crypto token on The Open Network (TON) on September 26.
- **Daily Rewards**: Players can earn 6 million in-game coins daily through the daily combo (5 million coins) and daily cipher (1 million coins).
- **Today's Combo**: For September 15, the combo includes CEO, Consensus Explorer Pass, and Hamster Green Energy cards.
- **Today's Cipher Code**: The code is "CHARGE" in Morse code: C (— • — •), H (• • • •), A (• —), R (• — •), G (— — •), E (•).
- **Game Mechanics**: Input the cipher code via the "Daily cipher" button; dots are quick taps, dashes are press-and-hold.
- **Timing**: The daily combo refreshes at 3pm ET, and the next combo period begins at 8am ET daily.
- Former President Trump is safe following reports of gunshots "in his vicinity" at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, according to spokesperson Steven Cheung.
- The incident occurred while Trump was playing golf, leading to an immediate lockdown of the golf course.
- It remains unclear if the gunshots were related to Trump or originated from within the golf course.
- This follows a previous assassination attempt on Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024.
- Trump is set to launch the World Liberty Financial crypto platform on Sept. 16.
- Further updates will be provided by Cointelegraph as more information becomes available.
- The CFTC has filed a new motion to prevent Kalshi from offering prediction markets for the upcoming November elections, despite losing an initial case.
- District Court Judge Jia Cobb ruled that the CFTC overstepped its authority, but the agency appealed, forcing Kalshi to pause its election contracts shortly after listing them.
- The CFTC argues that allowing election gambling on U.S. futures markets poses significant harm, outweighing any financial damages Kalshi might face.
- The legal debate centers on whether election prediction markets constitute "gaming" or "gambling," with the CFTC claiming jurisdiction based on these definitions.
- Both the CFTC and Kalshi acknowledge the risk of market manipulation, citing past incidents, but Kalshi argues that unregulated markets already exist and a stay would only push trading to these platforms.
- The CFTC dismisses Kalshi's argument, emphasizing that the presence of unregulated markets does not justify allowing election gambling on regulated futures markets.
- Google is set to delete user accounts inactive for over two years, a move tech YouTuber "Mental Outlaw" suggests indicates the end of free online service models due to storage constraints.
- Early Gmail users often used the service for cloud storage, leading to significant space consumption that Google now finds costly to maintain.
- The rise of adblocking services and privacy-focused browsers like Brave has reduced revenue from data monetization, pressuring the free service model.
- Google announced the policy change in late 2023, citing security concerns as a reason for deleting dormant accounts, which are more vulnerable to security breaches.
- The policy will not affect accounts used by schools or businesses, focusing solely on individual accounts.
- Decentralized storage solutions like Functionland and Irys are emerging as alternatives, offering users more control over their data and challenging big tech's dominance.
- **Daily Rewards**: Rocky Rabbit offers 2.5 million in-game coins for solving the Enigma puzzle and 2 million coins for the correct Daily SuperSet combo.
- **Game Mechanics**: The game is a tap-to-earn platform with a bodybuilding and combat theme, planning to launch its own token, RabBitcoin, on The Open Network (TON).
- **SuperSet Combo**: For Sunday, September 15, the SuperSet combo is Technical Training, Advanced Stretching, and Punching Bag Practice. Updated daily at 4am ET.
- **Enigma Puzzle**: The Enigma solution for September 15 is: Estate, Room, File, Manage, Enough, Fatal, Horror, Devote, Used, Slight, Receive, Slow. Updated daily at 12pm ET.
- **Bonus**: The first person to submit the correct Enigma answer daily receives an additional 2.5 TON.
- **Game Popularity**: Rocky Rabbit is gaining traction, similar to games like Notcoin and Hamster Kombat, with multiple daily opportunities to earn in-game coins.
- Despite a significant slump in the NFT market, Magic Eden is experiencing its best year ever, according to CEO Jack Lu.
- Magic Eden, which launched in September 2021, initially offered only Solana NFTs but has since adopted a multi-chain approach, supporting Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polygon, and Base.
- The NFT market has seen a 91% drop in trading volumes since Magic Eden's inception, yet the platform has captured a 70% share of revenue in the NFT market.
- Magic Eden's success is attributed to its focus on content and convenience, making it a one-stop shop for digital assets.
- The platform has also ventured into Bitcoin-based collectibles, including Ordinals and Runes, further diversifying its offerings.
- CEO Jack Lu emphasizes the importance of long-term thinking and adaptability to changing market trends.
- Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) announced the latest cohort for its Crypto Startup Accelerator (CSX), featuring 21 global startups focusing on AI, layer-1 solutions, and more.
- Highlighted participants include PIN AI, which raised $10M in a pre-seed round to develop a privacy-focused, on-device AI assistant, and Blocksense, which raised $4M to redefine decentralized data infrastructure using zero-knowledge cryptography.
- Other notable funding rounds: DRiP raised $8M led by NFX, IN1 secured $6M with Brainstorm as an investor, and Fountain announced a $3.5M seed round with participation from Foundation Capital and others.
- OpenEden, a real-world asset tokenization platform, received an undisclosed investment from Binance Labs.