Mysterious Post Has The XRP Community Talking!

Here's what we've got for you today:

• Ripple CTO Stirs XRP Community with Enigmatic Message

• Double Blow to Solana: MangoFarmSOL Rug Pull and NFT Sales Decline

• Merchant Adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) Nearly Triples in 2023

• Scammers Impersonate Crypto Journalists With Malicious Calendly Links on X

📱 Ripple CTO Stirs the XRP Community with Enigmatic Message

An X post by Ripple's CTO, David Schwartz, which included a strange symbol, has sparked a wave of speculation and theories among the XRP community.

• On Jan. 7, David Schwartz, the CTO of Ripple, posted a cryptic message on social media featuring a right angle and a downward zigzag arrow, causing quite a buzz within the XRP community.

• Schwartz intensified the mystery even more by reposting the same symbol with a question mark, leading to widespread speculation about what it could possibly mean.

• Some community members are theorizing that the post might hint at an important upcoming announcement or development related to Ripple or XRP.

🥊 Double Blow For Solana: MangoFarmSOL Rug Pull and NFT Sales Decline

MangoFramSOL rug pull allegations are fueling concerns about the safety of the Solana ecosystem as it has been a hot target for scammers over the past few weeks.

• MangoFarmSOL, a Solana-based farming protocol, has disappeared along with its website and social media, following a security auditor's warning about a compromised front-end, resulting in an estimated $2 million loss.

• This incident has increased concerns about the security of DeFi platforms in the Solana ecosystem, especially considering the fact that there has been increased scammer activity after Solana's success in December of 2023.

• Solana's NFT market has seen a 17.17% drop in sales, in stark contrast to the growing NFT sales on the Polygon network.

🤝 Merchant Adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) Nearly Triples in 2023

2023 was a landmark year in terms of BTC adoption, but the SEC is waving the cautionary flag for people and institutions to steer clear of FOMO-motivated investing.

• BTC Map data indicates a significant rise in Bitcoin-accepting merchants, from 2,207 at the start of the year to 6,126 by the end of 2023.

• The data pointed out that Central and South America are leading in merchant adoption, while Africa and Asia are slower. The U.S. and Europe are showing a strong presence of crypto-friendly merchants as well.

• Despite this growth, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a stern warning about the risks of FOMO-driven crypto investments, especially with the upcoming decision on Bitcoin ETFs just around the corner.

🎭️ Scammers Impersonate Crypto Journalists With Malicious Calendly Links on X

A post from SlowMist, a blockchain security company, revealed that scammers are impersonating cryptocurrency journalists to deceive Chinese-speaking victims.

• Scammers are sending direct messages with links that resemble a legitimate Calendly bot to schedule interviews, targeting users on X.

• Victims who authorize the fake bot unknowingly give the scammers access to their account on X, and also allow the distribution of phishing links through their posts.

• The extent of the scam is uncertain, but SlowMist reports that the scammers, who often use broken Chinese, mostly target crypto influencers.

👀 QUICK NEWS

• CoinsPaid Faces Second Security Breach in Six Months, Unauthorized Transactions Totaling $7.5 Million Detected

• Chainlink Supply on Exchanges Hits Six-Month Low, Fueling LINK Price Recovery Thesis

• How Will Ethereum Price React to Bitcoin ETF Approval?

• Someone Spent $66,000 to Inscribe Data Onto Bitcoin. No One Knows What it Says

• What Happened in Crypto This Weekend

MEME OF THE DAY

That’s it for today. Don’t forget to share Coinpaper Digest with your friends!