Law Blocks

Molly Jane Zuckerman

Reading is my passion. Crypto is not.&nbsp;



However, I find reading so important that I’ve still made a point of stressing the need to read books (ideally fiction) in order to be better at your job — even if your job is in the crypto industry. In fact, I’ve written a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/dear-crypto-read-a-book-already">whole column</a> begging the crypto industry to read. (My favorite <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/13pjpc8/comment/jl9v7mj/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=web3x&amp;utm_name=web3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button">response</a> to said column: “How is crypto going to read a book, it doesn’t have eyes.”)



For this end-of-year crypto reading last wrap-up, I will be making several concessions by adding in some non-fiction to my recommendations — as well as some light warnings of books that crypto people should stay away from.



Top of my list for best crypto books in 2023 is Number Go Up, the story of both Tether and Sam Bankman-Fried, written by Bloomberg journalist Zeke Faux. As I wrote in my <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/crypto-book-scam-tether-ftx">review</a>, the best types of non-fiction books are those that read like fiction — and this is one of them. While Faux began the book with the idea of finally uncovering all of Tether’s secrets, his failure to do so led him to a much more timely story — putting him in the room with Bankman-Fried right up until his arrest last November. I’d compare Number Go Up to the more scintillating non-fiction books, right up there with Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.



Moving forward, my second book recommendation for 2023 is an oldie, but a goody: Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. Even though this hefty novel was written in 1999, Stephenson’s science-fiction tale of a twisted World War II includes some of the first imagining of how a digital gold currency would work. And if you like Cryptonomicon, I’d recommend that you go even further back to his 1992 Snow Crash, where he used the word “metaverse” for the first time. Even though, unfortunately, Stephenson made his own (possibly misguided) foray into actual cryptocurrency with a metaverse blockchain project, that doesn’t take away from the importance of his earlier writings.



My third book recommendation is a bit more unusual to find in a crypto reading list — Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto. I’ve <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/crypto-murder-mystery-books">written already</a> about my frustrations with the new prevalence of using cryptocurrency and NFTs as plot devices in murder mysteries, but this story of an elderly tea expert in Chinatown solving a murder is a delightful read. You’ll be less surprised than I was when you discover NFTs lie at the heart of the murder, because this book is on a crypto reading list already.



Last but not least, I’d be remiss if I didn’t include a brief note on the two crypto books that I read this year that I would not recommend to any crypto person. The first is Michael Lewis’ Going Infinite, which I <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sam-bankman-fried-michael-lewis">panned</a> as an overly enthusiastic portrait of Bankman-Fried that glosses over all of the bad parts. The second is My First Crypto Sex Party, which is the latest in a line of <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/first-crypto-sex-party-bitcoin-erotica">very silly crypto erotica</a> — the book is 27 pages too long, and it’s only 27 pages long.



And then, just because I loved it so much, the last book on my crypto book list is Biography of X, by Young Lions award winner Catherine Lacey. It has nothing to do with cryptocurrency, blockchain or any metaverse, but as <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/dear-crypto-read-a-book-already">I’ve written before</a>, sometimes just reading a good novel will make you better at other parts of your life.



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Your 2023 crypto reading list

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="256" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Off-Topic-with-Molly-Jane_20230616a-1.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-60166" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Off-Topic-with-Molly-Jane_20230616a-1.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Off-Topic-with-Molly-Jane_20230616a-1.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Off-Topic-with-Molly-Jane_20230616a-1.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Off-Topic-with-Molly-Jane_20230616a-1.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Off-Topic-with-Molly-Jane_20230616a-1.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Off-Topic-with-Molly-Jane_20230616a-1.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Off-Topic-with-Molly-Jane_20230616a-1.png?w=80 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Crypto stamp collecting should never, ever catch on.



My dad is a stamp collector. Last month, he expanded his stamp collection with something a little bit new — an NFT stamp, issued by the Austrian post office.



For those who don’t know, stamp collecting is a serious hobby. The most expensive stamp ever was issued in British Guiana in 1857 and sold at Sotheby’s for almost $9.5 million. The cheapest and easiest stamps for you to buy are at your local post office for around $.60. Somewhere in the middle are Crypto Stamps (of cryptostamp.com), which go for 9.90 euros ($10.82) each.



The website for Crypto Stamps, which are issued by the real Austrian post office, looks like the lowest level NFT scam site ever, weird capitalizations, poor English and all.



Case-in-point, under their roadmap for the bear Crypto Stamp that my father purchased, it reads:&nbsp;



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This is a real screenshot from the Austrian post office&#8217;s Crypto Stamp website (automatically translated)



Regardless of looks, the Crypto Stamp did really arrive in the mail — a physical “twin” stamp for the NFT stamp that would live on the blockchain. You might read this and think, nice! This is a real-world example of an NFT use-case, combining collecting with the blockchain to add value and make use of blockchain’s immutability to improve upon a well-known hobby.&nbsp;



Some stamp collectors, or philatelists, feel the same way.&nbsp;One stamp blog I found wrote the following:



“One fact we have to face is that physical stamps may soon be confined to the same realms as LPs, books and DVDs [&#8230;] If that happens then crypto-stamps might well hold the key to the future of philately.”



But after setting up my dad’s Crypto Stamp with him, I feel certain that this is all just a load of baloney.



The process of how to activate your Crypto Stamp leaves a lot to be desired. Despite the fact that my father printed out the five pages of instructions from the website and stapled them together (how Web1 of him), the guide on turning the little cardboard stamp (and the safe that evolves the stamp) he received into the mail into a blockchain-based NFT was nonsensical.



My plan had been to sit back, relax and watch an avid stamp collector collect his new NFT stamp.&nbsp;



The complexity of the process meant that I had to jump in — and even my five years of crypto journalism experience plus the several NFTs in my MetaMask wasn’t enough to actually get my dad his Crypto Stamp.



The first hurdle was realizing my dad didn’t know what private keys were. Luckily, I was around to stop him from uploading his Crypto Stamp private keys into the cloud for anyone to steal.&nbsp;



The second, and largest, hurdle was realizing that cryptostamp.com assumed that you already had a MetaMask wallet. No problem, we easily downloaded the browser version.&nbsp;



The third hurdle was that we had to open both the Crypto Stamp Safe and Stamp simultaneously and then click “morph” to turn the NFT from a baby bear to a baby bear holding a pacifier. (What this has to do with Austria’s post office, who knows.)



Read more from our opinion section: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/us-dolla-ponzi-scheme">The US dollar? Yeah, that’s a Ponzi scheme</a>



Unfortunately, after an hour and a half of playing around with the website, it proved to be absolutely impossible to get the baby bear Crypto Stamp to show up in MetaMask. At first, I thought that the lag was due to slow block times on Polygon’s network — or as my dad put it, “Are crypto miners in Mongolia going, hmmmm, time to make Zuckerman’s NFT stamp?”&nbsp;



Eventually, I realized it was because the website itself must be broken in some fundamental way. Or they didn’t give us enough information to finish the job. Or we didn&#8217;t MetaMask correctly. Who knows.



While I’m an out and proud crypto skeptic, I did always think that NFTs had some value if they were used by industries where they could fit right in —&nbsp;like collecting Pokemon cards…or stamps.



The main takeaway from this playful experiment of a stamp collector attempting to collect an NFT stamp is not just that the whole process was prohibitively confusing, but that the NFT stamp itself didn’t seem to spark the same amount of joy as a regular stamp did for a true philatelist.&nbsp;&nbsp;



And while not all stamps are used to mail letters —&nbsp;as my father told me, some post offices specifically put out collectible Elvis or Princess Di stamps to collect that pure profit —&nbsp;an NFT collectible stamp seems to have even less utility than a real collectible stamp. Not only can you not mail a letter with it if you wanted to, you spend hours on a computer trying to make sense of toggling between Ethereum and Polygon on MetaMask.&nbsp;



Both types of stamps were never meant to be mailed, but the NFT version sucked all of the pleasure out of stamp collecting. Adding a digital baby bear stamp to your collection shouldn’t be eons harder than sticking a physical stamp in a book.



