Security engineer jailed for 3 years for $12M crypto hacks
Shakeeb Ahmed, a cybersecurity engineer convicted of stealing around $12 million in crypto, was sentenced on Friday to three years in prison. In a press release, the U.S. Attorney for…
How Ukraine’s cyber police fights back against Russia’s hackers
On February 24, 2022, Russian forces invaded Ukraine. Since then, life in the country has changed for everyone. For the Ukrainian forces who had to defend their country, for the…
Nine crypto VCs on why Q1 investments were so hot and how it compares to previous bull market
If the 2023 crypto venture landscape was an ice-cold pot of water, the first quarter of 2024 is the part where the bubbles start to form right before water boils,…
The AI world needs more data transparency and web3 startup Space and Time says it can help
As AI proliferates and things on the internet are easier to manipulate, there’s a need more than ever to make sure data and brands are verifiable, said Scott Dykstra, CTO…
SBF’s prison sentence marks the end of the crypto grift era — so what’s next?
On Thursday, a federal judge sentenced former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison after he was found guilty on seven charges of wire fraud and money-laundering. The…
SBF sentenced, Worldcoin hit with another ban order and big web3 pre-seed rounds are back
Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto, formerly known as Chain Reaction. This is the last edition of this newsletter. I want to personally thank each of you for reading this and if…
Sam Bankman-Fried gets 25 years in prison for fraud and money-laundering at FTX
Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder and former CEO of crypto exchange FTX and trading firm Alameda Research, was sentenced to 25 years in prison by Southern District of New York (SDNY)…
A new web3 network is being built right now that wants to end Big Tech’s control of your data
Many of the people building Web3 feel like the traditional web ecosystem has taken advantage of users and their data. While it benefits a number of businesses, data miners and…
Solana memecoin hype continues, Backpack’s beta phase was a success and Starbucks axes its NFT program
Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto, formerly known as Chain Reaction. To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important crypto stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday at 12 p.m.…
Crypto exchange OKX ceases services in India
Crypto exchange OKX is ceasing services for users in India, it said in an email to customers Thursday, advising them to withdraw their funds by April-end. The move follows Apple…
Starbucks ditches its Odyssey NFT program
Update: Starbucks announced Friday that it’s discontinuing its NFT program, to “prepare for what comes next as we continue to evolve the program,” according to an FAQ page. We…
Blockchain tech could be the answer to uncovering deepfakes and validating content
Two months ago, media giant Fox Corp. partnered with Polygon Labs, the team behind the Ethereum-focused layer-2 blockchain, to tackle deepfake distrust. Fox and Polygon launched Verify, a protocol that…
Bitcoin hits new high, Solana price jumps as memecoins mania rises and Worldcoin faces heat in Spain
Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto, formerly known as Chain Reaction. To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important crypto stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday at 12 p.m.…
NFT platform Zora is offering a novel way for AI model makers to earn money
Zora, an NFT-based social network platform, is continuing its expansion beyond the crypto-sphere into the hot artificial intelligence market, Dee Goens, the startups’ co-founder, said on Chain Reaction. Not to…
Bitcoin hits highs, Binance launches a crypto perfume and Coachella partners with OpenSea
Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto, formerly known as Chain Reaction. To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important crypto stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday at 12 p.m.…
Binance made crypto perfume in a baffling attempt to woo women
What does crypto smell like? Ozone, salt and moss, according to Binance’s new fragrance, “CRYPTO.” Binance is the largest crypto exchange in the world by volume, but the company is…
Taiko raises $37M to build web3 infrastructure for a censorship-free internet
Amid the speculation and volatility in the casino-like crypto land, there remains a subset of individuals who espouse blockchain’s potential to decentralize various aspects of human activities for the greater…
Bitcoin jumped and Coinbase’s app crashed, while Aptos eyes Hong Kong and Telegram rolls out rewards with TON
Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto, formerly known as Chain Reaction. To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important crypto stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday at 12 p.m.…
Crypto users in Nigeria briefly lose access to Binance, Kraken and Coinbase
Some cryptocurrency exchanges in Nigeria faced accessibility issues for users, prompting speculation of imposed restrictions on crypto sites, the Financial Times reported. On Wednesday, local media reported that Nigeria’s telecom…
Animoca Brands’ Yat Siu sees NFTs as a way to protect ownership in the age of AI
NFTs don’t always get taken very seriously, particularly now that AI and content creators are hogging the spotlight, but not everyone is so quick to discount crypto’s oft-derided younger sibling.…
