This week in crypto: Russia, BlockFi, Matic, and…Wikipedia – Decrypt
Another week, another unit of a dollar-pegged stablecoin. This week in crypto, a Russian power grid company makes use of the blockchain to keep the lights on; 70 percent of Matic Networks market cap was wiped; BlockFi gets a new license in Washington State; and the Lightning Network Wikipedia page is up for deletion.
A Russian power grid company is piloting a blockchain system that would automate the metering of electricity. The pilot currently serves 400 homes in the Kaliningrad and Sverdlovsk regions, but the program is due to expand to around 5.3 million early next year. If that trial is successful, the system will be dished out to all of Russia.
The pilot, by Russian power grid company Rosseti, blockchain company Waves Enterprises, and the Russian banking giant, Alfa Bank, would help households keep tabs on how much electricity they use. The system links up to an app that energy consumers can use to work out how much they have to pay, as well as receive advice on their electricity habits that could save them money in the long run.
Washington State licensed the New York-based loan service, BlockFito offer its services to customers. Specifically, the license will enable BlockFi customers to trade and transfer cryptocurrencies to their interest-bearing accounts.
Why might anyone care, outside of BlockFis teensy tiny bubble? BlockFi just became the first company to offer crypto interest-bearing accounts to customers in the stateno mean feat: The States requirements are among the hardest in the U.S. (Exchanges Kraken and Shapeshift used to operate in Washington State, but quit due to the regulations, which Shapeshift has described as unethical, wasteful, and reckless. Until now, only crypto exchange Coinbase has been licensed to do business there.
BlockFi had to wade through extensive audits to make sure it was up to the job. David Spack, BlockFis chief compliance officer, told Decrypt the journey was arduous and took several months. Well done, Spack!
It was a horrible week for the Matic Network, which saw $56 millionor 70 percent of its market capwiped out. That destroyed virtually all of the gains it enjoyed since the 190 percent boost in price earlier this month.
What we believe is that after our meteoric rise, these people (market manipulators) thought that [MATIC] would be an ideal project to short, Sandeep Nailwal, Matics co-founder and COO, said in a question and answer session with the community.
I think the timing of this manipulative shorting was chosen in a way that our whole team was asleep because it was night time in India. It seems to be a coordinated attack, he said.
Be the first to get Decrypt Members. A new type of account built on blockchain.
Some believed that the MATIC team were to blame for the dump, but Nailwal said, Binance bared the highest (trade) volume. Binance also said there is no involvement of the Matic team here. Even we were caught unaware.
Binances CEO, Changpeng Zhao, confirmed Nailwals claim: Our team is still investigating the data, but it's already clear that the MATIC team has nothing to do with it. A number of big traders panicked, causing a cycle, he tweeted.
Whats MATIC going to do about it? What can it do about it? It certainly wont be burning any MATIC tokens to reduce the circulating supply, or implementing a buyback program to boost its value.
This is not something to be scared about in the long term, it's just that in the short term it may have hurt a lot of people in the community, said Nailwal. Our primary objective has been to protect the community and [provide] the best information where they can make their own decisions.
U.S. prosecutors in New Jersey charged three men with fraud in connection with BitClub Network, a mining investment group that they say bilked victims of $722 million.
Like other such enterprises, BitClub, which launched in 2014, would ask punters for cash to buy mining rigs that would generate bitcoin. Investors would then share in the returns, which, surprise surprise, never materializedbut BitClub fabricated the profit margins to encourage more people to invest.
The feds say that the principals in the scam talked smack about their victims behind their backs, referring to them as sheep and boasting that they were building this whole model on the backs of idiots.
The defendants face 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted.
The Wikipedia page for the Bitcoin Lightning Networkthe network that handles bitcoin transactions without first verifying them on the blockchainis up for consideration for deletion.
Among other things, proponents of its deletion argue that the cites to back up claims of the Bitcoin Lightning network are bunk.
The Lightning Network article at the moment is pretty badly referenced, and it's not intrinsically unreasonable to look at it and go more crypto spam, and nominate it for deletion, Wikipedia moderator David Gerard, whos argued for the deletion of page, and authored Attack of the 50 foot blockchain, told Decrypt.
