GM Readers! It's BitDegree Insider, and we bring you your daily web3 delivery.
Today's selection:
- Celebs Sued For FTX Ad
- Gemini ETH Withdrawals All-Time High
- Temasek Writes Off FTX Investment
- El Salvador To Buy 1 BTC Every Day
- Puzzle Thursday
- Bite-Sized News

CELEBS FACE TRIAL FOR FTX AD
The bottomless FTX pit just got deeper. The crash continues causing collateral damage, and it affects all kinds of market participants.
First class-action lawsuit was registered against the star ambassadors of the FTX crypto exchange.
The list of "culprits" includes American football star, Tom Brady, his wife supermodel Gisele Bündchen, NBA players Stephen Curry and Shaquille O'Neal...
And, as the cherry on top, the man himself, Sam Bankman-Fried.
Celebrities were involved in shilling in many ways.
For example, Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen signed an advertising deal with FTX in 2020.
As part of the contract, they received shares in the company, as well as a fee in BTC.
So, what are they accused of?
Allegedly, "supporting the sale of unregistered securities to US citizens," is their crime.
And, in this case, we're talking about the so-called Yield Bearing Accounts, that is, FTX interest accounts.
In case of them actually being proven guilty, the defendants will have to pay the plaintiffs $11 billion. Ouch.
This year has already proved that whenever celebrities get involved in promoting crypto projects, things cat get messy.
Like the recent precedent with Kim Kardashian. And she ended up having to pay $1 million + return the $250.000 payment she received for her troublesome social media post.
TL;DR: Celebrities who were involved in promoting FTX face trial. Among them are such names as Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, Stephen Curry and Shaquille O'Neal.
TODAY'S ISSUE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY LEDGER
These past two weeks made it clear you better make sure that your money is safe. One way of doing so is not keeping your money in a crypto exchange. And using a Ledger Wallet instead.
Here's what you can do with it:
- Protect your crypto, NFTs, and tokens. Thanks to EAL5+ Certified Secure Chip, you can rest assured it's out of hackers' reach.
- Manage over 5,500 digital assets via 100 apps. At the same time. More memory. More possibilities.
- NFT transactions made easy. Full transparency and user-friendly interface in Ledger Live.
The thing is simple. It's dangerous out there unless you've got yourself a Ledger Wallet. Don't wait and choose your Ledger hardware wallet!
GEMINI'S ETH WITHDRAWALS AT ALL-TIME HIGH
Yesterday we wrote about Genesis experiencing withdrawal problems. And how Gemini, the crypto exchange and Genesis' partner, tried calming people down.
But... the FUD is here to stay.
The number of ETH withdrawals from Gemini has reached an all-time high. We'll see how this turns out. But it looks like this exchange is about to have a really hard time.
TL;DR: Crypto exchange Gemini is experiencing an all-time high ETH withdrawals. People are panicking.
TEMASEK WRITES DOWN $275 MILLION FTX INVESTMENT
FTX is in deep trouble. They've spent a lot of money that wasn't theirs. And they'll need to get it back.
Overall, FTX rescue plan was SBF begging investors to give him billions in emergency funds.
This means that they've got holes in their balance sheet of this size. But... It appears that some investors are willing to make FTX's troubles a bit less excruciating.
TEMASEK, a Singapore-based venture fund, has announced that they're writing off all of their investments in FTX.
That's $275 million. It consists of $210 million in shares of FTX International and another $65 million in shares of FTX US.s
Apparently, they can afford that. They communicated optimism in blockchain and web3 industry, and just want to make the whole crash easier for everyone.
'Recent events have shown what we knew before - the blockchain and crypto industry is just emerging. They offer countless opportunities, but they also involve significant risks', the company said.
TL;DR: Temasek, a Singapore-based venture fund, writes off a $275 million investment in FTX.
EL SALVADOR
Okay, so Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, has once again landed his country in the breaking news section.Here's what he just tweeted:
So, that just happened. From now on, El Salvador will have a different daily shopping routine.
This comes as a response to FTX collapse and the fears that it could prolong the already seemingly never-ending crypto winter.
And that's not all. Tron Network's founder Justin Sun, has joined El Salvador's president in the quest for daily Bitcoin accumulation.
That's just the latest step in El Salvador being the world's most crypto-friendly country.
Last June, El Salvador announced bitcoin as a legal tender, expecting that this will help the country to get back on its feet amid the country's economic troubles.
At the moment, El Salvador owns 2,381 bitcoins. Tomorrow this number's already gonna be higher.
TL;DR: El Salvador's president announced that the country's about to start obtaining 1 Bitcoin on daily basis.
Puzzle Thursday
It's Thursday, so you know what that means. Today's head-scratcher comes in a less frightening form for those who aren't in love with numbers.
