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SEC FILES RIPPLE APPEAL IN CHALLENGE TO XRP SECURITIES OUTCOME

After losing its case against Ripple Labs, the SEC is now requesting an uncommon interlocutory appeal. The appeal is primarily focused on the previous ruling that deemed Ripple's XRP token's programmatic sales were not securities. The SEC argues that an interlocutory review would prevent potential lengthy processes in the ongoing case. Ripple Labs is set to respond to the SEC's request next week.

REGIME

The Bank of England is moving forward with plans to regulate systemic stablecoins, cryptocurrencies tied to other assets' values. The rules aim to ensure customers do not lose funds in these stablecoins and that companies that leverage them are able to ensure continuity. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 has endowed the BoE with the powers to establish this regulatory regime.

Fantom is exploring transitioning to an optimistic rollup on top of Ethereum, similar to a recent move by the Celo Network. With both the OP and Arbitrum Stacks as candidates, this move could improve security and give access to more liquidity from the Ethereum ecosystem. While most people would view Fantom as a traditional L2, Fantom’s co-founder Andre Cronje sees it as a sidechain bridging mechanism. Despite its potential, Cronje warns the increased security could be compromised if other bridges connect to the linked blockchains.

MESO LAUNCHING FOR EARLY ADOPTERS

Meso, an on- and off-ramp protocol, is opening for early access and seeking user input before its official launch. The platform offers an innovative approach to transferring funds seamlessly between banks and wallets. It promises efficient and low-cost transfers between banking institutions and wallets without forfeiting self-custody. Meso aims to ensure user safety with features like two-factor authentication, and has clear plans for future growth with notable partners such as Solana Ventures, Ribbit Capital, and Phantom.

BREAKING DOWN PAYPAL’S STABLECOIN STRATEGY

PayPal announced earlier this week it is making a strategic entry into the stablecoin space with PYUSD, presumably aiming to capitalize on the profitability Tether has experienced with this business model. With existing distribution to hundreds of millions of users, it seems that PayPal will attempt to onboard users to its native stablecoin and then monetize the same way Tether does: through interest bearing assets. This is likely just the start of traditional Web 2.0 and traditional finance companies getting into the stablecoin game, given how attractive the business model is.

SECURITY

This thread explains how to navigate the tricky terrain of crypto security and offers a guide to enhancing wallet security measures. It unpacks the myriad of ways users can unwittingly compromise their crypto wallets, from interacting with scammers on Telegram to accessing malicious websites. Strategies for safeguarding assets include investing in a hardware wallet, switching to safer platforms like Rabby, regularly revoking all contracts, using different wallets for different functions, and being vigilant about which contracts you sign. The thread also cautions on the limitations of hardware wallets, and suggests layered protection.

WHY SAM ALTMAN WANTS TO SCAN TWO BILLION EYES

Sam Altman's Worldcoin created quite the initial buzz but has been subject to a great deal of criticism since launch. Users reported abuse through incentives and even coercion. Critics call it "digital colonialism," citing the misuse of biometric data and potential exploitation. Governments, like Kenya, banned the service over these privacy and security concerns. Meanwhile, Altman argues World ID will be crucial in a future where AI surpasses human capabilities and claims it could somehow help support UBI.

Y00TS MIGRATING FROM POLYGON TO ETHEREUM

DeGods project, y00ts, is planning to migrate from Polygon to Ethereum. It will return 100% of a prior grant they received from Polygon, which will then be utilized for NFT ecosystem development to support creators and builders. Despite the shift, Frank, the y00ts founder, says the project still has a positive relationship with Polygon. The migration date is to be disclosed soon.

COINBASE'S BASE MAINNET OFFICIALLY OPENS TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC

Coinbase’s Base officially launched to the general public yesterday. The chain has generated a lot of buzz over the past couple weeks and even has over 100 dApps already building on it.

UNIBOT ENHANCES SECURITY, MAKING PRIVATE KEYS REMOTE FROM TELEGRAM

Until now, wallets created through Unibot revealed users’ private keys for newly generated wallets directly in Telegram. A new update, dubbed Unibot Cloud, stores users’ private keys on Unibot’s cloud server. While this is still not ideal, it’s much better than the private keys just sitting in Telegram.

WASABI AGGREGATING NFT LIQUIDITY

Wasabi Protocol has introduced Liquidity Aggregation, enabling Buy Now Pay Later functionality for NFTs. Liquidity Aggregation aggregates loans from NFTfi and Zharta and even listings from major marketplaces, offering flexible repayments and the potential for arbitrage.

TETHER VS. BINANCE

Issues between Tether and Binance, such as USD banking issues, Tether redemption problems, Binance's alternative coins, the potential depegging of USDT, and exchanges reconsidering USDT pairs, have been raising concerns.

CRUNCH

Sequoia is scaling back two of its funds as it, along with everyone else, continues to adjust to a challenging environment for crypto. The firm's crypto fund is shrinking from $585 million to $200 million, while its ecosystem fund, a fund of funds, will be pared down from $900 million to $450 million. This reallocation is part of Sequoia's continued response to the tectonic shifts in the market over the past year or so. It is also another example of the dire state of the venture and startup scene in light of interest rate hikes and concerns about the economy.

DEVELOPERS

Amazon has expanded its Amazon Managed Blockchain (AMB) services, adding two new tools. These new tools aim, much like Amazon’s AWS business does in Web 2.0, to simplify core elements of the web3 development process. One of the tools, called AMB Access, expands Amazon’s RPC node offerings empowering developers with highly scalable node access. The other tool that is being rolled out, AMB Query, allows developers to tap into data from the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains via an API. While sentiment around the space is at a low, developments like this and Google’s recent acknowledgment of its commitment to the space show that these companies likely see a lot of potential in serving the crypto industry.

BEAM, THE EASIEST WALLET EVER

Beam has launched a self-custody wallet aimed at simplifying crypto transactions. The wallet will be built on both Optimism and Base, unifying blockchain tech with user-friendly web experiences similar to Venmo or Cash App. The platform will offer unique features like straightforward onboarding processes, stable and low fee transactions, and easy recovery methods using Twitter and standard passwords. Beam is also rolling out innovative technologies like Supersends and Beam Names to facilitate cross-chain transactions and user-friendly interactions.

TBTC REDEMPTIONS ARE LIVE ON MAINNET

Threshold Network has launched tBTC redemptions, a novel mechanism enabling what the team claims as trustless bridging of BTC to tBTC on the ETH network. This allows users to trustlessly move BTC to ETH to leverage DeFi functionality on the chain. When users want to move their tBTC back to BTC and off of ETH, they are able to do so without any reliance on or permission from centralized entities.

SIMPLE SECURITY TOOLKIT

Smart contract development is different from software development. If you make mistakes, there can be extremely serious and immediate consequences. For this reason, the Nascent team has created a Security Toolkit that includes practical guides and checklists for smart contract development. The Toolkit aims to help organizations build secure codebases, prepare for external audits, and ultimately roll out safe smart contracts. The Nascent team likened this toolkit to a pilot’s safety checklist or a physician’s checklist before a medical procedure.

HOW WORLDCOIN IS LEVERAGING ZKPROOFS

This Twitter thread explains how Worldcoin recently registered a set of "identity commitments" - cryptographic proof that one possesses a private key for one of the registered identities. This unique zkProof doesn't reveal specific identities, ensuring privacy. Along with the proof, a public message or "signal" can be attached, e.g., claiming a grant or casting a vote. Since these zkProofs are anonymous, it's impossible to trace them back to an individual. The verification of zkProofs occurs on-chain on Optimism, and Worldcoin uses the Semaphore protocol to further protect privacy.

ENTERING A GOLDEN AGE OF DECENTRALIZED STABLECOINS: WHAT'S NEW?

This blog lays out how the stablecoin market has been seeing significant and sustained innovation with several projects launching new features and making considerable strides. Synthetix is rolling out v3 that could potentially drive sUSD's market cap up, and Liquity is launching its v2 offering a solution to scale stablecoins. Lybra Finance's eUSD stablecoin, a fork of Liquity, is becoming a serious contender to LUSD, with new versions promising omnichain functionality and minting via various collaterals. Meanwhile, MakerDAO's Dai and Frax are undergoing significant transformations, boosting their appeal. Last but not least, Aave's GHO and crvUSD have maintained dominant positions in the DeFi market.