But Michepman, the moniker of another Wikipedia moderator, disagreed with the Delete contingent, saying their arguments are inappropriately focused on whether Bitcoin or cryptocurrency is a good idea or whether the article in its current state is good.Gerard told Decrypt that the debacle will be resolved through words and arguments, not votes. Join the fray yourself: anyoneeven Gerardcan take part.
See the original post:
This week in crypto: Russia, BlockFi, Matic, and...Wikipedia - Decrypt
- Depths of Wikipedia (Annie Rauwerda) Underbelly Cowbarn, Bristo Square | Review by Avery Mitchell - theatrescotland.co.uk - August 14th, 2026 [August 14th, 2026]
- Hes edited six million Wikipedia articles for free and almost no one knows his name - News24 - August 14th, 2026 [August 14th, 2026]
- Poet Kyle Flemmer zooms in on Wikipedia as a bastion of collective knowledge in new collection - Yahoo News Canada - August 14th, 2026 [August 14th, 2026]
- Google Search Briefly Showed False 'Sam Altman Dead' Result Amid Wikipedia Vandalism - finance.biggo.com - August 14th, 2026 [August 14th, 2026]
- Poet Kyle Flemmer zooms in on Wikipedia as a bastion of collective knowledge in new collection - Calgary Herald - August 14th, 2026 [August 14th, 2026]
- Wikipedia has become compromised by intelligence agencies and ideological capture - thevibes.com - August 14th, 2026 [August 14th, 2026]
- Evidence of sneaky Shellrelated monitoring and editing of Wikipedia - Royal Dutch Shell Plc .com - August 12th, 2026 [August 12th, 2026]
- From Should we? to How do we?: A community weekend on AI and Wikipedia - WikiMedia.org - August 12th, 2026 [August 12th, 2026]
- A Wikipedia-Loving but Wikipedian-Intimidated Dork Explores the Minnesota Wiknic - Racket MN - July 21st, 2026 [July 21st, 2026]
- After 3,000 Years, People Are Finally Reading The Odysseyat Least on Wikipedia - WSJ - July 21st, 2026 [July 21st, 2026]
- Welcome to the high-stakes universe of World Cup Wikipedia editing - The New York Times - July 21st, 2026 [July 21st, 2026]
- Does Israel Control the World Cup Wikipedia? - The Times of Israel - July 21st, 2026 [July 21st, 2026]
- After 3,000 Years, People Are Finally Reading The Odysseyat Least on Wikipedia | Hollywood - Hindustan Times - July 21st, 2026 [July 21st, 2026]
- There's a way to have the entire Wikipedia offline, and it's smaller than you'd expect - MakeUseOf - July 21st, 2026 [July 21st, 2026]
- Sanger Banned by Wikipedia: Diagnosing a Disease - Science and Culture Today - July 21st, 2026 [July 21st, 2026]
- How Wikipedia Turned a World Cup Controversy into an Antisemitic Conspiracy Theory - The Free Press - July 13th, 2026 [July 13th, 2026]
- PeaZip 11.2 Releases With Offline Wikipedia Support And Upgraded Drag-and-Drop - Open Source For You - July 13th, 2026 [July 13th, 2026]
- EduWiki Workshop: Combining PETScan and Generative AI for Smarter Wikipedia Editing - Wikimedia.org - July 13th, 2026 [July 13th, 2026]
- I co-founded Wikipedia, but an anonymous mob runs the show and now Im banned - Washington Examiner - July 11th, 2026 [July 11th, 2026]
- Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger says he was banned from editing articles on the site - Storyboard18 - July 11th, 2026 [July 11th, 2026]
- Whats new in The Wikipedia Library (April June 2026) - Wikimedia.org - July 11th, 2026 [July 11th, 2026]
- Hurry: Wikipedia pays up to R$ 2,500 for those who write about Minas Gerais, contest entries end on July 10, 2026, and even beginners can... - July 11th, 2026 [July 11th, 2026]
- Someone changed this World Cup referees Wikipedia page to say he was Jewish. Enraged soccer fans believed it. - The Forward - July 11th, 2026 [July 11th, 2026]
- Wikipedia Is Battling for the Soul of the Internet - The New York Times - July 6th, 2026 [July 6th, 2026]
- Taylor Swifts surname on Wikipedia changes swiftly after Kelce wedding mix-up - OregonLive.com - July 6th, 2026 [July 6th, 2026]
