Crypto can be moved with a level of secrecy that traditional wealth just can't match. If someone keeps their crypto on the exchange they bought it from, the process is no different than if it were a normal bank account.

But when one side of a divorcing couple believes the other is hiding crypto, full self-custody in a 'secret' wallet only they know the details of - This is where our new-age professionals, the crypto hunters, step in. 

Tether International Limited, the company behind the widely popular stablecoin USDT, dropped a (good) bombshell today by revealing its new bitcoin (BTC) investment game plan.

In a bold move, the company declared that it would allocate 15% of its profits to accumulate more bitcoin. They're not messing around when it comes to their reserve portfolio, which contains precious metals, fiat currencies, treasury bills, money market funds and crypto.

Their most recent independent audit report showed the company with a little over $79 Billion in liabilities, but owning almost $82 billion in assets.

These Bitcoin buys won't be used to back USDT, on that front they're overcollateralized...

This is Tether flexing its financial muscles and going beyond what anyone had demanded of them by beefing up their reserves.

By the end of Q1 2023, Tether already had a cool $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin stashed away. That's a modest 2% of their reserves, though. Gold clocked in at 4%, while a hefty 85% was chilling in cold hard cash and other assets. But Tether's not satisfied with those numbers, they're thirsty for more.

Tether also announced that unlike most institutional investors who let other companies store and safeguard their bitcoins, Tether takes the "not your keys, not your bitcoin" mantra to heart. They'll be be handling their own custody. 

One year ago today, all hell broke lose. 

"Cryptocurrencies Melt Down in a ‘Perfect Storm’ of Fear and Panic" wrote the NYTimes,

"$1 Trillion Crypto Meltdown—Huge Crash Wipes Out The Price Of Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, XRP, Cardano, Solana, Terra’s Luna And Avalanche" was the headline at Forbes.

Bitcoin would lose a total of 12% of its value on this day, and that looked good compare to Ethereum, XRP, BNB, Cardano, Solana, all which lost between 20%-30% in the same time period. 

For us, people with a sizeable portion of their net worth inside the crashing market, the popular 'swap to a stablecoin until it's over' move was followed by praying the stable coin you chose actually was stable. 

Even if you managed to minimize your own losses, it was impossible to be part of any of the main online crypto communities, from the Bitcointalk message boards, to Crypto-Twitter, and several popular crypto subreddits were filled with despair.

3 Months Later FTX's Collapse Would Overshadow This Period Forever.  But on This Date, No One in Crypto Was Receiving More Praise than Sam Bankman-Fried...

Sam was about to save the entire industry. 

Over the days ahead companies that were heavily invested in Luna and UST were struggling, or flat out collapsing. This is where Sam would step in offering hundreds of millions to companies from his pile of spare spendable cash (which today appears to have been his user's cash, that he was spending without permission).

In one interview he talks about meeting inside FTX where they determined he could spend up to $1 billion basically bailing out crypto companies if they had long term potential, and of course he would now own piece of them all. 

If You Want a Truly Surreal Experience - Read This Article from NYTimes, Published This Week One Year Ago...

There's so many parts of this article that cringe-inducing to read today that it was hard to choose a couple examples, but I think these will give you an idea of just how far Sam took his fantasy of being a high-profile successful genius, and how good he was at convincing others to believe it as well.

A little over a week before this, Sam and FTX held their first of what was supposed to be an annual conference in the Bahamas, the reporter writes "Everywhere he went, crypto entrepreneurs offered handshakes and fist bumps, patting him on the back as they pitched projects or presented him with branded swag".

I did warn you this would be cringe-inducing. 

Another interesting part is where Sam's seemingly reveals that even his... unique style and sometimes awkward behavior was a calculated move, according to the article "Before one of his first TV appearances, Andy Croghan, a colleague at Alameda and FTX, urged him to clean up his look. “I was like, ‘Sam, you’ve got to cut your hair, dude — it looks ridiculous,’” Mr. Croghan said. “And he said, ‘I honestly think it’s negative for me to cut my hair. I think it’s important for people to think I look crazy."

