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NEW BITCOIN STANDARD BRC-69 REMOVES DATA LIMIT FOR ORDINALS

FXHASH 2.0 - EXPANDING TO ETHEREUM

Tezos-based generative art platform, fxhash, is planning to make a big move with fxhash 2.0, expanding its on-chain minting services to Ethereum. After this integration, users will have the freedom to choose Ethereum or Tezos based on which one is best suited to their needs. The expansion aims to offer a seamless user experience regardless of the chosen chain, with an eye towards simply celebrating art rather than focusing on which chain it’s on. In fact, fxhash 2.0 will display both Tezos-minted and Ethereum-minted pieces right next to each other in the marketplace. fxhash is slated to release the multichain update by Fall or Winter of this year.

DECIPHERING GMX V2: THE NEXT WAVE OF DECENTRALIZED PERPS

THE ULTIMATE AIRDROP DASHBOARD

The Ultimate Airdrop Dashboard as a way to keep up with different potential airdrops on the horizon and to provide a convenient way to get info about them. This thread lays out some of the top potential upcoming airdrops and gives overviews of the projects. LayerZero has developed an interoperability protocol that connects different blockchain networks, raising $260M. Other projects on the dashboard include zkSync, a trustless protocol enabling cost-effective transactions; StarkNet, a permissionless ZK-Rollup providing scale for Ethereum-based dApps; and MetaMask, the most popular hot wallet in the space.

HONG KONG URGED TO ISSUE STABLECOIN TO COMPETE WITH TETHER AND USDC

GETTING TO THE SYNTHETIX V3 END GAME

DEFI 'CIRCUIT BREAKER' COULD DRASTICALLY REDUCE HACKS AND THEFTS

NFTS AS THIS CYCLE’S ALT COINS

In the wake of a massive capitulation event in NFTs, Electric Capital’s founder gave some perspective on the tech and his outlook on it, claiming that NFTs as we know them are the foundation for the real innovation that will come on top of this protocol in the near future.

NOW YOU CAN CREATE TUNES VIA BITCOIN WITH AN ON-CHAIN MUSIC ENGINE

DISTRIBUTED BLOCKBUILDING NETWORKS VIA SECURE KNAPSACK AUCTIONS

HONG KONG STACKS WEB3 TASK FORCE WITH TOP FINANCE REGULATORS

Hong Kong has launched a dedicated task force for web3, another step in its decision to embrace crypto companies and blockchain tech. Led by Financial Secretary Paul Chan, the 15-member team includes professionals from various sectors, such as university professors, government officials, and financial regulators. Financial Secretary Chan highlighted the potential for blockchain tech to drive innovation across multiple sectors.

NFT PRICES SLUMP AS POPULAR COLLECTION TUMBLES FOLLOWING DEBUT

The NFT market has seen a precipitous drop in the past couple weeks, with prominent collections' prices declining by over 30%. Notably, Azuki’s floor price fell by over 60%. The decrease followed the controversial launch of a new Azuki collection, Azuki Elementals, which seemed like a repeat of a previous collection. The launch caused an uproar in the Azuki community, leading to widespread selling. In addition to drastic floor price declines, the resultant fallout has also prompted a wave of defaulted loans in the NFT lending industry.

SEGA DIVING INTO WEB3

SEGA, the famed Japanese gaming company, is taking a leap into web3 gaming. It plans to roll out 12 non-mobile games this year. The company's first web3 game is a remake of the successful Web2 IP, Sangokushi Taisen. Developed by double jump Tokyo, the game, targeted for a late 2023 release, will initially be available in English and Japanese on PCs, with more languages planned for 2024. SEGA has earlier shown its interests in blockchain technology by launching its first NFTs called Virtua Fighter.

TON BLOCKCHAIN LAUNCHES ON-CHAIN ENCRYPTED MESSAGING FEATURE

The TON Foundation has unveiled an on-chain encrypted messaging feature for the TON network. Forked from Telegram's abandoned project, TON now enables private communication between users through encrypted messages, enhancing the personalization of transactions. Interestingly, the feature could also be a reliable communication method should traditional servers fail. Currently supported on several retail wallet apps, the facility is set to be included in the mobile wallet Tonkeeper in future updates.

