The highly-anticipated virtual sneaker sale on .SWOOSH faced persistent delays, leaving some users frustrated. Meanwhile, Nike has so far labeled the release as a success. Source
Nike OF1 NFT Sale Surpasses $1M Despite Delays, Tech Issues
Day: May 25, 2023
U.S. Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Takes Potshot at Ron DeSantis Bitcoin $BTC Remark
“Since the time I wrote Woke, Inc.,” Ramaswamy explained, “DeSantis has studied it and he has adopted many of the proposals as his own, and I think that’s a good thing. I’m not sure he has the same understanding of it that I do, be it central bank digital currencies or Bitcoin. But that’s okay. He’s saying the right things.” Original
Digital Currency Group (DCG) Closing Institutional Trading Platform TradeBlock
The shutdown of the unit, which provides trading services to institutional investors, will be effective as of May 31, a DCG spokesperson told CoinDesk in an emailed statement. “Due to the state of the broader economy and prolonged crypto winter, along with the challenging regulatory environment for digital assets in the U.S., we made the decision to sunset the institutional trading platform side of the business, known as TradeBlock, effective May 31, 2023,” the spokesperson said. Source
Bitcoin BTC Price Lingers Below $26.5 Amid Debt Ceiling Worries
But assets of all stripes seemed largely unmoved by Thursday’s jobs data, which showed 229,000 Americans filing unemployment benefits last week, well below the anticipated 245,000, and the U.S. economy expanding 1.3%, the third consecutive quarter of growth. Earlier this year and throughout 2022, such news might have sent digital assets cascading, but CoinDesk analyst on Thursday highlighted a shift in the good-economic-news-leads-to-lower-crypto- prices narrative. Original
Crypto Payments Company Etonec to Create ZK-Powered Compliance Tool By Year’s End
Etonec’s partnership with decentralized exchange Lumina DEX will use zero-knowledge technology to create a sort of permissioned pool, a liquidity pool market that is compliant with AML regulations. This will hopefully allow the DeFi community to attract more institutional investors to the space and grow, Jonathan Knoll, co-Founder and head of strategy at Etonec, told CoinDesk. Source
CoinDesk at 10: The Ghost of Libra Lives On
Facebook’s ambitious 2019 stablecoin project never went live. But it sure left a lasting impression. This feature is part of our CoinDesk Turns 10 series looking at the biggest stories in crypto history. Source
Alameda-Backed ‘Samcoins’ CEO Alex Grebnev Sued by CoinTelegraph Owner Gregory Fishman
“Fishman alleges Grebnev misappropriated funds backing certain crypto projects. In addition, Fishman claims Grebnev entered into a business relationship with him and then terminated it upon Sam Bankman-Fried offering Grebnev funds. Fishman contends that Grebnev stole his ideas,” the person told CryptoX. Source AlamedaBackedAlexCEOCointelegraphFishmanGrebnevGregoryownerSamcoinsSued CryptoX Portal
Brazil CBDC Pilot Participants Chosen by Central Bank
In total, the bank received 36 interest proposals from over 100 institutions from a number of different financial sectors, including payment institutions, cooperatives, public banks, crypto companies, financial market infrastructure operators, and payment settlement institutes. Source
Nvidia (NVDA) Reminds Bitcoin (BTC) Miners to Give ChatGPT-Like AI a Look
Even though most miners are not likely to repurpose their facilities for AI, “there are some miners who have always had a more diverse approach to their business operation, with high-performance compute or edge-compute services, in addition to bitcoin mining. With the rapid growth of AI, these companies may accelerate the development of those business lines,” said Juri Bulovic, head of mining at Foundry Digital (which, like CoinDesk, is owned by Digital Currency Group). Original
FTX CEO Considering Reboot of Disgraced Crypto Exchange, According to a New Court Filing
Newly filed court documents suggest FTX CEO John J. Ray III is considering restarting the bankrupt exchange’s operations. In April, Ray appeared to take part in multiple activities centered on an FTX reboot, according to a monthly compensation report filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Those activities include descriptions like “Review 2.0 next steps summary from PWP (purchase with purchase),” “Review next steps and comment on FTX restart,” “Review and finalize 2.0 reboot of exchange material for distribution,” and “Review and comment on 2.0 bidder…