TOP STORIES OF THE WEEK
BNB Chain Resumes Activity After 2 Million Token Exploit
DecryptJudge allows CFTC to serve Ooki DAO members through help chat box
The Block
A judge in the Northern District of California let the Commodity Futures Trading Commission serve Ooki DAO members through online forums. U.S. District Judge William Orrick granted the motion allowing the regulator to serve the summons and complaint through the decentralized autonomous organization’s help chat box in addition to a notice posted on the affiliated online forum. The CFTC sued Ooki DAO last month alongside a settlement agreement with bZx protocol developers over alleged failure to register with the regulator.
Stablecoin Issuer MakerDAO to Invest $500M in US Treasurys, Corporate Bonds
CoinDesk
The community governing MakerDAO, the decentralized autonomous organization behind stablecoin DAI, has allocated $500m for investing in U.S. Treasuries and corporate bonds. The “strategic investment” will be converted from its overcollateralized stablecoin, with 80% going towards U.S. short term Treasuries and the remaining 20% to investment grade corporate bonds. The move by Maker is aimed at diversifying its balance sheet into “scalable legacy finance investments, limiting exposure to any one asset and expanding revenue streams.”
The European Council passes MiCA, EU’s comprehensive crypto regulation
The Block
National representatives in the European Council made preliminary strides to regulate crypto in the region, as they voted through the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation on Wednesday. MiCA sets out to bring the issuance of cryptocurrencies under the wing of institutional regulation, and establishes a first-time regime for crypto-asset service providers across the EU’s member states. The next step towards formal adoption of the legislation comes on Oct. 10, when the European Parliament’s economic affairs committee will also vote on the proposal.
‘Appropriate Regulation’ Needed Over Crypto, Government Report Recommends
Decrypt
The Financial Stability Oversight Council released its 124-page report on digital assets today in response to U.S. President Joe Biden’s March 9, 2022, Executive Order, “Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets.” The report concludes that crypto-assets, including stablecoins and cryptocurrency exchanges, need more regulation, and also calls digital assets a potential risk to the stability of the U.S. financial system if their scale or interconnections with the traditional financial system were to grow without adherence to appropriate regulation.
BITCOIN
South Carolina treasurer goes on Bitcoin ’fact-finding trip’ to El Salvador
McDonald’s Starts Accepting Bitcoin and Tether in Lugano, Switzerland
Bitcoin Lightning Network capacity strikes 5,000 BTC
ETHEREUM
T-Mobile Parent Deutsche Telekom Launches Ethereum Validator, Staking Support
Flashbots now accounts for 39% of Ethereum blocks as censorship concerns rise
ALTCOINS
Despite Tornado Cash fiasco, Bitcoin SV launches ‘Blacklist Manager’ tool
ArDrive Mobile Goes Live on Google Play Store, Bringing Decentralized Data Storage to Android Devices
Lido’s stETH Token Expands to Layer 2 Networks Optimism and Arbitrum
GMX Soars 17% After Twin Listing on FTX and Binance
DeFi Platform Ribbon Finance’s Unsecured Lending Product Sees Crypto Firms Folkvang and Wintermute Borrow Over $10M
1inch wallet users get domain names with Unstoppable Domains partnership
Aave DAO favors fresh deployment of its latest version on Ethereum
Dogecoin Pumps as Elon Musk Agrees (Again) to Buy Twitter
TON Network launches Telegram wallet bot for P2P crypto trading
Acala restores full operations after users ‘error minted’ 3 billion aUSD
Decentralized Social (DeSo) stands out in flat market, up 156% over past month
Binance burns $1.8M in LUNC trading fees following community proposal
Solana Price Plunges as Blockchain Suffers Outage Again
SushiSwap Elects Grey New ‘Head Chef’ After Months of Drama
STABLECOINS
Decentralized Social Network’s DeSo Token Rallies Amid Stablecoin Plans
Tether reduces commercial paper exposure to below $50M, Treasury bills rise to 58.1% of reserve
Fintech App Eco to Convert User Balances From US Dollars to USDC
CRYPTO ECOSYSTEM
Celsius CEO Withdrew $10 Million Before Company Entered Bankruptcy
Crypto Derivatives Exchange PowerTrade Launches ‘RFQs’ for Institutional Options Trading