But the gem of the article (well, if you're looking for the strangest parts) has to be this next story which begins in the FTX offices "A few colleagues were cracking crypto-themed sex jokes in the office" I'm not kidding, that was printed by the NYTimes, I really wish they included an example.  Anyway, these naughty jokesters got Sam's attention and threw his genius mind into overdrive  - then it came to him - FTX needs their own condoms. 

Now that may sound crazy at first but there's a good reason - marketing. The article says that "Sam whirled around in his chair. He wondered, was there expected value (EV) in distributing condoms with jokes on them at an upcoming conference?" Sam decided - obviously yes. 

So what would Sam print on them? Ironically, a statement that FTX would survive the exact situation that ended up destroying it.

The condom wrapper reads “Never breaks” in large letters and underneath  “even during large liquidations.” 

Today you find people selling them on EBay as collectors items.

Good times.

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Author: Justin Derbek
New York News Desk
Breaking Crypto News

We're learning of this only because PayPal's required quarterly report has now been filed with the SEC, from there you'll have to go 16 pages in before it's even mentioned.

It's rare for a company spend over $300+ million on anything without letting the public/and press know about it - but when PayPal decided to load up on crypto they clearly also decided it would be smarter to stay quiet while doing it.

Why So Secretive?

My guess is; they didn't want prices to go higher... yet. 

They did their buying over a 3 month period, and if news got out that the worlds biggest online finance company was spending so much on crypto, other companies may follow. It doesn't help them if prices go up while they're still buying.

While the report does not give the number of Bitcoins PayPal holds, it does give their total USD value of $499 million. This is based on Bitcoin's total value at the end of March, so doing the math and assuming they were paying slightly under market value by doing large OTC trades, we're estimating PayPal holds somewhere around 17,500 BTC.

They also spent another $110 million on Ethereum, and another $19 million on all other cryptocurrencies.

So Far in 2023 PayPal's Added Another $339 Million In Crypto - Bringing Total Near $1B...

PayPal began 2023 already owning over $600 million worth of cryptocurrency, but after the last 3 months of aggressive buying, they're almost able to join the small group of companies and individuals holding over a billion worth of crypto.

However, breaking $1 billion total is now within reach, and can be done without PayPal having to buy more. 

We estimate Bitcoin trading around $35k and ETH holding over $2k would be enough to put PayPal's total into the 10-digits.

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Author: Ross Davis
Silicon Valley Newsroom
GCP | Breaking Crypto News

Brian Armstrong, Coinbase CEO, says the United Arab Emirates deserves "a lot of credit" for its commitment to crypto regulation.

 

CLEVELAND, OH, May 09 2023 

- With the rise in the wide adaptability of cryptocurrencies, there is an emerging need to generate ways to earn from these coins. Founded in 2016, Gbitcoins is one of the earliest companies that provide cloud mining services by taking minimum charges and giving lucrative rewards to the miners. Thus cloud mining becomes one of the vital ways to earn a variety of cryptocurrencies in 2023, and Gbitcoins plays an important role in delivering this opportunity.



What is Cloud Mining?

In cloud mining, a miner purchases hash power from the service provider and executes the mining process without buying expensive hardware. By picking the best packages, miners can minimize the mining cost and earn a substantial amount of cryptocurrencies as incentives. Even if you are not tech-savvy, you can easily participate in the mining process at a basic cost by eliminating the need for equipment maintenance and high energy cost.

Advantages Of Cloud Mining Platforms

Suitable for Beginners - If you are not technically sound with mining and unaware of mining methods and procedures, cloud mining is the best way to establish yourself as a miner. For cloud mining, you just need money and knowledge about the service-providing company you are about to associate with.

Minimal Infrastructural Requirement - For cloud mining, you won't require expensive equipment and space.

Mine Various Cryptocurrencies - Cloud mining platforms enable you to mine various cryptocurrencies.

Why Gbitcoins?

