FTX influencers face $1 Billion class-action lawsuit over alleged crypto fraud promotion

March 16, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Why Senegal rejects the CFA and is warming to Bitcoin: video

March 8, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Africa

Why is there a groundswell toward Bitcoin adoption in Dakar? And could it influence neighboring countries and regions to explore magic internet money?

Cointelegraph goes to Senegal, West Africa. The medium-sized African nation recently hosted a Bitcoin conference (BTC) and more and more merchants and customers are joining the Lightning Network.

Armed with a camera, a lightning wallet and a microphone, Reporter Joe Hall took to the streets of Senegal to peer under the surface of Bitcoin adoption in the capital city, Dakar.

As the Cointelegraph Youtube video highlights, Senegal has a young, digitally native population and in recent years, its become second nature for people to send money via mobile phones rather than banks.

A mobile money provider called Wave, for example, began in 2017 in Senegal and has since expanded to other countries in West Africa. It now boasts millions of users.

Much like Bitcoin, the mobile money revolution attempts to bank the unbanked and improve financial conditions for financially underserved populations. Its user experience is quite similar to sending money over Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, in that you scan a QR code or send money to a number, however, mobile money charges anything from 1 to 3% and can take a few minutes to confirm. It’s therefore a useful tool, but too costly for microtransactions.

In the video, Hall sends Bitcoin over the Lightning Network to a manager at Wave, who showed interest and surprise at the Bitcoin Lightning Network’s efficacy. In fact, many Senegalese were interested in receiving, acquiring or learning how to custody Bitcoin.

Speakers at Senegal's first major Bitcoin conference, DakarBtcDays.

The Dakar Bitcoin Days conference underscored the Senegalese’ interest in learning about and using Bitcoin. Founded by Nourou, Dakar Bitcoin Days is part of Bitcoin Sen, another pocket of budding Bitcoin activity in West Africa.

However, the overarching reason which could lead to greater Bitcoin adoption in Senegal is breaking the monetary chains of its colonial past.

In 1994, the value of the local currency, the CFA was sliced in half by a combination of efforts from France, the IMF and the World Bank. Senegalese fiat savings were decimated.

The scars of this monetary collapse and its residual regime remain in west africa and Senegal. The CFA money is not sovereign and it disempowers and disenfranchises people.

That’s why people are looking for alternatives, and some are turning to Bitcoin.

Rollkit Developers Leverage Bitcoin for Sovereign Rollups, Sparking Criticism from Ethereum Proponents

March 6, 2023 Bitcoin.com

YouTube appoints Web3-friendly exec as new CEO

February 18, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

YouTube’s new CEO Neal Mohan previously emphasized that NFTs could be an important tool for the platform’s content creators to develop additional revenue streams.

Google-owned YouTube has appointed Web3-friendly exec Neal Mohan as its new CEO following the departure of Susan Wojcicki this week.

Wojcicki stepped down from YouTube on Feb. 16 after nine years at the helm, outlining plans to start a “new chapter” focused on family, health and personal projects. During her tenure, she oversaw the pivotal introduction of the revenue-sharing model, among other things.

Moving forward she will remain an advisor for Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc.

Thank you, @SusanWojcicki. It's been amazing to work with you over the years. You've built YouTube into an extraordinary home for creators and viewers. I'm excited to continue this awesome and important mission. Looking forward to what lies ahead... https://t.co/Rg5jXv1NGb
— Neal Mohan (@nealmohan) February 16, 2023

Before becoming the new CEO, Mohan served as YouTube’s chief product officer and oversaw the controversial removal of the video dislike button, the introduction of YouTube Shorts to compete with Tik Tok, and YouTube Music.

In terms of Web3, Mohan outlined tentative plans in February 2022 to integrate a host of new features such as Metaverse-based content experiences and content tokenization via nonfungible tokens (NFTs), much to the dismay of the NFT-hating community at the time.

In particular, Mohan emphasized that NFTs could provide a new way for creators to engage with their audiences and develop additional revenue streams. He cited the potential for creators to tokenize their videos, photos, art and experiences as examples of such.

