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GM, Buenos días, Bonjour — and welcome to Tokengraph, your weekly update for all things Web3. Things move at a breakneck pace in the world of crypto, but we’re here to catch you up to speed!
On today’s agenda:
FBI Investigates $24M in FTX Donations
Yuga Labs’ 'Landmark Legal Victory'
Meta Profits Down, Mark’s Wealth Up
Coinbase Pressures SEC with Petition
Arthur Hayes: TradFi Will Take an L
And more…
We have a double update on the FTX case — 1) the FBI has gotten involved by searching through ex-FTX-executive Ryan Salame’s home for $24M in donations, and Taylor Swift apparently turned down an FTX promotional deal.
FBI raids home of former FTX exec Ryan Salame: New York Times
— Frank Chaparro (@fintechfrank)
Apr 27, 2023
The FBI has searched the Washington D.C. residence of Ryan Salame, a former FTX executive, in connection with the ongoing investigation into the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange. Salame previously co-led FTX's Bahamas operation, and he’s now under investigation for $24 million in political donations made during last year's midterm elections.
The FBI carried out a search on Thursday morning at the home of Ryan Salame, a former FTX executive who was a major campaign contributor to Republican political candidates, two people with knowledge of the matter said. https://t.co/SpfGb4vhCw
— The New York Times (@nytimes)
Apr 27, 2023
Salame reportedly gained $87 million in bonuses and loans from FTX's sister company, Alameda Research, throughout the crypto bull market. After FTX's collapse in November, Salame, then chairman of FTX Digital, informed Bahamian authorities about the exchange's use of customer funds to cover Alameda's losses.
There are no further updates at this time, but we’ll keep you posted. And in the meantime, our next FTX development: Taylor Swift apparently turned down an FTX promotional deal after she asked them directly if they were selling unregistered securities.
This hasn’t been confirmed yet, but if it’s true, Swift would be one of, if not the only high-profile celebrity who actually did their own research. And seriously, if so, good for you, Taylor.
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Bored Apes creators Yuga Labs have won a big copyright infringement victory over Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen and their BAYC copycat NFTs. Yuga is calling the case a “landmark legal victory” for themselves, and the community agrees.
BREAKING: Yuga Labs wins summary judgment against Ryder Ripps & RR/BAYC project in intellectual property lawsuit.
— nft now (@nftnow)
Apr 22, 2023
Here’s what you need to know from the court ruling:
Ripps and Cahen argued their BAYC project was a parody, and thus protected by the First Amendment
Court ruling finds in favor of Yuga Labs, affirming their position and denying Ripps’ and Cahen’s First Amendment and fair use defenses
U.S. District Judge denies Yuga Labs' motion for "enhanced damages"
Court rules Yuga Labs is entitled to monetary damages and injunctive relief
Legal experts describe the ruling as a "major win" for Yuga Labs
Yuga Labs v. Ryder Ripps et al - Yuga Labs' prevails on Summary Judgment on false designation of origin + cybersquatting claims.
Yuga is entitled to monetary damages + injunctive relief w/ amount & exceptional case determination (for enhanced damages + atty fees) tbd. /1
— NeerMcD.eth 🚀 (@NeerMcD)
Apr 22, 2023
The case has been closely watched by industry members and creators alike because of the far-reaching implications it has — BAYCs are the biggest name in NFTs right now, and if they weren’t going to win a copyright lawsuit, then no one could.
But now, things are looking a little different for the intellectual property side of NFTs, with a US court of law taking the original creators’ side.
🚨🚨 Breaking: @yugalabs awarded summary judgment against @ryder_ripps, et al for false designation of origin, cybersquatting + against a finding of fair use under First Amendment/Rogers, unclean hands, and knowing misrepresentation. Damn, talk about KO👊https://t.co/nXkzQNtX4h
— Ash Kernen, Esq (@AshKernen)
Apr 22, 2023
In a time where it seems that the Web3 industry can’t catch a break from the US legal system, it’s great to see Yuga Labs take home a win not just for themselves, but for all Web3 creators.
