Huobi Mining Pool Is Forced To Rotate 100k Bitcoin Due To China’s Ban On Crypto-Assets

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September 29, 2021

The non-fungible token (NFT) sub-sector is seeing remarkable adoption as more investors look to tap into the rapidly changing crypto economy. Per data from the industry website NonFungible.com, the NFT scene has grown more than 3,000% from Q2, 2020 with over $754 million total value locked (TVL). While standalone projects like CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) have posted eye-popping figures in sales. In this article, we uncover some of the best NFT crypto to buy as we approach the tenth month of 2021.

1. Axie Infinity (AXS)

Starting off our list of best NFT crypto to buy is a Pokemon-inspired gaming platform. Developed as far back as 2018 by Sky Mavis, Axie Infinity is a game that comes with a twist. Using blockchain technology, Axie Infinity enables players to become partial owners of the platform. They are able to collect, breed, raise, battle and trade tokenized characters called Axies.
Each Axie is an NFT and you need at least 3 of those to meet the protocol’s requirements. Axies have become a highly coveted crypto-asset given that each Axie is unique from the others as every one of them boasts different strengths and weaknesses. Players can choose from 500 different pairs and battle one another in a 3-man (Axie) squad with the winning team rewarded with experience points (XPs).

9/ This year NFTs and gaming were the next wave of blockchain apps to break out: NBA Top Shot, CryptoPunks, Axie Infinity, etc. You can see this reflected in the rapid growth of gross sales at OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace: pic.twitter.com/Phy7wKeRyl
— Chris Dixon (@cdixon) August 17, 2021

These XPs can be used to upgrade a player’s Axie and later sold on the Axie Marketplace for a lot more in value. The blockchain protocol hosts two digital tokens, namely AXS and SLP. AXS has been on a tear in the last three months growing a whopping over 500% despite the crypto market crash idling the nascent industry’s growth.

Frontrunner @AxieInfinity just hit $2B in all-time NFT sales 🔥🔥

What’s next for Axie?

Our take 👇https://t.co/BGIXs6sjye
— DappRadar (@DappRadar) September 16, 2021

AXS has continued its remarkable run of form and has so far snatched over $10 billion in sales alongside other NFT crypto weights like OpenSea and CryptoPunks. At press time, AXS is trading at $66.33, up 0.47% in the last 24 hours. Weekly gains stand at 19.75% and show that AXS is one of the best crypto to buy as the NFT sub-sector picks up speed.

2. Theta (THETA)

Focused on the video streaming industry, the Theta blockchain is another best crypto to buy for the coming month. Theta set out to solve the challenges of video streaming alongside content distribution as the conventional channels we currently have cannot support the global need for video streaming.

It does this by incentivizing users on its network to share their bandwidth and computing resources on a peer-to-peer (P2P). Founded in 2018, the Theta blockchain has drawn a lot of applaud from streaming experts with video streaming platform YouTube co-founder Steve Chen and Twitch’s Justin Kan serving as advisers to the blockchain.

Alongside this, tech heavyweights and crypto exchanges like Google, Samsung, Binance, Gumi, and several others serve as enterprise validators for the Theta nodes. Although it is focused on video streaming, the Theta blockchain also supports NFTs through its Elite Nodes upgrade launched in the middle of the year.

This has seen Singapore-based One Championship partner with Theta to launch its first-ever NFT marketplace to celebrate its fighters. Fans with these NFTs will be able to enjoy exclusive experiences like backstage passes, ringside seats, and several others.
At the moment, THETA is trailing the crypto market in the red zone and trades at $4.83, down 5.54% on the daily chart. Despite this, is one of the top NFT cryptos on the NFT rankings.

3. Decentraland (Mana)

Decentraland is one of the best NFT crypto to buy in the space. One of a slew of virtual reality platforms enabling a MetaVerse, Decentraland enables users to create, experience, and monetize content and applications.

Here, users can buy virtual plots of virtual lands where they can build on them and later sell for large sums.

Since launching in 2017, Decentraland has gone on to be a success becoming the prime destination for virtual real estate as well as the venue for interactive games and 3D scenes. This saw it snatch an NFT deal with soft drink giant Coca Cola.