SOLANA’S COMPRESSED NFTS OPEN DOORS TO NEW DISTRIBUTION MODELS

Co-founders of the Solana-based NFT marketplace Tensor, Ilja Moisejevs and Richard Wu, have been promoting compressed NFTs as a cost-efficient method for digital asset creation. This new process considerably reduces the data needed to mint an NFT through "state compression", making these NFTs affordable and thus expanding the potential market. They believe one of the big unlocks of this innovation is that it allows more room for consumer apps to experiment and find novel use cases for NFTs.

FLASHBOTS HOSTING MEV-SHARE CTF

Mark your calendars for August 5, when Flashbots will be hosting 10 MEV-Share challenges in 48 hours.

CONVERTING EVM TO NATIVE MACHINE CODE

Last year, Paradigm’s research team attempted to build out a proof-of-concept for converting EVM to machine code to look for speed increases. They’re open to developers trying their hand at productionizing this PoC.

YOUR WEEKLY ALPHA ROUNDUP

It’s that time of the week again. This tweet has your weekly roundup of important news and events covering DeFi, governance proposals, an outline of next week’s calendar of events, general crypto news, and tweets of the week.

DO THE SAME

Suku and Polygon collaborated on a promotion allowing users to create wallets and transfer crypto via Twitter, aiming to simplify crypto adoption. They also demonstrated 'tweet-minting' of NFTs.

LANDMARK CRYPTO MARKET OVERHAUL BILL ADVANCES PAST FIRST COMMITTEE

The US House Financial Services Committee has made progress on crypto regulation with a proposed bill designed to clarify aspects of digital assets and their market status. The bill, aiming to provide a way for a digital asset to transition from a security to a commodity, had mixed support and opposition from both sides of the aisle. However, it managed to advance with a bipartisan vote of 35-15. The House Agriculture Committee will also debate the proposed legislation as it has some jurisdiction over the proposal.

Binance is set to relaunch in Japan next month. This comes after the company faced a regulatory warning from Japan's Financial Services Agency two years ago for operating without authorization. Binance will not simply relaunch in the country. It is coming back via the acquisition of already regulatory compliant Sakura Exchange BitCoin, which closed in November of last year.

DEPLOYS CODE AT THEIR ACCOUNT

A new Ethereum Improvement Proposal aims to make it easier for users to transition from Externally Owned Accounts to smart contract wallets. The proposal introduces a new EIP-2718 transaction type that alters the sending account's code field in the state trie and applies tuples to the sender's storage trie. By expediting user adoption of smart contract wallets, the EIP hopes to promote better support and integrations, prompting the mechanism to stop being seen as a niche use case. Critical concerns include account security and ensuring wallet providers facilitate safe transactions.

ETHEREUM GENERATIVE ART CHALLENGER HIGHLIGHT TAKES ON ART BLOCKS

A new digital art marketplace, Highlight, has launched as the first "open access" generative art platform on the Ethereum blockchain. Backed by Haun Ventures and fresh off an $11 million funding round, Highlight offers free use with no artist fees. Instead of relying on a curatorial model that often restricts artist accessibility, Highlight simplifies the process with easy-to-use tools and encourages experimentation with different media types. While the platform will be free for artists to use, it will generate revenue through small fees from buyers. In addition to Ethereum, Highlight also plans to support other networks with cheaper transactions.

AN UPDATE ON THE ON-CHAIN DERIVATIVES SECTOR

This Twitter thread highlights how the DeFi sector is becoming more and more competitive as user adoption increases. Decentralized exchanges, despite doing only 2% of CEX trading volume, are generating billions in volume daily. GMX, one of the leading players, is losing market share amid rising competition. Its v2 launch's success will be vital. Synthetix is the largest protocol, but it has a suboptimal revenue model. Meanwhile, Gains is an undervalued project, while Level and Perp show less potential. MUX stands out as an interesting up-and-coming protocol based on its metrics and early traction.

PROJECTS

Lattice Fund conducted an analysis of 780 seed stage crypto projects from the 2021 vintage to see where they are now as a group. The report reveals that about 70% of the projects have shipped a product to mainnet or equivalent, while 20% have closed or halted development, and only around 5% have found Product Market Fit. Ethereum continues to dominate among L1s, with companies on Ethereum showing some of the best levels of traction. However, companies that have gone multichain have had the most success raising follow-on rounds and finding Product Market Fit.

