Eurozone Inflation At Record Levels

GM (glorious morning), everyone. This is the BitDegree Insider, and we're here to bring you the news.

We're gonna talk about:

• Eurozone Inflation Sets A Record
• XRP Feels Confident
• Google Web3 Lead's Insights
• Warner Music + NFTs
• Sam Bankman-Fried. Again
• Selected Meme of The Day

Eurozone Hits 10% Inflation

Food prices are up. Energy prices are, of course, up. Inflation is here. Highest annual inflation rate recorded since the creation of € in 1999.

19 countries that use the euro have reached an annual rate of 10% this September. In August, the number was 9.1%. Today's increase is higher than experts predicted.

Up until this point, The ECB has been already showing a firm stance by raising interest rates without hesitation. The fact that the inflation hasn't been tamed, and, on the contrary, has reached higher levels than predicted, shows that we're pretty much certain to see another increase in October.

We all know how inflation and increased interest rates echo through the land of crypto. Bad. Things. Await.

Ripple Labs's Ripples

For almost two years now, Ripple Labs have been tangled up in the sticky web of legal matters. The whole thing started when the SEC claimed that XRP is a security, not merely a digital asset. This is a question of its regulatory status, and it means new implications that would affect XRP holders. The SEC regarded that Ripple Labs, the issuer of XRP, is getting away selling unregistered securities. They sued company executives Chris Larsen and Brad Garlinghouse. They demanded a $1.3 billion fine.

Fast forward to this day, the battle is still ongoing. But there are new developments. You see, a new document has been included into the whole legal process. A speech by William Xinman, the former director of the SEC's financial department, from 2018. In this speech, Xinman states the following:

"Putting aside the fundraising that accompanied the creation of Ether, based on my understanding of the present state of Ether, the Ethereum network and its decentralized structure, current offers and sales of Ether are not securities transactions."

So, here you go, a SEC official's quote in which he describes Ether as not a security. So… Double standards much?

The Judge denied SEC objections not to include this piece of info into the legal process, and ordered SEC to produce all of this spicy stuff, so it could be analysed and taken into account during the further case developments.

This is good news for XRP, and many other cryptocurrencies. Firstly, it means that we're getting one step closer to clear industry guidelines, and people knowing what to expect when owning one crypto or another. Secondly, XRP holders saw their assets increase by 12% following the news.

Google Speaks

Richard Widmann, the 'Head of Strategy, Web3 @ Google', as his LinkedIn tells us, has just shared some optimistic comments about what to expect.

The gist of it is this:

"Google Cloud is trying to "build a giant bridge" between Web2 and Web3."

Apparently, their vision is to offer node services via Google Cloud. As he put it:

"The cloud provision - we're layer zero."

Important to note that he's aware of the fact that web3 is supposed to be 'the new chapter' of decentralized internet, and such names as Google entering the game can sound dangerous, since Google could eventually end up owning the majority of blockchain nodes. But he reassures us:

"If everything is running on Google, I will be the first to say that is a problem."

Warner Music Group Sets Sail To The Opensea

The public announcement states:

"Warner Music Group and OpenSea Join Forces to Expand Web3 Opportunities for Artists."

Okay, so one of the biggest music and entertainment companies has just casually informed everyone that OpenSea, the world's No. 1 NFT marketplace, is to become their new territory for (selected) artists to grow their fanbases, but in Web3 style.

"Improved discoverability, personalized storytelling on customized landing pages, and OpenSea's industry-leading safety and security features," are among the promised benefits that these selected WMG groups can expect to obtain.

Probably Nothing - that's a web3 company's name - is already in collaboration with Warner Records UK. They're working on the first collection of this type. So, yeah, new ideas, new things, new stuff.

On the flip side, WMG's usage of the word 'selected WMG artists' can imply several things. First of all, it's definitely not going to be a lottery favoring the lesser known ones. It's sure that this selection process simply translates to 'picking the already famous ones'. Among WMG artists are such names as Madonna, Coldplay or Ed Sheeran. So you could say that they're already winning the game, and by adding web3-ish updates to their marketing campaigns, will not be a decisive factor whether they'll make it or break it.

Sam Bankman-Fried At It. Again

Okay, not a day passes without the crypto billionaire making it into the news. This time… It's once again about him expanding his want-to-buy list.

It turns out that the FTX's boss had his eyes on… Twitter. It was reported that he was considering acquiring the social network back in March, 2022. Apparently, Bankman-Fried's advisor texted Elon Musk, and asked whether buying Twitter together is an option. Here's how the message looked like:

"I'm not sure if this is what's on your mind, but my collaborator Sam Bankman-Fried has for a while been potentially interested in purchasing it and then making it better for the world. If you want to talk with him about a possible joint effort in that direction."

As we all know by now, these ideas remained only in theory. But knowing that SBF has this kind of an appetite, allows us to raise questions about what else he has on his mind. What purchases will he make, what companies is he interested in acquiring? What's the endgame here? Quite obviously, Sam Bankman-Fried has a plan, a masterplan. We shall see.

Selected Meme of The Day