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- Crypto Alpha - Week 36 2024
Crypto Alpha - Week 36 2024
All things Crypto, Web3 and Blockchain to keep you updated
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TL;DR
Swiss Bank ZKB Launches Crypto Trading
Blockstream's BMN2 Series 3 Launch
Vitalik's Plan for Pseudo-Decentralized Cities
EigenLayer Enhances Rewards with Major Update
Bybit Launches Solana Staking Token
Mercuryo Launches Solana-Linked Debit Card
Uniswap Fined $175K by CFTC
KYVE Archives 500GB of Celestia Data
Uniramp Integrates Avalanche for Global Fiat Payments
Avalanche Upgrade Enhances L1 Customization
Binance Exec Gambaryan's Trial Update in Nigeria
Harris Campaign Accepts Crypto Through PAC
And much more!
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Bitcoin Highlights of the Week
Zurich Cantonal Bank (ZKB), Switzerland’s fourth-largest bank with $450B AUM, now offers $BTC and $ETH trading via its e-banking and mobile platforms. The bank securely stores private keys, simplifying crypto investment for customers and eliminating the need for personal wallets. Available 24/7, this service also extends to other Swiss banks.
ZKB’s entry into the crypto market follows its 2021 milestone of issuing the world’s first digital bond on the SIX Digital Exchange, highlighting its commitment to integrating digital assets into traditional banking services.
Metaplanet, dubbed the "Japanese MicroStrategy," has partnered with SBI VC Trade to enhance its Bitcoin trading, storage, and financial strategies. This collaboration offers Metaplanet secure, tax-efficient custody services and enables the company to use Bitcoin as collateral for financing, boosting its financial flexibility.
Metaplanet continues to expand its Bitcoin reserves, now holding 360 Bitcoins valued at $207M. The partnership underscores Metaplanet's commitment to Bitcoin as a core asset, leveraging SBI's advanced services to strengthen its position in Japan's cryptocurrency market.
Blockstream has launched the third series of its Blockstream Mining Note 2 (BMN2) token, enabling non-U.S. investors to access Bitcoin mining. Each BMN2 token represents 1 petahash per second (PH/s) of mining power from Blockstream’s facilities, providing holders with Bitcoin mined through their hash rate. The token is EU-compliant and follows the successful BMN1, which yielded a 32% Bitcoin return over three years.
The BMN2 series offers a lower hash price and emphasizes sustainability with 80% of mining power derived from carbon-neutral energy. This new token presents an attractive investment opportunity amid the approaching Bitcoin halving.
Core Blockchain has unveiled $LstBTC, a liquid staking token pegged 1:1 to Bitcoin. This innovation allows Bitcoin holders to stake their BTC without locking it, thereby keeping it available for decentralized finance (DeFi) use. Users earn daily rewards in $CORE tokens, enhancing Bitcoin's role in DeFi while preserving liquidity.
The $LstBTC platform incorporates a secure multi-sig setup for added safety and aims to boost Core's ecosystem by attracting developers and users. This move could broaden Bitcoin's application in DeFi, potentially driving new growth and innovation within the sector.
The Bitcoin network hashrate reached a new all-time high of 746 EH/s on September 3rd, despite Bitcoin trading below $60,000. This surge in computational power reflects stronger network security and long-term confidence in Bitcoin’s fundamentals, even as prices dropped over 10% this week.
Leading mining companies like Whatsminer and MicroBT are launching advanced rigs, while Riot Platforms acquired Block Mining for $92.5 million to boost its hash rate. The growing hashrate signals the industry’s focus on expansion and technology upgrades, highlighting the disconnect between network health and short-term price fluctuations.
Daily Alphas of the Week
Ethereum Highlights of the Week
Ripple is set to integrate Ethereum-compatible smart contracts on its XRP Ledger (XRPL) using an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) sidechain. This move will allow Ethereum developers to deploy decentralized apps (DApps) on XRPL without learning new programming environments, aiming to attract more developers and expand XRPL’s functionality.
Initially, these smart contracts will run on a sidechain, with the possibility of moving to the mainnet. Ripple plans to launch the first features in the coming months, positioning XRPL as a versatile platform for decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and broader blockchain use cases.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed a hybrid model for city governance that integrates democracy, capitalism, and decentralization. Responding to discussions on Farcaster, Buterin suggested cities could operate like decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) but with taxes.