Later that night, we checked MetaMask again to see if the baby bear had made over the Web3 airwaves yet, or somehow gotten “stuck in Web2,” as my dad said. Nothing.



My stamp collecting father’s final words on the matter are reminiscent of how many NFT collectors probably feel now that the market has so thoroughly bottomed out — “I had a lot of fun with you, but what do I have at the end?”



Still nothing.



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I don’t care much about tech, I don’t care a whole lot about finance, either. I care about writing stories and watching weird things unfold. And that’s why I’ve ended up in crypto. But because I’m missing that passion for what crypto and blockchain are all about — finance, tech, privacy, yadda yadda — I’m going to write instead about what I am actually interested in. Everything about crypto that has very little to do with crypto. That’s what this column will be about. All the tangential stories that come out of the blockchain and crypto space, what I think about them, and how I navigate it all as a skeptical former Russian literature major. It’s precisely my perch as an outsider that lets me do what I do: Opine on all sides of any crypto issue, no strings attached, no skin in the game. If you want to talk crypto with me, let’s go off topic.



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NFT stamp collecting is a dud

David Canellis

Uniswap (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/uni">UNI</a>) is the best performing top cryptocurrency since word of Binance’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/brian-armstrong-binance-new-chapter">$4 billion settlement</a> with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) first broke.



UNI, a governance token for the top decentralized exchange by trade volume, has jumped more than 22% over the past three days, from around $5.20 to $6.35.&nbsp;



The move has swelled UNI’s market cap by more than $750 million to $4.8 billion, it&#8217;s highest point since August. UNI is now valued above bitcoin cash (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/bch">BCH</a>), although it’s still 86% down on its all-time high set in 2021.



Bloomberg first reported word of Binance and former CEO Changpeng Zhao’s run-in with the DOJ on Monday. Zhao <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/doj-indictment-binance-changpeng-zhao">stepped down as CEO</a> the next day and pleaded guilty to Bank Secrecy Act violations as part of a plea deal. 



Prosecutors are now <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-prosecutors-want-binances-zhao-remain-us-until-sentencing-filing-2023-11-22/">pushing</a> for Zhao, who was released on $175 million bond, to stay in the US until sentencing in February.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-flourish wp-block-embed-flourish"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
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</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Uniswap is way up while most top cryptocurrencies are basically flat</figcaption></figure>



Crypto prices initially held steady but by the time official confirmation came on Tuesday, 5% had been wiped from the market&#8217;s total cap, equal to $68 billion per TradingView data.



Binance’s native cryptocurrency <a href="https://blockworks.co/price/bnb">BNB</a> slid up to 10% while bitcoin and ether slipped around 4% each.



Crypto overall has since fully recovered, now back at $1.4 trillion — still up by more than a quarter since BlackRock filed its <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/blackrock-spot-bitcoin-etf-rumors">spot bitcoin ETF application</a> in June.&nbsp;



The DeFi sector is particularly sharp. The total value of all DeFi token projects is now $57.75 billion according to TradingView, up by more than a quarter over the past month. 



DeFi is now at its largest valuation since August 2022, only weeks before FTX went bust.



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</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Click the swatches to toggle assets on the chart (hint: remove everything but DeFi)</figcaption></figure>



BNB still has a ways to go, however. Out of the top 30 or so cryptocurrencies by market cap, BNB has been the second-worst performing since just before Bloomberg’s Monday report, down 5.7% as of 8:30am ET. Polygon (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/matic">MATIC</a>) had shed 6.8%.



Uniswap’s overperformance could be attributed to kneejerk reactions from investors looking for a narrative to latch onto amid the chaos.&nbsp;



After all, the US government has notched a big win against the largest centralized crypto exchange for lax money laundering protections. Similar actions against decentralized exchanges could be more difficult.



Uniswap Labs (the startup) has also seen <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/uniswap-fees-dexs-trading">rising revenues</a> after adding a 0.15% fee on certain trades through its interface in October, although those won&#8217;t flow down to the protocol or token holders directly.



Updated Nov. 23, 2023 at 10:21 am ET: Clarified revenue reference.



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Uniswap price pumps, DeFi hits 14-month high amid Binance drama

Ben Strack

“So I heard BlackRock launched a bitcoin ETF,” your uncle might say at the Thanksgiving table.&nbsp;



How will you respond?&nbsp;



Well, first you can clarify that he (let’s call him Jim) means an ETF, or exchange-traded fund. And while the asset management giant indeed wants to bring such a product to market, it does not yet have approval. 



“Oh, I see,” Uncle Jim says as he collects another forkful of mashed potatoes. “I can’t say I know much about it beyond all the headlines.”



He’s right — the story has been the subject of numerous stories in recent months. Yet, misconceptions persist.&nbsp;



BlackRock is not the only one pursuing a bitcoin ETF. About a dozen companies — <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/spot-crypto-etf-ark-invest-21shares">including Ark Invest and 21Shares</a>, as well as Fidelity, Invesco and Bitwise — have similar proposals before the US Securities and Exchange Commission.&nbsp;



Grayscale Investments has said its Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/grayscale-bitcoin-etf-milestone">is ready to operate as an ETF</a> upon receipt of necessary regulatory approvals.



Your dad’s brother then asks: “So, do you think this whole bitcoin ETF thing will happen then? And what’s the big deal anyway?”



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitcoin-spot-etf-analysts-gold">To gauge impact of bitcoin spot ETF, analysts look to gold</a>



Feel free to opine on the topic if you wish. But here are some facts to have at the ready.&nbsp;



First, the SEC has consistently blocked bitcoin ETFs from coming to market for a decade or so. These funds, if approved, would hold BTC directly and give investors exposure to the asset within an investment vehicle accessible via traditional brokerage accounts.&nbsp;



<a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/etfs">ETFs</a> — which hold roughly $7 trillion in assets — are a tool used by retail investors and financial advisers alike.



Bloomberg Intelligence analysts say they think the chance of spot bitcoin ETF approval by Jan. 10 — the SEC’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sec-decision-date-bitcoin-etf#">deadline to rule on a bitcoin ETF proposal</a> by Ark Invest and 21Shares — is 90%.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Since it feels like everyone is asking. Events of the last few days haven’t changed my &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/EricBalchunas?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EricBalchunas</a>’ odds. We can’t go any higher than 90% by Jan 10th. That said, things are continuing to move forward in our view.&mdash; James Seyffart (@JSeyff) <a href="https://twitter.com/JSeyff/status/1727112423042331030?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2023</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



“But what are they basing that on?” Uncle Jim asks. “Why would the SEC all of a sudden approve a bitcoin ETF?”&nbsp;



There are a few factors at play here, and you could explain — if he has the patience to listen, since Ol’ Jim’s eyes may have found the Lions game on the television behind you. Perhaps Jared Goff connected with Amon-Ra St. Brown for a go-ahead score. When did Detroit’s football team get good?



But back to bitcoin ETFs — what’s different now?&nbsp;&nbsp;



<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/blackrock-clout-bitcoin-etf-approval">BlackRock filing for a spot bitcoin ETF</a> in June certainly turned heads. The company manages more than $9 trillion in assets and has only ever had one product proposal denied by the SEC in nearly 600 attempts, according to Bloomberg Intelligence data. BlackRock’s push spurred a new wave of bitcoin ETF proposals across the financial sector.



