Immutable and Polygon Labs will identify investment opportunities while King River will manage the investment process and deploy the capital across game studios and web3 infrastructure firms. Source
Odds that spot ether ETFs will get approved in May have gotten slimmer, according to a Bloomberg ETF analyst who cited U.S. regulators’ seeming lack of engagement with potential issuers over the products. Source
The fund was seeded with $100 million in USDC stablecoin using the Ethereum network, blockchain data shows. Source
Polygon Labs paid $4 million to the coffee giant in 2022 as part of their deal to build and host a blockchain-based loyalty program, Starbucks Odyssey, on the Polygon network, according to two people familiar with the matter. The payout ended a competitive hunt by proponents of at least three blockchain ecosystems who wanted to partner with Starbucks, a third person said. Source
Spot Bitcoin ETFs Are Just the Beginning for Wall Street Source
Mining, an integral part of securing the bitcoin network, requires a lot of capital to operate profitably. And now, after a brutal crypto winter and with the upcoming halving next month, many investors have turned sour on what once was an outrageously profitable business, drying up capital for the miners. Source
Optimism and similar rollups aim to borrow their security from Ethereum, meaning recording transactions should be tantamount to writing transactions directly onto Ethereum. Optimism is currently the third-largest rollup network in terms of transaction volume, with $950 million in total deposits, according to DefiLlama. The chain’s technology also powers the second and fourth-largest layer-2 networks, Coinbase’s Base network and Blast, a buzzy newcomer to the rollup race. Source
The bankrupt crypto lender Genesis Global Capital has agreed to a final judgment ordering it to pay $21 million to settle charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for violating securities laws by offering and selling its now-defunct Gemini Earn program, the SEC announced Tuesday. Source
“As long as the SEC’s registration process requires a centralized issuer, it will be incoherent for crypto assets, meaningful disclosures will not happen, and the public will not have access to the material information that it needs,” according to the Paradigm brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. It also cited the fact that the Republican duo on the five-person commission is in stark disagreement with Chair Gary Gensler that what the SEC is doing is clear, fair and based in the law. Source
Unlike 2021’s bull run, where growth-at-any-cost led to many unsustainable means of operating mining businesses, a much more prudent strategies will be required by the miners. The recent crypto winter has seen many large bankruptcies and dried up capital markets for the miners. Moreover, investors are now shying away from mining stocks, even as bitcoin price soared to a new all-time high, heading into the halving, as spot traded bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are deemed better investments versus miners. Source