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COINBASE BUYS STAKE IN CIRCLE, DISSOLVING USDC ISSUER CENTRE

Coinbase has acquired a stake in Circle, dissolving the Centre Consortium which issues the USDC stablecoin. Now, Circle will continue independently as the sole issuer of USDC. Revenue from interest on the dollar reserves backing USDC will now be split equally between the two companies. Circle also plans to launch USDC on six additional blockchains by the end of October. This is yet another example of Coinbase’s shift away from trading commission revenue toward a diversified revenue mix.

FRIEND.TECH RENAMES ITS TOKEN—BUT IS IT EVEN LEGAL?

Friend.tech has captured the attention of the crypto world and mainstream influencers alike, generating over $3 million in fees over the past week. However, the app, still in beta, originally used the term “shares” to refer to the token you bought to gain access to user chat rooms. The term is almost always used to refer to ownership in companies, so it could potentially mislead users and easily raise red flags for regulators, something many people called attention to. In light of this, the app, still gaining steam, has recoined the term for access to user chat rooms as “keys”.

SALALAH FREE ZONE

Oman has unveiled a new, $350 million Bitcoin mining facility in the Salalah Free Zone. The Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Information Technology initiated the project, aiming to establish Oman as a leading global mining hub. Overseen by Exahertz International, the facility is expected to create new jobs and make significant strides in the local economy. Additionally, a similar project has kicked off in Kyrgyzstan, using hydroelectric power for mining operations.

SILO LLAMA

Silo Finance has launched Silo Llama, utilizing $crvUSD as its sole bridge asset. It allows $crvUSD lenders to lend or borrow against any token asset, with increased capital efficiency, yield opportunities, and utility. The protocol uses a risk-isolated design, ensuring depositor security and allowing lenders to control their risk exposure. The interest rate model is adjustable depending on the collateral's risk, ensuring fair compensation. The product is now live with various silos including $CRV, $LINK, $rETH, and $OHM.

THE SOLANA READING LIST: CURATED LIST OF USEFUL SOLANA RESOURCES

The bear market is a great time to research different chains and protocols and form new theses or strategies for a potential bull market. This reading list is a fantastic resource to get started with if you’re doing this and Solana is one of the chains you’re wanting to learn more about. From a broad overview to historical context to technical topics, this list is everything you need to know to get a feel for Solana.

DIVING INTO PROGRAM VERIFICATION WITH ZKPROOFS

How do zkProofs work and what do they look like on-chain? zkProofs can be an intimidating and confusing topic but seeing how they actually function makes it more intuitive. This thread takes a deep dive on this topic and tracks a Worldcoin zk Verifier transaction, where instead of submitting thousands of ids on chain, the protocol submits a smaller zkProof. It then explains how to check the Verification Key for this transaction.

BEING ONBRAND, ONCHAIN

This article from the Collab + Currency team examines whether brands' ventures into web3 so far have been successful. Brands such as Tiffany & Co, Reddit, and DraftKings have been experimenting with blockchain-based initiatives like NFT collections and avatar collectibles. Some of these brands are missing the mark, while others are capitalizing on web3's potential to foster culture and community, an area where traditional brands have been constrained. The article goes on to explain that beyond the tech, this is one of the most important benefits of crypto for brands.

WHY CRYPTO COULD 10X IN THE COMING YEARS

This thread outlines 10 reasons why crypto has the potential for a 10x in the coming years, pointing to factors like the rise of stablecoins, growing institutional adoption, advancements in financial technology, increasing societal use of crypto, and a consistent influx of intellectual capital into the crypto space.

SOLO MINER BAGS ENTIRE BLOCK REWARD WITH JUST 1PH OF POWER

In a feat that statistically would happen only once in 450 years, a solo miner with 1 petahash of power astoundingly won a 6.25 bitcoin block reward worth $162,000.

SERIES A

NFT platform Recur is shutting down after raising $50 million in Series A less than 2 years ago. Despite previous success, "unforeseen challenges" led to its closure amid a stagnant NFT market.

ENTERING THE ‘CRYPTO APP PHASE’

This thread explains how we’ve entered into a new phase in crypto, transitioning from hardcore DeFi usage to crypto apps. There is now a minimum viable set of infrastructure available that makes it possible to build consumer apps with decent UX.

