Crypto Flipsider News – Optimism with High Demand for Airdrop, Ethereum Bellatrix; Binance BCAT2022 Tour and Forbes SPAC Deal Terminated; J.P. Morgan in Singapore; Polygon Increases India’s KYC Requirements

Read in the Digest:

Ethereum scaling solution ‘Optimism’ faced with issue of high demand on airdrop day.

Ethereum’s PoS Transition: Bellatrix to be activated on Ropsten on June 2nd.

Binance commences BCAT2022 tour – Binance-Forbes SPAC deal called off.

J.P. Morgan helms DeFi asset tokenization pilot with Singapore’s MAS.

Polygon increases KYC requirements for potential Indian partners.

Ethereum Scaling Solution ‘Optimism’ Faced with Issue of High Demand for Airdrop Day

The hugely anticipated token airdrop for ‘Optimism’, a popular Layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum, has finally launched. However, the project hit the road with the worst possible start.

Optimism sent free tokens to 249,000 eligible wallets, including early users of the project and other select Ethereum wallets. However, many users experienced failed or delayed transactions when attempting to claim their funds.

The Optimism team immediately got to work to increase the capacity of the network, and although their work paid off, with more users becoming able to withdraw funds, the terrible start took a massive toll on the token.

Over the last 24 hours, Optimism Price (OP) has fallen in value by 65%, making it the fourth biggest loser among 20,000 crypto projects, as the problematic start caused OP to fall from its opening price of $4.57 to as low as $0.7973, before stabilizing at $1.6.

Flipsider:

In addition to the launch of the token, Optimism unveiled a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) dubbed “The Optimism Collective.”

Why You Should Care

The lack of polish seen in a number of projects at launch is a recurring problem in the crypto industry, though many expect it to be settled through regulation.

Ethereum’s PoS Transition: Bellatrix to Be Activated on Ropsten on June 2nd

On May 30th, Ethereum announced the launch of a new Beacon Chain on the Ropsten network. The upgrade was made to prepare the Beacon Chain for ‘Bellatrix’, which ETH core developer Tim Beiko revealed would be activated on June 2nd.

Bellatrix is the upgrade that will see the Ethereum chain finally begin its transition from the Proof of Work (PoW) model, to the full Proof of Stake (PoS) protocol. The activation of Bellatrix will mark the end of miners on the chain, and will shift the rewards for the approval of transactions to validators.

Ethereum will choose, and announce a new TTD (Terminal Total Difficulty) value a few days after Bellatrix goes live. The new TTD value is expected to be announced to node operators on June 3nd.

The TTD reveal will kickstart the execution layer portion of the transition, codenamed ‘Paris’. Beiko anticipates the transition to PoS on Ropsten to be carried out on around June 8th.

Flipsider:

Amidst the market crash, Ethereum GameFi activity has plummeted 96% from its November 2021 high.

Why You Should Care

The activation of Bellatrix on the network’s largest Testnet brings Ethereum inches closer to the highly anticipated mainnet ‘Merge‘, which stands primed to have a positive impact on ETH’s price.

Binance Commences BCAT2022 Tour – Binance-Forbes SPAC Deal Called Off

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has announced that its ‘Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Awareness Tour’ (BCAT) will kick off on June 4th in Enugu, Nigeria.

The 2022 BCAT tour focuses heavily on concepts related to play-to-earn gaming, the Metaverse and non fungible tokens. Other stops on the tour include Uganda, Ghana, and Cameroon.

Flipsider:

Forbes has called off its $400 million fundraiser, which was supposed to occurr via a merger with a SPAC called Magnum Opus Acquisition Ltd.

Binance was set to raise half of the $400 million required as the media house went public.

With the deal now called off, Binance continues to “review all possible options” for investing in Forbes.

Why You Should Care

BCAT Africa began in 2019 as the ‘CampusBCAT’ movement, designed to spread blockchain education throughout Africa.

J.P. Morgan Helms DeFi Asset Tokenization Pilot with Singapore’s MAS

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the city-state’s central bank, has announced the launch of a digital assets pilot program for the use of digital asset tokenization on public blockchains. The program has been dubbed “Project Guardian”.

Project Guardian will research the feasibility of using tokenized bonds and deposits in a permissioned liquidity pool for DeFi transactions involving lending and borrowing on a public blockchain.

The project will allow crypto belongings to be traded across platforms, including the existing financial infrastructure. The Monetary Authority of Singapore has agreed a deal to work with J.P. Morgan to explore the viability of institutional-grade DeFi protocols in traditional finance.

The project is particularly interested in exploring open, interoperable networks, trust anchors, and institutional-grade DeFi protocols. Joining J.P. Morgan for the pilot program are DBS Bank, and Marketnode, the SGX joint venture for bonds, which will act as “trust anchors”.

Flipsider:

Although the MAS is looking to build on blockchain technology, it has previously expressed concerns about the risks involved with cryptocurrencies, and discouraged retail investors from owning them.

Why You Should Care

Project Guardian is a part of efforts by Singapore to explore the economic potential and value of integrating cryptocurrency’s use cases.

Polygon Increases KYC Requirements for Potential Indian Partners

In reaction to India’s tightened crypto regulations, Polygon, an Ethereum Layer-2 side chain, has put extensive Know Your Customer (KYC) information requirements into place for potential investors from the region.

Indian regulators require crypto companies to keep the details of all transactions so that they can be tracked later. The information makes it easier for law enforcement agencies to monitor crypto transactions, which have historically been used by bad actors for illicit activities.

Reports on the move have confirmed that Polygon’s strengthened KYC requirements must be met before the network can approve the offering of any funding, investments, grants, or financial support to potential Indian investors.

A Polygon spokesperson says that “anyone refusing to provide full KYC information won’t get any grants” from Polygon. He adds that genuine investors would not hesitate to provide the requested KYC information to avoid procedural delays.