Blockchain This Week - Sep 2
Grayscale and Uniswap Wins, ETF Delay, South Korea's Mandate, Pepe Problem
Grayscale Wins Over The SEC
Earlier this week, the US District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruled in favor of crypto asset manager Grayscale. It asserts that the SEC was wrong to reject Grayscale's application for a spot bitcoin ETF, calling the SEC's decision "arbitrary and capricious." The court has ordered the SEC to reconsider Grayscale's application.
US SEC Delays Spot ETF Decision
The US SEC has pushed its decision on all spot bitcoin ETFs to October. Though the SEC has not given any official reason, it is likely due to concerns about the risks associated with the bitcoin market. Prices of several crypto tokens, including bitcoin and ether, dropped following the news.
Uniswap Win at Court
A New York court dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit against DeFi exchange Uniswap. The suit alleges that Uniswap was responsible for investor harm due to the presence of scam tokens on its platform. In the ruling, the court classified both Ether and Bitcoin as "commodities," aligning with this classification despite the SEC's stance on the matter.
South Korea's Crypto Mandate
Starting this month, South Korean crypto exchanges need to maintain a balance of 3 billion won (~$2.3 million) in banks as reserves. This mandate, enforced as per the Korea Federation of Banks' "Virtual Asset Real Name Account Operation Guidelines," intends to protect users from possible crypto scams and risks.
Pepecoin Roiled by Insider Feud
A Pepecoin developer accused some of their fellow developers of stealing 16 trillion Pepecoins worth over $15 million from the token's multisig wallet. After these rogue developers sold their stash, Pepecoin's price dropped nearly 20%. The developer claimed that inner strife, ego clashes, and greed had plagued the project since its inception. The Pepecoin team has since taken control of this wallet and is attempting to get back the stolen funds.
DCG and Creditors Agree
DCG, the parent company of bankrupt trading firm Genesis Global Holdco, has reached an in principle deal with Genesis creditors to settle their claims. The proposed plan includes new debt facilities, a repayment agreement, and installment payments. The deal, which still needs court approval, could result in estimated recoveries of about 70% to 90% for unsecured creditors.
Mickey and Friends
Cryptoys, a web3 startup backed by Andreessen Horowitz, will release a new collection of digital toys called "Mickey and Friends" in September. Priced at $39.99, this 15 piece collection will feature various "skin designs" and rarity levels.
Balancer Exploit
DeFi exchange Balancer confirmed an exploit over the weekend, shortly after disclosing a critical issue in some V2 pools. An estimated 4% of the platform's funds remain at risk, and an obscure transfer of over $900,000 is attributed to the exploit.
Clockwork's Time Up
Solana based automation tooling startup Clockwork is winding down on October 31, 2023. The founders quoted limited commercial upside and a desire to explore new opportunities as reasons for their decision.
HashKey and imToken Team Up
Asia based crypto exchange HashKey Exchange has teamed up with crypto wallet provider imToken. This partnership enables users to trade crypto on a compliant exchange and store their digital assets in a secure non-custodial wallet.
Travel Rule
Crypto asset firms in the UK are now required to comply with the Financial Action Task Force's Travel Rule. The regulation requires them to collect, verify, and share information on domestic and cross jurisdictional transactions. The UK's Financial Conduct Authority will now enforce the rule.
Send Cash
Binance launched a new platform called Send Cash. Users can transfer crypto from Binance Pay to their bank accounts in nine Latin American countries, including Argentina and Colombia, at a lower cost and faster pace.
Defender 2.0
Crypto security firm OpenZeppelin has released a security platform, Defender 2.0. Defender 2.0 automates the code analysis using machine learning to identify vulnerabilities in smart contracts. Hence, it will help developers secure their blockchain applications.
Uptrip
Lufthansa Group, the parent company of several major airlines, has launched an NFT based loyalty program on Polygon called Uptrip. Passengers collect digital trading cards representing destinations, aircraft, and holidays. They earn rewards such as free Wi-Fi, lounge access, and airline miles.
Endgame
MakerDAO has devised a multistep plan called "Endgame" to create a series of independent subDAOs and grow the supply of dai to more than $100 billion within three years. The final phase of the plan is to launch a native blockchain for Maker called NewChain. NewChain will be built on the Solana codebase.
Web3 Shorts
Velodrome Finance, the top DEX protocol by TVL and revenue on Optimism, has deployed a new forked DEX called Aerodrome on Coinbase's Layer 2 Base network with the support of over 20 partners.
A couple of weeks after the short lived, disastrous first launch, layer 2 network, Shibarium, has reopened fund withdrawals to Ethereum on its bridge.
Reliance Industries Ltd., led by Asia's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, is entering the world of blockchain and CBDCs through its new financial services entity, Jio Financial Services.
Los Angeles based media company Impact Theory has agreed to pay $6 million and destroy all Founder's Key NFTs as part of a settlement with the SEC. The SEC alleges that the NFTs were unregistered securities.
Indian crypto investment firm CoinSwitch has reduced its customer support team by over a third by laying off 44 people. CoinSwitch cited low market activity for slashing 7% of its workforce.
Swiss based SEBA Bank has received an in principle approval from Hong Kong's regulator to deal in securities, including crypto products.
Robinhood has reportedly ended its crypto partnership with traditional finance firm Jump Trading.
Polygon Labs has released a Chain Development Kit (CDK) that lets developers create zero knowledge proof powered Layer 2 blockchains on Ethereum.
Robinhood has included Ethereum swaps along with custody, send, and receive support for Bitcoin and Dogecoin in the latest release of its crypto wallet.
Robinhood bought back over 55 million shares worth $605.7 million that were formerly controlled by SBF.
Web3 Investments
FirstMate, a Web3 startup with a focus on NFT marketplaces for creators, raised $3.75 million in a funding round led by Dragonfly Capital.
Crypto investment firm Greenfield led the oversubscribed $3.5 million seed round of Stoom Network, which plans to deploy the funds for launching bitcoin "liquid staking," among others.
Web3 marketing startup DeForm secured $4.6 million in a seed funding round led by Kindred Ventures.