Hey there, PoI readers! 💫

It's your favorite ice cream-inspired newsletter writer, Mochi, back with another scoop of the hottest tech and web3 news! Today's menu features a Chinese AI sensation causing market mayhem, a Breaking Bad star getting cooked by crypto scammers, some spicy fake token drama, and Poland's surprising Bitcoin ATM power move! So grab your favorite snack and let's dive into this wild world of digital chaos!

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INTEL BRIEF

🟧 DeepSeek's AI app skyrocketed to #1 on Apple's App Store but had to pump the brakes on new sign-ups due to alleged cyber shenanigans, all while causing quite the stir in the tech world.

🟧 Breaking Bad star Dean Norris became an unwitting cryptocurrency mascot when hackers hijacked his X account to promote a memecoin scam that briefly reached an $8.4M market cap.

🟧 Amid DeepSeek's AI app success, opportunistic scammers launched fake tokens that hit a whopping $48M market cap, despite the company's explicit denial of any crypto involvement..

🟧 Poland's crypto scene is heating up as it surpasses El Salvador to become the world's fifth-largest Bitcoin ATM hub, installing 219 active machines while challenging traditional adoption metrics.

Chinese AI App DeepSeek Sends Nvidia Into $600B Market Meltdown

DeepSeek, our new AI whiz kid on the block, just pulled off what I like to call the "Silicon Valley Shuffle" – hitting #1 on Apple's App Store only to slam on the emergency brakes due to what's believed to be "large-scale malicious attacks" on their services.

This Chinese startup isn't just making waves – it's causing tsunamis in the tech world! Their flagship R1 reasoning model is reportedly giving OpenAI's fancy algorithms a run for their money, and they're doing it with fewer GPUs than you'd find in a pro gamer's basement. Even OpenAI's big boss Sam Altman had to tip his hat, calling it "an impressive model." (When your competition starts sweating, you know you're doing something right!

Nvidia‘s stock took a nosedive that would make Olympic divers jealous – we're talking about a 17% drop, slashing nearly $600 billion from their market cap! That's officially the biggest single-day drop in U.S. history.

Also, DeepSeek just dropped their new Janus-Pro model, which they claim can outperform both Stable Diffusion and DALL-E 3.

And all this while dealing with registration restrictions that have more plot twists than a mystery novel – first limiting sign-ups to Chinese phone numbers, then opening up to Google and Apple ID users, while playing a game of "try again later" with their web registration.

DeepSeek's AI app hit #1 on App Store but had to restrict new sign-ups due to alleged security issues

Nvidia's stock plummeted 17% ($600B market cap loss) following DeepSeek's claims of more efficient AI model development

New Janus-Pro model released, supposedly outperforming major competitors while using fewer resources

Hackers Turn Breaking Bad Star Into An $8M Crypto Scam Machine

DEA Agent Hank Schrader from Breaking Bad? Well, actor Dean Norris just got caught in a scheme that would make even Heisenberg raise an eyebrow! His X account was hacked and used to promote a memecoin.

The hackers went full Salamanca-level crazy, cooking up a scheme that included what's believed to be doctored photos of Norris holding promotional material and a suspicious video declaring "it's real." (Spoiler alert: It wasn't!) The coin briefly hit a market cap of $8.43 million before crashing harder than Tuco's empire – we're talking a 96% nosedive to under $60,000. Jesus, Marie, these aren't minerals, they're losses!

In true Hank style, Norris didn't take this lying down. He posted a video calling out the "complete, fake scam" and had some choice words for Redditors who blamed him (let's just say they weren't invited to his next barbecue! 🍖). Plot twist: This isn't even the first time our favorite DEA agent's account has been compromised for crypto shenanigans.

The cherry on top? Norris revealed he rarely uses X and didn't even know about the hack until friends started texting him. I guess when you're busy solving crimes on TV, you don't have time to check your social media security settings!

Dean Norris's X account was hacked to promote a memecoin using his image

The DEAN token briefly reached $8.43M in market cap before crashing 96%

This is the second time Norris's account has been compromised for crypto schemes

Fake DeepSeek Tokens Trick Thousands As Scammers Pocket $48M

The main impostor token skyrocketed to a mind-boggling $48 million market cap with $150 million in trading volume. But hold your horses, because this plot has more layers than a mille-feuille! A second copycat token jumped into the fray, hitting a $13 million market cap before sliding down to $8.6 million.

Meanwhile, DeepSeek is over here waving their hands saying "NOT US!".

These token shenanigans are believed to have helped push Bitcoin below $100K for the first time since Trump took office (speaking of Trump, his own memecoin launch sparked its own carnival of copycats – because why have one circus when you can have two?)

The original fake DeepSeek token still has over 22,000 hopeful holders clutching their digital pearls, even though it was created on January 4th – way before DeepSeek became the hottest thing since sliced bread in the App Store.

Fake DeepSeek token reached $48M market cap with $150M in trading volume

Second copycat token hit $13M before dropping to $8.6M

Over 22,000 wallets still holding the main fake token despite DeepSeek's warnings

Poland Quietly Becomes World's Fifth Largest Bitcoin ATM Hub

Poland just pulled off an impressive crypto chess move by overtaking El Salvador in the global Bitcoin ATM rankings! They've been on an installation spree that would make Marie Kondo proud, adding 24 new crypto ATMs since October 2024, with 10 fresh installations just on January 27th.

But here's where it gets interesting – while Poland's climbing the ranks, El Salvador's been chilling with their 215 machines since 2022. But don't feel too bad for them! According to Juan Carlos Reyes, El Salvador's digital assets big cheese, they're not sweating it. He's all "Bitcoin ATMs are so 2022" (okay, he said it more professionally, but you get the drift!).

Speaking of the global picture, we've got some seriously impressive numbers: 38,100 crypto ATMs are doing their thing across 65 countries, managed by 356 operators. The US and Canada are still the cool kids at the crypto table with thousands of machines each, while Australia just joined the exclusive 1,000+ Bitcoin ATM club in April 2024.

Reyes dropped some wisdom bombs about measuring Bitcoin adoption, saying counting ATMs is like "measuring phone access by counting landlines in the age of smartphones."

Poland now has 219 active Bitcoin ATMs, making it the fifth-largest crypto ATM hub globally

Global crypto ATM count hits 38,100 across 65 countries

El Salvador maintains that digital payments are reducing the need for physical ATMs

And that's all the scoops for today, my wonderful PoI family! 🍨 From DeepSeek's AI rollercoaster to Dean Norris's crypto drama, we've covered quite the spread of digital delights and frights. Remember to stay vigilant in the crypto world - if something seems too good to be true, it probably needs more time in the freezer!

P.S. Don't forget to share your thoughts, questions, and favorite crypto puns with us. very voice matters in the PoI community! 📣❤️ Share the newsletter

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