Techmeme
March 3, 2022, 2:35 PM

Top News

Andrew Rummer / The Block:
Ukraine's Mykhailo Fedorov abruptly cancels the government's crypto airdrop plan, saying the country will instead sell NFTs “to support Ukrainian Armed Forces”  —  Ukraine's government abruptly canceled its planned crypto airdrop and said it would instead sell NFTs to raise funds following last week's Russian invasion.
Scott Chipolina / Decrypt:
Elliptic: crypto users have donated $50M+ to Ukraine across 89K+ assets since February 26; the government's wallet addresses show $10M in BTC and $16M in ETH  —  The Ukrainian crypto crowdfunding effort has now exceeded $50 million, through almost 90,000 separate donations.
Olga Kharif / Bloomberg:
A group of 35 former employees at crypto startup incubator ConsenSys alleges serious asset transfer “irregularities” in a Swiss court, and demands an audit  —  A group of former employees of the ConsenSys AG is alleging “serious irregularities” at the startup incubator that owns …
MK Manoylov / The Block:
MetaMask users in Venezuela say they can't access the crypto wallet; a support page says MetaMask and Infura services are unavailable “due to legal compliance”  —  Users of MetaMask based in Venezuela say they can no longer access the popular digital asset wallet.
Cecilia D'Anastasio / Bloomberg:
Analysis: Twitch has lost at least six executives alongside 60+ employees during 2022; sources say Twitch is losing touch with its core focus on streamers  —  Twitch, the popular site where people go to watch other people play video games, has lost at least six top employees since the beginning of the year …
New York Times:
A look at Friends With Benefits, an a16z-backed DAO with a buzz-fueled social club, which attracts artists and investors but faces problems with its elitism  —  Friends With Benefits is a V.I.P. lounge for crypto's creative class.  Is it empty hype or the future of friendship?
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Prominent open source advocate Miguel de Icaza is leaving Microsoft, which he joined in 2016 when it acquired Xamarin  —  Former Xamarin cofounder Miguel de Icaza is leaving Microsoft, the company he joined through acquisition just over six years ago.  —  Well-known open source advocate …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Twitter will expand its Birdwatch fact-checking feature to “a small and randomized” set of US users for feedback, after testing it since January 2021  —  Twitter says it's expanding access to Birdwatch, its community-based fact-checking initiative first revealed in October 2020.
Anita Ramaswamy / TechCrunch:
Lido, which has an estimated 80%+ market share in Ethereum liquid staking, raises $70M from Andreessen Horowitz; assets staked on Lido are worth $10B+  —  The world's most-used blockchain, Ethereum, is switching to a new validation system this summer called proof-of-stake (PoS).
Thomas Claburn / The Register:
Katie Deighton / Wall Street Journal:
Google Maps and Tripadvisor block users from posting reviews to some listings in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus after activists used them to share Ukraine news  —  Alphabet Inc.'s Google Maps and the travel search platform Tripadvisor Inc. temporarily blocked users from posting new reviews …
David Yaffe-Bellany / New York Times:
A look at anonymity in crypto, as some VCs back founders without learning their names and pseudonymous entrepreneurs control hundreds of millions of dollars  —  Investors give money to pseudonymous developers.  Venture capitalists back founders without learning their real names.
Joseph Cox / VICE:
The GitHub repository for Meta's open source library React is being spammed with anti-US and anti-Ukrainian comments in English and Mandarin  —  “False liberty and democracy make me sick!” one message written in Mandarin reads.  —  Joseph Cox  —  The Github repository for React …
Eli Tan / CoinDesk:
Some OpenSea users with Iran-based IP addresses say their accounts were terminated on Thursday, likely due to US sanctions against the Iranian government  —  Twitter users complained about their accounts being deactivated without notice.  —  OpenSea users with Iran-based internet protocol addresses …
Jennifer Elias / CNBC:
Google tells staff in the Bay Area and other US locations to return to physical offices three days a week starting on April 4, in a shift to a hybrid work model  —  - Google told employees on Wednesday that it expects them to begin returning to physical offices April 4.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Spotify closes its office in Russia “indefinitely” and removes all content from RT and Sputnik in the EU and other markets, except for Russia  —  Spotify has taken several steps in response to Russia's military attack on Ukraine, including closing its offices in Russia “indefinitely.”
MIT Technology Review:
An investigation details Operation Safety Net, a sprawling surveillance operation in Minnesota to track protesters and journalists after George Floyd's murder  —  An investigation by MIT Technology Review reveals a sprawling, technologically sophisticated system in Minnesota designed for closely monitoring protesters.

Sponsor Posts

Tribe AI:
Build AI that works  —  Tribe builds tech for top AI companies.  Get in touch to learn how our bench of 500+ engineers and researchers can accelerate your roadmap.
Kulkan Security:
Hire Kulkan as your penetration testing partner  —  Kulkan prioritizes deep-dive manual security reviews, dissecting your software and infrastructure to find issues that once remediated can truly reduce security risk.
Zoho:
Instant invoice insights with Zoho Cliq and Zoho Invoice  —  Timely communication is the cornerstone of successful invoicing management.  Picture this: your business diligently sends out invoices to customers …
Mastodon:
Donate to Mastodon  —  Mastodon gGmbH, the non-profit behind the open-source software powering the social web, relies entirely on support from users like you.  Donate directly with a credit card or through Patreon.
The Kevin Rose Show:
How to Cultivate Everyday Dharma, Suneel Gupta (#54)
Gain unconventional wisdom and insights through conversations with top expert in AI, investing, wellness, technology, and culture.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Wed. 04/24 - What Now For TikTok?
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 2:35 PM ET, March 3, 2022.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Louise Matsakis / NBC News:
Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:

Earlier Picks

Matt Robinson / Bloomberg:
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Jordan Novet / CNBC: