Top stories

Justin Sun Denies Huobi Ownership Change Rumors Amid Binance Speculation

Sun reassured users that the company has no intention of changing ownership and no offer was made on Huobi to Changpeng Zhao (CZ).

The background of these rumors involves Sun allegedly attempting to sell his stake in Huobi to Binance. However, the proposal was reportedly declined by Binance due to concerns about Huobi's ties to China.

Binance Faces Regulatory Issues from Australia, Japan and Dubai

ASIC has cancelled the Australian financial services licence of Binance Australia Derivatives. Clients will need to close any existing derivative positions before 21 April 2023.

Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) has warned Binance and Bybit for conducting business in the country without proper registration.

The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), the entity that oversees crypto activities in Dubai, has asked Binance to provide more information about its business requirements in its efforts to tighten regulatory guardrails in the emirate.

‘Criminal’ Trump NFTs Rise as Former President Faces 34 Felony Charges

An unauthorized NFT collection called Trump Criminal Digital Cards is gaining traction following his historic indictment on 34 felony counts.

Sales of Donald Trump’s NFT collection jumped by 133% on Tuesday, hours before his expected arraignment in Manhattan.

DOGE up 30% on Tuesday, Following Twitter Logo Change

Dogecoin continued to trade close to a four-month high on Tuesday, following a 30% price surge to start the week. The rally came after Twitter changed its logo from the traditional blue bird, to a cartoon picture of Doge. 

Dogecoin (DOGE) has experienced an 8.6% drop in value within the last 24 hours, after Twitter restored its original blue bird logo. 

Magic Eden Rolls Out Bitcoin Ordinals NFT Creator Launchpad

Non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Magic Eden said Thursday it’s rolling out a creator launchpad for Ordinals, helping creators successfully inscribe their Bitcoin-based NFT collections.

Global regulations

Japan Approves Web3 White Paper to Promote Industry Growth

The white paper proposes changes to tax regulation, including tax exclusions for companies holding tokens issued by other companies that are not going to be traded short-term, and allowing self-assessments so that investors can carry over losses for three years. 

Germany to Approve ‘Crypto Shares’ Issuance Regulations

Germany has approved the issuance of "crypto shares" under its new Future Financing Act. Public corporations can now choose to issue their stocks as conventional or electronic shares, which can be registered on a blockchain to create crypto shares. 

Hong Kong to Test Digital RMB Cross-Border Payment Tool

Hong Kong Monetary Authority will promote research and application of digital RMB cross-border payments, test digital RMB cross-border payment tools in Hong Kong, and collaborate with the People's Bank of China to improve service efficiency and user experience.

Swiss Government-Owned Bank PostFinance to Offer Customers Crypto

Customers will be able to buy, store and sell leading cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ether, with more crypto-tokens to be added later. 

Crypto weekly price action

Research and technology

Modal Phishing in Web3 Mobile Wallets

We recently identified a new type of phishing technique that can be used to mislead victims about the identity of connected dApps. We name this novel phishing technique Modal Phishing.

State of Blockchain Gaming in Q1 2023

The latest on-chain data analysis by DappRadar for the first quarter of 2023 offers an optimistic outlook on the industry’s potential for growth and advancement, emphasizing the crucial contribution of gaming in propelling innovation and progress.

March 2023 Monthly Recap

Despite the turmoil, the total crypto market cap grew by 11.6%² over the month. Bitcoin, in particular, outperformed the crypto market, gaining 20.5% in value, while Ethereum slightly underperformed at 10.5%.

How Will Ethereum’s Multi-Client Philosophy Interact With ZK-EVMs?

How would we actually make a "multi-client" ecosystem for ZK-proving correctness of Ethereum blocks? This question opens up some interesting technical challenges - and of course the looming question of whether or not the tradeoffs are worth it.

Fundraising and investment

Chinese State Insurance Firm Launches Two Crypto Funds in Hong Kong

CPIC Investment Management, a subsidiary of China Pacific Insurance Company (CPIC), is reportedly launching two cryptocurrency funds in partnership with investment firm Waterdrip Capital. The new crypto funds include a venture capital fund focusing on investments in early-stage blockchain projects and a fund managing proof-of-stake digital assets.

Venture Capital Bitkraft Raises $220.6M for Second 'Token Fund'

Gaming-focused venture capital firm Bitkraft raised $220.6 million for its second "token fund," which had a total target of $240 million, according to a March 30 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Bakkt Acquires Apex Crypto in $155M Deal

Bakkt has completed the acquisition of Apex Crypto in a $155 million deal, gaining nearly 6 million crypto-enabled accounts, 30 enterprise clients, and $12.5 billion of crypto traded.

Crypto Startup Li.Fi Raises $17.5M in Funding Round

Multichain liquidity and data gateway provider Li.Fi has raised $17.5 million in a Series A fundraise co-led by crypto-native investment firms CoinFund and Superscrypt. 

DWF Labs Invests $16M in RACA to Spur Web3 Gaming Ecosystem

Market maker and investment firm DWF Labs has invested $16 million in Web3 company RACA, a deal that includes purchasing an unspecified amount of RACA tokens. The funding will help RACA continue its goal of becoming an expansive Web3 gaming ecosystem.

Viral Quotes

“This guy in my mind, is a bad-faith regulator. He’s been blindly spraying the crypto community with enforcement actions while completely missing the truly bad actors.” 

— Congressman Tom Emmer slammed SEC chair Gary Gensler 

“In the crypto world [...] The very concept of borders and jurisdictions is being challenged. How can we supervise firms that have no physical borders? We need to put more thought into imagining what international coordination will look like and how it can be effective in regulating the crypto world.”

— Elizabeth McCaul, supervisory board member of European Central Bank (ECB)