TOP STORIES OF THE WEEK
Genesis Files for Bankruptcy, Has $150 Million In the Bank
DecryptBitzlato and its founder face enforcement actions from US authorities
Cointelegraph
The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) announced a “major international cryptocurrency enforcement action” against crypto firm Bitzlato and the arrest of its founder Anatoly Legkodymov. It was a dramatic morning for crypto markets as the DoJ pre-announced that an enforcement action was coming, sparking a selloff in crypto markets behind fears that a key ecosystem provider may be the target. Markets quickly rebounded after it was revealed that the target was a largely unfamiliar Russian crypto exchange.
You Can Now Stake Ethereum on MetaMask—Should You?
Decrypt
The popular crypto wallet MetaMask has launched its staking functionality, meaning that users can now lock up their Ethereum through the new feature via Lido or Rocket Pool to earn financial rewards for securing the blockchain. Anyone with a MetaMask wallet can now easily start earning yield on any amount of ETH they’d like right from their wallet, and without having to navigate what can often be complicated user interfaces on staking applications. See GSR’s Guide to Ethereum Staking for more info on liquid staking, Lido, and Rocket Pool.
Yuga Labs blacklists NFT marketplaces that do not support royalties
CryptoSlate
Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) creator Yuga Labs blacklisted addresses related to LookRare, SudoSwap, Blur and NFTX for not supporting royalties for its Sewer Pass NFT. Royalties are payments made to NFT creators each time their assets are sold on a marketplace. NFT marketplaces like OpenSea mandate creator royalties of up to 10% — while others like LooksRare and SudoSwap have made the royalties model optional. In a blog post, Yuga said, “We’ve always been a creative-first company, and we believe that creator royalties must be protected… The Sewer Pass free claim will only be traded on platforms respecting creator royalties.”
European Union Postpones MiCA Vote to April
CoinDesk
The European Union’s landmark crypto legislation, the Markets in Crypto Assets regulation, or MiCA, has been delayed until April because of issues in translating the rules into the 24 official languages in the EU. “MiCA is tabled to be voted by the plenary in April and to my knowledge, the delay is technical, caused by translating issues,” an official familiar with the matter said. EU procedures require legal acts such as MiCA, which was negotiated in English, to be available in all the bloc’s 24 official languages. European legislators have agreed upon the law in principle, but the almost 400-page text needs to be formally signed off by both lawmakers and national governments that make up the EU’s Governing Council. The law will apply to all member nations, but much of the implementation and interpretation will depend on regulators in each countries.
BITCOIN
Bitcoin Bridged to Avalanche Surpasses BTC Locked in Lightning Network
Bitcoin Tumbles From Multi-Month High on DOJ Worry, Hawkish Fed
You Can Now Earn Bitcoin By Playing Chess on Your Phone
$700m liquidated as Bitcoin touches $21k amid weekend pump
ETHEREUM
SSV DAO Starts $50M Fund to Push Ethereum’s Decentralization Plan
Number of ETH holders grew 3.6x to 87M in 2022
Soaring growth of Ethereum layer-2 networks set to continue in 2023
zkSync integrating Espresso Systems technology to enable private transactions
Ethereum Smart Contracts Deployment Jumped 293% in 2022: Alchemy Developer Report
Ethereum Hits 500,000 Validators Ahead of Scheduled Shanghai Upgrade
Ethereum mainnet hits record-breaking 32B weekly gas expenditure
Ric Burton received 10k ETH from Buterin for a month of work in 2014
Ethereum turns deflationary amid weekend market rally
Ethereum Developers Say Shanghai Upgrade Remains on Track for March
ALTCOINS
Centrifuge Quietly Sets Pace in Real World Assets Race
1inch launches multi-coin hardware wallet
Cross-Chain Bridge Protocol Stargate Partners With Metis for More Efficient Interoperability
LSDs Gather Mojo as Euler Lists Staked ETH
Avalanche DEX Trader Joe Plans to Make its Tokens More Valuable for Users
Ethereum Name Service’s Governance Proposal Outlines Intention to Sell 10,000 ETH
Cosmos DEX Osmosis to Make Cross-Chain Trades More Efficient With Neon Upgrade
DeFi Service Frax Finance Gains Momentum Amid Ether Staking Narrative, FXS in Focus
Ethereum Layer 2 protocol Optimism surpasses Arbitrum in transaction volume
