📈 $1.4B More GBTC Assets for Sale

In today’s edition: 🚫 Binance denies data breach, 🎮 Surviving in 'Crypto: The Game', 🧐 Crypto lobbyists' new focus, 🏛️ Lawmakers challenge the SEC, and more!

February 05, 2024

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While Solana DeFi protocol Jupiter staged what was by most measures a very successful airdrop launch on Wednesday, achieving a market cap of close to $800 million, the company’s critics pointed out numerous ways the company seemed to unfairly enrich itself in the process. While Jupiter’s founder, who goes by the pseudonym Meow, acknowledges he might have done some things differently, he finds the criticisms of the launch mostly based on “bad faith” and misinformation.

Meow joined Unchained to discuss the thinking behind the launch mechanics of JUP, how the prior launch of memecoin WEN served as a dry run for JUP, whether the aggressive pricing strategy of JUP was a mistake, and what he hopes to achieve with Jupiter next, including the possibility of enabling companies of all kinds to list themselves publicly on chain.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Or watch it on YouTube.

by David Z. Morris

Well-known venture capitalist Chris Dixon’s new book, “Read Write Own”, is probably the best guide for savvy, but non crypto-native, observers who want to follow (or invest in) blockchains, argues our columnist. 

What’s Poppin’?

by Sam Sriram, Benjamin Powers, and Sage Young

Unchained’s Sage Young is competing against hundreds of players for 41 ether ($94,000). He explains what its like to endure the daily challenges, tribalism and “Survivor”-style elimination rounds.

Bankrupt crypto lender Genesis is seeking the court’s approval to sell $1.4 billion worth of shares in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) alongside other Grayscale assets.

Crypto exchange Binance said that its security team had determined there was no leak from its systems, after claims that users’ Know Your Customer (KYC) data was being sold on the dark web.

In Washington D.C., crypto is taking a backseat to concerns about social media and AI. Lobbyists who represent the crypto industry are using this as an opportunity to focus on pending legislation around market structure, stablecoins, and illicit finance.

A bipartisan group has introduced a joint resolution that’s focused on repealing the SEC's Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121 (SAB 121), an accounting standard which has drawn significant criticism from the crypto industry.

Daily Bits…✍️✍️✍️

  • 📉 A group of FTX creditors challenge the bankruptcy repayment plan, arguing for compensation based on current crypto prices rather than November 2022 values.

  • 💼 FTX filed for court permission to expedite the sale of its 8% stake in AI firm Anthropic. If approved, it could potentially fetch over a billion dollars based on Anthropic’s most recent reported valuation.

  • ✅ El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, known for making bitcoin legal tender, won re-election.

  • 🎨 Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen were ordered to pay $9 million to Yuga Labs for creating unauthorized Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs and violating copyright laws.

  • 🔒 Valkyrie diversified its bitcoin ETF custody by adding crypto custodian BitGo alongside crypto exchange Coinbase, a strategic move to mitigate risk.

  • 📚 The SEC charged the founder of American Bitcoin Academy with fraud for misleading students into investing in a nonexistent hedge fund.

  • ⚖🧾 U.S. Representative Patrick McHenry championed a resolution to repeal SAB 121, which is aiming to alter crypto custody accounting standards.

  • 🔍 South Korea's Financial Services Commission proposed amendments requiring regulatory approval for new crypto company executives to enhance sector oversight.

  • ⛏️ Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital will pay Hut 8 $13.5 million for operational control of two Bitcoin mining sites, taking over from the current management.

  • 🚸 Two California school district officials pled guilty to embezzling $1.8 million and using school electricity to run a secret crypto mine and fund other personal expenses.

  • 🔄 Frax Finance completed its V3 rollout with the launch of Frax Bonds (FXB), a utility token that allows for conversion to FRAX stablecoins upon maturity.

  • 🧑‍💼 EigenLayer could introduce "insurance" for its users as part of a new security model to minimize collateral damage in the event of protocol failures.

What Do You Meme?

Recommended Reads

📈 Your Market Update 📉

  • BTC is up .6%, trading at $43,149

  • ETH is up 1.1%, trading at $2,324

  • BTC dominance: 48.81%

  • Crypto market cap: $1.73T

*All data as of today, 05:51 am ET. Source: CoinGecko

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