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TLDR Crypto

VENEZUELA SET TO BAN ITS OIL-BACKED CRYPTOCURRENCY “PETRO”

Venezuela is shutting down its Petro cryptocurrency after over five years of operation. Launched by President Nicolas Maduro in 2018, Petro was intended to bolster the country's national currency amidst an economic crisis and US sanctions. However, it was mired in controversy from the start and most recently faced a corruption scandal linked to oil operations. Outstanding Petros are being converted into the local currency, bolívars.

SATOSHIVM: ADVANCING ON-CHAIN VERIFICATION FOR BITCOIN AND ENHANCING LAYER-2 IMPLEMENTATION

This paper introduces SatoshiVM, an attempt to help build out a robust L2 architecture on top of Bitcoin without altering the existing Bitcoin protocol. This approach confirms the correct execution of L2 blocks while benefiting from the features of Taproot for complex function executions. SatoshiVM enhances the secure off-chain proof process for each block and allows third-party verification, thereby improving the robustness, security, and efficiency of L2 solutions on Bitcoin.

LAYER 2 PROJECT TAIKO LAUNCHES FINAL TESTNET AHEAD OF PLANNED MAINNET RELEASE IN Q1

Ethereum L2 rollup project Taiko has announced the launch of its final testnet, Katla, with a mainnet launch expected sometime in Q1. Katla introduces a fresh rollup design, the multi-proof-based contestable rollup, aimed at enhancing decentralized applications' throughput and cost efficiency. Unlike other L2 rollups, Taiko leans on Ethereum validators for transaction and block sequencing, aiming to boost security and censorship resistance.

ELON MUSK DETAILS PERSONAL, SPACEX CRYPTO HOLDINGS

Elon Musk recently confirmed he still holds a substantial amount of Dogecoin and that his company SpaceX maintains holdings in Bitcoin. Tesla also owns almost 10,000 Bitcoin, despite selling 4,320 Bitcoin in 2021 and three-quarters of its remaining Bitcoin in 2022 due to environmental concerns. In the past, Musk has been accused of market manipulation in crypto as his comments on Bitcoin and especially Dogecoin caused massive swings in the market back in 2021. His commentary on Dogecoin in the more recent past has had a more muted effect on the coin and his legal team is confident that his comments have been completely legal.

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