Good Morning Crypto Enthusiasts!

Glad to have you back for another edition of the UseTheBitcoin.com newsletter.

1. Joe Biden Quits: President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential election, citing it as in the "best interest of my party and my country," but did not provide specific reasons.

2. ‘Bitcoin Keeps Hashing’: A faulty security update from CrowdStrike caused widespread system crashes globally, but Bitcoin remained unaffected due to its reliance on Linux-based systems.

3. Bored Ape-Themed Hotel in Bangkok: ApeCoin DAO is considering a proposal to create a Bored Ape-themed hotel in downtown Bangkok, submitted by a DAO member known as DeSmart.

4. WazirX Hacker On The Move: The hacker behind the $230 million WazirX hack has moved another $57 million of the stolen funds into new cryptocurrency addresses.

5. 💡Feature of the Day - Asia’s First Inverse Bitcoin ETF: Hong Kong is launching Asia’s first Bitcoin futures inverse product, the CSOP Bitcoin Future Daily (-1x) Inverse Product (7376.HK), on July 23.

   
   All this and more in today’s headlines!

📰 News Highlights:

Joe Biden Quits [Source][Source][Source]

In a surprising move, President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential election just four months before Election Day. Biden stated in a July 21 announcement that stepping down was in the "best interest of my party and my country," though he did not elaborate on specific reasons for his decision.

This unexpected development leaves the Democratic Party scrambling to find a new candidate, with Vice President Kamala Harris being a likely but unconfirmed replacement.

Biden has had a contentious relationship with the cryptocurrency industry, most notably vetoing a resolution on June 1 that would have overruled the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121.

This move drew significant backlash from the crypto community, with Digital Chamber chief policy officer Cody Carbone calling it a "slap in the face to innovation and financial freedom." Biden's stance on crypto has been a point of contention throughout his presidency.

‘Bitcoin Keeps Hashing’ [Source][Source]

A faulty security update from CrowdStrike caused widespread system crashes globally, affecting sectors such as banking, government, and airlines, but Bitcoin remained unaffected.

The update, deployed on Thursday night, led to countless Microsoft-based systems going offline, showing the dreaded blue screen of death. CrowdStrike's CEO, George Kurtz, assured customers that the issue was not a cyberattack and that a fix had been deployed. Meanwhile, Bitcoin mining operations continued without interruption due to their reliance on Linux-based systems.

SunnySide Digital’s CEO, Taras Kulyk, attributed Bitcoin's resilience to its decentralized nature and Linux-based infrastructure, which protected it from the CrowdStrike issue. Kulyk emphasized the benefits of Linux over Microsoft systems, citing strong privacy rights and decentralization as key advantages.

The outage had significant repercussions for CrowdStrike, with its stock dropping 11.10%, while the cryptocurrency market remained stable, with Bitcoin trading at $67,224.

Bored Ape-Themed Hotel in Bangkok [Source][Source]

ApeCoin DAO is considering a proposal to create a Bored Ape-themed hotel in downtown Bangkok. The proposal, submitted by a DAO member known as DeSmart, requests $356,000 in APE tokens to renovate an existing hotel with Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) themes.

The proposed renovations include BAYC-themed rooms, an APE-themed bar, and a swimming pool, with the goal of increasing the visibility and utility of ApeCoin.

DeSmart's proposal includes offering 50 nights of free accommodation for ApeCoin holders, enhancing the appeal of ApeCoin while generating revenue for the DAO.

The project also aims to accept ApeCoin as payment, showcasing its real-world applicability and encouraging its circulation. DeSmart has already conducted site inspections and secured cooperation from a hotel in Khlong San, Bangkok.

The proposal has received strong support from the ApeCoin community, with 90% of votes in favor. Voting on the proposal will continue until August 1.

WazirX Hacker On The Move [Source][Source][Source]

The hacker behind the $230 million WazirX hack has moved another $57 million of the stolen funds into new cryptocurrency addresses.

The hacker transferred 16,350 Ether, worth over $57 million, to two new wallets, with the majority sent to address “0x58d,” according to a July 22 post by blockchain security firm PeckShield.

WazirX has intensified its bug bounty efforts, launching two programs to incentivize onchain investigators. The track and freeze bounty offers up to $10,000 in Tether USD for actionable intelligence leading to the freezing of stolen funds.

The white hat recovery bounty, recently doubled to $23 million, rewards ethical hackers for recovering stolen assets. So far, 54 white hat hackers have registered for the recovery program.

💡 Feature of the Day: 

Asia’s First Inverse Bitcoin ETF [Source][Source]

On July 23, Hong Kong will launch Asia’s first Bitcoin futures inverse product, the CSOP Bitcoin Future Daily (-1x) Inverse Product (7376.HK). This new exchange-traded fund (ETF) by China Southern Asset Management Co., Ltd (CSOP) allows investors to profit from declines in Bitcoin’s price.

This follows the successful launch of CSOP’s Bitcoin Futures ETF in December 2022, marking the firm’s continued expansion in the Asia-Pacific region.

The CSOP Bitcoin Futures Daily (-1x) Inverse Product is designed to mirror the inverse daily performance of the S&P Bitcoin Futures Index through a futures-based replication strategy.

It invests directly in spot-month Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Bitcoin Futures. The product will be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) at approximately 7.8 Hong Kong dollars (HKD) per unit.

😂 Crypto Meme of the Day: 

And that’s it for this today.

With all of the recent hacks taking place, remember to protect your crypto assets with today’s sponsor Trezor hardware wallets.

See you all tomorrow’s edition!

Jonathan Gibson
UseTheBitcoin.com