Here are some of the major developments from the world of crypto over the past few days
Crypto publication Bitcoin Magazine has said that the US Federal Reserve has threatened it with legal action over “FedNow” T-shirts, hats and other items. Bitcoin Magazine said in a post on November 3, 2023 that US Federal Reserve has accused the publication of trademark breaches and handed it a cease-and-desist letter.
According to Bitcoin Magazine, the company is under attack because it uses the term “FedNow” on “t-shirts, hats, and other wearables”. The term “FedNow” is printed on several items that Bitcoin Magazine sells in its store, but the letter “O” has been swapped out with a picture of an eye. The US Federal Reserve’s fast payment system is branded as FedNow.
The article said that the US Federal Reserve believes these things would “mislead readers into believing a connection exists between the publication and the central bank.”
The legal team for Bitcoin Magazine responded by writing to the Federal Reserve, refuting the claim. The letter claimed that because the goods were made “for the purpose of parody and political criticism directed at the Federal Reserve”, it is “undeniably parodic in nature.”
The letter used the depiction of an eye—dubbed a “surveillance eye”—found in the designs as proof. Bitcoin Magazine also mentioned about another letter it had previously written where it had described the eye as an “all-seeing eye that symbolises the state of total financial surveillance that [the Federal Reserve] is seeking to impose on the American financial system.” .
The symbol known as the “all-seeing eye”, or the “Eye of Providence” was first depicted on the reverse of a US one-dollar bill and was first seen in Jacopo Pontormo’s painting Supper at Emmaus in 1525.
Non-fungible token (NFT) platform OpenSea has announced jobs cuts with severance package ahead of the launch of its OpensSea 2.0 version. OpenSea co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer revealed the news on X (previously Twitter) on November 3, 2023 that the company was launching OpenSea 2.0 with a smaller crew. Incidentally, this is the second layoff by the pioneering NFT marketplace after the crypto winter and a stubborn bear market for collectibles.
When OpenSea first launched in 2017, NFTs were a novel concept. It runs on a similar business concept to Etsy and eBay and takes Ether as payment. According to sources, OpenSea had 230 workers before it laid off 20 per cent of its workforce in July 2022 during the crypto winter.
An OpenSea spokesperson told Cointelegraph by email: “Today, we are making significant organisational and operating changes as we focus on building a more nimble – and ultimately better – version of OpenSea. We are immensely grateful for the contributions of those who are leaving OpenSea, and we are supporting them with a robust package consisting of both financial and non-financial support.”
Decentralised finance project SafeMoon, which was accused of fraud and breaking security regulations by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has stated that it is closely monitoring any new developments and would act quickly to address the issue.
The project released a statement on X (previously Twitter) saying that its teams are actively growing and are dedicated to helping users, improving the project’s vision, and following its purpose.
In March, SafeMoon was used fraudulently, resulting in an $8.9 million BNB net loss. The money connected to the security breach has been traveling through centralised exchanges. Match
Systems, a Blockchain research company, has suggested that law enforcement agencies may find great value in these transactions.