This Week in Crypto (Through September 29)
SEC Delays Bitcoin Spot ETF Decisions, Valkyrie Begins Offering Ether Futures, and Google Cloud Adds Support For 11 New Blockchains
This week, we are taking a slightly different approach. This revised categorization will offer a more comprehensive and holistic perspective on the current state of digital assets, as well as the innovations unfolding within blockchain technology. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated! Here’s to expanding our knowledge in this fast-evolving domain!
Blockchain Infrastructure
News about: Layer 1s & Layer 2s, Interoperability Consensus Mechanisms, Data Storage & IPFS
Does Lido Control Too Much Liquid Staking?
CoinDesk | Jeff Wilser
“The concern is that if Lido goes over 33% of total ETH staked, that could harm the network. I’d say that’s more of a marketing campaign to slow Lido’s growth, to allow competitors to catch up.”
Understanding Rollup Economics From First Principles
The Price of Agency | BARNABÉ MONNOT
“Lately I’ve become interested in understanding rollups from an economic perspective. This is not just a theoretical concern. Fees on the base layer (L1) are high and we should aggressively work on providing spaces where users can transact at an affordable rate. Better economics means better pricing means happier users. So how should we think about rollup economics specifically? ”
Digital Assets & Financial Innovations
News About: NFTs, DeFi, Real World Assets (RWA), DAOs, Token Standards
Tokenized Real-World Assets (RWAs): Scaling DeFi to a Global Level
Chainlink Blog
“It is my belief that the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs)—blockchain-based digital tokens that represent physical and traditional financial assets—is the fuel that’s needed to propel the crypto industry into the mainstream. With $867T in traditional markets ready to be disrupted by blockchain-based technologies, the opportunity to systematically improve global economies is real. This blog is my thesis on RWAs.”
Web3
News About: Web3 & DWeb, Decentralized Identity
Tottenham Hotspur Taps Chiliz Blockchain for Web3 Fan Token
“Spurs join the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Atlético Madrid and A.S. Roma, which are some of the most prominent teams in professional football making use of blockchain to innovate engagement with supporters.”
Enterprise & Adoption
News About: Corporate Adoption & Public Markets
Google Cloud Adds Support for Polygon, Optimism, Polkadot, and More
BeinCrypto | Bary Rahma
“Among the newly added blockchains are Avalanche, Arbitrum, Cronos, Ethereum (Görli), Fantom (Opera), Near, Optimism, Polkadot, Polygon Mainnet, Polygon Mumbai, and Tron. Notably, it also included the Ordinals project support in the Bitcoin BigQuery dataset, expanding the scope of BigQuery and fortifying its dataset.”
Crypto Asset Manager Valkyrie Starts Offering Ether Futures in ETF
Wall Street Journal | Vicky Ge Huang
“The conversion makes it the first ETF that invests in both bitcoin and ether futures contracts. It comes as several asset managers such as VanEck are expected to bring their ether futures ETFs to market in the coming weeks.”
Gaming/Metaverse
News About: Gaming & Metaverse
Microsoft Reportedly Planning Xbox Crypto Wallet According to Leaked Documents
BeinCrypto | Martin Young, Kyle Baird
“According to reports, this detailed plans to integrate a crypto wallet into the next version of the console. Xbox chief Phil Spencer confirmed that the documents were a year old and expressed regret that the case unintentionally disclosed the plans.”
Regulation & Compliance
News About: Regulation, Tax Implications, AML/KYC
Buenos Aires Government ID, Coming to Ethereum Via zkSync
Blockworks | Sebastian Sinclair
“Buenos Aires citizens will be able to download the protocol’s native wallet to claim essential personal documents such as birth and marriage certificates, according to a statement on Wednesday.”
SEC Delays Decision on Four Spot Bitcoin ETF Filings Ahead of Government Shutdown
Decrypt | Nivesh Rustgi
“The SEC said a formal process is underway according to Section 19(b)(2)(B) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Commission is still gathering public comments on the proposal and has not made a decision yet. The deadline for making a decision for these ETF applications was scheduled between October 16 to 19. However, due to an impending government shutdown expected this weekend, the SEC expedited its announcement.”