Crypto Staking Platform Freeway Halts Withdrawals 🚨

Freeway, a crypto lending business offering interest-bearing cryptocurrency accounts, has halted trading services, citing extreme market conditions.

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Key Details:

• In a post, Freeway said that they are halting buys & deposits and will “not be buying Supercharger simulations until our new strategies are implemented.”
• The platform has about $160 million in total value locked.
• The announcement triggered a significant drop in the value of its native token. The Freeway Token (FWT) has plummeted more than 80% since the announcement.

What’s next?

Freeway has not provided any particular details about its new strategies; however, it said that it has plans to “diversify its asset base” and “manage exposure to future market fluctuations and volatility.”

“We will notify you when we are ready to recommence partial Supercharger simulation purchases (buy-backs) and then again as we can recommence full Supercharger simulation purchases as well as on platform Freeway Token (FWT) Deposits and Buys,” the platform said.

Facebook’s Bitmoji Avatars 🧖‍♂️🙍‍♀️ Will be Coming to WhatsApp as Well

WhatsApp is reportedly working on a new feature that will soon come up with an avatar feature for both mobile and desktop users globally.

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Quick Takeaways:

• The all-new Avatar feature was first reported by WABetaInfo, which is compatible with WhatsApp beta for Android 2.22.23.8 and 2.22.23.9.
• Once you are done configuring your Avatar, the platform will make create a new sticker pack that you can share with others on WhatsApp.
• The new feature will reportedly be called “Avatar profile photo,” letting users set up a personalized avatar profile picture.

The Bigger Picture:

Meta first rolled out avatars on Messenger in 2019 before they became available in Facebook comments and stories in 2020.

Earlier this year, Meta gave its avatars a new 3D look and began allowing users to add them to feed posts, Facebook profile pictures, and Instagram Stories.

By bringing avatars to WhatsApp, Meta is working towards its larger goal of building out its idea of the metaverse on more familiar platforms like phones and computers.

Republicans Sue Google For Filtering Campaign Emails 📧

The Republican National Committee (RNC) has sued Google in the district court of California, alleging that their campaign emails are being routed to users’ spam folders.

Key Points:

• In the lawsuit, the RNC has claimed that Google is discriminating against the party by “throttling its email messages because of the RNC’s political affiliation and views.”
• The lawsuit further claimed that diverting its campaign emails to spam folders had resulted in revenue loss, and the party would lose more money in the coming weeks as midterm elections loom.

The Other Side:

• Google denied the RNC’s claim saying that they don’t filter emails based on political affiliation.
• Since August 2022, the tech giant has been working on a program to make political campaigns bypass spam filters.
• Under this pilot program, political emails will bypass Google’s algorithms for re-routing emails into spam. It will only be diverted to the spam folder only if users take action to mark them as spam.

This Agritech Startup Raised $46 Million in Funding 💰

DeHaat, a full-stack agritech platform, has raised $46 million in its Series E funding round.

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The Investors:

The funding was led by Sofina Ventures, along with participation from RTP Global Partners, Prosus (Naspers Ventures), and Lightrock India.

Following the fundraising, Naspers, RTP Global, and Lightrock India will control 11.04%, 5.22%, and 6.43% of the share capital, respectively. Sofina Ventures will own 11.73% of the holding.

About DeHaat:

Founded in 2012, DeHaat offers end-to-end agricultural services to farmers, including distribution of high-quality agri-inputs, customized farm advisory, financial services, and market linkages to farmers for selling their produce.

The company also connects farmers with third-party lenders for their working capital, and large enterprises such as Reliance Fresh, and Zomato, among others, for bulk selling.

Kazakhstan 🇰🇿 Ranks Among Top 3 Bitcoin Mining Destinations ⛏

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For more than a year, Kazakhstan has maintained its position as the third-biggest contributor to Bitcoin mining after an influx of mining activities since last year.

As of January 2022, the oil-rich Central Asian country contributed to 13.22% of the total Bitcoin hash rate, positioned after the United States (37.84%) and China (21.11%).

That’s a wrap for today, ladies & gents. See ya tomorrow!