Coinbase-Backed DeSo DEX Launches as World’s Fastest On-Chain Order Book Exchange
Polygon completes hard fork upgrade to minimize gas fee spikes, chain reorgs
Masa Finance launches soulbound Web3 identity protocol for Ethereum
Binance burns $600M BNB in 22nd burn event
SushiSwap to launch DEX aggregator and decentralized incubator in Q1
Shiba Inu Developers Reveal First Look of Layer 2 Blockchain Shibarium
Cardano Developers Reveal Critical New Toolkit for Ethereum-Compatible Sidechains
STABLECOINS
Paxos Courts MakerDAO With Paying Yield for Holding Up to $1.5B USDP Stablecoin
MakerDAO approves 85% Gemini USD holdings in DAI stablecoins
National Australia Bank to Launch Stablecoin on Ethereum, Algorand: Report
$10B worth of stablecoins withdrawn from exchanges in the past 6 months
Spain’s central bank approves euro-linked token pilot as part of sandbox initiative: Report
Iran and Russia want to issue new stablecoin backed by gold
Stablecoin collapse could impact U.S. bond market, economist warns
CRYPTO ECOSYSTEM
Binance-backed Chinese news outlet Marsbit has sights on CoinDesk
Crypto Firm Nexo Pays Out $45 Million in Settlement with SEC, Shutters Lending Product
Crypto Payments Company MoonPay Acquiring Web3 Creative Agency Nightshift, Rebranding as Otherlife
Genesis owes over $3.5B to top 50 creditors, owes $765.9M to Gemini Earn users
Token Unlocks estimates $102B worth of unlocks in 2023
ConsenSys faces audit at shareholder request
Amber Group cuts Hong Kong workforce by 50%
CoinDesk could be up for grabs as parent company DCG scrambles for funds
Genesis creditors negotiating prepackaged bankruptcy: Sources
ConsenSys Confirms Job Cuts; CEO Lubin Touts a Win for Decentralization Over ‘Ridiculous’ CeFi
The Giving Block cuts about 12% of its workforce
Genesis owner DCG suspends dividend payouts
TaxBit acquires rival crypto accounting platform Tactic
Troubled crypto lender Vauld gets extended creditor protection
Solflare Wallet Brings ‘Priority’ Gas Fees to Solana
A Large Crypto Market Maker Is Already Distancing Itself From New 3AC Venture
Solana Foundation warns about security incident with Mailchimp
NFTS / GAMING / METAVERSE
NFT Marketplace Blur Delays Native Token Launch
Yuga Labs’ Sewer Pass NFT Collection Nets Over $6M in Sales in Just Hours
Rarible Expands NFT Marketplace Builder to Polygon-Based Collections
A Bored Ape Whale Just Spent Nearly $1 Million on DeGods NFTs
Yuga Labs Launches Dookey Dash Skill-Based NFT Game
Lionel Messi’s crypto sponsor Socios offering token holders chance to snag game balls
Seoul government opens city’s metaverse project to public
NFT blue-chip Azuki’s new virtual city Hilumia touches physical and digital worlds
Tiny Colony game bids farewell to Solana, will migrate to ImmutableX
MINING
Complaint filed against Compass Mining for losing BTC mining machines hits snag
Russia’s Crypto Mining Bill ‘Has Stalled,’ Says Finance Ministry
Crypto miner explains how Bitcoin mining stabilizes grids
Bitcoin Miner GRIID’s NYSE Arrival Delayed Again
Bit Mining up 51% after launch of new Litecoin, Dogecoin mining machine
Japanese Power Giant TEPCO Explains Crypto Mining Plans
Congo national park’s bitcoin mining bet saved it from going bust: MIT Tech Review
Bitfarms seeks to modify loan facility with BlockFi as bear market drags on
EXCHANGES
Huobi, Confirming Justin Sun as Leader, Takes Aim at ‘Rat Trading’
FTX CEO Says Exchange Could Restart Operations
City of Busan to establish digital assets exchange: Report
Binance tightens rules on NFT listings
Crypto Exchange BitMart to Join Custodian Copper’s ClearLoop Network
Founder and CTO of DCG-owned crypto exchange Luno departs
OKX Reveals $7.2B of ‘Clean’ Assets in Latest Proof-of-Reserves Report
FTX profited from Sam Bankman-Fried’s inflated coins: Report
Binance registers as virtual asset service provider in Poland
Bitget Leads Drive for Crypto Exchange Security With $300M Protection Fund
FTX defends move to appoint law firm Sullivan & Cromwell as advisor
Coincheck Owner Is ‘Interested’ in FTX Japan as Bidding Deadline Nears
$90 Million in FTX US Assets Were Moved via ‘Unauthorized Transfers’ After Bankruptcy
Fidelity-Backed Exchange OSL Cuts Workers Amid Crypto Winter: Bloomberg
3AC Founders Want to Launch a New Crypto Exchange
Binance launches off-exchange custodial settlement platform
Former FTX.US President Brett Harrison Breaks Silence, Says He Was Isolated From Decision Making by SBF
South Korean exchange Korbit to monitor accounts of employees, family members
Bithumb ordered to pay damages for outage during bitcoin’s 2017 rally: Yonhap
