Crypto Roundup: Russia Launches Exchanges, Sony Debuts Blockchain, El Salvador Adds Bitcoin, Kraken Faces Fines

Our canary is chirping a cheerful tune for crypto enthusiasts today. Russia is planning to launch domestic crypto exchanges, focusing on stablecoin issuance. Sony has unveiled Soneium, a new blockchain platform designed to drive mainstream Web3 adoption. El Salvador continues to bolster its Bitcoin holdings, adding more BTC to its national treasury. Meanwhile, Kraken has been fined for regulatory breaches.

Follow the lead of our Canary to discover unseen treasures!

Alpha Offerings

Seize your daily airdrop rewards, guided by our Canary's discovery!

1. Zora Official: Pigeon image NFT

   Potential: $700 - $1200

   Here is a step-by-step process:

   • Mint HERE

   • Fee: 0.000111ETH

2. Hemi Incentivized Testnet

   Potential: $500 - $900

   Here is a step-by-step process:

   • Claim HERE

   • Referral Code: ccc97e97

   • Connect Twitter

   • Click 'Jumpstart the Pilot Program'

   • Then Complete All Task

   • Add Hemi Sepolia RPC HERE

Meme of the Day

Market Movements - 23 Aug 2024

The crypto market witnessed mixed movements on Friday. Bitcoin remained flat at $60,903.04, and Ethereum rose by +1.10% to $2,659.37. BNB declined by -0.53% to $577.82, while Solana was slightly up by +0.09% to $143.82.

Among altcoins, Tron was down by -1.23% to $0.157, while Toncoin rose by +0.28% to $6.57. Cardano increased by +2.86% to $0.381, and Avalanche was in green by +10.72% to $26.28.

Movers and Shakers

In the last 24 hours, the top gainers included Core (+12.93%), Avalanche (+10.72%), and Sei (+10.24%). The top losers included Zcash (-3.59%), FLOKI (-3.13%), and Bittorrent (-2.34%).

Project Updates

1. PayPal's PYUSD partners with Anchorage Digital for rewards program in effort to enhance adoption. Regulatory ambiguity regarding stablecoin interest remains a hurdle.

   Read more here

2. Worldcoin faces accusations in Colombia of violating data protection laws, similar to past issues in Kenya.

   Read more here

3. Tron founder Justin Sun's USDD stablecoin loses its Bitcoin backing, raising concerns about its stability and sparking fears of a repeat of the TerraUSD collapse.

   Read more here

4. Paradigm-backed Conduit launches marketplace for rollup developers, aiming to simplify integrations and accelerate scalability.

   Read more here

5. Bitcoin staking platform Babylon launches phase one of its self-custody mainnet, allowing users to directly stake BTC for rewards.

   Read more here

Hall of Fame, Hall of Shame

China extradites crypto scammer from Thailand

In a landmark case, China successfully extradited the mastermind behind a $14 billion crypto pyramid scheme from Thailand. This marks the first extradition under the China-Thailand treaty.

Read more here

Argentina Busts Russian Crypto Launderer

Argentina arrests a Russian for laundering crypto tied to North Korea's Lazarus Group. Authorities have seized $120k in crypto and uncovered more than $4.5M in laundering scheme using TRON and Telegram bots.

Read more here

What moved in the Crypto World Today

Russia to Launch Crypto Exchanges

Facing sanctions, Russia explores domestic crypto exchanges for stablecoin issuance. Yuan and BRICS-basket pegs are under consideration. Pilot exchanges may operate under a new legal framework, initially focusing on major exporters and importers.

Read more here

Sony Launches New Blockchain

Sony unveils Soneium, an Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain, aiming to bridge the gap between Web3 and mainstream applications. This collaboration with Startale Labs focuses on user-friendliness and scalability for broader Web3 adoption.

Read more here

El Salvador Adds More Bitcoin

El Salvador continues its Bitcoin buying spree, adding 162 coins to its national holdings through daily purchases since March. This brings their national holdings to over $356 million.

Read more here

Kraken Fined for Regulatory Breach

Australia's Federal Court has ruled that Kraken's margin trading product failed to comply with regulatory requirements. ASIC alleges a lack of appropriate due diligence. Kraken faces potential penalties and regulatory actions.

Read more here

Funding Announcements

Our Canary tweets of the latest funding news:

1. Fantasy football P2E game on TON, Fanton raised $1M in a Seed funding round led by Animoca Brands, Delphi Digital, and Kenetic.

   Read more here

2. Web3 oracle provider, Stork Network raised $4M in a Seed funding round led by Lightspeed Faction.

   Read more here

3. Credit DeFi platform, Credbull raised $5.20M in a funding round led by Gnosis DAO.

   Read more here

4. Miami-based Bitcoin lightning network payment startup, TMRW raised $1.30M in a Pre-seed funding round led by Maple VC.

   Read more here

5. Bitcoin restaking platform, SatLayer raised $8M in a Pre-seed funding round led by Hack VC, Castle Island Ventures.

   Read more here

6. Scalable Layer 2 protocol for Bitcoin, Ark Labs raised $2.50M in a Pre-seed funding round led by Tim Draper, and Draper Associates.

   Read more here

7. Web3 secure and transparent platform, g8keep raised $1.25M in a Pre-seed funding round from Robot Ventures, Base Ecosystem Fund, Cygaar, and Sunil Srivatsa.

   Read more here

Whale Movements

1. Wallet 0xbb1 (linked to the Polygon Foundation) deposited another 5M MATIC ($2.65M) to Binance. Txn details here

2. Whale 35TZj deposited 300 BTC ($18.2M) to Binance. Txn details here

3. DWF Labs deposited the remaining 10.5M CRV ($3.44M) to Binance. Txn detail here

Today’s Token Unlocks

Worldcoin (WLD) - $8.51M
Pomerium (PMG) - $1.64M
SubQuery (SQT) - $798.03K

Coinversation Street

Our Canary brings some of the trending and informative tweets from the crypto world:

@Flip_Research shares their Bull/Bear case for ETH:

@dim_ss shares his thesis on $NEAR:

Upcoming Events