🔮 SOL ETF, NFT Market Battle, Sue or be Sued, Mt. Gox

Top Stories

Stripe and Coinbase Partner to Boost Global Crypto Adoption

Stripe and Coinbase have announced a strategic partnership aimed at expanding global cryptocurrency adoption and enhancing financial infrastructure. The collaboration will integrate three major features: Stripe will incorporate USDC on Base into its crypto payouts, allowing faster and cheaper money transfers to over 150 countries. Additionally, Stripe will enable quicker fiat-to-crypto conversions in the US using USDC on Base. Coinbase will integrate Stripe’s fiat-to-crypto onramp into Coinbase Wallet, enabling users to purchase crypto instantly with credit cards and Apple Pay. This partnership leverages Base's low-cost, secure Layer 2 infrastructure, enhancing transaction speed and affordability. The goal is to streamline crypto transactions and broaden accessibility, capitalizing on Stripe's extensive global network and Coinbase's user base.

Ethena's Rapid Growth in Stablecoin Supply

Ethena, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol built on Ethereum, has seen its stablecoin supply skyrocket to $2.85 billion, marking a significant increase from earlier levels in May. This growth follows a successful points campaign that boosted its Total Value Locked (TVL) to $1.3 billion and positioned it as one of the fastest USD-denominated assets to surpass the $1 billion mark. As the fourth-largest stablecoin by market cap, Ethena now commands 1.25% of the $160 billion stablecoin market. The protocol's synthetic dollar, USDe, maintains stability through derivative hedges against collateral positions, offering token holders a steady yield of approximately 9% since April 2021. Ethena has addressed concerns around its large short-sell position through FAQ updates, emphasizing scalability and hedging stability. Additionally, Ethena's recent initiatives include a revamped points program and collaboration with Symbiotic for further network enhancements, illustrating its commitment to innovation in DeFi. See similar: Tether Stops Minting USDT Stablecoin on EOS and Algorand

Source: The Block

OpenSea Claws Back Market-Share from Blur

OpenSea, the pioneering NFT marketplace founded in 2017, recently surpassed Blur in total sales count for the third time in the last 90 days, recording 2,184 sales compared to Blur's 2,138 on June 26. OpenSea has also maintained a significant lead in unique buyers, commanding 39% of the user share with 177,565 buyers over the past 120 days, compared to Blur's 154,040. This shift follows the launch of the Blast token on Blur, which reduced user rewards and prompted some major market makers to withdraw from the platform. Despite OpenSea's recent victories in daily volume and sales count, Blur still retains a substantial 62% share of total volume over the last 90 days. This development suggests a potential resurgence for OpenSea amid ongoing shifts and challenges within the competitive NFT marketplace landscape.

Source: DappRadar

Blast Hit by Twitter Scams from Verified Accounts

The highly anticipated Blast airdrop on Wednesday turned chaotic as scammers flooded Twitter with malicious links, exploiting verification tools designed for organizations, one of which infiltrated Blast's Discord server. Users of the Ethereum layer-2 network were collectively set to receive 17 billion BLAST tokens, with an initial market cap of $392 million. Despite this, fraudulent posts claimed the airdrop had started earlier, prompting many to visit fake websites. One victim lost $217,000 in crypto to a phishing site. Meanwhile, legitimate BLAST token recipients quickly sold off their tokens, causing the price to drop from $0.025 to around $0.02, leading to disappointment among many traders. The incident underscores Twitter's ongoing challenges in preventing scams and the susceptibility of crypto enthusiasts to fraud, despite warnings and defensive measures from Blast’s official channels.

ZKsync Unveils Elastic Chain Architecture in 3.0 Roadmap

ZKsync has introduced an "elastic chain" architecture as part of its ZKsync 3.0 roadmap, transitioning from a single ZK rollup chain to a network of interoperable ZK chains. This shift, marked by the v24 upgrade on June 7, 2024, aims to enhance connectivity and user experience across its ecosystem. The new architecture will feature a token vault to improve inter-chain connectivity and allow seamless operation similar to a single blockchain. ZKsync's flagship rollup, ZKsync Era, will serve as the foundation for this multi-chain ecosystem, which is set to include over 20 chains by the end of 2024. The elastic chain design, first presented at SmartCon 2022, enhances proof aggregation and cross-chain interoperability using the ZK Stack software kit. The Ethereum Multi-Chain Address (EMCA) standard will streamline user interactions across the network, simplifying address management across chains.

Regulation

Solana ETF Takes Center Stage

Asset manager 21Shares has filed an S-1 form with the U.S. SEC to launch a spot Solana ETF, following VanEck's similar filing. Both firms argue that Solana's native coin, SOL, should be classified as a commodity, despite the SEC's prior classification of SOL as a security in its charges against Binance and Coinbase. 21Shares, which already manages a Solana Staking ETP in Europe and a U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF with Ark Invest, proposes the 21Shares Core Solana ETF for the Cboe BZX Exchange. VanEck also plans to list its Solana Trust on the same exchange. The SEC's recent approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs and ongoing disputes between the SEC and CFTC over crypto classifications complicate the outlook. Bloomberg Intelligence suggests a 2025 launch could be feasible, contingent on regulatory changes. Following the filing, Solana's price surged by 6.5%. See similar: Solana Foundation unveils tools that turn any website or app into starting point for crypto transactions See similar: Hashdex Files For First-Ever Combined Ethereum And Bitcoin ETF

SEC Sues Consensys Over MetaMask Services; Coinbase Files Against Regulators

The SEC has filed a lawsuit against blockchain software firm Consensys, accusing it of operating as an unregistered broker for crypto asset securities through its MetaMask swaps and staking services. The complaint, submitted to the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York, claims Consensys collected over $250 million in fees. The SEC also labeled staking services from Lido and Rocket Pool as investment contracts, emphasizing investors' profit expectations in a common enterprise. Recently, Consensys had sued the SEC over its Ethereum regulation approach and had received a Wells notice indicating potential enforcement actions. Meanwhile, Coinbase has filed lawsuits against the SEC, FDIC, and Federal Reserve Board, demanding the release of documents related to regulatory actions and investigations. Coinbase argues that these agencies have been obstructing transparency and using regulatory measures to hinder the crypto industry. The SEC and FDIC have declined to comment on these developments.

Got Gox'd

Mt. Gox, the once-dominant bitcoin exchange, is set to initiate the distribution of approximately $9 billion worth of bitcoin and bitcoin cash starting July, as announced by the Rehabilitation Trustee, Nobuaki Kobayashi, in a notice to creditors. This follows updates earlier in April regarding repayment amounts, with the exchange's move of $2.9 billion in bitcoin in May marking a significant milestone. Founded in 2010, Mt. Gox held the title of the world's largest bitcoin exchange until 2014 when it was compromised, resulting in the loss of 850,000 BTC. The trustee now plans to repay creditors with 142,000 bitcoin, 143,000 bitcoin cash, and 69 billion Japanese yen by October. The news of impending repayments coincided with a downturn in bitcoin's price, falling 3% to around $60,500 shortly after the announcement, reflecting the market's response to the significant transfer and impending repayments. See similar: German government sends $24 million in bitcoin to Coinbase and Kraken, offloading 900 Bitcoin with 400 BTC sent to these exchanges

Strike Launches Bitcoin and Lightning Payments App in the UK

Strike has introduced its widely-used Bitcoin and Lightning Network payments app to the UK, expanding its presence following a successful European rollout in April. The custodial app, available on iOS and Android, enables eligible individuals and businesses to enjoy unlimited instant GBP deposits from their bank accounts and scheduled recurring purchases. Users can also opt for "free" on-chain withdrawals with a target confirmation time of approximately 24 hours and benefit from global peer-to-peer transfers via Lightning Network. Notably, the app's "Send Globally" feature facilitates swift, cost-effective local currency remittances for UK users, leveraging Bitcoin's Lightning Network as a robust global payment infrastructure. Compliance with local regulations mandates UK users to pass a knowledge test and declare their investor classification before gaining access to the app.

Other Domestic Regulation Updates

• VanEck Files Form 8-A for Spot ETH ETF
• Manta-Based MUSD Stablecoin Leverages BlackRock’s BUIDL For Backing
• Supreme Court Overturns 'Chevron Deference'—And That Might Be Good for Crypto
• DoJ Sentences HYDRO Founders In First Ruling That A Cryptocurrency Is A Security
• Ethereum ETF Issuers Are Already Racing to Drop Fees

Other International Regulation Updates

• Japanese firm Metaplanet to buy bitcoin worth $6.3 million through bond issuance
• Hong Kong Parliament Sets Up Web3 and Digital Assets Subcommittee

Pain & Gain

Pain

• Riot nominates three directors to Bitfarms board in latest takeover salvo
• Former Certik Clients Question Security Firm’s Stronghold On Protocol Audits
• CertiK Accused Of Front-Running Bug Bounties Through Subsidiary

Gain

• Survey: 54% of Japanese Institutional Investors Plan to Invest in Crypto
• Scroll TVL Crosses $800 Million After Kicking Off Next Phase of Points Program