ETHPoW Goes Live After Ethereum’s Proof-Of-Stake Merge (The Block)
"ETHPoW — a continuation or ‘fork’ of the proof-of-work Ethereum chain — has gone live with its mainnet. The move follows Ethereum's long-in-the-making shift to proof-of-stake validation, a process dubbed The Merge. As previously reported, ETHPoW — which sparked controversy and discussion since its inception — was started by mine operator Chandler Guo. The ETHPoW team published a list of resources earlier Thursday. The release included key technical requirements and details. Chiefly, the official RPC for users to add ETHPoW to their wallets and block explorer URL were also published."
Ether’s New ‘Staking’ Model Could Draw SEC Attention (WSJ)
"Ethereum’s big software update on Thursday may have turned the second-largest cryptocurrency into a security in the eyes of a top U.S. regulator. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler said Thursday that cryptocurrencies and intermediaries that allow holders to ‘stake’ their coins might pass a key test used by courts to determine whether an asset is a security. Known as the Howey test, it examines whether investors expect to earn a return from the work of third parties."
CFTC Preparing to Oversee Crypto, Behnam Tells Senators (Blockworks)
"In the Senate’s latest overture to crafting cryptocurrency regulation, two committee meetings on Thursday demonstrated that jurisdictional industry guidelines are still very much still up in the air. The Senate Agriculture Committee heard from Commodity and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Rostin Behnam and other cryptocurrency and banking industry professionals — while SEC Chair Gary Gensler appeared before the Senate Banking Committee. Behnam told senators the CFTC has already started preparing to become the crypto industry’s watchdog."
JPMorgan: China’s Metaverse-Related Economy Could Reach $4T (CoinDesk)
"The metaverse – an immersive digital world created by the combination of virtual reality, augmented reality and the internet – will have ‘profound implications’ for China and will affect gaming, advertising and e-commerce, JPMorgan said in a research report last week. The digital world will offer an improved user experience across various internet business models, and this could lead to increased user penetration and average revenue per user (ARPU), the report said. The bank’s bullish scenario suggests that the metaverse could triple China’s online-gaming market to $131 billion from $44 billion."
Fortnite Developer Epic Games’ Marketplace Lists First NFT Game (CoinDesk)
"The game marketplace of Fortnite creator Epic Games has listed its first non-fungible token (NFT)-powered Web3 title, Mythical Games’ Blankos Block Party, according to a press release. The release comes less than a year after Mythical Games raised $150 million in a Series C funding round at a $1.25 billion valuation. Blankos Block Party is a free-to-play multiplayer party game centered around unique collectible digital vinyl toys called Blankos, non-fungible tokens that can be bought, upgraded and sold within the game. The game was co-developed by Mythical Games and Third Kind Games."
Ethereum Activates the Merge as It Shifts to Proof of Stake (The Block)
"Ethereum has activated The Merge and transactions are now being processed under proof of stake. The Merge upgrade was activated at the agreed upon Total Terminal Difficulty (TTD) on Ethereum’s proof-of-work chain at 6:44 AM UTC today. TTD is a combined measure of how difficult it is to produce a block for transactions and how this has fared over time. The first epoch was finalized at 6:59 AM. This is the key development that core developers were looking for to see if the upgrade has gone to plan."
SEC to Recommend ‘Flexible’ Pathway for Token Registration: Gensler (The Block)
"Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler wants SEC staff to work with token projects on a 'flexible' pathway to registering as securities. 'I have asked staff, in working to register crypto security intermediaries, to recommend a pathway to allow both the crypto security and crypto non-security tokens to trade versus or alongside one another,' Gensler says in written testimony submitted to the Senate Banking Committee, where he will appear as part of a regular oversight hearing tomorrow. 'Given the nature of crypto investments, I recognize that it may be appropriate to be flexible in applying existing disclosure requirements.'"
Crypto Giant FTX Eyes Raising Money to Fund Acquisitions (CoinDesk)
"Cryptocurrency exchange FTX is raising capital in parallel with a potential acquisition, according to a person familiar with the matter. It’s evaluating several possible takeover candidates, some of which are companies operating retail-trading platforms, the person said. Negotiations are in preliminary stages. If acquisition talks fall through, it’s less likely FTX will raise money, according to the person."
