Daily Crypto News ◱ ◱ (@cardanolabs) • Hey

Follow for daily crypto news. Phi

Stats

Following: 376
Followers: 663

Publications

ZkSync Teases V24 Upgrade, Hints at Airdrop By End of June 🔍 In an X post on Friday, Ethereum layer-2 network ZkSync announced that the protocol’s v24 upgrade would come sometime this summer.
Futures Exchange CME Plans To Launch Spot Bitcoin Trading ⚡️ According to a Financial Times report, the world’s largest futures exchange ‘CME Group’ is planning to launch spot bitcoin trading for its clients.
Good morning
Good morning
Coinbase Recovers After System-Wide Outage, But User Withdrawals Remain Offline ‼️ Crypto exchange Coinbase suffered a major outage earlier today. The outage lasted three hours at 4:19 am UTC and eventually managed to fully recover by 7:34 am UTC. While the exact reason behind the outage remains unknown, Coinbase said it will continue investigating the issue.
Good morning
Good evening
🔔 MARKET MOVING NEWS! (12/05/24) 1️⃣ Tether Plans to Invest More in CityPay.Io to Boost Eastern European Expansion 💰 Stablecoin issuer Tether is reportedly planning to increase its presence in Eastern Europe by investing more in Georgian payment service CityPay.io.
**Binance Obtains FIU Approval For India Return** Global crypto exchange Binance has reportedly obtained approval from India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to offer its services in the country. The recent approval makes Binance the second off-shore crypto exchange to get a regulatory nod after KuCoin. Binance is now a ‘reporting entity’ registered under the FIU. Although Binance has registered with the FIU, its operations in the country will only resume after paying a $ 2 million fine for noncompliance.
**Mande Airdrop For DYM stakers** **✨ **Check whether you are eligible. ➟ Eligibility: Minimum 15 tokens staked. ➟ Snapshot date: 30th April ➟ Deadline for claiming: 31 days 🔗 Link: <https://rolldrop.mande.network/> The allocation is square root of your Dymension tokens staked. Also, the allocation increases if some of the tokens remain unclaimed. Airdrop Supply: 2M - MAND initial circulating supply: 10M
**Bitcoin’s ‘Kimchi Premium’ Hits Two-Year High In South Korea** According to data from CryptoQuant, the South Korean crypto market’s “Kimchi Premium” reached a 27-month high of 10.32% for BTC on Wednesday. The Kimchi Premium is a term used to refer to the price difference between crypto tokens in South Korea and elsewhere. Notably, due to a limited supply of crypto domestically, a surge in local demand often leads to a bigger price gap. The rise in the premium may indicate stronger buying pressure from South Korea’s retail investors.
**Spain Blocks Sam Altman’s Worldcoin** The Spanish Agency for the Protection of Data (AEPD) has reportedly issued a temporary order banning Worldcoin from collecting and processing data in Spain for a period of three months. The regulator stated that it received several complaints about insufficient information, the collection of data from minors and that consent cannot be withdrawn, among other infringements.
**BlockFi Settles With FTX, Alameda Estates for $ 874.5M** According to recent court filings, bankrupt crypto lender BlockFi has reached an "in principle" agreement with the estates of FTX and Alameda Research. Under the settlement, BlockFi will receive a total of $ 874.5 million in claims against FTX and Alameda Research, of which $ 250 million will be treated as a secured claim. Notably, a secured claim will require FTX to prioritize paying BlockFi before other classes of creditors. The settlement is expected to lead to full value recovery for BlockFi's customers.
**Bitcoin ETFs Could Be Added to State Retirement Portfolios in Arizona** The Arizona State Senate is reportedly considering a proposal to encourage the inclusion of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in two of the state’s retirement portfolios. The proposal was introduced by state Sens. Jake Hoffman and Warren Petersen along with Rep. Joseph Chaplik. The resolution is currently being reviewed by the House for a second time after it passed the Senate’s Third Reading in a 16–13 vote on Feb. 22.
**Philippine Gov’t Blocks Unlicensed Crypto Exchange Sites, Binance Unaffected** The Philippines National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has reportedly started blocking websites of unlicensed crypto companies offering investment products in the country. Local media reports show that the websites of crypto firms MiTrade and OctaFX are now inaccessible through one of the country’s largest internet providers. Notably, the NTC’s action follows a request from the country’s securities regulator.
**Coinbase Acquiring Cyprus-Based Entity To Expand EU Derivatives Offerings** 🤝 Crypto exchange Coinbase is reportedly in the process of acquiring a Markets in Financial Instruments Directive 2014 (MiFID II) licensed entity in Cyprus. The acquisition will allow Coinbase to offer cryptocurrency-based derivatives in Europe. The exchange currently only offers spot trading in the EU.
**Final Bitcoin ETF Application Filings Get Posted by Major U.S. Exchanges** 🔎 The U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs appear to be one step closer to being launched as the exchanges that will list them filed amended 19b-4 filings on behalf of BlackRock, Grayscale, Fidelity and other issuers. Notably, more than a dozen applicants hope to launch the first spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S.; it's likely multiple issuers will be approved simultaneously.
**DCG Says It Completed Payoff Of All Short-Term Loans From Genesis** ❗️ Digital Currency Group has reportedly paid off all short-term loans to institutional investor crypto broker Genesis.
**Mango Markets Hires Representative To Handle US Regulatory Scrutiny** 🇺🇸 Decentralised exchange Mango Markets is reportedly recruiting new resources to handle the ongoing scrutiny from United States regulatory authorities as they pose a wave of "inquiries" related to the October 2022 heist.
**SEC Hasn't Met Legal Requirements to Sue, Binance Says in Latest Bid to Dismiss Lawsuit** ⚖️ In a recent court filing, Binance, Binance.US and former CEO Changpeng Zhao have argued that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) did not meet the requirements of the “Howey Test” in its suit against the two companies and their founder in June. Specifically, the entities fought against the SEC’s definition of “investment contracts” in the agency’s lawsuit against them. They stated that none of the transactions at issue contained a contract with a promoter to invest money into a common business enterprise. They also stated that the SEC ignored the requirement that the existence of an “investment contract” must be determined on a transaction-by-transaction basis.
**Donald Trump Is Selling More NFTs—And the Original Sets Are Crashing Again** 📉 Former U.S. President Donald Trump has announced the launch of a new set of digital trading cards called the "Mugshot Edition." Notably, the new set is a representation of Trump’s recent trouble with the law which saw him being indicted on charges by the State of Georgia in August, and having his mugshot taken in Atlanta. Notably, each trading card will sell for $ 99 and those who buy 47 in a single transaction ($ 4,653) will get both dinner with Trump and a physical trading card that includes a piece of the suit he wore when the mugshot was taken by police in Georgia after he was indicted in August.
**Celestia To Integrate Data Availability Layer With Polygon CDK** ❗️ Celestia is reportedly integrating its data availability layer with Polygon Labs’ chain development kit. This will allow developers to use the data availability solution when using Polygon's tech to design and set up their own layer-2 networks. The use of Celestia will result in reduced gas fees for these projects. Some of the layer 2 projects using Polygon CDK include OKX, Immutable, Astar, IDEX, Palm Network and others. Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon, stated
**Montenegro Extends Do Kwon Detention on US, South Korea Requests** 👮♂️ According to a Bloomberg report, Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon’s detention in Montenegro has been extended until mid-February at the request of the U.S. and South Korea, both of which aim to prosecute the crypto entrepreneur on charges related to the collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin. Notably, the detention period had originally been scheduled to end this coming Friday. Just last week, a Wall Street Journal report stated that Montenegro’s Justice minister was considering extraditing Kwon to the U.S.