Decentraland has also become a major destination for creative experiences with 23-year-old digital artist Hiroto Kai selling virtual clothes for real money on the platform.

Hiroto Kai designs virtual clothes which sell for real money. The 23-year-old digital artist designs Japanese-inspired virtual kimonos, which he then sells on a virtual world called Decentraland https://t.co/QdOJ8lJqb0 pic.twitter.com/gcdjhf7T1X
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 12, 2021

Also, a recent partnership with layer-two scaling solution Polygon has seen Decentraland Games receive major funding as the platform gears up to release ICE Poker in the coming weeks.
However, Mana has been hard-hit by the bears holding the crypto market and currently trades at $0.6426, down 6.09% on the daily chart.

4. Tezos (XTZ)

The Tezos blockchain has been a revelation these past few weeks given a number of remarkable events.

Built by the Breitmann couple, Tezos is one of the best crypto to buy for long-term returns given its growing adoption. From the ground up, Tezos is built to be sustainable, scalable, and future-proof. It sports a delegated proof-of-stake (dPoS) consensus algorithm which makes it faster than Bitcoin and Ethereum networks. Similar to Ethereum, Tezos offers decentralized applications (dApps) support on its blockchain and engenders the massive growth of decentralized finance (DeFi) and NFTs.

Tezos hit a major media goldmine after singer and songwriter Doja Cat launched her NFT collections on Oneof – a platform building on the Tezos protocol. Her reasons stemmed from the green effect of NFT minting on the Tezos platform.

🙌🏾

"Singer-songwriter Doja Cat is taking the NFT world by storm and outselling major investor Jay Z as her single edition NFT sells for $188k – becoming the most oversized auctioned item in Tezos history."https://t.co/6UVIEqqd3X
— POCIT (@pocintech) September 23, 2021

In a remarkable turn of events, Doja Cat’s NFT collection outsold Jay-Z’s investment in NFTs as she raked in over $188,000 from her NFT sales.
Tezos’ XTZ currently ranks 30th on the most valuable crypto chart and trades at $5.89, down 6.10% on the daily chart.

5. Chiliz (CHZ)

The Chiliz blockchain is another best crypto to buy gaining its real-world use case.

Focused on sports and entertainment industries, Chiliz enables fans to connect to their favourite club and sports through Fan Tokens. These tokens are issued through its Fan Reward and Engagement platform Socios.com. Holders of the Fan Tokens get to participate in exclusive club surveys, vote and influence decisions in the running of the club.

Also, they enjoy exclusive experiences and some fans have used their tokens to choose club slogans for the season. The Chiliz blockchain is one of the biggest NFT protocols and recently penned a partnership deal with NBA’s Charlotte Hornets.

Buzzing! 🐝

Welcome @hornets 👏 https://t.co/ksxYXB3VSx
— Chiliz ($CHZ) – Powering Socios.com ⚡ (@Chiliz) September 27, 2021

Meanwhile, the first football club to issue Fan Tokens in partnership with the Chiliz blockchain, Galatasaray, is now listed on top crypto exchanges, including FTX, Crypto.com and Huobi Global.
The CHZ has not yet reacted to the news update and currently trades at $0.24966, down 4.77% on the daily chart. These best crypto NFT to buy are currently going for a bargain and will be worth much more in the weeks to come.

Miner Returns The Sum Of 7,626 Ethereum which Sent in a wrong payment By Bitfinex

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September 29, 2021

Ethereum Price Prediction: ETH/USD Market Maintains Fluctuating Situation at $3,000

With all the exploits and hacks in the crypto industry, it is shocking that some players have remained sincere.

Many exchanges have already lost considerable sums to criminals, and while some get refunded, others don’t. For example, in the case of Bitfinex, a user nearly lost 7,676 ETH in a wrong payment transaction.

The decentralized exchange mistakenly sent a $23 million payment in gas to the miner when it was supposed to be $100,000 in Tether.

When the DeversiFi team discovered what had happened, they quickly assured users that their funds were safe. According to them, it was an erroneous transaction and nothing else.

