Bitcoin Magazine’s Week in Review: Charity Funds and Dark Web Run-Ins

This week, the U.S. Department of Justice and other law enforcement agencies banded together to bring down some bad actors on the dark web. EOS is undergoing some growing pains with the launch of its network, exposing the trials and tribulations of an all-too-centralized governance model.

It wasn’t all unsavory news, though. A new $300 million crypto fund was launched by Andreessen Horowitz to help grow the ecosystem, and Coinbase’s CEO started a cryptocurrency charity fund that already has $1 million to work with.

We witnessed some notable technological advancements this week as well with the announcement of the ERC-1155 token standard for Ethereum. The new standard will build on and enhance ERC-721’s functionality, the same standard used to tokenize non-fungible assets like CryptoKitties.

Featured stories by Jimmy Aki, Colin Harper, Erik Kuebler and Nick Marinoff.

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DOJ, U.S. Agencies Seize Over $12M Bitcoin in a Slew of Dark Web Busts

The U.S. Department of Justice, in cooperation with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Secret Service (USSS), the Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), have apprehended more than 35 dark web drugs and arms dealers in a nation-wide bust. In the nation’s first inter-agency crackdown on dark web operators, the sweep ended in the confiscation of military-grade weapons, drugs and drug manufacturing equipment, $3.6 million in hard cash and gold bars and over 2,000 bitcoin, valued at around $12 million.

Andreessen Horowitz Has Launched a $300M Crypto Fund

Financial firm Andreessen Horowitz has established a new $300 million crypto fund that is dedicated to investing in cryptocurrencies and other blockchain-related projects. Named a16z crypto, the new fund has the firm delving deeper into the cryptocurrency space to grow its existing portfolio, which includes digital currency exchange Coinbase. In a statement posted on the company’s blog, general partner Chris Dixon states that the a16z crypto fund provides the firm with the flexibility to invest in any area of its choosing, from traditional equities to digital tokens. As a result, the firm will be able to invest in both companies and the tokens those companies create.

Enjin Coin CTO Creates ERC-1155, a New Token Standard for Ethereum

Co-founder and CTO of Enjin Coin Witek Radomski has developed the ERC-1155 token, a new standard for defining video game tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. Radomski was responsible for the development of the ERC-721 non-fungible token standard that was used in the development of CryptoKitties. The new protocol allows for an infinite number of both fungible and non-fungible items to be deployed through a single contract, a breakthrough that has ramifications for tokenized asset management for the gaming industry and beyond.

EOS Founder Wants to Scrap the Platform’s Constitution, Start Anew

The long awaited EOS launch occurred earlier this month, but it has not been without its difficulties. Daniel Larmier, the founder and technical architect of EOS, has confirmed that he wants to scrap the platform’s current constitution and build a new one. Speaking on the EOSIO Gov Telegram Channel, Larmier revealed that he has doubts about the company’s current on-chain governance model and called the existing constitution “unwise.” While Larmier has a proposal to change the problems, those for the change would have to outnumber those against it by 10 percent. They would then have to hold this position for 30 consecutive days within a 120-day period, so even if Larmier does get his way, we’re not likely to see the emergence of a new constitution for a minimum of four months.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong Launches Cryptocurrency Charity Fund

On June 27, 2018, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced his new cryptocurrency charity fund, GiveCrypto. Armstrong established the philanthropic venture to financially empower people with direct cryptocurrency distributions. The charity has already raised $1 million from prominent cryptocurrency community members, and it plans to raise $10 million by the end of 2018 and $1 billion over a two-year time frame. The nonprofit’s mission is to give 100 percent of its cryptocurrency contributions to impoverished people, an altruistic goal that simultaneously drives cryptocurrency’s real-world utility.