Coca-Cola releases NFT collection on the blockchain of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase

NFT Coca-Cola contains works by emerging artists and works of world art. In particular, Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” and Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring”

Coca-Cola has issued a series of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) called Masterpiece on Coinbase’s new Base network.

Base is a so-called Level 2 (L2) blockchain, with Coinbase’s cryptocurrency exchange team behind its development. After several months of work in test mode, the network was fully launched on August 9. The launch was timed to coincide with the Onchain Summer program. The program includes a hackathon for developers and several blockchain-related initiatives in art, music and games. One of them was the NFT collection from Coca-Cola.

Coca-Cola tokens contain works by little-known artists as well as works of world art, including Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” and Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring.”

So far, eight different NFTs are available, ranging in price from 0.0011 ETH ($2) to 0.014 ETH ($25.8). The NFT collection is based on the corporation’s recent advertising campaign. And which is partially created with the help of artificial intelligence.

Our experts note that in August it became known that former U.S. President Donald Trump invested up to $500 thousand in cryptocurrency. The funds of the former President of the United States are stored on Ethereum-wallet. As the media believe, he may be associated with a number of past projects of Trump. And in particular, with the collection of NFT which he began to sell after he left the post of head of state.

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Coinbase user warned of complicated crypto scam scheme

In the attack on the account of a cryptotrader on Coinbase, scammers used his personal data. And which they could only get through leaked information

Famous cryptotrader Jacob Canfield became a victim of a complex scam scheme. And with the help of which fraudsters tried to gain access to his account on Coinbase. Suspecting a data breach, he warned other exchange users to change their passwords.

Canfield wrote on Twitter that he first received a text message. And which said that his Coinbase two-factor authentication (2FA) had been changed. Shortly thereafter, he received three phone calls purportedly from Coinbase’s customer support line.

The scammers asked Canfield if he had traveled outside the U.S. and if he had requested a 2FA and email change. He replied that he hadn’t. And then he received a text message canceling the change request.

Canfield’s call was then transferred to “Coinbase security” to verify his account. In order to avoid a 48-hour suspension of transactions. The scammers asked him for a verification code. But Canfield refused to provide it. The cryptotrader’s interlocutor warned that the account would then be blocked for seven days. But he ended up getting angry and hanging up.

“They had my name, my email address and my location, and they sent an email with a confirmation code from help@coinbase.com to my personal email,” Canfield wrote.

He also added that the code the hackers sent was real. And they sent it from their email and logged into Canfield’s account while the conversation was taking place over the phone.

Our experts note that Coinbase responded to the situation and stated that there was no data leak from the exchange. At the same time, crypto detective ZachXBT wrote that other customers of the exchange have been victims of a similar scam before.

“It’s better to reassure yourself and change passwords if you’re a Coinbase customer than regret it later,” Canfield warned users.

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How the SEC lawsuits will affect global crypto market

Our Crypto Upvotes experts analyzed the claims of the regulator and told about their impact and implications for the entire crypto industry

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed lawsuits against two of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges – Binance and Coinbase. The regulator is making a number of allegations against both. And the main ones are the recognition of a number of cryptocurrency assets that are traded on the platforms as unregistered securities. Which fall under the jurisdiction of the regulator.

In the June 5 lawsuit against Binance and the June 6 lawsuit against Coinbase, the regulator named several cryptocurrencies as securities:

In the first case they were Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), Filecoin (FIL), Cosmos (ATOM). And Sandbox (SAND), Decentraland (MANA), Algorand (ALGO), Axie Infinity (AXS) and COTI (COTI).

The second added Chiliz (CHZ), Flow (FLOW), Internet Computer (ICP), NEAR Protocol (NEAR). And Voyager VGX (VGX), Dash (DASH) and NEXO (NEXO).

Speaking on CNBC after the Coinbase lawsuit was filed, SEC head Gary Gensler said that cryptocurrencies are essentially unnecessary at all. “We don’t need more digital currency. We already have a digital currency. It’s called the U.S. dollar. It’s called the euro or the yen. They’re all digital now,” the head of the commission said. On Bloomberg, he later advised the cryptosphere to bring its business in line with government policy. Otherwise it risks “falling apart like a house of cards.”

SEC targets seriously and will not back down

The lawsuits have just been filed, and there is no court precedent yet to say how the process will go and what decision will be made. But based on the trend, the SEC is aiming seriously and will not back down.

But respondents (Binance, Coinbase and other companies) can refer to the fact that the regulation does not contain clear criteria for classifying this or that cryptocurrency as a security. And because of that, each company decides for itself which cryptocurrencies to work with and which not.

If there is at least one positive decision in favor of the SEC. In that case, the precedent system will play against exchanges working with the same cryptocurrencies. Binance and Coinbase are not the only companies being sued, the regulator’s website shows. But these two companies are the largest in the world and work with clients from a large number of countries. And that is why there is more interest in them.

This method of regulation shows that the regulator does not want to limit itself by the law, each time solving the issue through the courts. This approach expands its opportunities in relation to specific players in the market. And which contradicts the stability of the civil turnover.

