Tech Brew Ride Home
Wed. 06/09 – The First Country To Adopt Bitcoin As Legal Tender
· Summarized
Key takeaways
- El Salvador is the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, aiming to enhance financial inclusion.
- Biden's executive order reverses previous bans on TikTok and WeChat, with a new framework for assessing apps.
- The recent Fastly outage was caused by a bug from a single customer's configuration change.
- Solana Labs raises $314 million to develop a faster, cheaper blockchain alternative to Ethereum.
- Vivaldi's new 4.0 browser offers enhanced features for privacy-focused users, making it a strong contender in the browser market.
- Operation AN0M by the FBI creatively exposed criminals using a messaging platform that they believed was secure.
Summary
El Salvador Adopts Bitcoin as Legal Tender
El Salvador has made history by becoming the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, with lawmakers voting overwhelmingly in favor of a new law. This law allows for prices to be displayed in Bitcoin, tax payments to be made in cryptocurrency, and exchanges to be free from capital gains tax. President Naib Bukele has supported the move as a means to enhance financial inclusion, noting that a significant portion of the population lacks access to traditional financial services. The law is aimed at promoting Bitcoin transactions and potentially positioning the country as a crypto haven.
Biden Revokes Trump-Era App Bans
President Biden has signed an executive order that revokes the bans on TikTok and WeChat, imposed by the former Trump administration. The new order replaces the blanket bans with a framework for evaluating the national security risks associated with foreign-owned applications. This initiative will involve recommendations from the Commerce Department and other federal agencies, focusing on protecting sensitive consumer data. Continuing discussions around potential divestitures and compliance with prior actions by CFIUS have been noted, indicating that the situation remains fluid.
Fastly Internet Outage Explained
An interesting incident occurred when a major internet outage was attributed to Fastly, a cloud service provider. Initial reports suggested systemic failures, but it was revealed that the outage was linked to a bug triggered by a customer’s configuration change. This incident highlights the vulnerabilities within the internet infrastructure and the significant impact that a single client's actions can have on service availability.
Solana Labs Secures Major Funding
Solana Labs has raised $314.15 million in a private token sale led by prominent investors A16Z and Polychain Capital. The funds are aimed at developing a blockchain that outperforms Ethereum in speed and transaction cost. While Ethereum currently processes around 15 transactions per second at an average fee of $6, Solana claims capabilities of 50,000 transactions per second at a fraction of a penny. This potential places Solana as a competitor in the rapidly expanding decentralized application space.
Vivaldi 4.0 Browser Launches with New Features
Vivaldi has released its 4.0 version that includes built-in email, calendar, and RSS reader capabilities, marking a significant update for power users concerned about privacy. The new features reflect Vivaldi's goal of providing an all-in-one web experience while maintaining user control and customization. The email and calendar functions are designed to challenge conventional models, catering to user preferences with multiple viewing options and enhanced filtering capabilities.
FBI's Encrypted Messaging Honeypot Operation
A clever sting operation by the FBI and Australian Federal Police has successfully infiltrated the criminal underworld via an encrypted chat service called AN0M. This operation duped criminals into using a secure messaging platform, which was actually controlled by law enforcement. As a result, over 800 arrests were made worldwide, highlighting the pitfalls of relying on supposedly secure communications without knowledge of their true nature. This incident raises questions about future attempts to mislead criminals and the evolving strategies of law enforcement.
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Show notes
El Salvador becomes the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender. Biden reverses the TikTok and WeChat bans. Did one single customer cause that Fastly internet outage? Interesting raise for a faster Ethereum. Interesting new browser option. And maybe my favorite honey pot operation of all time.
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Cybereason.com
Links:
El Salvador becomes first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender after passing law (CNBC)
Biden revokes and replaces Trump orders banning TikTok and WeChat (The Verge)
Fastly claims single customer responsible for widespread internet outage (The Verge)
Solana Labs raises $314 million in new funding led by A16z and Polychain Capital (The Block)
Vivaldi 4.0 launches with built-in email and calendar clients, RSS reader (Tech Crunch)
FBI and Australian police ran an encrypted chat platform to catch criminal gangs (The Record)
Encrypted messaging app used by criminals was actually an FBI honeypot (Input)
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