“Web3 also opens up new opportunities for creators. We believe new technologies like blockchain and NFTs can allow creators to build deeper relationships with their fans. Together, they’ll be able to collaborate on new projects and make money in ways not previously possible,” he wrote in a blog post on Feb. 10, 2022.

Despite being intended to potentially roll out last year, the Web 3-related plans are yet to materialize but could be set for another push in the near future given that Mohan is now leading the firm.

New YouTube CEO @nealmohan is into NFTs! https://t.co/RVqqJngnv6
— Altcoin Daily (@AltcoinDailyio) February 17, 2023

Following the news of Mohan becoming the new CEO of YouTube, there has been a surprisingly limited amount of FUD from the feisty NFT skeptics on Twitter who are usually quick to flame anything to do with reports of mainstream connections to the tech.

#nealmohan seems to be a great gu… wait… No… pic.twitter.com/vQSet9tu8j
— ram. (@veryramdom) February 17, 2023

Colombian Court Holds Hearing in the Metaverse

February 17, 2023 Bitcoin.com

Paying the way for Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador: Video

February 15, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Payments

What is Bitcoin adoption like on the ground as peer-to-peer cash in the home of Bitcoin worldwide? Cointelegraph visits El Salvador to find out!

The Bitcoin (BTC) white paper title describes Bitcoin as a “peer-to-peer electronic cash system.” So how is Bitcoin being used as a means of exchange, or electronic cash, in the first country to adopt Bitcoin?

Reporter Joe Hall spent a few weeks in El Salvador attempting to live off Bitcoin and Bitcoin only. He documented his trials, tribulations, successes and satoshis (the smallest amount of a Bitcoin) in a video for Cointelegraph’s YouTube channel:

Headlines from El Salvador within the crypto community have been largely positive. Moreover, statistics emanating from the country have been abundantly positive; tourism is up 30%, crime and the murder rate in El Salvador have decreased dramatically, and the Bitcoin bonds project is underway in 2023.

Nonetheless, while Bitcoin is undoubtedly one of the best-known brands worldwide; and a marketing tool that appeals to a pool of ardent Bitcoin believers around the world, its use as a means of exchange is often questioned. In El Salvador, it’s no different, as Hall explains.

Some Salvadoran vendors are laser-eyed hodlers; others made their first Bitcoin payment with Hall and were keen to ask questions and learn more.

*Tipping Henry the delivery guy in Bitcoin to his Chivo wallet at 2 am. Source: Cointelegraph*

Hall was surprised, dismayed, entertained and ultimately enthused by his findings in the country. Adopting a new technology as novel and misunderstood as Bitcoin is a mammoth task, but Salvadorans are getting stuck into the new technology where possible.

Retailers like Walmart had the option to pay in Bitcoin — but the process was slow and inconvenient — while the likes of Texaco were staunchly anti-Bitcoin. At McDonald’s, the experience is smooth and fast; it’s even quicker than the McDonald’s branches that accept Bitcoin in Switzerland.

From the Adopting Bitcoin conference — a Lightning conference in San Salvador that gathered Bitcoiners from around the world — down to Bitcoin Beach and Surf City, across to the volcanoes of Santa Ana and on the streets of San Salvador, Hall mingled with locals to get a better sense of Bitcoin as a means of exchange.

Hall attended the “My First Bitcoin” educational graduation ceremony at a school in El Pacheco. The founder, John Dennehy, was recently interviewed by Cointelegraph. Dennehy explained the group’s plan to remedy Bitcoin education in El Salvador by teaching teenagers how to Bitcoin.

Indeed, the recent graduates Hall interviewed at the school grasped the fundamental tenets of Bitcoin and expressed their belief that Bitcoin represents hope for the future. Watch the video to find out more.

Cointelegraph Markets launches new YouTube channel

February 13, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Stay up-to-date on what’s happening in crypto, digital asset markets and traditional markets by tuning in to Cointelegraph Markets and Research’s dedicated series of shows.

Cointelegraph is proud to announce the launch of the Cointelegraph Markets and Research YouTube channel, a place that will hopefully become every trader’s first stop for breaking markets news, insights and alpha from Cointelegraph’s team of experts and guest analysts from the crypto industry.

The Cointelegraph Markets and Research channel features three unique shows — The Market Report, Market Talks and Macro Markets — which stream live weekly at 12:00 pm Eastern Time (5:00 pm UTC) on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, respectively.

The Market Report

Every Tuesday at 12:00 pm ET (5:00 pm UTC), Bitcoin (BTC) evangelist Joe Hall hosts The Market Report, a weekly market update and analysis livestream featuring two of Cointelegraph’s resident experts, analyst and writer Marcel Pechman and business editor Sam Bourgi.

Each week, The Market Report team discusses the latest headlines and events in the crypto market, providing valuable insights, analysis and opinions in a way that is easy to understand and keeps viewers up-to-date about the most impactful happenings in the space.

Market Talks

Crypto advocates focused more on trading and the macroeconomic and crypto-specific forces impacting digital asset prices can tune in to Market Talks on Thursdays at 12:00 pm ET (5:00 pm UTC).

Market Talks, hosted by Cointelegraph head of markets Ray Salmond, is a live show where protocol builders, notable traders and professional analysts from the crypto and blockchain industry share their perspectives and analyses on emerging trends in the market.

Market Talks zooms in on the specific influences that shape the markets, the latest crypto news and price breakthroughs. Its primary focus is straightforward: no shilling, tough and inquisitive questions, and deep insights into trending markets-related topics.

Macro Markets

On Macro Markets, a prerecorded show that airs Fridays at 12:00 pm ET (5:00 pm UTC), Cointelegraph analyst Pechman takes a top-down view of traditional markets and explains why they matter to crypto.

Many traders think the S&P 500, oil, gold, foreign currency or even real estate don’t matter because they’ve got “diamond hands,” but Pechman says traders should think otherwise.

Pechman uses his 17 years of experience in traditional finance to explain in simple terms the factors moving traditional markets and how they impact the crypto market. From central bank digital currencies and the U.S. Dollar Index to tech stocks, wars and international conflict, Pechman explains it all.

The best thing about the show: There’s no technical analysis nor high-level jargon that listeners need to know to keep up. For Pechman, markets are driven by simple cause and effect — i.e., what happens in the macro environment always impacts crypto.

Logan Paul backflips on defamation lawsuit against Coffeezilla, apologizes

January 9, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coffeezilla

Logan Paul has deleted his response video aimed at Coffeezilla and has apologized in a surprise u-turn.

YouTuber Logan Paul has deleted a video in which he threatened to sue internet detective Stephen "Coffeezilla" Findeisen over a three-part series that painted Paul’s CryptoZoo project as a "scam."

According to Coffezilla in a Jan. 6 Twitter post, Paul has promised to drop his threats of filing a defamation lawsuit over the videos.

Logan called me. He said he’s deleting the two responses, and is dropping the lawsuit threats.

I believe he’s making a 3rd response, which I’ll be delaying my video to include. Hopefully this time he takes accountability and refunds the victims of CryptoZoo. That’s what matters. https://t.co/ElKX2d9mY0
— Coffeezilla (@coffeebreak_YT) January 7, 2023

Sharing a screenshot from the CryptoZoo Discord server, Findeisen also showed a message from Paul to user confirming he deleted his initial response to Coffeezilla’s video series and apologized, which read:

“It was rash and misaligned with the trust issue at hand, so I called him today and apologized.”

“The war is not with Coffee. In fact, I’m grateful he brought this to light. I will be taking accountability, apologizing, and coming forward with a plan in the near future,” Paul added.

At the time of writing, Paul’s Jan. 3 response video to Coffeezilla’s accusations has been removed from YouTube. The Twitter post pointing to the video is still up as is his initial Dec. 23 post calling the allegations “Not true."

The two YouTubers began a war of words after Coffeezilla launched the first of a three-part video series on Dec. 17 alleging CryptoZoo of numerous business malpractices while also calling out Paul — the face of the project.

In his now-deleted response video to Coffeezilla, Paul haaccused Coffeezilla of defamation, adding “I’ll see you in court.”