We can expect a large number of lawsuits from the SEC

The new lawsuits are almost a classic SEC claim about trading securities in the absence of registration. In the case of crypto-assets, any level of dispute will require a determination. Whether the crypto-assets traded on the site are securities in terms of U.S. law.

Moving the SEC’s claims to court might be necessary, for example, to give precedent to the recognition of a particular crypto-asset as a security. This would make it easier to prosecute other venues that trade similar crypto-assets in the future.

Our experts note that similar claims were made in April against a number of companies and citizens. Which are related to crypto exchange Bittrex, we can expect a large number of lawsuits against other major crypto exchanges as well. That said, as we can see, the SEC is not limited to U.S. jurisdictions.

Historic event

In the US, there is still no separate legislation for the cryptocurrency industry. The situation is still at the stage of trying to divide influence between the SEC and the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission). Both agencies would like to have control and influence over the cryptocurrency industry. And so both regularly issue statements along the lines of “all cryptocurrency falls under securities law” or “all cryptocurrency is a commodity”.

As a result of this confrontation, there are still no clear norms for valuation and assignment of assets to a particular class. Whereas in the European Union, a set of rules has already been developed. And even signed a set of rules for crypto-business called Markets in Crypto-Asset (MiCA).

The opposition is interesting and in some ways even historic in the development of the crypto industry. It really is a kind of fateful moment. And that will determine the vector of further development for several years. However, it will not take a week or a month for the situation to develop and the first decision on such a lawsuit will be a precedent.

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Former Coinbase employee received 2 years in prison for insider trading

Insider who pleaded guilty in a case related to cryptocurrency trading on Coinbase. He and his partners made $1.5 million by buying tokens before listing them on the cryptocurrency exchange

Former Coinbase manager Ishaan Wahi was sentenced to two years in prison for insider trading in cryptocurrencies, Reuters reports. The charge against him was filed last July. And last February, he pleaded guilty and was named in court as the first insider. Who pleaded guilty in a case involving cryptocurrency trading.

While working at Coinbase from June 2021 until April 2022, Wahi provided his brother Nikhil and their acquaintance Samir Ramani with confidential information. This information contained data about cryptocurrencies scheduled to be listed on this exchange.

Based on the information received from Ishaan Wahi, Nikhil Wahi and Ramani worked together to trade 55 different crypto-assets shortly before their listing on Coinbase. The scammers were able to make about $1.5 million from this.

Ishan and Nikhil Wahi were arrested on July 21; Samir Ramani was not reported to have been arrested. Nikhil Wahi pleaded guilty last September. And earlier this year, he was sentenced to ten months in prison.

At the May 9 court hearing, Wahi said he made a huge mistake “that will haunt him for the rest of his life.” At the same time, the assistant prosecutor noted that Wahi’s behavior was not a one-time mistake, his actions were committed over the course of ten months at Coinbase.

Our experts note that the prosecutors insisted that the defendant be imprisoned for more than three years. And the defense asked the court to sentence him no harsher than that of Nikhil Wahi. Judge Loretta Preska eventually sentenced Nikhil Wahi to two years in prison. He will now be sent to Fort Dix Federal Correctional Institution in New Jersey.

 

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Executives at Coinbase are being sued for insider trading

Executives and investors of Coinbase, the second largest cryptocurrency exchange, are accused of selling $2.9 billion worth of shares. Which they did before the publication of negative information, which influenced the collapse of prices. Crypto-Upvotes expert review

The head of Coinbase, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, Brian Armstrong. As well as its board member Mark Andriessen and other company officials avoided more than $1 billion in losses while using insider information, according to a lawsuit filed by one of the company’s investors.

He estimated that they sold Coinbase (COIN) stock within days of the cryptocurrency platform’s public offering two years ago. In doing so, knowing of “bad news” that would affect the further collapse of quotations.

The company’s board of directors conducted a so-called direct listing. Instead of a typical initial public offering and quickly sold off $2.9 billion worth of stock before Coinbase management disclosed “significant negative information. Which negated the market’s optimism after the company’s first quarterly earnings report. said in a complaint filed in Delaware state court.

“In five weeks, the value of these shares fell by more than $1 billion. And Coinbase’s market capitalization fell by more than $37 billion,” claims Adam Grabski, speaking on behalf of investors. He says he has held Coinbase stock since April 2021.

Armstrong sold $291.8 million worth of Coinbase stock in a direct listing. Says the complaint, and Andrissen’s venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, sold $118.6 million worth of stock.

“As the most popular and only publicly traded cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S. We are sometimes the subject of bizarre litigation,” Coinbase representatives wrote in a commentary for Bloomberg.

The lawsuit lists the main beneficiaries of the stock sale. Among them are Andreessen Horowitz Group (sold $118.6 million worth of stock) and CEO Brian Armstrong (sold for $291.9 million). As well as COO Emily Choi (sold for $223.9 million), co-founder and board member Fred Ehrsam (sold for $219.4 million) and others.

Union Square Ventures, an investment firm owned by Fred Ehrsam, sold $1.8 billion worth of stock. According to the lawsuit, the company led the Series A funding round for Coinbase. In doing so, it invested $5 million at 20 cents a share, valuing the company at about $20 million. The stock sale was “the largest exit in the firm’s history,” Grabski claims.

