A wave of Coinbase lawsuits has followed the exchange after facing a cyberattack and data breach in the previous week. Coinbase, which is among the biggest crypto exchanges in the world has went through severe security breach, resulting in the theft of user data on May 15. Now users have filed multiple lawsuits, increasing the legal difficulties of the platform. Let’s discuss. Coinbase Lawsuits News: 6 Lawsuits Filed in 2 Days The crypto exchange disclosed the data breach news on May 15 after attackers bribed several Coinbase customer support staff to provide access to the users’ data. With that, users’ personal information, including names, addresses, phone numbers, driving licenses, passports, transaction history, email addresses, and even the last digits of their special security numbers, was compromised, resulting in multiple Coinbase lawsuits. The cybercriminal has asked for a reason of $20 million, which the exchange has refused to pay. As a… Read More at Coingape.com
Bitcoin price is under threat from fresh geopolitical pressures, with the chances of an Iranian retaliation against the US surging to 66%. The flagship cryptocurrency has traded above $100K for over 40 days, but the US-Iran conflict is sending prices to new lows. Bitcoin Slips Below $101K Driven By Fears Of An Iranian Retaliation According
OKX CEO Star Announcement:- The adoption of crypto payment for real-world utility has seen accelerated development. Global crypto users have surpassed 560 million including individuals holding or transacting in crypto.
Of these holders, 39 % have reported using crypto to purchase goods or services at least once in a year. Currently, over 18 000 merchants or businesses worldwide are accepting crypto payments.
In another strategic move towards this, the leading exchange OKX has hinted at a new business move. OKX Founder, Star Xu, has revealed in a X post that the exchange will launch OKX Pay Wallet next week.
He touted the Pay Wallet as “the road to billion-user crypto adoption.”
The separate Pay Wallet launch comes a month after OKX launched a standalone OKX Wallet app. The past month launch decoupled the OKX Wallet’s DeFi and self-custody features from the primary OKX CEX platforms.
And now this further splitting off payments into a standalone Pay Wallet signals company’s efforts to scale and enter crypto payments business segment.
How will OKX Pay Wallet look like
OKX CEO Star did not reveal explicit details about the product in his X post. However, he did share two screenshots from the OKX Pay Wallet interface.
We will launch OKX Pay Wallet next week. It’s a road to billion users crypto adoption! Looking forward to try it! @okx@walletpic.twitter.com/zRpa1XzHqC
Accordingly, certain features of the OKX Pay Wallet as indicated by OOX CEO Star would include:
1. The new payment product will be integrated into the OKX exchange application. This implies there will be no separate or standalone launch.
2. It will enable users to make P2P transfers, QR/NDC merchant checkouts. The wallet will be purely payment centric with instant fiat on-/off ramps.
3. The OKX Pay Wallet is shown as using only stablecoin – USDT/USDC – as the intermediary payment currency. Thus, the OKX Pay wallet will allow for stablecoin-supported crypto payments.
Adoption of stablecoin for crypto payment makes sense. Stable currency such as USDC and USDT run on X layer developed by OKX.
Thus, OKX Founder Star was quite evident as he declared making “X Layer as the global Payment Chain.”
Further, the Wallet includes simple UX such as Crypto gifts or red envelopes, Chat menus. The Chat feature would allow for social communication between the senders and receivers.
Launch Next Week! What to Expect
OKX CEO Star announcement hints at certain near-term strategic moves by the exchange next week.
OKX CMO Haider has also hinted at more new product launches by the brand. He said, “More to come in the next few days and over next week.”
We have rolling out new products – primary focus is bringing more onchain utility and building products outside of speculative trading. More to come in the next few days and over next week
The launch with integration of features like Chat menus and payment-centric signals the crypto exchange’s strategic entry into payment business. OKX seems to be developing a web3 version of web2 ‘to-C payment applications’ such as Paytm, Wechat, GooglePay.
Aligning with OKX Founder Star’s vision, it will make it easy for users to make crypto payments in USDT for personal usecases. This can onboard millions of users.
However, as Crypto payment adoption gains, OKX new product would need to carve out a niche for itself. The giants like Binance, Coinbase are already in the crypto payment business.
No existing app such as Binance Pay, Coinbase Pay, unites these many features into a single application. If successful, it can be a huge boost to the crypto payments adoption.
Further on April 16, cryptocurrency exchange OKX re-entered the US with new crypto exchange and wallet.
Welcome to the US Crypto News Morning Briefing—your essential rundown of the most important developments in crypto for the day ahead.
Grab a coffee to understand why the share price of Cantor Equity Partners Inc. (CEP) is seeing downside pressure while the share price of Strategy’s stock (MSTR) is increasing. CEP is the company behind 21 Capital, a newly established firm imitating Strategy’s Bitcoin model.
