Ava Labs‘ Vice President of Engineering, Patrick O’Grady, announced his departure to start his own company. Many industry experts reacted to Donald Trump’s Bitcoin comments at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference, focusing on strategic Bitcoin reserves. The U.S. State Department’s reward program offered up to $10 million for information on cyberattacks. Here are three significant developments from the past week.
Notable Departure at Ava Labs
In a post on X on July 28, Patrick O’Grady said his three and a half years at Ava Labs, overseeing Avalanche blockchain development, had been an unforgettable journey and stated:
“In my experience, it is rare to find a company with a mission as motivating as the people working there. I will undoubtedly miss it.”
However, he said he would remain as a technical advisor at Ava Labs. O’Grady did not specify his next plans but expressed confidence that blockchain ecosystems would play a critical role in giving back to people using the internet.
Donald Trump’s Remarks Spark Debate
Trump said he plans to make the U.S. the crypto capital of the planet, end the war on crypto, and remove SEC Chairman Gary Gensler if elected in November. He also mentioned converting any Bitcoin held by the U.S. government into a strategic reserve.
Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis also spoke at the event. Both discussed a strategic Bitcoin reserve equivalent to the Treasury’s gold reserves. Industry experts like Anthony Pompliano suggested other countries might start considering this. JAN3 CEO Samson Mow commented in a post on X on July 29:
“Somewhere in the world, a country’s president is meeting with his team tonight to ask what their Bitcoin strategy should be after hearing two leading U.S. presidential candidates talk about a national strategic stock in the last 36 hours. Discussions around Bitcoin as a reserve asset have begun.”
Cybersecurity Measures in the U.S. in Focus
On July 25, the U.S. State Department’s Rewards for Justice program offered up to $10 million for information on cyberattacks directed by foreign governments against U.S. infrastructure. The incentive aims to thwart Rim Jong Hyok, a North Korean national associated with Andariel, a hacking group controlled by North Korean military intelligence:
“This action underscores the U.S.’s ongoing efforts to address the DPRK’s malicious cyber activities targeting critical infrastructure and to prevent and disrupt the DPRK’s ability to generate illicit revenue through malicious cyber activities.”
According to the U.S. government, North Korea uses cryptocurrency to fund its missile program. The DPRK-linked Lazarus Group is also accused of numerous hacks and thefts, primarily from U.S.-based blockchain protocols and firms.