Luckily, the company owned up to the mistake and agreed to bear the brunt of the loss if nothing else could be done to recover the money. However, the miner is one of the sincere ones. Therefore, block 13307440 owner agreed to return 7626 of the ETH, which the hardware address sent as payment.

Miner Refunds The Giant Sum Of 7,626 Ethereum Mistakenly Sent By Bitfinex — While the company says thanks to the miner, the community is not satisfied. The discrepancy in the returning figure shows that the miner is holding 50 ETH worth $150,000.
**Users Blame High Ethereum Gas Fees**
Users now blame the increasing Ethereum fees as the cause of the mistake. In a recent report by BitinfoCharts, Ethereum’s price on transactions is currently at $45. So instead of falling as expected, the costs are increasing.
Ethereum trades in an upward trend | Source: ETH-USD on TradingView.com
Moreover, the swapping fee on Uniswap stands at $74, and the fees for smart contract activities are even higher. Thankfully, the burn rate remains at 5 ETH/minute.

Ethereum Miner Returns USD 22M in Mistaken Fees, Keeps ETH 50

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September 28, 2021

The miner of the block which carried a massive amount of ethereum (ETH) paid incorrectly as a transaction fee – has decided to return (nearly) all the funds.

Etherscan shows the address, which currently holds some ETH 20, has sent to Bitfinex ETH 7,385 in one transaction, as well as ETH 241 in two other transactions, making it ETH 7,626 in total. Per the current price of ETH, this is USD 22m.

As reported yesterday, crypto exchange Bitfinex paid USD 23.5m (ETH 7,676.61) in transaction fees for a transfer of close to USD 100,000 in tether (USDT) via the Ethereum network.

This would suggest that the miner decided to keep ETH 50 (USD 145,056).

Non-custodial exchange DeversiFi, whose wallet was also involved in the transaction, already confirmed the information, adding that customer funds on DeversiFi were not at risk.

Early today they tweeted to thank the miner, stating that there will be a postmortem report available soon as well.

The blockchain is immutable.

But the revolution we are part of is defined by our values as humans.⁰⁰

Thank you to the miner of block 13307440 who we can confirm is returning 7626 ETH that were incorrectly paid today as a tx fee.

A post mortem will follow tomorrow. https://t.co/FqkEZ9DK8P
— DeversiFi 🥷 (@deversifi) September 27, 2021

Bitfinex Chief Technology Officer, Paolo Ardoino, also chimed in, stating: “Kudos to the miner for being proactive and fair. And thanks to Binance for helping in establishing the contact. Funds have been sent back to the source address.”

Ardoino previously assured the community that “No user will be affected whatsoever.”

<3
I'm really excited to see crypto community getting together to solve problems.
We're decentralized but we're still people and peers. https://t.co/hNhTpIGboK
— Paolo Ardoino (@paoloardoino) September 28, 2021

The crypto community is discussing this miner returning the funds and if they’d done the same – under which circumstances, and how much would they decide to keep if any.

Morgan Stanley Bags Over 58,000 GBTC Shares As Bitcoin Price Shakes

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September 28, 2021

Morgan Stanley Bags Over 58,000 GBTC Shares As Bitcoin Price Shakes

As Bitcoin and other cryptos gain more credence, many top shots in diverse industries embrace the crypto community.

Many companies, including Tesla, had accepted BTC payments once, and even a country like El Salvador is now using it as a legal tender. So, it’s not surprising that Morgan Stanly, an extensive American Investment bank, will buy shares of a Bitcoin Trust.

In a recent development, the bank acquired 58,000 shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. It had previously owned some shares of the Trust, including the 28,289 shares bought earlier in 2021. This latest addition has increased the number of shares that the bank holds across many portfolios.

The investment bank disclosed this latest purchase through an SEC filing showing that it bought the shares on July 31, 2021. At the time of writing, the price of Grayscale BTC Trust stands at $32.55. The bank “Insight Fund” holds 928,051 shares which depicts a $31.7 million worth of shares for one of Morgan Stanley’s portfolios.

The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust is currently trading in a downward momentum | Source: GBTCUSD on TradingView.com

The bank’s announcement in April 2021 has added Bitcoin assets to at least 12 of its funds through the Grayscale BTC Trust plus Cash-settled Futures. The accumulated figure shows 6.5 million GBTC shares.

Companies Holding Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust

Apart from Morgan Stanley, another investment bank pushing into BTC exposure is JP Morgan. It is the second-largest GBTC shareholder, while Cathie Woods Ark Investment remains in the first position to date.

The firm disclosed in July that it had added over 450,000 GBTC shares in two purchases. Many others with GBTC shares include Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and BlackRock.

TIME NFTs, QuadrigaCX on Netflix, Suex Fights Back + More News

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September 25, 2021

TIME NFTs, QuadrigaCX on Netflix, Suex Fights Back

NFTs news

The TIME Magazine non-fungible token (NFT) collection, dubbed “TIMEPieces” and offering unlimited access to the website through 2023, has sold all of its 4,676 pieces within minutes of the launch, sending Ethereum (ETH) transaction fees higher. Meanwhile, Anish Agnihotri, a researcher at Paradigm, claims that bots may have been at play.

Entertainment news

Online streaming platform Netflix has announced a documentary about Gerald Cotten, who is said to have passed away, and who was the CEO of the now-defunct Canadian cryptocurrency exchange, QuadrigaCX, which cost the exchange their private keys to more than USD 250m worth of crypto. The documentary is titled “Trust No One: The Hunt For The Crypto King” and will premiere in 2022.

Legal news

Egor Petukhovsky, the founder of the over-the-counter (OTC) crypto desk Suex, said he is willing to go to court to protect his name after the US Treasury’s Office of Assets Control (OFAC) designated Suex as a money-laundering vehicle. He wrote that neither he nor any business affiliated with him have ever been involved with any illegal activities, and that he intends to “firmly defend [his] name in litigation.”

The Kentucky Division of Securities has entered an emergency order to cease and desist against the Celsius Network (CEL) over its “Earn Interest Accounts,” according to a filing. The regulator is alleging Celsius’ interest-bearing accounts violate state securities law, and they fail to disclose to customers what occurs with their deposits, while the customers are not protected under state securities protections.

Regulation news

The Canadian Securities Administrators have released a new guidance for crypto exchanges on the use of social media as well as advertising and marketing. The guidance covers the types of language used by exchanges, cautions against certain formats, and takes particular aim at so-called “gambling style promotions.”

Bank of England Deputy Governor Sam Woods said he would front-run global rules if necessary to avoid Britain’s banks building up big exposures to cryptoassets that were not backed by sufficient capital, according to Reuters. He has added that there is “an investor appetite” in institutional as well as retail investors, but that they “are going to need to make sure the capital treatment is pretty robust.”

Adoption news

Financial platform Gluwa and consumer credit app Aella have announced that they have seen over a million transactions brought onto the blockchain since their integration in June. They have added that these figures also show a growing prevalence of stablecoin usage in Africa.

Mining news

Crypto mining firm HIVE Blockchain Technologies has revealed that their income from digital currency mining was USD 66.7m in the fiscal year 2020, an increase of 174% from the prior year. They said they achieved record results and continued to increase their mining capacities during the year.

DeFi Protocol Loses $12 Million In Recent Hack

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September 25, 2021

DeFi Protocol pNetwork Loses $12 Million In Tokenized Bitcoin

One of the threats that the crypto community face is the attack of cybercriminals. Many exchanges, projects, and apps often face one vulnerability exploitation or the other.

Recently, BSC-based cross-chain pNetwork lost at least $12.7 million of tokenized Bitcoin to attackers. They have joined the many networks targeted and exploited by hackers in the crypto industry.

pNetwork promotes digital assets movement throughout different blockchains. Just like several other wrapped token protocols, they allow users to mint pBTC through deposits of BTC in a smart contract. This process allows the users to migrate their BTC value away from the Bitcoin platform and place it on EVM-compatible chains.