In this vision, citizens gain governance privileges through assets, while landowners face higher taxes to ensure better alignment with the city's success. Buterin believes this model balances public infrastructure needs with private enterprise, promoting positive outcomes for all income levels and discouraging quick fixes to homelessness. This approach aims to combine democratic processes with profit incentives, creating a unique governance structure.
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Eigen Labs has rolled out a significant update to EigenLayer's restaking protocol, focusing on improving rewards for Ether restakers. The update enhances the performance of EigenPods, allowing users to restake their Ethereum Beacon Chain rewards more efficiently. This automatic restaking process enables users to compound their rewards within EigenLayer, increasing their potential earnings.
The update also includes user interface improvements for better usability. EigenLayer, which has around $11.5 billion in total value locked, supports several actively validated services like EigenDA and ARPA network. This enhancement aims to attract more users by offering increased flexibility and higher returns on restaked assets.
Monochrome Asset Management, in collaboration with Vasco Trustees Limited, has submitted an application to list its Ethereum ETF (IETH) on Cboe Australia, with a decision expected by the end of the month. The ETF is designed to passively hold Ethereum (ETH) and aims to offer retail investors a regulated way to invest in the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
If approved, IETH will be available through major brokerage platforms and will support both cash and in-kind transactions. This initiative follows the launch of Monochrome’s Bitcoin ETF (IBTC), which holds $11.3 million in Bitcoin as of early September.
Unstoppable Domains is expanding its decentralized domain naming service to Ethereum's Layer 2 Base, built by Coinbase. This move supports Optimistic roll-ups, which enhance transaction throughput and reduce gas costs by offloading transactions from Ethereum's main network.
Previously operating on Polygon and Ethereum mainnet, Unstoppable Domains enables users to create human-readable crypto wallet names using NFTs. Base, an EVM-equivalent blockchain, allows easy porting of Ethereum applications, supporting diverse use cases like DeFi and gaming.
Solana Highlights of the Week
Solana is emerging as a leader in decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN), driven by projects like Helium, Nosana, Kuzco, and Hivemapper. Helium's MOBILE Network, which offers decentralized cellular coverage, has surged with a 70% increase in HNT token value and over 112,000 users.
Other projects, such as Nosana's decentralized GPU network and Kuzco's compute services, are hitting record highs, showcasing Solana's ability to support scalable DePIN solutions. DePIN projects incentivize resource sharing through blockchain, enhancing both physical and virtual infrastructures.
PixelRealm, a Web3 gaming ecosystem, has partnered with Neon EVM to facilitate the seamless deployment of Ethereum-based games on the Solana blockchain. This collaboration eliminates the need for developers to rewrite their existing code, significantly reducing development time and costs.
The partnership comes amidst renewed interest in blockchain gaming, driven by the potential for innovative gameplay and decentralized ownership. Neon EVM, a Solana-based environment compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine, provides a bridge between the two ecosystems.
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Anyone can use THORChain to swap native assets between any supported chains or deposit their assets to earn yield from swaps.
Solana's daily revenue dropped to a six-month low of $190.7K on September 1, down 92% from its March peak of $2.47 million. This decline coincides with reduced transaction volumes, last seen in September 2023, and negative sentiment since August 26. The drop is partly due to new competitors like Ethervista on Ethereum and SunPump on Tron, challenging Solana's Pump.fun platform.
Ethervista's launch on Ethereum, featuring a 5-day liquidity lock for meme coin creators, has drawn interest away from Solana. Pump.fun's fee account sold 254,074 SOL on September 1, indicating profit-taking amid declining interest. Consequently, SOL has fallen nearly 4% in the past 24 hours, with weekly losses at 13%.
Mercuryo has introduced Spend, a virtual debit card, enabling Solana wallet users to make payments at over 90M Mastercard merchants. Compatible with Apple Pay and Google Pay, Spend simplifies crypto payments, allowing users to spend their digital assets globally.
The self-custodial card supports multi-chain integration, including Solana, Ethereum, and Polkadot, and offers customization options for wallet providers. Spend addresses key crypto off-ramping issues, such as poor user experience, bank restrictions, high fees, and slow processing times.
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