Monday greetings!
So much to get through today. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s iris-scanning crypto project Worldcoin is now live, while a top crypto lawyer says an appeal by the US Securities and Exchage Commission in the Ripple Labs case could take years to process. Elsewhere, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco is looking for a crypto architect to develop a central bank digital currency.
Also, a Bitcoin fuelled murder-for-hire case sees a woman sentenced to prison.
Worldcoin goes live
Altman’s eyeball-scanning crypto project Worldcoin is now live.
Worldcoin will out to create an “identity and financial network owned by everyone: the rollout begins today,” Altman and his Worldcoin co-founder Alex Blania said in a statement.
By having their irises scanned, prospective customers will be able to prove that they are who they say they are.
Lawyer: Ripple decision ‘is law’
The SEC has flagged that it may appeal district judge Analisa Torres’ ruling in the Ripple case two weeks ago.
Crypto lawyer John E. Deaton has responded by saying it’s “not even close to be a setback.”
“First, it will be two years from now before a decision is issued by the second circuit, if it’s appealed,” the Crypto Law founder said. “The Torres decision is the law until then — at least in the second Circuit.”
Crypto architect wanted for CBDC project
The San Francisco Fed is hiring a senior crypto architect to help it develop and research a CBDC, according to a job listing.
The news comes as CBDCs have become a fraught subject in the US, with Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis being one of the politicians pledging to ban a federal digital dollar.
Government may kill crypto — Blockchain Australia CEO says
The new CEO of Blockchain Australia said that the Anthony Albanese Labor-led government’s crypto crackdown could risk killing the industry in the country, meaning the nation could lose out on billions of dollars.
“We would lose jobs,” Simon Callaghan told DL News in an interview. “Businesses would move overseas. They would move to Singapore. They would move to Hong Kong. They would move to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.”
Woman jailed for using Bitcoin to hire hitman
A woman who tried to hire a hitman on the dark web with $5,000 Bitcoin to kill her husband has been sentenced to five years in prison, Decrypt reported.
The incident happened in 2016. Today, the 12 Bitcoin she tried to pay off the hitman would be worth around $360,000.
What we’re reading around the web
Peer-to-peer crypto exchanges lose ground in shrunken market — Bloomberg
StormX token price fluctuates wildly amid ‘emergency’ contract incident — The Block
Alphapo hot wallets drained for $23 million, HypeDrop disables withdrawals — The Block
