PayPal's Stablecoin is a BFD

Plus Worldcoin raided in Kenya

Author

Nathaniel Whittemore
August 08, 2023

The Breakdown First Five - Monday, August 8 2023

Welcome back to The Breakdown First Five — the 5 most interesting and/or important stories in bitcoin, crypto, and markets to start your day.

5. Worldcoin Raided in Kenya

Law enforcement officials in Nairobi have raided a Worldcoin warehouse. The controversial project was shut down in Kenya last week with concerns over the safety of gathered crowds and data privacy procedures. Officials said they seized documents and machines they believe to contain “data gathered by the firm". Regulators claim Worldcoin failed to disclose its true intentions when registering in Kenya.

4. More ETF delays

Cathie Wood of ARK Invest said she expects the firm’s spot Bitcoin ETF to be delayed by the SEC. ARK is first in line for approval, with a deadline approaching on Sunday. The SEC can postpone the decision until a later date. Wood said she expects the SEC to “approve more than one at once." The SEC could drag out a decision on ARK’s application until January, with others including Blackrock potentially left hanging until March.

3. Bitcoin in Bhutan

Nestled in the hinterlands of the Himalayas, Bitdeer have created a Bitcoin mining paradise. Last year it was revealed that the Bhutan sovereign wealth fund had been actively trading Bitcoin for some time. 23,000 new miners have arrived to expand a mining facility in Bhutan. The kingdom’s mountainside position provides it with plentiful hydroelectric power, making it ideal for clean, green Bitcoin mining.

2. Huobi shored up

After on chain analysts raised the alarm about dwindling reserves at Huobi, a mysterious whale deposited $200M in Tether and over $9M in ETH. Huobi denies that the whale was Justin Sun, however the wallet address is tagged as a top 10 Tron holder. Outflows continue, with over $100M in assets leaving the exchange over the past week. Rumors that executives were arrested in China are still unconfirmed.

1. Paypal launches Stablecoin

Paypal have launched their much anticipated stablecoin. Paxos will begin issuing the fully reserved ERC-20 stablecoin on Ethereum in the coming weeks. Critics spotted the power to freeze and seize funds and some claimed this looks an awful lot like a corporate CBDC. Others saw this as completely normal for a regulated stablecoin and heralded the launch as major progress for the legitimacy of the industry.

Thanks for reading -NLW