Trusted Name - With over 490k active members from 200+ countries, Gbitcoins has already established itself as one of the leading names in the market. The Gbitcoins business is continuously expanding, it provides the world's top cloud mining services and aims to cover the whole cryptocurrency industry.

Prioritized R&D - Gbitcoins focuses on eliminating technical hindrances and improving the service execution process. More than half of the Gbitcoins team works in the R&D department to enrich the technical expertise and provide the best service to the clients.

Usage of Renewable Energy - To reduce the cost of mining, Gbitcoins uses solar and wind energy, sending the remaining power to the grid to provide miners with more mining power.

Regular Profits - The profits come consistently with Gbitcoins because of their expert team at work and are updated daily on your portal.

SSL Safety - By enabling SSL encryptions, Gbitcoins provides an extra layer of security to service seekers and protects their investment from malicious intentions.

Follow these steps to start earning

Step 1 (Sign Up)

Go to https://gbitcoins.net/Home, scroll down, and click on sign up to register yourself or create an account on Gbitcoins.

Step 2 (Select Mining Package)

Gbitcoins have a variety of mining packages in different cryptocurrencies to offer a wide-ranging option to service seekers. Some of them are:

Packages:

Step 3 (Start Earning)

After selecting the package, start receiving your daily profits in your mining account as per the contract guidelines.

Take part in the Invite Friend’s Program and earn a reward of 5.5%

Gbitcoins, the world's top cloud mining service is offering a bounty of up to 5.5% on each sign-up of your friends. Suggest Gbitcoins to your friends to earn free money through the invite friend program. You'll also get a $15 reward on your sign-up.

About GBitcoins:
GBitcoins is where everyone thinking about starting a journey as a miner in the vast world of cryptocurrencies can dive in knowing. Gbitcoins' positive reputation in the market and its large network of associates & service seekers generate a sense of trust and assures a safe cloud mining environment.
For more details please visit https://gbitcoins.net

The Bitcoin Request for Comment Protocol (BRC-20) is dominating crypto transactions, with 65% of all mined transactions yesterday being tied to the protocol - a new record.

The sudden explosion in popularity has also sparked debate;  is BRC-20 now one of crypto's 'top protocols' and should be regarded similarly to Ethereum's ERC-20 protocol?  Or, as some claim, are we seeing a temporary trend built on memecoins that are unlikely to experience any long term success?

Not the First Time the Majority of BTC Transactions Were BRC-20 Related...

While yesterday's 65% set a new record, the majority (more than 50%) of Bitcoin transactions were related to a BRC-20 transaction for 5 of the last 9 days .

BRC-20 operates on the Ordinals protocol, which is relatively new and enables the storage of various forms of information, such as images, videos, and audios, on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Fees Bring Angry Users, Happy Miners...

Unfortunately, this has led to high congestion and exorbitant fees for processing transactions on the Bitcoin network, causing frustration for regular users.

Miners, on the other hand, are reaping the rewards -  some are claiming to have "never earned this much before".

Over 650 BTC (approximately $18,200,000) has already been spent on fees for the 3,755,000+ BRC-20 transactions to date.------- 
Author: Justin Derbek
New York News Desk
Breaking Crypto News

FancyCrypto Cloud Mining is seeing rapid growth as people seeking a passive income opportunity discover them. Many say they hadn't considered crypto mining before, but the platform's wide variety of options has something to accommodate virtually anyone.   

Mining has always been a promising alternative for those who shy away from the risks associated with crypto trading. However, as time passes, the process of mining has become increasingly difficult due to various reasons. Here are some factors that have contributed to this:

• Cryptocurrency mining requires high energy, making it an expensive affair.

• The cost of mining rigs and other equipment is expensive, making it unaffordable for most people.

• The inefficiencies of the Proof of Work (PoW) system are now more evident, making the process more challenging.

• The rise of mining farms and pools has turned crypto mining into fierce competition, making it increasingly difficult for small-scale miners to compete.

However, all hope is not lost, as cloud mining has emerged as a viable alternative. With cloud mining, individuals can rent mining hardware from a cloud mining service provider and receive a share of the profits generated by the mining operation. This approach eliminates the need to buy expensive equipment or worry about energy costs, making it a more accessible option for many people.

Why is cloud mining the future of crypto mining?

Who would have thought that cloud mining would take the world by storm? When it first emerged, many could see its potential. But now, it has become a game-changer in the world of crypto mining. Here's why cloud mining is such a big deal:

• It provides a hassle-free solution to crypto mining by offering comprehensive platforms that take care of all mining requirements. This means that once you sign up on a trusted platform and determine what you want to mine, everything else is taken care of. This convenience saves time and effort and makes the process much more accessible to people of all skill levels.

• You don't need to be a tech genius to participate in cloud mining. Anyone can get involved and start earning, regardless of their skill level.

• Cloud mining frees you from the burdens of maintaining uptime and connectivity, giving you more time to pursue other interests.

• Forget about the expensive equipment and high electricity bills associated with traditional crypto mining. With cloud mining, a trusted company manages everything on your behalf while you easily receive your earnings.

The growing demand for reliable cloud mining platforms is evident, and one such platform that has gained popularity is Fancy Crypto. With its reliable and secure cloud mining services, it has become a favorite among cloud mining enthusiasts.

Fancy Crypto; a user-friendly cloud mining service you can trust.

Gone are the days when users had to scour the internet for a trustworthy cloud mining service. Thanks to Fancy Crypto, a user-friendly cloud mining platform, you can now mine cryptocurrencies with ease and confidence. Fancy Crypto has quickly become a leader in the industry, boasting over 360,000 users from around the world. Its cutting-edge technology powers high-end industrial data centers from any device and almost anywhere, making cloud mining globally accessible.

What sets Fancy Crypto apart from other cloud mining platforms? Here are just a few reasons why this platform is worth your attention:

• Fancy Crypto offers an impressive 2% to 10% of the world's cloud mining hashrate, meaning you can expect higher mining returns than other platforms.

• With its rare and extensive technological expertise, Fancy Crypto is well-equipped to handle all your cloud mining needs, ensuring a seamless and hassle-free mining experience.

• Say goodbye to complicated contracts and hidden fees. Fancy Crypto offers easy and risk-free cloud mining contracts, so you can focus on earning profits.

• And speaking of profits, Fancy Crypto offers daily profits per your mining contract, so you can watch your earnings grow with each passing day.

Packages Offered

Fancy Crypto's cloud mining packages are truly one of a kind. With seven different packages available, each offering varying daily profits and contract prices, there is a package for everyone. And the best part? It settles interest within just 24 hours, making it one of the fastest cloud mining services around. Let's take a closer look at these packages:

1. Free cloud mining: This contract is valid within a fay and is priced at $10. Its fixed return is $10.15

2. Experienced project cloud mining: This contract is valid within your days and is priced at $100. It has a fixed return of $105.

3. Ethereum project cloud mining: This contract is valid for five days and priced at $300. Its fixed return is $324

4. Litecoin cloud mining: This contract is valid for ten days and is priced at $800. Its fixed return is $944

5. Dogecoin cloud mining: This contract is valid for 15 days and is priced at $1500. Its fixed return is $1938.75.

6. Ethereum classic cloud mining: This contract is valid for 30 days and is priced at $3000. It has a fixed return of $4806.

7. Bitcoin cloud mining: This contract is valid for 60 days and is priced at $5000. Its fixed return is $11580

In addition, they also offer a referral program that rewards affiliates for bringing in new users. Some of the benefits of the referral program include:

• 3% off of your referrals' purchase orders

• No need for investment to become an affiliate

• Instant payout for referral rewards

--------------
Information Provided via Press Release
The Global Crypto Press Association Crypto Press Release Distribution Services

Coinbase, the well-known American cryptocurrency company, just dropped some major news: the launch of its newest exchange, "Coinbase International." 