Coffeezilla mentioned in his post that Paul is possibly "making a 3rd response," but at the time of writing neither Paul nor Coffeezilla has shed any further light on the matter.

Cointelegraph reached out to Logan Paul and Stephen "Coffeezilla" Findeisen for comment but did not receive a response before publication.

Crypto Stories: Dr. Adam Back shares his life of hacks

December 16, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Adam Back

A cartoon version of Dr. Adam Back recounts stories of hacking coded doors at university and the inception of Hash Cash in the latest of Cointelegraph Crypto Stories.

It’s been a life of hacks for Dr. Adam Back, the CEO and co-founder of Blockstream. One of the few people quoted on the Bitcoin Whitepaper, hacking highlights of Back’s life are brought to life in the latest animated Crypto Story from Cointelegraph’s video team.

Over a game of Jenga in a park, Back told Cointelegraph that he’s always had a “kind of security mindset.” From his days as a student, he tinkered with door codes, pin pads and locks, testing out code and gaining access to places he “wasn’t supposed to have access to.”

Back talks through the creation of Hash Cash, one of the early attempts at digital money. He uses the “Birthday collision” as an allegory for hash functions, demonstrating his aptitude to breaking down complex functions into intelligible language:

“If you have a room full of people at a party or something, there's a question which is how many people need to be in the room before there's 50/50 chance that there are two people with the same birthday.”

He explains that while people would expect the outcome to be related to the number 365–because of how many days there are in a year, the reality is far lower. This line of thinking, combined with an understanding of spam email, led to Back’s coding up of Hash Cash.

Bitcoin stands on the shoulders of Hash Cash, but Bitcoin caught on because Bitcoin ˙as a high level of decentralization, vital for the cryptocurrency’s success. Back adds that Bitcoin is also “Understandable at lots of different levels, right?”

“You can understand it from a user level or from an economics level. It's surprisingly complex to fully appreciate all of it, including the game theory and things like that.”

The cartoon interview comes to a close with a reference to Blockstream’s decision to beam Bitcoin into space and an affirmation that there will be “More Bitcoin,” from one of the Bitcoin economy’s OGs.

Metallica issues crypto scam alert before the 72 Seasons album launch

December 6, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Cashing in on the buzz around Metallica’s new album launch and upcoming tour, scammers have started targeting metalheads through social media impersonation.

It’s quite evident that bad actors have left no stone unturned as legendary metal band Metallica warned fans against crypto giveaway scams right before their highly anticipated launch of its new album, 72 Seasons.

Cashing in on the buzz around Metallica’s new album launch and upcoming tour, scammers have started targeting metalheads through social media impersonation. Metallica, however, was quick to point out “the ugly side of social media,” asking fans to steer away from Metallica Crypto giveaways, stating:

“Let’s be as clear as possible. [Metallica crypto giveaways] are scams.”

Sad but true, Cointelegraph recently highlighted a rise in front-running scams on YouTube, which according to blockchain security firm CertiK, has risen by 500% in one year. The ongoing Metallica scams contribute to the statistics as the band warned against fake YouTube channels that point to unofficial phishing websites.

Fans were also asked to limit their interactions to verified Metallica accounts, especially when dealing with information that can be considered “wild and crazy to be true.”

⚠️ pic.twitter.com/KmlofVdiBM
— Metallica (@Metallica) December 6, 2022

While the crypto community knows the telltale signs of a scam, the alert aims to warn non-crypto and general fans who may be easier victims of the new scam.

Metallica also shared a list of official social media channels to ensure that no fans fall for the rampant crypto giveaway scams.

The crypto scammers spared not even the victims of FTX CEO Sam Bankman as deepfake videos cropped up promising a “giveaway” that would “double your cryptocurrency.”

Over the weekend, a verified account posing as FTX founder SBF posted dozens of copies of this deepfake video offering FTX users "compensation for the loss" in a phishing scam designed to drain their crypto wallets pic.twitter.com/3KoAPRJsya
— Jason Koebler (@jason_koebler) November 21, 2022

The videos in question use SBF’s old interview clips and manipulate the audio to spread misinformation about FTX’s funds' recovery plan.

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