- Whats Going on With Wikipedia? - The Dispatch - July 6th, 2026 [July 6th, 2026]
- Wikipedia is battling for the soul of the internet - The Mercury News - July 6th, 2026 [July 6th, 2026]
- Wikipedia is under threat on every front. In response, the organization that supports the site, the Wikimedia Foundation, is increasing its lobbying... - July 6th, 2026 [July 6th, 2026]
- Wiki Spy lets you explore 43,815 cut-out Wikipedia objects - Boing Boing - July 1st, 2026 [July 1st, 2026]
- A Wikipedia Founder Is Barred From Editing Articles on the Site - The New York Times - July 1st, 2026 [July 1st, 2026]
- Wikipedia Just Banned One of Its Co-Foundersand It Wasn't for His Constant Criticism of the Site - inc.com - July 1st, 2026 [July 1st, 2026]
- Wikipedia ban on co-founder highlights disputes over alleged leftist, anti-Israel bias - The Times of Israel - July 1st, 2026 [July 1st, 2026]
- Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales says trust is key in the age of AI - Axios - July 1st, 2026 [July 1st, 2026]
- Ageless Galaxy x Wikipedia Celebrates 25 Years of Shared Knowledge Through Community - stupidDOPE - July 1st, 2026 [July 1st, 2026]
- Wikipedia x Ageless Galaxy Stitch 25 Years of Free Knowledge Into an Exclusive Jakarta Drop - Hypebeast - July 1st, 2026 [July 1st, 2026]
- Seven Years of Creating Financial Knowledge on Armenian Wikipedia - Wikimedia.org - July 1st, 2026 [July 1st, 2026]
- Wikipedia founder + Alabama-native Jimmy Wales shares advice for the next generation of innovators - The Bama Buzz - July 1st, 2026 [July 1st, 2026]
- The Kremlin Creates Wikipedia Clones in Foreign Languages to Teach Neural Networks to Spread Its Propaganda - - July 1st, 2026 [July 1st, 2026]
- Wikipedia Co-Founder Has Been Banned from Editing the Site - 80 Level - July 1st, 2026 [July 1st, 2026]
- Wikipedia's What Came First? game arrives on iPhone: Here's how to access it - Moneycontrol.com - June 16th, 2026 [June 16th, 2026]
- Wikipedia can be biased on disputed issues: Co-founder on bias against India, Hindus | 4 anonymous editors altered HAF's Wikipedia page | Inshorts -... - June 16th, 2026 [June 16th, 2026]
- Wikipedia Exposed: 12 cases that raise serious questions about Anti-Hindu bias and narrative manipulation - VSK Telangana - June 16th, 2026 [June 16th, 2026]
- Harry Souttar: Socceroos rock and newly appointed defence minister according to Wikipedia - LCANews - June 16th, 2026 [June 16th, 2026]
- Wikipedia just launched its daily historical facts game on iPhone: Which came first? - 9to5Mac - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- Wikipedia Has More Than 40 Million Entries But These 82 Are Weirder Than The Others - AOL.com - June 7th, 2026 [June 7th, 2026]
- Celebrating 25 Years of Wikipedia in Slovakia - Wikimedia.org - June 7th, 2026 [June 7th, 2026]
- Translating Baltics Naval History: Bringing the Royal Baltic Fleet to Spanish Wikipedia - Wikimedia.org - June 7th, 2026 [June 7th, 2026]
- I Chose to Preserve, Not Just Translate: Keeping Setswana Alive on Wikipedia - Wikimedia.org - June 7th, 2026 [June 7th, 2026]
- This retelling of Aztec history will lead you down some random Wikipedia pages - waterford-news.ie - June 7th, 2026 [June 7th, 2026]
- Hundreds of prolific Wikipedia editors are threatening to go on strike - The Verge - May 29th, 2026 [May 29th, 2026]
- Cross-Platform and Cross-Lingual Dynamics of Wikipedia Sharing and Contribution - The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence - May 29th, 2026 [May 29th, 2026]
- 2026 Wikipedia Edit-a-thon: Women Photojournalists - National Museum of Women in the Arts - May 29th, 2026 [May 29th, 2026]
- Hundreds of Wikipedia editors are threatening to go on strike and the reason is these engineers - The Times of India - May 29th, 2026 [May 29th, 2026]
