Coinbase’s Battle Over Tornado Cash, White House Not Happy With Bitcoin Mining + More News

Last updated: | 3 min read
Bitcoin mining rigs. Source: Adobe/amixstudio

 

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news. 

__________

Legal news

  • A Major crypto exchange Coinbase has helped organize and is paying the costs of a lawsuit against the US Treasury Department over its sanctions of coin mixer Tornado Cash, Bloomberg reported. The lawsuit claims Treasury overstepped its authority to block financial transactions benefiting foreign terrorists. It also alleges that the department ensnared law-abiding Americans conducting legitimate digital commerce through a crypto service that offers enhanced privacy and security, per the report. Coinbase will cover the legal costs for the six individuals challenging the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

Mining news

  • The White House says the environmental impact of producing cryptoassets like bitcoin (BTC) could impede US efforts to combat climate change, Bloomberg reported, citing a report by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The office said the US must take action to mitigate pollution tied to crypto production and the federal government should collect more data on power usage and work with states and the crypto industry to set standards.

Crime news

  • With the help of law enforcement and organizations in the crypto industry, more than USD 30m worth of crypto stolen from Axie Infinity by North Korean-linked hackers has been seized, according to blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis. “This marks the first time ever that cryptocurrency stolen by a North Korean hacking group has been seized, and we’re confident it won’t be the last,” they added.
  • DeFi protocol Nereus Finance said that, on September 6, the AVAX/USDC Joe LP NXUSD market was exploited, resulting in the creation of USD 500k NXUSD bad debt in the NXUSD protocol. The flash-loan exploit reportedly resulted in a USD 371,000 gain. Users’ funds are not at risk, and NXUSD continues to be over-collateralized, the team behind the protocol said.

Investments news

  • Mysten Labs, a Web3 infrastructure company and developer of the Sui Layer 1 blockchain, founded by former executives of Meta‘s crypto unit, announced the initial close of its USD 300m Series B funding round, valuing the company at more than USD 2bn.
  • Gameplay Galaxy, a “Web3-powered” gaming ecosystem, said it raised USD 12.8m in a seed round led by Blockchain Capital. Gameplay Galaxy said it launches its “decentralized Web3 gaming ecosystem” starting with Trial Xtreme and adding other extreme sport games in the future.
  • Spice AI announced a seed round of USD 13.5m for its platform that aims to enable developers to build data driven applications for Web3. Madrona led the round, they added.
  • Hubble Protocol, an issuer of USDH, a Solana (SOL)-native stablecoin, said that Multicoin Capital has joined the team during a recent strategic fundraising round by providing a USD 5m capital injection.
  • Bitcoin savings app Swan Bitcoin said it has launched Swan Advisor Services, a platform that offers BTC transactional, monitoring, portfolio management, and custodial services for financial advisors and their clients.

Exchanges news

  • The Toronto crypto marketplace Coinberry, owned by Kevin O’Leary-backed WonderFi Technologies Inc., says it has lost some USD 3m in bitcoin due to a software glitch and has yet to claw back two-thirds of it from hundreds of customers, Financial Post reported, citing a lawsuit.

Regulation news

  • Banks engaged in crypto-related activities need to have appropriate measures in place to manage novel risks associated with those activities and to ensure compliance with all relevant laws, including those related to money laundering, Michael S. Barr, Vice Chair for Supervision at the US Federal Reserve, said.
  • The UK Advertising Standards Authority said that crypto-related Instagram ads by reality show stars Jessica and Eve Gale were misleading. The ads must not appear again in the form complained about, and the Gales sisters have “to ensure that they did not trivialize the investment in cryptoassets by implying that it was straightforward or accessible to everyone and to not take advantage of consumer’s inexperience or credulity by not making clear [capital gain tax] could be due on cryptoasset profits,” the authority said.