This tool allows Uniswap users to align trading hours with the New York Stock Exchange. The v4 hook in this repo will revert trades conducted outside the standard hours of 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM ET on weekdays, excluding holidays. Special functions will return the current state of the market, identify holidays, and determine daylight savings. The platform will also celebrate the opening bell, with the initiator of the first daily swap receiving recognition. The feature is live on both Goerli and Mainnet networks, incorporating a pre-calculated NYSE holiday calendar and daylight savings timestamps up to 2123.

OPTIMISM, APTOS, AND APECOIN SET FOR LARGEST TOKEN UNLOCKS IN JULY

Optimism, Aptos, and ApeCoin are preparing for substantial token unlocks this July, releasing over $100 million worth of this crypto into circulation. ApeCoin's unlock is the largest, releasing 15.6 million APE tokens on July 17, a 4.23% increase in circulating supply. Aptos’ token release will cause a token supply increase of 2.17%, while Optimism’s token circulating supply will rise by 3.75%. This could potentially affect the prices of these tokens, so it might be helpful to keep the timing of these releases in mind.

STABLECOIN SETTLEMENTS

This article from Coinbase explains how the company is aiming to modernize the financial system by developing crypto-based alternatives to the ACH direct deposit method. Coinbase says that the current ACH system, established in the 1970s, is slow and lacks standardization, resulting in inefficiencies. By swapping ACH for blockchain-based stablecoin settlement, Coinbase asserts that transaction confirmation times could be dramatically reduced, saving costs and minimizing price volatility. It would also eliminate intermediaries, streamline transactions, and promote transparency.

SINGAPORE WANTS CRYPTO FIRMS TO KEEP CLIENT FUNDS IN A TRUST

Singapore's Monetary Authority has introduced a new mandate for crypto firms to separately store their customers' digital assets in a trust by year-end, enhancing protection against potential insolvency and misuse. Measures include daily reconciliation, maintenance of proper records, custody services operation, and clear risk disclosures to customers. Crypto platforms will additionally be restricted from facilitating lending and staking services to retail customers, save for self-staking. These developing regulations aim to protect consumers from the volatility of crypto trading while urging increased vigilance in dealing with unregulated entities. The proposed regulations are open for public response until August 3.

LENDING SERVICES

Thailand and Singapore have banned crypto exchanges from offering lending services, focusing on investor protection.

CRYPTO ATM COMPANY BITCOIN DEPOT LAUNCHES ON NASDAQ

Bitcoin Depot, a top US Bitcoin ATM operator, has gone public on the Nasdaq following a merger with GSR II Meteora. It's the first such US operator to do so.

POLY NETWORK HACKER MINTS BILLIONS OF TOKENS FROM THIN AIR

Poly Network, a cross-chain bridging protocol, has suffered another hack. The hacker created billions of tokens on various networks. Despite limited liquidity, the hacker reportedly made out with at least $10.1 million. Poly Network has suspended services and alerted authorities.

WHY

Argentine hacker Federico Jaime stole $200 million from DeFi platform Euler Finance but returned it all in a stated attempt to promote ethical hacking and negotiation with attackers. This interview is the hacker’s first public attempt to explain the motives behind his hack.

CME GROUP ANNOUNCES PLANS TO LAUNCH ETH TO BTC RATIO FUTURES

CME Group is planning to introduce ETH-BTC ratio futures by July 31, subject to regulatory approval. The ETH-BTC ratio is one of the most popular ratios crypto native traders use to understand market cycles. DeFi users also often trade this ratio when there are relative value opportunities. Now with this instrument, traditional funds can get exposure to this ratio. This comes after the exchange's addition of daily expirations for bitcoin and ether futures options contracts in May.