THE FUTURE OF PAYMENTS INCLUDES STABLECOINS

This article highlights key considerations for legislation around stablecoins. As regulation around cryptocurrencies assumes focus worldwide, regulators should address user risks by setting risk-management standards, potentially including balance verification, and reserve asset requirements for centralized issuers of US dollar-linked stablecoins. Legislation should also support competition among stablecoins and other financial services, setting clear regulations for stablecoin use and guaranteeing open access for consumers. Furthermore, legislation should support innovation in stablecoins, allowing a variety of forms, assuming adherence to consumer protection and suitable risk-management rules.

A SIMILAR ONE SOLD ON SUPERRARE

Christie's is recognizing the challenge of keeping pace with crypto-native marketplaces in the digital art market. Based on an unsuccessful recent sale of a ‘Lost Robbie’ NFT, the difficulty isn't attributed to declining interest in digital art, according to Christie's digital art specialist, Sebastian Sanchez. Instead, he stressed that the inherent competitiveness, decentralization, and dynamism of NFT marketplaces like SuperRare or OpenSea are still something the auction house is learning to navigate. To compete, Christie's has shifted some of its traditional strategies, like dropping buyer premiums and highlighting its unique in-person programming and exhibitions.

BITCOIN'S PRICE RISES AFTER FED HIKES RATES AS EXPECTED

Bitcoin rose slightly after the Fed raised interest rates by the expected 25 basis points, marking its 11th hike in 17 months.

ON REAL WORLD ASSETS

In this Twitter thread, Kyle Samani explains how the framing of discussions on RWAs is wrong and how he views this nascent market.

BITCOIN MINERS BUY UP RIGS AS PRICES NEAR ALL-TIME LOWS

Bitcoin mining rig prices have hit a near all-time low due to decreasing profitability from bitcoin volatility and rising costs. This price drop is providing an opportunity for miners to upgrade their equipment ahead of the expected Bitcoin halving in 2024.

WHAT’S THE ENDGAME FOR SOLANA

The Head of DeFi BD for the Solana Foundation recently discussed Solana's competitive advantages, plans for recovery after its TVL drop and the general bear market downturn, and aim to attract a billion users. This Twitter thread breaks down what she had to say about all of this and more.

CUSTOMERS

Amidst regulatory concerns, Coinbase is terminating its Borrow program for retail customers, officially sunsetting it on November 20. The move comes after it disallowed new loans earlier in May. Borrow users have until the end date to repay any remaining balances, and Coinbase will sell any Bitcoin collateral needed to close the loans. This decision is confined to retail customers and doesn't impact institutional users or Coinbase Prime customers. The decision to scrap the Borrow program happens amidst ongoing legal dispute between Coinbase and the SEC.

INVESTOR GROUP NEARS $125 MILLION DEAL FOR COINDESK

An investors group, headed by Matthew Roszak from Tally Capital and Peter Vessenes from Capital6, is on the verge of buying cryptocurrency media firm CoinDesk for around $125 million. The deal is in its final stages. CoinDesk is owned by DCG, which has had a myriad of financial issues this year. Since these issues began, DCG has been looking for suitors to help remedy the situation. The parent company hired Lazard back in January to begin exploring a sale.

STARKNET LAUNCHING APPCHAINS

Starknet is launching Appchains to provide applications with more customization and performance capabilities. Appchains allow applications to utilize Starknet’s technology while modifying it to meet the application's unique needs. Starknet, known for its scalability, will offer apps additional throughput and an enhanced user experience. The benefits of Appchains also include customizability, decentralization, and expressiveness, allowing for unique features, blockchain parameters, and increased network security. The underlying Cairo-powered Starknet Stack utilizes a Rust-like and ergonomic language for more expressive smart contracts.

