Ethena is a synthetic dollar protocol on Ethereum that issues the stablecoin USDe. The asset aims to be a censorship-resistant and scalable form of digital money pegged to the US dollar.
On April 16, on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant took a deep dive into the Ethena ecosystem revealing risks with the latest stablecoin, which has seen its market capitalization grow to more than $2 billion in a shorter time after launch than any other major counterpart.
USDe’s market cap peaked this week at just under $2.4 billion, following a surge of 900% following its launch in February, making it the fifth-largest stablecoin.
Ethena Risks Revealed
USDe is backed by crypto assets like ETH and BTC and maintains its peg by delta hedging using short positions on centralized exchanges.
To

On April 12, Coinbase’s legal counsel filed a brief asking the court’s permission to seek an interlocutory appeal in its case.
The controlling question was whether an “investment contract” requires something contractual. Coinbase believes it does, whereas the SEC disagrees.
An interlocutory appeal occurs when a ruling by a trial court is appealed while other aspects of the case are still proceeding.
Coinbase Fights Back
Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal said that the SEC’s action against the company and other crypto firms “goes way beyond the legal authority granted by Congress and puts an unjust cloud over US digital asset innovation.”
The SEC sued Coinbase in June 2023, alleging that its provision of crypto asset trading constituted operating as an unregistered

On April 9, the EigenLayer team announced that the platform’s EigenDA, the first Available Validator Service, had launched on the Ethereum mainnet.
The team added that over 4.1 million ETH had been restaked on EigenLayer, and over the past few weeks, 70% of all new Ethereum validators restaked to the platform.
Moreover, restakers can now delegate their entire stake to an operator that has opted in to run available validator services like EigenDA.

Announcing: EigenLayer ♾ EigenDA Mainnet Launch pic.twitter.com/bTp5BfnsKE
— EigenLayer (@eigenlayer) April 9, 2024

Restaking Narrative Grows
Restaking allows users to stake the same ETH on both Ethereum and other protocols. Platforms such as EigenLayer leverage Ethereum’s validators and staked tokens, enabling smaller and newer

On April 11, Chainlink announced Transporter, which it described as “the next evolution in cross-chain bridging.”
The app is powered by Chainlink’s Cross Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), which allows smart contracts to securely access data from external systems and enable trustless data connectivity between blockchains.
“Having a secure way to move both value and data across chains is something the blockchain industry has needed for years,” commented Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov.

We are excited to introduce @transporter_io, the next evolution in cross-chain bridging, powered by #Chainlink CCIP.
Transporter is your gateway to the multi-chain universe.
Cross chains with confidence: https://t.co/OJ9XWcAy4F pic.twitter.com/ANNWiFfXdC
— Chainlink (@chainlink)

The firm, co-founded by Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam and former Sequoia partner Matt Huang, is looking to tap into institutional interest in the space following a bear market lull in VC investing.
It would be one of the largest new crypto VC funds raised since the market downturn last year, according to an April 3 Bloomberg report citing anonymous sources.
The peak for crypto VC fundraising came in May 2022, when venture firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) raised a $4.5 billion fund.
Crypto VC Comeback
Paradigm previously raised a record $2.5 billion crypto fund in 2021 during the bull market peak. However, the firm faced scrutiny last year for appearing to deemphasize and reduce commitment to crypto in a pivot to AI on its website.
Additionally, it invested $278 million in

On March 29, the firm announced its Grayscale Dynamic Income Fund (GDIF) stating that it is its first actively managed investment product.
Grayscale added that the new fund aims to optimize income in the form of staking rewards associated with proof-of-stake crypto assets.
It is the latest effort from the world’s largest crypto asset manager to retain clients and capital following a huge exodus from its flagship product (GBTC) and its conversion to a spot Bitcoin ETF.

Grayscale Dynamic Income Fund $GDIF is our first actively managed investment product. It seeks to optimize income in the form of staking rewards associated with proof-of-stake digital assets.For important disclosures and more information: https://t.co/v5IR7nJQY1 pic.twitter.com/YTBJzJJbTQ
— Grayscale

On March 19, BlackRock revealed that it is preparing to offer a fund through a partnership with digital asset tokenization specialist Securitize.
According to a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the Wall Street giant plans to launch the “BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund.” However, the total size of the fund was not disclosed.
It feels very good for Ethereum, commented Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz on March 20.