**Azuki DAO Rebrands To ‘Bean’ As It Drops Lawsuit Against Founder** 🤔 Azuki DAO, an unofficial Azuki community DAO, is reportedly rebranding itself to “Bean." Notably, along with the rebrand Azuki DAO is dropping its previous plans to file a lawsuit against Azuki creator Zagabond for the controversial launch of its sister NFT collection ‘Elementals.’ In a statement sent to Cointelegraph, Azuki developers stated that the DAO is rebranding into a memecoin project and will become part of the Ethereum layer-2 Blast ecosystem. They also claimed that ‘Bean’ had secured $ 10 million from “prominent investors” for its development and acceleration within the Blast ecosystem.
**Beleaguered Exchange Zipmex Halts Trading In Thailand** ❌ According to an announcement made on its Facebook page, Zipmex Thailand has suspended new deposits and trading on its exchange due to compliance issues with Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The post alerted users that withdrawals will be processed normally until January 31, 2024, post which customers will need to contact the exchange's customer support team for assistance in withdrawing funds. Specifically, Thailand's SEC has fined Zipmex Thailand for its alleged misuse of a digital asset custodian service and for funnelling customers to the Singapore-based exchange Zipmex Pte, creating a conflict of interest.
**Cosmos Community Approves Capping Atom Inflation Rate At 10%** ❗️ The governance body of Cosmos Hub has reportedly approved a proposal to reduce the maximum inflation rate of its native token ATOM from about 14% to 10%. Notably, the proposal passed with a narrow margin of 41.1% of votes in favour versus 38.5% votes against, with a 70.9% turnout - the highest-ever turnout in the history of the Cosmos ecosystem. Specifically, the approved change would bring Atom's annualized staking yield from approximately 19% to about 13.4%. Interestingly, Cosmos founder Jae Kwon was against the proposal and seems to be attempting to coordinate a ‘split.’
**Indexed DAO To Distribute Remaining Treasury After Defeating Hijack Attempts** 🔎 According to an X thread by Laurence Day, the former core contributor to Ethereum-based Indexed Finance, the project has recently fended off two hijacking attempts and is planning to return control of its DAO to its founders. Notably, Day’s thread detailed how each attacker purchased large amounts of the protocol's NDX token in an attempt to seize the DAO’s remaining $ 120K worth of digital assets through malicious proposals. Control of the DAO will now reportedly revert to a multi-sig controlled by Day, Indexed founder Dillon Kellar and PR0, who plan to reimburse victims of the 2021 hack with the remaining treasury funds.
**Worldcoin Plummets as OpenAI Pushes Out Founder Sam Altman** 📉 The price of the biometric-linked digital identity project Worldcoin’s WLD token has reportedly fallen by more than 15% after its CEO Sam Altman was removed from his position at OpenAI. Notably, the company stated the move follows a board review which cited a loss of confidence in his leadership due to a lack of candid communication from Altman affecting the board's responsibilities.
**Jump Spins Off Wormhole Project, Shrinking Its Crypto Business** 🧐 According to a Bloomberg report, Jump Trading Group has parted ways with Wormhole to turn the cross-chain protocol into its own independent business. The move is part of the group’s efforts to reduce its exposure to the industry, driven in part due to U.S. regulatory uncertainty. Following the split, the workforce of Jump Crypto (the digital-asset unit of Jump Trading) has now dropped by roughly half since peaking at around 150 in 2022.
**Republic's Profit-Sharing Token on Avalanche Will Pay Investors VC Dividends** 💰 Neo-investment and technology firm Republic has reportedly settled on Avalanche as its blockchain of choice for the launch of Republic Note (R/Note) - a soon-to-launch revenue-sharing tokenised security through which Republic plans to allow investors to earn returns from an investment portfolio. Notably, Republic will send holders a pro-rata share of up to 25% of the dividend pool every time it exits a particularly successful investment. According to Republic’s President Andrew Durgee, the firm has already sold $ 30 million worth of R/Note in a recently closed "pre-sale participation" from thousands of individual investors and institutions.