GUIDANCE

Coin Center is suggesting US lawmakers adjust crypto tax laws, emphasizing de minimis exemptions, privacy concerns, and clearer definitions.

DAY

Coinbase's offshore derivatives exchange has seen a surge in daily trading volumes, reaching up to $287m. Launched in May, the platform has onboarded 50 institutions and generated $5.5B in volume in its first seven weeks. The aim of this product is to accelerate Coinbase's global expansion amidst challenging regulatory conditions domestically.

TORNADO CASH OFAC RULING

The government has officially won its case alleging Tornado Cash committed OFAC violations. The courts deemed the Tornado Cash entity as sanctionable, based on grounds that the founders, DAO, and developers profited from smart contracts used for mixing funds - some of which were tied to suspect activities. Critics argue key legal concerns were not properly addressed, including the lack of process for US citizens whose funds are now trapped in the Tornado Cash contract.

COURTYARD.IO’S NEW MARKETPLACE

Courtyard.io has launched a new marketplace facilitating the trade of physical collectibles on-chain. The marketplace provides a tokenization service to simplify the ownership, management, and trading of physical items for any kind of collector. Building on its previous successes tokenizing real-world assets, Courtyard.io offers features such as instant wallet creation, zero gas fees, crypto or credit payment options, and passive income potential for users. This move aims to tap into the $400B collectibles market.

ETHEREUM DEVELOPERS TO DEBUT NEW TESTNET 'HOLESKY' NEXT MONTH

Ethereum core developers are working to launch a new testnet named 'Holesky' next month. This move is intended to improve the testing environment and solve ether supply issues currently affecting other testnets. While an exact number hasn’t been nailed down yet, developers have mentioned the testnet having 1 billion testnet ETH, which would make testnet ETH significantly easier to acquire and speed up development.

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO FRIEND TECH

Friend Tech, the recently launched SocialFi platform backed by Paradigm, took Crypto Twitter by storm last week and even started attracting mainstream influencers over the weekend. While the app is still in beta and buggy at times, it’s being praised as having a great UX that other crypto apps should aspire to. It’s a different onboarding experience from most crypto apps, so if you want to try it out, this thread is a great guide to getting started.

NAVIGATING THE L2 LANDSCAPE

Ethereum L2s have been seemingly launching left and right during the bear market. Arbitrum dropped its token, Base and Binance launched L2s on the OP stack, and a myriad of zk rollups have been launched. This thread lays out a strategy for understanding and navigating the L2 landscape. The strategy hinges on two main points: studying the technology of each chain and considering the financial opportunities, both with the chain’s underlying token and the protocols built on the chain.

TIME

The ‘Flippening’, the potential of Ethereum surpassing Bitcoin in market cap, has been a hotly debated topic over the past few years. Bitcoin has the upper hand as far as its lindy effect relative to Ethereum and has more mainstream awareness. However, with a fixed supply, Bitcoin is simply a store of value, while Ethereum is a smart contract platform that all sorts of financial activity can happen on top of. With its updated PoS security model, Ethereum is also deflationary at times. This article discusses the topic further and makes the case for the ‘Flippening’ to happen.

LAYER 2 WARS HEAT UP AS COINBASE LAUNCHES BASE

This Forbes article discusses Coinbase’s launch of Base and how the competitive landscape of L2s is shaping up. Base offers faster and less inexpensive transactions than the base layer while maintaining full EVM compatibility. Since its launch, Base has already achieved a TVL ranking of fifth among Ethereum L2s, attracting over $200 million in value. With an explosion of activity between memecoins and now innovative apps like Friend Tech, it has also generated the most revenue of any L2 since its launch.

THE CASE FOR A 2024/2025 BULL RUN

This thread lays out the case for a 2024/2025 bull run by comparing the current part of the cycle to 2019.

EXPLANATION OF ARBITRUM’S ISSUES OVER THE WEEKEND

Over the weekend, for about an hour, it seemed as if Arbitrum went down, causing a bit of a stir. In reality, it was a different issue that caused the batch poster to stop. In this thread, Offchain Labs’ - the team behind Arbitrum - CTO explains the issue.

In the wake of OpenSea’s decision to sunset creator royalty enforcement, Yuga Labs announced it would be discontinuing support for OpenSea’s Seaport contract in future collections or updates to existing contracts.

