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2023-03-15 14:22:54 Key news of the week from the DeFi and L1 and L2 blockchains sectors

Market analysts reported on the top cryptocurrency market news for the week as of March 15, 2023. Their report focused only on the decentralized finance (DeFi) sectors, as well as Level 1 and Level 2 (L1/L2) blockchains.

The researchers noted: the attention of the cryptocurrency community was riveted on the dress rehearsal of the Shanghai Etherium update, also known as Shapella. It took place on the Goerli test network. In addition, MakerDAO delegates voted in favor of a proposal to lower the debt ceiling, which allowed the organization to set upper limits for individual collateral.

Decentralized exchange dYdX also held a governance vote to reduce trading fees by 45%. The initiative aims to increase the number of token rewards of the protocol. It received more than 25 million votes in support.

Aptos blockchain launched its own bridge for non-interchangeable tokens (NFT) on Wormhole. This allowed users to seamlessly merge NFTs between the sought-after network and any of the supported chains. Sui blockchain developers Mysten Labs have signed an agreement with Alibaba Cloud. The partnership will provide archive node services and cloud infrastructure for Sui test network developers.

Lido Finance and Mixbytes have offered to close their liquid-stacking service on Polkadot and Kusama in early August 2023.

The developers of Hedera shut down the network services due to failures, the reasons for which have never been clarified. Decentralized lending platform Euler Finance suffered a hacking attack Tuesday. Users of the protocol lost about $197 million because of a vulnerability in a smart contract feature called donateToReserve. Developers disabled the module and tried to find the culprit. Open / Comment

2023-03-14 18:37:36 Ark Invest's Katie Wood bought $6.4 million worth of Block stock

Three Ark Invest funds bought 92,165 shares of Jack Dorsey Block for an estimated $6.4 million, the organization said in a trading document.

Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) bought 77,991 securities, ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) added 13,170 shares and Ark Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) added 1,004.

After the close of trading on March 13, Block was down 2.18%, trading at $69.46.

Earlier, the former Twitter CEO's company announced a "bitcoin mining developer kit." The initiative aims to create a universal and environmentally friendly open-source system for mining cryptocurrencies.

Recall that in February 2023, ARK Invest acquired shares of Coinbase for ~$9.3 million and ~$6.7 million.

In early March, the company's structures added securities of the American cryptocurrency exchange and online broker Robinhood for $3.44 million and $9.97 million, respectively.

Later, the funds added Coinbase shares to their portfolios for $20 million. Open / Comment

2023-03-13 17:13:07 Airbnb head criticizes business that is hype on crypto and AI

The Airbnb CEO deemed companies that make a fuss in the pursuit of crypto, the meta-universe, and artificial intelligence to be futile.

The head of Airbnb Brian Chesky criticized the companies that advertise themselves while trying to keep up with technological innovations. He said this at a conference held by American bank Morgan Stanley, writes Yahoo Finance.

According to Chesky, the pioneers in the market of artificial intelligence (AI) will be companies with an innovative corporate culture. Companies that have been actively discussing the prospects for cryptocurrencies and the meta-universe in 2022 will be left out of the progress, he said.

"If a company was discussing cryptocurrency last year and artificial intelligence this year, they probably don't understand anything [in either direction]," Chesky said.

Chesky did not elaborate on which companies he was talking about. Earlier, U.S. billionaire Elon Musk, who owns Twitter, Tesla and SpaceX, said that he is now more interested in AI than cryptocurrencies. The ChatGPT chatbot is also being looked at by Meta* (recognized by the Russian authorities as extremist and banned in the country), which previously actively promoted the idea of its steblecoin and meta-universe.

Airbnb believes that artificial intelligence will help to better process users' personal data. Chesky also said that the AI will help the company to improve monetization of services, but how exactly, the head of Airbnb did not specify.

Recall that the excitement on the Internet around the AI broke out after the public release of ChatGPT. The bot is able to engage the interlocutor in a conversation just as a person would. The answers of the program are not always perfectly accurate, but it still does its job well and creates a sense of conversation with a real interlocutor. ChatGPT was created by OpenAI, a San Francisco-based company co-founded by Ilon Musk and Sam Altman. Open / Comment

2023-03-13 17:12:21 South Korea opens a fund for the development of meta-universes

The South Korean government said it has invested 24 billion Korean won (about $18.1 million) in the initiative, while the fund itself will be worth 40 billion Korean won (about $30.2 million).

Recently, local governments have seen an increase in interest from big tech companies in meta-universes. However, it is difficult for projects to raise the necessary capital through private investment, so the government is ready to allocate funds for the development of projects related to metaworlds. The new fund will help domestic companies compete with major international players in this field, South Korean authorities believe.

In January, the Seoul administration unveiled a digital replica of the city in the metaverse. It spent 2 billion won (about $1.6 million) on the first phase of the project. According to the mayor of the capital, the project will allow residents to communicate with each other in a virtual environment, visit Seoul's landmarks, access official documents, file complaints and interact with city services.

Recall that late last year, the South Korean government published a strategy to develop the Web3 sector and meta-universes, and presented ethical standards for these industries to prevent their use by malicious actors. Open / Comment

2023-03-12 19:00:38 Justin Sun, amid the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, proposed to create a bank for the crypto industry

Justin Sun believes the SVB case is a wake-up call for bankers:

"Recent incidents, such as the SVB situation, show the potential damage that can be done to other market participants. Now is a good time to create a bank that can be relied upon to meet the needs of the cryptocurrency industry. As someone who supports this ecosystem, I am open to any idea to help create such a bank."

The creator of Tron expresses his willingness to help with funds, management and operational support for such a project. Sun believes that creating a strong banking infrastructure will connect traditional finance with new digital assets. According to the developer, this should be done for the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies:

"Let's work together to create a secure, regulated environment for the crypto industry. We will make sure that incidents like the SVB case do not happen in the future."

On Friday, March 10, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) asked Silicon Valley Bank to halt operations, without disclosing the reasons for the decision. Earlier, cryptocurrency bank Silvergate collapsed in the U.S. Open / Comment

2023-03-11 16:01:50 SEC commissioners criticize agency for refusing to launch bitcoin spot ETF

In a joint statement, Mark Uyeda and Hester Pierce stressed that the SEC has already rejected 20 applications to launch spot cryptocurrency ETFs in the last six years. They saw a double standard in such denials and said that the agency simply repeats its arguments time and time again.

"In our view, the Commission is using a different set of criteria than those that have been and continue to be used for other types of investment products. These criteria are shaped to keep spot ETPs and bitcoin ETFs off the SEC-regulated exchanges. "Clearly, the regulator interprets 'significance' criteria differently when analyzing applications for cryptocurrency ETPs," the SEC commissioners emphasized in a statement.

The SEC's refusals to launch such investment products always report that there is no regulated cryptocurrency market, which means companies, including VanEck, simply "do not have joint oversight agreements with a regulated spot market of significant size for bitcoin trading."

Pierce and Ueda urged the regulator to clarify how "significant" the cryptocurrency market should be and explain its policy changes when approving ETFs for various commodities.

Recall that VanEck applied to launch a bitcoin spot ETF last summer, but the application was repeatedly postponed. Open / Comment

2023-03-10 19:01:08 Blockchain.cоm will close its asset management division

The exchange and cryptocurrency wallet operator Blockchain.cоm is suspending its asset management division after 11 months of operations. It was announced by Bloomberg.

The subsidiary was created in April 2022 shortly after Blockchain.cоm closed a $14 billion funding round.

According to the report, the London-based entity has already filed for deregistration in the U.K. Blockchain.cоm Asset Management has not yet released annual statements.

"As cryptozyme approaches the one-year mark, we have made a business decision to suspend this institutional product," said a spokesperson for the parent company.

In July 2022, Blockchain.cоm cut a quarter of its staff and the salaries of top executives. The decisions came amid possible losses of $270 million previously lent to hedge fund Three Arrows Capital. The latter filed for bankruptcy.

In January 2023, the company announced a new wave of layoffs.

According to a CoinGecko report, 2,806 people lost their jobs in the crypto industry in the first month of the year alone. Exchanges accounted for 84% of the layoffs. Among those who announced the optimization of platforms: Coinbase, Crypto.cоm, Luno and Huobi.

In contrast, Binance announced plans to hire 500 new employees in the first half of the year. Open / Comment

2023-03-09 18:21:07 BitGo head believes that the SEC decision is positive for the crypto-market

First of all, Belsche draws an analogy with the traditional financial sphere. It has different directions and different systems of counterbalances and costs. Why, then, should the crypto market be any different?

Speaking again about traditional finance, the expert recalled that before the Great Depression, everyone was actively buying securities, trying to buy more and sell more. It worked as long as prices rose. After prices plummeted, investors not only lost their portfolios, but also found themselves in debt.

After that, the SEC came in and clear rules were put in place to eliminate similar precedents in the future. In this regard, the regulator's assertion that the industry should utilize the services of qualified custodians has good reason. Everyone involved in custody must follow the rules, be audited, and be guided by regulations.

Speaking as a representative of one of the players in this field, Michael Belsche suggests introducing additional rules that could protect investors.

First and foremost, he is talking about having 1:1 reserves for stablcoin issuers, which would be located at banks with FDIC insurance. An audit of the reserves would have to be quarterly and accountable.

The exchanges are also proposed to be available for auditing. This would give a basis to have full transparency. Belshe recalled that FTX combined fiat and cryptocurrency assets, allowing reserves to be exceeded. Had the above rules been followed, this would not have happened. Another possibility that opens in this case is the debt registry, which works on the blockchain. Open / Comment

2023-03-08 19:00:29 Bitget is the official sponsor of the Juventus women's soccer team

According to the statement, Bitget's decision to sponsor the women's team Juventus was inspired by the composition of its own company. 40% of Bitget's senior staff are women, and the exchange is an equal opportunity employer. Bitget's commitment to expanding opportunities available to women in the crypto industry is embodied in its decision to sponsor a women's soccer team.

"We feel a connection with the women's Juventus, whose athletic achievements have left their mark on soccer records. Sponsoring the Juventus women's team will make cryptocurrency more accessible to a female audience and encourage women to take advantage of the opportunities the industry provides. We are confident that this partnership will grow into a long-term arrangement that will benefit all parties," said Bitget Managing Director Gracie Chen.

In 2021, Juventus Women's became the first Italian club to win every championship match. The following season they reached the quarterfinals of the UEFA Women's Champions League.

"We are very happy to work with Bitget and share their commitment to promoting gender equality and women's empowerment in all sectors, be it sports or digital technology. As a leading soccer club, we know how important it is to provide equal opportunities for all, and we are proud to be associated with a company that shares our values," said Juventus Commercial Director Tiziana Di Gioia.

Bitget said the sponsorship of Women's Juventus is part of the exchange's efforts to inspire people to get involved in the crypto industry, attract a new generation of users and increase the number of women in the industry.

Recall that Bitget became an official partner of Juventus in 2021, and this collaboration was extended for the 2022-2023 season. Open / Comment

2023-03-07 17:59:32 WeChat has integrated the digital yuan into the payment platform WeChat Pay

WeChat became the second payment platform after Alipay to integrate support for fast payments from a digital wallet in digital yuan. WeChat Pay will allow users to choose e-CNY as a payment method, from utility bills to food ordering. It is expected that the WeChat Pay payment platform will later launch the functionality of direct transactions in digital yuan between WeChat users.

Shortly after the launch of the WeChat Pay payment service update, social platform WeChat reported that more than 1.2 billion users had access to the new form of payment services, of which about 750 million daily use the application.

The digital yuan is being tested in 26 Chinese provinces, and earlier this year the People's Bank of China (PBOC) announced the expansion of the geography of the pilot program for testing the state cryptocurrency and connecting 17 more provinces to it. The stated target for CBDC: by the end of the year, transactions in e-CNY should reach more than 2 trillion yuan ($300 billion). Open / Comment