Staff Picks - October 2021

El Salvador introduces fuel subsidy of $0.20 per gallon to locals who pay in BTC

El Salvador is looking to bolster adoption of its government-issued Chivo Bitcoin wallet by offering discounts on petrol purchases of $0.20 per gallon to consumers who pay using BTC.

Kraken Faces $1.25 Million Fine From CFTC

The regulator says Kraken failed to register as a futures merchant.

TikTok Will Launch an Official Collection of NFTs

The first item in the lineup will feature a stop-motion video for the rapper Lil Nas X.

Stablecoin Issuers Could Soon Face Bank-Like Regulations

The Treasury Department’s highly anticipated report on stablecoins is expected to be released in late October.

Hackers exploit MFA flaw to steal from 6,000 Coinbase customers — Report

Malicious actors reportedly took advantage of Coinbase’s SMS account recovery process to gain access to user funds.

Chainalysis acquires cybercrime investigative firm Excygent in fight against ransomware attacks

“Following the flow of ransomware payments on the blockchain is instrumental for law enforcement to understand and dismantle ransomware operations,” said Chainalysis CEO Michael Gronager.

El Salvador to build $4M veterinary hospital using profits from Bitcoin trust

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said no Bitcoin will be sold to fund the investment, with the state instead drawing USD from its Bitcoin trust.

Tether fires back against report it is using reserves for investments and making crypto-backed loans

"If those loans fail, even a small percentage of them, one Tether would become worth less than $1," said Bloomberg reporter Zeke Faux.

JPMorgan Says Institutional Investors Are Replacing Gold With Bitcoin

The shift into bitcoin that drove late-2020 all-time highs “has started reemerging in recent weeks,” wrote analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou.

FBI Works With Europol to Arrest Ransomware Gang, $1.3 Million in Cryptocurrencies Seized

A coordinated strike involving Europol, Interpol, and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has led to the arrest of two “prolific” ransomware operators allegedly responsible for ransom demands of up to 70 million euros. In addition, $1.3 million in cryptocurrencies were seized.

Mexican medical firm embraces blockchain for COVID-19 test certificates

MDS Mexico will use blockchain technology to verify the authenticity of its rapid coronavirus test results.

Brazilian toddler makes over 6,500% profit on her first Bitcoin holding

A father's gift of 1 BTC (roughly $915.80) to his newborn daughter back in 2017 is now worth more than $60,000.

Almost 1.1M people have already signed up for Coinbase NFT waitlist

Sanchan Saxena, the vice president of product at Coinbase, said yesterday that the “insane” amount of traffic from signing up to the waitlist temporarily broke the site.

Central Bank of Brazil Reports Brazilians Have Bought More Than $4 Billion in Cryptocurrency This Year

Brazilians have brought over $4 billion of cryptocurrencies to the country, according to numbers from the Central Bank of Brazil. The commercial asset balance report presented shows that Brazilians have consistently acquired over $350 million dollars of cryptocurrencies each month since January. However, according to some analysts from the central bank, this number has the potential to reach double its worth this year.