In today’s edition of Bitmama’s weekly crypto news roundup, we cover interesting developments in the cryptocurrency industry. Top picks – Elon Musk pulls out of the deal to purchase the  Twitter platform. British Army’s Twitter and YouTube accounts hacked to promote cryptocurrency scams, Central African Republic launches project for its own cryptocurrency and crypto-hub.

Let’s get started.

Elon Musk pulls out of the deal to purchase Twitter platform

Tesla CEO and Dogecoin superfan Elon Musk has pulled out of his $44 billion deal with Twitter citing concerns over “false and misleading representations.” One of the key concerns was a lack of data available to Musk to analyze the severity of the bot problem on the platform.

Musk had previously stated that he would not purchase Twitter if the number of bots exceeded its reported rate of 5%. Musk has also remarked that the number of bots was likely between 20 – 90% of Twitter users. With the deal falling through, the facts still remain unclear unless an independent audit is ordered by Twitter to quell investor fears potentially.

Shares in Twitter fell 5% in after-market trading hours following the news. The price dropped to $36, a 33% reduction  on the price Musk had offered for the company. Dogecoin less than 1% within an hour of the information becoming public as dreams of Twitter accepting Doge died. At least for now, Dogecoin investors appear less worried than Twitter shareholders.

Amazingly, Musk has been eerily quiet on Twitter regarding the move. His only comments today were to discuss drones and Biden’s teleprompter. Usually, he is highly vocal on the platform, using it to release micro press releases about his business dealings and personal opinions. However, on the day that he chooses not to purchase Twitter, he is also without words on the matter.

British Army’s Twitter and YouTube accounts hacked to promote cryptocurrency scams

A hacker compromised the social media accounts of the British Army to push people toward cryptocurrency scams.

The army’s Twitter and YouTube profiles were taken over by the hacker, or hackers — the identity of whom is not yet known. The Twitter account’s name was changed to “pssssd,” and its profile and banner pictures were changed to resemble a nonfungible token collection called “The Possessed.”

The Possessed’s official Twitter account warned users of a “new verified SCAM account” impersonating the collection of NFTs — tokens representing ownership of pieces of online content.

Earlier Sunday, the account was renamed “Bapesclan” — the name of another NFT collection — while its banner image was changed to a cartoon ape with clown makeup on. The hacker also began retweeting posts promoting NFT giveaway schemes.

Bapesclan didn’t immediately respond to a CNBC direct message on Twitter. The name of the U.K. military’s YouTube account, meanwhile, was changed to “Ark Invest,” the investment firm of Tesla and bitcoin bull Cathie Wood.

The hacker deleted all the account’s videos and replaced them with livestreams of old clips taken from a conversation with Elon Musk and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey on bitcoin that was hosted by Ark in July 2021. Text was added to the livestreams directing users to crypto scam websites.

Both accounts have since been returned to their rightful owner.

“The breach of the Army’s Twitter and YouTube accounts that occurred earlier today has been resolved and an investigation is underway,” Britain’s Ministry of Defense tweeted Monday.

Central African Republic launches project for its own cryptocurrency and crypto-hub

The Central African Republic, (CAR) officially launched on Sunday the construction of its own cryptocurrency, the Sango, and the future “first African crypto-hub” with “zero taxation”.

Two months after making his country the second in the world after El Salvador to adopt bitcoin as an official currency –alongside the CFA franc– and legalize the use of crypto-currencies, President Faustin Archange Touadéra made the announcement at an “online event” to launch a new digital system powered by Blockchain technology.

No concrete details were given on the modalities and timetable for the creation of this “Sango Coin” and a “Crypto Island”, a platform allowing this virtual currency to become the catalyst for the tokenization of the vast natural resources of the Central African Republic.

This “Sango initiative”, named after the official language alongside French, comes in the midst of the global cryptocurrency crisis, where the price of bitcoin is in free fall and many crypto platforms are facing bankruptcy.

Regretting that Africa, “where 57% of the population is unbanked,” suffers from a glaring lack of infrastructure making financial services almost inaccessible to many inhabitants, Touadéra asserted to have found the solution: “the smartphone,” to trade and invest in cryptocurrencies.

The  president said that the smartphone is the alternative to traditional banking, cash and financial bureaucracy. The Central African Republic is sitting on a mountain of untapped wealth, including gold, diamonds, rare metals, and Sango Coin will have direct access to our resources for the world to attract investors and jump-start the engines of the economy.

At the end of April, the adoption of bitcoin as a reference currency had caused perplexity and disapproval from an international community already blaming the power of Mr. Touadéra for having delivered his country to Russia and to the “mercenaries” of the sulphurous Wagner, accused of “looting” its resources in exchange for military support against the rebels.