Starknet Foundation to Distribute 40 Million Tokens to DeFi Protocols

The Starknet Foundation announced Monday that its committee for decentralized finance (DeFi) will distribute 40 million STRK tokens to DeFi protocols native to Starknet, its layer 2 blockchain network that is based on zero-knowledge technology.

The announcement to distribute tokens to DeFi protocols comes as crypto denizens both applauded and criticized Starknet Foundation’s airdrop strategy to let roughly 1.3 million addresses claim STRK on Feb. 20.

Coinbase urges SEC to approve listing of Grayscale's proposed spot ether ETF

Coinbase has urged the Securities and Exchange Commission's to list the Grayscale Ethereum trust for trading, according to the company's chief legal officer Paul Grewal.

Taking to the social media platform X, Grewal announced Coinbase had responded to the SEC's request for comment. He said Coinbase had provided the "legal, technical, and economic rationale" needed for approval.

Uniswap surges 60% after proposing fee reward mechanism for holders

Decentralized exchange (DEX) Uniswap’s native token UNI climbed 60% on Feb. 23 to a two-year high of $12.48 following a governance proposal to introduce a fee reward mechanism for holders. UNI was last trading at these price levels in January 2022.

The primary driver behind the price rise is a new proposal to overhaul the DEX’s governance system. It aims to tackle the crucial issue of low engagement and “stale” delegation by directly incentivizing active participation.

Singularity attracts $2.2 million to develop KYC-compliant DeFi platform for institutions

Singularity Network, a protocol catering to institutional investors seeking confidential access to DeFi, raised $2.2 million in its second funding round that concluded in late 2023.

The funding round was spearheaded by Gumi Crypto Capitals, with participation from notable investors like Eureka Partners and Nomura’s digital asset subsidiary, Laser Digital. Other participants in this round included Digital Assets Capital Management, Gandel Invest, and Apollo Crypto—these firms had backed Singularity during its seed round.

DeFi ‘points’ farming has reshaped the crypto investment landscape

As a DeFi-focused hedge fund, MEV Capital has grown comfortable with moving funds around on-chain in pursuit of higher returns, a strategy known as yield farming.

MEV Capital is farming these points especially in order to gain exposure to EigenLayer and a raft of other Ethereum restaking projects offering off-chain points to on-chain users.

It’s a testament to renewed animal spirits in crypto and the excitement surrounding restaking that hedge funds like MEV Capital are now acquiring participation tallies for clients.

Coca-Cola and Top DAOs Join Coinbase's 'Onchain Summer' Web3 Festival for Base Launch

Crypto exchange Coinbase has kicked off the multi-week Onchain Summer event to celebrate the launch of its much-anticipated Layer 2 network Base. The crypto giant said that each week in the series will bring new activations across Web3, including art, music, culture, and gaming.

Companies, artists, and creators will be running onchain events "that will make crypto more accessible, fun, and useful than ever before," Coinbase said. New mints will happen daily from August 9 through August 31.

The exchange wants users to bridge their ETH to the new network to mint a free NFT - hence, boosting the activity and engagement on Base. The "first-of-its-kind onchain festival" includes "over 50 leading brands, platforms, marketplaces, artists, and creators," Coinbase said.

Popular decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), such as Nouns and Friends With Benefits will participate, as will the soft drink giant Coca-Cola.

S. Korean watchdog goes after crypto whales to ensure AML compliance.

The South Korean regulator noted that popular stablecoins used by the public might become a primary tool for money laundering using digital assets.

South Korea’s financial watchdog, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), will monitor crypto whales with assets of over 100 million won ($70,000) to prevent money laundering efforts using digital assets.

The FSC noted that having a larger proportion of digital assets and stablecoins equates to a higher money laundering risk. Thus, special focus should be placed on monitoring crypto whales with significant digital-asset and stablecoin holdings under the new Anti-Money Laundering guidelines, reported local media.

The report also noted that stablecoins, especially those commonly used by the public, are more likely to be used as a means of crime. The report reads:

“In the case of an independently listed virtual asset, it is possible that it did not meet the listing criteria of other virtual asset operators, and it can be evaluated that the risk of money laundering of virtual asset operators with a high proportion of the virtual asset is high.”

Apart from monitoring crypto whales and their activities, the report also advocates for keeping an eye on retail customers making high-value deposits. Those customers should be monitored for any significant change in holdings every quarter.

“Customers with large virtual asset holdings are at higher risk of money laundering.”

South Korea is known for its strict implementation of crypto-related policies, especially in the wake of the collapse of the Terra ecosystem. Its financial regulators have doubled down on their efforts to ensure investor protection and bring crypto legislation by early 2024.

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El Salvador Has More Bitcoin Than Public Estimates With Multiple BTC Revenue Sources, President Bukele Indicates

President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador has indicated that his country’s bitcoin holdings may exceed public estimates.

He revealed that El Salvador has been generating bitcoin-related revenue from various sources in addition to the capital gains from bitcoin purchased since its legalization as a legal tender in the country.

Net $680 million flows into Bitcoin ETFs as Grayscale outflows tick back up to $276 million

Bitcoin ETFs continued their strong performance on March 13, with a net inflow of $683.7 million, according to data from Bitmex Research.

This marks another positive day for Bitcoin ETFs, following the surge in inflows seen on March 12. Per Bitmex Research ETF flow data, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) again led the way, attracting $586.5 million in new investments.