Coinbase Is Getting Political, Adding Features to Evaluate Crypto Policy Issues (The Block)
"Coinbase users can evaluate lawmakers’ crypto bona fides, register to vote and discover political events on the exchange’s app, co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong announced. The company added the new features as part of its mission of 'increasing economic freedom,' Armstrong said in a Twitter thread. Washington lawmakers and regulators are eyeing new rules for the industry after this summer’s market crash, and Coinbase launched a voter registration and education initiative last month."
Compound Treasury Debuts Crypto-Backed Loans for Institutional Clients (The Block)
"Compound Treasury, an institutional DeFi yield platform backed by the Compound Finance protocol, says it can now offer over-collateralized crypto-backed loans to accredited institutional clients, the firm announced on Wednesday. Clients can now borrow US dollars or USD Coin (USDC) from the platform using bitcoin, ether, and supported ERC20 tokens as collateral. The loans have open-ended tenures, which means there is no set repayment timetable."
Terra Co-Founder Do Kwon Faces Arrest Warrant in South Korea (Bloomberg)
"A court in South Korea issued an arrest warrant for Do Kwon, the founder of the Terraform Labs cryptocurrency ecosystem, whose implosion earlier this year sparked a global crypto rout. The court in Seoul issued a warrant for Do Kwon and five others on allegations that include violations of the nation’s capital markets law, according to a text message from the prosecutor’s office."
US Treasury Explains How Americans Can Recover Crypto Locked in Tornado Cash (CoinDesk)
"U.S. residents and citizens can apply for a license to recover any funds they have that are locked in Tornado Cash, the Treasury Department said Tuesday. The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), its sanctions watchdog, updated its 'frequently asked questions' (FAQs) document Tuesday to provide guidance for the crypto industry on how people and companies can remain compliant with sanctions against Tornado Cash, the Ethereum privacy mixer blacklisted last month on allegations that North Korean hackers used it to launder funds."
Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Edges to All-Time High (CoinDesk)
"On-chain data shows that bitcoin’s mining difficulty has crossed an all-time high with its latest jump, the second in two weeks. Bitcoin’s mining difficulty increased by 3.45% at block height 753,984 to 32.05 trillion hashes. This is the second significant recent increase. On Aug. 31, the difficulty jumped by 9.26%."
North Island Ventures Launches $125 Million Investment Fund (The Block)
"Crypto-focused investment firm North Island Ventures is launching a new $125 million investment fund. The company is looking to make 30 to 40 early-stage investments in emerging crypto and Web3 companies and protocols, it said in a statement Tuesday. Initial investments will range between $250,000 and $3 million, the company said."
FTC Moves to Join Crypto Lender Celsius’ Bankruptcy Case (CoinDesk)
"The Federal Trade Commission wants to get involved with failed crypto lender Celsius Network’s bankruptcy case. On Tuesday, two lawyers with the business regulator, Katherine Johnson and Katherine Aizpuru, asked the judge overseeing Celsius’ proceedings for permission to represent the FTC. She also requested a copy of all relevant documents. The requests had not been granted by press time.
The FTC declined to comment."
Fidelity Weighs Bitcoin Trading on Brokerage Platform (WSJ)
"Fidelity Investments is weighing a plan to allow individual investors to trade bitcoin on its brokerage platform, people familiar with the matter said, marking the financial giant’s latest foray into cryptocurrencies. Fidelity launched a bitcoin-trading business for hedge funds and other institutional investors in 2018, and earlier this year allowed corporate clients to add the digital asset to the 401(k) retirement plans it manages for them. Now, the Boston firm is working toward bringing crypto to its more than 34.4 million brokerage accounts, the people said."
Official EthereumPoW ETHW Fork Date Announced (The Block)
"The Ethereum proof of work fork will deploy within 24 hours of The Merge. That's according to a Twitter announcement by @EthereumPoW, the social media account behind the forthcoming ETHW mainnet, which laid out the plan in a thread detailing the strategy. An official announcement is expected one hour before the exact time of the network launch. Afterwards the ETHW chainID will switch to 10001, and final code, config files, binaries, as well as other vital materials such as node data, RPC and explorer info will be made available."
