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SEC Chair Gary Gensler faced criticism from lawmakers regarding his crypto regulation approach during a House hearing. He was questioned about the classification of bitcoin, how that compared to other assets like Pokemon cards, and the approval of bitcoin ETFs. Lawmakers also expressed concerns over Gensler's transparency with Congress, especially regarding interactions with crypto exchange FTX.
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is reportedly planning to offer trading of US-listed stocks and ETFs, a first in the company's history. Launching via a new division, Kraken Securities, the service aims to go live in 2024. The move positions Kraken to compete with players like Robinhood and Public.com in the zero-commission market. While the "crypto winter" likely pushed Kraken to pursue this new product line, the company has still managed to grow its market share on the crypto side despite the brutal market conditions.
Gevulot is a fully permissionless and programmable layer 1 blockchain for deploying proof systems as on-chain programs. It features high liveness guarantees, predictable fees, and performance to match centralized provers. Gevulot allows users to deploy proof systems and interact with them as easily as they would with a smart contract.
Chainlink has expanded its Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol to Base, enabling increased cross-chain communication between this up-and-coming chain and others supported by CCIP. With the inclusion of CCIP, developers can create applications that can communicate and execute transactions across multiple blockchains. The move is another step in Chainlink’s plan to boost blockchain interoperability and utilization.
Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE), a cutting-edge cryptography method that enables computations on encrypted data, could revolutionize blockchain development. The technology allows transactions to leave a user's wallet encrypted, providing end-to-end encryption for the first time in web3. A team at Fhenix announced it is developing the first FHE-based blockchain, supported by a seed funding round led by ColliderVC and Multicoin Capital.
TON's recent sudden surge in price took many by surprise. TON is building a decentralized internet infrastructure that comprises four key components: the TON Blockchain, TON DNS, TON Storage, and TON Sites. Its ecosystem has over 800 million users worldwide. This thread looks at TON, the history behind the token, and why its potential shouldn't be underestimated.
Critics argue the adoption of crypto is delayed by issues with UX. However, Li Jin, co-founder of Variant, argues that the real issue is the lack of products people genuinely want, indicating a missing product-market fit. Jin calls for crypto creators to build products that satisfy a wider variety of human needs, not solely financial ones. They believe this will facilitate wider adoption of crypto and create a richer online experience.
The SEC is evaluating filings for spot crypto ETFs from Franklin Templeton and Hashdex. It has delayed decisions on VanEck's and ARK’s ether ETF applications. The regulator has until late May 2024 to rule on these applications. It has also postponed deadlines for spot bitcoin ETF submissions from Ark 21Shares and Global X.
This repo provides a simple tool for minting Runes, a new fungible token standard for bitcoin proposed by Ordinals creator Casey Rodarmor.
Binance is exiting Russia, selling its operations to newly-launched CommEX and ceasing all services in the coming months due to compliance issues, with no ongoing revenue shares or buyback options post-sale.
A US Bankruptcy Court approved BlockFi's liquidation plan, moving closer to repaying customers. However, the final payout still depends on BlockFi's legal outcomes with FTX and other firms.
Idris Elba, cautious about the crypto frenzy during the bull run, recently partnered with Stellar Development Foundation to explore crypto's potential for financial inclusion.