Elsewhere, Grayscale <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/grayscale-sec-spot-bitcoin-etf#">won a court case against the SEC in August</a> — a ruling that limits the criteria on which it would be able to deny the conversion of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to an ETF, should it try to do so again.&nbsp;



The SEC had a chance to challenge the legal decision as late as last month, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sec-grayscale-spot-bitcoin-etf">but opted not to</a>.&nbsp;



Beyond that, fund issuers have amended their bitcoin ETF proposals, signaling an ongoing dialogue with the SEC.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">&#8211; This still is &quot;in-kind&quot; creation/redemption, but they&#39;ve introduced Coinbase as prime broker to assist in this process. So APs can simply transfer balances held at the PB to create rather than transfer BTC on-chain.&mdash; Scott Johnsson (@SGJohnsson) <a href="https://twitter.com/SGJohnsson/status/1726655292312825880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 20, 2023</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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21Shares president Ophelia Snyder said during a Monday interview on Bloomberg TV that <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/21shares-bitcoin-etf-approval-incoming">there has been a “pattern break”</a> as issuers have begun to offer more information on what these products would look like.&nbsp;



“That’s really positive, because, very candidly, change in behavior might actually result in a change of outcome,” Snyder added.&nbsp;



As recently as Monday, members of the SEC’s division of trading and markets <a href="https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-nasdaq-2023-016/srnasdaq2023016-301739-769762.pdf">met</a> with executives from BlackRock and Nasdaq about the proposed iShares Bitcoin Trust.&nbsp;



“I guess only time will tell,” Uncle Jim concludes at the dinner table, seemingly ready to move on to dessert.



Right he is.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The table topic indeed shifts. Your sister was asked about her love life. Someone just brought up the 2024 presidential election.&nbsp;



Is it time for pie yet?



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Bitcoin ETFs might come up at Thanksgiving — here’s what to say

Jack Kubinec

A group of seven Uniswap DAO delegates who vote over 80% of the time — but possess marginal voting power —&nbsp;moved closer to receiving a voting power boost after a Wednesday temperature check vote.&nbsp;



The proposal would split 10 million uniswap, worth around $60 million at current prices, among “underrepresented” DAO delegates with less than 2.5 million uniswap. A DAO borne out of Georgia Tech’s blockchain club and the trading firm Wintermute were the two most popular delegates in the temp check. 



The <a href="https://gov.uniswap.org/t/temperature-check-delegation-of-uni-to-active-but-underrepresented-delegates/22238?u=doo_stablelab">proposal</a> now faces an on-chain vote before delegates would receive uniswap (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/uni">UNI</a>) from the DAO’s treasury. To be clear, the UNI would not be funds the delegates could spend or trade, but would bump up their share of voting power on future governance matters.&nbsp;



As with many <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/daos">DAOs</a>, Uniswap’s DAO allows token holders to either vote themselves or <a href="https://docs.uniswap.org/concepts/governance/guide-to-voting#:~:text=Delegation%E2%80%8B&amp;text=Delegating%20UNI%20binds%20the%20voting,best%20interest%20of%20Uniswap%20Governance.">delegate</a> their voting power to another wallet address. There are more than 30 delegates with at least 2.5 million delegated votes, the line the proposal sets for “underrepresented.” Variant Fund general partner Jesse Walden is the second-<a href="https://sybil.org/#/delegates/uniswap">largest</a> delegate with around 8 million tokens.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/uniswap-dao-vc-governance">Uniswap’s DAO poised to try its hand at venture capital</a>



The governance service provider StableLab authored the delegation proposal and would also receive governance tokens were it to pass. StableLab also proposed and <a href="https://www.tally.xyz/gov/rari-foundation/proposal/66726109600671652856639226642372993908424788433801728846371611962551475607579?chart=0">passed</a> a delegation incentive program this week at Rari DAO.



Doo Wan Nam, chief operating officer of StableLab, told Blockworks that the experiment in recognition for active delegates is important for accountability, as delegates who failed to maintain 80% participation would lose the extra votes.&nbsp;



Wan Nam acknowledged the difficulty in subjectively analyzing whether an active voter is a good voter, though. Are delegates voting flippantly or deeply researching both sides of a proposal?&nbsp;



“We have to start with something that’s objective,” Wan Nam said. 



The move comes as Uniswap’s voting delegation has been slowly consolidating. A Dune Analytics dashboard <a href="https://dune.com/butterd/uniswap-governance-power-structure">shows</a> that in 2023, the number of votes cast per governance proposal has stayed more or less constant while the number of voters participating has generally declined.



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Uniswap DAO to weigh giving ‘underrepresented’ delegates more voting power

Casey Wagner

A month after both companies were hit with a lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James, Genesis Global has sued Gemini Trust and associated users in an attempt to recover over half a billion dollars.



In a complaint filed in New York bankruptcy court Tuesday, Genesis Global alleges Gemini Trust received more than $689 million in withdrawals in the three months before the crypto lender filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.&nbsp;



Gemini, the custodian and authorized agent for Earn users, was the recipient of withdrawals Earn users made during the “bank run” spurred by the spring 2022 market collapse. Up to 232,824 Earn customers pulled money from the platform, the lawsuit alleges.&nbsp;



Earn was a program owned by Gemini and Genesis where customers could lend cryptoassets in exchange for interest. Under their agreement, Genesis acted as the borrower and reinvested crypto assets in order to generate yield. Gemini processed withdrawals.&nbsp;



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/dcg-statement-gemini-earn-genesis-recovery-unsecured-creditors">Gemini Earn users could be made whole through plan, DCG says</a>



“As a result of these withdrawals, [Gemini] benefitted at the expense of [Genesis’s] other creditors, and continues to benefit to this day through their retention of the property [Genesis] seeks to avoid and recover here,” the complaint reads.&nbsp;



Genesis filed for bankruptcy in January 2023 after the collapse of several of its counterparties, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ftx-meltdown-timeline">including exchange FTX</a>.&nbsp;



James announced her <a href="https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2023/attorney-general-james-sues-cryptocurrency-companies-gemini-genesis-and-dcg">lawsuit</a> against Gemini, Genesis and parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG) on Oct. 19.&nbsp;



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/gemini-accuses-genesis-of-manipulating-the-voting-process-in-ftx-settlement">Gemini accuses Genesis of manipulating the voting process in FTX settlement</a>



James’ office alleges Gemini and Genesis Capital conspired on two “fraudulent schemes” with their Gemini Earn product, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/genesis-gemini-nyag-lawsuit">resulting in investors losing more than $1 billion in November 2022</a> when withdrawals from the platform were suspended. DCG “coordinated” with the companies to perpetuate the scheme, the complaint alleges. Earn also constitutes an investment contract under the Howey test, James added.&nbsp;



Days after the joint suit was filed, Gemini sued Genesis, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/gemini-sues-gensis-gbtc-shares">alleging that the bankrupt crypto lender owes Gemini</a> roughly $1.6 billion worth of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares.



“Genesis has repeatedly taken actions to harm Earn Users and to hinder and delay Earn Users’ recovery of their digital assets,” Gemini said in its complaint.&nbsp;



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Genesis attempts to recover $689M from Gemini in new lawsuit 

Taproot Wizards, the bitcoin ordinals startup that announced a $7.5 million round led by Standard Crypto last week, is bringing on the pseudonymous developer Rijndael as its chief technology officer.



Co-founded by Udi Wertheimer and Eric Wall, Taproot Wizards is a generative art collection inscribed with bitcoin ordinals, a recent add-on to the network that lets data be inscribed as NFTs and other digital collectibles.&nbsp;



Bitcoin ordinals have seen a November spike in popularity, spurring nearly $30 million in transaction <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/assets/btc/analytics?tags=btc">fees</a> since Nov. 4, per Blockworks Research. Largely due to blockspace demand created by ordinals, bitcoin transaction fees have become more expensive than Ethereum’s for the first time in three <a href="https://x.com/laurashin/status/1726467957180559467?s=20">years</a>.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitcoin-ordinals-ethereum-flippening">Ethereum won’t flip Bitcoin anytime soon, but Ordinals could change that</a>



Before coming to Taproot Wizards, Rijndael <a href="https://x.com/rot13maxi/status/1727357668778529204?s=20">says</a> he worked as the technical lead at Amazon’s NFT project and more recently on Bitkey’s self-custody wallet.&nbsp;



In an X thread announcing the career move, Rijndael <a href="https://x.com/rot13maxi/status/1727357689804509521?s=20">lamented</a> the inability for “less-dogmatic Bitcoiners” to take part in the bitcoin community “without picking up a very particular set of puritan values.”