**Fidelity Files for Spot Ethereum ETF, Says Approval Would Be 'Major Win' For US Investors** 🚀 Following rival firm Blackrock, asset management giant Fidelity has also filed for a spot ether ETF. The filing reveals that the ‘Fidelity Ethereum Fund’ would be listed by an exchange owned by Cboe Global Markets if approved. It also claimed that the approval of a Spot ETH ETP would represent “a major win for the protection of U.S. investors in the crypto asset space," as investors are reportedly facing significant risk without such products as they seek alternative, riskier ways to get exposure.
**ENS Developers Urge Unstoppable Domains to Drop Patents or Face Lawsuit** ❗️ In an open letter shared on X (formerly Twitter), Nick Johnson, the founder and lead developer of Ethereum Name Service (ENS) threatened to file a lawsuit against blockchain domains company Unstoppable Domains if it refused to drop its recently awarded patent ‘US11558344’, which claims that Braden River Pezeshki, Matthew Everett Gould and Bogdan Gusiev are the inventors of a technology that uses blockchain technology to determine domains. Johnson claimed the patent was “based entirely on innovations that ENS developed and contains no novel innovations of its own.” He claimed that all the ENS work was under open-source licenses, with all standards publicly available for implementation. Notably, Johnson’s letter stated that it wanted to ensure the integrity of open-source innovation as ENS wants a future with multiple naming systems instead of a monopolised cartel.
Oyster Protocol Founder Gets 4 Years Jail For $5.5M Tax Evasion 👮‍♂️ Amir Bruno Elmaani (aka ‘Bruno Brock’), the 31-year-old founder of the now-defunct cryptocurrency scheme Oyster Protocol, has reportedly been handed a four-year jail term for tax evasion. Notably, Elmaani was handed the sentence following a guilty plea in which he admitted to secretly minting and selling Pearl tokens while not paying income tax on profits from the project. In addition to his four-year prison sentence, Elmaani has been sentenced to one year of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $5.5 million
**Nine Protocols Criticise LayerZero’s wstETH Token, Claiming It’s ‘Proprietary’** ❗️ Crypto projects Connext, Chainsafe, Sygma, LiFi, Socket, Hashi, Across, Celer and Router have reportedly published a joint statement criticising wstETH- a new bridged token from cross-chain protocol LayerZero. The statement claims wstETH is “a vendor-locked proprietary standard” that limits the freedom of token issuers. Specifically, LayerZero’s wstETH which is meant to be a wrapped version of Lido’s stETH token was launched without any support or endorsement from the Lido DAO. Hasu, a strategic advisor for LidoDAO, stated, "By unilaterally deploying a bridge and marketing it in an official-seeming way, it feels like you are trying to pressure the DAO into accepting your proposal to avoid liquidity fragmentation and bad UX for users. Driving users to it through marketing makes accepting an alternate bridge proposal more painful. These actions put the DAO, Lido stakers, and participating chains in a difficult position."
**Binance Founder CZ Loses $12 Billion on Crypto-Trading Slump** 📉 According to a Bloomberg report, Binance founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao's wealth is estimated to have fallen by almost $11.9 billion after the crypto exchange’s recent trading slump. Specifically, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index slashed its estimate of revenues at crypto exchange Binance by 38% after data showed volumes at the firm declined this year.
**DYdX Chain to Distribute All Network Fees to Validators and Stakers** 💰 Decentralised crypto derivatives exchange dYdX officially launched its layer-1 blockchain ‘dYdX Chain’ with the creation of its genesis block at 1 p.m. EST yesterday. According to an update published by the dYdX Foundation, the DYDX token will have extended utility in version 4 and will play a vital role in bolstering the layer-1 chain’s security and governance. Specifically, the token will be staked to network validators, and all protocol fees (including both USDC trading fees and DYDX-denominated gas fees) will be channelled to these validators and stakers.
**Kraken Warns Users: Your Bitcoin Trading Data Is Headed to the IRS** 🔎 Crypto exchange Kraken has reportedly sent an email to select customers, alerting them that it would be sharing their information next month with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service after being mandated to do so by a court order received in June. Specifically, the affected users include U.S.-based users who made crypto transactions above $20,000 on Kraken between 2016 and 2020. The exchange has been ordered to share details of the affected users’ account history, name, date of birth, Tax ID, address, and contact information with the IRS.
**Gemini Sues Bankrupt Lender Genesis, Its Former Partner, Over null.6B Worth of GBTC** ⚖️ Crypto exchange Gemini has reportedly filed a lawsuit against Genesis Global, its former business partner for its Gemini Earn product, and is seeking to gain control of over 60 million shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) that were pledged as collateral. Notably, the lawsuit was filed as part of Genesis' bankruptcy case and comes a week after New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a separate lawsuit against Gemini, Genesis and DCG accusing them of defrauding more than 230,000 investors of more than null billion. The lawsuit stated, "Genesis has repeatedly taken actions to harm Earn users and to hinder and delay Earn users’ recovery of their digital assets. It is time to resolve these issues so that Genesis may move forward with a reasonable plan of reorganisation and Gemini may distribute the proceeds of the collateral to Earn users."
**SEC Fines BlackRock $2.5 Million as Bitcoin ETF Review Awaits** ⚖️ BlackRock, the world's biggest fund manager, has reportedly agreed to settle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after the regulator charged BlackRock for "failing to accurately describe investments in the entertainment industry." Specifically, the Wall Street giant agreed to pay a $2.5 million fine., without agreeing to or denying the SEC’s charges. Notably, the charges come at a time when the world is waiting for the results of the SEC's review of BlackRock's application for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
**Crypto Wallet Maker Ledger Officially Rolls Out 'Recover,' Unleashing Fresh Round of Snark** 🔎 Hardware wallet maker Ledger’s "Recover" service - which provides a backup for users' recovery seed phrase – is now live on the company’s Nano X wallet. Notably, the service was heavily criticised when it was first discussed publicly several months ago. CEO Pascal Gauthier’s latest announcement seems to have once again triggered a fresh wave of criticism with most people stating that the product undermines Ledger's stated commitment to privacy and security.
**Paradigm Co-Founder Ehrsam Steps Down as Managing Partner** 🧐 Fred Ehrsam, the co-founder of crypto-focused VC firm Paradigm, has announced that he is stepping down as managing partner of the venture capital firm while reportedly staying on as a general partner. Ehrsam tweeted, “I’ll continue to work with our investing and research teams, work with portfolio companies, and fight for good crypto policy while focusing less on the day-to-day management of the firm. […] This change allows me to carve out some time to explore areas of science that are of personal passion for me. There's been a long pre-history of crypto interest in the frontiers of bio, from Hal Finney and cryogenics to Vitalik Buterin and Brian Armstrong's more recent support of longevity research. I have personally been investing in and supporting bio research for several years and am excited to ramp up these efforts.”
**BlockFi Emerges from Bankruptcy and Opens Wallet Withdrawals** ❗️ According to a recent blog post, crypto lending platform BlockFi has emerged from bankruptcy and is ready to pay back some of its creditors. The post announced that withdrawals “are currently available to nearly all Wallet customers,” adding that BlockFi Interest Account (BIA) and Loan customers will be able to withdraw some assets in early 2024.
Euroclear Launches Digital Securities Issuance Service, Settles World Bank Bond 🏦 Euroclear, a major European clearinghouse, has reportedly marked the launch of a tokenised securities issuance service by settling the World Bank's 100 million euros ($106 million) digital bond. The digital bond is listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and will be used by the World Bank Group's International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) for financing sustainable development activities. The bond was issued on R3’s Corda blockchain. In terms of infrastructure, Euroclear’s tokenised securities issuance service is connected to its traditional platform for secondary operations and is compliant with the European Union’s Central Securities Depositories Regulation.
**SEC Dismisses Lawsuit Against Ripple Execs in 'Stunning Capitulation'** 🙌 According to reports, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has voluntarily dismissed charges against Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Executive Chairman Chris Larsen. The regulator had previously charged the execs alongside the company for allegedly violating securities laws with sales of the XRP token. The news has resulted in a price rally for XRP and has been described by Ripple as a "stunning capitulation" and "surrender by the SEC."
**U.S. Cites Hamas in Designating Foreign Crypto Mixers as Money-Laundering Hubs** ❗️ According to a Wall Street Journal report, the U.S. Treasury Department is planning to designate international crypto mixers as a "primary money laundering concern", citing Hamas' use of them along with other terrorist groups. The Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking yesterday, which will be open to public comment for 90 days. Wally Adeyemo, the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury stated, "Today’s action underscores Treasury's commitment to combating the exploitation of Convertible Virtual Currency mixing by a broad range of illicit actors, including state-affiliated cyber actors, cyber criminals, and terrorist groups. More broadly, the Treasury Department is aggressively combating illicit use of all aspects of the CVC ecosystem by terrorist groups, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad."
**Tether Will Publish Reserve Data in Real Time in 2024** 📈 According to reports, stablecoin issuer Tether is planning to publish a dashboard showing real time data on the reserves backing USDT by 2024. Notably, in its latest quarterly attestation, Tether reported an excess reserve balance of $3.3 billion after converting commercial paper for U.S. Treasuries, of which it held $72.5 billion worth.
**Ethereum Co-Founder Vaporised Employee Stock Awards, Lawsuit Says** ⚖️ According to a Bloomberg report, over two dozen former Consensys employees have filed a fresh lawsuit against the firm’s founder and CEO, Joseph Lubin, accusing him of unfairly diluting employee equity shares against earlier promises. Specifically, the lawsuit states Lubin left workers with worthless shares in a Swiss holding company called Consensys AG by shuffling assets including crypto wallet provider MetaMask out of the unit. This reportedly breached the “no-dilution promise” made in 2015. A Consensys spokesperson responded to the lawsuit by stating, “After two years of getting nowhere with their frivolous claims against Consensys Mesh in a Swiss court, plaintiffs now believe their merit-less claims stand a better chance of yielding a pay day if they game US courts and entangle Consensys Software and other unrelated parties in litigation. [The ex-workers] will soon find this gambit is another fruitless attempt to enrich themselves from the success of others.”
Binance Onboards Fiat Partners for Euro Withdrawals and Deposits Following Paysafe Separation 🚀 Crypto exchange Binance has reportedly onboarded new fiat service providers for euro (EUR) payments, deposits and withdrawals. Notably, the exchange’s original Euro banking partner Paysafe stopped working with the firm almost a month ago. Binance stated, "Being able to easily convert fiat to crypto, and back to fiat again, is a crucial part of advancing the adoption of digital assets globally. Without an easy way to buy or sell crypto, users who are new to the space can find the process of buying or selling crypto unintuitive and intimidating. Offering fiat services provides essential ease of use to all participants in the crypto ecosystem.”
Apple Briefly Pulls MetaMask from App Store 🙅‍♂️ Ethereum wallet MetaMask was reportedly removed from Apple’s App Store for several hours on Oct. 14 before being relisted on the platform. The delisting initially caused panic among users as Apple users were also unable to download the application from the MetaMask website. A MetaMask spokesperson stated that Apple’s service policies are likely behind the app’s disappearance. They also clarified that the issue isn’t related to any security incident or malicious activity
**Maker Proposal Goes Nuclear: Uranium-Backed Stablecoin** ☢️ A recent proposal to add tokenised Uranium to the assets backing MakerDAO’s DAI stablecoin has gone viral. The proposal author ‘Uranium308’ has reportedly confirmed that they are serious about the proposal. They stated that they are sure to “find a way to make it happen” and that they are “in it to win it.” The proposal reads, “Our goal is to democratise ownership of uranium by providing stability value, and easier access to exposure to a commodity that is growing in importance.”