<strong>Gavin Wood Steps Down, 24 000 Tether ATMs In Brazil, Tesla Hodls Bitcoin In Q3</strong>

Gavin Wood Steps Down

Gavin Wood, Ethereum Co-Founder, steps down as CEO of Parity, the company behind Polkadot. Björn Wagner, a fellow co-founder, will replace Wood as the company's CEO. Wood will continue to retain the title of Chief Architect.

“The role of CEO has never been one which I have coveted (and this dates back long before Parity). I can act at being a CEO well enough for a short while, but it’s not where I’m going to find eternal happiness,” wrote Gavin Wood in Parity’s blog.   

Parity was initially started as EthCore in 2015 by five co-founders, including Wood. For Wood, this means fewer meetings and less time representing the company externally. He will remain the majority shareholder and retain the title of Chief Architect.

24 000 Tether ATMs In Brazil 

Tether, the issuer of USDT, has partnered with Smartpay, a cryptosystems provider, to make USDT available in 24,000 ATMs in Brazil. According to an Instituto Locomotiva study, Brazil has over 34 million unbanked adults. 

“The difficulties and limitations imposed by inflation and a less-than-inclusive financial system have excluded many of Brazil’s citizens from being able to participate in the country's growing economy,” said Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Tether.

Ardoino believes that adding tether tokens to ATMs across Brazil provides more people access to the financial system. This will bring major changes to the payments industry and the entire Brazilian financial ecosystem.

Tesla Hodls Bitcoin In Q3

Tesla, Inc, the electric vehicle manufacturer, released its Q3 earnings report last week, revealing that the company is still holding on to its bitcoin position. The company’s balance sheet revealed that it still holds $218 million worth of digital assets.

Last quarter, Tesla’s earnings showed that the company had offloaded nearly $1 billion's worth of bitcoins. The company initially acquired a $1.5 billion position in digital assets. It sold 75% of its holdings, adding $936 million in cash to its books, to cope with the pressure from the COVID-19 lockdowns in China.  

Based on its current position size and value in digital assets, Tesla holds approximately 9 720 bitcoins. The company also accepts Dogecoin for its range of merchandise available for purchase.