💰Tether Beats BlackRock By 2023 Profit

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Tether is more profitable than BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, by $700 million. The largest stablecoin provider bagged $6.2 billion last year.

Coinbase is sitting on 11% of the supply of both Bitcoin and staked ETH, igniting concerns regarding centralization. Its Base Layer 2 also continues to host record-high active users and transaction volume despite wrapping up Onchain Summer nearly two weeks ago.

BitGo tapped LayerZero to expand Wrapped Bitcoin onto new chains. The move comes as WBTC faces scrutiny for its pending ownership restructure

Plus, first congressional DeFi hearing reveals partisan divide, digital assets trade flat as inflation cools, ASI Alliance to onboard fourth member, AI art bounces back, and the FBI warns that North Korea is targeting DeFi with social engineering.

✍️ In today’s newsletter:

Tether outpaces BlackRock by 2023 profit
Coinbase controls 11% of BTC and staked ETH
Base activity continues posting record highs
BitGo launches WBTC on Avalanche and BNB Chain
House DeFi hearing highlights political divisions over web3
Digital assets trend sideways
ASI Alliance moves to onboard Cudos
AI art outpaces broader NFT comeback
North Korea ups attacks on DeFi through social engineering

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️💵 Tether Made More Money Than BlackRock Last Year

Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer, is beating out BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, by profit. Tether made off with $6.2 billion in profits last year, compared to BlackRock’s $5.5 billion. The news comes as USDT is reaching new heights with a $118 billion market cap.

🤔 Coinbase Holds 11% of Bitcoin’s Total Supply – How Worried Should We Be?

Coinbase is setting off alarm bells after finding 11% of both Bitcoin and staked ETH in its possession. Coinbase’s increasing control over the assets’ supply comes amid the continued success of its custody services and liquid staking token, with the exchange now trusted with $129 billion worth of BTC and nearly $9 billion in staked ETH.

☀️ Base Activity Soars To New Highs Despite Onchain Summer Wrapping Up

Base’s adoption is at new all-time highs, with more than one million users driving 4.4 million transactions in 24 hours. The milestone comes despite Base’s Onchain Summer campaign coming to a close nearly two weeks ago after attracting more than 2 million participants, including 7,500 developers.

🌐 BitGo Taps LayerZero For Multi-Chain WBTC Rollout

Wrapped Bitcoin is poised to launch on dozens of new networks after integrating support for LayerZero’s Omnichain Fungible Token standard, starting with deployments on Avalanche and BNB Chain.

🏛️ First-Ever DeFi Hearing Ends With U.S. Lawmakers At Odds

The House Financial Services Committee convened for the first congressional hearing on DeFi, providing a stark reminder of the partisan divide among lawmakers regarding web3. While several Democrats called for draconian surveillance mechanisms overseeing crypto, Republicans argued that web3 can improve financial services.

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📊 Crypto Markets Trade Flat After U.S. Inflation Report

Digital assets are trending sideways after the latest Consumer Price Index revealed U.S. inflation is at its lowest level since February 2021 at 2.5%.

🤖 AI-Focused ASI Alliance Aims To Onboard Cudos As Fourth Member

Cudos is poised to become the fourth member of the AI-focused ASI Alliance. Should the proposal pass governance, Cudos would merge its token with ASI’s and bring thousands of GPU hardware to the project.

🎨 AI Art Outpaces the Rest of the NFT Market

The floor prices of AI art collections are outpacing the broader NFT market. Prominent collections, including Winds of Yawanawa by Refik Anadol and alignDRAW by Elman Mansimov, are up more than 80% in the past week, while bluechip NFTs gained between 5% and 10% over the same period.

🚨 FBI Warns Against North Korea’s Social Engineering Attacks on DeFi

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation warned that North Korean state-sponsored hackers are “aggressively targeting” web3 projects with social engineering attacks. Chanalysis estimates North Korea was involved with $2.7 billion worth of crypto hacks in 2022 and 2023.

🌍 ELSEWHERE

DEX wars heat up as Uniswap's dominance slips to 36% amid rising competition (The Block)
UK Introduces Bill to Classify Crypto Assets Like Bitcoin and NFTs as Personal Property (Decrypt)
India and Nigeria Lead the World in Crypto Adoption Again, but Indonesia Is Fastest Growing: Chainalysis (CoinDesk)
What Do Cooling Inflation and Rate Cuts Mean for Crypto and Bitcoin Prices? (Unchained)