GM, Ambire frens! ☕️

Ever feel like you’re in the middle of a heist movie? The crypto scene’s got that vibe - high stakes, quick moves, and everyone chasing the prize 🚗 🚓 

But we’re not just here for the thrill - we’re here to make it count 💪 

And here’s what we’re talking about today:

• 🤡 McRUGGED: McDonalds instagram account gets HACKED and starts dishing out rugpulls

• 🇧🇷 Solana gets an ETF… in Brazil: a mixed bag for SOL?

• 🌞 Justin Sun’s meme factory: turning TRX into meme junk

• 🥷 BitConnect reunion: the wild attempt to "reclaim" lost funds

In that heist movie scenario our Degen Portfolio would be the getaway car, and it while we hit a few speed bumps at the start, we’re still running smooth 🫡 

Here’s where we stand:

Next time, we’ll be putting our heads together for a vote on some key decisions. Make sure you’re around #Web3-On-Fire section of our Discord to have your say and shape our next moves!

LFG!

McRUGGED: McDonalds instagram account gets HACKED and starts dishing out rugpulls

Well, here we are again.

It seems like even the golden arches aren’t immune to a good old fashioned crypto scam.

• McDonald's, the corporate behemoth known for flipping burgers and selling Happy Meals, just had their Instagram account hijacked by some crypto scammers who claimed to have made off with a cool $700K.

Seriously, how does a global brand like McDonald’s lose control of a social media account with over 5 million followers? 🤔 

Let’s break it down 👇️ 

OPSEC: or the lack thereof

It all started as a cryptic tweet by McDonald's Senior Marketing Director, Guillaume Huin, spiraled into a full-blown social media hijacking, promoting a meme coin called $GRIMACE.

Huin was hinting at a “McDonald’s experiment on Solana” in this tweet. This vague reference to the $GRIMACE coin was strange enough to raise eyebrows.

Obviously, something wasn’t right 🤦 

• Within a short period of time, the official McDonald’s Instagram account, with its 5.1 million followers, suddenly began posting about the $GRIMACE coin, a token that quickly skyrocketed from nothing to millions in market value.

• Of course, it didn't take long for the coin's value to crash and burn, leaving a lot of people who bought in on the hype staring at their empty wallets and wondering what just happened.

The scammers even left a peculiar message after they were done:

Schizo take: The "I got hacked" epidemic is ridiculous

Let's put on our tinfoil hats for a second because something here stinks worse than last week's Big Mac left out in the sun 🫠 

We're not just talking about McDonald's, but let's look at the bigger picture.

• Recently, even the freakin' SEC, the agency that's supposed to be the ironclad guardian of the financial system, had its Twitter account hijacked to promote a fake Bitcoin ETF.

• And it's not just the SEC. High-profile celebrities like Metallica, 50 Cent, and Hulk Hogan have all had their accounts taken over to promo pump and dump crypto scams 🤯 

And these aren't just any accounts - these are verified, multi million follower accounts handled by top tier media agencies with all the necessary security measures in place.

If a regular John loses his 2FA device or other important security details it’s unlikely he’s ever getting his account back, if you ever tried getting your Twitter/X account back you already know this, but these hackers? 🤔 

Apparently, they just waltz in like they own the place, bypassing security measures on billion-dollar accounts like it’s child’s play.

It feels like a bad joke

The narrative that “Oops, we got hacked” is getting old, and honestly, it’s starting to feel like a convenient excuse rather than an actual explanation.

Are we really to believe that these massive corporations and institutions have worse security than your grandma's Facebook account? 👵 

Maybe there's more going on here than meets the eye. Is it just sheer negligence, insider complicity, or something even more sinister?

Whatever it is, we shouldn’t be taking these explanations at face value.

Solana gets an ETF… in Brazil: a mixed bag for SOL?

• The space was buzzing with excitement as Brazil’s regulatory body, Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM), gave the green light to not one but two Solana ETFs in the span of just a few weeks.

• This marks a significant milestone for Solana’s global adoption, particularly in Latin America, but it also raises some eyebrows for those of us waiting for similar approvals in more significant markets like the U.S.

• Brazil has been pushing hard to integrate crypto into its financial systems.

• This latest approval by CVM is a clear signal of Brazil’s intent to position itself as a leader in crypto adoption 🔒️ 

• By approving Solana ETFs, Brazil is offering institutional investors an easier way to gain exposure to SOL, without the hassles of directly holding and managing the asset 👇️ 

The adoption of Solana ETFs in Latin America shows growing institutional interest in the region. With high inflation rates and financial instability in countries like Argentina and Venezuela, crypto is increasingly seen as a hedge against traditional fiat systems 🧠 

It’s still a far cry from getting a nod in the U.S., though. Which would have a more substantial impact on the global market 🤔 The importance of U.S. and European market adoption can’t be overstated.