Meta’s profits are down by 23%, but Zuckerberg doesn’t seem too concerned about it. He’s pivoting his company’s focus from the metaverse to AI technology right now, and apparently, he’s doing something right, because he just increased his networth by $10B in one day.
The rug-pull Zuckerberg pulled on $META shareholders is truly something. Guiding in Q3 2022 for opex & capex to grow by up to $24bn in 2023 (while rev shrank!) cost his shareholders $375bn+ in 6 month losses… and then he walked back the ENTIRE increase over 6 months!
Bizarre. https://t.co/4prdocAXFz
— Wasteland Capital (@ecommerceshares)
Apr 27, 2023
On the surface, it looks to us like Mark is being too quick to hop on the newest technological bandwagon (instead of creating the bandwagon like he did with Facebook) — but this is Mark Zuckerberg we’re talking about. There is most likely a well-thought-out strategy at play here for him. Whether it works out or not, only time will tell.
Mark Zuckerberg says $META wants to "introduce AI agents to billions of people."
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales)
Apr 26, 2023
Overall, Meta’s Q1 revenue totals $28.6 billion, which was slightly higher than last year's $27.9 billion. Reality Labs, Meta's metaverse-focused division, incurred another loss of $3.9 billion during Q1, but that’s something that Meta was prepared for. Even so, Meta’s shares surged 12% during after-hours trading yesterday following the earnings report release — leading to Zuckerberg’s $10B net worth spike.
Mark Zuckerberg says $META wants to "introduce AI agents to billions of people."
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales)
Apr 26, 2023
Mark’s metaverse play did not pan out the way he’d hoped, with mass layoffs and share prices plummeting. We’re very curious to see what he does with AI moving forward.
Elizabeth Warren is known to be anti-crypto. Her most recently proposed bill would require what?
A. For all cryptocurrencies to register as securities
B. For cryptocurrency wallet providers to comply with Anti-Money Laundering rules
C. For Bitcoin to become legal tender
B. For crypto exchanges to leave US soil
Scroll down to the bottom to see if you're right!
⚡ Lightning Round: Weekly Updates
Coinbase has filed a petition against the SEC, asking a federal court to force the agency to clarify crypto regulations. The exchange requested rules for digital asset securities and answers to 50 specific questions last July but has not received a response.
BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes believes owning crypto is essential to hedge against risks from the "broken banking system" and the mounting global debt, urging people to understand its advantages.
Toonstar's new NFT-driven animated web series "Space Junk" features Napoleon Dynamite star Jon Heder and focuses on workers cleaning up debris from spacecraft. NFT holders can vote on decisions, interact with creators, and develop storylines.
The Bitcoin "privacy war" between Wasabi Wallet and Samourai Wallet continues to raise questions about user privacy and the trade-offs therein. Both wallets utilize CoinJoin to preserve privacy, but have different approaches and design choices — and they’re also both competing to attract more users to make their privacy sets larger (and thus, more effective).
❓ Trivia Answer
Answer: B.
Warren’s new bill would make crypto wallet creators comply with Anti-Money Laundering rules for their software/devices — meaning that if you use a crypto wallet that doesn’t comply with those rules, you could be arrested.
Web3 Resource of the Day
How We Prevent the AI’s from Killing Us With Paul Christiano | Video Podcast from Bankless
Interested in learning more about the conversation surrounding AI right now? The guys at Bankless are here to help with another great podcast episode. This time, they’re hosting Paul Christiano, who previously ran the language model alignment team at OpenAI (creators of ChatGPT) and now runs the Alignment Research Center, where the mission is to get machine learning systems in line with actual human interests. Throughout the episode, they cover AI training, ChatGPT opinions, the Public VS Private AI debate, and more.
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DISCLAIMER: This is not financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Do your own research.