The Eagle Is Dumping 🔻🚀📱

Valko

The Eagle Is Dumping 🔻🚀📱 Valko

Specs’ Insights

US files intent to dispose $117 million in bitcoin seized from Silk Road drug dealer

Convicted dark web agent's bitcoin, seized in 2021, could be sold according to a statement from the U.S. government.

⌐◪-◪ → The US government has declared its intention to sell approximately $117M BTC, which was confiscated from individuals involved in the Silk Road dark web drug operation.

This includes the assets of Ryan Farace, known as "Xanaxman," who was charged in 2018 and convicted of selling Xanax online in exchange for Bitcoin. He, along with his father Joseph Farace, was recently sentenced for money laundering conspiracy.

The seized Bitcoin, totaling nearly 2,875 from Ryan Farace and Sean Bridges and an additional 59 from Farace alone, was valued at around $133 million at the time of the filing. Farace, who admitted to using Silk Road for his drug dealings, forfeited 4,000 Bitcoin in 2018, valued at $16 million then but significantly more today.

This development follows a history of the U.S. government selling BTC seized from criminal activities, including a previous major seizure of $3.36 billion in BTC from hacker James Zhong in November 2021.

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Michael Saylor explains why #Bitcoin is going to $5 Million.

⌐◪-◪ → Michael Saylor is the greatest Bitcoin bull of all time. On X Spaces yesterday, he predicted a Bitcoin price of $5M, citing 3 key catalysts.

Spot ETF’s making crypto accessibleBank custody crypto and lending against itFair value accounting — like treasury bonds

Michael’s thesis is based around these three prongs and believes that Bitcoin will not only displace the market cap of gold ($13.5T), but blow past it by a factor of 10x.

For context, Bitcoin’s market cap is currently $812B, so on the conservative side if it simply displaces gold it still has a 16.6X left in it.

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Solana Mobile still has a long way to go until it hits breakeven | TechCrunch

If Solana Mobile’s devices have 100,000 users, Yakovenko views that user base as a stronger distribution channel for dApps than through traditional app stores like Google or Apple.

⌐◪-◪ → The Solana Labs CEO just teased the possibility of a third mobile device.

I genuinely don’t understand why people are buying this phone other than the possibility of 1) selling it at a higher price; or 2) the potential for airdrops (like BONK).

For context: last month, Solana’s Saga smartphone sold over 40,000 pre-orders in less than a week. After the sell-out, Solana felt there was an opportunity to do a second version of the phone, so they did.

Now, if the second device is a success, they are seriously considering a third phone.

Am I just missing the legitimacy/importance of web3 smartphones as a category/product, or is this just some bullshit marketing hype?

I genuinely do not know — let me know what you think in Specs Chat.

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Everything Else

⛓️ Crypto & DeFi

BTC pioneer Jeff Garzik taps Star Trek icon to direct Deathlands
Crypto projects have given out 40 billion points so far
OKX to phase out mining pool and related services
Aleo mainnet launch imminent after bugs are fixed
Kraken hires former N26 and Coinbase execs to bolster compliance
AltLayer airdrop puts $100M into the wallets of Ethereum users
Pyth stakers exceed 110,000 as community participation surges
Swan BTC announces US mining business, with 750 BTC mined
Ethereum devs set timeline for final ‘Dencun’ testnet upgrades
Worldcoin's eyeball-scanning hardware gets Apple-style makeover
Centrifuge, protocol for RWAs, integrates with Celo through Axelar
WEN airdrop goes live for Jupiter traders
Dymension CEO says mainnet is 'very close'

🏦 Wallstreet & VC

Bitwise says BTC tips received to ETF wallet will benefit investors
ARK bought $62.3M of own ETF in the last week
Canaan raises $50M round to build mining rigs
10n8 Little Dragon raises $1.5 Million in 72-hour fundraise
Axiom raises $20M, led by Paradigm and Standard Crypto
BlackRock ETF holds $2B in Bitcoin

🏛️ Legal & Regulatory

Celsius begins to sell $1B ETH position

🌎 Rest of the World

UK supreme court refuses Craig Wright appeal
'Britcoin' CBDC not ready yet says Bank of England

🖼️ NFTs & Metaverse

‘Pixels’ game gives out NFT and Ronin tokens ahead of airdrop
Pudgy Penguins has sold $750k of toys worldwide
OnChainMonkey announces KARMA airdrop
Memory Blocks ordinals mint does 10x

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