The dollar value of open positions in Binance-listed FLOW futures has increased by 345%, validating the price rally.

The token of Flow blockchain (FLOW) surged over 35% in the wake of Meta’s (FB) decision to leverage the blockchain to expand its non-fungible tokens (NFT) initiative.

CoinDesk data shows FLOW rose 38% to $2.62 in the past 24 hours. Prices hit a high of $2.84 at point, the highest since May 31.

The token ran into buying pressure after Meta announced the international expansion of its recently piloted digital collectibles feature on its photo and video-sharing platform Instagram and declared support for NFTs, digital tokens that represent ownership of physical or virtual assets, created on the Flow blockchain.

The social media giant also announced support for Coinbase wallet and Dapper wallet as third-party wallets compatible for use as part of its expansion plan.

The Flow blockchain was created by Dapper Labs and is best known for a NFT hit NBA Top Shot. In May, Dapper Labs unveiled a $725 million fund to boost “gaming, infrastructure, decentralized finance, content and creators” in the Flow ecosystem.

FLOW’s price rally is backed by a triple-digit jump in futures open interest across major exchanges, including Binance, according to data tracked by coinglass. Open interest refers to the number of contracts traded but not squared off with an offsetting position.

An increase in open interest means more money is being deployed in the FLOW market and validates the price rally.

FLOW has topped its 100-day simple moving average (SMA), leaving both bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) behind, which continue to trade below the key SMA. However, the bigger downtrend is still intact as seen in the chart.

The post Meta’s NFT Outreach Powers 38% Rally in FLOW Token appeared first on Crypto Insider.

Coinbase announced it would rescind offers, surprising recruits who told CoinDesk they believed their new roles would be safe.

Would-be Coinbase employees have been left in the lurch after the crypto exchange announced it would rescind job offers as part of swathe of cost-cutting measures in a bear market.

CoinDesk spoke to three such recruits who said they felt blindsided by the sudden reversal from the company they’d assumed was the most stable brand in crypto – a place worth picking over Snap, Meta, Roblox or other tech giants. One software engineer, a recent college graduate, said they passed up offers from all three to work instead at Coinbase.

Another software engineer who said he signed his Coinbase Cloud offer in mid-May was days away from leaving his job on Wall Street: He was at a going-away happy hour with work friends when the rescission email hit. Now, he’s staying put.

Many of the potentially hundreds of downturned prospects weren’t so lucky. The college grad was planning on starting in September.

“Now I’m scrambling to get something and most companies are either filled up or frozen hiring,” the grad said.

Coinbase announced earlier this year it intended to triple its headcount through the end of 2022. One of the recruits CoinDesk spoke to said he believed a few hundred people may have been in the recruitment and onboarding process this week.

On Thursday, Coinbase Chief People Officer L.J. Brock announced that the company would “rescind a number of accepted offers.” And it appears to have wasted no time in doing so.

Several almost-hires posted to the Blind jobs posting forum noting that they left their old roles, or turned down other offers, to take on roles at Coinbase, which announced two weeks ago it would slow its hiring process. One individual said they were a new graduate who interviewed in November.

According to a copy of an email sent to this person from Brock, they will receive one month’s salary as severance.

Other users said their start date was meant to be June 6, just four days after Brock’s blog post.

Coinbase’s stock price traded around $67 on Friday, down 9% over the day amid a broader fall in tech stocks.

The post Coinbase’s Abrupt Hiring Reversal Blindsided Would-Be Employees appeared first on Crypto Insider.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says Facebook and Instagram linked fake media articles linking crypto deals to unknowing celebrities.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has sued Meta Platforms and Meta Platforms Ireland alleging that they engaged in false, misleading or deceptive conduct by publishing scam advertisements featuring prominent Australian public figures, according to a statement published Friday.

The ACCC alleges that the ads, which promoted investment in cryptocurrency or money-making schemes, were likely to mislead Facebook users into believing the advertised schemes were associated with well-known people featured in the ads, such as businessman Dick Smith, TV presenter David Koch and former NSW Premier Mike Baird. The schemes were in fact scams, and the people featured in the ads had never approved or endorsed them.

The ads contained links that took Facebook users to a fake media article that included quotes attributed to the public figure featured in the ad endorsing a cryptocurrency or money-making scheme. Users were then invited to sign up and were subsequently contacted by scammers who used high pressure tactics, such as repeated phone calls, to convince users to deposit funds into the fake schemes.

“The essence of our case is that Meta is responsible for these ads that it publishes on its platform,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said. “It is a key part of Meta’s business to enable advertisers to target users who are most likely to click on the link in an ad to visit the ad’s landing page, using Facebook algorithms. Those visits to landing pages from ads generate substantial revenue for Facebook.”

The ACCC complaint accuses Meta of failing to prevent “publication of fake ads even after the celebrities reported similar false, misleading or deceptive ads to Meta.”

The ACCC is seeking unspecified declarations, injunctions, penalties, costs and other orders.

The post Facebook Owner Meta Sued by Australian Consumer Watchdog for Scam Crypto Ads appeared first on Crypto Insider.