EXTRAORDINARY ABUSE OF PROCESS'

Coinbase is challenging allegations by the SEC that it has been facilitating unregistered trading in certain digital tokens. In a recent filing, the company countered that the tokens in question do not qualify as securities. Further, Coinbase accused the SEC of misapplying securities law, arguing that its due process rights have been violated and highlighting what it perceives as inconsistencies in the SEC's decisions. This is yet another example of the company's firm stance against the SEC's onslaught on crypto.

Coinbase's L2 blockchain, Base, is nearing its mainnet launch following extensive security audits. As a refresher, the chain was developed collaboratively with Optimism using the OP stack with an eye toward building an L2 and underlying ecosystem that can onboard the masses. The security measures employed included testing for potential vulnerabilities in all Optimism's pre-deployments and auditing smart contracts. They also utilized a technique called "fuzzing" and engaged over 100 external security researchers to identify and mitigate potential risks.

OKTA AS IT PUSHES INTO GERMANY

Blockchain identity project Worldcoin has partnered with identity management software provider Okta to launch its identity protocol, World ID, in Germany. Worldcoin's new feature, 'Sign in with Worldcoin', has been added to Okta's Auth0 marketplace, providing an alternative sign-in option for app developers. The project’s stated aim is to enhance privacy and provide a way to differentiate between humans and bots. It is set to launch across thousands of apps. Worldcoin currently boasts 1.9 million users in 30 different countries.

THE INEVITABLE ADOPTION OF COPROCESSORS, DRIVEN BY UNISWAP V4

Uniswap has announced v4, which features four improvements: Hooks, Singleton, Flash Accounting, and Native ETH. Hooks allow developers to create customizable liquidity pools. Singleton decreases pool deployment costs by 99%. Flash Accounting simplifies complex pool operations. Native ETH permits both ETH and WETH pairs. One of the main advantages of v4 is its programmability, with hooks significantly enhancing the flexibility and customizability of liquidity pools. However, this flexibility comes with risks, including potential bugs and new attack vectors. Given the wider array of customization, developers leveraging v4 will need to exercise caution and fully understand the implications of their design choices.

BUILD A TOKENGATED STOREFRONT WITH SHOPIFY

This guide from Shopify illustrates how to design and implement a tokengated storefront using Shopify's Hydrogen and Headless platforms. The tutorial guides developers through using the Gates API, applying gated discounts through Shopify Functions, and interacting with a connected crypto wallet. The end goal is to facilitate a customer journey that grants automatic discounts to various customer segments like loyal customers or token holders of another brand. Developers going through this guide should already have some knowledge of creating gates through the Gates API and establishing Shopify Functions for gated discounts.

FINDING INSPIRATION

In the midst of the bear market, builders can start to lose the spark that initially got them into the space. To counter this, the author of this blog takes a look at some of the most promising projects they’ve seen in the space. They discuss projects like 0xSplits, Protocol Guild, Nouns, and SongCamp, highlighting their innovative works, which infuse optimism into the crypto space amidst scams and grifters. 0xSplits develops 'hyperstructures': fee-less, on-chain fiscal tools that could be core building blocks for a non-custodial financial future. Protocol Guild helps align incentives of Ethereum contributors toward a common goal. Nouns, an on-chain art project, runs daily auctions. Lastly, SongCamp unites creators in an 8-week experiment to produce and distribute songs and complimentary content. These projects reaffirm the author's faith in experimentation and long-term thinking in crypto.

UK CRYPTO, STABLECOIN RULES RECEIVE ROYAL ASSENT, PASSING INTO LAW

The UK has turned a bill into law that enables financial regulatory supervision over crypto and stablecoins. Approved by King Charles, the Financial Services and Markets Bill grants more power to financial regulators, attempting to create a path for safer adoption of crypto assets in the UK. The law views all crypto as regulated activity and allows for supervision over crypto promotions. It also includes stablecoins under its payments rules. This move aligns with the government's plans, revealed earlier this year, to make the UK a hub for cryptocurrency.

BITCOIN SCRIPT PROJECT

The Bitcoin Script Project, an open initiative for Bitcoin development, is a concept that invites developers to re-focus on innovation on Bitcoin script itself. Recently, more development has been focused on Bitcoin “L2s” and “sidechains”, but this author argues that the space needs more focus on Bitcoin itself.