Thanks to a recent regulatory license approval from the Bermuda Monetary Authority, this new platform will allow Coinbase to operate globally and expand its reach beyond the US market.

Currently, Coinbase is ranked as the second-largest exchange globally, trailing behind its competitor Binance, which interestingly did the reverse - starting internationally and then launching a US exchange.

However, at the time of its launch, Coinbase International will exclusively cater to institutional investors outside of the United States, meaning that retail traders will have to wait a bit longer to gain access.

With this comes a first for Coinbase - leveraged trading. Coinbase International will offer leveraged trading, but they're starting small with a maximum 5X leverage option.

A Warning Shot...

Coinbase's move into the international market may also serve as a warning to the US government, particularly the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), to provide more clarity and answers to unresolved questions regarding crypto regulations. 

If they continue to fail in their duties, they risk pushing companies like Coinbase out of the US market, which could have a significant economic impact, leading investors to seek out unregulated areas of the market.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong was asked if Coinbase would relocate entirely if regulators continued to fail to provide clarity, he said "anything is on the table".

More info soon...

Unfortunately, Coinbase has not revealed which countries will have access to the new exchange, but you can sign up on their platform to see if you're eligible.

-------
Author: Mark Pippen
London News Desk 
Breaking Crypto News

As Russia invaded Ukraine in February of last year, an organization called Ukraine DAO instantly surfaced as a charity ready to help those wanting to donate to Ukraine using crypto, promising 100% of donations would go to the cause.

UkraineDAO started off doing what they promised to do…

The organization’s first move was the auction of an NFT of the Ukrainian flag. Many in the crypto community shared this on social media, along with some high profile exposure from people like Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin and Nadia Tolokonnikova of Russian Anti-Putin band Pussy Riot.

The NFT raised a total of $6.8 million worth of ETH at the time - and on-chain records show this being transferred to non-profit Ukrainian Military Support organization ‘Come Back Alive’ which helps supply equipment and training for Ukrainian soldiers.

Their verifiable donations include:

- 1550.5 ETH to Come Back Alive.

- 387.63 ETH to Ukraine Government.

- 190.49 ETH to OutRight Action International

- 4.43 ETH to Psychology for Human Rights

This totals approximately 2130 ETH verifiably donated. But the wallet data shows a total of 2468 ETH received.

So there’s a remaining 338 ETH with a current value approximately $640,300. Some of this sits unspent, some is accounted for, and some is accounted for but the way it was used is where conflict begins to arise.

Things got real nasty, real fast...

The first issue came to light when Nadia Tolokonnikova of Russian Anti-Putin band Pussy Riot, who initially endorsed the project, quit after learning that the promise of “100% of funds” going to help those effected by the war untrue and project leader Alona Shevchenko had been taking a $5,000/month salary.

Alona responded showing how previously Nadia had given interviews where she was asked about when she ‘started the charity, Nadia told the interviewer the she "along with a number of friends’ felt they had to do something when they learned the invasion had begun.  Alona seems to think Nadia was positioning herself in interviews to be seen as the main person behind it.

[This portion of the article has been updated] There are 5 leaders who all need to sign off anytime a transaction is made from the official wallet (multi-sig). We initially reported that Nadia was not one of those five people, therefore it appeared she was not among the original founders.

That was incorrect -  she no longer is one of the five required signatures, which is why we did not see her there when we looked. But at the beginning, she was.

John Caldwell was another one of the five, he currently runs another charitable DAO he co-founded with Nadia called Unicorn DAO. John provided evidence of earlier transactions showing Nadia's signature on them, and explained that once UkraineDAO distributed the majority of the funds, both he and Nadia moved on, explaining "on that list of transactions, on #44 Pussyriot.eth was removed, then 45 I removed myself" trusting that the remaining funds would continue to be distributed appropriately.

It's the management of those remaining funds that have some people concerned...

You can still see the promise made on their official Twitter account that “100% proceeds go to support Ukrainians suffering for the war” - no room for confusion there .

