Weekend in Crypto: What Should Investors Know About This Weekend’s News?
It was a busy weekend in the crypto world. Circle emphasized its commitment to network security by blacklisting addresses found to be linked to the North Korean hacker group Lazarus. In a major change in the Ethereum ecosystem, Ethereum Foundation researcher Danny Ryan, who has been contributing to the project for 7 years, announced his resignation. On the political front, Trump increased his interest in the crypto world by hiring Sandy Peng, co-founder of DeFi platform Scroll, as an advisor. On the other hand, Telegram’s Catizen players reacted to the airdrop announcement. Many users expressed their reactions on social media, claiming that the distribution was unfair.
Circle Blacklists $1.5M Linked to Lazarus Group, Following Rivals’ Lead
Blockchain data indicates that Circle is the most recent stablecoin issuer to add addresses connected to North Korea’s infamous Lazarus Group to its blacklist. On September 14, the wallet addresses “0x36f…22A70” and “0x12E…44DB6” containing more than $1.5 million worth of Circle’s USD Coin were blacklisted.
On the other hand, blockchain expert ZachXBT chastised Circle in an X post from September 14th, pointing out that it happened more than four months after rival companies Tether, Paxos, and Techteryx had taken such steps in late April. The Lazarus Group laundered approximately $200 million from 25 different cryptocurrency attacks between 2020 and 2023, according to ZachXBT’s first investigation, which was published on April 29. According to CoinGecko data, the stablecoin market as a whole is presently valued at $172.4 billion, of which the $5 million blacklisted represents a very small percentage.
Danny Ryan Leaves Ethereum After 7 Years, Focuses on Family and New Ventures
Danny Ryan, a seasoned researcher with the Ethereum Foundation, is leaving the company, citing personal reasons and a desire to investigate new prospects. Ryan contributed to Ethereum’s shift to proof-of-stake in September 2022 by collaborating with Ethereum client teams and other individuals involved in core development. Ryan emphasized that his choice had nothing to do with Ethereum and that he still probably has a relationship with the platform.
I’m taking an indefinite break from Ethereum L1 R&D. I dedicated more than 7 years to this effort, achieved for more than I ever expected, and had an incredible time doing it. But at least through the end of the year, my priorities will be toward my family and a few small personal projects I’ve been putting off,
Ryan
Sandy Peng Joins Forces with Trump’s DeFi Platform as Key Advisor
One of the creators of the Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution Scroll, Sandy Peng, has joined World Liberty Finance, a DeFi company associated with Donald Trump, as an advisor. According to a recent post from WLF’s X account, which was last updated on September 15, Peng has over ten years of experience in the blockchain space as an investor and operator. He is also skilled at expanding open-source projects for both social and economic effects. On September 16, when Trump’s decentralized banking network is anticipated to debut, the Republican front-runner will conduct a webcast. Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., the president and sons of Donald Trump, will run WFL.
Telegram’s Catizen Faces Backlash for Cutting CATI Token Airdrop Percentage
A tweak to CATI’s recent tokenomics announcement has angered investors hoping to get Telegram’s Catizen token airdrop on September 20. A significantly smaller percentage than many had anticipated—only 15% of CATI tokens would be airdropped to Catizen gamers in Season 1. A quarterly season airdrop campaign will employ the remaining 19%. Over a three-year period, the airdrops will make up 34% of the fixed supply of 1 billion CATI tokens, distributed over all seasons. Several gamers on Catizen claimed to be disappointed despite working extremely hard in the Telegram puzzle game to earn a bigger portion of CATI tokens.
Rank 6,054 out of 36 million players but got only 39 CATI. How can someone call this fair distribution? We need transparency about the token allocation.
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