🎈 Largest Initial Airdrop Ever?
In today’s edition: ✉️ Senator Warren's got mail, 💼 Bitcoin halving's market conditions, 🔝 Sushi's Layer N deployment, 📉 Two major exploits, 🚀 Record TVL on Stacks, and more!
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In the two weeks since Farcaster introduced its Frames feature that allows developers to easily add mini apps to users’ posts, the decentralized social network has become the talk of Twitter, now X, and increased its user base by ten times, according to co-founder Dan Romero.
Romero joins Unchained to discuss why Frames has become so popular, the philosophy behind Farcaster and its client Warpcast, why the crypto component behind Farcaster is being kept to a minimum, how Apple’s new Vision Pro could lead to the creation of a 3D social network on Farcaster, how he and his fellow co-founder’s background at Coinbase helped shape their decisions about building Farcaster, and his vision for eventually getting Farcaster to a billion-plus users.
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 Brandy Betz, Sam Sriram, Benjamin Powers, and Sage Young
Starknet’s First Token Distribution Will Be Available to Nearly 1.3 Million Addresses
The token distribution, which Starknet is referring to as a “provision,” will be the largest initial airdrop by number of eligible addresses.
Sushi to Launch Derivatives DEX ‘Susa’ on Layer N
Multi-chain DEX platform Sushi plans to deploy its “most ambitious project to date” Susa on Layer N – an upcoming Ethereum layer 2 designed as a network of custom and optimized rollups.
PlayDapp Loses $290 Million in Exploit After Private Key Was Exposed
Crypto gaming platform PlayDapp lost $290 million worth of tokens in two exploits over the course of four days, with the attacker ignoring a $1 million “white hat reward” to return the stolen funds.
How the 2024 Bitcoin Halving Could Prove Easier for Miners to Manage
In a little more than a month, the block rewards for miners will be cut in half. Market conditions could soften the financial blow.
Blockchain Association Sends Letter Criticizing Sen. Warren’s Crypto AML Bill, but Will It Matter?
On Capitol Hill, there is a recognition that letters like these are more about taking a public stance than actually changing policy outcomes.
Stacks, a Bitcoin Layer 2 Protocol, Sees All-Time High in Total Value Locked
The majority of the total value locked (TVL) in layer 2 protocol Stacks’ smart contracts comes from ALEX, an open-source decentralized exchange, according to data from DefiLlama.
Daily Bits…✍️✍️✍️
🏛️ The U.S. Treasury will express concerns about the use of crypto in illicit finance and seek additional authorities to combat these activities in an upcoming congressional hearing.
💸 Purpose Investments and Grayscale defended their higher bitcoin ETF fees amid ongoing outflows, emphasizing their funds' value propositions despite declining assets.
📜 ENS Labs received a $300,000 settlement offer from Manifold Finance over the eth.link domain dispute, alongside a proposed vote to reimburse $750,000 in legal fees from DAO funds.
📊 Robinhood reported a boost in transaction-based revenues with $43 million from crypto in its fourth-quarter earnings, and plans to expand its customer base internationally.
🚨 In South Korea, reports of suspicious crypto transactions surged by 48.8% in 2023 compared to the prior year, prompting authorities to develop systems for immediate suspension of illicit activities.
🏥 Over 100 Romanian hospitals went offline due to a ransomware attack demanding a $174,000 bitcoin ransom, impacting both direct users and additional computer systems.
Today in Crypto Adoption...
💳 Ledger and Coinbase integrated to offer Ledger users direct access to buy and sell crypto through Coinbase Pay, streamlining the transfer of crypto purchases to Ledger wallets without extra fees.
The $$$ Corner…
🔐 Fordefi, a crypto wallet firm, secured $10 million in funding, led by Electric Capital, for expanding its institutional-grade wallet to retail-facing platforms.
📈 Ripple announced plans to acquire digital asset platform Standard Custody, pending regulatory approval, to enhance its regulatory tools portfolio with US-based trust licenses.
What Do You Meme?
Recommended Reads
CoinDesk: The SEC Takes on Dealer Definitions
DL News: Two booming DeFi protocols published similar code. Was it copied?
Blockworks: Coinbase earnings prep: Profitability possible in Q4, but what’s next?
📈 Your Market Update 📉
BTC is up 3%, trading at $51,411
ETH is up 3%, trading at $2,753
BTC dominance: 49.87%
Crypto market cap: $2.01T
*All data as of today, 06:32 am ET. Source: CoinGecko
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