While Alona is from Ukraine, she has been living in the UK for years before the war even started. When taking a look at her LinkedIn employment history, we see that she’s been employed in London-based companies since 2017 - clearly she does not qualify as one of the “Ukrainians suffering for the war” yet she took $5000 per month from the donated funds for things like rent and personal expenses.

Ukraine DAO also repeatedly stated they were “supported by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine” making them “the first DAO to have been endorsed at the state level”. That claim would later be called ‘weird’ when after catching the attention of Ukrainian news outlet Kiev Post, who asked the Ukrainian government about these claims, they were told “The Ministry of Digital Transformation has not endorsed Ukraine DAO” .

However, I should mention that the Ukrainian government was not saying ‘we have no idea who you’re talking about’ - because there is some kind of relationship between the two organizations.

A profile on Alona Shevchenko which highlights her co-founding Ukraine DAO appears on an official Ukrainian government website. But when asked, Oleksandr Bornyakov, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of the program downplayed its importance only as 1 of nearly 300 pages for volunteers for a program to educate the public on crypto.

Ukrainian News Outlets Claimed "around $700k" - We've Located Approximately $400K Of It...

At today's ETH value it's somewhere closer to $640,300 ‘unaccounted’ for funds, some of which more accurately should be called ‘unexplained’ funds. Because we know where some of that is, we just don’t know why it’s there.

There’s what was sent to individuals - Alona’s $5000 monthly payments to herself is somewhere around $70,000 total now. There was another $34,013 sent to another co-founder of the charity, Matthew Bundy; we can’t imagine why unless donors are now paying his rent too.

Then we don’t know who this was intended for, but another transaction for approximately $155,000 was sent to a wallet controlled by Sam Bankman-Fried’s former exchange FTX shortly before everyone lost access to their funds, as far as we can tell it was still there when that happened.

Lastly, $156,461 still sits in the official wallet of the charity.

The situation is much better thann $700,000 missing, but there's still a total around $200,000 gone from the charity's wallet but not listed as being spent anywhere - which is still too much to go unanswered for.

So, Now What?

Thankfully this isn’t a situation where donations are still flowing into the charity, so even if the worst outcome is true and a large amount of funds were misused, that number isn’t growing, at least from Ukraine DAO.

However, the same group appears to be on to the next cause - launching Iran DAO whose Twitter profile states their goal of “providing resources for Iran’s women-led revolution.”

It began with a Tweet from UkraineDAO stating they are “working to set up IranianDAO.”

In Closing…

It’s important to note that we could only label some Ukrainian funds ‘unaccounted’ for - which is very different than labeling them ‘stolen’. However, I’d like every dollar from their previous charity to be accounted for before even considering supporting a new one.

Or should the funds that ended up in Alona’s hands for personal expenses be considered ‘stolen’? This is a grey area legally. If 100% of the funds were to go to ‘Ukrainians suffering from the war’, she is Ukrainian, and while she only experiences the war via online news and TV from her home in England, perhaps she found the images emotionally distressful, technically making her a ‘Ukrainian suffering from the war’.

Unfortunately I’m struggling to come up with a scenario that ends with these payments to herself turning out to be completely ethical. 

I’m confident that no one donated thinking any of their money was going to a Ukrainian, who hasn't lived in Ukraine for years, is one of the people trusted with access to the donated funds, finding a way to put some in her own pocket - technically legal or not. 

While the Ukrainian government’s resources are focused elsewhere, there is a group of citizens along with journalists from the Kiev Post who continue to demand full accounting of every donated dollar, as well as question the legality of some of the DAO’s controversial decisions.

They vow that when the war is over they will be pressuring the government to review any potential exploitation by those using their crisis for personal profit. 

The story may be far from over, but this is where things stand now.

UkraineDAO was contacted (via Twitter DM)  and invited to share any additional information on the topics mentioned here. If they choose to, we will include it with our reporting.

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Author: Ross Davis
Silicon Valley Newsroom
GCP | Breaking Crypto News