CZ Does It Again 😱

In today's edition: ❌ Binance/Voyager deal, 🧙‍♂️ Merlin's exploit, 🫂 Creditors oppose deal, and more!

April 26, 2023

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On the Pod…

What’s Poppin’?

by Samyuktha Sriram

Voyager Digital plans to return cash and crypto directly to consumers after Binance.US terminated the asset purchase deal.

The latest maneuver will prolong the court process, said DCG in a statement on Tuesday.

The FTX debtors have finalized a deal to sell crypto derivatives exchange LedgerX to the winning bidder of a bankruptcy auction.

A CertiK-audited DEX lost millions of dollars from its liquidity pool during a public sale of its MAGE tokens.

Daily Bits…✍️✍️✍️

  • A US federal appeals court ruled that Apple's mandate prohibiting app developers from using alternative payment methods and imposing a 30% fee on most transactions is illegal under California's Unfair Competition Law.

  • Apple will remove the Bitcoin whitepaper hidden within the operating system of Macintosh computers since 2017 in an upcoming software update, according to 9to5Mac.

  • Several major creditors, including the Algorand Foundation, opposed the restructuring of troubled crypto lender Hodlnaut, opting for liquidation instead, with claims amounting to $170 million.

  • The New York Federal Reserve altered its policy, disqualifying funds similar to Circle's USDC reserve fund from its reverse repurchase program, impacting Circle's potential access to the Fed facility.

  • 21Shares and Ark Investment are making their third attempt to gain approval for a spot Bitcoin ETF, following two previous rejections by the SEC.

  • Ex-Coinbase product manager Ishan Wahi requested a maximum 10-month jail sentence for insider trading charges, with his lawyers submitting the request in court filings prior to his May 9 sentencing hearing.

  • FTX's bankruptcy led to the shutdown of Storybook Brawl, a Web3 video game acquired by the failed crypto exchange 13 months prior, as its creator Good Luck Games couldn't find a viable path forward.

Today in Crypto Adoption...

  • DJs Steve Aoki and 3LAU unveiled their first single "Concentrate" as the CryptoPunks-inspired duo Punx, sharing half of all royalties with 99 NFT collectors.

  • Former Representatives Tim Ryan and David McIntosh are leading BPI Action, a non-partisan initiative of the Bitcoin Policy Institute, to educate policymakers and the public on the economic and social benefits of Bitcoin and digital innovations.

  • Google Cloud is expanding its early-stage support program to help Web3 developers scale their projects faster with up to $200,000 in Google Cloud credits over two years and technical support.

The $$$ Corner…

  • TinyTap, an Animoca Brands subsidiary, garnered $8.5 million from investors such as Sequoia China and Polygon, among others, reaching a $100 million valuation as it aims to disrupt education with web3.

  • Crypto firm Credora raised $6 million in a strategic funding round, backed by S&P Global and Coinbase Ventures, among others, to develop its institutional credit infrastructure for centralized and decentralized finance.

  • DFlow, a decentralized finance protocol, closed a $5.5 million funding round to bring the payment for order flow mechanism to the crypto sector.

What Do You Meme?

Learn 🤓

Centralized exchanges undergird the entire crypto industry. But are these titanic businesses fit for purpose?

📈 Your Market Update 📉

  • BTC is up 5.7%, trading at $28,856

  • ETH is up 4.9%, trading at $1,905

  • BTC dominance: 44.74%

  • Crypto market cap: $1.25 trillion

*All data as of today, 7 am ET

Recommended Reads

  1. Sheila Warren on DAO legislation

  2. Salazar.eth on zk rollup Scroll

  3. Chris Blec: The real problem with Ethereum L2s

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