The information about the hack went live through a Twitter announcement by pNetwork, lamenting the loss of up to 277 pBTC. From the tweets, we learned that the hackers made away with most of pNetwork’s collateral.

According to the pNetwork team, the hackers exploited a bug within the network’s codebase. The tweet reads:

“They attacked pBTC on BSC, siphoning up to 277 bitcoin which is serving as collateral. But other bridges weren’t touched, though, since the other funds are intact.”

pNetwork Team To Fix The Problems

According to the pNetwork team, they are already fixing the problem. They also offered $11.5% of the siphoned funds to the hackers if they could give back the funds stolen.

They went ahead to address the black-hat hacker, “We are ready to offer a reward of $1,500,000 if they can give back the stolen funds.”

Right now, there are no updates from the pNetwotk team concerning the exploit. They are yet to talk about plans to pay back the users who were affected by the theft.

Effects Of The Hack

After the exploit, the pNetwork’s PNT governance token has fallen down within the last 24 hours.

pNetwork has lost almost 8% of its price in last 24 hours following the hack | Source: PNTUSD on TradingView

pNetwork is not the only cross-chain platform that has fallen victim to these exploits. For instance, THORChain, a decentralized exchange, was also the victim of hackers last July. Following the first hack, the platform suffered another hack that was worth $8 million.

However, THORChain was fortunate to be hacked by a “white hat” hacker, who promised to give back the stolen funds for a reward of 10% out of the stolen funds.

Binance Smart Chain has experienced so many unexpected exploits this year. The list of the BSC theft victims includes pNetwork, Belt Finance, BurgerSwap, Spartan Protocol, SafeMoon, Meerkat Finance, Uranium Finance, Bogged Finance, bEarn, Cream Finance, and PancakeBunny.

Moreover, there was another record-breaking Poly Network hack early in August. This hack resulted in a loss of $253M from BSC and above $600M in total losses. Luckily, the hacker gave back almost all the stolen funds.

NFT Project Donate To Help Afghan Women for Education Accessing

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September 25, 2021

NFT Project To Donate 100% Of Income To Help Afghan Women Access Education

Bookblocks.io, an NFT company has partnered with a New York-based company, Women for Afghan Women to help women in Afghanistan have access to education.

Under the new Taliban-run government, women in Afghanistan have had their rights to education restricted by the fundamentalist militants. Since this development, Afghan women have taken to the streets to protest. Over a dozen women protested outside the premises of what used to be the Afghan Women’s Affairs Ministry – until the Taliban turned it into the department for the “propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice.”

Bookblocks.io NFT

Bookblocks.io announced that it would be releasing a non-fungible token on October 5, and the proceeds of its sales would be given to Women for Afghan Women (WAW). Women for Afghan Women is a grassroots civil society organization dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights of disenfranchised Afghan women and girls in Afghanistan and New York.

According to the company, the inspiration for the NFT was Louisa May Alcott, who was a pioneer for women’s rights. “Not only did her many famous writings seek to lift women in society, but she was an ardent feminist, abolitionist, and supporter of women’s suffrage. As such, she seemed a perfect inspiration for our charity focus this month, which is dedicated to helping the woman and girls of Afghanistan find equality in all aspects of life.”

The NFT is a portrait of Louisa May Alcott with two different butterfly wings. It signifies the hopeful emergence of Afghan women and girls from the restrictions that impede their freedoms. The background colors of each NFT are also different, signifying the diversity of backgrounds that make up the women and girls that Women for Afghan Women serve. There are also four different versions of this illustration to represent the 40% of Afghan children who suffer from malnutrition.

The company says it will mint 2200 copies of this NFT to represent the reported 2.2 million girls currently excluded from school in Afghanistan. 100% of the money raised from the sale of the NFTs will go towards Women for Afghan Women, with a 5% residual for each subsequent sale. The price starts at 0.025 Ether (ETH).

Other NFT And Crypto Donations To Afghanistan

There are several ongoing projects in the digital assets space that are focused on charity work towards Afghanistan. About a month ago, Jack Butcher, the founder of Visualize Value, launched a series of NFT “care packages,” that cover one Afghan family’s emergency needs for one month. This care package is still accepting donations via The Giving Block.