FTX Gains Approval to Sell LedgerX, Embed, and Europe, Japan Entities
Alameda Research had a $65B secret line of credit with FTX: Report
DOJ Opposes Law Firm Tasked With FTX Investigation for Conflict of Interest
FTX’s $5 billion haul fails to boost price of bankruptcy claims, Xclaim says
CAPITAL RAISES
Brett Harrison raises $5 million for DeFi company aimed at institutions: Bloomberg
Tech Veteran-Backed Web3 Social Platform Plai Labs Raises $32M in Seed Round
The =nil; Foundation Raises $22M to Build Marketplace for Zero-Knowledge Proofs
Y Combinator leads $4.3 million round for multichain wallet Cypher
ZK proof startup Ulvetanna raises $15 million in seed funding
Flashbots seeks up to $50 million at a billion-dollar valuation
FalconX, Bitmex founder Hayes invest in market maker Elixir amid dearth of providers
Pantera and Archetype co-lead $12.5 million Series A funding round for Obol Labs
Diva closes $3.5 million seed round for distributed liquid staking protocol
Web3 Studio Sortium Raises $7.8M in Seed Round
INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
Deal Box launches $125M blockchain and Web 3 venture fund
21Shares debuts crypto staking ETP on BX Swiss exchange
GBTC shares jump 10% in twelve days, narrowing discount to 40%
Crypto Investor HashKey Capital Raises $500 Million for Web3 Fund
Coinshares sees first inflow of ETH after two months; AUM up most since 2021
TRADFI / TECH
Revolut ‘Assessing The Best Time’ for Native RevCoin Launch
Bank of America Says CBDCs Are the Future of Money and Payments
Neobank N26 Exapnds Crypto Trading Product to 5 New Countries
Brazil’s Second-Largest Private Bank Launches First Tokenized Credit Note
CBDC
Digital Dollar Project Warns on US Cautious Approach to CBDCs
Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister: I’ll Take Salary in CBDC
China’s Digital Yuan Used to Buy Securities for the First Time: Report
Tanzania ‘cautious’ on CBDC adoption after initial research
Sand Dollar Digital Currency Struggle for Relevance After FTX Disaster
MIT, Maiden Labs examine CBDC inclusiveness issues in report from 4 countries
REGULATORY / COUNTRIES
BIS proposes research model to study DeFi’s integration with TradFi and its risks
Circle CEO: US Stablecoin Legislation Is ‘Lowest-Hanging Fruit’
‘$3.2bn’ Kimchi Premium Traders to Stand Trial in South Korea
FinCEN lists Binance among the top Bitcoin counterparties of Bitzlato
CFTC commissioner asks Senate not to permit exchange self-certification
Central African Republic working to integrate Sango coin into its economy
Thailand SEC Issues Regulations for Crypto Custody Providers
Nearly Half of SEC Crypto Enforcement Actions in 2022 Were Against ICOs
Finnish Minister Calls for EU Law to Recognize DAOs
Japanese Tax Agency Wants to Tax NFT Sales and Crypto Gaming Profits
Japanese regulators want crypto treated like traditional banks
Bulgaria’s Prosecutor General Insists Nexo Investigation Isn’t Political
Bank of Thailand to allow first virtual banks by 2025
Grayscale files brief in ETF suit against SEC, oral arguments may come within months
ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, GOVERNANCE
Bitcoin mining council Q4 2022 briefing shows a drop in sustainable energy usage
Dogecoin carbon emissions down by 25% following Elon Musk collaboration
Green Crypto Project to Drive Up EV Charging Payments Efficiency Raises $300k – How to Invest in C+Charge
Solana Foundation, Ripple, GBBC and Others Form Partnership to Promote Crypto Solutions for Climate Change
Bitcoin mining emissions down 10% as Kazakhstan’s hash rate share decreases
Putting carbon credits on blockchain won’t solve the problem alone: Davos
New York sued by environmental group after approval of crypto mining facility: Report
SURVEYS, HACKS, MISC
Law firm Sullivan & Cromwell to face scrutiny in FTX bankruptcy hearing Friday
Ransomware Variants Are on the Rise but Overall Gains Decline: Chainalysis
Raydium exploiter moves $2.7M to crypto mixer Tornado Cash
Every third member of the US Congress received money from FTX
Tucker Carlson outlines wild theory to explain Bitcoin price rise: ‘Maximum tin foil’
Lazarus Group’s Stolen 41,000 ETH from Harmony Bridge Hack is on The Move
UK Sends a Gang of Four to Prison for £21M Crypto Fraud
Google Ads-delivered malware drains NFT influencer’s entire crypto wallet
Justin Sun eyes up to $1 billion spend on DCG assets: Reuters
Former Celsius CEO sued for allegedly defrauding customers
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