Transform financial services through DeFi & Tokenization at Meridian 2024. Stellar Development Foundation’s annual conference will take place in London, UK, from October 15 to 17. Learn More.

Gevulot is the universal proving infrastructure for ZK. Try ZkCloud with free usage, plus extended grant opportunities for premier customers, until 'Q1 2025.

Cartesi did the hard work, like putting Linux on the blockchain, so that building dApps could be radically simple. Discover a boundless design space for your most ambitious web3 projects. Learn more.

The Chopping Block: Telegram’s Founder Arrested, OpenSea Under Fire, and Ethereum’s Dilemma

In this episode, the squad is joined by Rebecca Rettig, Polygon’s chief legal and policy officer, to dissect the SEC’s impact on the crypto landscape, particularly focusing on OpenSea’s Wells notice and impending legal challenges.

They discuss the arrest of Pavel Durov, Telegram’s founder, analyzing the political and cybersecurity ramifications. The conversation shifts to the internal frictions within the Ethereum Foundation and Vitalik Buterin’s criticism of DeFi, reflecting the community’s mixed reactions. The broader implications for the crypto industry, privacy, and regulatory clarity are highlighted with special insights from guest Rebecca Rettig, who adds depth on the legal and historical context. Wrapping up, they anticipate future challenges and emphasize staying informed.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

What’s Poppin’?

by Sage Young

6 Stablecoins That Are Driving the Sector’s Two-Year High in Market Capitalization

The combined market cap of all stablecoins has risen 30% this year, led by USDT, USDC, and the newly-rechristened USDS.

Opinion: Airdrops Need to Be More Secure—Here’s How We Can Do It

by Titus Capilnean, Vice President of Go-to-Market at Civic

As Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin wrote this week, blockchain-based identity frameworks can secure airdrops without compromising user’s privacy.

Earn bitcoin on Gemini here.

Daily Bits… ✍️✍️✍

• 💼 The SEC warned FTX against repaying creditors in stablecoins or other cryptocurrencies, reserving the right to challenge such transactions, and also opposes a provision that would protect FTX debtors from future legal actions.

• 🔄 Cardano initiated its Chang hard fork, marking the beginning of decentralized governance on its blockchain, a move that aims to transfer control to ADA token holders and enhance the network's decentralization.

• 🇧🇷 A Brazilian judge banned social media platform X, with internet service providers ordered to block the platform after it failed to remove certain accounts accused of spreading disinformation.

• 📈 Memecoin launchpad Pump.fun surpassed $100 million in cumulative revenue since its launch in January 2024, while decentralized prediction market Polymarket had more trading volume in August than all NFTs across all chains combined.

• 💰 The DAO governing Curve Finance is close to approving a $6 million funding proposal from its lead development team, which is headed up by the protocol’s founder Michael Egorov, with nearly 100% of votes in favor so far.

• 📱 Telegram held $400 million in digital assets and generated a significant portion of its 2023 revenue from crypto-related activities, according to a Financial Times report.

• 🚀 The Bitcoin layer 2 network Stacks has begun rolling out the Nakamoto upgrade, which will significantly speed up transaction processing by decoupling block production from the Bitcoin blockchain.

Today in Crypto Adoption...

• 🌏 OKX's Singapore entity received a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, allowing it to offer digital payment token and cross-border money transfer services, including crypto transactions, under the leadership of newly appointed CEO Gracie Lin.

What Do You Meme?

📈 Your Market Update 📉

• BTC is up 0.6%, trading at $58,388

• ETH is up 2.0%, trading at $2,520

• BTC dominance: 54.8%

• Crypto market cap: $2.15T

*All data as of today, 06:52 am ET. Source: CoinGecko

Recommended Reads

1. Bloomberg: Latest Trump Crypto Endeavor Exemplifies Family’s Wholehearted Embrace

2. Decrypt: Bitcoin OP_CAT Upgrade: Can Revived Satoshi Code Transform the Top Blockchain?

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