💸 20-Month High for Bitcoin Fees
In today’s edition: 🚫 SEC rejects Coinbase plea, 🔍 Tether's cooperation?, 🎉 BONK craze sells phones, 🌐 Arbitrum's operation hiccup, and more!
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What’s Poppin’?
by Brandy Betz, Sage Young and Samyuktha Sriram
Bitcoin Fees Surge to Highest Level Since April 2021
The average transaction fee on Bitcoin has hit a 20-month high as unconfirmed transactions on the mempool continue to pile up.
Layer 2 Blockchain Arbitrum Suffers Partial Interruption After Traffic ‘Surge’
On its website, Arbitrum said that the sequencer and feed were operational again, it was working to fix technical issues and that it would conduct a post-mortem.
Is Tether Onboarding the US Secret Service and FBI?
The entity behind the USDT stablecoin said it has frozen around $435 million worth of crypto for the DOJ, Secret Service and FBI.
SEC Denies Coinbase Petition Seeking Crypto Rulemaking Clarity
The regulator’s decision supports the idea that existing security laws apply to crypto markets.
Rabid BONK Memecoin Fans Help Solana Saga Phones Sell Out in U.S.
Each phone is allocated BONK, the Shiba Inu-themed memecoin on Solana that has surged more than 600% over the past two weeks. The BONK allocation is now worth more than the retail price of the mobile device.
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The Chopping Block: Crypto’s Best and Worst in 2023
This week, after an incredibly eventful year for crypto, The Chopping Block crew makes its picks for the best and worst of 2023, including its biggest winners and losers, biggest surprises, best memes, best or worst pivots, biggest flops, best comeback stories, favorite podcast guests and predictions for 2024. Hear why some in the gang consider Solana to be the year’s biggest winner, Circle the biggest loser, MicroStrategy the best and worst pivot, Coinbase the best comeback and a renewed boom in crypto lending one of the top predictions for 2024.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Or watch it on YouTube.
The long-awaited approval of a spot bitcoin ETF looks to be mere weeks away, and Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart joins Unchained to discuss the final issues and considerations, especially the battle over whether the new funds will feature in-kind vs. cash creation and redemptions, which appears to be one of the last main sticking points in negotiations between the SEC and fund companies. He also discusses the specific impact of an ETF approval on Grayscale, which runs the $26.6 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, and why he thinks the SEC has thrown in the towel on trying to classify Ethereum as a security.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Or watch it on YouTube.
Daily Bits…✍️✍️✍️
📜 FTX submitted a bankruptcy reorganization plan, setting asset values for creditor claims based on prices when the firm filed for bankruptcy in November 2022.
🔚 Polygon Labs ceased support for 'Polygon Edge,' shifting focus to zero-knowledge cryptography with the new 'Polygon CDK' for blockchain development.
🕵️♂️ Taiwanese authorities are investigating blockchain bettors involved in a Polymarket election contract, potentially betting on Taiwan's upcoming election.
📈 FTX's Solana (SOL) holdings surged to $4.2 billion, significantly increasing the value of the bankrupt exchange's assets and affecting claims markets.
📱 A Solana Saga phone sold for $5,000 on eBay amid the BONK hype, with the device's "floor" price around $2,000 due to potential future airdrops.
⏰ The Bank of Korea Governor emphasized the urgency of introducing CBDCs, citing stablecoins' instability and its potential impact on central bank policies.
🎨 Hackers exploited NFT Trader's old smart contracts, stealing millions in NFTs, including Bored Ape and Mutant Ape Yacht Club.
Today in Crypto Adoption...
🏎️ Oracle Red Bull Racing dropped NFTs to celebrate a successful 2023 Formula 1 season, with digital collectibles minted on Sui and available on Bybit.com.
The $$$ Corner…
🛠️ Tap Protocol, based on Bitcoin Ordinals, secured $4.2 million to develop more applications on Bitcoin, from gaming to DeFi, in a round led by Sora Ventures.
What Do You Meme?
Recommended Reads
Anthony Sassano on the state of Ethereum and its L2 ecosystem
📈 Your Market Update 📉
BTC is down 2.3%, trading at $40,944
ETH is down 3.7%, trading at $2,132
BTC dominance: 50.13%
Crypto market cap: $1.6T
*All data as of today, 07:24 am ET
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