Today in Crypto: MicroStrategy Exploring Bitcoin Lightning Network-powered Solutions, China to Launch a State-backed NFT Marketplace, Fiji Elects Pro-BTC Prime Minister

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
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 Adoption news

• Technology company MicroStrategy executive chairman Michael Saylor shared in a Twitter Spaces event on Wednesday the company plans to release Bitcoin Lightning Network-powered software and solutions in 2023. He said that MicroStrategy is exploring, among other things, solutions that “support” enterprise marketing and a cybersecurity solution for corporate websites.
• The Chinese government announced a plan to launch a state-backed marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and digital assets copyrights next week, according to local news outlet Sina News. The government partnered with the Chinese Technology Exchange, Art Exhibition China, and Huban Digital Copyrights Ltd to launch the new platform. A ceremony celebrating the launch will be held in Beijing on January 1.

Politics news

• Fiji elected a pro-Bitcoin prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka, who took office on December 24. Mataʻiʻulua ʻi Fonuamotu, Lord Fusituʻa, a Tongan politician and noble, shared the news from the neighboring country on Twitter, writing:  “A new pro-Bitcoin friendly Prime Minister in the South Pacific. […] Let’s go 2 for 2 – BTC Legal Tender Bills for the Pacific in 2023.”

Security news

• The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation in the US released a whopping 15 crypto scam alerts on December 27 and 28, warning consumers of potentially fraudulent crypto websites and brokers. These include UniSwap LLC, eth-Wintermute.net, RB Hood, Reliable Option Trade, Tahoe Digital Exchange, and others.
• Trading platform 3Commas admitted it was the source of that Application Programming Interface (API) leak that resulted in a group of traders losing $22 million worth of crypto last week. Co-founder Yuriy Sorokin previously suggested that users had given their data in a phishing attack, but after an anonymous Twitter user obtained and published API keys belonging to 3Commas users, Sorokin tweeted on Wednesday that “we saw the hacker’s message and can confirm that the data in the files is true. […] We are sorry that this has gotten so far and will continue to be transparent in our communications around the situation.”

Legal news

• Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius is seeking to push the deadline for creditors to file the amount of debt they are owed to early February, instead of January 3. The motion to extend the deadline will be heard by the bankruptcy court handling the case at a January 10 hearing, according to a tweet by Celsius. For now, the deadline is extended until the motion is heard by the court, it said.

Gaming news

• Laguna Games, a Web3 game development and R&D studio, announced today that it received full investor support to extend the lock-up period of RBW tokens being held by the team and investors from a 1-year lock and 24-month linear unlock to a 2-year lock and a 24-month linear unlock. Seed and private round investors of the Crypto Unicorns game proactively agreed to the extension, which was initiated by Laguna Games and its investors, said a press release, adding that the extension was supported by the Crypto Unicorns community as well.