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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 comments on Bitcoin 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, was 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 that if elected in November, he plans to make the U.S. the planet’s crypto capital, end the war on crypto, and remove SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. 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 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 2 of the top 3 U.S. Presidential candidates mentioned 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 target Rim Jong Hyok, a North Korean national associated with a hacking group controlled by North Korean military intelligence, Andariel:
“This action underscores the U.S.’s ongoing efforts to address DPRK’s malicious cyber activities targeting critical infrastructure and to prevent and disrupt 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 from blockchain protocols and firms, most of which are U.S.-based.
