Coinbase’s CEO shares his top 10 most exciting Web3 ideas

Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong is basking in the glow of a successful week as the value of his company's stocks soared, riding on the rising hopes for a Bitcoin spot Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF).

Armstrong kept the good vibes going by sharing the 10 ideas he’s “most excited about” in the Web3 space.

"We're actively developing numerous projects at Coinbase, but considering the vast landscape, it's not possible to tackle everything. Therefore, I thought...

House of Lords approve UK crypto bill

UK parliamentarians have taken a significant step towards recognising cryptocurrencies as a regulated activity with the approval of the Financial Services and Markets Bill (FSMB) by the House of Lords.

The move brings the bill closer to becoming law, marking an important development in the country's approach to digital assets.

Anto Paroian, CEO at ARK36, said:

"At ARK36, we feel the news that the UK parliament has just voted through a new bill which could...

FCA introduces new rules for marketing cryptoassets

Cryptocurrency coins.

Those marketing cryptoassets to UK consumers will need to introduce a cooling-off period for first time investors from October 8, 2023, under new advertising rules announced by the FCA.

As part of a package of measures designed to ensure those who buy crypto understand the risk, ‘refer a friend’ bonuses will also be banned. 

The new rules mean crypto firms must ensure that people have the appropriate knowledge and experience to invest in crypto. Those promoting...

Ethereum decreased its annual CO2 emissions by over 21M tons

Over 109M more trees would have been needed to offset Ethereum’s CO2 emissions prior to its switch to a more efficient consensus.

Ethereum switched to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus last year in an event called The Merge. Regardless of personal views on Ethereum and the wider blockchain and web3 space, The Merge was broadly seen as an incredible feat of open-source engineering.

The Merge is the first major step on the road to Ethereum 2.0 which aims to tackle the...

Visa will ‘actively contribute’ to web3 development

Visa refuses to become a dinosaur and will “actively contribute” to developing the web3 and crypto ecosystem.

Aside from maximalists, few experts believe that crypto poses an existential threat to fiat currencies. Legacy payment processors like Visa and Mastercard have increasingly been joining the web2-era disruptors like PayPal and Square in supporting the web3 and crypto ecosystem.

Greater public adoption of “crypto” will likely come through CBDCs (Central...

Sam Bankman-Fried deepfake aims to scam FTX collapse victims

A deepfake of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried aims to scam victims of the exchange’s collapse.

FTX was the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange and Bankman-Fried was seen as the face of crypto in Washington. The exchange enjoyed many celebrity endorsements and secured a 19-year, $135 million sponsorship agreement with Miami-Dade county that included the local stadium being renamed the FTX Arena.

All of that success went up in smoke when concerns around the...

‘Solana killer’ Aptos soared to $100 on Binance before plunging

Aptos, a blockchain created by former Meta employees, debuted on Binance this week and soared to $100 before plunging to around $8.

The project has been called the “Solana killer” due to its claims of being able to process an incredible 130,000 transactions per second (tps).

As of writing, Aptos is processing around 24tps. This has led to many within the crypto community saying that Aptos’ performance claims are misleading.

Aptos co-founder Mo Shaikh has...

‘Most of crypto is going to go away’ says JPMorgan blockchain lead

Trash

JPMorgan head of blockchain and digital assets, Umar Farooq, has stated that the majority of crypto assets on the market today are “junk” and that it will take time for real crypto use cases to emerge.

During a panel at the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Green Shoots Seminar on 30 August, Farooq also said that regulation in the digital asset space was not keeping up with the industry’s advances.

In his view, this is holding bacl many traditional finance...

Binance exec deepfake fools ‘highly intelligent’ people

A deepfake of Binance Chief Communications Officer Patrick Hillmann is reportedly fooling “highly intelligent” people.

The attackers are using what Hillman describes as an “AI hologram” of himself to fool representatives of various projects that the CCO is helping them get listed on the exchange.

In a blog post last week, Hillmann revealed that he received several online messages from project teams thanking him for taking the time to meet with them. However, it...

Alex Reinhardt, PLC Ultima: On building a crypto ecosystem for ‘daily life’

PLC Ultima aims to spread opportunity with an ecosystem that anyone can use in their daily lives.

The Block caught up with Alex Reinhardt, Founder of PLC Ultima, to learn more about the project and get the crypto expert’s views on the uncertain regulatory environment.

The Block: How is PLC Ultima bridging the gap between traditional business and crypto? 

Alex Reinhardt: I originally conceived PLC Ultima as a universal financial instrument that can be...