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Coinbase upheld lawsuit against Tornado Cash cryptomixer ban

A group of plaintiffs in a case to lift sanctions imposed by U.S. authorities on cryptomixer Tornado Cash has filed a motion for summary judgment

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has upheld a lawsuit against the Tornado Cash cryptomixer ban. On April 5, a group of individuals filed a motion for summary judgment in the case against the U.S. Treasury Department to lift sanctions on the cryptocurrency protocol.

On August 8, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions against Tornado Cash. The agency’s OFAC division put the cryptocurrency protocol and related digital wallet addresses on the sanctions list (SDN). According to U.S. authorities, more than $7 billion in illicit cryptocurrency proceeds have been laundered through this mixing service since its inception in 2019.

In September, 6 people, including Coinbase exchange representatives Tyler Almeida and Nate Welch, appealed OFAC decision. In their view, the agency exceeded its authority. And its actions violate the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution on freedom of speech. The defendants in the suit are the U.S. Treasury Department, its head Janet Yellen, OFAC and its head Andrea Gaki.

Coinbase General Counsel Paul Grewal wrote that the plaintiffs filed a motion for summary judgment in part. In which they asked the court to “open Tornado Cash to all.” If the motion is granted, the judge will rule on some of the factual issues, leaving others for trial.

Grewal noted that the citizens who appealed “are among the thousands of law-abiding Americans Who want to protect their privacy but cannot do so because of government sanctions.”

A Coinbase lawyer recalled the plaintiffs’ arguments. They argue that the government cannot sanction Tornado Cash. That’s because it’s not a forehttps://crypto-upvotes.com/coinbase-upheld-…-cryptomixer-ban/ign national or legal entity, it’s software. He also noted that the government can only legally sanction property, which the Tornado Cash code is not.

Our experts note that the rate of the token Tronado Cash (TORN) rose 14% after the news of the petition. The cryptocurrency’s value rose from $6.95 to $7.95

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Google will start accepting payments in cryptocurrency

Thanks to the integration of services of one of largest cryptocurrency exchanges. Some Google customers will be able to pay with cryptocurrency for cloud services, Crypto-Upvotes expert review

Some Google customers will be able to pay for cloud services in cryptocurrency at early 2023. This was announced by representatives of corporation at conference Google Cloud Next, reports CNBC. This will be possible due to cooperation of corporation with one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase.

First, corporation will accept payments in cryptocurrency from a limited number of customers through its integrated service Coinbase Commerce. Amit Zaveri, vice president and general manager and head of the Google Cloud platform, told CNBC. Currently, Coinbase Commerce supports 10 currencies, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Dogecoin, Ethereum and Litecoin.

As time goes on, corporation will allow many more customers to use cryptocurrency. Also, corporation is considering using Coinbase Prime service to store cryptocurrency and conduct transactions in it.

At the same time, Coinbase said it will use Google cloud infrastructure for storage. Additionally, Coinbase will migrate its applications from Amazon Web Services cloud service. Also, when making cryptocurrency payments Coinbase will receive a percent of transactions.

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Binance and Coinbase will suspend ETH withdrawals during the Merger

Binance announces measures to protect customer funds in case of ETH network hardfork

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance will suspend withdrawals and deposits of ETH and ERC-20 tokens during the “Merger” (blockchain’s migration to Proof-of-Work protocol). In an official announcement, platform team announced measures. Which will be taken to minimize trading risks. And to protect customer funds in case of a split network and the emergence of a second Ethereum token.

Deposit and token withdrawal transactions will be suspended on the platform on September 6 during the Bellatrix update. And also on September 15 during the Paris update. The exchange will suspend Binance Crypto Loans. As well as ETH margin borrowings between September 14 and 16.

Spot trading of ETH and ERC-20 will not be affected during Ethereum update. However, Binance has drawn attention to the risk of increased volatility in the event of a hardfork. And reserved the right to suspend margin trading.

In the case of network splitting and new ETH token emergence. Binance will use ETH ticker for PoS Ethereum chain. Withdrawals for another version of token will be supported. But distribution details will be covered in a separate announcement.

Coinbase will suspend Ethereum operations during the “Merger” of network

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced in its blog. That new deposit and withdrawal transactions in ETH and ERC-20 tokens will be temporarily suspended on Coinbase during Ethereum Merge (blockchain update). Transactions launched before the suspension will also be temporarily delayed.

Coinbase team stated that this will be done as a precautionary measure. To ensure that customer funds are protected. Once the update is complete, processing of suspended transactions will be restarted.

“Merger” is tentatively scheduled for September 15. Customers of Coinbase Prime and Coinbase Exchange services may encounter delays in withdrawals. That’s why Exchange recommends customers to withdraw funds in advance, if necessary.

Users of Coinbase Wallet with ETH and ERC-20 tokens. As well as NFT or DeFi products of Ethereum network, this update should not affect them.

Our experts recommend withdrawing the necessary funds from CEX exchanges in advance. Or convert them to other cryptocurrencies at the time of ETH network update.

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