“The <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ordinals">Ordinals</a> ecosystem has a real opportunity to expand what we think of as Bitcoin culture, and give more kinds of people an opportunity to connect with a Bitcoin that they can relate to,” Rijndael <a href="https://x.com/rot13maxi/status/1727357691457343953?s=20">wrote</a>. 



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/avalanche-ordinals-asc20-transaction-record">Avalanche gets the ‘Ordinals’ bump, sets new transaction record</a>



The incoming CTO also <a href="https://x.com/rot13maxi/status/1727357792984641645?s=20">said</a> he’s looking to hire a full-stack engineer.



Taproot Wizards plans to mint 2,121 of its <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/nfts">NFTs</a>, which are variations of a Microsoft Paint drawing of a wizard <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/ads/comments/1q1h40/magic_internet_money/">posted</a> to Reddit to promote bitcoin a decade ago.



Generative NFT projects like Taproot Wizards have been among crypto’s most successful to date. Bored Apes and CryptoPunks <a href="https://www.cryptoslam.io/">are</a> the second and third-highest selling NFT collections ever, according to CryptoSlam, with both being stored on the <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ethereum">Ethereum</a> blockchain.



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Bitcoin ordinals startup Taproot Wizards hires CTO after seed raise

Crypto markets stabilized Wednesday after a brief dip Tuesday following news that Binance and former CEO Changpeng Zhao had entered into an agreement with the US government, terms of which include Zhao’s guilty plea and a payment of $4.3 billion in fines and forfeitures from Binance.&nbsp;



Bitcoin and ether posted gains this morning, rallying around 2% and 5%, respectively. Stocks also opened in the green, with the Nasdaq Composite up around 0.8% and the S&amp;P 500 gaining about 0.6% in the half hour after the open.&nbsp;



Crypto’s rally is not surprising, analysts say, as <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/binance-changpeng-zhao-deal-unpacked">Binance’s settlement with the US Department of Justice</a> is largely being perceived as a step in the right direction, and not just for the exchange. 



“This is very good news for the industry as a whole,” Noelle Acheson, author of the Crypto is Macro Now newsletter, said. “It’s not just the<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/binance-settlement-message-to-crypto-industry"> ‘cleaner image’ that the Binance settlement</a> and change of leadership confers on all market service providers, as the DOJ has shown that its arms are long. It’s also the removal of an ominous overhang, a dark cloud of ‘regulatory risk’ that many feared could break Binance, which would have been really, really bad for investors, traders and savers everywhere.”&nbsp;



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/brian-armstrong-binance-new-chapter">Binance fallout ‘opportunity to start a new chapter for this industry’: Coinbase CEO</a>



Tuesday also saw the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last policy-setting meeting, which showed a decidedly dovish shift that, after digesting the news, traders seem to like.&nbsp;



A key point in the minutes was the central bank’s decision to make all future meetings “live,” or strictly dependent upon on economic data, which at the time of the decision would suggest more rate hikes could be possible if inflation flares up again, Tom Essaye, founder of Sevens Report Research said.&nbsp;



Still, Wednesday’s equity rally could be short-lived if traders’ expected rate-cut timeline plays out.



“Market-based <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/fed">Fed</a> policy expectations barely budged at the release and continue to call for a first rate cut in May with additional cuts to follow over the summer and into the fall, which should remain a tailwind for stocks near-term,” Essaye added. 



Risk assets, like crypto, are also poised for a correction based on inflation data and Fed interest rates, analysts from Amberdata said in a <a href="https://blog.amberdata.io/crypto-options-analytics-nov-19-2023-lower-cpi-btc-remains-bullish?utm_medium=email&amp;_hsmi=283468019&amp;_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9ent7hGR_5e_v_Bzyc5FZ8N-60tojjzls03DXKfW5ivPCy4nDmESdvEaaaCRqZPwTEkSBGqAarlGvNzghFk-bRyyfj9Q&amp;utm_content=283468019&amp;utm_source=hs_email">report</a> Tuesday.&nbsp;



“Looking ahead into the end of the year and the start of 2024, risk assets are going to be data dependent as ‘hot’ data will warrant a hawkish reaction in markets and potential resurgence in volatility,” Essaye said.



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Crypto’s rally on Binance news could prove to be short-lived

Spool Finance has launched v2 of its DeFi middleware product in hopes of becoming a gateway for institutions to enter decentralized finance.&nbsp;



Spool v2 was created with an eye to regulatory compliance following feedback from the traditional finance institutions Spool is courting with its DeFi product. Two major institutions could join the fray through Spool by the end of next year, the project’s lead contributor said, but declined to name them.



To assure regulatory compliance, Spool was advised by the white-shoe Swiss law firm Bär &amp; Karrer.&nbsp;



The Spool protocol <a href="https://medium.com/spoolfi/spool-genesis-a-comprehensive-launch-guide-3eb5cee328ff#9cd7">launched</a> in March 2022 as a “set it and forget it” solution for DeFi investment. The platform creates automated yield strategies from DeFi protocols based on an investor’s risk appetite.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/empire-web3-defi-tech-mainstream-institutions">The ‘next leg’ of DeFi users will be institutions, Blockchain Capital’s Larsen expects</a>



Spool is organized as a <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/daos">DAO</a> that hires employees with specific mandates to develop the business side of the protocol. It has no formal legal organization.&nbsp;



Upon launching, Spool had trouble garnering interest from institutional investors, said Simon Schaber, Spool’s chief business development officer.



“When I went to them, I said, ‘Look, we’ll offer you fully transparent, everything in-house, compliant.’ They said, ‘Yeah but look, Simon, there&#8217;s this huge player called <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/celsius">Celsius</a>. They&#8217;ve got a shitload of funds under management. They&#8217;re too big to fail. Why don&#8217;t we just put it into Celsius?” Schaber said.



<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/celsius-to-file-for-bankruptcy-imminently-report">After Celsius crashed</a> alongside a few other centralized yield-generating products in crypto, Spool started seeing more serious institutional interest in Q3 of 2022.



Now, alongside its more DeFi-native clients, Spool is working on deals with Fintech firms as well as small and regional banks, Schaber said, adding that the protocol was also in serious talks with one of the ten largest asset managers in the world as well as one of the largest banks, though he would not disclose which.



Vault creators can <a href="https://docs.spool.fi/spool-v2/features-of-v2">charge</a> management fees in Spool v2.



Spool made smart contracts a large part of its pitch to investors, Schaber said. While traditional fund management software can go offline or change hands, leading to renegotiation of terms, Spool’s permissionless software functions indefinitely.&nbsp;



In v2, vaults can now be “gated,” meaning addresses can only interact if they adhere to know-your-customer (<a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/kyc">KYC</a>) or some other criteria, and “multi-asset,” where investors can combine assets in a vault. 



Schaber said on-chain and off-chain assets could be combined through its institutional partnerships, combining liquid staking tokens with dividend-focused real estate in a mutual fund, for instance.



<a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/tokenization">Tokenization</a> of so-called “real-world assets” is <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/tokenized-machine-real-world-assets">anticipated to be a major driving narrative</a> in crypto <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/blackrock-ceo-us-lagging-innovation-tokenization">over the coming years</a>.



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DeFi protocol Spool rolls out compliance-focused ‘V2’ to court institutions

When the world was enthralled by the alien mummy hoax out of Mexico City a few months back, ResearchHub co-founder Patrick Joyce — alongside other ResearchHub insiders — quickly put up a total of 42,500 ResearchCoins (RSC) for anyone who would run tests on purported DNA samples of the “bodies.”



