Ethereum’s Geth Drama, GENIUS Act Advances

Hi! In today’s edition:

• 💥 ETH’s “ghost” team Geth mutiny

• 🧾 U.S. stablecoin bill passes major hurdle

• 📉 DWF dangles $10M to fix NEAR tokenomics

• 🔄 Circle mints native USDC on World Chain

• 🏋️‍♂️ Struggling gym biz bets big on $FET treasury

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Ethereum Secretly Funded Rival Geth Team, Ex-Lead Dev Says

Péter Szilágyi, who led the development of Ethereum client Geth, has claimed in a series of X posts that he turned down a $5 million offer to quit the Ethereum Foundation. 

The offer allegedly involved him and his team leaving the foundation and turning Geth into a private company.

“Did you all know [the Ethereum Foundation] started (and funded) a second Geth team inside Nethermind? One ‘100% independent fork from us, with no intended collaboration’ according to @0xstark,” Szilágyi said, referring to foundation Co-Chair Josh Stark.

Geth, short for Go Ethereum, is the most widely used software client for running an Ethereum node. Nethermind is another Ethereum client, but it is written in C#.

Although Szilágyi said he had been fired from the foundation within 24 hours of his discovery of the “secret second Geth team” — while he was on sabbatical — 0xjmederos, another former core developer at Nethermind, said: "The ‘Geth team inside Nethermind’ was publicly announced on rollcall [sic] as soon as it was created in October 2024.”

GENIUS Stablecoin Bill Advances in U.S. Senate

The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, also known as the GENIUS Act, passed a crucial procedural vote in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, a significant advance toward its final passage.

The Senate voted 68-30 to invoke cloture on the bill, overcoming a filibuster option and setting the stage for a final floor vote that will require only a simple majority.

The bill is a product of months-long bipartisan negotiations, with key sponsors including Republican senators Bill Hagerty, Tim Scott and Cynthia Lummis, alongside Democratic senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Angela Alsobrooks.

The legislation sets standards for stablecoin issuers regarding reserves, audits, disclosures, and compliance with law enforcement, and also addresses concerns about foreign stablecoin issuers, requiring their regulatory frameworks to be assessed for compatibility with U.S. standards before their coins can be used by U.S. residents.

DWF Labs Pledges 10M NEAR Buy if Team Halves Inflation

Andrei Grachev, a partner at crypto market maker DWF Labs, made a public pledge on Wednesday to purchase an additional 10 million NEAR tokens on the secondary market if the NEAR Protocol team agrees to reduce the token’s annual inflation rate from its current 5% to 2.5%.

Grachev said in an X post that DWF Labs currently holds 5 million NEAR tokens and has another 6 million staked to secure the protocol.

Bowen Wang, the head of NEAR’s research and development unit, replied: “I think it could be a good idea to reduce inflation to make the tokenomics more sustainable, but it is up to the community to decide.” 

If the community votes to implement the proposed inflation reduction, it would mark a significant change to the protocol’s tokenomics, and could potentially impact passive rewards earned from staking.

The NEAR token nevertheless faces significant sell pressure and has fallen 52% during the year to date. 

Circle Stock Surges as World Chain Integrates USDC

Circle’s stock rallied 10% following news that its USDC stablecoin had expanded to Sam Altman’s World Chain, the blockchain ecosystem linked to Worldcoin (WLD), which rebranded as World last October.

USDC’s integration into the World Chain ecosystem means the stablecoin is now natively minted on the blockchain, replacing previously bridged versions held by about 2 million users.

It enables direct conversion between fiat currency and USDC via Circle Mint, in addition to seamless cross-chain swaps thanks to Circle’s cross-chain transfer protocol, known as CCTP V2.

“This isn’t your typical stablecoin integration because World Chain isn’t your typical blockchain,” Circle said in a blog post.

Since its launch in 2023, World has faced a number of issues, including regulatory pushback over its biometric data collection process, which requires users to submit iris scans for identity verification. 

Its native token, WLD, also had limited utility at launch, lacking features such as staking rewards, governance rights, and significant DeFi integration. 

WLD is currently trading 90% below its all time high of $11.82.

Ailing Fitness Firm Turns to $500M AI Crypto Token Treasury Strategy

As the Bitcoin treasury trend becomes increasingly saturated, a new corporate strategy is emerging: allocating funds to altcoins.

The latest company to join this movement is Nasdaq-listed Interactive Strength, a high-end exercise equipment manufacturer based in Austin, Texas. 

On Wednesday morning, the firm announced a headline-grabbing move — a “$500 million facility to acquire AI-focused $FET tokens,” according to a press release. 

The funding comes from private equity firm ATW Partners and crypto market maker DWF Labs.

But with crumbling finances, failing stock, and a deal built more on smoke than substance, is Interactive Strength the next Long Blockchain in the making?

• 💼 Payments heavyweight Stripe has agreed to acquire crypto wallet firm Privy, which supports 75 million accounts and helps abstract blockchain complexity, as part of its growing push into stablecoin-based tools following its $1.1 billion acquisition of stablecoin platform Bridge.

• 🧾 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has asked multiple asset managers to revise their filings for Solana exchange-traded funds to clarify redemption procedures and staking policies, signaling possible near-term approval of up to seven new funds amid growing interest in Solana’s staking yields.

• 📩 Ethena Labs submitted a letter to the SEC’s Crypto Task Force on Wednesday urging regulators to clarify the legal treatment of non-fiat-backed assets such as its synthetic dollar, USDe, arguing that such stable-value tokens should not be classified as securities and warning that Europe’s MiCA framework is currently unworkable for similar innovation.

• 📜 The bipartisan CLARITY Act, which seeks to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets, on Wednesday advanced through both the U.S. House financial services and agriculture committees with votes of 32-19 and 47-6, respectively, moving closer to a full House vote.

• 🪙 U.S. inflation came in lower than expected in May, with both headline and core consumer price index rates rising just 0.1%, undercutting forecasts of 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively.

• 💱 Ant International, the global arm of Jack Ma’s Ant Group, plans to apply for stablecoin licenses in Hong Kong and Singapore once new regulations take effect in August, aligning with its broader digital payments strategy.

• 📈 Spot ethereum ETFs in the U.S. attracted $240 million in daily net inflows on Wednesday, outpacing bitcoin ETFs for the day and marking the 18th consecutive session of gains amid regulatory optimism around DeFi and stablecoins.

• 🚀 Plasma doubled its stablecoin vault deposit cap from $500 million to $1 billion amid overwhelming demand, clarifying that the actual XPL token sale would involve $50 million of tokens at a $500 million fully diluted valuation.

• 🇺🇦 Ukrainian lawmakers this week introduced legislation to allow the country’s central bank to hold crypto in its reserves, alongside gold and foreign currencies, aiming to bolster the country’s financial stability and deepen its ties with the global digital economy.

• 🚀 Crypto software company OneBalance secured $20 million in a series-A funding round led by Cyber Fund and Blockchain Capital to expand its headcount and enhance its Toolkit product, which enables seamless cross-chain user actions without bridges or gas tracking.

• 🇸🇪 Swedish health and longevity company H100 Group raised $10.5 million through share issues and convertible loans to expand its bitcoin treasury strategy, a move that has fueled a 400% surge in its stock since it adopted BTC last month.

• 🎮 GameStop on Wednesday announced a $1.75 billion convertible note sale after accumulating 4,710 BTC worth around $512 million, while its stock dropped more than 10% in after-hours trading as investors weighed the firm’s broader crypto investment ambitions.

• 🪙 Mercurity Fintech plans to raise $800 million to build a bitcoin treasury integrated with tokenized yield tools and staking infrastructure, while also preparing for inclusion in the Russell 2000 and 3000 indexes.

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