From Vitalik commenting on celebrity coin craze to VanEck predicting ETH to hit $22K, here is a 2-minute breakdown of everything important that happened in crypto today.
Celebrities and crypto? That's sooo 2021, right? 🤷🏻♀️[the NFT craze flashbacks]
Wrong!
This time around, it's memecoins that are capturing the attention of the rich and famous.
This month, multiple celebrities launched their branded crypto tokens, giving birth to a new memecoin sub-category called ‘celebrity coins.’ Even Vitalik Buterin, the visionary founder of Ethereum, is talking about this new trend (and not in a good way).
So, let’s discuss this event in detail and all other big stories that happened in crypto in the past 24 hours. Here is a quick rundown of the top headlines::
- Coinbase introduces Smart Wallet for seamless onboarding. But what sets it apart from other wallets available in the market? 🤔
- Crypto firms hit by phishing attacks via marketing emails. How to identify these scams in your inbox? 👀
- Vitalik Buterin slams celebrity memecoins as meaningless. Is he against the entire trend? 🧐
- VanEck predicts Ethereum at $22K by 2030. What reason did it give to support this claim? 🚀
- Short-seller calls Riot Platforms a "dysfunctional hamster wheel." Is the miner in trouble? 😬
And with that, let's dive into the details behind each of today's top stories!
Coinbase’s New Smart Wallet
The battle for decentralized supremacy is heating up, and Coinbase is making its biggest move yet to become crypto's all-in-one Web3 onramp.
It just introduced Smart Wallet - the exchange's new self-custody solution designed to make onboarding the next billion users easy and smooth.
This wallet comes with intuitive biometrics like Face ID and passkey logins to move past seed phrases.
But what sets it apart from other wallets available in the market? Read the full story!
Supply Chain Phishing Alert!
The crypto world is on high alert after insidious new phishing attempts started making the rounds through the channels you'd least expect - those oft-ignored marketing newsletters piling up in your inbox.
The "supply chain" attack, which allegedly compromised a mailing list vendor servicing multiple crypto companies, is already setting off alarms from industry heavyweights.
Bitfinex's CTO Paolo Ardoino was among the first ones, warning users to beware of any shady "airdrop" emails that appeared over 24 hours ago.
So how do you differentiate between the fake and the real ones? Read the full story!
Vitalik Feels the Celebrity Memecoin Trend Is Meaningless
In a tweetstorm, Vitalik Buterin expressed his unsettling feelings about the new wave of celebrity memecoins.
For Buterin, the value proposition of any token, crypto or otherwise, should be firmly rooted in tangible benefits to society. From advancing healthcare initiatives to funding creative endeavors, financialization requires purpose to be justified in his eyes. Hence the clapback at memecoins that simply aim to cash in on star power and hype cycles.
So does he support any celebrity tokens? Or is he against the entire trend? Read the full story!
Ethereum’s $22K Price Target for 2030
Wall Street giant VanEck just made a long-term prediction for Ethereum - one that sees the smart contract blockchain's native token breaking past $22,000 by the turn of the decade.
$22,000 per Ether is the new base case for 2030 according to VanEck's team of crypto analysts, with the ultra bull case stretching all the way up to a mind-melting $154,000 peak.
It's a staggering vote of confidence in Ethereum's revolutionizing potential from one of the firms leading the charge for spot ETH products on Wall Street.
VanEck is already anticipating a rush of fresh capital once those ETFs finally hit the streets and give advisors a regulated onramp into the second-biggest cryptocurrency.
Is any other TradFi giant backing this prediction? Read the full story!
Riot Platforms’ Stock Takes a Hit as Short-Seller Slams Miner's 'Dysfunctional' Model
The wheels seem to be coming off the bus for Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms. Renowned short-seller Kerrisdale Capital just called its business a "dysfunctional hamster wheel of cash burn" and took a short position against its stock.
In a searing critique posted on X, Kerrisdale took direct aim at Riot's reliance on endless equity issuances to fund its ever-ballooning operational costs. The firm argues this "ATM addiction" is effectively bleeding shareholders dry as the miner struggles to turn a profit - even with Bitcoin trading at highs.
If something goes wrong with Riot Platforms, will it have a domino effect on the Bitcoin mining market? Read the full story!
And that’s a wrap. We will be back with more updates!
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