Sony launched its blockchain network, and McDonald’s was hacked to advertise meme coins—this and more in today’s crypto news digest.
Hacker Hacked McDonald’s Instagram Account to Promote Meme Coin Scam
Recently, a hacker hacked the Instagram account of the fast food chain McDonald’s. He used their account to advertise a meme coin called GRIMACE. In the post, the attacker noted that the coin is a ‘McDonald’s experiment’ in the Solana network, attaching the token’s contract.
The value of the GRIMACE token skyrocketed in just a few minutes, reaching $25 million. But the rise did not last long. Soon after, hackers calling themselves ‘India X Kr3w’ quickly cashed out their holdings, causing the token’s value to plummet to almost zero, leaving investors with worthless assets.
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The fraud was exacerbated by the hacking of Guillaume Huin, senior marketing director at McDonald’s. The attackers accessed his social media accounts to post false advertisements for the token. They claimed that McDonald’s would be following the Instagram accounts of GRIMACE token holders, which gave the fraud an additional level of legitimacy.
The fake post was later deleted, but the hacker thanked Solana for $700,000. He likely managed to earn this amount due to the growth of the token’s price. It is worth noting that the page of the user under the pseudonym India_X_Kr3w on the social network X says ‘KFC next’. Perhaps the hacker is hinting at a future hack of another fast food chain’s account.
Aptos Foundation Announces New Partnership
The Aptos Foundation has announced a new strategic partnership with Myco, a Web3-based streaming platform, to integrate its technology into the APT blockchain. The goal of this collaboration is to decentralize digital streaming by focusing on technical integration and developing resources to promote Web3 technologies.
The partnership between Aptos and Myco is based on the technical integration of the two platforms and the development of resources for creators to promote Web3 technologies and provide next-generation decentralized digital streaming. This will allow Myco, which plans to fully migrate to the APT blockchain, to leverage the network’s capabilities to provide more efficient and secure streaming services.
The partnership also coincides with the upcoming launch of Myco’s utility token, scheduled for early Q4 of this year. The creation of this token is a key part of Myco’s long-term vision of becoming a fully decentralized streaming platform. Hani El Khatib, co-founder and chief of Web3 at Myco, explained that the launch on Aptos is a ‘significant milestone’ for the platform.
“This integration aligns seamlessly with our mission to lead the charge in making Web3-enabled streaming and entertainment accessible to the masses,” he said.
Mercado Libre Launches a New US Dollar-pegged Stablecoin
Mercado Pago, the digital banking arm of Latin America’s largest company, Mercado Libre (MELI), announced on 21 August that it is launching a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar in Brazil. This stablecoin, called Meli Dollar, is designed to provide Brazilian users with a stable and efficient financial instrument.
According to Cointelegraph Brasil, the local crypto platform Ripio will act as a market maker and carry out stablecoin exchange operations. Users of Mercado Pago in Brazil can now buy and trade Meli Dollars using their Brazilian Real without additional fees.
“We are excited to contribute a safe and accessible solution for users of Mercado Pago in Brazil who, among other factors, want to protect their purchasing power during economic volatility,” said Sebastian Serrano, co-founder and CEO of Ripio.
In August 2022, the company launched Mercado Coin, a cryptocurrency that enables users to make purchases on the marketplace and receive cash. Before this, Mercado Libre integrated Paxos‘ blockchain infrastructure with Mercado Pago to provide users in Brazil with the ability to buy, sell, and store Bitcoin, Ether, and Paxos’ stablecoin, Pax Dollar (USDP).
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The introduction of stablecoins in various countries is becoming increasingly common as they provide value stability compared to other cryptocurrencies. On 19 January, the Bank of Spain approved a pilot program to issue digital tokens pegged to the euro. The project, which is led by MONEI, a regulated fintech payment company, will allow users to issue their stablecoins in euros for various purposes. In addition, Ukraine also has its UAHg-pegged stablecoin. The digital asset provides users with access to the largest exchanges, DeFi platforms, staking services, and many other applications. In particular, UAHg periodically conducts several activities with partners such as WhiteBIT, Bitcoin Global, GEO Pay, and others.
Verida Announces a Strategic Partnership with Marlin Protocol
Verida has announced a strategic partnership with Marlin Protocol aimed at empowering people to have full control over their data. In addition, the two fintech companies are collaborating to create the future of artificial intelligence in the form of private AI. Through its collaboration with Marlin Protocol, Verida is expanding its vision of developing a decentralized ecosystem where users can safely and securely manage and process their data using artificial intelligence. The goal of this cooperation is to enable users to develop private AI assistants for their own needs.
Chris Were, CEO of Verida, believes that this partnership is important because both fintech companies want to make sure that users are confident in the security of their data. Furthermore, he said that there is not much talk about data privacy in society, so this collaboration will be unique.
For his part, Esli, the head of the Marlin Foundation, is optimistic about this collaboration as the combination of their expertise and private AI will ensure the security of users’ data. The partnership stipulates that a user’s personal information will remain confidential to that person.
Sony Has Introduced an Ethereum Layer-2 Blockchain Soneiu
On 23 August, Sony Block Solutions Labs, a joint venture between Sony Group and Startale Labs, announced the development of a new layer-2 blockchain called Soneium. Representatives of the company said that the Soneium test network will be launched in the coming days. The blockchain aims to attract application developers from various sectors, including entertainment, gaming, finance, etc. According to Sony Group and Startale, the Soneium test network will be introduced in partnership with Astar Network.
Commenting on the initiative, Jun Watanabe, chairman of Sony Block Solutions Labs, stated: “We will work to create diverse businesses and new use cases to reach as many users as possible with the customer value that can be enjoyed only with Web3 technology.”
At the same time, according to Startale CEO Sota Watanabe, the first year of Soneium will be focused on onboarding web3 core users, as the technology and community are not yet ready to work with ordinary users. The second year will be dedicated to integrating several Sony products onto the platform, including Sony Music, Sony Pictures, and Sony Bank. In the third year, the team will enable other companies and general decentralized applications to build on Soneium.
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