This feels very important for $Eth!!! https://t.co/UJVnIhm5pJ
— Mike Novogratz (@novogratz) March 19, 2024

BackRock Pivot to RWA
The fund will be based on the Ethereum blockchain and will trade under the ticker BUIDL. The Ethereum address hosting it had its first transfer around two weeks ago, according to Etherscan. It contains 100

Ethereum staking could present challenges for crypto asset manager Grayscale if the SEC greenlights fund conversion for ETHE as it did for GBTC.
These are the findings of BitMEX research, which added that if the SEC does not allow staking, then there will be large outflows from the firm’s ETHE fund, larger than those from its Bitcoin ETF.
“All the more reason to redeem from ETHE as soon as you can,” it advised.
Staking Allowed in ETFs?
Moreover, if Grayscale lowers the fee from 2.5% to 1.5% and the staking yield is 4%, investors could lose 5.5% by not redeeming and holding stETH, it stated.
If the SEC does allow ETH staking, ETF issuers such as BlackRock and Fidelity could adopt a policy where 70% of inflows are staked, and 30% is held in spot ETH for liquidity.
“For ETHE

On March 8, on-chain analytics provider Santiment reported that despite the incredible milestone for Bitcoin, “there is a combined sense of exhaustion and altcoin distraction coming from the trading community right now.”
BTC prices briefly topped $70,000 on Coinbase on Friday marking a new all-time high for the digital asset.
However, it sharply retreated from this level for the second time in a week, falling to around $68,000 a few hours later.
Bitcoin Fervor Fading?
So far, it has been largely institutions driving momentum for crypto markets with consecutive days of high trading volumes and inflows for the newly launched spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Santiment also reported that social activity, or the percentage of discussions related to BTC versus other assets, is at a fairly

On Feb. 20, the company’s CEO Brian Armstrong reported that Coinbase International Exchange continues to grow, hitting $1 billion in daily volume for the first time.
The exchange, which is based in Bermuda, offers crypto perpetual futures trading to professional non-US traders.
It was set up outside of the United States due to the ongoing war on crypto and legal battles. Armstrong added, “Would be great to see perpetual futures allowed in the U.S. market as well.”

Coinbase International Exchange continues to grow – first time hitting $1B in volume in a day.
Sign up here: https://t.co/Z21Z7mqrca
Would be great to see perpetual futures allowed in the U.S. market as well. https://t.co/DxXobk5XVS
— Brian Armstrong 🛡️ (@brian_armstrong) February 20, 2024

Bitcoin ETF Volumes

A digital Euro CBDC will be “designed for making payments, not for investment,” explained Ulrich Bindseil, Jürgen Schaaf, and Executive Board member Piero Cipollone in a blog post on Feb. 19.
They added that many banks worry their customers might withdraw deposits to hold digital Euros instead. “These fears are misplaced,” they stated.
The ECB is developing a digital Euro CBDC with legal tender status functioning as a digital payment solution for Europe. However, concerns are growing over a potential flow of deposits from retail banks to the central bank, which controls the CBDC.
“CBDCs could affect financial institutions, as depositors might choose to move money from bank deposits to the central bank,” it stated.

A digital euro will be designed for making payments, not

Brian Nelson was grilled during a House Financial Services Committee hearing providing oversight of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, according to a press release from Representative Tom Emmer on Feb. 14.
Treasury Undersecretary Brian Nelson had to answer for reports that Hamas received $41 million and Palestinian Islamic Jihad received $93 million in cryptocurrency donations.
He admitted that the reported figures were inaccurate and inflated, and the actual amounts received by the groups were likely much smaller.
Mainstream Media Misinformation
Anti-crypto politicians often embellish the role of digital assets in illicit finance and seldom back up their claims with facts that prove otherwise.