Polygon Chosen for Starbucks WEB3 ‘Odyssey' (The Block)
"Starbucks has tapped Polygon as its blockchain provider for what the coffee giant is calling a web3 'odyssey.' The new initiative will allow Starbucks Rewards loyalty program members and Starbucks partners (employees) in the United States to earn and purchase digital collectible stamps in the form of NFTs. The company said the membership program will unlock access to 'immersive coffee experiences: from unique merchandise and artist collaborations to invitations to exclusive events.'"
Blockchain Association Sets Up New Crypto Industry PAC (CoinDesk)
"The Blockchain Association is adding its own political action committee to the crypto industry’s growing array of campaign-finance efforts seeking to steer the U.S. government’s debate over digital assets. The BA PAC will contribute to the campaigns of 'pro-crypto candidates' from both parties, according to Kristin Smith, the Washington-based association’s executive director. The timing – dated Monday in the group’s filing with the Federal Election Commission – is too late to make a splash in November’s midterm elections that will decide if Republicans will surge into power in Congress or whether Democrats will maintain their tenuous hold. But the PAC will be in a position to exert influence in the presidential election year in 2024."
Latest Y Combinator Batch Focuses on WEB3 Infrastructure Amid Bear Market (The Block)
"The number of crypto startups in the latest batch at Y Combinator, the San Francisco-based accelerator that gave rise to companies like Coinbase and Opensea, has hit a record number despite the global downturn. A record 30 crypto and web3 companies were invited to take part — beating the last batch's total of 24 — with a strong showing from crypto infrastructure startups."
Blockchain Supporter NEAR Unveils $100M VC Fund Targeting Web3 Culture and Entertainment (CoinDesk)
"The NEAR Foundation is introducing a $100 million venture capital fund and venture lab in partnership with Caerus Ventures, the Swiss organization behind the NEAR blockchain protocol announced Monday. NEAR will anchor the fund, which has an initial closing of $50 million and a target of $100 million for seed series A investments. The first investment will be in the venture lab, which will work with creators, talent and franchise owners to conceive, validate, test and build the next generation of platforms, according to the press release."
MicroStrategy Could Raise up to $500 Million to Buy Bitcoin (The Block)
"MicroStrategy could sell up to $500 million in class A common stock and could buy more bitcoin. A new prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says the firm has entered into an agreement with agents Cowen and Company and BTIG to sell up to $500 million in stock with a possible eye towards acquiring more bitcoin."
Fireblocks Proclaims ‘Centaur’ Status With $100 Million in Annual Recurring Revenue (The Block)
"Fireblocks, an $8 billion company that builds tools for the secure storage and transfer of cryptocurrencies, announced Monday that it has reached so-called 'Centaur' status with $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR). The term 'Centaur' was coined by Bessemer Venture Partners, and applies to software-as-a-service (SaaS) startups that hit the revenue milestone. The moniker is a spin on 'unicorn' startups, a heavily-used term that refers to private tech companies with valuations in excess of $1 billion."
Crypto-Focused Venture Firm Bloccelerate Is Raising $100M for Second Fund (CoinDesk)
"Venture capital firm Bloccelerate is looking to raise $100 million for its second fund, according to a filing Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Bloccelerate VC Fund II has already raised $20 million from 26 investors since the fund opened Aug. 25. While only one-fifth of the target, the amount already surpasses the firm’s $12 million inaugural fund in late 2020. CoinDesk reached out to Seattle-based Bloccelerate for comment and had not received a response by press time."
FTX Ventures to Take 30% Stake in Skybridge Capital (The Block)
"Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX Ventures is continuing its investment spree and will take a 30% stake in Anthony Scaramucci-led investment firm SkyBridge Capital, according to a CNBC report today. SkyBridge will use a portion of the funding to deploy $40 million in crypto investments to hold on its balance sheet as a long-term investment, the report said. According to a press release, FTX Ventures' investment will also provide SkyBridge additional working capital to fund growth initiatives and new product launches."