APPROVAL

Creditors will vote on Celsius’ plans to sell its assets to the Fahrenheit consortium, with creditors possibly recovering 67%-85% of holdings, now that a judge has approved of the plan.

SEC SET TO GREENLIGHT ETHER-FUTURES ETFS IN WIN FOR CRYPTO INDUSTRY

The SEC is reportedly preparing to approve the first Ether futures-based ETFs. Several firms, including Volatility Shares, Bitwise, Roundhill, and ProShares, have filed to launch such ETFs. The SEC approved a Bitcoin futures ETF in 2021 after Bitcoin futures trading was allowed on the CME, so it would make sense for them to also approve an Ether futures ETF. This comes at the same time many companies are vying to launch ETFs based on spot Bitcoin itself, which has been a slower approval process.

THURSDAY

Bitcoin dropped 9% on Thursday, following a macro selloff as a result of the Fed indicating further rate hikes, the announcement of Evergrande’s bankruptcy, and reports that SpaceX had written down the $373m worth of Bitcoin it acquired in 2021. This comes along with news that Tesla sold approximately 75% of its Bitcoin holdings after a $1.5B investment. The price drop precipitated by these events was exacerbated by massive liquidations of leveraged traders.

PROVIDERS

The BNB Chain team has advanced to the next step of its opBNB rollout, an EVM-compatible L2 network, from the testnet phase to being available for infrastructure providers. Already, decentralized apps on the network have a TVL of $1.4m, due in large part to liquidity from DEX BinarySwap. Much like Coinbase’s Base, Binance’s opBNB is built on Optimism's OP Stack, utilizing optimistic rollup technology to scale.

SCROLL ENTERS FINAL TESTNET PHASE BEFORE MAINNET LAUNCH

Scroll has launched its Beta testnet, Scroll Sepolia, for developers and users, offering advancements such as improved EVM compatibility and efficient on-chain verification. The new testnet also features an upgraded bridging protocol for trustless message relay. Additional enhancements include streamlined circuit capacity checking, enhanced coordinator functionality, and improved EVM compatibility. Scroll's testnet on Sepolia will serve as the main testing platform for future upgrades and application testing and will be the final testnet phase before mainnet launch.

JAPAN AIMING TO BE THE CRYPTO CAPITAL OF ASIA ONCE AGAIN

Japan, once known as the "Crypto Capital of Asia", is making strides to reclaim its title with promising developments in the space. The government has been showing robust support for web3, providing a clear regulatory framework and focusing on areas like NFTs, metaverses, and DAOs. Coupled with the country's strong collectibles culture and digital familiarity, major corporations are showing interest in these technologies, signaling a potential resurgence in Japan's crypto market.

THE 4 PHASES OF A BULL MARKET

This post outlines a playbook for navigating through the 4 phases of a Bull market: the Accumulation Phase, Early Bull Market, Peak Bull Market, and Mark Down Phase. Each phase comes with unique challenges and opportunities. The post provides strategies designed to maximize profits and minimize common mistakes. We’re nearing the end of Phase 1, which would mean things are about to get real exciting.

THE CROSS-DOMAIN THESIS PART 1: SETTING THE STAGE

This blog details how the blockchain ecosystem is becoming increasingly fragmented due to the continuous addition of rollups and app-chains, on a seemingly daily basis, creating dispersed users and scattered yields. This fragmentation highlights the increasing need for aggregation so that both the markets and the UX can remain clean and efficient.

A KEY FEATURE OF NFTS HAS COMPLETELY BROKEN

This article describes the disillusionment some have with the NFT space over OpenSea's unfulfilled promises for creator monetization. Ongoing royalties were one of the main selling points for NFTs to artists and creators during the bull run, but the problem with them is that they were never truly enforceable. Marketplaces had an incentive to race to the bottom on fees, including royalties, to capture market share. Many industry players suggest that artists will have to find alternative methods of monetization as royalties are not likely to make a comeback.

LARGEST LIQUIDATIONS IN A SINGLE DAY IN ALMOST TWO YEARS

BTC and ETH dropped sharply yesterday, leading to the biggest day of liquidations since January 2022. More longs were liquidated yesterday than any single day during the LUNA or FTX debacles.

MORE INTEREST RATE HIKES MAY STILL BE ON DECK, FEDERAL RESERVE WARNS

The Fed warned yesterday that more rate hikes could be on the horizon - even though investors had been expecting a slowdown in rate hikes soon - sending the stock market and crypto market down sharply.

WEEKLY ALPHA

In case you missed some of the many launches and protocol updates, here is a good roundup of what happened over the past week.

GRAYSCALE IS HIRING FOR ETF TEAM AS BITCOIN DECISION LOOMS

Grayscale is hiring for its ETF team ahead of an expected SEC lawsuit ruling, signaling optimism about the outcome.

TO ELIGIBLE CLIENTS

Coinbase has approval from the National Futures Association to operate as a futures commission merchant. The endorsement allows Coinbase to offer eligible US customers access to crypto futures trading from its platforms. As of now, the company is able to provide BTC and ETH futures products. This is a huge win for Coinbase. It also discounts the SEC’s claims that Coinbase isn’t willing to register properly.

VALUATION

US-based crypto custody firm BitGo announced it raised $100m in funding at a $1.75 billion valuation. While many folks in the industry raised their eyebrows at this valuation, BitGo, which safeguards crypto assets, says its focus on regulatory compliance garnered investor interest. CEO Mike Belshe remained tight-lipped about the investors’ identities but revealed they were from the US and Asia. The funds will be used to fuel strategic acquisitions, with two deals already underway.

SUAVE-GETH MEV SUPPLY CHAIN TOOL

SUAVE-geth is the first step in the development process for a tool called SUAVE Centauri designed to decentralize the MEV supply chain. Its functionalities include confidential execution for smart contracts, transaction simulation, block building, and relay boosting. Users can deploy confidential smart contracts, execute transactions confidentially, and securely store and retrieve confidential data. SUAVE-geth operates via a Golang SUAVE client incorporating chain nodes and execution nodes.

CACTI - NATURAL LANGUAGE INTERACTIONS FOR WEB3 PROTOCOLS

Yield Protocol is launching a new open-source project called Cacti. Cacti allows users to trade assets and retrieve information from integrated web3 protocols using natural language. The aim of the project is to revolutionize the experience users have while interacting on-chain. Currently in alpha, the interface leverages OpenAI’s function calling feature. It is being developed under an AGPLv3 license to enable contributions from web3 developers, with integration possible through Javascript or Python.

INCENTIVE SCHEMES FOR ROLLUP VALIDATORS

This thread provides a good summary of a recent paper by Offchain Labs that discusses potential solutions to incentivize validators on rollups. The crux of the problem in the paper is that optimistic protocols generally have a “lazy validator dilemma” and that there is currently not a great solution addressing this.

IS SOLANA GOING TO ZERO OR VALHALLA

The Solana ecosystem has been resilient, despite taking a significant hit from the collapse of FTX due to its close ties to the exchange, and developers have kept plugging away. Innovations such as isolated fee markets, stake-weighted QoS, and compression have been launched on Solana, fortifying its fundamentals. Solana itself outperformed as market conditions and the majors, BTC and ETH, rebounded. The strong fundamentals and the deployment of future liquidity mining programs could set the stage for a Solana 'DeFi summer' moment and its path to Valhalla.

Shibarium was supposed to be an Ethereum L2 that would utilize Shiba Inu for gas fees and also allow BONE, TREAT, and LEASH tokens to be used in the ecosystem. To kick off the launch, users had to bridge ETH to Shibarium. Unfortunately, the Shibarium devs botched the bridge contract and the ETH that was bridged, over $1.7m worth at one point, is now stuck and unretrievable.

AGAINST SBF

Prosecutors intend to present Caroline Ellison’s personal notes and diary entries as evidence against Sam Bankman-Fried. The notes contain information about the operations of FTX and discussions between Ellison and Bankman-Fried about the company's activities. Bankman-Fried's lawyers have argued against these entries being admissible due to the delayed provision of information from the prosecution.

THE OPEN PROBLEMS OF ON-CHAIN GAMES

This post from Paradigm explains the challenges on-chain games currently face, including technical constraints and the inherent financialization that may alter game incentives and mechanics.

AN IDEA FOR A FULLY ON-CHAIN BANK

In this thread, Kyle Samani of Multicoin suggests an idea for a crypto-native bank. Ideally, this bank would allow users to keep 100% of their net worth on-chain while still providing the conveniences of autopay, credit card transactions, etc.