TLDR Crypto 2024-04-29

Franklin Templeton has listed its Ether ETF on the DTCC, signaling its readiness for trading. However, this does not mean the SEC has approved it, given the official decision has been delayed until June 11.

Beribit clients have occupied the Russian crypto exchange's offices, demanding their funds amidst a financial discrepancy audit. Russian Duma is considering a bill that would ban crypto exchanges but allow transactions and mining by registered firms. This legislative move is being challenged as it could potentially affect national security interests due to cryptocurrencies' role in bypassing sanctions.

Steel is an Alloy-based proof library that, alongside RISC Zero's ZK Coprocessor, has access to Ethereum's entire state for viewing. It allows for complex contract execution for a fraction of the fees with trustless off-chain execution. The library is valuable for applications that need to access Ethereum's state in a trustless manner with only a few lines of code.

Heroglyphs is a new token protocol on Ethereum that only allows validators to mint tokens. This not only incentivizes decentralization, but also creates an aura of prestige around each token due to the commitment required to create one. Like Runes or Ordinals, Heroglyphs are created by inscribing data into a block, with minting rewards shared equally between all validators. Rights to mint and manage tokens can only be leased using a Herberger tax model, meaning anyone can pay more and take the ticker.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection floor price is at 10 ETH – down 92% from its April 2022 all-time high. There were numerous reasons for the decline, including interest in other collections, the NFT market downturn, and a lack of cohesive strategy from creator Yuga Labs. Going forward, the launch of the Otherside metaverse, the return of Yuga's co-founder as the CEO, and the consolidation of Yuga's IP could revitalize the project.

Despite claims that Solana's growth has peaked, data shows increased usage, particularly marked by a surge in priority fee usage (some of which comes from bots), stablecoin transactions that outpace other blockchains, and an average monthly DEX volume that is 18 times higher than previous years. Similarly, Solana's Total Value Locked (TVL) has risen from $210 million to $4 billion.

Offchain Labs, the company behind the Arbitrum L2, found two severe vulnerabilities in Optimism's fraud-proof system. The exploits, which have now been patched, allowed for fraudulent chain history to be accepted. Fortunately, the vulnerabilities were only on testnet and funds were never at risk.

zkSNACKs, the company behind Wasabi Wallet, has prohibited users in the U.S. from accessing its products, likely because of regulatory concerns highlighted by recent arrests related to crypto privacy (e.g., Samourai wallet).

As part of its Endgame plan, Maker will rebrand, launch its own chain, and create SubDAO protocols to further innovation and capture market share.

Yuga plans to refocus on gaming efforts in the 3D Otherside.

Solana has captured innovation and memecoins, Bitcoin is entering an NFT and DeFi run like Ethereum in 2021, and Base is the main innovation hub for Ethereum.