Weekend Wrap: Crypto VC scores TKO, Trump speech reacts, and more

Martin Young4 hours agoWeekend Wrap: Crypto VC scores TKO, Trump speech reacts, and moreAva Labs’ vice president of engineering moves on, Nic Carter wins an MMA fight, and Trump’s pro-Bitcoin stance at the 2024 conference sparks reactions.1082 Total views1 Total sharesListen to article 0:00RecapOwn this piece of crypto historyCollect this article as NFTJoin us on social networksCrypto VC Nic Carter reflects after TKO victory

Crypto venture capitalist and Castle Island Ventures partner Nic Carter probably had a more elevated experience last week than most of the crypto folks in Nashville on the weekend. 

During a mixed martial arts event organized by Karate Combat on July 25, Carter faced off against Coty Kuhn — a blockchain and crypto enthusiast and YouTuber — and managed to bag the victory with a technical knockout in the first round.

The tussle took place in the Influencer Fight Club bout which was held after the main event. Nic “Tungsten Daddy” Carter ended the night for Kuhn with a right hook followed by ground and pound at one minute and forty seconds into round one.

Carter dominated the round with body blows, eventually weakening Kuhn, enabling Carter to go in for the finish with the referee stopping the fight with 21 seconds remaining.

Carter celebrated wildly with a few laps of the ring before returning to his corner.As expected the @InfluFightClub fights did NOT disappoint and the TKO finish by @nic__carter was the cherry on top of an amazing night of fights presented by @krakenfx! #KC48 pic.twitter.com/jD4A3u52Ak— Karate Combat (@KarateCombat) July 26, 2024

Reflecting on his victory on July 28, Carter said he decided to do a professional-style boxing training camp in March “despite and partly because of some pretty nasty health issues that materialized in December” when he was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease.“I’d never thrown a punch before in my life. Never been in a fight. I wasn’t an athlete at all.”Nic Carter at Karate Combat 48. Source:Nic Carter

Nic Carter is a general partner at crypto venture firm Castle Island Ventures and a prolific and influential voice in the crypto space, with several essays, papers, podcasts, and videos on various topics related to digital assets. He previously worked at Fidelity Investments as a crypto asset analyst. Ava Labs exec to start his own company

Patrick O’Grady, Vice President of Engineering at blockchain protocol company Ava Labs has announced he is leaving the team to start his own company.

In a post on X on July 28, O’Grady said the three and a half years he spent working at Ava Labs — which oversees Avalanche blockchain development — had been an “unforgettable ride” before adding, “It is rare, in my experience, to find a company with a mission as motivating as the people that work there. I will without a doubt miss it.”Source: Patrick O"Grady

However, he said he will remain as a technical advisor for Ava Labs. O’Grady did not specify his next plans but said that he was sure that blockchains will play a critical role in returning the internet to the people who use it.Crypto industry bullish after Republicans’ pro-crypto push

A number of industry experts have reacted to presidential candidate Donald Trump’s Bitcoin comments at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, on July 27, specifically focusing on strategic BTC reserves.

Trump said he intended to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet,” end the war on crypto, and fire SEC Chair Gary Gensler, if elected in November. He also said he would convert any BTC held by the US government into a strategic reserve.

Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis also spoke at the event. Both of them discussed implementing a strategic Bitcoin reserve in which the Treasury would buy Bitcoin to the equivalent of its gold reserves.

Industry experts such as Anthony Pompliano commented that other nations may also start considering this.“There is a nation’s President somewhere in the world meeting with their team tonight asking what their bitcoin strategy should be after hearing 2 of 3 leading US Presidential candidates mention a national strategic stockpile over the last 36 hours.”

“The conversations around Bitcoin as a reserve asset have begun,” added JAN3 CEO Samson Mow in a post on X on July 29.Donald Trump at Bitcoin 2024. Source:Michael Saylor

Analyst and trader Alex Krüger said, “Trump’s pivot [to crypto] accounts for 10%-25% of 2024’s BTC performance (would be trading lower without it).”

Related:Donald Trump"s potential SEC chairman should tackle 5 issuesState Department offers $10M for info on DPRK cyber acto

On July 25, the US State Department’s Rewards for Justice program offered up to $10 million for information on foreign government-directed cyberattacks against US infrastructure.

The incentive aims to disrupt Rim Jong Hyok, a North Korean national associated with Andariel, a hacking group controlled by North Korea’s military intelligence.

“This action underscores the United States’ continued efforts to address the DPRK’s malicious cyber activity against critical infrastructure as well as prevent and disrupt the DPRK’s ability to generate illicit revenue through malicious cyber activity,” it stated.

North Korea has been using cryptocurrency to fund its missile program among other things, according to the US government. DPRK-linked Lazarus Group has also been accused of countless hacks and theft from blockchain protocols and firms — many of them US based. Other news

In other news over the weekend, U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis announced a proposal to “supercharge” the US dollar by establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s social media platform X was reportedly under scrutiny after widespread reports emerged that a change in default settings allowed user data to be fed into the training of Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok.

The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) has been engaging with X on this matter for a number of months, it stated.

Magazine:Trump’s Bitcoin push, spot Ether ETF debut, and more: Hodlers Digest, July 21-27# Bitcoin# Blockchain# Cryptocurrencies# Business# Bitcoin Price# North KoreaAdd reaction