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Grayscale, VanEck, and ARK have obtained listings for their potential spot bitcoin ETFs on various exchanges, pending final clearance from the SEC. This is encouraging news as attempts to set up a Bitcoin ETF in the US over the past decade have been continually rebuffed by the SEC citing excessive risk for investors. However, many are expecting positive news of approvals to come any day now.
A former group of Citi executives is planning to offer Bitcoin-backed securities, bypassing the need for SEC approval. The venture, Receipts Depositary Corp., will offer depositary receipts that will give institutional investors direct ownership of the digital assets. This approach aims to meet the needs of investors seeking Bitcoin investments not fully addressed by a possible spot ETF.
IoTeX's W3bstream is addressing Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network scalability issues by using an L2 'rollup' network that aggregates data through Ethereum's Rollup-centric roadmap. The network processes large amounts of data from various IoT devices using a combination of TEE-based and ZKP-based data collection methods. While W3bstream itself relies on the IoTeX blockchain, it can support any DePIN project on any chain.
Riema Labs is launching Nubit, a breakthrough product designed to cut the cost of Bitcoin transactions. Nubit introduces the first Bitcoin-native data availability layer, minimizing trust requirements and boosting data throughput. It's estimated that it could reduce storage costs on the Bitcoin network by up to 99%.
NodeMonkes, a project of digital artworks known as Bitcoin Ordinals, has been the talk of the NFT space since launching last month. These digital assets are not actually NFTs but Ordinals inscribed on Bitcoin. NodeMonkes claims to be the first original 10k Ordinals collection. The team actually inscribed the collection as Ordinals early last year, giving a large portion of the collection the ‘sub-100k’ inscription status, but waited for more favorable market conditions to officially launch the project.
This post explores the idea of constant leverage, an automated investment strategy that can yield high returns while also exposing the investor to potentially significant losses. Constant leverage is a commonly used approach in traditional finance markets, with many structured products built for this purpose. However, these products typically come with hefty fees. Leveraging DeFi to create similar products in the crypto space could enhance the returns of this type of strategy and improve visibility of what is actually going into the products.
Privacy-focused digital voting systems are emerging as a key tool for combating centralized control, surveillance, and the erosion of civil liberties. This report presents a comparative analysis of various private voting protocols in the Ethereum ecosystem, ranging from MACI and Semaphore to Plume and RLN. These systems utilize features like zero-knowledge proofs and privacy components to ensure secure, resilient, and confidential voting. The report aims to help developers choose the right protocols for their specific needs, assisting in the development of applications that value digital privacy.
Ethereum's ‘fastest L2’, Eclipse, powered by the Solana Virtual Machine, has revealed detailed plans to enhance scalability and security features for DeFi applications. The architecture has three layers: execution, settlement, and data availability. Eclipse fosters user-friendly bridges for depositing and withdrawing funds and regularly publishes data blobs in batches for data availability. Furthermore, it implements a challenge period for fraud-proof submission in case of invalid state transitions, ensuring the security of transactions.
A recent survey revealed that less than 40% of financial advisors are confident in a 2024 spot bitcoin ETF approval in the US. However, nearly 90% say an approval would make them more interested in buying BTC on behalf of their clients.
Visa is introducing a web3 loyalty service with gamified elements and digital wallets for rewards, aiming to innovate traditional loyalty programs with a focus on customer engagement.
Hackers are increasingly targeting verified 'gold' and 'grey' checkmarked X accounts, selling them on the black market and using them for crypto scams.
Tiny SPL, a new token standard on Solana, allows token ownership without incurring rent fees through state compression technology.