SYNTHETIX LAUNCHES TELEPORTERS WITH CHAINLINK’S CCIP

Synthetix has integrated Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol into its v3 protocol, marking a groundbreaking use of Chainlink CCIP. The upgrade allows for efficient and secure cross-chain transfers of sUSD via the Synthetix Teleporter, initially facilitating movements between Ethereum and Optimism. This development opens a pathway for additional expansions to other EVM-compatible chains. The integration establishes shared collateral across multiple chains while keeping the total supply of sUSD constant. Synthetix is also exploring the possibility of utilizing Chainlink CCIP for cross-chain synthetic perpetual futures and staking pools, among other uses.

PUNK 6529 ON ENS NAMES

In this Twitter thread, Punk 6529 breaks down how NFTs can be useful beyond just being collectibles, specifically focusing on ENS. Many NFTs to date have been purely collectible or experimental, but ENS exhibits exceptional utility and real network effects. Many applications integrate ENS as a standard practice and a vast number of users have adopted ENS names as their identities, so a large network effect has already been built out. Additionally, the names are a great alternative to confusing blockchain addresses, akin to domain names versus IP addresses. Many people will argue that you could use other name spaces like .sol or .crypto, but .eth is basically a parallel to .com in the 90s, so infrastructure should keep being built on top of ENS.

BREAKING DOWN THE TELEGRAM BOT TREND

Telegram trading bots have been all the rage over the past month or so. These bots can automate all manner of on-chain transactions, such as sniping DEX listings, tracking wallets, managing airdrops, and bridging funds. They provide a simple interface on a platform that many crypto users are already spending vast amounts of time on for regular peer-to-peer communications, making them an ideal solution for a number of core issues in crypto, like poor user interface. Protocols like Maestro and Unibot are leading the market - Maestro is generating over $140k in daily fees, and Unibot's token has surged over 100x in just two months.

HOW COINBASE ALLOWS YOU TO EARN CONTINUOUS YIELD ON USDC

This Twitter thread breaks down how USDC on Coinbase's Advanced Trade retains its ability to earn rewards, even when limit orders are placed with the funds. Funds rest on the order book and are only filled once the set limit – possibly lower than the current market price – is reached. Even though these funds are inaccessible during that time, users continue to earn rewards, provided they are eligible for USDC incentives. Importantly, this only happens with USDC and not USD on the platform. This novel feature is not yet available on any other crypto platform or traditional finance products.

FROM BANKS

In an interview at EthCC, Chainlink's co-founder Sergey Nazarov explained how he foresees banks adopting their own blockchains and connecting them via Chainlink's newly launched CCIP protocol. Nazarov suggests this could inject trillions of dollars into the crypto space. As banks tokenize real-world assets, they are predicted to want their own blockchain to maintain complete control. Chainlink's CCIP infrastructure facilitates secure movement of assets between blockchains and is currently being tested with crypto projects. Nazarov expects banks to develop their own stablecoins operating cross-chain via CCIP, once regulations allow for it.

CYMBAL, THE HUMAN READABLE BLOCK EXPLORER

Cymbal, a tech firm including team members from Meta, Microsoft, and Hulu, is aiming to make blockchain data more understandable for everyone with its newly launched human-readable block explorer.

COMPLICATED ROUTE' TO REGISTER WITH THE SEC

This article explains how Morgan Stanley-backed Securitize Inc. navigated a complex three-year process to become one of the few crypto companies registered with the SEC, a task others in the sector argue is excessively challenging.

UK GOVERNMENT REJECTS LAWMAKER PLAN TO REGULATE CRYPTO AS GAMBLING

The UK government rejected proposals to regulate crypto like gambling, arguing that existing plans to apply traditional financial rules better address crypto-associated risks.

SEQUOIA SHAKES UP VC TEAM, SHEDS TWO CRYPTO INVESTORS

Sequoia Capital, one of the most high profile VC firms, is experiencing a significant leadership transition following the departures of five key investors, including two of their crypto investors.

Bankrupt crypto firm Celsius has reached an agreement with creditors and Series B investors for a $25 million settlement to be drawn from the sale of self-custody platform GK8 to Galaxy Digital. The deal may not cover all legal expenses and unfairly provides an advantage to a specific group. Celsius filed for bankruptcy after troubles following its Series B, which was led by growth equity firm Westcap and a Quebec pension fund. Former CEO, Alex Mashinsky, was recently arrested as part of an investigation into the company's collapse.