Crypto weekly is authored by maaria and david blumenfeld
PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD
- Crypto Market Cap ($3.45T): +13% / +2%
- BTC ($104,676): +9% / +12%
- ETH ($2,507): +37% / -25%
- SOL ($173): +18% / -9%
- UNI ($6.92): +36% / -48%
- OP ($0.87): +32% / -50%
- Tether Mkt Cap ($149B): 0% / +8%
- USDC Mkt Cap ($61B): -1% / +39%
- BTC / ETH Dominance: 61% / 9%
THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO
- BTC eclipsed the $100,000 mark for the first time since February while ETH surged nearly 40% to $2,500 amid improved market sentiment following announcements of US trade talks with China and a trade agreement with the UK. Link.
- The GENIUS Act failed a key Senate vote due to a lack of support from Democrat senators. The bill would be the first in the US to provide a regulatory framework for stablecoins. Republicans and Democrats are expected to continue negotiating on the bill. Link.
- Ethereum's Pectra upgrade went live this week, the largest upgrade to the network since the merge in 2022. The upgrade includes increasing the staking limit 32ETH to 2048ETH and adding smart contract functionality to externally owned accounts (EOAs). Link.
- Meta is exploring using stablecoins for cross-border payments and creator payouts. The company previously attempted to launch a stablecoin called Libra, but shut the project down in 2022. Link.
- In response to news about Meta exploring stablecoin products, Senator Elizabeth Warren called for legislation to ban big tech companies from issuing stablecoins over fears of 'big tech surveillance'. Link.
- Stripe announced multiple stablecoin products at its annual Stripe Sessions conference, including a new money management service that allows businesses to hold and distribute stablecoins globally and a partnership with Ramp for stablecoin-backed corporate cards with integrated spend management software. Link. Link.
- Coinbase acquired Dubai-based crypto derivatives exchange Deribit for $2.9 billion in cash and stock, the largest crypto M&A deal to date. Link.
- Alex Mashinsky, founder of defunct cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to securities and commodities fraud. Mashinsky mislead customers on how their funds would be invested and manipulated the price of Celsius's token. Link.
- Coinbase reported first-quarter revenue of $2.03 billion, falling short of analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. Trading volumes and profitability came in below target for the quarter. Link.
- G7 leaders plan to address North Korea's cryptocurrency hacking operations at their upcoming summit in Canada. Link.
- Coinbase announced x402, a new payments protocol that enables stablecoins to transfer over standard HTTP, enabling microtransactions for APIs and other web services. Link.
- Robinhood is developing a platform for European investors to trade tokenized US securities. The company is considering launching on Ethereum L2 Arbitrum and Solana. Link.
- A judge dismissed most claims in a class action lawsuit against a group of celebrities including Tom Brady, Steph Curry and Larry David over their promotion of FTX before its collapse. The judge ruled there was insufficient evidence they knew about the fraud, though part of the lawsuit concerning the promotion of unregistered securities remains active. Link.
- Coinbase released FOIA documents revealing that New York prosecutors unsuccessfully sought the SEC's opinion on Ethereum's security status in 2023. Link.
- Ethereum L2 startup Movement Labs fired co-founder Rushi Manche and rebranded as Move Industries following allegations of price manipulation by a market maker in December. Link.
- Princeton University researchers published findings that crypto AI agents like ElizaOS are vulnerable to "memory injection" attacks where malicious actors can manipulate the agents' memories and trick them into making unauthorized transfers. Link.
- Trading platform EToro Group is seeking to raise up to $500 million in a US IPO that would value the company at $4 billion. Link.