Final weekend, MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito stepped down for having taken slightly deal of donations from Jeffrey Epstein however defending them up as nameless, as revealed in this New Yorker article, which uncovered some damning emails. (Epstein became on the total identified as Voldemort, and “he who ought to not be named.”) The MIT Media Lab is home to a range of Bitcoin-connected of us and organizations.

Libra persisted to face regulatory skepticism, in particular from France, though Switzerland equipped some clarity on the way it’d be regulated.

On the podcasts, we raise varied views of Bitcoin’s course. LocalBitcoins’ fresh CEO explains his intentions and plans going forward, with law and industrial drivers making up most of his rationale, whereas Nic Carter of Fortress Island Ventures makes the case for why Bitcoin might well well moreover disruptive to nation-states.

This Week’s Crypto News…

French Finance Minister Calls Libra a Risk to Monetary Sovereignty

“It might perchance well be a world currency, held by a single player, which has extra than two billion users across the field. The monetary sovereignty of states… is below threat,” Bruno LeMaire acknowledged at an OECD tournament. He acknowledged France intends to dam pattern of Libra on its soil. The Libra Association’s Dante Disparte acknowledged, “We welcome this scrutiny and accept as true with intentionally designed an extended beginning runway to accept as true with these conversations, educate stakeholders and incorporate their recommendations in our keep.”

The Libra Association announced plans to apply for a funds license in Switzerland, and the Swiss Monetary Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) released tips on stablecoins, moreover a provisional classification for Libra.

Within the intervening time, OpenZeppelin came across a vulnerability in the language Facebook is using for Libra, which might well per chance accept as true with allowed serious bugs. “For instance, a digital pockets might well well moreover view worship it has frozen fresh deposits and would release them after a prescribed dimension of time. But these funds would by no way be released or worse, would be diverted,” OpenZeppelin wrote in a blog submit.

Would possibly perchance presumably per chance well $2 Billion in Lost Mt. Gox Cash Be Recovered?

A Russian honest agency claims it has has known Russian nationals who got stolen bitcoins from the Mt. Gox hacked and has equipped to lend a hand them collectors some by honest action. (The coins hacked total about $8.5 billion at the original time.) The to find: they are going to heed 50-75% of the bitcoins, plus an hourly price. 😬

Lightning Nodes Preserve $8.6 Million Skill

The Block’s Larry Cermak has a tweetstorm with charts on Lightning: there are truly extra than 32,000 channels and 4,800 nodes with energetic channels however the likelihood of channels has dropped 20% since the peak in March. Skill has fallen as properly — by 25% in BTC phrases, and by 29% in USD. One node operator who acknowledged they earned $20 month max from routing charges had spent extra than $1,000 to begin and shut channels.

Bitwise Makes a Case for Bitcoin as an Rising Retailer of Price

“Bitcoin is behaving extra worship gold in the Seventies—after it ceased to be the peg of the U.S. greenback—than gold at the original time,” Bitwise says in its consumers letter. For that motive, the agency expects it to be replace less correlated to the leisure of the market.

CME Bitcoin Futures Contract Limits Would possibly perchance presumably per chance well Be Raised to $100 Million Monthly

If the CFTC approves it, then merchants can replace 10,000 BTC a month.

Gemini Affords Institutional Grade Custody for 18 Cash

CoinDesk writes: “The custodian, which already supported bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ether, litecoin and zcash, now affords give a seize to for 0z, Augur’s REP tokens, the major consideration token (BAT), bread (BRD), dai, maker, decentraland’s MANA token, enjin, flexacoin, the Gemini greenback, Kyber Network’s token, Loom Network’s token and OmiseGo.” Inquire: is there institutional question for all these? 🤔

Coinbase Places $2 Million of Stablecoin in to DeFi Tasks

Known as the USDC Bootstrap Fund, this is in a position to well moreover make investments USDC straight into protocols so that you just might perchance add liquidity, now not permitting the money to be damaged-down for salaries or individual acquisition.

Three Hours With Vitalik on the 80,000 Hours Podcast

I haven’t completed listening to this yet however I am taking a view forward to the piece where it sounds as if Vitalik says humanity might well well moreover have to prevent living in cities. Plus, L4 cofounder Josh Stark addresses two most fresh high-profile criticisms of ETH.