Crypto Lending Firm Ledn to Acquire Canadian Fund Manager Arxnovum
Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius to auction assets on Oct. 20
NFTS / GAMING / METAVERSE
Beeple’s Discord URL ‘hijacked,’ directing users to wallet drainer
MetaMask adopts custodial features for NFT-hungry institutional investors
NFT lender BendDAO mulling creation of ApeCoin staking platform
Dapper Labs Sets Launch Date for LaLiga Golazos NFT Marketplace
Bored Ape Creator Yuga Labs Unveils Community Council to Help Shape Future Initiatives
Liquidators Move Over 300 NFTs From Bankrupt Crypto Hedge Fund Three Arrows Capital to New Wallet: Report
Mythical Games Enlists Ubisoft, Animoca, Others to Launch Web3 Gaming DAO and Token
VeeFriends Toys Coming to Macy’s, Toys’R’Us as Ethereum NFT Brand Expands
OpenSea Streamlines NFT Launches for Artists
Hugo Boss to launch NFT and ‘360-degree metaverse experience’ with Imaginary Ones
Moonbirds DAO to Launch With $2.6M in Ethereum and NFTs From Kevin Rose’s Proof
Balcony DAO Is Fractionalizing Investment in a New Jersey Building as an NFT
MINING
Norway’s government proposes eliminating reduced electricity tax for Bitcoin miners
Bitcoin Miner Marathon Invested $31.3M in Bankrupt Data Center Compute North
Grayscale announces new arm to invest in Bitcoin mining hardware
Bitcoin miners face a big difficulty jump next week — here’s what’s in store
Greenidge seeks to raise up to $22.8 million in stock offer
Bitcoin miner CleanSpark posts 21% hash rate growth in September
Argentina’s State-Owned Energy Company Moves Into Crypto Mining
Bitcoin Miner Merkle Increases Hashrate by 900% in 8 Months
Celsius Mining claims hosting provider Core Scientific violated bankruptcy terms
Paraguay Senators Reject President’s Bitcoin Mining Law Veto
Russia Supplying Kazakhstan with Electricity for Cryptocurrency Miners
EXCHANGES
Fidelity and Citadel-backed exchange EDX Markets taps Paxos for custody
Coinbase Expands Services in Australia, Calling Country a ‘Priority Market for Us’
Crypto Exchange Binance Receives License to Operate in Kazakhstan
Crypto Exchange Crypto.com’s Downsizing Larger Than Previously Reported: Ad Age
FTX Lists Dollar Spot Index Perpetual Futures
Coinbase CEO announces documentary on cryptocurrency and exchange
BitMEX Gets Regulatory Approval in Italy, Seeks European Expansion
FTX’s head of OTC and institutional sales has quietly left the firm
Indian crypto exchange WazirX confirms layoffs: CoinDesk
After FTX.US, CME Group proposes direct derivatives trading: WSJ
Coinbase Suffers ‘Major Outage’ for Customers With US Bank Accounts
US Senator Introduces Bill to Protect Crypto Exchanges From SEC Overreach
Fiat exchange volumes fell for the fifth month in a row in September
CAPITAL RAISES
Restaurant Industry Veteran Ben Leventhal Raises $11M for Web3 Startup Blackbird
Citi Ventures co-leads $6 million round in crypto investment startup Xalts
Skyweaver’s parent company secures $40M in Series A funding
Ubisoft, Take-Two Back Ethereum NFT Game Maker Horizon in $40M Round
a16z leads $40M raise for decentralized knowledge protocol
Bored Apes’ Otherside Builder Improbable Eyes Fresh Funding at $3.6 Billion Valuation: Report
Paradigm leads crypto firewall provider Blowfish’s $11.8 million raise
Crypto Banking Platform Juno Raises $18M in Series A Funding
INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
Morgan Stanley Says Crypto ETPs Continue to Grow Despite Bear Market
Crypto-friendly Ray Dalio steps back from Bridgewater’s $150M fund
Tuttle Capital files Inverse ETFs to trade against Jim Cramer’s recommendations
Asset Management Giant GoldenTree Discloses $5.2M Investment in SushiSwap
Venture firm Bessemer counts on a decentralized network for deal flow
Investment Manager Hamilton Lane to Tokenize 3 Funds Through Securitize
It’s happened: Someone’s filed for Cramer ETFs with the SEC
Valkyrie Funds to Offer Crypto SMAs, Challenging Ark and Franklin Templeton
M31 Capital launches $100M Web3 investment fund with $50M in commitments so far
Fidelity Reveals $5 Million Ethereum Index Fund
Bitwise launches Web3 ETF for institutional and retail investors
ARK Invest’s crypto strategies to offer top 20 crypto assets to wealth managers
Shares in Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust Trade at 36% Discount to Fund’s NAV
Genesis is no longer acting as an authorized participant for Grayscale’s crypto trust products
Arthur Cheong’s DeFiance Capital raising $100 million to invest in liquid tokens