The crypto bounties, together worth $660 at the time but $7,400 today thanks to a recent 1,000% pump, were available days before local doctors ran lab <a href="https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/09/20/mexicos-controversial-alien-bodies-undergo-lab-tests">tests</a> on the supposed specimens.&nbsp;



Those tests didn’t really say much. Just that the skeleton was complete and hadn’t been assembled by piecing together multiple remains.



On ResearchHub, however, someone <a href="https://www.researchhub.com/post/1082/dna-analysis-request-mexico-uap-genomics-data">found</a> the DNA samples were “highly contaminated.”&nbsp;



”Basically, these said &#8216;mummies&#8217; have been exposed to so much environmental contamination, that finding actual genes belonging to these &#8216;aliens&#8217; would be a tough ask,” the researcher said.&nbsp;



The analysis didn’t exactly prove the mummies weren’t aliens,&nbsp;just that it may be impossible to tell at all. They were paid 8,000 RSC for those findings, worth $140 back then but now more than $1,100.



All this can solve science’s problem with gatekeepers, says ResearchHub, a startup co-founded by Brian Armstrong in 2020. The Coinbase CEO — who also serves as ResearchHub’s chief executive — has been <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/coinbase-ceo-stocks-stake">selling off 2% of his Coinbase stake</a> to fund ResearchHub alongside other initiatives, such as life extension unit NewLimit.



Scientific progress, as it stands, is nudged along by researchers who share their findings in papers, passing them onto scientific journals for review and, hopefully, publication.&nbsp;



Those scientific journals are known to be incredibly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jun/27/profitable-business-scientific-publishing-bad-for-science">profitable</a>, mostly because they receive papers for free (and can even be paid to publish articles) while subscriptions can cost thousands of dollars per year. The process is slow, and in some cases, discriminatory and exploitative.&nbsp;



ResearchHub wants to sidestep journals and overhaul the incentives of publishing science through an ERC-20 token and open source software sensibilities:



Pay academics crypto to review papers. Pay researchers for their work with upvotes and tips. Open crypto bounties to inspire researchers to direct their efforts on stuff that matters. Earn crypto for contributing to discussions that actually move forward science that matters.



“We think the incentives of scientific funding and publishing are broken, and that blockchain can help,” says ResearchHub.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/mLIQDCKbYC3GOUp5ZpUpnydetz6s8BAKU0Dow3mX_GiDOh0kYgiLsdsYBa_x6lSsW6A4ArsvUUuHxDCv9Th7cpI9Z12IgOoAxdKmoyigp8llBl33KqV19S5qFemnasTWyTjt9DM_qNS9PiumNyez_P8" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">ResearchHub is where crypto funds real science</figcaption></figure>



The platform itself is pitched as a GitHub for scientists, though in presentation it’s more like Reddit.&nbsp;



Users open discussions about different media. Instead of celebrity highlights from the Graham Norton Show, posts revolve around research papers, technical questions and even pop science content like the Huberman Lab podcast.



There is no equivalent to subreddits, instead topics are posted to “Hubs,” intended to be moderated sections devoted to particular topics — of which there are currently more than 62,000 — such as biology, computer science, psilocybin, entrepreneurship and geology.



ResearchHub users can earn small amounts of RSC for interactions like sharing research paper PDFs (as long as there’s no copyright) and posting comments in discussions. Users can also earn RSC by peer-reviewing scientific papers or through tips from other users.



Crypto bounties, like the alien mummy bounty, are however where ResearchHub really shines. Users post their analyses as replies in the thread. If the person who placed the bounty agrees their request has been fulfilled, they close the bounty and the website tallies the RSC to the user. The user can then withdraw those points as RSC, distributed by a ResearchHub Foundation hot wallet.



About half of the alien mummy bounties were paid out, while some commenters were in total tipped a few hundred RSC ($5 then, $56 today) for just participating in the thread.



“If you want someone to peer-review your new manuscript, place a peer review bounty on it,” ResearchHub says. “If you want a layman&#8217;s summary of a new paper you don&#8217;t understand, place a summary bounty on it. If you want help with a new method in your lab, create a question and place a RSC bounty on it.”



Users can also raise crypto to fund proposed studies via “preregistration,” which entails laying out plans to tackle specific research in a forum post before any science is done.



One <a href="https://www.researchhub.com/post/1156/effects-of-music-on-lettuce-germination-and-growth-in-a-hydroponic-system-preregistration-v2">post</a> has garnered nearly 123,000 RSC ($21,600) in tips across two preregistrations to study whether playing different types of music to lettuce makes it grow faster, although significant chunks of that came directly from co-founder Joyce and other ResearchHub employees. RSC is of course up for grabs to eventually peer-review the findings.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/QzDk15zlQru5gCHVs1h39lcgN5W12QpKttqRzOmnEhMC9wPM-uspXk-ShJzaSZ7yTfcy-ggezz-veNCkUu1nwfqaRtNjmU2kbPXhfcjJz4IuP80V_D6zSMpkUllAh6o4bPoH_sT-hXW511w5JzK6HGU" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Real science funding in real time</figcaption></figure>



“Activity on the platform has been increasing over time, but one of the most exciting and promising things happening on the platform is the peer reviews,” a ResearchHub Foundation core member told Blockworks.&nbsp;



“We’re waiting on more data, but so far it’s really encouraging, in that we can drastically reduce the amount of time needed to make a peer review when we financially incentivize those reviews.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Millions in ResearchCoin paid out over the years</h2>



ResearchHub itself doesn’t exist on a blockchain, DMs don’t need micropayments and it’s not censorship resistant or a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/polymarket-titanic-betting-prediction">prediction market</a> (it’s a Squarespace site hosted by Amazon). Any blockchain, crypto or Web3 element here comes from the ERC-20 token alone.



ERC-20s are tailor-made cryptocurrencies (“programmable money”) issued on Ethereum. They’re minted for practically <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/coinbase-apologizes-pepe-newsletter">countless use-cases: Memecoins</a>, stablecoins, capital raises, fractionalizing art <a href="https://nftevening.com/b20-token-an-introduction-to-fractional-nft-art-with-beeples-cryptoart/">ownership</a>, KickStarter-style fundraising and even <a href="https://www.iamacoin.com/">conceptual art</a>.



In ResearchHub’s case, the platform is operated by a startup called ResearchHub, co-founded by CEO Armstrong and Joyce, a former medical student. The startup is backed by Replit CEO Amjad Masad, Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan and Vercel founder Guillermo Rauch among other tech superstars.



Pitchbook lists ResearchHub with a headquarters in Washington DC while Crunchbase says San Francisco. (ResearchHub did not return requests for comment).



ResearchCoin, on the other hand, is maintained by a separate entity, the ResearchHub Foundation, <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TFCcDu6QuCfXTJXYA1aYXwlY_H_ITtSQrFCtkXZZmOo/edit#heading=h.aqs09b7dowdn">registered</a> to the Cayman Islands, a popular <a href="https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=728402fa-4228-4282-afe0-bb242d58c163">choice</a> for entities tied to DAOs.



Armstrong <a href="https://barmstrong.medium.com/update-on-researchhub-and-researchcoin-4029941647b8">says</a> ResearchCoin was actually created by the Foundation and his US-based startup decided to adopt the coin for use on its platform. He’s also promised to recuse himself from any potential discussions related to listing RSC on Coinbase.



There was no initial coin offering (ICO) for ResearchHub and the Foundation has not conducted a token sale, a core Foundation member told Blockworks.&nbsp;



The first distributions went to users for their on-platform interactions, they said. RSC made its way to decentralized exchange Uniswap last year through a pool <a href="https://etherscan.io/address/0xec2061372a02d5e416f5d8905eea64cab2c10970">contract</a> opened by an address tied to a Foundation core member, and those markets have determined its value. With this, the Foundation has <a href="https://etherscan.io/address/0xec2061372a02d5e416f5d8905eea64cab2c10970">acted</a> as an RSC liquidity provider on Uniswap, which helps to keep spreads in check (and earns some yield).



