Solana’s Near Miss

Hi! In today’s edition:

• ⏳ Solana inflation plan flops

• 🛠️ Ethereum devs tinker with Pectra

• 🔥 Treasury mulls BTC reserve custody

• ✅ Stablecoin rules gain momentum

• 📊 Tokenized treasuries: The Next Big Thing?

• 👀 Trump targets Binance stake

A multi-currency wallet that’s easy, quick, and secure? …That’s RockWallet! Discover how you can take control of your assets and feel confident in the digital economy.

Sign up now to take advantage of a special $75 welcome promo for the Unchained community.

Proposal to Cut SOL Inflation by 80% Fails After ‘Close Call’

Solana proposal SIMD-228 failed to reach the 66.7% approval threshold at the end of Epoch 755, when voting ended.

The proposal aimed to replace Solana's fixed inflation schedule with a dynamic, market-based system that adjusted emissions based on network staking activity. Some estimated that it could potentially cut Solana’s inflation rate from 4.5% to around 0.87%.

Only 15 hours before voting ended, the proposal looked on track to pass, but there was limited participation by validators. By the time the voting period ended, the picture was very different.  

“It was a close call, with a record 74% stake voting, one of the highest participation in Solana's governance history,” Solana-focused news platform Solana Floor said on X. 

There was significant debate surrounding the proposal, with some concerns raised about potential impacts on smaller validators and network decentralization.

Ethereum Devs to Launch New Testnet to Address Pectra Challenges 

Ethereum developers are gearing up to launch a new testnet named Hoodi on Monday and activate the Pectra upgrade on March 26.

Pectra aims to improve Ethereum's staking operations, enhance execution and consensus layers, and introduce key optimizations for validators, and is naturally considered a fairly important upgrade.

But its rollout has been far from smooth. Pectra ran into configuration issues and stability problems on two other testnets, Sepolia and Holesky, in recent weeks. 

The Hoodi testnet will focus mainly on validator exit mechanisms, one of the final hurdles before Pectra can move forward.

“A mainnet fork time for Pectra will only be chosen after Pectra successfully activates on Hoodi and client teams feel confident in the state of testing,” said Ethereum developer Tim Beiko, who runs the core protocol meetings.

“Mainnet will be scheduled at least 30 days after the Hoodi fork (April 25 or later),” he said.

U.S. Treasury Meets With Crypto Custody Firms on Bitcoin Reserve: Report

The U.S. Treasury Department recently held discussions with executives from three major crypto custody firms, according to a report yesterday.

The purpose of the meetings was supposedly to address the management and security of its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, valued at approximately $16.4 billion.

One of the firms meeting with members of the Treasury was Anchorage Digital, whose CEO, Nathan McCauley, said: “The Treasury Department is asking all the right questions.”

As of now, crypto industry leaders have proposed initially using third-party custodians to safeguard the reserve, with a long-term goal of transitioning to government self-custody through cold wallets.

Assets in the national digital asset stockpile, however, are likely to remain in third-party custody due to the complexity of managing assets across different blockchains.

U.S. Senate Banking Committee Advances Stablecoin Bill

A bill addressing the long-standing regulatory ambiguity around stablecoins has made its way through the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, the first committee in the approvals process.

The committee voted 18-6 to pass the so-called Genius Act, marking the first digital asset legislation to progress in the Senate.

The act proposes a system allowing stablecoin issuers to choose between federal oversight under the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency or state-level supervision.

Stablecoin issuers will also be required to maintain 1:1 reserves backed by U.S. dollars, insured bank deposits, or short-term Treasury bills.

The bill will now proceed to the Senate floor for a full vote, potentially within President Donald Trump's first 100 days in office.

Tokenized Treasuries Grow 20X Faster Than Stablecoins as Crypto Market Languishes

A strong argument can be made that stablecoins are crypto’s only real killer app. Led by issuing giants USDT (market cap: $143.34 billion) and USDC ($57.85 billion), the $235 billion sector is the lifeblood of the blockchain-based economy.

Stablecoins are useful in several ways. During bullish times, traders track their flows into exchanges, as the assets are the dry powder necessary to start buying. They have also proven to be a critical lifeboat during stormy weather for investors that want the safety of the U.S. dollar but remain at the ready for buying opportunities. 

So, why does the smart money seem to be following a different path?

Binance.US Execs Blindsided by Report of Trump Family Investment: Source

If the Trump family is seeking to invest in Binance.US, it’s news to management.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that members of the First Family were in such talks with Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the billionaire co-founder of Binance. The story came as a surprise to Binance.US’s interim CEO, Norman Reed, and the rest of the executive team in Miami, according to a person close to the situation.

“Management has no connectivity to CZ,” the source said. “They have no idea what he is doing.”

What’s up at the world’s biggest crypto exchange?

Mantle is building the largest sustainable hub for on-chain finance. Launching three new core innovation pillars: Enhanced Index Fund, Mantle Banking and MantleX. 

• ⚖️ A U.S. bankruptcy court approved Three Arrows Capital’s move to expand its claim against FTX to $1.53 billion, rejecting FTX’s objections and allowing 3AC’s liquidators to seek a larger recovery from the collapsed exchange.

• 💰 Trump-backed crypto project World Liberty Financial completed a $590 million token sale, with co-founder Zak Folkman crediting Tron founder Justin Sun’s $30 million investment for its success, although the token remains restricted to accredited investors.

• 🔗 Aave Labs launched Horizon, a new initiative aimed at integrating real-world assets into DeFi, allowing institutions to use tokenized money market funds as collateral for stablecoin liquidity through Aave’s GHO stablecoin.

• ⚡ The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s five-year lawsuit against Ripple may be nearing a resolution as regulators weigh XRP’s classification alongside Ethereum, with Ripple reportedly negotiating better terms to avoid a $125 million fine and an institutional sales ban.

• 💵 BlackRock’s BUIDL token, backed by U.S. Treasuries, surpassed $1 billion in assets following a $200 million allocation from Ethena, underscoring the growing use of tokenized traditional assets in DeFi and on trading platforms.

• 💳 Crypto payments firm MoonPay acquired stablecoin infrastructure provider Iron for at least $100 million, expanding its enterprise-grade stablecoin services in a move comparable to Stripe’s $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge.

1. The Defiant: Gauntlet Accused of Self-Dealing in Compound Proposal

2. Taking a step back: Hyperliquid Fundamentals by Penn Blockchain Director Vikram Singh