Sunday Review 08/12/2024
Happy Sunday, Observers!
This has been a major week for crypto, with Bitcoin finally surpassing the $100k mark following Donald Trump’s nomination of Paul Atkins as the next Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The market was further energized on the day following Atkins’ appointment when Trump announced that PayPal's original David Sacks would be taking the role of AI and crypto czar.
Bitcoin Hits $100,000: Trump Appoints Crypto-Friendly SEC Chair
Bitcoin has broken the $100,000 barrier for the first time, riding a wave of optimism after Donald Trump nominated Paul Atkins as the next Chair of the SEC. With Atkins’ pro-crypto reputation, the cryptocurrency market feels set for a transformative era.
Rebecca Denton
While Bitcoin reached a level that its proponents have been dreaming of for years, the major winner of last week’s announcement has been Ripple and its token XRP.
After years in the shadows of a legal battle with the SEC, XRP has risen spectacularly and suddenly to the position of the third largest cryptocurrency by market.
The euphoria of the markets this week shows how they exist in a world apart from reality, rarely touching. Prices continued to go up during this week despite the fall of the French government, the reigniting of civil war in Syria, and the declaration of martial war in South Korea.
This last event did impact the market, even if just locally, and led investors to sell their crypto assets in a panic at huge losses.
What Happens In South Korea, Can Only Happen In South Korea
The imposition of martial law in South Korea on December 3rd led to an erratic market.
Eva Senzaj Pauram
🔥 Highlights Of The Week
- Chainalysis appoints Jonathan Levin as CEO;
- Sonic Labs to launch L1 blockchain, allowing FTM-to-S token swaps;
- Pavel Durov faces Paris court questioning over criminal activity allegations tied to the app.
📈 Crypto Markets
🍭 Crypto Highs And Fun Times
- Aave, the second-largest DeFi protocol by TVL, is now a rival of top U.S. commercial banks in terms of scale thanks to net deposits on its platform increasing from around $20 billion to over $30 billion in less than two months. The recent surge is a reflection of the bullish market sentiment and positive market dynamics of late.
😈 Crypto Naught And Sloppy
- Countries trying to escape the hegemony of the United States by de-dollarizing their economies are facing challenges from all sides. As they push for the adoption of DLT-based digital currencies to be used for international payments instead of the dollar, the technology becomes more accepted in their regions leading, amongst other things, to the usage growth of non-other than dollar-based stablecoins.
Project Of The Week: TON Teleport BTC
TON Teleport BTC: New Wrapped Bitcoin on TON Blockchain
TON Teleport is a trustless bridge allowing users to securely transfer BTC between the Bitcoin and TON blockchains without central intermediaries. The bridge is presently in the testnet phase, with its launch planned for the second quarter of 2025.
Alexander Mardar
The “Wrapped BTC market” has been heating up recently, and the TON Foundation has decided to turn up the heat even more by launching a wrapped BTC for the TON blockchain called TON Teleport BTC.
While it is a promising blockchain, TON still lags behind the major ecosystems in the space.
The new bridge token is a first step towards closing this gap between the protocol and crypto greatness as it is part of a plan to establish Bitcoin Finance (BTCFi) on TON and bring more liquidity into the DeFi ecosystem.
Crypto Crime: A Field Of Equal Opportunities
Girls are baddies too!
Girls Just Wanna Have Funds: Female Crypto Criminals Make News
From a viral meme sensation to a sophisticated money launderer helping Russia’s elite, it isn’t just men in the upper echelons of alleged crypto crimes.
Observers
📚 Deep Dive: DoubleZero
Austin Federa, a key personality in the Solana ecosystem, has decided to leave it to join a network nobody has heard about before.
It would be practically impossible for a new blockchain to reach the upper echelons of the crypto market by now but Double Zero isn’t as much as competing as offering a new product: a network that works alongside existing blockchains by addressing bottlenecks in current blockchain infrastructure.
Solana Foundation’s Strategy Lead Departs for a New High-Throughput Network
The new project, named DoubleZero, is neither a layer 1 nor a layer 2 protocol. Instead, it introduces a novel type of network that completely rethinks blockchain infrastructure to improve scalability and reduce network latency significantly.
Alexander Mardar
🔫 Quote Of The Week: Mashinsky’s Mea Culpa
"I know what I did was wrong, and I want to do what I can to make it right. I accept full responsibility for my actions.”
The founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency platform Celsius Network, Alexander Mashinsky, is facing up to 30 years in jail after pleading guilty to fraud in a Manhattan federal court on Tuesday.
Celsius, which used to label itself as the "safest place for your crypto”, collapsed in 2022 mostly due Mashinsky cashing out million of his holdings while promise not to sell and also by artificially inflating prices.
In light of his actions, it becomes easier to understand why the SEC adopted such a conservative approach to crypto in the last few years.
These actions also raise questions about whether Atkins, with his free-market, low-regulation stance, will be able to put the stories of crypto CEO criminals in the past.
Members Discussion