On Feb. 9, Ark Invest reported that its ARKB ETF had crossed $1 billion in Bitcoin holdings. “This isn’t just a number – it’s a testament to the growing trust and interest in digital assets,” it stated.
The milestone was also commented on by Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart, who said it suggests that Ark had a big flow day on Friday.
“Bitwise’s BITB on price appreciation alone is around $830 million right now,” he said before adding, “They’re probably relatively close behind ARKB.”
According to Farside, Ark 21Shares did indeed have a big day with $135.5 million in BTC inflows.

Appears we have a 3rd US spot #Bitcoin ETF to cross the $1 billion mark. https://t.co/iBtr1iUfrW
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) February 9, 2024

Bitcoin ETF Inflows
Preliminary figures indicate

Investors claim the deal led to total losses of around $4.2 billion when the company collapsed during the crypto contagions of 2022.
The lawsuit alleges the NBA was “grossly negligent” in agreeing to a marketing deal between Voyager and Mark Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks.
Moreover, several NBA teams had deals to promote crypto companies like Voyager and FTX, which also failed.
Unregistered Securities Promotion
This latest lawsuit was filed in Miami on Feb. 6, claiming that the NBA promoted Voyager’s “unregistered securities,” making it liable for damages.
“The NBA carefully and deliberately decided to embrace the risks associated with cryptocurrency exchanges such as Voyager, FTX, and Coinbase, and go all in,”
“This decision, fraught with risk, involved promoting and selling

On Feb. 6, House Financial Services and Agriculture Committee leaders sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen regarding the lack of regulation in the spot market for digital assets that are not securities.
The letter was sent from Patrick McHenry, Glenn Thompson, French Hill, and Dusty Johnson, all chairmen of various House committees.
They requested that Janet Yellen, in her capacity as Chair of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), provide answers to calls to “fill existing regulatory gaps in the spot market for digital assets.”
Moreover, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing with Janet Yellen on the FSOC’s annual report on Feb. 6.
CFTC Oversight on Non-Securities
The letter follows calls from the FSOC and Commodity Futures Trading

According to CC15Capital, which has been trading spot ETF Bitcoin holdings, around 134,000 BTC has been bought by the nine newly launched funds since Jan. 11. Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s price is pushing above $42K.
This stash is currently valued at around $5.6 billion. However, the figure does not include outflows from Grayscale.
GBTC holders have been dumping shares and rebalancing their portfolios to funds that have lower fees and better yields, adding selling pressure to spot markets.

After 10 trading days, the 9 new 🇺🇸 spot #Bitcoin ETFs bought ~134,000 $BTC worth $5.6 Billion USD👇
This excludes $GBTC (conversion w/ outflows)$IBIT $FBTC $ARKB $BITB $BRRR $BTCO $HODL $EZBC $BTCW pic.twitter.com/uWjP33OA4X
— CC15Capital 🇺🇸 (@Capital15C) January 26, 2024

Bitcoin ETF Flows

The WEF in the Swiss town of Davos kicked off on Jan. 15 with more than 60 heads of state and government in attendance.
In previous years, crypto companies were leading the advertising race in the main promenade in Davos; however, the billboards have been taken over by AI firms in 2024, reported CNBC.
This shift reflects the explosion in interest and investment in AI over the past year. Meanwhile, crypto has faded from the Davos spotlight after its terrible 2022, lackluster 2023, and fading ETF fever.
AI in The Spotlight
Chief strategy officer for Circle, Dante Disparte, told the outlet that this was not necessarily a bad thing because the crypto industry had to tell the story of the technology in recent years.
“Today, there are very few crypto houses along the Promenade.

Tether’s total assets are not far away from $100 billion following a monumental rise over the past six years. 
The current figure for the firm’s total assets is $95.2 billion, according to its transparency report. Of that amount, $92 billion is in the dollar-pegged stablecoin, USDT. 
Tether Keeps Growing
On Jan. 3, Tether and VanEck strategy advisor Gabor Gurbacs reaffirmed his support for the firm, adding, “Like the Bitcoin ETF, many thought I was crazy.”
“USDT market cap was under $100 million in the spring of 2017 when I flagged to Wall Street that Tether has the potential to reach $100 Billion.”

