Hey everyone! If you got a notification that the new digest is out on HODL.fm, don’t be surprised — yes, it’s finally Friday! Time to close those work tabs, get comfy, and dive into the hottest news of the week. 

Previous Digest: Polymarket`s Huge Election Bets, Crypto Support for Harris, Brazil Launches Solana ETF, and Cunning Whale's Accumulations

Telegram Creators Can Now Earn TON from Users via Stars

Telegram, in collaboration with the Open Network, is transforming the messaging app, which has nearly 1 billion users worldwide, into a crypto-friendly platform with added mini-apps.

In a nod to its crypto ambitions, the messenger, ranked among the top 5 most popular on Earth, announced a feature allowing creators to earn Toncoin (TON).

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Source: Telegram.org

Now users can send reactions using Stars, an in-app currency linked to TON, to content creators and channels. These Stars can then be converted into TON. If creators don’t want to trade in their stars for crypto, they can use them to pay for ads instead.

In addition to this new reward system, Telegram remains friendly to Bitcoin and USDT, which can also be sent between users. These features weren’t invented by Telegram, but they certainly reinforce its crypto-friendly direction.

Challenges Ahead for Solana’s ETF Approval

Solana, following in the footsteps of its big brothers Bitcoin and Ethereum, is racing to win U.S. ETF approval after recent successes in Brazil.

VanEck, one of the leading investment funds in the crypto market, officially filed a request with the SEC to launch a Solana ETF in the U.S. Just a day later, 21Shares followed suit, and soon after, Cboe Global Markets filed a third request, signaling a strong push for Solana to enter the ETF market.

So, what's stopping Solana ETF from getting approval this weekend?

One of the main hurdles is the lack of regulated trading platforms that the SEC deems suitable for market oversight. Solana's current exchanges don't meet U.S. regulatory standards, as they are considered "unregulated."

Moreover, Solana's history of network outages raises doubts about its reliability and stability, further fueling the SEC's concerns.

Another complicating factor is the U.S. regulatory environment, which lacks clear guidelines on what constitutes a sufficiently decentralized asset.

Given the current climate and the Biden administration's stance on cryptocurrencies, the chances of the SEC approving a Solana ETF seem slim.

Despite undoubtedly positive developments, such as gaining approval in U.S. markets where Bitcoin became the first cryptocurrency to receive SEC approval for spot ETF trading, followed by Ethereum in May, the question remains: Will Solana be next in line?

Power Abuse or Fair Compensation? That is the question.

EigenLayer sparked the latest crypto boom cycle in 2023 when it introduced restaking, a new kind of blockchain security technology that also became a lucrative investment opportunity. The platform quickly raised $100 million in investments and attracted $15 billion in user deposits in less than a year.

But controversy erupted when employees at Eigen Labs accepted millions of dollars in payouts from other projects relying on their technology. These payouts amounted to nearly $5 million at their peak, raising questions about potential conflicts of interest.

Investigating the Airdrop Scandal

While apps launching airdrops were announcing them to the public, Eigen Labs was quietly helping its employees get in on the action. How? By sending out a list of their wallet addresses. This claim was made by a developer working on one of the projects, who requested to remain anonymous due to concerns about potential backlash. 

Thanks to an investigation by our friends at CoinDesk, three projects were identified as having distributed airdrops to these wallets: Ether.Fi, Renzo, and AltLayer.

Mike Silagadze, CEO of Ether.Fi, said that the project preferred to distribute tokens to individuals at these companies “because it’s more personal” than sending them to the firms. He personally requested a list of employees’ wallet addresses from Eigen Labs so they could receive the airdrop. 

Another founder of a crypto protocol, who was aware of the payments but spoke anonymously, claimed it was “an abuse of power.” In response, Alan Curtis, the company’s Chief Commercial Officer, said that they only sent the list to “teams that reached out about airdrops to Eigen Labs or its employees.” 

Eigen Labs announced that starting in May, it ceased permitting ecosystem projects to distribute airdrop tokens to its employees.

So, was this really an abuse of power, or were projects genuinely trying to reward Eigen Labs employees for the opportunities they provided? When one project openly admits to doing so voluntarily, without any pressure from above, while another anonymously hints that there was pressure, it’s hard to draw a clear conclusion.

X’s New AI Image Generator as Crazy as its Creator

The Grok chatbot from xAI has recently gained the ability to generate images from text prompts and share them on X. X Premium subscribers, who have access to Grok, are having a field day with it, posting everything from Barack Obama doing cocaine to Donald Trump with a pregnant woman who vaguely resembles Kamala Harris.

If you ask Grok, "What are your limitations on creating images?" it will dutifully promise to avoid generating pornographic, excessively violent, or hateful images. It also claims not to infringe on existing copyrights or trademarks and to steer clear of creating content that could deceive or harm others.

But don't take an AI at its word — these might just be responses generated on the fly. If you ask a few times, you might receive varying responses.

Other experiments by X users reveal that even if Grok initially refuses to create something, loopholes are easy to find. This leaves little assurance against it spitting out bloody images of Musk and Mickey Mouse shooting kids or even "child pornography if given the right prompts," according to X user Christian Montessori.

These bold actions haven't gone unnoticed, and the European Commission is already investigating X for potential violations of the Digital Services Act, which governs how large online platforms moderate content.

The unruly behavior of Grok's new image generator perfectly mirrors Elon Musk's disregard for standard AI and social media safety protocols. 

More Digests: 

I know you see that our digest has come to an end and rushed to buy X Premium to have some fun with image generation. Our advice: avoid using AI to create violent or harmful content — there’s already too much of that in the real world. Instead, generate kindness and positivity.

P.S. Of course, no one will judge you if you generate an image of your neighbor's kidnapped dog who’s been terrorizing your flower beds every week.

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