tl;dr
• Coinbase catches official heat from the SEC with a new investigation into alleged securities violations• FTX Ventures and Jump Crypto lead a $150 Series A round of financing for Aptos Labs, a Web3 startup born from Meta's host of crypto failures• The upcoming Ethereum merge may introduce what som...
• Coinbase catches official heat from the SEC with a new investigation into alleged securities violations
• FTX Ventures and Jump Crypto lead a $150 Series A round of financing for Aptos Labs, a Web3 startup born from Meta's host of crypto failures
• The upcoming Ethereum merge may introduce what some are calling the Layer 2 wars
• XP, Brazil's largest brokerage, is set to allow clients to begin trading cryptocurrencies in August
We wake up to all kinds of shades of red and I am counting on catching some sales. Here is what's on my mind today.
1. You knew it was coming. The SEC has officially launched its investigation of Coinbase for alleged securities violations. This was not slow move. The SEC announced a few days ago they think Coinbase has been offering securities. They identified nine specific coins as being securities, AMP, RLY, DDX, XYO, RGT, LCX, POWR, DFX, and KROM. I think the move complicates the SEC's stance on Ripple by not identifying other coins, such as Ethereum.
2. Supposedly, there is a fall in VC interest in crypto. Don't tell that to Jump Crypto and FTX Ventures as they lead the way to a $150 raise for Aptos Labs, a Web3 startup. The startup is what was created by former Meta employees that wound up exiting the company after its failed crypto projects. According to Crunchbase, Aptos Labs has raised $350M in two funding rounds.
3. There is a lot to be said as the upcoming Ethereum merge gets closer to being a reality. The upcoming merge has sparked what some, like DeFi analyst Patrick of Dynamo DeFi, are calling the Layer 2 wars. I am not so sure about this as I look at Polygon drawing a clear differentiation from its direct competitors. With news like being a part of the Disney accelerator program, The Sandbox moving completely over to their tech and more. I think they are safe. Other standouts include Optimism and Arbitrum, other Ethereum scaling standouts. That said, we could be looking at a potential shakeout from the merge.
4. XP, Brazil's largest brokerage, is set to allow clients to begin trading cryptocurrencies in August. The service will start with Bitcoin and Ethereum, but expected to see more cryptos added as time moves on. This is on top of more traditional banks offering crypto services. Not only will this help to increase crypto adoption, but I think it also demonstrates the resilience of the Cryptoverse. You are going to see a lot of services traditionally performed by traditional banks slowly move to decentralized resources at the same time you will see the continued transformation of traditional banks. Keep that in mind as you continue to see centralized crypto exchanges falter and consolidate.