Other organizations are also accepting crypto donations through The Giving Block to provide humanitarian aid in Afghanistan. They include: Save the Children. International Medical Corps, Direct Relief, and Code To Inspire.

Blacklisted Suex Addresses Received Over $900 Million in Crypto, Report Reveals

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September 24, 2021

Blacklisted Suex Addresses Received Over $900 Million in Crypto, Report Reveals

Cryptocurrency addresses allegedly used by Russian exchange Suex, recently placed under U.S. sanctions, have received more than $934 million in crypto assets, blockchain analysis suggests. According to the Treasury Department, over 40% of the platform’s transactions involved criminal actors. A Suex co-founder has denied any illegal activity.

Sanctioned Crypto Broker Suex Processed $370 Million of Illicit Crypto Funds, Report

Taking steps to counter ransomware attacks, the U.S. Department of the Treasury set its sights on digital asset exchanges this week. As part of the measures, the Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on Suex, a Russia-based over-the-counter crypto broker, which has been accused of facilitating ransomware payments and money laundering.

On Tuesday, OFAC issued an updated advisory on the risks associated with ransomware and added Suex OTC s.r.o. to its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List. The office also published a number of BTC, ETH and USDT addresses controlled by the entity, which is incorporated in the Czech Republic but operates out of physical offices in major Russian cities Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

According to a report by Elliptic, the 25 blacklisted addresses have received over $934 million worth of crypto assets. Based on OFAC’s claim that 40% of the trading on Suex involved illicit funds, the blockchain analytics company estimates that the total of crypto transactions linked to illegal activities amounts to over $370 million in fiat equivalent.

Elliptic notes that with the action against the Russian exchange, the number of cases in which OFAC has imposed sanctions on activities involving cryptocurrencies has reached seven. Furthermore, the office’s list of crypto addresses linked to threat actors has exceeded 120 entries.

Following the decision of the U.S. financial intelligence and enforcement agency, American companies and private individuals should not engage in crypto transactions with the sanctioned Russian broker. Restrictions apply to U.S. banks as well, which must avoid processing fiat currency transactions on behalf of Suex and clearing transfers for banks working with the exchange, Elliptic added, emphasizing:

The impact could be a chilling one — effectively cutting off Suex from any downstream access to the U.S. dollar clearing system.

Suex Co-Founder Rejects Allegations of Illegal Activities

There has been no official reaction to the sanctions from Suex yet, but a Russian entrepreneur and executive, Vasily Zhabykin, has confirmed in a phone conversation with the New York Times that he is one of its founders. Suex, he explained, was established to develop software for the financial industry. Zhabykin denied any illegal activity and suggested his company might have been targeted by mistake. The Treasury Department has provided few details about the entity, except for two addresses in Moscow and Prague, respectively, and the exchange’s website, Suex.io.

Besides Vasily Zhabykin, reportedly involved in the company are Egor Petukhovsky, Ildar Zakirov, Maxim Subbotin, Maxim Kurbangaleev, and the Czech venture capitalist Tibor Bokor, Forklog reported. Speaking to the crypto news outlet, Kurbangaleev denied direct involvement, admitting only that he and his business partners considered a partnership with the Czech-registered entity back in 2019. Petukhovsky, a Russian national, has been identified as the biggest shareholder in Suex OTC s.r.o., while Zhabykin and Bokor are believed to be its executives.

An investigation by the blockchain Intelligence firm TRM Labs reveals that “Suex initially operated under the corporate ownership of an Estonian company – Izibits OU, which still holds an Estonian virtual asset service provider license on its behalf.” Izibits, which is listed as Suex’s corporate owner on its Russian-language website, is also the operator of Chatex, a Telegram bot offering crypto exchange services. The Suex.io domain is registered by the St. Vincent-based Hightrade Finance Ltd. which is the legal entity Chatex users are required to contract under in its Terms of Service agreement.

Bitcoin Bearish Signals Go Off Despite Recovery Above $44k, Dead Cat’s Bounce?

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September 24, 2021