Blockchain This Week - Oct 28
IBTC on DTCC, Bitcoin at $35K, Grayscale Crypto Index, Stablecoin Swaps on UDPN, Euroclear, Walmart Web3 Accelerator
IBTC on DTCC
While the US SEC is yet to approve any crypto spot ETFs, speculations of its imminence were rife when several people noticed BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust listed on DTCC under the ticker iBTC. But shortly after that, the ticker mysteriously disappeared. What later turned out to be impulsive trading fueled by silliness, DTCC clarified that the ETF has been on the website since August and is part of its prep work when there is a new ETF request.
Bitcoin Breaches $35K
An impulsive buying spree that followed the speculations of an imminent bitcoin spot ETF pumped the price of bitcoin to $35,000, a price not seen since May 2022. Ether and other digital coins also joined the rally. The rally cooled off as bitcoin miners started selling off more than usual. At the time of writing, one bitcoin was worth $34,078.80.
Ark Makes a Profit
Amid the crypto rally that saw prices of Coinbase and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust shares rise, Cathie Wood's Ark Invest made a quick buck. It sold 42,613 shares of Coinbase and 100,739 shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. Among the Coinbase shares, Ark's Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) sold 32,158 shares, and Ark Fintech Innovation ETF sold 10,455 shares of Coinbase. The sales were worth over $5.8 million.
Grayscale's Crypto Index Series
Grayscale Investments is partnering with FTSE Russell to launch a crypto indices business called the Crypto Sector Index Series. The series will track the prices of various buckets of digital assets according to their use cases.
Stablecoin Swaps on UDPN
Standard Chartered Bank's SC Ventures and Deutsche Bank have successfully completed the first stablecoin swaps on the Universal Digital Payments Network (UDPN). The swaps were between USDC and EURS stablecoins and used the digital wallets of the two banks.
Euroclear Tokenizes Securities
By issuing the World Bank's 100 million euro digital bond, the European clearinghouse Euroclear, launched its securities tokenization service. The bond was issued on R3's Corda DLT network. Euroclear's D-SI will issue and settle these digital securities on blockchain.
Walmart's Web3 Accelerator
Walmart's incubation arm, Store Nº8, and Outlier Ventures have launched a web3 accelerator program, Store Nº8 Base Camp. The program supports startups that are building decentralized commerce solutions. The 12-week virtual incubator program will mentor five startups that specialize in web3 marketing, advertising, and payment technology.
Lightning Network Flaw
Developer Antoine Riard highlighted a vulnerability in the Bitcoin Lightning Network. But no malicious attacks have been linked to it. Mitigation steps have been taken, with patches deployed across major Lightning Network implementations.
HK Regulator's Spot Product Guidance
Hong Kong's financial regulator has expanded guidance to allow intermediaries to offer spot products to a broader range of clients. It stated that the policy was updated to facilitate retail access through intermediaries and direct virtual asset deposits and withdrawals with appropriate safeguards. Yet, it still restricts certain complex virtual asset products to professional investors. It also mandates a test for potential clients to assess their investing knowledge and net worth to manage related risks.
Bit Digital Adds AI
Bit Digital, a crypto mining firm looking for a sustainable income, has signed a deal with an AI firm. The aim is to generate more than $250 million in additional revenue over three years. The miner is buying $35 million worth of GPUs to serve the AI client. It expects the new unit to generate enough cash to sustain its current bitcoin mining and ether staking operations, regardless of market conditions.
Maestro Suffers Hack
Maestro, a popular Telegram bot project, suffered a security breach due to a critical vulnerability in its Router2 contract. The attackers stole over 280 ETH ($500,000) from user accounts. But, the team has since resolved the issue and will refund affected users.
Vodafone PoC
Vodafone's Digital Asset Broker (DAB) demonstrated that it is possible to use blockchain for trade by successfully completing a proof of concept with Chainlink Labs and other partners. The proof of concept showed how blockchain could streamline trade document transfer and improve the efficiency of global trade.
Kraken to Share User Data
Following a court order from June this year, crypto exchange Kraken said it will share select user data with the IRS next month. Kraken will share details regarding the user transactions exceeding $20,000 from 2016 to 2020.
SBF Stands Trial
In his criminal fraud and conspiracy trial, SBF began his testimony this week. Upon questioning from his defense lawyer, SBF sought to blame his deputies, including former Alameda boss Caroline Ellison. He asserted that he did not commit any fraud. He also claimed that he believed expenditures like naming rights for a sports arena came from company profits. Meanwhile, his lawyers highlighted his inexperience in crypto when he started in the industry, stating that he studied physics at MIT and had no prior knowledge.
Cryptoverse
Starting next month, the Worldcoin Foundation will pay the orb operators in WLD tokens instead of USDC, subject to the availability of WLD in their countries.
Wallet maker Ledger officially released its "Recover" feature, where users can back up their seed phrase by splitting it up into three parts, storing each one at different places.
Digital assets platform Zodia Markets obtained its license from Ireland's central bank to operate as a virtual assets service provider.
Investments and Funding
Web3 security startup of two former Israeli military cyber intelligence personnel came out of stealth with its $6 million seed and $27 million Series A rounds. The seed round had investors, including Sequoia Capital and Greylock Partners. Meanwhile, Series A was led by Ribbit Capital and Variant.
Polychain Capital led the $3.3 million seed round of NASD Inc., the firm behind Noble, a blockchain intercommunication network.
Privacy focused Nym Technologies got commitments of over $300 million from investors, including Polychain, KR1, and Eden Block, for its Innovation Fund. The fund plans to invest in crypto builders and communities that focus on privacy.
Crypto video game Shrapnel raised $20 million in a Series A funding round led by Polychain Capital.
Web3 healthcare data platform Rymedi closed a $9 million Series A round led by RW3 Ventures and White Star Capital.
Nocturne Labs, the startup working on bringing private accounts to Ethereum, raised $6 million in a seed funding round led by Bain Capital Crypto and Polychain Capital.
Crypto trading tool provider Anboto Labs raised $3 million from investors, including Kronos Ventures and Cherry Crypto, and launched a non custodial trading platform.
Web3 game studio Moonveil Entertainment secured $5.4 million in a seed funding round led by Gumi Cryptos Capital and Arcane Group.