Crypto lender Celsius is being investigated by multiple states after transactions freeze

Crypto lender Celsius Network opted to freeze customer withdrawals and other transactions on Sunday, leaving its nearly two million users unable to access their funds. Now, state security boards in Alabama, Kentucky, New Jersey, Texas and Washington have launched probes into Celsius, Reutersreports. The SEC has also been in contact with the firm. Engadget has reached out to the agency and will update if we hear back. 

This isn’t the first time the crypto lender has run into trouble with state and federal officials. Multiple states ordered Celsius last year to stop selling what are known as high-yield crypto products, which many investors warn are risky because they don’t offer the same FDIC protections as banks if the institutions go under. Currently, residents in the states of New York and Washington can’t purchase assets on Celsius.

Officials at the Texas State Securities Board began discussing Celsius’s surprise freeze on consumer assets first thing on Monday morning, the agency’s enforcement director Joseph Rotunda told the Reuters. “I am very concerned that clients – including many retail investors – may need to immediately access their assets yet are unable to withdraw from their accounts. The inability to access their investment may result in significant financial consequences,” he said.

In its memo to users explaining Sunday’s decision, Celsius cited “extreme market conditions” as the primary motivator. The freeze includes transfers, withdrawals and swaps between accounts. “We are taking this action today to put Celsius in a better position to honor, over time, its withdrawal obligations,” wrote the firm.

Users responded via social media over the weekend, often sharing the negative impacts the freeze had on their own finances. One user claimed on Twitter that, because they were unable to access funds to pay or post collateral, the platform had liquidated a loan worth more than $27,000. “This is not the reason I unbanked myself,” they wrote.

Pew confirms what we already knew: People like to retweet political hot takes

While it’s no secret that social media shapes our political discourse, a new study by the Pew Research Center reveals to what extent. Nearly one in three tweets posted by American adults are political in nature, according to Pew’s analysis of a sample …

LG’s extra-tall DualUp Monitor is available now for $699

If you’ve been eyeing LG’s super-tall display ever since December, you’ll be glad to hear that you can finally buy it. LG has released the DualUp Monitor for $699. As promised, the clamp-mounted design centers on a 16:18 aspect ratio, 28-inch LCD whose 2,560 x 2,880 resolution promises the visual real estate of two 21.5-inch monitors while occupying much less desk space. It might fit the bill if you’re a media creator or heavy-duty multitasker who can’t justify an ultra-wide screen.

The Nano IPS-based panel should be reasonably accurate with 98 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color space, and it should serve well as a laptop dock between the 90W USB-C power delivery, dual HDMI, DisplayPort and USB 3.0 connections. The included ergonomic stand can pivot, tilt and swivel, so you shouldn’t have trouble creating the ideal layout.

There are limitations. The DualUp Monitor doesn’t offer a 4K resolution, of course, and it’s not particularly gamer-friendly with its 60Hz refresh rate. While it does support HDR10, the 300-nit typical brightness won’t exactly help HDR visuals pop. This is a productivity monitor first and foremost, and you’re paying more for convenience than raw technical prowess.

‘Overwatch 2’ won’t have loot boxes

Overwatch 2 will get rid of one of the first game’s most infamous elements. Blizzard has confirmed at a reveal event that that the new team-based shooter won’t have loot boxes when it premieres October 4th. Instead, you’ll get the items you want through either a Battle Pass or a “consistently updated” in-game store. You won’t have to roll the dice wondering if you’ll get a special character skin or emote.

Blizzard also used the event to show what you can expect for the first two seasons. The developer will provide free updates every nine weeks to keep things fresh, with progression applying across game platforms. The first season will include three new heroes (Sojourn, Junker Queen and an unidentified third), six more maps, 30-plus extra skins and a new game mode. The second season, kicking off December 6th, will add a new take hero, another map and still more cosmetics. In 2023, you can expect a new “PvE experience” that advances the story.

The approach to loot boxes is a relative about-face. The company has kept the random boxes in Overwatch ever since launch, and has been defensive. Blizzard even refused to release Diablo Immortal in Belgium and the Netherlands due to those countries’ laws banning loot box mechanics as a form of gambling. With Overwatch 2, the team is acknowledging the backlash.

There might not have been much choice. Overwatch has maintained a largely steady player count and even grown slightly over the years, with ActivePlayer.io data indicating an average of 7.2 million players per month as of May. However, it’s no secret that some players hate loot boxes and might be wary of playing the new game if they persist. As it stands, US agencies like the Federal Trade Commission have investigated loot box systems in the past. Whatever the motivations for scrapping the boxes, the decision could help Blizzard avoid legal trouble in its home country.

