Cryptography

Photo: Joe Raedle (Getty Images)Jack Dorsey announced a new crypto project—“Web5: The Decentralized Web Platform”—Friday on Twitter and in-person during a Web3 festival. Spoilers of the Week | June 10thJack Dorsey wants two jobs. He was CEO of Twitter and Block (then Square) simultaneously for years. Then, in 2021, he quit running the blue bird app and announced Block’s rebranding and new focus on blockchain technology in addition to financial services. So if you were wondering what the hell he was working on post-social…

On Tuesday, the Justice Department announced that a group of darkweb domains, collectively known as the SSNDOB Marketplace, had been taken offline. The websites were reportedly used to sell data like individuals’ names, Social Security numbers, and birthdates—predominately targeting those in the U.S.About 24 million people from the U.S. had their info listed on the sites, and more than $19 million in revenue was generated by related sales, said the Department of Justice in its press statement. A separate analysis by the…

Photo: Grey82 (Shutterstock)Back in February, hackers managed to squirrel away approximately $36 million in crypto assets from users’ retirement accounts. In the aftermath of that scam, it’s become less of a “who-dun-it” and more of a “who’s-gonna-take-the-blame?”In a lawsuit filed Monday against Gemini Trust Company, retirement investment company IRA Financial said it was let down by Gemini’s promise of security for its crypto assets.Gemini is the crypto exchange fronted by the Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, AKA the…

Plenty of questions remain whether existing stablecoin issuers like Tether will be able to operate in Japan.Photo: Justin TALLIS / AFP (Getty Images)The Japanese are stepping out in front of the international crowd of hungry crypto-curtailing regulators, becoming the first nation to truly clarify the legal status of stablecoins and setting a precedent for more regulations on the largely-unregulated crypto industry.Bloomberg and the Financial Times reported Japan’s new law passed by the upper house of parliament Friday…

Pedestrians walk by a Chipotle restaurant on April 26, 2022 in San Francisco, California. Photo: Justin Sullivan (Getty Images)Customers at Chipotle will now be able to pay for their burritos with cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ether, and dogecoin, in a move that could help crypto become more mainstream, according to trade publication Restaurant Business. But there’s just one important caveat: Chipotle will accept the crypto through a payments system called Flexa, which is far from the decentralized technologythat…

Crypto may be on the downfall right now, but experts are still warning against its lobbying influence. Photo: Kin Cheung (AP)A group of technology experts is trying to warn the government of the dangers of the crypto industry. In a letter to U.S. policy makers, 26 computer scientists and engineers called on lawmakers to block efforts to create a ‘regulatory safe haven’ for cryptocurrency. They want leaders in Washington to instead focus on what they’re calling ‘responsible fintech policy.’“The claims that the blockchain…

Image: Justin Tallis (Getty Images)Watch out intrepid web3 entrepreneurs, the feds are cracking down on insider trading. Former OpenSea product manager Nate Chastain was arrested by the FBI early Wednesday morning in New York City and charged with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with an elaborate NFT insider trading scheme. In a press release, The Department of Justice claims Chastain used his advanced, confidential knowledge about which NFTs would be featured on OpenSea’s platform to secretly buy themand…

Illustration: JLStock (Shutterstock)Luna 2.0, a Frankenstein cryptocurrency resurrected after its predecessor crashed to near-worthlessness, is already looking pretty haggard out of the starting gate. And like Mary Shelley’s monster, there are signs of more misfortune in the near future.Luna 2.0, which launched Saturday to replace the old Luna and Terra cryptocurrency ecosystem (now rebranded as Luna and Terra “Classic”), started at a high of $19.53but then sank to a low of just over $4 over the next few hours, according…