👨⚖️SEC Takes Aim At Crypto Market Maker - TWJ #240
Regulatory scrutiny continues.
Hi folks,
In this write-up, we’ll unpack the US stablecoin bill and how it will impact the future of this trillions dollar industry.
Here are the quick takeaways:
The US stablecoin bill, if passed, will create a much more strict regulatory requirement, involving registration and banning endogenous collateralized stablecoins.
The important part is the registration aspect, which can create second-order effects for protocol-owned stablecoins.
A strong stablecoin industry will exacerbate the “dollar milkshake theory”.
It’s unrealistic to not expect any form of regulation, or expect lenient regulations, against stablecoins.
There will be a rise of non-USD peg stablecoins, that aim to stabilize value without pegging it to any FIAT currencies.
In today’s issue:
The crypto market is flat with its total market cap above ~$900 billion. Helium (HNT) has been the best performer in the top 100 in the past 24-h.
In other news, SEC takes aim at crypto market makers, Circle launches omnichain USDC, and Chainlink reveals SWIFT proof-of-concept.
We’re continually improving our content, please reach out if you have ideas or want us to recap another market segment.
- Curated by Marco Manoppo (@manoppomarco)
📰Market News
⎆SEC Takes Aim At Crypto Market Makers
The SEC filed a case against Hydrogen and market maker Moonwalkers Trading as well as the CEOs of the two firms.
Upon discovering that mass sales of Hydro would depress prices on its platforms, CEO Michael Kane hired Moonwalkers to wash trade the token, creating a veneer of market activity that stabilized its price and increased user interest, the SEC alleged.
According to the SEC, Hydrogen's actions constitute both market manipulation and, despite Hydrogen's avoidance of an initial coin offering in favor of airdrops and bug bounties, an unregistered securities offering.
⎆Circle Launches Omnichain USDC
USDC and its issuer Circle launched a cross-chain transfer protocol to make USDC interoperable.
"Users today have limitations when transferring USDC across blockchain ecosystems," the company said. "Existing solutions typically require locking up USDC on one chain and creating a synthetic 'bridged' version of USDC on another – creating fragmented liquidity and a complicated user experience."
⎆Chainlink Reveals Swift Proof-Of-Concept
Chainlink announced its proof-of-concept project partnership with SWIFT.
The tie-up was announced during an event in New York on Wednesday. During the panel, Chainlink co-founder and Sergey Nazarov and SWIFT strategy director Jonathan Ehrenfeld Solé framed the project with a focus on the difficulties in bridging the worlds of traditional and decentralized finance.
👨🏻💻Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
Vitalik Launches Proof-of-Stake Book
Circle Announces Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol
Compound Treasury Launches Borrowing for Institutions
Polkadot Roadmap Roundup
Stablecoin Markets Shift as Binance Begins USDC Conversions
Safe Launches SafeDAO, Safe Token
🏛Governance - Active Proposals
Aave - [ARC] Change Admin role of Optimism and Arbitrum V3 markets
🦮NFT & Metaverse
NFT Trading Volume Plunges 98% from January Despite Rise in Adoption
MetaMask Adopts Custodial Features for NFT-hungry Institutional Investors
Someone Just Paid $4.5M for a CryptoPunks Ethereum NFT Despite Bear Market
Art Blocks Fidenza Creator Sells $17M of Ethereum NFTs Amid Market Slump
Coinbase Cloud, Chainlink Launch Price Oracles for NFT Floor Pricing
Top Sales (Last 24-h); Source: https://dappradar.com/nft
📈Deal Flow & Capital Raise
QQL - $17M Unknown Round
ChainML - $4M Seed Round
Harpie - $4.5M Seed Round
Bitquery - $8.5M Seed Round
Re - $14M Seed Round
Aptos - Undisclosed Strategic Investment by Dragonfly
Coral - $20M Strategic Round
Anchor - $20M Strategic Round
Aspen Creek - $8M Series A
OneKey - $20M Series A
AQUA - $10M Investment from DIGITAL
Sei - $50M Sei Ecosystem and Liquidity Fund
Emurgo - $200M Ecosystem Fund
⚖️Regulatory Update
Brazil’s Securities Regulator Targets Mercado Bitcoin Over Token Sale
Do Kwon, Luna Deny Link to $62M in Bitcoin Sought by Authorities
EU Lawmakers Attack Amazon’s Involvement in Digital Euro Project
Peer-to-Peer Validation for Digital Euro Might Not Be Feasible, ECB Says
Delaware DOJ Freezes Wallets, Accounts in 'Pig Butchering' Crypto Scams
📚Noteworthy Reads
Huobi Research’s Read on The Next Paradigm for NFT Lending
Foobar’s Read on Why Finality Matters
James Edwards’s Read on Analysis of the Wintermute Hack: An Inside Job
Feel free to reach out to manoppomarco@gmail.com — feedbacks and constructive criticisms are much appreciated.