Tether total assets are approaching $95 Billion.
USDT mcap was under $100 million in the spring of 2017 when I flagged to Wall Street that Tether has the potential to reach

On Dec. 25, BitMEX Research published a complete list of cryptocurrency-related exchange-traded products (ETPs)
It reported that there were 150 crypto-related ETPs across the world with $50.3 billion in assets under management.
The firm noted that it could be useful in “determining the extent to which the spot Bitcoin ETF cannibalizes existing ETPs or attracts new capital into the cryptocurrency space.”
Cannibalizing Crypto ETPs 
Funds could simply flow from these existing products into new spot BTC ETFs.
Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) is the largest of them all, with $27 billion in assets under management.

It is already established and has a solid investor base. However, Grayscale could be left behind if the SEC approves rival spot products but does not let it convert

A group of three super PACs backed by major cryptocurrency executives and investors has raised $78 million to influence the 2024 elections and support crypto-friendly candidates.
A super PAC is a political action committee that pools campaign contributions from members and donates them to campaigns for or against candidates or legislation.
Crypto has caused deep division within American politics, with one side wanting to restrict and ban it and the other wanting to encourage and foster the embryonic industry.
Crypto Campaigning Revival 
On Dec. 18, Politico reported that the campaign has support from venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Coinbase, and early Bitcoin adopters Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.
Other crypto players backing the effort include Ark,

Crypto industry experts have been discussing Tether and its potential to become the dollar-pegged defacto central bank digital currency of the world.
The comments come in response to Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, who told CNBC earlier this week:
“I’m a big fan of this stablecoin called Tether…I hold their treasuries. So I keep their treasuries, and they have a lot of treasuries. They’re over $90 billion now, so I’m a big fan of Tether.”
Cantor Fitzgerald is a global investment bank, brokerage, and financial services firm.
Is Tether Like a CBDC?
On Dec. 13, Glassnode on-chain analyst “Checkɱate” declared, “Tether is the CBDC.”
He added that if the US government can shut down Russia’s reserves, it is “hard to argue they are incapable of closing down Tether’s.”

“Most

A recent move was the introduction of the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act, another bill aiming to curtail the use of cryptocurrencies in America.
On Dec. 11. the bill gained five new Senators as cosponsors, including, unsurprisingly, three members of the Banking Committee. 
Crypto advocate Evan Van Ness posted a list of Senators he claimed were “paid off by the banks to cosponsor Elizabeth Warren’s anti-crypto bill,”

A list of US senators paid off by the banks to cosponsor Elizabeth Warren’s anti-crypto bill
* @RaphaelWarnock (D-GA)* @LaphonzaB (D-CA)* @ChrisVanHollen (D-MD)* @Hickenlooper (D-CO)* @benraylujan (D-NM)* @RogerMarshallMD (R-KS)* @JoeManchinWV (D-WV)
List continues 👇
— Evan Van Ness 🧉 (@evan_van_ness) December 11, 2023

As if confirming the notion,

On Dec. 5, Coinbase unveiled changes to its Web3 wallet to make the product more user-friendly and streamlined.
One of the biggest updates was the introduction of the ability to send funds using a text message on popular social media messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram.
In a company blog post, the firm said that users can now instantly send money to friends and family worldwide for free directly within messaging and social media apps by sharing a link from Coinbase Wallet. 

Send crypto via a link in any app
Try it out https://t.co/zWvaH1mGC7 https://t.co/eaU99tIQg1
— Brian Armstrong 🛡️ (@brian_armstrong) December 5, 2023

Coinbase Link Sharing
Coinbase stated that link sharing could be done with platforms such as WhatsApp, iMessage, and Telegram, social

Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund fervor has gripped institutional investors, which are piling funds back into crypto assets. 
Institutional-grade crypto asset funds saw their largest weekly inflows since late 2021 last week, according to fund manager CoinShares. 
A new record of inflows of 346 million was recorded for the week, the highest total observed in the past 9 weeks of inflows, it revealed. 
Moreover, the global head of cryptocurrency products at CME, Giovanni Vicioso, commented on the return of institutional traders to crypto derivatives markets.
The increase in volume and open interest is a “clear indication that institutions are moving into this space,” he said. 