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-flourish wp-block-embed-flourish"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" title="Interactive or visual content" src="https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/15851156/embed#?secret=haWFfwey80" data-secret="haWFfwey80" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="575" width="700"></iframe>
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">ResearchCoin’s fully-diluted cap has exploded from about $5 million to $160 million in one year</figcaption></figure>



The Foundation and its treasury are in part run by a DAO, currently with 37 members who vote on Foundation <a href="https://snapshot.org/#/researchhub.eth">decisions</a>. It has previously applied and won DAI grants through Gitcoin, which it has used to buy RSC to fund more research bounties on the platform.



RSC payments to users are doled out monthly through a Foundation hot wallet. On-chain data shows around 61 million RSC sent out to users and contributors over the three years of the token’s existence.&nbsp;



At current prices, that’s more than $10 million in crypto paid out in the name of scientific progress, but the value of the tokens at time of distribution would be significantly lower.



Even if some of those funds ended up with ResearchHub <a href="https://docs.researchhub.com/researchcoin/rsc-tokenomics/rsc-distribution">insiders</a> for their contributions to the platform, all that crypto represents is money that simply wouldn’t have gone to scientists and researchers if ResearchHub never existed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The innovation of ERC-20s</h2>



Before ResearchHub, there were already a ton of platforms working to change science publishing for the better.&nbsp;



Publons helps academics track and showcase their papers. Authorea supports collaboration on research papers, and functional and well-respected <a href="https://arxiv.org/">open</a> <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/">repositories</a> for preprint scientific papers already serve the scientific community well.



Even GitHub itself, after which ResearchHub says it’s modeled, hosts communities which together consume and discuss research papers. None of them have their own cryptocurrency.



There could be more fundamental concerns: A wildly successful ResearchHub would centralize scientific publishing — a field that’s already quite decentralized despite the gatekeeping journals — around the ResearchHub portal and its volatile cryptocurrency. Would that be good for science?



In any case, incentivizing scientific progress has always taken money. But dollars and euros tend to run out. The ResearchHub Foundation probably wouldn’t last long if it paid for user engagement in US dollars without a clear revenue stream or constant funding.



An ERC-20 token is really intended to fix that. ResearchHub Foundation minted 1 billion RSC which were totally worthless — until they hit Uniswap — which changed everything.



This is the key “innovation” that ERC-20 tokens provide: value generation. Once traders decided that RSC tokens were worth more than zero, ResearchHub was almost instantly bootstrapped (the startup, not the Foundation, separately raised $5 million earlier this year to continue developing the platform).



On paper, the Foundation’s treasury works out to be more than $140 million at current prices — compared to less than $12 million one month ago — money that can pay for a lot more user engagement moving forward. However, RSC markets are shallow, with CoinGecko reporting a 2% drop if about $8,000 RSC was sold at once.



The Foundation still <a href="https://etherscan.io/token/0xd101dcc414f310268c37eeb4cd376ccfa507f571#balances">controls</a> more than 80% of the supply and says it will at most <a href="https://docs.researchhub.com/researchcoin/rsc-tokenomics/rsc-emission-schedule">release</a> 50 million RSC per year (about 6% of its current treasury).&nbsp;



Whether the Foundation opened the first Uniswap liquidity pool probably doesn’t really matter, at some point a user surely would have. It’s still these kinds of tokenomics that allow crypto startups to sidestep traditional capital raises.



The ERC-20 perpetual innovation machine usually goes:



<ol>
<li>Create an ERC-20 token.</li>



<li>Build a platform.</li>



<li>Offer ways to earn and spend the token (giving it value).</li>



<li>Sell the token to fund growth (and pay contributors with it).</li>



<li>Embrace disruption.</li>
</ol>



ResearchHub is today somewhere between step 3 and step 4.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">A group of researchers from <a href="https://twitter.com/UniOfYork?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UniOfYork</a> found brain oscillations (theta/alpha bands) crucially impact spatial memory. Simultaneous videos revealed increased power in brain regions, hinting at Alzheimer&#39;s therapy via oscillation manipulation. Peer Review👉<a href="https://t.co/MtjBfuXhI3">https://t.co/MtjBfuXhI3</a> <a href="https://t.co/GyvhzE1dRL">pic.twitter.com/GyvhzE1dRL</a>&mdash; ResearchHub Peer Review Alerts (@RHF_Alerts) <a href="https://twitter.com/RHF_Alerts/status/1727018359441744022?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2023</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">This paper’s peer-reviewer earned 5,000 RSC ($722)</figcaption></figure>



Granted, it’s Ethereum that gives ResearchCoin most of its powers. Anyone in the world can technically earn, send, receive and trade RSC through the Ethereum blockchain and Uniswap, they just need a smartphone and an internet connection.&nbsp;



That’s revolutionary in and of itself, even if we’re desensitized to the whole thing by now.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Is this time different?</h2>



Blockchain tech, through an ERC-20 token and a platform known as Civil, was <a href="https://civil.co/">meant to save</a> journalism in much the same way that ResearchHub wants to save science publishing. That is, fund good work and realign broken incentive systems once and for all (except Civil actually ran on smart contracts and even <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2018/12/21/civil-backed-news-site-stores-full-article-on-ethereum-blockchain/">wrote</a> immutable articles to the Ethereum blockchain).



Tokens were also meant to revolutionize <a href="https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/dentacoin-bitcoin-for-dentistry-patients/">dentistry</a>, <a href="https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/civic-demos-proof-concept-beer-vending-machines-launches-id-codes">vending machines</a> and even <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2014/02/05/cryptocurrency-auroracoin-given-to-every-person-in-iceland/">Iceland</a>, but none of those proposed use cases have panned out, either.



ResearchHub and ResearchCoin are, fundamentally, token economy experiments. If they work, science would have another avenue for crowdfunding research which could impact the world in untold ways for the better.



But just like all the token economy plays that came before it, the future of ResearchHub relies heavily on whether markets for RSC rise or fall.&nbsp;



At least right now, markets say they’re experiments worth conducting — for science.



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Do science, earn crypto: Coinbase CEO’s other startup sees record price rally

Though roughly $1 billion in value left Binance amid the company’s settlement with US regulators and founder Changpeng Zhao stepping down, the exchange’s outflows have stabilized.&nbsp;



Blockchain analytics firm Nansen said in a Wednesday X post that while withdrawals are continuing, “we&#8217;re not seeing a mass exodus of funds.”



Binance had seen net outflows — more value leaving the exchange than entering — of $956 million in the past 24 hours on Ethereum as of 6:30 am ET Wednesday, the company <a href="https://twitter.com/nansen_ai/status/1727288174861266972">said</a>. 



But those net outflows have slowed, as only $17 million had come in the previous hour.&nbsp;



“<a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/binance">Binance</a> has seen significant exchange outflows since the announcement, but relative to their total holdings, it’s quite small,” a Nansen spokesperson said in an email. “There is still well over $65 billion of assets on the platform.”



Tether (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/usdt">USDT</a>) and bitcoin (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/btc">BTC</a>) made up the majority of holdings on Binance, each accounting for nearly $19 million in value at that time.



There remains about $2.8 billion worth of Binance Coin (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/bnb">BNB</a>) held at the exchange. BNB’s price was about $231.50 at 10 am ET — down 9.3% in the past 24 hours and down about 1% in the last hour.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/binance-news-bitcoin-impact">Crypto assets dip as Binance settlement unfolds — but what’s next?</a>



The US Department of Justice said Tuesday Binance had <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/binance-settlement-message-to-crypto-industry">agreed to pay $4.3 billion in fines and forfeitures</a>. The announcement came after an <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/doj-indictment-binance-changpeng-zhao">unsealed indictment was made public</a>, accusing Binance and Zhao of violating anti-money laundering laws and sanctions regulations. Zhao also <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/changpeng-zhao-announces-resignation-binance">agreed to step down from his CEO post</a>.