Fidelity’s FBTC fund also maintained its momentum, with inflows of $281.5 million.

JPMorgan says bitcoin rally 'propagated' by retail and speculative institutional investors

The recent surge in bitcoin and the broader crypto market is primarily driven by retail and speculative institutional investors buying both gold and bitcoin futures rather than investors shifting from gold to bitcoin, according to JPMorgan analysts.

Since their launch earlier this year, spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds have seen heavy inflows, while gold ETFs have witnessed outflows

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CryptoPunk #7804 Shatters Records with $16.4 Million Ethereum Sale

CryptoPunk #7804, a prized Alien Punk, recently broke records with its $16.4 million sale, electrifying digital art and

cryptocurrency sectors. This remarkable transaction secures its place as the second-largest sale in the collection’s history, both in terms of Ethereum and U.S. dollars. Punk #7804 is one of the 9 rare alien punks with three additional attributes, Cap forward, Pipe, and Small Shades.

Its previous owner Peruggia bought it for $7.57 Millions, and now they passed it on to new owner with right vision.

Bitcoin futures open interest reaches new high at $38 billion

Open interest for bitcoin futures on centralized exchanges has reached a fresh high, indicating increased trading activity around the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

Since the start of 2024, daily open interest in bitcoin futures has increased by more than 100% from Jan 1, when it was approximately $17.2 billion.

This rise coincides with bitcoin’s price surge to $70,000 — a 66% increase year-to-date.

Bitcoin Dips Below $66,000 Ahead of Fourth Halving, Loses Over 5% in 24 Hours

The price of bitcoin experienced a decline on Monday, near 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET), tumbling to a position slightly over the $66,000 mark. By 6:30 a.m. the following day, it had edged down further to reach its intraday low of $65,480 per unit.

In the wake of this downturn, the crypto derivatives markets saw the liquidation of bitcoin long positions amounting to $135.3 million wiped out.

Anza Network aims to fix Solana congestion

“The short version is: significant progress has been made to overcome the current congestion challenges, and we expect to begin releasing fixes next week,” the Solana-focused software development firm confirmed. “In collaboration with other core contributors, we have analyzed the root cause, and evaluated several potential changes.”

The latest development comes in the wake of Solana network congestion incidents, marking the second such occurrence within a 48-hour span that has led to transaction delays and failures for Solana users.

Anza, on Friday, April 5, blamed the cause of the congestion on a combination of QUIC implementation issues and the behavior of the Agave validator client. Anza engineers, along with other core contributors, are making concerted efforts to diagnose and rectify these bottlenecks.

The latest measures are part of a series of improvements that are expected to unfold over the coming months to boost Solana’s network efficiency.

The urgency of the issue was underscored by an alarming trend on April 4, when Solana experienced a failure rate of 75% for all non-vote transactions amid a surge in network activity, as per Dune Analytics. The spike was largely attributed to the growing interest in meme coins on the platform.

The high failure rate has sparked a debate within the Solana community, with many expressing dissatisfaction over the worsening service quality.

Helius CEO Mert Mumtaz, a notable Solana proponent, offered a perspective suggesting that the issue of transaction failures was exacerbated by “bot spam,” rather than an inherent network instability affecting genuine user transactions.

Mumtaz’s claim sheds light on the challenges facing Solana, which have been exacerbated by the blockchain’s popularity, especially in the context of meme coin transactions.

Coinbase seeks interim appeal in SEC case over crypto classification

Coinbase has filed a motion in federal court seeking permission to pursue an interlocutory appeal regarding a recent ruling concerning investment contracts. The crypto exchange’s appeal focuses on whether a digital asset transaction, which does not involve any obligations to the original issuer of the asset, should be considered an investment contract regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In March, Judge Katherine Failla denied Coinbase’s motion to dismiss the SEC’s case against it. In her decision, she referenced an opinion from a judgment involving the defunct crypto company Terra, suggesting that certain digital assets could be deemed investment contracts under the Howey Test, especially if they are part of a broader ecosystem.

The Howey test is a legal standard used to determine whether certain transactions qualify as investment contracts. Coinbase views its application to digital assets as a pivotal legal question, especially given conflicting opinions from different judges. This disagreement, Coinbase argues, meets the criteria for a controlling question of law, a crucial factor in securing an interlocutory appeal.

As Fox journalist Eleanor Terrett noted on Friday, April 12, interlocutory appeals are typically challenging to obtain before a final judgment is rendered.

The SEC itself faced difficulties when it attempted a similar appeal in the Ripple case last July, disputing Judge Analisa Torres’s ruling on secondary market token sales.

However, despite the low likelihood of success for interlocutory appeals like the one Coinbase is filing, they can have significant implications if approved. If the appeals process moves forward, the industry could be closer to potential clarifications from higher courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ethereum liquid restaking drove DeFi TVL to $100B in first quarter

Decentralized finance total value locked (TVL) almost doubled in the first three months of this year compared to the previous quarter, partially driven by Ethereum liquid restaking initiatives, according to recent research.

DeFi total value locked surged from a Q4 2023 low of $36 billion to peak at almost $97 billion in the first quarter of 2024, according to DefiLlama. Since the beginning of the year, it has increased by 81% to a two-year high of $98 billion last week.