Last Week in Crypto March 11-17 Top Stories You Might Have Missed
With the crypto market blooming at the moment and crypto prices hitting or exceeding their ATHs again and again, it is no wonder that we have so much to talk about. New launches and unexpected announcements, all of them can contribute to the evolution of the crypto space.
Thus, lets see what happened in crypto last week.
Table of contents
- 1. London Stock Exchange Will Start Accepting BTC and ETH ETNs
- 2. The Dencun Upgrade Went Live on the Ethereum Mainnet
- 3. Trumps Statements Indicate He Might Be Tolerant of Crypto If Elected
- 4. OKX Gets Approval for Payment Institution License in Singapore
- 5. A Judge Decided that Craig Wright Is NOT Satoshi Nakamoto
- 6. Hong Kong Authorities Issued a Warning Against Bybit Exchange
- 7. PancakeSwap Announced V4
- 8. The BlackRock BTC ETF Set a New Daily Volume Record
- 9. Cardano Launched Its First Fiat-backed Stablecoin
- 10. DOJ Said that SBF Should Spend 40-50 Years in Prison
1. London Stock Exchange Will Start Accepting BTC and ETH ETNs
Summary: The London Stock Exchange will start accepting BTC and ETH ETNs in Q2 2024.
Details: The London Stock Exchange (LSE) announced that it will start accepting applications for Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded notes (ETNs) in Q2 2024. According to a factsheet published by the institution, it will only consider applications for crypto ETNs where the issuer can demonstrate that the ETN is physically backed, has a publicly available market price, and has BTC or ETH underlying crypto assets.
According to the London Stock Exchange, the underlying digital assets must be wholly or mainly held in cold storage. The ETNs admitted on LSE will be suitable for professionals and will be available under trading segments specifically designated as Professional investors only.
Source: Tech.eu
2. The Dencun Upgrade Went Live on the Ethereum Mainnet
Summary: The Dencun upgrade was successfully rolled out on the Ethereum mainnet on March 13.
Details: The Dencun upgrade was successfully employed on the Ethereum mainnet on March 13 at 1:55 PM UTC. It was highly awaited, being considered one of the key hard forks since the Merge. The Dencun upgrade is expected to reduce the transaction fees of Layer-2 networks and improve Ethereums scalability in general.
The Dencun upgrade incorporates 9 Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs). Its name combines the Cancun upgrade of Ethereums execution layer and the Deneb upgrade on its consensus layer.
Source: Cointelegraph
3. Trumps Statements Indicate He Might Be Tolerant of Crypto If Elected
Summary: Donald Trump changed his perspective regarding crypto, stating that he might change things in a good way if re-elected as the president of the US.
Details: Donald Trump suggested that he might contribute to a potential positive change in the regulatory landscape for cryptocurrencies should he be re-elected. The former US president has previously emphasized the importance of maintaining the dominance of the US dollar, but it seems that something has changed in his perspective regarding digital assets.
While he has expressed his wish to oppose the crypto sector before, Donald Trump has now revealed his personal crypto holdings, which are valued at a little over $3 million.
Source: The Dales Report
4. OKX Gets Approval for Payment Institution License in Singapore
Summary: OKX crypto exchange secured an in-principle approval for an MPI in Singapore as part of its plan to expand globally.
Details: OKX crypto exchange announced that it received an in-principle approval for a Major Payment Institution (MPI) License from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The announcement was made by Hong Fang, who is the president of OKX.
OKX expressed its wish to expand globally, stating that Singapore has always been a priority country for us as part of our global strategy. The in-principle approval from MAS will help OKX focus on the spot product first, while the team will also work to bring local banking connections to its Singapore-based customers as soon as possible.
Source: OKX
5. A Judge Decided that Craig Wright Is NOT Satoshi Nakamoto
Summary: A UK judge decided that Dr. Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto and did not write the Bitcoin whitepaper.
Details: UK Judge James Mellor concluded that Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto, nor is he the author of the Bitcoin whitepaper. The major decision came on Thursday, March 15, after the closing arguments, as part of the COPA (Crypto Open Patent Alliance) trial.
In his final declaration, Judge James Mellor made 4 things clear: Dr. Wright is not the author of the Bitcoin whitepaper. Second, Dr. Wright is not the person who adopted or operated under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto () Third, Dr. Wright is not the person who created the Bitcoin System. And, fourth, he is not the author of the initial versions of the Bitcoin software.
Source: CoinDesk
6. Hong Kong Authorities Issued a Warning Against Bybit Exchange
Summary: Hong Kong SFC included Bybit in its list of suspicious crypto exchanges.
Details: The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission listed Bybit exchange among the suspicious trading platforms, warning Hong Kong-based crypto traders about risks associated with 11 Bybit products. This happened shortly after the companys local entity, Spark Fintech, submitted its crypto exchange license application earlier this year.
The suspicious investment products included by the SFC in its list include Bybit Futures Contracts and Inverse Futures Contracts, Bybit Options, Dual Asset, Bybit Web3 staking, and more.
Source: The Block
7. PancakeSwap Announced V4
Summary: PancakeSwap decentralized exchange announced the launch of PancakeSwap v4, which will resolve many issues of the previous versions.
Details: Leading decentralized exchange (DEX) PancakeSwap announced the launch of PancakeSwap v4, thus making significant progress for Automated Market Makers (AMMs). PancakeSwap v4 will operate on Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain (BNB Chain).
The 4th version of PancakeSwap addresses various challenges the previous versions had, such as the lack of composability and seamless integration for developers and DeFi protocols. The details about PancakeSwap v4 will be available in the whitepaper, providing comprehensive documentation to support integration efforts.
Source: CoinGape
8. The BlackRock BTC ETF Set a New Daily Volume Record
Summary: BlackRocks spot BTC ETF hit a new daily volume record at over $3.9 billion trading volume.
Details: The spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) managed by BlackRock reached a new record in daily trading volume on March 14, 2024. According to Barchard data, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) traded 99.3 million shares on that day, thus reaching a trading volume of over $3.9 billion and beating its previous record of $3.7 million set on March 5.
BlackRocks spot BTC ETF has been the top-performing fund by volume and net inflows from the ten BTC ETFs approved by the US SEC in January 2024. However, Greyscales spot BTC ETF (GBTC) remains the largest by assets. Still, its trading volume came second to IBIT on March 14.
Source: Cointelegraph
9. Cardano Launched Its First Fiat-backed Stablecoin
Summary: Cardano officially launched its first fully fiat-backed stablecoin after months of delays.
Details: Cardano launched its first fully fiat-backed stablecoin, USDM, after significant delays. USDM was set for launch in 2023, but it faced delays following the shutting down of multiple crypto-friendly banks.
USDM, the stablecoin developed on and for Cardano, was launched on March 17, 2024. The new stablecoin will allow holders to mint or redeem USDM via the US dollar, thus being different from existing Cardano-based stablecoins such as DJED and iUSD, which are both algorithmic stablecoins.
Source: Crypto Daily
10. DOJ Said that SBF Should Spend 40-50 Years in Prison
Summary: US prosecutors suggest that former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried should spend 40-50 years in prison and pay $11 billion in fines.
Details: The US prosecutors recommended that a federal judge sentence Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO and founder of FTX, to 40-50 years in prison for his conviction on fraud and conspiracy charges related to the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange.
Furthermore, the US government also suggested that Sam Bankman-Fried should pay $11 billion in fines and forfeiture. Bankman-Fried is deserving of a severe sanction proportionate to his role in this historical fraud, said the prosecutors.
Source: CoinDesk
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