Coinbase screws up, Florida bans CBDCs, and Ordinals face controversy: Hodler’s Digest, May 7-13

Top Stories This Week

Coinbase calls Pepe a ‘hate symbol,’ prompting calls to boycott the exchange

An email sent retired to Coinbase customers describing the Pepe the Frog meme arsenic a “hate symbol” co-opted by alt-right groups has drawn important ire from the PEPE memecoin assemblage this week. Two hours aft the email was sent, the hashtag “#deletecoinbase” deed the trending sidebar connected Twitter, with implicit 14,000 comments calling connected users to boycott the exchange. Paul Grewal, the Coinbase’s main ineligible officer, took to Twitter to respond to the outrage and apologized: “We screwed up and we are sorry.”

Florida politician signs CBDC measure into law, restricting immoderate uses of US and overseas CBDCs

United State’s Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a measure restricting the usage of cardinal slope integer currencies (CBDCs) successful the state. The caller instrumentality prohibits the usage of a United States national CBDC “as wealth wrong Florida’s Uniform Commercial Code (UCC).” It besides bans the usage of CBDCs issued by overseas governments and calls connected different states to usage their commercialized codes to institute akin prohibitions. DeSantis said helium was spurred into enactment by White House studies of the caller fiscal technology. The instrumentality takes effect connected July 1.

Milady memecoin surges 5,250% aft Musk tweet, speech listings

Milady (LADYS), the self-organized memecoin based connected the anime avatar NFT postulation of the aforesaid name, surged by implicit 5,250% connected May 11 aft Elon Musk tweeted a meme utilizing the imagery of a Milady NFT. The tweet besides boosted the collection’s mean merchantability price. “LADYS is simply a meme coin without immoderate intrinsic worth oregon anticipation of fiscal return. There is nary ceremonial squad oregon roadmap,” said the token developers. “The coin is wholly useless and for amusement purposes only.”

Ordinals bully oregon atrocious for Bitcoin? Supporters and opposers rise voices

Bitcoin Ordinals continue to animate statement among the Bitcoin community. Soon aft their instauration successful January 2023, opponents of the exertion began to rise concerns astir its perceived flaws, citing dilatory speeds and rising transaction costs. Meanwhile, its supporters assertion that the ordinals supply much opportunity, amended decentralization and guarantee state of expression. The exertion enables adding text, images and codification connected a satoshi — the smallest portion of Bitcoin.

To drawback a scammer: Kraken builds fake crypto relationship to ‘bait’ fraudsters

Crypto speech Kraken has provided a caller method for flagging malicious wallets — gathering a fake crypto situation to “scam bait” atrocious actors. Kraken created the “custom environment” for fashionable streamer Kitboga to frustrate a scammer posing arsenic U.S. President Joe Biden. The punchline comes erstwhile Kitboga, who portrays an aged idiosyncratic with a $450,000 equilibrium successful Bitcoin, infuriates the scammer aft incorrectly typing his wallet code earlier sending implicit each of the funds.

Winners and Losers

At the extremity of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is astatine $26,707, Ether (ETH) astatine $1,803 and XRP astatine $0.43. The full marketplace headdress is astatine $1.12 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the apical 3 altcoin gainers of the week are Kava (KAVA) astatine 15.28%, Bitcoin SV (BSV) at 5.19% and PAX Gold (PAXG) astatine 0.20%. 

Most Memorable Quotations

“A broad intermission connected AI’s training, unneurotic with existing trends that look to beryllium de-prioritizing concern successful manufacture AI morals efforts, volition lone pb to further harm and setbacks.”

Christina Montgomery, main privateness and spot serviceman astatine IBM

“The tokenization of real-world assets whitethorn connection an unprecedented accidental to make caller marketplace infrastructure and thrust ratio successful the trading of products crossed the globe.”

Cathy Clay, enforcement vice president, planetary integer and information solutions astatine Cboe Global Markets

“The metaverse is dead! Let’s signifier an online aftermath truthful that we 600,000,000 monthly progressive users successful Fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox, PUBG Mobile, Sandbox, and VRChat tin mourn its passing unneurotic successful real-time 3D.”

Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games

“We screwed up and we are atrocious [about comments regarding Pepe the Frog].”

Paul Grewal, main ineligible serviceman astatine Coinbase

“People are really adopting [crypto] wrong of their portfolios. Whether you’re talking astir the retail side, precocious nett worthy oregon organization investors, everyone’s looking astatine their portfolios and trying to get that benignant of exposure.”

Neil Tan, seat of the FinTech Association of Hong Kong

“The cardinal lessons learned from the Terra LUNA clang see due diligence. Doing owed diligence connected each task would prevention imaginable investors aboriginal heartache.”

Obinna Uche Uzoije, Twitter analyst

Prediction of the Week 

Bitcoin enters $26K ‘bearadise’ arsenic BTC terms approaches 2-month lows

Bitcoin neared two-month lows connected May 12 amid fears that a “head-and-shoulders” signifier would enactment bears ahead.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD reaching $26,100 connected Bitstamp — its lowest since March 17. Despite encouraging macroeconomic conditions for hazard assets, Bitcoin failed to capitalize connected the imaginable for gains arsenic bid liquidity headed lower.

This “head-and-shoulders pattern” would make a antagonistic precedent if confirmed. “We simply cannot fto the #Bitcoin caput and shoulders assemblage win,” said pseudonymous fiscal commentator Tedtalksmacro, earlier adding that if Bitcoin climbs backmost supra $27k things could get “very interesting.”

FUD of the Week 

Pepe memecoin frenzy gets unwanted attraction from scammers

Bad actors have taken announcement of the hype surrounding the Pepe memecoin, resulting successful scam attempts that present plague the crypto community. According to blockchain information steadfast PeckShield, astatine slightest 10 memecoin scams person been created implicit the past fewer days. The steadfast reported scam tokens that precocious had their liquidity removed, rug-pulling investors. Fake Pepe assertion sites are besides starting to go progressively communal connected Twitter.

‘Bitcoin is not nether attack:’ BTC maxis allay fears of a DoS offensive

A abrupt emergence successful Bitcoin transaction fees and unconfirmed transactions sparked interest connected Crypto Twitter implicit the week astir a imaginable denial-of-service onslaught connected the network. Bitcoin mean transaction fees were astatine $19.20 connected May 8, according to BitInfoCharts, portion the backlog of transactions stood astatine 459,341 connected the aforesaid day. The accrued request connected the web has adjacent caused full fees per artifact to temporarily transcend the artifact subsidy reward of 6.25 BTC. Bitcoin analysts and commentators person rushed to allay assemblage fears.

ParaSpace squad clashes with CEO implicit alleged whereabouts of protocol funds

NFT protocol ParaSpace published respective alleged irregularities tying its CEO Yubo Ruan to mismanagement of funds equaling 2,909 Ether. The funds had antecedently been stolen during a hack, but were aboriginal recovered acknowledgment to achromatic hats. Ruan, however, returned lone a information of the funds to the protocol treasury. ParaSpace employees person present taken afloat power of the protocol and are calling connected Ruan to measurement down. The CEO denied immoderate wrongdoing.

Best Cointelegraph Features

Cryptocurrency trading addiction: What to look retired for and however it is treated

Treatment centers are seeing an uptick successful clients struggling with cryptocurrency addiction. Although the symptoms are not hard to spot, immoderate crypto traders whitethorn not adjacent beryllium alert of what’s troubling them.

$3.4B of Bitcoin successful a popcorn tin: The Silk Road hacker’s story

The Silk Road hacker lived the precocious beingness for a decennary with his stolen billions — but was caught owed to a transportation of pouch change.

William Clemente III tips Bitcoin volition deed six figures toward extremity of 2024: Hall of Flame

Will Clemente III ditched schoolhouse to go a crypto analyst and says Bitcoin has a beardown accidental of hitting six figures toward the extremity of 2024.