TLDR CRYPTO 2023-09-04

Despite China's nationwide ban on cryptocurrency, the People’s Court has published a report indicating that individual-held digital assets should be considered legal and protected by law according to the existing policy framework. This marks a paradigm shift in Chinese legal thought, as it argues digital currency possesses economic attributes, therefore qualifying it as property. The report also offered suggestions on handling cases involving digital asset-related crimes.

MAKERDAO CO-FOUNDER FLOATS USING SOLANA’S CODE TO BUILD NEW CHAIN

MakerDAO's co-founder, Rune Christensen, recently proposed using the Solana codebase for a dedicated appchain aiming to improve the DeFi lending protocol. This new appchain, part of MakerDAO's five-phases Endgame strategy, aims to improve governance and sustainability. Maker will not be directly building on Solana, but rather will be using the Solana stack. This proposal could potentially lead to a mutually beneficial relationship between MakerDAO and Solana.

“MIRAI”: INDUSTRY’S FIRST OMNI-CHAIN SMART WALLET

Kana Labs has introduced its omni-chain smart contract wallet, "Mirai SDK." This solution aims to simplify crypto transactions by offering social login and straightforward transaction management functionality. It supports both EVM and non-EVM chains and seamless cross-chain token swaps. It currently supports Aptos and it will soon integrate other non-EVM chains like Solana and Sui.

COLORADO DMV TAPS PAYPAL TO FACILITATE CRYPTO PAYMENTS

The Colorado DMV has started accepting cryptocurrency payments for online services such as driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations via PayPal. This makes the DMV the first governmental body in the state to do so. The move is part of the state's wider initiative to find practical uses for crypto.

THE RISKS OF LSD

This post explains how Liquid Staking Derivatives, including Lido, present potential threats to the Ethereum protocol due to possible cartelization and centralization. While this was written over a year ago, it’s still relevant as LDO has gained nearly 33% share of staked Ether. The author suggests self-limiting to avoid any potential issues and advises capital allocators to be conscious of these risks and limit allocation to LSD protocols that exceed 25% of total staked Ether.

ON THE STATE OF YOUR NFT SECURITY

This thread from Punk6529 emphasizes the importance of security regarding NFTs. He walks through his thoughts on a security survey he ran, going over the answers to each question and pointing out the issues and the solutions to them. The thread ends on a hopeful note, claiming that better security is possible as builders continue to innovate on the underlying infrastructure and user experiences around digital asset storage.

MILLION

Robinhood has finalized the buyback of a 7.6% stake in the company, valued at $606 million, in seized shares from FTX founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, as confirmed in an SEC filing. The shares were confiscated by the US Justice Department as a part of the fraud charges being levied against SBF.

MRBEAST ANNOUNCES CREATOR ESPORTS LEAGUE HE’S NOT ACTUALLY A PART OF

YouTube star MrBeast has announced the Creator League, an esports competition featuring top influencers and their fans. The league garnered some negative press soon after launch, as one of the streamers that was going to be involved in the launch backed out after learning the league would be leveraging NFTs as part of its tech stack.

When Sam Trabucco left Alameda, he mentioned he would be spending time on his new boat. Filings discovered as part of FTX’s bankruptcy have now revealed that his $2.5m boat was purchased by FTX/Alameda.

ETHEREUM’S VITALIK BUTERIN SELLS $500K OF MAKER (MKR) TOKENS

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin sold all his MakerDAO MKR tokens for $581,000 after Rune Christensen mentioned using Solana’s tech stack to create an appchain for MakerDAO.

A dormant FTX wallet bridged $10m in crypto from Solana to Ethereum, igniting fears that the liquidation of FTX’s holdings will soon begin.

FOLLOWING GRAYSCALE'S WIN

JPMorgan predicts the SEC will likely approve multiple spot bitcoin ETFs following Grayscale's legal victory against the SEC.