COINBASE VS TREASURY DEPARTMENT
Coinbase disagrees with Treasury’s decision about Tornado Cash. US Government wants cryptocurrencies to be greener. NFTs for late Queen Elizabeth II.
Coo! Happy Friday, which today is actually Wonderful Weirdos Day! So, cheers for all weirdos out there, and let’s jump into the news.
On Today’s Menu:
🥓 FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST: Coinbase Is Funding A Lawsuit Against The U.S. Treasury Department
🥞 CREMPOG (WELSH PANCAKES): U.S. Government Says BTC Should Be Greener, Otherwise…
🍮 ENGLISH MUFFINS: NFTs For Queen Elizabeth II
🐟 ARBROATH SMOKIES: More Crypto News Around The Web
🫓 BANNOCKS: Friday’s Fact
COINBASE IS FUNDING A LAWSUIT AGAINST THE U.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT
Ugh, rough.
Tornado Cash, a crypto mixer with quite a story already with money laundering allegations, is now blacklisted by the U.S. Department of Treasury to forbid Americans from using it.
The government states that Tornado Cash repeatedly missed its chance to control illegal actions and showed no initiative in doing something about it.
So, because of encouraging various types of cybercrimes (frauds, scams, money laundering, etc.), Tornado cash was blacklisted as the Treasury Department claimed that “Digital currency mixers that facilitate cybercriminals constitute a threat to U.S. national security”.
Now, what the Coinbase has to do with it?
Coinbase’s official statement says that the Treasury’s sanctions of Tornado Cash smart contracts “exceed Treasury’s authority, harm innocent people, remove privacy and security options for crypto users, and stifle innovation.”;
Coinbase claims that they “have no issue with the Treasury sanctioning bad actors, and we take a hard stance against unlawful behavior”;
Nonetheless, the cryptocurrency exchange platform sees some issues with it, saying that the “Treasury went much further and took the unprecedented step of sanctioning an entire technology instead of specific individuals”;
Coinbase states two problems: one is that innocent users are now punished for nothing (losing their access to the platform, having trapped their funds); and the second one is that the “Treasury exceeded its authority”.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong genuinely believes that this Treasury’s action is not the best way to solve the problem and is a threat to “the future of decentralized finance (DeFi) and web3 specifically“.
Hence, one of the biggest crypto platforms finds that they have to be responsible for the crypto community and how U.S. Treasury Department’s decision affects it negatively. “That’s why we’re funding and supporting this lawsuit”, Coinbase says.
Is the Coinbase a new Superman, or what?
U.S. GOVERNMENT SAYS BTC SHOULD BE GREENER, OTHERWISE…
Mining is not good for Mother Earth.
And that’s no secret; however, mining is now becoming more usual than ever before, and the amount of electricity used for that is tremendous.
According to the White House’s Climate and Energy Implications Of Crypto-Assets In The United States given statistics, “the U.S. share of global mining from Bitcoin, the largest crypto-asset, rose from 3.5% in 2020 to 38% today, with U.S. electricity usage for crypto-asset mining, while still relatively small, tripling since January 2021.”
So, Bitcoin is the main and largest cryptocurrency based on Proof-of-Work Consensus, which is, well, about mining. Ethereum, while it is not updated to Ethereum 2.0, is also based on the same consensus, so naturally, both cryptocurrencies used the biggest amount of electricity: “as of August 2022, Bitcoin is estimated to account for 60% to 77% of total global crypto-asset electricity usage, and Ethereum is estimated to account for 20% to 39%.”
Well, we need to agree that these numbers are huge. That’s why the government sees a problem here.
Climate change causes extreme effects on our planet and life in general.
“These climate-driven damages include deaths caused by: heat waves; loss of forests, homes, and infrastructure from increasing wildfires; flooding and extreme weather events <...> The damages intensified by climate change are not borne equally; underserved communities are often disproportionally burdened with the most severe impacts from climate change”, said the official document.
And sadly, the crypto effect is harsh: “some crypto-asset technologies currently require a considerable amount of electricity for asset generation, ownership, and exchange. Electricity usage from digital assets is contributing to GHG emissions, additional pollution, noise, and other local impacts, depending on markets, policies, and local electricity sources.”
I mean…look:
That’s crazy! And it made the government think about making cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, greener for our environment.
So, according to the document: “The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Energy (DOE), and other federal agencies should provide technical assistance and initiate a collaborative process with <...> crypto-asset industry <...> to develop effective <...> use of environmentally responsible crypto-asset technologies.”
And if that will not happen… Congress might take some action to “limit or eliminate the use of high energy intensity consensus mechanisms for crypto-asset mining”.
The situation is serious. Hopefully, we’re not too late.
NFTS FOR QUEEN ELIZABETH II
The world lost one of the brightest people yesterday. Queen Elizabeth II was an extraordinary woman and wholly dedicated to her duties as monarch. She reigned for 70 years - the longest anyone ever did.
The late Queen has fans in the crypto community as well. Developers of the Ethereum NFT project, QueenE, created a collection in tribute to the monarch. The project started in July, and now, its developers announced that an auction, they’re holding right now, will be the last following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
So, the last piece - the 73rd - in this collection will be the last created.
I think such a developers’ decision is kind of beautiful.
CRYPTO NEWS AROUND THE WEB
Bitcoin on the streets: the trick to onboarding UK merchants into BTC
Japanese gov't issues NFTs to reward local authorities' work
FRIDAY FACT
Reportedly, Singapore is the country that waits for the Merge the most!
Then it goes like this: Switzerland and Canada, Germany, the United States, and Netherland.
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Disclaimer: This newsletter is strictly educational. None of this information is intended to be financial advice. Always do your research and act responsibly with your profits.