Bitcoin Investment Firm NYDIG Raised $720M for Digital Asset Fund, CEO Gutmann Departs
TRADFI / TECH
Hedge Fund Two Sigma to Provide Data to Blockchain Information Network Chainlink
Citigroup Director of Blockchain and Digital Assets to Leave for Six Digital Exchange
CME Group set to launch three new crypto reference rates later this month
Cboe strengthens its digital assets position with Pyth partnership and ErisX rebrand
Fintech unicorn Stash deepens its push into crypto with eight new offerings
Nasdaq needs clear regulations before launching crypto exchange, says VP
Payments Giant Mastercard Launches Cryptocurrency Anti-Fraud Tool for Card Issuers
CBDC
Canadian central bank identifies retail CBDC archetypes in theory-heavy analysis
US lawmakers request Justice Dept share CBDC assessment
SWIFT Says It’s Proved It Can Be the Way Forward for Global CBDCs
REGULATORY / COUNTRIES
ICO Hype Man Ian Balina Launches GoFundMe to Tackle SEC Lawsuit
UN Warns Fed to Cool Rate Hikes
Basel Committee crypto-asset prudential treatment proposals get detailed responses
Terra Founder Do Kwon’s Passport ‘Invalidated,’ S. Korea Says
FBI Issues New Warning on Rise of Scammers Posing As Successful Crypto Traders To Defraud Victims
EU Bans Provision of Crypto Services to Russia
Colorado is accepting crypto for tax payments — it could be a mess or a shining example
SEC staff reportedly unhappy with Gensler over Kim Kardashian ‘publicity stunt’
Second Crypto Group Objects to CFTC’s Use of Chatbot to Serve Legal Papers
Despite call for Congress to act, new crypto laws look unlikely this year
Russia Blocks Access to Crypto Exchange OKX
Japan to invest in metaverse, NFTs to drive implementation of Web3 services
Uzbekistan Introduces Monthly Fees for Crypto Companies Effective Immediately
CFTC takes legal action against Digitex futures exchange and CEO
DOJ objects to Celsius plans to reopen withdrawals and sell stablecoins
Polygon partners with ocean conservation NGO to advance ocean literacy
Solar ‘Bazooka’ Bitcoin mine warms warehouse amid Europe’s energy crisis
Climate start-up partners with Ripple to launch marketplace for carbon credits
SURVEYS, HACKS, MISC
This New Report Shows the Fastest Growing Regions for Cryptocurrencies
More than 30% of Canadians plan to purchase crypto by 2024 — OSC head
Musk renews bid for Twitter as he looks to avoid trial
Crypto and decentralization could influence voters in 2022 US midterm elections: Report
Pro-Russian Paramilitary Groups Raised $400,000 in Bitcoin, Crypto to Avoid Sanctions: TRM Labs
Transit Swap hacker returns $16.5M of stolen funds
This material is provided by GSR (the “Firm”) solely for informational purposes, is intended only for sophisticated, institutional investors and does not constitute an offer or commitment, a solicitation of an offer or commitment, or any advice or recommendation, to enter into or conclude any transaction (whether on the terms shown or otherwise), or to provide investment services in any state or country where such an offer or solicitation or provision would be illegal. The Firm is not and does not act as an advisor or fiduciary in providing this material.
This material is not a research report, and not subject to any of the independence and disclosure standards applicable to research reports prepared pursuant to FINRA or CFTC research rules. This material is not independent of the Firm’s proprietary interests, which may conflict with the interests of any counterparty of the Firm. The Firm trades instruments discussed in this material for its own account, may trade contrary to the views expressed in this material, and may have positions in other related instruments.
Information contained herein is based on sources considered to be reliable, but is not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. Any opinions or estimates expressed herein reflect a judgment made by the author(s) as of the date of publication, and are subject to change without notice. Trading and investing in digital assets involves significant risks including price volatility and illiquidity and may not be suitable for all investors. The Firm is not liable whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from the use of this material. Copyright of this material belongs to GSR. Neither this material nor any copy thereof may be taken, reproduced or redistributed, directly or indirectly, without prior written permission of GSR.