Crypto News of the Day: Max Keiser Issues 21 Capital Warning as CEP Shares Sink
Twenty One Capital’s ambitions to become the next major corporate Bitcoin player are under fire. The share price of its holding company, Cantor Equity Partners Inc., is bearing the brunt of overhead pressure.
The CEP stock price is down by over 6% in the last five trading days. Meanwhile, the share price of its market rival, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), is up by over 7%.
Headed by James Mallers, Twenty One Capital presented as Strategy’s inadvertent market rival, or peer. It introduced BTC-native metrics like Bitcoin Per Share (BPS), effectively challenging Strategy’s model, where investors have indirect exposure to Bitcoin through MSTR stock.
In a recent US Crypto News publication, Bitcoin pioneer Max Keiser said institutions must “Saylorize” or die. Nevertheless, despite Twenty One Capital extending the “Saylorization” trend, the CEP stock price continues to endure downward pressure while Strategy’s stock price is gaining.
Against this backdrop, investors hoped that hype around Cantor Equity Partners Inc.’s planned SPAC merger could reverse the trend, but this appears to be false hope. Notably, the merger would see CEP stock listed under the new ticker XXI.
“Cantor Equity Partners (CEP) announced a merger with bitcoin treasury company Twenty One Capital in a $3.6 billion merger,” reports indicated.
The announcement propelled shares of the SPAC vehicle, Cantor Equity Partners (CEP), sharply higher, but now momentum is fading.
Investors who hoped for a post-merger rally have watched the stock drift downward toward the mid-$20s over the past five days.
BeInCrypto contacted Max Keiser for insights into why this is happening, with the Bitcoin maxi blaming it on Twenty One Capital’s model mimicking Strategy.
Mimicking Strategy Could Be Detrimental, Max Keiser Says
According to Max Keiser, Twenty One Capital’s attempt to mimic Strategy could prove far riskier and less effective.
“There’s a big difference between a company with a Bitcoin treasury strategy and a Bitcoin strategy company,” Keiser told BeInCrypto.
Keiser says Strategy is leveraging its heft as a company with lots of Bitcoin, harnessing volatility to buy more BTC. However, Cantor Equity Partners Inc. or Twenty One Capital does not meet that standard.
“CEP is a company that is looking to buy lots of Bitcoin, which is very volatile. I question if they can effectively harness that volatility like Strategy does,” he added.
Twenty One Capital is the third-largest corporate Bitcoin holder after Strategy and Bitcoin mining firm MARA Holdings. Data on Bitcoin Treasuries shows Strategy holds 568,840 BTC, while MARA holds 48,237 Bitcoin tokens.
Meanwhile, after Tether acquired 4,812.2 Bitcoin (now held in an escrow wallet as Twenty One Capital prepares to complete a SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners), Twenty One Capital holds 36,312 Bitcoin tokens.
Corporate Bitcoin holders by portfolio size. Source: Bitcoin Treasuries.
In the interview with BeInCrypto, Keiser articulated that trying to copy Strategy’s model without the infrastructure, discipline, or scale puts 21 Capital in a precarious position.
“A Bitcoin strategy company is inherently riskier, with no clear path to be as competitive as Strategy in leveraging market volatility to capture more Bitcoin,” he stated.
Further, despite the surge in interest from investors hoping to jump on what appeared to be the “next big BTC play, Keiser believes the long-term winner is already clear.
“Ultimately, the big winner will continue to be Strategy, with dozens of knock-offs trying to catch them, failing to generate the same returns, but increasing demand for Bitcoin substantially. That ends up benefiting STRATEGY proportionately more than the knock-offs, with less risk,” he concluded.
This aligns with a sentiment from Steven Lubka, the Head of Swan Private Wealth. As BeInCrypto noted in one of the US Crypto News publications, Lubka said the inadvertent competition between Twenty One Capital and Strategy will ultimately bode well for Strategy.
“Ironically, someone throwing the gauntlet at Microstrategy, ‘we want to become the most successful company in Bitcoin, ‘ Only makes Microstrategy more valuable,” Lubka remarked.
Charts of the Day
Strategy’s MSTR stock price performance. Source: Google Finance
This chart shows Strategy Inc.’s stock price rose by $28.61 or 7.28% over the past five days, closing at $421.61 on May 14.
Cantor Equity Partners (CEP) stock price performance. Source: Google Finance
This chart shows a 5-day decline in Cantor Equity Partners Inc.’s stock price, down by 6.22% since May 7. CEP closed at $29.84 on Tuesday and is attempting a slight pre-market recovery.
Byte-Sized Alpha
Here’s a summary of more US crypto news to follow today:
