Author: Max Bauer
The Ethereum Foundation research team is set to engage with the community in a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) session later today. The event will commence at 13:00 London time and will be the 12th official AMA hosted by the team. The AMA provides an opportunity for Ethereum enthusiasts and community members to directly interact with researchers and pose questions on a wide array of topics. This is the first AMA since January, preceding the Cancun upgrade, making it a highly anticipated event. Questions are already open on the relevant Reddit page, with over 80 inquiries already posted at the…
Grass, the decentralized network for web scraping, has launched its airdrop inspection page on September 5th. The page currently reveals allocations for Closed Alpha and Epochs 1-7, with the ongoing Bonus Epoch and To Be Announced allocations yet to be included. The total supply of GRASS tokens will be 1 billion, with 10% earmarked for the first airdrop. The specific breakdown is: This announcement follows Grass’s successful completion of a $3.5 million seed round in December 2023, led by Polychain Capital and Tribe Capital. The funding round saw participation from several other investors, bringing Grass’s total funding to $4.5 million.…
Coinbase’s Chief Financial Officer, Alesia Haas, claimed on Wednesday that U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is using the company’s Commerce platform to accept cryptocurrency donations. The statement was made during a discussion with Citigroup’s director of payments, Peter Christiansen, at Citi’s 2024 Global TMT Conference in New York, as revealed in a recording reviewed by Fortune. This announcement comes on the heels of an August report suggesting that Coinbase was in talks with the Harris campaign. However, Harris’s team has not yet responded to requests for comment, leaving the extent of this collaboration unclear. Historically, the…
Japan’s three largest banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Mizuho Financial Group, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, are collaborating on a groundbreaking framework for instant international payments. This innovative system will leverage blockchain technology on top of the existing SWIFT payment infrastructure, aiming for commercial use as early as next year. Trials are set to commence this fall, involving more than 10 other Japanese and international lenders. The primary focus will be on facilitating business transactions such as trade settlements, with the possibility of extending the service to consumers in the future. Currently, international payments via the SWIFT system often involve…
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has taken action against Uniswap Labs, a New York-based company, for offering illegal digital asset derivatives trading. The CFTC has ordered Uniswap Labs to pay a $175,000 civil monetary penalty and to cease and desist from violating the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA). This enforcement action is part of the CFTC’s ongoing efforts to regulate the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, particularly regarding digital asset platforms. Director of Enforcement Ian McGinley emphasized the CFTC’s commitment to enforcing the CEA as digital asset platforms and DeFi ecosystems evolve. Uniswap Labs developed and deployed a blockchain-based protocol…
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced settled charges against Florida-based Galois Capital Management LLC, a former investment advisor specializing in crypto assets. The SEC alleges that Galois failed to comply with requirements related to safeguarding client assets, including cryptocurrencies classified as securities. Key Violations Galois Capital has agreed to pay a $225,000 civil penalty, which will be distributed to harmed investors. The SEC’s order also requires Galois to cease and desist from further violations of the Advisers Act and censures the firm. Corey Schuster, Co-Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Asset Management Unit, emphasized the importance of compliance…
Gold prices have been surging, nearing record highs, fueled by various factors including economic uncertainty, inflation, geopolitical tensions, and central bank purchases. Rick Kanda, managing director at the Gold Bullion Company, emphasizes gold’s appeal as a “stable investment” during turbulent times. Bitcoin, often dubbed “digital gold,” is lagging behind, currently 20% below its peak. Analysts suggest this discrepancy is due to Bitcoin’s sensitivity to US political uncertainty and large sell-offs from institutional investors. Gold’s status as a haven asset makes it attractive during economic downturns and currency devaluations. While Bitcoin could theoretically serve a similar role, its performance during high…
The once-feverish excitement surrounding memecoins seems to be waning, as data reveals a significant downturn in the market. The top 10 memecoins have experienced an average drop of 63.73% from their peak values over the past year, signaling a potential shift in investor sentiment. Among the hardest hit are Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogelon Mars (ELON), both down over 70%. Dogecoin (DOGE), the original memecoin, has fared slightly better with a 57.93% decline. Even Pepe (PEPE), which saw a meteoric rise earlier this year, has plummeted by 58.16%. This downturn coincides with a broader shift in the memecoin landscape. While…
Vega Protocol has put forth a governance proposal that would effectively shut down their existing blockchain, retire their native VEGA token, and replace it with a new token that would dilute existing holders by a factor of 5x. The proposal, outlined in a recent blog post and now up for a governance vote, aims to suspend trading, redistribute the on-chain treasury to stakers, and incentivize validators to keep the network running for a two-month period to allow users to withdraw their funds from the decentralized exchange (DEX). After this grace period, the future of the alpha mainnet would be uncertain,…
Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, suffered its largest monthly drop in over two years during August, driven by weak ETF demand and growing technical concerns. Quinn Thompson, founder of crypto hedge fund Lekker Capital, noted that “the marginal new buyer doesn’t see value at current prices.” The recently launched Ethereum ETFs have failed to meet expectations, experiencing $477 million in outflows in their first 29 days of trading, compared to the $5.1 billion inflow for Bitcoin ETFs in the same period. This lack of institutional interest, combined with declining network fees due to the rise of layer 2 blockchains, has contributed…