Industry watchers have said the guilty pleas by Binance and Zhao could be a net positive for the space — particularly as it appears the exchange will continue to operate.&nbsp;&nbsp;



In a Tuesday <a href="https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1727063503125766367">statement</a> on X, Zhao said “Binance will continue to grow and excel with the deep bench it has” — naming former global head of regional markets Richard Teng as CEO.



“It’s positive to see the US DOJ working with Binance to close this out and thereby avoid a Binance collapse,” ETC Group CEO Tim Bevan said in a statement. “Market reaction — BNB coin [and] withdrawals from Binance — suggests so far that Binance can swallow these penalties.”



Teng called Binance’s business fundamentals “very strong” in an X post, citing a separate post by Coinbase director Conor Grogan that claims the exchange holds $6.35 billion in total assets, excluding funds held off-chain or in wallets.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">The fundamentals of our business are VERY strong. Binance continues to operate the world&#39;s largest crypto exchange by volume, our capital structure is debt-free, expenses are modest, and, despite the low fees we charge our users, we have robust revenues and profits. <a href="https://t.co/PHq2YS0CP5">https://t.co/PHq2YS0CP5</a>&mdash; Richard Teng (@_RichardTeng) <a href="https://twitter.com/_RichardTeng/status/1727214060406808920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 22, 2023</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



The fine is relatively small given Binance’s financial reserves, argued Stefan Rust, CEO of data provider Truflation — making the company “extremely financially sound.”



“The legitimizing of one of the industry&#8217;s biggest players will also help incumbents feel a level of comfort that will allow us all to move forward into a new bull market,” Rust added.



A Binance spokesperson did not return a request for comment.



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Despite Binance’s DOJ settlement, no mass exodus of funds: Nansen

Macauley Peterson

The bridge connecting the HTX exchange (formerly Huobi) and Ethereum was exploited for approximately $87 million in crypto assets early Wednesday.



Large quantities of ether, tether (USDT) and a wrapped version of bitcoin (HBTC) were seen leaving the bridge for a previously unused Ethereum wallet.



The suspicious <a href="https://debank.com/profile/0xfc146d1caf6ba1d1ce6dcb5b35dcbf895f50b0c4/history">transactions</a> were first analyzed by various blockchain security firms including CertiK, Peckshield and Cyvers.



According to CertiK, the bridge’s private key was likely compromised.



“The suspicious transactions were initiated by the Huobi HECO Bridge operator wallet indicating that this wallet was compromised,” a CertiK spokesperson told Blockworks.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/htx-huobi-justin-sun-hack">Crypto exchange HTX loses $8M in weekend hack</a>



Various other ERC-20 tokens were drained, swapped for ether, and distributed to at least 8 other wallets.



Two hot wallets of HTX Global (formerly Huobi) lost funds, <a href="https://twitter.com/CyversAlerts/status/1727321126471090346">according</a> to Cyvers. Board member Justin Sun <a href="https://twitter.com/justinsuntron/status/1727304656622326180">confirmed</a> the incident on X.



“HTX and Heco Cross-Chain Bridge Undergo Hacker Attack. HTX Will Fully Compensate for HTX&#8217;s hot wallet Losses,” Sun <a href="https://twitter.com/justinsuntron/status/1727304656622326180">said</a>.



Justin Sun assumed control over the Huobi Eco Chain in October 2022, Bloomberg previously reported, although Sun <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-22/crypto-s-latest-mystery-is-the-ownership-of-major-exchange-huobi">denied</a> he owns a majority stake. He referred to it as a <a href="https://twitter.com/justinsuntron/status/1580898837207842817">merger</a> with the Tron and BitTorrent Chain ecosystems, which he also controls.



The primary purpose of the HECO bridge is to enable the movement of digital assets between the Huobi Eco Chain and other blockchain networks, such as <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ethereum">Ethereum</a>.



The HECO hack is not an isolated incident but rather part of a pattern of security lapses in blockchain projects associated with Sun. Poloniex, an exchange acquired by Sun, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/poloniex-wallets-crypto-hack">suffered a $100 million exploit two weeks ago</a>, which security analysts believe also may have resulted from compromised private keys.



Poloniex officials have been in the process of <a href="https://twitter.com/peckshield/status/1725768026660979116?s=20">negotiating</a> with the hacker in that case.



It’s not yet clear if the two thefts are directly related.



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Huobi’s ‘Heco’ chain bridge drained of $87M in crypto assets

Kelsey McGuire

If you are like me — the one crypto person representing the entire industry around the dinner table this Thanksgiving — you are also likely anticipating the usual barrage of questions stuffed with preconceived judgments about Web3, crypto and blockchain.&nbsp;



Let’s think about all those questions before we are in a food-induced stupor, and maybe this year we can finally be thankful for finally getting through to your most skeptical aunt.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What is going on with the crypto guy who has been in the news?</h2>



FTX, SBF, FBI, SEC — an alarming jumble of letters that has spelled out some stressful times for our industry. In short, <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/sam-bankman-fried">Sam Bankman-Fried</a> (SBF) committed fraud using an exchange he created.&nbsp;



When it comes down to it, fraud is fraud. <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sam-bankman-fried-found-guilty">Bankman-Fried committed fraud</a> and used crypto and Web3 to do it, and no, his actions are not reflective of an entire industry. Think about the internet; we can use it to order double chocolate cookies to our door, or we can use it to sell fake autographed pictures of Elvis.&nbsp;



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sbf-guilty-verdict-sentencing">SBF’s guilty: What’s next?</a>



The use of a technology like the internet as we know it, or Web3, doesn’t make it inherently bad. Bankman-Fried’s use of a crypto exchange to steal money from his customers doesn’t make crypto inherently bad either.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Bitcoins and doggie coins? Did I miss something?&nbsp;&nbsp;</h2>



Bitcoin is crypto (a cryptocurrency), just as ether, and dogecoin (or doggie coin as my cousin prefers to call it) are. There are actually <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/gensler-memecoin-outperforms-market">thousands of cryptocurrencies</a> with different pros and cons. Some people love to speculate on crypto prices, <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/gary-gensler">some people</a> think they are securities, and some people move to Miami because of them.&nbsp;



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/gensler-testimony-pokemon-bitcoin">Gensler: Bitcoin is not a security, but tokenized Pokemon cards may be</a>



The interesting thing about them, to me at least, is what they could do. Think borderless payments, contracts without middlemen, and a more accessible financial system. We are working on it.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Is it called crypto, or Web3, or what?&nbsp;</h2>



We delight in arbitrarily changing up which term we use to maintain a sense of intellectual superiority, but when it comes down to it:



Crypto often refers to the industry, but more specifically cryptocurrencies (think about bitcoin, ethereum, etc.)



Blockchain technology is the technology that powers everything — basically, a ledger that can be used without the traditional trust and middlemen required by our current systems, and it&#8217;s permanent and can&#8217;t be edited.&nbsp;



<a href="https://blockworks.co/category/web3">Web3</a> is the big umbrella term that covers everything we are talking about, from cryptocurrency, blockchain, and the applications that are built on top of blockchain networks. We like to think we are building a new internet. What most of us use now is Web2 (think Google, Amazon, current websites, etc.) and Web3 is a move forward to improve it all by giving you control over your own data and money.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Isn’t crypto terrible for the environment?</h2>



Technology and our current financial system (banks, credit cards, etc) require energy. Our industry is no exception. Crypto got a bad rap because of how much energy Bitcoin was using, but many projects have shifted their approach to be much more environmentally friendly by shifting how they work (<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ethereum-switches-to-proof-of-stake-after-7-years-of-work">Ethereum did this</a>), paying for carbon removal, or shifting their energy sources. These days, <a href="https://climate.mit.edu/posts/climate-impacts-bitcoin-mining-us">research</a> shows that Bitcoin is powered primarily by renewable energy sources and, in some cases, is actually reducing harmful emissions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Where do you work (a quick key)?&nbsp;</h2>



I work in a new field of technology called Web3. One year feels like 5 sometimes, which is why I look significantly older this year.&nbsp;



If you work for a layer-1: I work in a new field of technology for a project focused on the foundation layer of Web3, which is a new version of the internet. A layer-1, or L1, is what the whole world of other projects build on top of, think of Nintendo 64 as a layer-1 and Starfox as the project built on top of it.&nbsp;



If you work for a layer-2: I work for a project that is supposed to improve the foundation layer of Web3 by making it easier to use — faster and more streamlined, or just adding enhanced functionality. In this case, think about the foundation layer (L1) as a N64 controller and the layer-2 (L2) as the rumble pack.&nbsp;



If you work for a crypto focused investment firm: I work for a firm that funds different projects, like layer-1s, layer-2s etc.