• These regions are home to the world’s largest financial institutions, which have the capital and resources to drive the next wave of crypto adoption 💵 

• An ETF approval in these markets would signal to the rest of the world that Solana is not just another speculative asset but a legitimate financial instrument worthy of investment 🤷‍♂️ 

Moreover, U.S. and European regulatory approval would likely spur similar actions in other regions, creating a domino effect that could lead to broader global adoption.

The absence of such approvals leaves Solana’s growth potential somewhat stunted, at least for now, limiting its appeal to a broader range of investors.

The American SEC recently shot down a similar proposal, citing the asset’s lack of security and regulatory concerns.

So, while Solana fans are celebrating the news, it’s hard not to feel like this is a consolation prize rather than a game-changer.

The road to mainstream adoption in the U.S. and other major markets is still full of hurdles, and Brazil’s approval, though significant, is just one small victory in a much larger battle for SOL 🫡 

Justin Sun’s meme factory: turning TRX into meme junk

Ah, meme coins. The epitome of crypto absurdity, where logic goes to die and ridiculousness reigns supreme 🫠 

And who better to take this already outlandish corner of the market to new heights of absurdity than Justin Sun? Yes, the TRON founder has cooked up something special - his very own meme coin generator ⚙️ 

The SunPump (and Dump)

On August 13, Justin Sun introduced the world to SunPump Beta, a platform designed for one thing: mass-producing memecoins.

The idea? To rival Solana's pump.fun, a meme launchpad that we previously discussed and that’s been making waves - or more accurately, making whirlpools of FOMO and financial despair.

Within days of its launch, SunPump had already spat out nearly 8,000 meme coins.

Meme coin enthusiasts spent over 2.7 million TRX - on these freshly minted digital paperweights.

That's a lot of TRX for a bunch of coins that, let’s be honest, will likely be as forgotten as last year’s memes by the time you're done reading this.

And in true hyped up memecoin fashion, SunPump has seen more than its fair share of activity as well 👇️ 

Just another day in the circus

For those unfamiliar with Justin Sun’s tactics, this might sound like just another attempt to cash in on whatever’s trending.

And you wouldn’t be wrong.

Sun’s been hitting up centralized exchanges like HTX and Poloniex, pushing to list these SunPump-based tokens.

So what do we take away from all this? 🥱 

That the meme coin bubble has reached a new level of ridiculousness, or the fact that “the trenches” are created to be a liquidity sponge 🧽 to suck out liquidity out of regular users, or that Justin Sun is a genius for finding yet another way to extract value from the TRON ecosystem?

Probably all at once.

BitConnect reunion: the wild attempt to "reclaim" lost funds

• In what can only be described as a plot ripped from a bad Bollywood thriller, an Indian man decided that losing his money to the infamous BitConnect ponzi scheme wasn’t going to be the end of his story 🤯 

• The guy took matters into his own hands and tried to "recover" his losses by allegedly kidnapping two employees connected to the scandal.

So, imagine this: you've dumped your savings into what you thought was a legit investment, only to find out it's a ponzi scheme, leaving you with nothing but shattered dreams and a lighter wallet.

Most of us would probably sit down, cry a little, and write it off as a lesson learned. But Shailesh Bhatt, the man at the center of this bizarre saga, had a different approach - one that involves some highly illegal and definitely questionable tactics.

• BitConnect, if you remember, was that a highly memed but shady-as-hell crypto platform that collapsed back in 2018, leaving a trail of financial devastation in its wake.

• With over 4,000 people from 95 countries scammed out of a cool $2.4 billion, it’s no wonder guys like Bhatt were left seething.

• The mastermind behind this disaster, Satish Kumbhani, remains elusive - kind of like a crypto version of "Where’s Waldo," but with fewer laughs.

According to the Indian Enforcement Directorate, Bhatt didn’t just stop at anger.

He allegedly conspired with a group to kidnap two employees connected to BitConnect.

His goal? Extort 2,091 Bitcoin (around $62 million), 11,000 Litecoin, and another $1.7 million in good old-fashioned Indian rupees. You know, just to even the score a little 🤭 

• Bhatt’s plan might have seemed like the perfect way to get back at those who wronged him, but in the world of crime, it’s usually best not to leave a trail 🥷 

• As it turns out, law enforcement wasn’t too keen on his DIY justice and nabbed him in Ahmedabad on August 13th.

Now, Bhatt's sitting in custody, probably wondering if his plan was worth the mess he’s in now.

The lesson here? Probably that if you lose your shirt in a crypto scam, maybe skip the kidnapping and stick to the legal routes 🧠 

Or, better yet, steer clear of sketchy schemes in the first place. Because while revenge might sound sweet, jail time definitely isn’t.

Other worthy reads

Some thoughts on L1s from Aylo:

The altcoin speculation index is low, according to The DeFi Investor:

The NFT market has regained some footing:

MEMES

That's all for now, frens.

We'll meet in a week! And remember, the market conditions are temporary, but our commitment to building a better DeFi is here to stay. Thanks for joining us, and we look forward to seeing you back next week. Cheers!

Yours, The 🔥 Team

Brought to you by Ambire: The Only Web3 Wallet That You’ll Need!