United States Senator and crypto skeptic Elizabeth Warren wants the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) to “double down” on its crypto enforcement efforts, highlighting that the cryptocurrency industry is running “scared” for what’s to come next. Warren’s comments came from an interview with American Economic Liberties Projects on Jan. 25. The Senator opined that since Gensler was sworn in as SEC Chairman in April, 2021, the Commission “has made a good start” on fixing some of the problems created by the former SEC leaders under the Trump Administration. Warren claimed that the previous SEC administration “essentially gave the green light” to …

In this week’s newsletter, read about how nonfungible token (NFT) sales reached 101 million in 2022. Learn how NFTs can be used to summon defendants who cannot be reached using traditional methods, and see how toys play a role in the NFT and Web3 ecosystem. Check out how Binance is tightening its rules on NFT listings, and don’t forget this week’s Nifty News, featuring the resurgence of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s NFTs. NFT sales topped 101 million in 2022: DappRadar report A report published by decentralized app tracker DappRadar shows that NFT sales in 2022 reached 101 million, representing …

Trump NFTs daily sales surge by 800% Former United States President Donald Trump’s nonfungible token (NFT) trading card collection has witnessed a massive resurgence in daily sales volume in recent days. Compared to Jan. 17 sales volumes, Jan 18. and Jan. 19 saw spikes of 800% and 600% respectively, according to market metrics aggregator Cryptoslam. Some pundits believe the renewed interest could be due to his imminent return to social media networks, following reports that the former president was seeking to rejoin Facebook and Twitter ahead of the 2024 presidential election campaign. NFT Watch: Trump Digital Trading Cards see 88% …

Mainstream hype for the nonfungible token (NFT) market cooled down significantly in 2022, but that didn’t stop a host of popular and wealthy figures from stinking up the space with dreadful collections last year. In the 2022 edition of the worst influencer and celebrity NFT cash grabs, Cointelegraph takes a look at four projects seemingly designed to milk capital out of their fans pockets, while delivering very little. Tai Lopez — OG (Original Garage) Social Club First on the list is the oddball entrepreneur Tai Lopez, best known for his cheesy marketing campaigns that used to plague YouTube not so …

NFTs and soulbound tokens define Web3 filmmaking, says director With Web3 making its way to various industries like filmmaking, one movie director believes that tools like NFTs and soulbound tokens — digital identity tokens representing a person or entity — can serve cinema in various ways. In an interview with Cointelegraph, Stephen Fung, director of the Web3 film project Departed Apes, shared his perspective on integrating Web3 tools into cinema. According to Fung, there are many potential intersections between Web3 and film, such as fan engagement in movies shown in the metaverse and film characters coming from the Web3 space. …

After a sell-out launch that pocketed roughly $4.45 million from primary sales, former United States president Donald Trump’s NFT collection is already on a crash course towards earth. Trump rolled out his odd-ball self-themed 45,000 NFT trading card collection on Dec. 16 for $99 a pop. The NFTs were all gobbled up within a couple hours of launch, and within the next two days the floor price shot up to an all-time-high of around 0.83 Ether (ETH), or $1,006 on OpenSea. Since then however, the floor price has been volatile, while some in the community have highlighted that the NFT …

South Korea’s Gyeongbuk Province has announced plans to use Web3 technology to expand its economic relations with Vietnam. In a Dec. 19 announcement, the province’s governor Lee Cheol-woo said the metaverse project would focus on “growing economic, cultural, commercial, and people-centered contacts with Vietnam.” According to the governor, the project will also see the region become home to a “metaverse innovation special zone,” which would come with special regulations and residential conditions within the zone. Back in June, the province announced it would invest $13.8 million to establish itself as a hub for metaverse innovation in the hope of growing …

Crypto exchange Binance has seen its proof-of-reserve (PoR) audits removed from the auditor Mazars’ website. Mazars’ official website shows they fully discontinued Mazars Veritas, a section dedicated to cryptocurrency exchange audits. The tool was developed by Mazars in order to bring “trust and transparency to the digital asset sector,” using Silver Sixpence Merkle Tree Generating tool to complement PoR reports. The news comes amid Bloomberg reporting that Mazars stopped doing PoR for cryptocurrency companies. Some other auditing firms like FTX’s auditor Armanino have also reportedly stopped working with crypto exchanges like OKX and Gate.io. Mazars is widely known as the …

Former president and crypto hater Donald Trump’s bizarre NFT collectible project has left the community baffled. Even conservatives and avid MAGA supporters are scratching their heads, while analyst Eric Wall likened the project to a “SimpDAO.” In what Trump called a “major announcement” via his social media platform Truth Social on Dec. 15, the former president unveiled a collection of 45,000 NFT trading cards, with the artwork depicting himself in various outfits such as golf attire, hunting gear and a superhero costume. Thank God, the digital trading cards are here. It was indeed a MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT. pic.twitter.com/T1nsqRwr92 — Ben Shapiro …

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is working with accounting firm Mazars as part of its proof-of-reserve (PoR) audits triggered by the fall of FTX. Mazars, the accounting firm that worked for former United States President Donald Trump’s company, was appointed as an official auditor to conduct a “third party financial verification” as part of Binance’s PoR updates, The Wall Street Journal reported on Nov. 30. The accounting firm is reportedly already reviewing all Binance’s publicly shared information on Bitcoin (BTC) PoR and will also be verifying future updates and tokens, a spokesperson for Binance reportedly said. “The first verification update for BTC …

Crypto billionaire and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried have admitted to being a "significant donor" to both sides of the political spectrum ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Days ahead of the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 8, SBF told his Twitter followers that he has given contributions to electoral campaigns on both sides of the fence. The crypto billionaire said that he has been “supporting constructive candidates across the aisle to prevent pandemics and bring a bipartisan climate to DC,” as well as “working with them to support permissionless finance.” SBF added that working with FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan …

Today’s social media landscape is dominated by Web2 corporations — mostly Meta (Facebook) and Twitter. The companies collect data from billions of users and collect billions of dollars in revenue from user-generated content. While it’s great for the corporations and their shareholders, it comes at a cost for average users and professional content creators. But in the near future, decentralized social media — or Web3 — is likely to end that old model by giving power back to users. No more evicting unruly users Because platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are centralized, users are at the mercy of …