TLDR CRYPTO 2023-08-30

COINBASE

A US federal court ruled yesterday that the SEC acted unfairly in denying Grayscale’s request to turn its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust product into an ETF. The long-awaited decision gave a big boost to prices across the board in the crypto market and even to crypto-related public equities like Coinbase. While the ruling was favorable, it still doesn't guarantee immediate ETF approvals. Not only does this help Grayscale’s case as it tries to launch an ETF, but it also likely increases the chances that the spot BTF applications from TradFi giants like Blackrock and Fidelity will go through as well.

Yesterday, the SEC submitted a sealed motion containing classified information in its case against cryptocurrency exchange Binance. The unusual move has sparked speculation about potential new allegations against the company, which is already facing charges of offering unregistered securities to the public. Experts suggest the SEC could be trying to avoid interfering with a separate criminal investigation - potentially by the DOJ - or protect a witness or company at risk.

POLYGON LAUNCHES 'CHAIN DEVELOPMENT KIT'

Polygon has unveiled its Chain Development Kit, a software suite that allows developers to launch their own L2 solutions using zk technology. The CDK offers infinite scalability and unified liquidity, while enabling easy settlement to Ethereum and is already being used in numerous projects. The CDK is expected to usher in an era of open-source progress and innovative L2 solutions.

CIRCLE LAUNCHES USDC STABLECOIN ON MERCADO PAGO IN CHILE

Fintech firm Circle has teamed up with Latin American e-commerce giant Mercado Libre to introduce the stablecoin USDC on Mercado Pago, its online payment platform, in Chile. This move aims to increase the utilization of cryptocurrencies and the US dollar in a country where the currency isn't often accepted. It also marks another step into crypto for Mercado Libre, which started accepting cryptocurrencies as payments in 2021.

PROOF OF MEOW: HOW ZK-VM WORKS

This article simplifies the concept of a Zero-Knowledge Virtual Machine, software that validates that a program has been executed correctly, with a lighthearted example, “Proof of Meow.” It outlines the process of program compilation to bytecode, execution inside the VM generating an execution trace, and the role of the prover and verifier. The piece also shows how these principles apply to the Ethereum Virtual Machine in ZK-Rollups.

INSIGHTS FROM A CRYPTO USER ACTIVITY SURVEY

A recent blockchain user activity survey revealed some surprising findings. Despite Ethereum's popularity, 17% of participants in the survey had never used it. Similarly, 34% never transacted in Bitcoin. The Cardano community showed up in surprisingly large numbers with 6,300+ respondents, a bigger group of participants than any other chain in the survey. Surprisingly, participants of the survey had hardly used Litecoin at all, despite its high ranking in daily active users on DeFiLlama. The BNB chain had more users and a higher share of participants who had used the chain than Solana and Avalanche, while Ethereum remains in pole position amongst all the chains.

TETHER LEANING ON BAHAMAS-BASED BRITANNIA AS US BANKS CUT CRYPTO TIES

Private bank Britannia Bank & Trust has reportedly recently started working with stablecoin issuer Tether. This relationship allows Tether to make dollar transfers, strengthening its access to traditional banking systems. Tether's banking relations have largely remained undisclosed, which has sparked industry speculation over the years. Despite facing regulatory hurdles and allegations of misleading investors about its reserves, Tether has been gaining significant share of the stablecoin market this year.

THE MANY LAYERS OF THE SEC’S FIRST NFT ENFORCEMENT ACTION

The SEC is treating NFTs as a security for the first time in its recent enforcement action against Impact Theory, a Tom Bilyeu company. This article explains how NFTs in their basic form are not necessarily a security. However, it goes on to explain that it could be logical to conclude an NFT is a security when issuers begin to make promises about what they will do to increase the value of the NFT over time.

X GRANTED MONEY TRANSMISSION LICENSE

X has been granted a currency transmission license (the type that would be required to process crypto transactions). However, it’s not clear whether this is for crypto or not as the same type of license would be required for fiat transmission.

MOONPAY LAUNCHES INVESTMENT ARM MOONPAY VENTURES

MoonPay has launched MoonPay Ventures, an investment arm to support early-stage web3 and fintech firms through providing mentorship and support from crypto industry partners.

ZKSCI - IMPROVING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH WITH ZERO KNOWLEDGE PROOFS

This blog explains how Zero Knowledge Proofs could be leveraged for both decentralized science in scientific research and in the medical field for data privacy.

Solana is gaining momentum in liquid staking despite some initial hiccups. This article provides an update on the liquid staking ecosystem on Solana.