👀SEC Targets Ether ETF Approval By Fall

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Gary Gensler, the chairperson of the SEC, told a subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee that the regulator is aiming to give spot Ether ETFs final approval before the end of summer. While the regulator approved the 19b-4 forms of prospective Ethereum ETF issuers last month, the SEC still needs to greenlight their S-1 registration statements.

Michael Egorov, the founder of Curve Finance, suffered a roughly $80 million liquidation amid a sharp pullback in the price of CRV. Egorov had taken out $95.7 million worth of stablecoin loans backed by $141 million worth of CRV.

Terraform Labs, the company behind the Terra network and failed UST stablecoin, agreed to a $4.47 billion settlement with the SEC. Terraform Labs will pay more than $4B, while the company’s notorious founder, Do Kwon, will cough up nearly $400 million.

Plus, Arbitrum targets Stage 2 decentralization, Sushi launches centralized Labs entity, Lido, Mellow, and Symbiotic team up to compete with EigenLayer, Brazil’s Itau Bank launches crypto trading services, and UwU Lend suffers its second hack in three days.

✍️ In today’s newsletter:

• Spot Ether ETFs on course for approval by fall
• Curve founder suffers huge CRV liquidation
• Terraform Labs to pay $4.5B settlement
• Arbitrum sets sights on Stage 2 decentralization
• Sushi moves ahead with controversial Labs structure
• Mellow joins Lido Alliance
• Itau Bank supports digital asset trading
• UwU Lends loses $23M across two hacks this week

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📈 Markets in the last 24 hrs:

🎬WATCH

Check out our podcast with Johann Kerbrat, the general manager of Robinhood Crypto, to learn about the firm’s latest forays into web3. And catch up on our interview with Marcos Nunes, the co-founder of Gnosis Pay, to learn about how they are bridging the gap between self-custodial crypto wallets and traditional payment methods.

Plus, watch our DeFi 101 video exploring the basics of DeFi!

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☀️Gensler Predicts Ethereum ETFs Approval by ‘End of Summer’

Spot Ethereum ETFs are likely no more than three months away from launching, with SEC chair Gary Gensler telling a senate committee his agency will greenlight the funds by fall. Ethereum ETF applicants are currently awaiting approval of their S-1 registration statements, after which the funds can enter the market.

🔥Curve Finance Founder Michael Egorov Suffers Massive Liquidations

A crash in the price of CRV has resulted in Curve founder Michael Egorov suffering massive liquidations. Egorov currently holds $33.9 million worth of CRV backing loans totaling $20.6 million, after previously borrowing $95.7 million worth of stablecoins against $141 million in CRV. Despite the heavy margin calls, some pundits believe Egorov has effectively cashed out his CRV stash for $100 million.

💰Terraform Labs Settles With SEC For $4.4 Billion

Terraform Labs and its co-founder Do Kwon have agreed to pay nearly $4.5 billion in penalties to the SEC. A jury found that Terraform Labs and Do Kwon misled investors, acted recklessly, and were liable for civil fraud in April.

✅Arbitrum Plots Stage 2 Decentralization With Permissionless Transaction Validation

The Arbitrum community is set to pass a governance proposal to introduce permissionless transaction validation, paving the way for what Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s chief scientist, has termed “Stage 2 decentralization.” The move comes as Arbitrum is also planning to introduce support for zero-knowledge proofs.

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READ MORE: Five Key Challenges with DeFi Solved with the Stellar Smart Contract Platform

🍣SushiSwap Creates Sushi Labs Council and Multi-Token Model

After a drawn-out and bitter internal battle, Sushi has launched a centralized Labs “council” that will govern the project alongside a diminished DAO. The project also plans to introduce a “multi-token” model.

🤝Mellow Finance to Help Lido Hold On to its Place as Largest DeFi Protocol

Mellow Finance, an LRT project leveraging the Symbiotic restaking protocol, has joined the freshly created Lido Alliance. Lido created the alliance last month with the explicit intention of supporting a restaking ecosystem to rival EigenLayer.

🇧🇷 Brazil’s Itau Bank Expands Bitcoin and Ethereum Trading Services

The 60 million customers using Itau Unibanco, a top financial institution in the Latin American market, can now access Bitcoin and Ethereum trading services. Guto Antunes, the bank’s head of digital assets, said it completed the rollout in response to strong customer demand after trialing the crypto trading platform with select users starting in December.

🩸UwU Lend Suffers Second Exploit In One Week, Bringing Losses To $23 Million

UwU Lend, an Ethereum-based lending protocol, has suffered its second exploit over the course of just three days. The $3.72 million hack brings the platform’s losses to $23 million.

🌍 ELSEWHERE

• Biden campaign in talks to accept crypto donations through Coinbase Commerce (The Block)
• Consensys Helps Decentralize Hollywood With Film.io and VillageDAO Partnership (CoinDesk)
• Polygon ID spins off from Polygon Labs, rebrands as Privado ID (Crypto Briefing)
• The US Lost 14% of Blockchain Developer Share Since 2018: Coinbase (Unchained)

🔥 TRENDING

• Ethereum Funds Draw Highest Inflows Since March
• ZKsync to Airdrop 3.6 Billion Tokens to Early Users
• Bitcoin Suisse Issues Tokenized Bond on Polygon
• Uniswap Acquires Crypto: The Game In On-Chain Gaming Play
• Loopring's ‘Most Secure’ Smart Wallet Breached For $5 Million
• Optimism Celebrates Stage 1 Decentralization With Permissionless Fault Proofs
• SocialFi App Friendtech to Develop Own Blockchain
• Tokenized Treasuries Soar Past $1.5 Billion Market Cap
• Ethereum-based Lending Protocol Uwulend Suffers $20 Million Exploit
• Crypto Markets Tread Water as Traders Await Fed's Interest Rate Decision
• Ethereum’s Pectra Upgrade May Be Split Into Two Forks
• Crypto Community Torn Over ‘Bonk Guy’ Who Wants To Emulate Roaring Kitty
• Ethena Expands USDe Into Aave As ‘Asset Matures’
• Iggy Azalea’s MOTHER Memecoin Hits $200 Million Market Cap