In this call-to-action, programmable retro-funding is suggested as a solution to inadequate traditional funding methods for open-source software projects, enabling fair, retrospective, and decentralized fund distribution.

FIDELITY REFILES FOR SPOT BITCOIN ETF

After a flurry of rumors that it would do so, Fidelity Investments has refiled paperwork for its previously rejected Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust, a spot bitcoin ETF, two weeks after BlackRock's similar application.

POLYGON 2.0: PROTOCOL VISION AND ARCHITECTURE

Polygon Labs has released its 2.0 vision and architecture. This framework, coined as the Value Layer of the Internet, consists of four layers: a Staking Layer for decentralization, an Interop Layer for secure cross-chain communication, an Execution Layer for block production, and a Proving Layer for transaction proof generation.

HSBC HONG KONG NOW LETS CUSTOMERS TRADE BITCOIN AND ETHER ETFS

HSBC Hong Kong is now permitting its customers to trade Bitcoin and Ether ETFs on the Hong Kong stock exchange. With three different ETFs available, HSBC is the first platform to offer crypto exchange-traded funds in Hong Kong. This is just another step forward for the region in further opening up to crypto. Throughout the course of this year, Hong Kong has been introducing new regulations for crypto companies with an eye toward becoming a global crypto hub. Hong Kong’s banking regulator has even been pressuring major players to accept crypto exchanges for clients.

EXCHANGES

Staked ETH has surpassed ETH held on centralized exchanges for the first time, totaling almost $44 billion. Following the Ethereum network's Shapella upgrade in April, ETH held on exchanges began to decrease, while ETH staking surged. This trend, coupled with the new fee-burning mechanism that is core to ETH 2.0 is a fundamental shift in sell-pressure on ETH. While we have yet to see the full effect of this shift or where the balance between staked ETH and ETH on CEXs will balance out, it’s likely to create an interesting dynamic in the next bull run.

ECOSYSTEM

Azuki is releasing a new NFT collection, Azuki Elementals, featuring 20,000 NFTs based on the four Azuki elements: earth, fire, lightning, and water. The Dutch Auction for the collection starts at 2 ETH and will decrease by 0.1 ETH every five minutes. Some of the NFTs were airdropped to existing Azuki holders during the recent Vegas event, "Follow the Rabbit." With floor prices currently at 15.3 ETH and a potential mint proceeds of $40 million, this is likely to be one of the biggest NFT drops of the year.

SOLANA WELCOMES INSTITUTIONAL MPC WALLET

Fordefi, an institutional multi-party computation wallet company, is expanding to Solana and offering its wallet solution to applications and protocols on the chain. Fordefi's MPC wallets provide advanced security features and policy management tools tailored for institutions, allowing multiple parties to access the same wallet without revealing personal information. The platform uses transaction simulations and policy engines to define the approval process for institutions, accommodating the often-lengthy institutional approval process.

ORDER BOOK PERP DEXS

Nearly all current DEXs running perpetual contracts operate their order books off-chain, creating greater potential for manipulation and higher risk than frontrunning and sandwiching on AMMs. This thread explains how, for DEXs to provide fair and transparent trading, order books must operate fully on-chain, ensuring proper price-time priority and eliminating opportunities for manipulation by order book operators. On-chain order book execution will require fundamental infrastructure innovation and has yet to be massively adopted.

IMPLICATIONS OF EIP-4844

EIP-4844, an Ethereum improvement proposal introducing proto-danksharding, is expected to impact leading optimistic rollups on Ethereum. EIP-4844 adds blobs, raw byte strings attached to transactions, to store additional data alongside transactions temporarily. This separation of storage and computation fees allows for a more dynamic fee market, enabling a tenfold reduction in fees on leading L2s like Arbitrum and Optimism.

