Mind The Block is Your Weekly Dose of Web3 News and Insights
Mind The Block Headlines This Week
- Binance Freezes Stolen USDT
- Oasis Launches Eden Mainnet Upgrade
- Argentina Drafts Crypto Bill
- Fnality’s $95M Series B Funding
- MetaTrace Launches TraceAds
- Animoca Becomes Chiliz Validator
- Bitcoin Funds Hit Record High
- Crypto Tax Guide for Beginners
News
Table of Contents
- Coinbase will launch futures support for Solana and Avalanche altcoins on Coinbase International Exchange and Coinbase Advanced.
- Binance Blockchain Week Istanbul 2023 was held in Istanbul, Turkey, on November 8-9, where the platform’s flagship event was held.
- Aave has unpaused its V2 and V3 markets due to a critical security bug.
- Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has proposed a collaboration with Kraken to develop a layer-2 blockchain network.
- P2P.org, a non-custodial staking provider with thousands of institutional clients, has partnered with SSV.Network.
- The Block has been acquired by Singapore-based Foresight Ventures for a $70 million deal.
- Chinese hackers have used a fake Skype app to target crypto users in a new phishing scam.
- Genesis has reached a settlement to resolve $1 billion in claims filed by the now-defunct crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC).
- Binance has frozen $11.8 million in stolen USDT, addressing concerns about centralized control.
- Terraform Labs has acquired Pulsar Finance, a cross-chain portfolio management and analytics startup.
- Bitcoin miners have reached an all-time high of $44 million in a day, marking an annual all-time high.
- Poloniex has been reportedly targeted by a security hack, resulting in the loss of over $100 million.
- QuickNode has launched its startup program, an incubator for Web3 projects, collaborating with over 100 venture capital firms.
- Near Foundation has partnered with Eigen Labs to develop the Ethereum restaking protocol, Eigen Layer.
Extras
- Ergo, a smart contract platform, has accused CoinMarketCap of charging fees to amend inaccurate data.
- DeFi platform Raft halted minting of its stablecoin R after recognizing a security vulnerability.
- Crypto exchange Bithumb plans to become the first digital asset company to go public on the South Korean stock market.
- Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital has launched a 27-megawatt Bitcoin mining project near Paraguay’s Itaipu Dam.
- Bakkt Holdings has announced its international and domestic expansion plans, with plans to expand into numerous international markets.
- Uniswap Labs has seen its cumulative front-end fees exceed $1 million within a month.
- Friend.Tech, a leading SocialFi app, experienced a surge in popularity during the crypto bear market.
Major Companies Making Moves
- Oasis engineers announce the Eden Mainnet upgrade, improving security and performance.
- The Frankfurt Stock Exchange has included crypto trading in its strategic priorities for the coming years.
- BlackRock has applied to launch an Ethereum Trust in Delaware, extending investor access to crypto.
- Circle has released v2.2 upgrades for its USDC and EURC stablecoins, enhancing account abstraction, security, and lower gas fees.
Government, SEC & Regulation
- The European Union has passed the Data Act, which includes a smart contract kill switch provision.
- The Spanish National Stock Market Commission (CNMV) has called out fraudulent crypto asset promos on X.
- Bitcoin Argentina has presented a draft bill aimed at regulating the cryptocurrency market to ensure decentralization and public trust.
- The Indian Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking guidelines on crypto regulations.
- The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued 146 alerts on the first day of new promotion rules aimed at regulating crypto investments.
- Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission has awarded Cathay Securities its first security token offering (STO) license.
- US crypto exchange Coinbase has been fined by a Moscow court for violating a Russian directive requiring foreign companies to localize citizens’ data.
- US Senator Ted Budd has introduced the Keep Your Coins Act, aiming to protect cryptocurrency users’ autonomy and self-custody rights.
Raises & Major Investments rounds
- Fnality, a fintech firm, has raised $95 million in Series B funding led by Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas.
- Ritual has raised $25 million in Series A financing led by Archetype.
- Ingonyama, a semiconductor collective, raised $20M to develop hardware accelerators for advanced cryptography.
- Modhaus, an EnterTech agency, raised $8M to launch tripleS, the world’s first K-Pop girl group, using blockchain.
Trends & Narrative
- MetaTrace, the world’s first blockchain game that matches GameFi with the real world, offers a new advertising platform called TraceAds.
- MAG & PAG has launched Orphancoin, a cryptocurrency dedicated to supporting orphanages worldwide.
- Bitcoin mining can incentivize the decarbonization of energy markets and address market imbalances.
- Stephane Gosselin, former co-founder of Flashbots, has introduced a Telegram trading bot called Alfred.
NFTs, Gaming, Metaverse
- South Korean metaverse platform Zep has partnered with Layer-1 blockchain platform Near Protocol to create online games.
- Roblox CEO David Baszucki has hinted at the possibility of allowing NFTs to move from one platform to another.
- Animoca Brands has joined the Chiliz blockchain network as a validator.
- Stratosphere Games has announced the early access launch of its web3 looter shooter, The Desolation.
- Gucci’s iconic Cosmos exhibition is now available in the decentralized gaming world, The Sandbox.
- Game7 has released a comprehensive report on Web3 gaming, based on 1,900 blockchain games.
- MetaMask, a leading Web3 wallet, has introduced a new update targeting non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
- IMVU, the world’s largest web3 social metaverse, is set to integrate Uphold’s fiat-to-crypto on-ramp, Topper, by the end of November.
- Phantom Galaxies, a Web3-powered sci-fi action RPG, is set to release on November 15 with early access.
Onchain Data
- Bitcoin investment funds have reached an all-time high of 863,434 BTC, according to ByteTree.
- Polkadot (DOT) price has reached a 200-day high, with a high of $5.90 this week.
- Dogecoin (DOGE) broke out from a 900-day descending resistance trend line, but the price increase stalled on November 11.
Educational Guides and Tips From Mind The Block
- Guide on crypto tax basics for beginners, focusing on tax optimization for investors, business owners, and high-income earners.
- Setting up a crypto wallet involves downloading and installing software, creating a new wallet, and keeping your private key secret.
- What is Solana and how does it work? A beginner’s guide to SOL.
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