Crypto weekly is co-authored by @serdave. Please reach out if you are at ethcc this week and want to meet up!

PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD

- Crypto Market Cap ($2.16T): -11% / +22%
- BTC ($55,692): -12% / +31%
- ETH ($2,966): -14% / +30%
- SOL ($137): -8% / +34%
- UNI ($7.92): -15% / +8%
- MATIC ($0.49): -12% / -49%
- Tether Mkt Cap ($112B): -1% / +22%
- USDC Mkt Cap ($33.7): +4% / +38%
- BTC / ETH Dominance: 51% / 17%

THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO
- Mt. Gox began distributions on the roughly $9 billion it owes creditors, causing the price of BTC to fall in anticipation of sell pressure. Mt. Gox was the largest bitcoin exchange until 2014 when it suffered a massive hack and was forced to shut down. Link. Link.

- US and Germany agencies sold large blocks of BTC previously seized during law enforcement actions, causing the price of BTC to fall. Germany sold 2% of the 45,000 BTC (worth over $2.5 billion) it holds. Link.

- The IRS finalized a new rule requiring crypto brokers to report on customer transactions beginning 2025. Originally the IRS had included decentralized exchanges and self-custodied wallets in its definition of crypto brokers, but the final ruling deferred the decision to include non-custodial platforms in the broker definition to later this year. Link. IRS Report.

- The Supreme Court overturned a decades-old rule that gave federal regulators the authority to interpret unclear laws. Instead Congress will have to tackle policy issues by enacting new laws. The rule is expected to have significant impact in emerging fields such as crypto and AI. Link. Decision.

- The Ethereum protocol is the highest earning protocol making $2.7 billion per year in fees. Bitcoin is the second highest with annual revenue of $1.3 billion, followed by Tron with $459 million. Link. Tweet.

- Governments around the world including the US, UK, Germany, and El Salvador hold over $17 billion worth of BTC. Most countries, including the US which holds over $12 billion in BTC, have amassed their holdings through law enforcement seizures. Link. Link. 

- Almost 10% of the $5 billion sent in remittances to Venezuela in 2023 came through crypto. Link. 

- The US Marshals Service, the enforcement arm of federal courts, is using Coinbase Prime to manage and dispose of crypto assets it has seized. Link.

- Russia is considering legalizing the use of stablecoins for cross-border payments, as it attempts to mitigate the effects of ongoing sanctions. Link

- Coinbase is suing the SEC and FDIC for failing to respond to FOIA requests for documents related to crypto enforcement decisions and ongoing regulation. Link. Tweet.

- NFT volumes saw a 45% quarter-on-quarter decline in sales volume with total sales reaching $2.28 billion, the lowest since Q3 2023. Link. CryptoSlam.

- The US House will vote next week on overriding President Biden's recent veto of SAB 121, an SEC accounting rule that would require custodians to account for crypto assets as liabilities on their balance sheets. Overturning the veto requires a two-thirds majority from both houses of Congress. Link.

- Hackers stole $1.38 billion so far this year, more than double the $675 million stolen during the same time in 2023. The largest 5 hacks account for 70% of the total amount stolen, including 4,500 BTC valued at over $300 million from a Japanese exchange in May. Link.

- Interoperability protocol Polkadot has about $200 million of assets remaining in its treasury, giving it roughly two years of runway. Link.

- A single mining pool mined 90% of the blocks on Bitcoin Cash over a two day period this week. Bitcoin Cash hardforked from Bitcoin in 2017. Link. 

- Sentient, an open-source AI development platform from Polygon's co-founders, raised $85 million in seed funding from Founders Fund. Link.

- Crypto exchange KuCoin will begin collecting a 7.5% VAT fee on all crypto transactions in Nigeria, due to regulatory changes in the country. Link.

- Decentralized social platform Friend.tech is scrapping plans to launch its own chain and instead will keep its token on Layer-2 Base. Link.

- Institutional investors withdrew over $120 million from ethereum futures ETPs over the past two weeks, in anticipation of the launch of ethereum spot ETFs. Link.

- The SEC is suing crypto-friendly bank Silvergate for failing to properly monitor $1 trillion worth of transactions, including $9 billion of transactions from now-defunct exchange FTX. Silvergate shut down in March 2023 citing regulatory headwinds. Link.