PayPal gets into the stablecoin game + more

Plus everything else you need to know in crypto this week.

GM! This week: Rumors swirl around the solvency of Chinese exchange Huobi as PayPal launches a new stablecoin. Plus, why did someone burn $4.5M in ether? Here’s everything you need to know to start your week. 

In PayPal’s Stablecoin…

The latest stablecoin on the market is PYUSD, a stablecoin launched on Ethereum by PayPal for use on the service and its subsidiary Venmo and issued by Paxos. The company’s press release claims the token is “100% backed by U.S. dollar deposits, short-term U.S Treasuries and similar cash equivalents.” 

Republican Congressman from North Carolina and U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick T. McHenry used the news to promote his push for passing stablecoin legislation through Congress, while the CTO of Tether, the world’s biggest stablecoin, brushed off any concerns of competition. 

Coinage’s newsletter is brought to you by BitGo - the most secure and scalable wallet solutions for the digital asset economy. 

In Huobi FUD…

What exactly is going on with Huobi, the crypto exchange which originated in China and has mysterious ties to Tron founder Justin Sun? Well, over the weekend, Hong Kong media reported that several of Huobi’s executives were taken into custody by Chinese authorities, though the company itself has denied these reports. Huobi’s exchange token (we’re still cool with those?) is flat on the news, though the exchange has seen significant outflows over the past few days. 

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New Coinage Investigation: Inside SBF’s Defense

SBF gave us his defense, outlined in a series of documents. We got Marc Litt, the lead prosecutor on the Bernie Madoff case, to help us dissect it. This is Part 1 in a new, weekly Coinage investigative series.

In this introduction, we take a special look at SBF's right-hand woman: Caroline Ellison. Caroline admits that she committed crimes during her time as the head of Alameda. SBF said he was unaware — and it's precisely because he was unaware of just how badly Caroline was running Alameda. He says that its collapse in turn took down FTX. But does he have a case? And how does the prosecutor who took down Bernie Madoff view his chances?

To watch the latest episode, mint one of our Digital Membership Passes and head over to our website.

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In Burns, Hacks, and Counter-attacks…

Crypto Twitter was baffled over the weekend as a recent transaction was uncovered which sent 2,500 ether — worth over $4.6M at the time — to a burn address, never to be recovered. Why did this crypto user essentially lock millions of dollars away forever? We may never know, if these cryptic posts are anything to go by. 

Meanwhile, the Lazarus Group struck again, stealing $37 million from CoinsPaid using a fake job application — a similar attack vector to their Axie Infinity hack. The hacking group reportedly targeted CoinsPaid for six months before finally finding success. One interesting note: Lazarus seems to have abandoned the money mixer Tornado.Cash after it was put on OFAC’s list of officially sanctioned entities, and instead, this time used the crypto mixer Sinbad. Maybe the government goes after them next? 

And finally, if a bot is attempting to snipe your NFTs, and you make a bunch of listings at high prices in order to trick the bot into bidding much more than the value of your NFTs, then you dump the NFTs on the bot, profiting $1.5M, is that illegal market manipulation? Or simply exacting revenge on a troll? We’ll see if the bot operator’s plea for a return of funds is heard. 

In Other Headlines…

• Play-to-earn tokens are down 98% from their peak 

• Investment banks predict end to rate hikes

• Hong Kong once again becoming a crypto hotspot

• IRS clarifies rules for paying taxes on staking gains

• Number of long-term Bitcoin holders hit all-time high

• Alleged BALD deployer pointed to by ZachXBT isn’t SBF

• Kenyan police reportedly seize Worldcoin machines in warehouse raid

  • Though elsewhere in the global south, people are lining up around the block to get their eyes scanned

That’s everything we’re taking a look at this week!

If you haven’t heard, Coinage is expanding from the show you know and love to an entire media operation, posting and curating news on our site. If you have a membership pass, you can even help us out by submitting stories you’d like to see included in our coverage.