Instagram is testing a new full-screen TikTok-like feed

Instagram is testing a new full-screen version of Instagram’s feed that would make scrolling through posts look and feel a lot more like TikTok. Mark Zuckerberg shared a preview of the test on his Instagram Story, saying that the new look would be available to some people “soon.”

The app began testing a version of a “full-screen” feed last month, but in that test feed posts didn’t actually take up the entire screen of the app. But with the latest version shared by Zuckerberg, posts extend all the way to the top of the screen, much as they do on TikTok. The new look also tweaks the shortcuts for accessing your inbox and creating new posts.

Though still an experiment, the new look is in-line with Meta’s stated desire to make competing with TikTok a top priority. On instagram, that’s meant inserting more Reels and “suggested” content into users feed, as well as emphasizing video more than static images. “Photos are still an important part of Instagram, and we’re working on ways to improve the way they show up in a full-screen Feed too,” Zuckerberg wrote.

Meta is also planning a major revamp of Facebook’s app that would insert more “recommended” content in users’ feeds, rather than posts from friends and pages they follow. Zuckerberg has said the changes are part of broader pivot toward AI-driven recommendations rather than simply relying on users existing social graphs.

Anna Sorokin wants to move away from her ‘scammer’ persona… by selling NFTs

Infamous grifter Anna Sorokin, who spent four years in prison for fraud, says she is “trying to move away from this, like, ‘scammer’ persona” that has “been pushed upon me by the prosecution and by the following media and by the Netflix show [Inventing Anna].” What better way to do that than by selling a collection of NFTs?

The socialite told NBC News that she has minted 10 NFTs (non-fungible tokens). Holders will somehow have “exclusive access” to Sorokin, who is in a correctional facility under the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The NFT holders will seemingly have the chance to meet Sorokin, who has appealed her pending deportation. Holders will also receive a bundle of “personal items” from Sorokin, who, again, is in detention.

Sorokin is attempting to control her narrative after she was the focus of Inventing Anna, which was released earlier this year. The NFT collection is called “Reinventing Anna.”

“It’s kind of one of the first steps I’m taking to start to tell my own story,” Sorokin said. She claimed that “blockchain will be very helpful for the artist” to “reclaim the ownership and [profit] from future sales.” It’s not as if the NFT market has completely bottomed out.

Sorokin went by the name Anna Delvey and claimed to be a German heiress with a $60 million inheritance. She claimed she was raising capital to open a social club in Manhattan, but that wasn’t the case. She scammed friends and businesses out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. It’s just as well NFTs aren’t part of a massive Ponzi scheme or anything like that.

SpaceX employees say Elon Musk is an ’embarrassment’ as he waffles on work-from-home

Elon Musk’s disdain for remote work doesn’t fully extend to Twitter. As The New York Times and The Verge note, Musk told Twitter staff in an inaugural all-hands meeting that employees at the social network who produce “excellent” work at home should be permitted to keep their positions. While the aspiring new owner stressed that he would much rather have people working in the office, he thought it “wouldn’t make sense” to fire someone who was a net positive for the company. He added he would verify with managers that those remote employees were making useful contributions.

Musk gave Tesla and SpaceX employees an ultimatum in late May, warning that they had to work at least 40 hours a week their main offices unless they had “particularly exceptional” reasons to stay remote. The executive felt it was particularly important for more senior-level members who needed an in-person “presence.” This stands in sharp contrast to Twitter’s existing stance allowing many employees to stay remote indefinitely, not to mention policies at Apple, Google and other tech heavyweights that allow staff to spend some or all of their workday at home.

The statements also come as Musk is facing a mounting backlash from his rank-and-file. The Verge says it has seen an open letter from SpaceX workers criticizing their CEO, accusing Musk of becoming a “frequent source of distraction and embarrassment” through his public actions. They also said the spaceflight firm wasn’t living up to either its “No Asshole” mantra or a zero-tolerance policy on sexual misconduct. The letter writers wanted SpaceX to condemn Musk’s behavior, hold all leaders accountable for their actions, and clarify its policies while enforcing them more consistently.

There was no mention of the exact issues that prompted the letter. Musk has drawn increasing criticism, however. A SpaceX flight attendant reportedly accused Musk of sexual misconduct, prompting a $250,000 settlement. That’s on top of ongoing claims Musk’s companies allow horrible behavior, including lawsuits from multiple women alleging Tesla fostered sexual harassment in the office. Musk has further been accused of posting transphobia on Twitter (such as blasting the pregnant man emoji) and supporting trucker protests in Canada that were laced with harassment and racist incidents. The entrepreneur isn’t on great terms with many people at the moment, and his dislike of remote work underscores this.