Happy Monday!

Try not to think of Monday as the end of the weekend, but like the chrysalis of a new weekend forming. Monday’s cocoon will pupate into a new, beautiful weekend by the end of Friday.

While we wait for the weekend butterfly to form, let’s discuss another metamorphosis: the new and exciting changes to the crypto space.

Espresso Shots

☕️ A 3rd party hack has led to unauthorized trades on the FTX platform.

The issue was reported by the Twitter account of trading software 3Commas. 3Commas reported that 3 customers had seen unauthorized transactions from their accounts. After an investigation it was found that this vulnerability likely resulted from individual phishing attacks against FTX & 3Commas users. This feels like the perfect chance for a reminder to always check the URL you’re connecting your wallet to!

These hacks did not affect 3Commas’ smaller and more controversial subsidiary, the Oxford Comma.

☕️ Sam Bankman-Fried is on the ropes!

After a blog post last week in which the FTX CEO called for Crypto regulation that enforced government blacklists and sanctions, the Billionaire was slammed by a barrage of criticism.

Bankman-Fried acknowledged the backlash on his Twitter account Sunday Morning. He thanked critics for their feedback and clarified his own opinions - while avoiding walking them back.

In the 18th Tweet of his thread, Bankman-Fried also chimed in on the now viral video from Crypto YouTuber BitBoy. The video features the YouTuber screaming - Alex Jones style - that the FTX CEO is out to ruin Crypto, alleging that he’s a devil.

SBF retorted, “It’s a huge honor to see the passion and intensity with which Bitboy regards me. Maybe someday I’ll feel as strongly about something as he does about me.” Asked how he felt about this comparison, the Devil declined to comment.

☕️ Kazakhstan continues Bitcoin mining dominance!

Kazakhstan, a nation known mostly for its uranium, low population density, and Sacha Baron-Cohen’s Borat, has become a global power in the Bitcoin-mining game.

Kazakhstan has the third highest amount of Bitcoin mining operations globally, with China in second and the U.S. on top. Much of the mining coming out of Kazakhstan can be directly tied to the country’s hospitality for China’s exiled crypto miners during China’s ban on crypto mining and trading, which ended in September 2022.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokyav seems hopeful about his country’s future in the crypto space, remarking that, “We are ready to go further. If this financial instrument shows its further relevance and security, it will certainly receive full legal recognition.” In Tokyav’s closing remarks, he finished by saying, “Wa Woo Wee Woo,” and also, “My Wife!”

Spilling the Beans

The mean, green Crypto machine.

The Ethereum merge worked. Is Bitcoin in trouble?

New, ecological actions are being taken to rework the basic function of crypto-mining. This is all a result of Ethereum’s massive network upgrade. 

Most “Mining,” as it currently exists, is based around a “proof of work” system, which consists of a series of computers trying to guess a winning number. With the computers needing roughly sextillion tries to find the winning numbers, this process consumes a massive amount of energy.

In 2020, Bitcoin mining alone consumed more electrical energy than Portugal.

Earlier this year, Ethereum merged to a system which consumes notably less energy. The system uses validators instead of miners. These validators are nodes which are assigned to verify Ethereum transactions and can earn an amount of Eth as a reward.

This process is known as “proof of stake” and is responsible for Ethereum decreasing its energy consumption by 99.5%!

But of course, in the time of green initiatives and a global climate crisis, Bitcoin mining has come under fire for its energy use - which remains unchanged.

This bad press has caused some of the biggest Bitcoin mining operations to seek out renewable energy or to purchase carbon offsets for the power consumption in their plants.

There have been some counterarguments that Bitcoin mining is actually good for the environment because it’s forcing investment in poor electrical grids but this seems uh… weak? This concept of refuting new advances for the sake of revitalizing frail infrastructure is well - not structurally sound as far as arguments go.

Admittedly, the polio vaccine absolutely demolished the iron lung industry and ending wars is usually bad for the unemployment numbers, but the alternatives aren’t exactly great for progress, are they?

Anywho, regardless of where each chain stands on ‘proof of stake’ vs ‘proof of work,’ it would seem, the industry is heading into greener, cleaner new pastures. And that’s good for all of us.

Meme of the Day

I'm highly trained.

The Last Sip

Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao is known as the richest person in Crypto with an estimated net worth of around $30 Billion. Less known are his roots.

In an episode of Crypto Stories on the CoinTelegraph YouTube channel, they dig into his wild background - including his storybook rags-to-riches success.

Born in a town without electricity near Shanghai, Zhao by no means inherited his fortune. His story is one that takes him across the world and back as he goes all in on Bitcoin.

That's it from us today! Stay caffeinated,

Coffee & Crypto Team

DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.