Institutional Appetite is Back
According to CoinShares, the fresh inflow of funds has pushed total

The volume of Bitcoin supply in profit has reached the levels last seen two years ago as the market came off its November 2021 all-time high, according to Glassnode.
In its ‘Week on Chain’ report released this week, the analytics provider added that the magnitude of unrealized profit held within these coins remains modest.
The percentage of Bitcoin’s circulating supply currently held in profit reached 83.6% or 16.36 million BTC during last week’s rally. Moreover, this is historically significant, being well above the all-time mean value of 74%, added Glassnode.
Bitcoin Accumulation Accelerates  
Bitcoin rallied to its highest level of the year, tapping $37,900 on November 16. However, it has currently retreated 4% from that high as markets continue to cool. 

With #Bitcoin

On Nov. 15, Scott Melker, aka “The Wolf of All Streets,” said that one of his followers was hacked in the latest scam targeting Ledger users.
While checking his Nano S hardware wallet, the user reported seeing a 503 HTTP API error when it attempted to synchronize, “which in and of itself terrified me.”
The victim reached out to Ledger support and reported having the CTO (chief technology office) contact him via direct message on X.
This is when alarm bells should have rung as support isn’t that quick, and customers definitely won’t get to speak to executives and are likely to be lumbered with a chatbot.

Scam alert.
I have been speaking with one of my followers here, who shared that he was hacked this morning on a Ledger scam.
Here is what he said happened –
“Woke up this

The United States is the world’s largest cryptocurrency market, accounting for 24.4% of global transaction activity, according to a recent report by Chainalysis.
The report, released on October 23, revealed that there was an estimated $1.2 trillion in value received on-chain between July 2022 and June 2023 in the U.S.
Moreover, institutional activity makes up 76.9% of North America’s crypto transaction volume, and activity is split between centralized exchanges and DeFi, it added. 

Our 2023 Geography of Cryptocurrency Report is out today! Get your copy now and learn everything you need to know about the current state of crypto adoption around the world. https://t.co/zJaTvo6YOE pic.twitter.com/8gbdJ2IvnQ
— Chainalysis (@chainalysis) October 23, 2023

Stablecoins Shift

On October 18, the ECB Governing Council stated that it had decided to move to the next phase of the digital euro project.
The move into the preparation phase for a potential European CBDC follows the completion of a two-year investigation phase.
The preparation stage will start on November 1 and will initially last two years. It will involve finalizing the digital euro rulebook, selecting technology providers, and testing.

Our Governing Council has decided to move to the next phase of the digital euro project.
In November 2023 we will start laying the foundation for the possible issuance of a digital euro. A decision on issuing a digital euro will come at a later stage.https://t.co/xuKklame0U pic.twitter.com/Nn0Z8RggVn
— European Central Bank (@ecb) October 18, 2023

The move follows the imbroglio at the JPEX crypto exchange last month, which resulted in multiple arrests and the platform shuttering services. The unlicensed exchange is alleged to have defrauded investors out of $204 million.
The task force is comprised of the city’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and law enforcement officials, including representatives from the commercial crime, cybersecurity and technology crime, and financial intelligence and investigations police bureaus.
According to the announcement, it will “enhance collaboration in monitoring and investigating illegal activities related to virtual-asset trading platforms,”
Protecting Hong Kong Public
Moreover, the JPEX saga threatens to complicate Hong Kong’s push to become a regional crypto and fintech

Crypto markets remain down around 65%, or $2 trillion in total market capitalization, from their peak in November 2021.
The industry has been battered by a barrage of attacks from regulators and politicians, especially in the United States. Moreover, the wave of hacks and exploits has continued unrelenting.
Nevertheless, there is a silver lining, and that is growth and adoption across the sector.
On Sept. 26, DeFi researcher Thor Hartvigsen shared four charts showing that the “market and crypto adoption is in a much better place than you might think” before exclaiming:
“I am more optimistic about the future of Crypto/DeFi than I’ve ever been.”
Crypto and DeFi Growth Charts
The first chart was of the total daily wallets across the Ethereum and the layer-2 landscape. Users