- How Anonymous Wikipedia Editors Influence Global Narratives and AI Systems - Foundation for Defense of Democracies - May 29th, 2026 [May 29th, 2026]
- 21 Extremely Creepy Wikipedia Pages That Are For Adults Only - BuzzFeed - May 29th, 2026 [May 29th, 2026]
- Every Museum Has a Story: Shared Through Collaboration on Bangla Wikipedia - Wikimedia.org - May 29th, 2026 [May 29th, 2026]
- The Wikimedia Foundation, which operates Wikipedia, has fired its former CTO and disbanded its community technology team, drawing criticism for... - May 29th, 2026 [May 29th, 2026]
- Seeing Like an AI: How LLMs Apply (and Misapply) Wikipedia Neutrality Norms - The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence - May 29th, 2026 [May 29th, 2026]
- This Page Shared 69 Weird Animal Facts People Discovered While Falling Into A Wikipedia Rabbit Hole - AOL.com - May 29th, 2026 [May 29th, 2026]
- Records of an elementary school that is closing will be preserved on Wikipedia - Wikimedia.org - May 29th, 2026 [May 29th, 2026]
- This Wikipedia clone is entirely generated by AI. Users are turning it into a cesspool - Fast Company - May 16th, 2026 [May 16th, 2026]
- Wikipedia and Reddit Now Drive Over 25% of ChatGPT Citations in the U.S., New 5W Research Finds -- WSJ, NYT, and Bloomberg Do Not Appear in the Top 20... - May 16th, 2026 [May 16th, 2026]
- A Wikipedia Clone Built on AI Hallucinations Is Here to Hasten Along the Death of the Internet - Gizmodo - May 16th, 2026 [May 16th, 2026]
- Left-Wing Wikipedia Editors Fight To Keep Democrat Adam Hamawys Ties to Blind Sheikh Offline Even Though House Candidate Testified to Their Friendship... - May 16th, 2026 [May 16th, 2026]
- This bloody Wikipedia is 100% AI delusion and thats the point - Cybernews - May 16th, 2026 [May 16th, 2026]
- Halupedia explained: Why AI Wikipedia clone is raising red flags - The News International - May 16th, 2026 [May 16th, 2026]
- The Perfect Degenerate Time-Killer: Halupedia The Infinite Hallucinating Wikipedia - quasa.io - May 13th, 2026 [May 13th, 2026]
- 'A really bad idea': Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales on Australia's social media ban, trust and the truth - Crikey - May 1st, 2026 [May 1st, 2026]
- The Wikipedia Play: Overlooked Reputation Lever for Law Firms in the AI Era - Law.com - May 1st, 2026 [May 1st, 2026]
- Indonesia, Wikimedia reach deal to keep Wikipedia accessible amid regulatory concerns - Indonesia Business Post - May 1st, 2026 [May 1st, 2026]
- Capacity Building: Beyond Article Writing Organizing Wikipedia in Your Language with Categories and Other Curation Tools - Wikimedia.org - May 1st, 2026 [May 1st, 2026]
- Wikipedia has become a battlefield, and we are on the losing side - ynetnews - April 27th, 2026 [April 27th, 2026]
- How to Find the Best and Cheapest Airfares Using Google Flights and Wikipedia (Yes, Wikipedia!) - AFAR - April 27th, 2026 [April 27th, 2026]
- FAO expands free public access to agrifood knowledge through collaboration on Wikipedia - Food and Agriculture Organization - April 27th, 2026 [April 27th, 2026]
- Depth Of A Wikipedia Article: Michael Jackson Biopic Earns Negative Reviews, Here Are The Most Brutal - AOL.com - April 27th, 2026 [April 27th, 2026]
- Meta is logging employee keystrokes on Google LinkedIn and Wikipedia to feed its AI models - Startup Fortune - April 27th, 2026 [April 27th, 2026]
- Pat Kane: Wikipedia, encyclopaedias, and the dark art of 'wiki-laundering' - The National Scot - April 27th, 2026 [April 27th, 2026]
- 25 years of Wikipedia - ucanews.com - April 19th, 2026 [April 19th, 2026]
- In Belarusian Wikipedia, edits to political articles can no longer be hidden. Why did this happen, and what a - - April 19th, 2026 [April 19th, 2026]
- March @ WMGH: Documenting Women in Highlife and Growing Our Wikipedia Editing Community - Wikimedia.org - April 19th, 2026 [April 19th, 2026]