I know it’s still confusing, it’s not just you. I’ve heard different questions for the past five Thanksgivings, and I’m genuinely thankful you are still curious about it all. Just like stuffing recipes, there are variations in how we do things and we don’t even agree on everything among ourselves. It will all stay a little stressful, and a little different, until this new technology fades into the background and becomes something we use without really thinking about it.



Pass the cranberry sauce please.&nbsp;



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<div class="wp-block-post-author-biography">Kelsey McGuire is Chief Growth Officer at Shardeum. Previously, Kelsey served as CMO at crypto investment firm CoinFund. She also formerly managed partner marketing at Celo and worked in marketing leadership roles at ConsenSys.</div>


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It’s me, the person who works in crypto. I’m home for Thanksgiving. 

Bessie Liu

Crypto data aggregator CoinGecko has acquired NFT data infrastructure and intelligence company Zash.



Zash is an on-chain NFT data analytics firm that collects data from over 1 million different NFT collections and marketplaces. It provides information on NFT metadata, historical trades, lending and also detects large-scale wash trades.



Originally founded by Parit Patel and Efe Surekli, London-headquartered Zash also covers information derived from 87 different blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Polygon, Binance Smart Chain and Solana, among others.



Its NFT data will be integrated into CoinGecko’s API by the second quarter of 2024. This will give users the ability to access various information on fungible and non-fungible token data. 



Bobby Ong, founder and COO of Malaysia-based CoinGecko, told Blockworks that the company believes in a future where any asset that can be tokenized will be tokenized. 



“On that note, we believe that NFTs will continue to innovate beyond [profile pictures], GameFi and unlock new opportunities and use-cases worldwide,” Ong said. 



Ong noted that its acquisition of Zash will enable the company to become a one-stop comprehensive source for all cryptocurrency-related data. CoinGecko is mostly known for its price and market cap readouts.



TM Lee, the CEO and co-founder of CoinGecko, noted in a press release reviewed by Blockworks that the acquisition of Zash came after evaluating “all existing NFT data providers in the space.”



Zash stood out from the other providers for having built a marketplace product with a comprehensive data set in just three years,” Lee said.



“This acquisition aligns with our commitment and dedication to deliver exceptional value to the crypto community, starting with a unified token and NFT market data offering.”



The acquisition terms remain undisclosed.



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CoinGecko acquires NFT data startup Zash

Binance sent $3.9 billion worth of stablecoins from one of its cold wallets to a separate Binance wallet days before the announcement of a settlement on US federal charges amounting to over $4.3 billion.&nbsp;



On-chain data from TronScan shows that a multi-billion dollar <a href="https://tronscan.org/#/transaction/218ccaf516525e1289310fa159bbe13f55a86f61edb6823701d1984943c7e749">transaction</a> was completed on Nov. 9 from a wallet labeled ‘Binance-Cold 2’ to a wallet labeled ‘Binance 3’.



The ‘Binance 3’ address, created in August 2022, currently holds $3.6 billion worth of assets, with the majority of it being tether (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/usdt">USDT</a>). At the time of writing, it has a lifetime transaction count of only 338.



A majority of the 88.3 billion USDT currently in circulation has been issued on <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/tron">Tron</a>, about 46.8 billion, compared to 40 billion on Ethereum, <a href="https://tether.to/en/transparency/#usdt">according to</a> Tether.



‘Binance-Cold 2’ currently has $6.6 billion worth of assets remaining, with a total of 2498 transactions since it was first created in November 2018.&nbsp;



Binance has previously <a href="https://www.binance.com/en/blog/all/how-and-why-assets-move-between-binance-wallets-4835275628753556476">noted in a blog post</a> that its cold wallets, otherwise known as offline wallets, are responsible for receiving overflow funds and holding the bulk of the company’s funds.



There are currently 12 total publicly tagged Binance wallets. Six of them are ‘hot wallets,’ and three of them are ‘cold wallets,’ the remaining three wallets are simply named ‘Binance 1,’ ‘Binance 2,’ and ‘Binance 3.’&nbsp;



In connection with the Binance settlement, its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/binance-regulators-settle-criminal-case">pleaded guilty</a> to various federal charges, has <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/changpeng-zhao-binance-steps-down">stepped down</a> from his CEO position.&nbsp;



Binance has <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/binance-changpeng-zhao-deal-unpacked">agreed</a> to pay a criminal fine of $1.8 billion, and an additional $2.5 billion will be forfeited. Approximately $1.6 billion of these funds will be credited towards resolutions Binance made with <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/CFTC">CFTC</a>, <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/fincen">FinCEN</a>, and the Treasury’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ofac">OFAC</a>.



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Binance cold wallet sent $3.9 billion worth of USDT days before guilty plea

Amid guilty pleas by Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the developments could spur greater regulatory certainty going forward.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Today&#8217;s news reinforces that doing it the hard way was the right decision,” Armstrong said in a Tuesday X <a href="https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong/status/1727054176763756826">post</a>.



The post came at roughly 3 pm ET — the original scheduled time for a Department of Justice press conference to announce “significant cryptocurrency enforcement actions.”



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/binance-settlement-message-to-crypto-industry">Yellen: Historic Binance settlement “sends message” to crypto industry</a>



According to <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/binance-changpeng-zhao-deal-unpacked">an indictment unsealed Tuesday</a>, Zhao agreed to <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/changpeng-zhao-binance-steps-down">step down as chief executive</a> and will plead guilty to “violating and causing a financial institution to violate” the Bank Secrecy Act.&nbsp;



In a <a href="https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1727063503125766367">statement</a> on X, Zhao said “Binance will continue to grow and excel with the deep bench it has” — naming former global head of regional markets Richard Teng as CEO.



Binance agreed to plead guilty to operating as an unlicensed money transmitting business and failing to comply with registration requirements. It is set to pay a $1.8 billion fine and forfeit $2.5 billion to the government.



“We now have an opportunity to start a new chapter for this industry,” Armstrong added in the X post. “We took a lot of arrows operating here in the US due to the lack of regulatory clarity, and my hope is that today&#8217;s news serves as a catalyst to finally achieve that.”



Coinbase became a public company in 2021 “to increase transparency and raise the bar on trust” Armstrong noted. Still, the company <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/coinbase-sec-motion-securities">is engaged in a legal battle</a> with the Securities and Exchange Commission for <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sec-sues-coinbase">allegedly operating as an unregistered exchange</a> — charges the company has denied.



“This industry should be built right here in America, in a compliant way, under US law,” Armstrong said. “We&#8217;re going to stay here in the US because we believe in economic freedom and that the US democratic system will eventually get this right.”



Industry executives told Blockworks Tuesday that the Binance settlement, and Zhao stepping down, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/binance-news-bitcoin-impact">could help pave the way for a bull market cycle</a>.



Bobby Zagotta, US CEO of crypto exchange Bitstamp, applauded the DOJ’s efforts “to establish a level playing field” in a Tuesday statement.



“I express hope for the development of a robust regulatory framework in the US, preventing fraudulent activities by bad actors such as Binance and FTX, while fostering the growth of compliant crypto firms,” Zagotta said.

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