Coinbase cites stablecoins, Base as key 2024 priorities after crushing Q4 estimates
After disclosing better-than-expected financial results in its fourth quarter earnings report, U.S.-based Coinbase has big plans. The second largest crypto exchange told its investors that intends to lean heavily on…
Crypto exits remain low but investors remain unfazed
The global venture capital market is enduring a long period of limited exits. Startups are staying private longer, M&A is quiet in part due to sharpened regulatory oversight, and the…
As spot bitcoin ETF volumes continue to rise, Bitwise Asset Management predicts a high ceiling for growth
The price of bitcoin hit $50,000 today, a month after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved 11 applications for spot bitcoin ETFs. The issuers of those ETFs have seen…
Farcaster hype grows, Bluesky opens to the public and SEC’s Hester Peirce is open to new token proposals
Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto, formerly known as Chain Reaction. To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important crypto stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday at 12 p.m.…
OpenSea takes the long view by focusing on its UX even as NFT sales remain low
It’s fair to say the NFT space has lost a lot of its sparkle over the past few years, but that hasn’t stopped some founders, investors and projects from trucking…
SEC’s Hester Peirce still plans to push for a token ‘safe harbor’ plan
The work of creating crypto- and investor-friendly legal frameworks in the United States continues. Thankfully for the web3 community, they have friends in high places. It’s been almost three years…
A16z’s Chris Dixon thinks it’s time to focus on blockchains’ use cases, not speculation
The crypto world is riddled with noise. Memecoins, speculation, rugpulls, scams, hype and doomers distract us from all the innovative stuff people are building with blockchains. And sometimes the noise…
Tether had ‘record-breaking’ net profits in Q4, Polygon Labs does layoffs and hackers steal $112M of XRP
Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto, formerly known as Chain Reaction. To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important crypto stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday at 12 p.m.…
Solana Mobile still has a long way to go until it hits breakeven
Solana Labs co-founder teases possibility of third mobile device Jacquelyn Melinek 8 hours Last month, Solana Mobile’s flagship web3 smartphone, the Saga, sold out. Last week the Solana Labs’ subsidiary…
Bitcoin and Ethereum decline on the week, Worldcoin to launch a new Orb and Terraform Labs files for bankruptcy
Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto, formerly known as Chain Reaction. To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important crypto stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday at 12 p.m.…
Worldcoin to launch new Orb to make its eyeball scanning device look “more friendly”
The next iteration will look similar to an “Apple product,” CEO says Jacquelyn Melinek 8 hours It’s been a little over 180 days since Worldcoin publicly launched – and its…
Can crypto’s recent wins resurrect venture interest?
Like a tenacious balloon, no matter how hard crypto gets knocked down, it tends to float back up again. I’ve found that to be true in all the years I…
After 12 years, Ripple’s president sees its payment and enterprise businesses evolving further
Although Ripple has been around since 2012, it and the XRP Ledger are doubling down on its global payments journey. At the same time, it’s also aiming to become the…
Bitcoin spot ETF volume rose, Coinbase went to court, Solana Mobile announces new device and Google cuts crypto apps in India
Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto, formerly known as Chain Reaction. Alongside our regularly scheduled news bits, I’ll be testing out some recurring segments and features — so if you do (or…
Buying frenzy for Solana Mobile’s second phone drives preorders sky high
Solana Mobile is swinging for the stars after it announced a second, cheaper web3 phone phone dubbed “Chapter 2” earlier this week. While its first handset, Saga, sold out like…
Staking technology provider Kiln raises $17 million in rare crypto funding round
2023 hasn’t been the best year for crypto companies. According to PitchBook data, VC investments in crypto companies are down by 68% in 2023 compared to 2022. To be fair,…
How low can bitcoin ETF fees drop before it hurts a business?
Franklin Templeton's product currently has the lowest fee at 19 basis points Jacquelyn Melinek 16 hours It’s been a little over a day since 11 spot bitcoin ETFs began trading…
US spot bitcoin ETFs begin trading, Circle files for IPO and India continues crypto pullback
Welcome back to Chain Reaction. To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important crypto stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday at 12 p.m. PT, subscribe here. This…
Grayscale CEO sees spot bitcoin ETF as first step towards ‘normalizing’ crypto
It’s been a long road for spot bitcoin ETF filers – and today the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission finally approved all 11 standing applications from issuers. “I’ve known for 10…
US approves first spot bitcoin ETF applications for 11 issuers
It’s been over a decade since the first application for a spot bitcoin ETF was filed. After a number of denials over the years, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission…