FTX: How Much 💵 Is Missing? 😶‍🌫️

In today's edition: 🎙️ New episode on Bitcoin NFTs, 🙅‍♂️ everyone ditches Silvergate, 🏛️ legislators don't trust Binance?, and more!

March 03, 2023

From our sponsor

Unchained Daily is brought to you by ICON.

Bringing next-gen interoperability to multiple cross-chain protocols.

What are ICON's BTP and xCall service?

Muneeb Ali, co-creator of Stacks, discusses the Bitcoin trend that has everyone – or at least, many Bitcoiners – buzzing: Bitcoin ordinals. Ali explains why it is that they’ve taken up block space, pushed Bitcoin fees higher, and caused controversy in the community. Plus, he explains why the phenomenon has generated excitement about Stacks.

Show highlights:

  • how Ordinals technology works to enable NFTs in the Bitcoin blockchain

  • the difference between NFTs in smart contracts platforms like Ethereum vs. NFTs in Bitcoin

  • the way in which the Taproot upgrade allowed Ordinals technology to exist

  • what security measures to take in order to protect one’s Bitcoin NFTs

  • why the Bitcoin maxi community reacted negatively to Ordinals 

  • why Stacks jumped so much in price after the release of Ordinals

  • what Muneeb thinks is the significance of Yuga Labs launching NFTs on Bitcoin

🎆 Unchained Relaunched: Learn ✍️🤓

by Rami Al-Sabeq

Venture capitalists have long fuelled the crypto industry—but how does it work, and who are the biggest operators?

by Lipsa Das

The unending debate on whether cryptocurrencies are securities revolves around whether they pass the Howey Test.

Laura had a conversation with Sébastien Derivaux and adcv from Stakehouse Financial. They talked about

  • the 2022 Maker DAO financial report,

  • the integration of real-world assets into the web3 space,

  • the prospects of the liquid staking protocol Lido,

  • the complexities of managing a treasury in a decentralized environment,

  • and more!

The Treasury and Federal Reserve seem “decided” on a digital dollar, but political resistance is mounting, say D.C. sources.

What’s Poppin’?

The FTX debtors said they have located $2.2 billion worth of assets on the main exchange, only a third of which are liquid.

Several major crypto companies have stopped processing deposits and withdrawals through the once mighty fiat on-ramp Silvergate Bank.

Three U.S. Senators have said that claims about Binance.US being entirely independent to its parent company bear an eerie similarity to those made by FTX.

 Celsius Custody users reported successfully withdrawing their assets from the platform on Thursday after close to nine months.

In Other News…✍️✍️✍️

  • NFT trading volumes surged to $2 billion in February, the highest level since the Terra ecosystem collapsed in May 2022.

  • SEC Chair Gary Gensler stated that crypto exchanges may not be considered safe qualified custodians for investment advisers.

  • Republican lawmakers Patrick McHenry and Cynthia Lummis sent a letter to banking agencies questioning the government policies controlling the accounting of cryptocurrency by financial firms.

  • Judge Michael Wiles raised doubts about the SEC's attempt to halt Binance.US's acquisition of assets from the bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital.

  • A court ruling stated that Michael Saylor, founder of MicroStrategy (MSTR), failed a bid to dismiss claims of not paying his personal income taxes, interest, and penalties owed to Washington D.C.

  • Ninepoint, a Canadian alternative investment management firm, is proposing a change in the investment strategy of its Ninepoint Bitcoin ETF (BITC.CA) to diversify into other Web3 and blockchain-related equities.

Today in Crypto Adoption...

  • Magic Eden is launching a series of free mints of Web3 games during March, called "Mint Madness", featuring 13 games across Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon blockchains that use NFTs for in-game capabilities.

  • Xapo Bank integrated the Lightning Network and partnered with Lightspark to offer instant, low-cost payments for small purchases to users.

The $$$ Corner…

  • NFT finance protocol Insrt Labs closed a $2.2 million pre-seed funding round co-led by Hashkey Capital and Infinite Capital.

What Do You Meme?

📈 Your Market Update 📉

  • BTC is down 4.37%, trading at $22,381

  • ETH is down 4.48%, trading at $1,568

  • BTC dominance: 40.4%

  • Crypto market cap: $1.07 trillion

*All data as of today, 5 am ET

Recommended Reads

  1. The Block: ‘The noose is tightening’: Sam Bankman-Fried’s inner circle turns on him

  2. Jake Pahor on Curve Finance:

  3. Enrique on how the global crypto developer ecosystem is outpacing US devs:

⛓️ Join Unchained Premium to get access to:

  • 🎙️ Behind-the-scenes interviews, in which I talk with crypto experts and entrepreneurs to learn all about the latest developments in the industry.

  • 💬 A subscriber-only Telegram group, where you can talk with the other members of the Unchained community, build a network in crypto, and talk directly with me and the Unchained team!

  • 📰 Transcripts of all the shows, for subscribers only.

If you liked what you read: