A $2.4B Easter Treat? 🐰
In today’s edition: 📉 Criticism for Optimism's funding program name change, 😬 Layer 3s have no value?, ⏳ Bitwise CIO seeks ETF delay, and more!
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Union is the first sovereign interoperability layer pioneering trustless bridging between appchains, L1s, and L2s without depending on trusted third parties, oracles, multi-signatures, or MPC. Looking to future-proof blockchain bridging, it is the only protocol that fully addresses the sovereign bridging trilemma, unlocking a horizontally-scaled future.
Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), FTX’s co-founder, was sentenced to 25 years in prison and $11 billion in forfeiture for massive fraud, marking a historic moment in the crypto industry. Judge Lewis Kaplan emphasized the sentence’s necessity due to Bankman-Fried’s risk-oriented decision-making philosophy known as “expected value” and lack of remorse.
Sam Enzer joined Unchained to unpack the sentencing, discussing the fairness of the length, explaining how the $11 billion forfeiture would work and how it’s different from the bankruptcy proceedings. Additionally, Enzer provided insights into the kind of prison SBF would end up in and into the three-year supervised release SBF will face after his prison term. The conversation further delved into the broader impact of the sentencing on the crypto industry, suggesting it could signify the end of a dark chapter.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Or watch it on YouTube.
What’s Poppin’?
by Juan Aranovich, Sam Sriram, and Sage Young
Airdrops From Wormhole and Ethena Labs Set to Inject $2.4 Billion Into Crypto Market This Week
Airdrops from Wormhole and Ethena could add an estimated $2.4 billion to the market this week, with airdrops from Kamino and Parcl following soon after.
Optimism’s $3 Billion Retroactive Funding Round Draws Criticism for Name Change
The program’s shorthand was originally named “RPGF,” which stood for “Retroactive Public Goods Funding,” but in the fourth funding round, the shorthand was renamed to just “Retro Funding.”
Layer 3s Only Exist to Take Value Away From Ethereum: Polygon Labs CEO
Polygon Labs’ Marc Boiron says if all layer 3 networks settled on to one layer 2 then Ethereum would capture “basically no value” and the blockchain’s security would be at risk.
Bitwise CIO Wants SEC to Delay Ethereum ETF Approval Until December: Report
Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan suggested that a delay in approving spot Ethereum ETFs could make them more successful as it gives traditional finance more time to get comfortable with Bitcoin and crypto.
Daily Bits…✍️✍️✍️
🏦 Custodia Bank lost its lawsuit against the Federal Reserve over the denial of its master account application, with the judge affirming the Fed's discretionary power.
🔄 FTX's bankruptcy estate plans to start repaying creditors by the end of 2024, coordinating efforts between its Chapter 11 process in the US and official liquidation in the Bahamas.
🛡️ A wallet linked to the Prisma Finance exploit, which resulted in an $11 million loss, demanded a public apology and team disclosure from the protocol before considering the return of stolen funds.
🌀 Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm's legal team filed a motion to dismiss charges alleging money laundering and sanctions violations related to his involvement with the crypto mixing service.
💰 Crypto trader Cobie unveiled beta testing for Echo, a new platform aimed at streamlining crypto angel investments. 💸 The first transaction on the platform successfully raised $300,000 for the synthetic dollar protocol Ethena in just three hours.
⚖️ Binance executives detained in Nigeria filed lawsuits against two government agencies, alleging human rights violations following their February detention.
💱 MakerDAO announced plans to reduce borrowing fees and increase the Spark debt ceiling in efforts to adjust the protocol's economic parameters.
🧊 A UK judge ordered a freeze on $7.6 million of Craig Wright's assets to cover COPA’s legal costs after he lost a lawsuit brought by the organization, which disputed his claim to be Bitcoin's creator, "Satoshi Nakamoto."
The $$$ Corner…
🦄 Farcaster's parent company, Merkle Manufactory, is reportedly close to securing funding that would value the firm at over $1 billion amid a surge in user activity on the Web3 social network.
💼 The crypto investment landscape hit an 18-month high with a notable increase in early-stage deals, surpassing $1.4 billion in funding for March.
What Do You Meme?
Recommended Reads
Unchained: What Is Solana’s Proof of History? A Beginner’s Guide
DL News: Central bankers are in delusional denial about Bitcoin, CBDCs
Forbes: 3 Reasons Why The U.S. Needs To Embrace Bitcoin (And Other Crypto)
📈 Your Market Update 📉
BTC is down 1.1%, trading at $69,432
ETH is down 1.8%, trading at $3,542
BTC dominance: 49.55%
Crypto market cap: $2.76T
*All data as of today, 06:05 am ET. Source: CoinGecko
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