Celo Foundation and Google Cloud collaborate on web3 initiatives; FTX name being deleted from Miami Arena; Tether used Signature Bank to access its banking system.
The Celo Foundation has partnered with Google Cloud to support mission-relevant projects in Celo’s blockchain ecosystem and to adopt Google Cloud services early. The partnership will allow the founders who develop Celo to access credits for using Google Cloud and Firebase. Thus, Celo can develop its mobile-first infrastructure and decentralized applications.
Developed by Google, Firebase is a mobile and web application development platform that provides developers with tools and services such as authentication, real-time database, cloud system and messaging to build applications.
Google will support Celo
The Google Cloud team will also mentor the Celo Foundation’s Founders in Residence program, according to the announcement. Additionally, it will participate in the Celo Camp accelerator program, which supports entrepreneurs in developing sustainability-focused startups.
Speaking about the challenges faced by sustainability-focused startups in the Celo network, Cazador said that complex interfaces and highly technical engagement processes are a major obstacle for startups.
Celo is a blockchain platform that achieves carbon negativity with its proof-of-stake algorithm. The platform has a diverse range of 1000+ projects in more than 150 countries
FTX name being deleted from Miami Arena
Miami Heat, one of the leading basketball clubs in the NBA, is removing the name FTX from the Miami Arena.
Miami Heat has signed a $117 million deal to rename the arena to the Kaseye Center over the next 17 years.
Kaseya, a Miami-based software company, signed a deal for the naming rights of the arena for $117 million. The deal was approved by a government agency.
About three months ago, as Sam Bankman-Fried’s empire collapsed, FTX’s Miami Arena naming rights deal was dissolved.
Eric Woolworth, head of commercial operations at Miami Heat, used the following statements on the subject.
“FTX has caused a difficult situation and I’m sure there has been some reputational damage for us as well.
The industry Kaseya has been in has a much longer history and is more stable than crypto.”
Before the collapse of FTX, Miami hosted Bitcoin conferences and displayed a statue of a Bitcoin bull in the center of the city. After these efforts to attract crypto companies to Miami, things seem to be starting to turn around.
Tether used Signature Bank to access its banking system
According to sources, Tether instructed to send money to Bahamas-based banking partner Capital Union Bank using Signature’s Signet payment network and found its way into the US banking system.
The sources also underlined that the system was still in place at the time regulators seized Signature.
Tether accessed the banking system
Tether’s move reveals the difficulty that crypto companies have had in accessing the banking system. Big scandals in the crypto money industry, one after the other, paved the way for banks to move away from the crypto money industry.
Alma Angotti, who previously served in the SEC and Treasury departments, stated that this move by Tether is not illegal.
The FDIC and Capital Union Bank did not respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment.
Tether used the following statements in an e-mail it sent on the subject:
“Banks used by Tether have always had access to various banking channels and counterparties”
Signature Bank’s payment network, Signet, was a widely used payment network that allowed the bank’s customers to trade in cryptocurrencies to send fiat money to each other around the clock.
The New York Department of Financial Services announced the closure of Signature Bank on March 12, 2022. In its statement on the subject, the FDIC stated that this move was made to protect the US economy. Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino said at the time that his firm had no affiliation with Signature Bank.