🚨 The Implications of Do Kwon's Trial for the SEC

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Union is the first sovereign interoperability layer pioneering trustless bridging between appchains, L1s, and L2s without depending on trusted third parties, oracles, multi-signatures, or MPC. Looking to future-proof blockchain bridging, it is the only protocol that fully addresses the sovereign bridging trilemma, unlocking a horizontally-scaled future.

On Wednesday, BlackRock, the world’s leading asset management firm, announced the launch of a tokenized investment fund, the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity (BUIDL) Fund, developed in collaboration with Securitize.

Carlos Domingo, founder and CEO of Securitize, discusses the launch of the fund, which is native to the public Ethereum blockchain and aims to bring an institutional-grade cash management product to crypto institutions, offering faster token issuance, redemption, and transferability.

He also talks about how Blackrock has embraced crypto, how the launch of the fund was “front run” by crypto Twitter, and how Blackrock will deal with issues such as the fund being dusted with ether tainted by sanctioned Tornado Cash ether.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Or watch it on YouTube.

Opinion: The Do Kwon Trial Will Not Give Us Clarity on When Crypto Is a Security

by Samson Enzer, Lewis Cohen, and Nicholas Barile

Getting federal judges to give the SEC a clear decision on whether secondary-market crypto purchases are securities transactions could be the key to determining the future of the US crypto market. 

What’s Poppin’?

by Sage Young, Kollen Post and Sam Sriram

Ethereum and Solana Supporters Lock Horns on Social Media Over Scalability and Memecoins

Backers and supporters of layer 1 blockchains Ethereum and Solana criticized each other this past week, as competition between the networks grows.

SBF’s Prison Sentencing Is Coming Up. How Many Years Will He Get?

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s behavior during his criminal trial could hurt him when it comes to his prison sentencing, former prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys told Unchained.

GBTC Could Run Out of Bitcoin in 14 Weeks: Arkham

In as early as 14 weeks time, crypto investment firm Grayscale’s GBTC could run out of bitcoin for fund redemptions, according to blockchain analytics firm Arkham.

Polygon zkEVM Chain Goes Down for 10 Hours

Polygon’s zkEVM network suffered an outage for 10 hours on March 23, which the team attributed to an issue with the blockchain’s sequencer due to a layer 1 chain reorg.

Daily Bits…✍️✍️✍️

• 🏦 FTX is preparing to sell its 8% stake in AI startup Anthropic, valued at $1 billion, with the proceeds aimed at repaying investors. This move comes as bankers reportedly secure potential buyers, including sovereign wealth funds.

• 🚨 Binance faces tax evasion charges in Nigeria, which comes after government officials detained two Binance executives for weeks without charges. One of the detained Binance executives has reportedly managed to escape.

• 🔒🌐 Do Kwon was transferred from jail to a “reception center” for foreigners in Montenegro as he awaits a verdict from the Supreme Court of Montenegro on his extradition.

• 📧 A sophisticated email phishing scam has reportedly stolen at least $5 million in crypto and NFTs from creditors of bankrupt firms such as BlockFi and FTX. The scam has links to the Pink Drainer kit and a recent email database breach.

• 💬💰 Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest, referred to Bitcoin as a “financial super highway” and reiterated a $1.5 million price target for the cryptocurrency, highlighting its significance in emerging markets.

• 🔍 The U.S. SEC, along with the Treasury and CFTC, is requesting additional funding and manpower to enhance oversight of the crypto sector, reflecting a growing need for regulation in the digital asset space.

• 🛡️ Worldcoin introduced "Personal Custody," eliminating the storage of users' biometric data by the project. Instead, data will be stored on users' devices, offering more control and reassurance over privacy.

• 💸 TrueUSD saw its market cap halve from $1.29 billion to $615 million in a week, following Binance’s delisting of several trading pairs and concerns over the stablecoin's reserve attestations.

Today in Crypto Adoption...

• 🌍 DigiFT launched US Treasury Bill-based tokens in Singapore, advancing real-world asset tokenization growth as the market cap for real-world asset tokens surged 15% to $6.5 billion.

What Do You Meme?

Recommended Reads

1. Ava Labs’ CEO Emin Gün Sirer on why the crypto community needs to be extra vigilant in the next cycle

2. The Defiant: Vitalik says clock is ticking for Ethereum to reach mainstream users

3. Pseudonymous NFT collector Punk6529 on the lowest common denominator in crypto

📈 Your Market Update 📉

• BTC is up 3.2% trading at $66,937

• ETH is up 2.4% trading at $3,450

• BTC dominance: 49.27%

• Crypto market cap: $2.67T

*All data as of today, 06:00 am ET. Source: CoinGecko

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