Despite the continued regulatory crackdown on the crypto industry in the US, some Japanese crypto sector players believe it presents an opportunity for Japan to strengthen its presence and become a hub for the sector. Japan already has an established legal framework, providing protection to investors while enforcing strict regulations on crypto exchange operators. With the country's forward-looking approach to stablecoins and its promotion of web3 - decentralized web services as they have coined it - Japan aims to create a healthy industry ecosystem while attracting businesses from across the globe.

TRENDS ACROSS THE LARGEST U.S. COMPANIES

According to a joint study between The Block and Coinbase, over 52% of Fortune 100 companies have made an attempt at crypto, blockchain, or web3 initiatives since 2020. The tech, financial services, and retail sectors have led the way in web3 adoption, with NFTs driving retail's recent surge in initiatives. Crypto financial services and B2B blockchain-related services are the most commonly invested categories, making up over half of all crypto venture deals. Citi Ventures, Google Ventures, Microsoft Ventures, and Goldman Sachs have been by far the most active Fortune 100 companies in the crypto venture scene.

BURDEN

Eric Wall’s Orb Land project tokenizes his time through a unique NFT offering personal consulting. The holder surrendered it due to a burdensome 300% annual Harberger tax. Orb Land aims to revise its mechanism for smoother ownership transitions.

MANAGEMENT STRATEGY'

Hut 8 Mining, a Canadian bitcoin mining firm, has received a $50 million credit facility from Coinbase Credit to support corporate needs and its Bitcoin treasury management strategy.

HOW MANY BITCOIN ARE FOR SALE?

This Glassnode analysis of crypto exchange fund flows suggests strong Bitcoin accumulation in Asia and weaker demand in the US in 2023 and walks through some of the current supply and demand dynamics that have been playing out lately.

FTX BANKRUPTCY TEAM SAYS THE EXCHANGE OWED CUSTOMERS $8.7B

The report on the failed FTX.com exchange reveals an $8.7 billion debt to customers due to the commingling and misuse of deposits. So far, $7 billion in liquid assets have been recovered. Senior executives are accused of hiding the issue since August 2022.

The first leveraged crypto ETF in the US, Volatility Shares' 2x Bitcoin Strategy ETF, ticker BITX, is set to launch on Tuesday after the SEC chose not to deny its application. This 2x ETF allows investors to double up on their exposure to bitcoin. The ETF will track the CME Bitcoin Futures Daily Roll Index. This development follows numerous traditional investment firms, like BlackRock, filing for bitcoin ETFs with the SEC over the past couple weeks.

IMF SAYS BANNING CRYPTO ASSETS MAY NOT BE EFFECTIVE LONG-TERM

In an about-face from earlier this year, the IMF is now suggesting that banning crypto assets might not be an effective long-term risk management strategy for countries. Instead, the IMF recommends focusing on addressing the factors driving crypto demand, enhancing transparency, and recording crypto transactions in national statistics. The institution believes that countries should mitigate risks while leveraging the potential benefits of technological innovation associated with crypto assets. This stance contrasts with the IMF's previous position, which considered the possibility of imposing outright bans on crypto.

JPMORGAN STARTS EURO BLOCKCHAIN PAYMENTS FOR CORPORATES

JPMorgan Chase has introduced euro-denominated payments for corporate clients using its JPM Coin, expanding its live blockchain application. Launched in 2019, JPM Coin was initially used to move dollars. The system allows wholesale payments clients to transfer dollars or euros within their JPMorgan accounts globally or make payments to other bank customers using the chain. JPM Coin enables always-available and fast payments, making it easier for corporate treasurers to manage liquidity than with traditional methods.

CRYPTO DATA PROVIDERS LINK UP IN BID FOR BETTER DEX-CEX COVERAGE

Crypto data providers Nansen and Kaiko have partnered to offer institutions a comprehensive view of insights across centralized and decentralized exchanges. By combining Nansen's comprehensive coverage of on-chain data with Kaiko's evaluation of price volatility, liquidity risks, and market movements, the collaboration aims to help companies better navigate the fragmented nature of transactions in the crypto space. Additionally, the partnership gives users programmatic access to both on-chain and market data without requiring multiple integrations like it would have before.