🐂Weekly Recap: ETH Rebounds on ETF News

Adam Sporn, head of U.S. institutional sales at BitGo, takes us through his thesis for why exchange-traded funds investing in crypto assets will open the doors to widespread mainstream adoption.

“It’s a matter of when spot Bitcoin ETFs will be available to investors rather than if this will happen,” Sporn said. “When they’re available, they will help to streamline and facilitate mainstream institutional adoption of digital assets in the United States.”

Cami Russo sat down with Erik Marks, the director of product for permissionless innovation at MetaMask, for this week’s podcast.

MetaMask, the popular non-custodial wallet owned by Consensys, has been in the spotlight following the open-beta launch of “Snaps.” You can think of Snaps as plugins that allow developers to add new and different apps users can access via MetaMask. Marks takes us through MetaMask's vision for the new feature.

Within 24 hours of Friend Tech’s launch, crypto twitter had a shiny new web3 app and emergent SocialFi movement to obsess over once.

SocialFi is a hybrid concept that fuses social media networks like Twitter with web3 and DeFi. It's a promising development which could finally achieve what many have failed to do — propel us into the new “creator economy". So let’s dive into Social Fi, explore Friend Tech, and see what tactics users are applying to qualify for a potentially lucrative airdrop.

Spotless. Efficient. Safe. Protected. Controlled. This is Singapore, a futuristic city-state emerging as a hotbed for blockchain and crypto innovation.

Strategically located at the crossroads of international trade, Singapore's low taxes and open economy have been attracting both TradFi giants and early stage start-ups for years. Fast forward to 2023, and the plot thickens. Because Singapore, described by some as a 'Disneyland with the death penalty,' now hosts Asia's largest Web3 event, TOKEN2049.

In this video, we're on the ground at Marina Bay Sands convention center, exploring Singapore's financial allure through interviews with key figures in the space. And we’re trying to get to the bottom of one major question: Why is this centralized, authoritarian regime helping promote the decentralized and permissive ethos of crypto?

• VanEck To Support Ethereum Development With 10% of Ether ETF Profits VanEck, the $80B investment manager, said it will share the profits generated from its forthcoming ETH futures ETF to support Ethereum development. VanEck plans to donate 10% of the ETF's profits to the Protocol Guild, a collective of 152 Ethereum core developers, for at least 10 years.
• Ordinals Community Grapples With Numbering Controversy The seemingly simple task of managing the indexing for Bitcoin Ordinals has sparked intense controversy. The Ordinals community is now exploring ways to manage indexation while also accounting for “cursed” Ordinals.
• Aave Poised For Multi-Chain Governance Overhaul The Aave community is considering a plan for activating its long-awaited “Aave governance v3” upgrade. Once activated, users can vote via the Polygon PoS and Avalanche networks, with the Aave DAO subsidizing the costs incurred through governance participation.

• Savings DAI Surpasses $1B TVL, But DAI Remains In Decline Savings DAI, the yield-bearing version of MakerDAO’s decentralized stablecoin, has surpassed a total value locked of $1B. However, DAI’s overall capitalization has continued to trend downwards amid the rise of sDAI.

• a16z Bets On ‘Phygital’ Sector With IYK IYK, a company that produces Near Field Communication (NFC) chips to connect smartphones with physical items, raised $16.8M in a funding round led by venture capital heavyweight, a16z crypto. Brands can embed the company’s chips into a range of products from clothing to liquor bottles.
• VanEck To Launch Ether Futures ETF VanEck, an investment firm founded in 1955 which manages $80.8B as of August, will soon launch an Ether futures ETF, the world's second most valuable cryptocurrency. ETH rallied in response to the news, outperforming the broader digital asset markets.
• Ledn Launches Support For ETH Staking Yields The centralized crypto lender, Ledn, will launch accounts offering exposure to Ethereum staking from Oct. 12. Ether Growth Accounts will be separated from the rest of the company’s activities, meaning stakers would be protected in the event of insolvency.

• Curve Founder Pays Down Debts On Aave v2 CRV holders breathed a collective sigh of relief yesterday when Curve’s founder, Michael Erogov, paid down the last of his debts on Aave. Erogov still has $42.7M in outstanding stablecoin debts across the Cream, Inverse, Fraxlend, and Silo lending protocols.
• Arbitrum Reboots Odyssey Campaign As Rival Layer 2s Gain Ground Arbitrum, the largest Ethereum Layer 2, has relaunched its Odyssey campaign in a bid to attract new users. The rebooted Odyssey campaign is designed to onboard users through a seven-week campaign exploring 13 of Arbitrum’s top protocols and communities.

• Walmart Introduces Pudgy Toys In 2,000 Stores In a distinct move away from the digital domain of crypto, Pudgy Penguins, one of the few NFT projects to thrive in the bear market, is launching 26 different toys in 2,000 Walmart stores. The floor price of the collection surged over 11% to 5.2 ETH on the news.
• Celestia Unveils Airdrop and Launch Plans The data availability project, Celestia, plans to launch before 2024. Celestia will airdrop 6% of the supply for its native token to eligible users including early Ethereum Layer 2 adopters and Cosmos stakers.
• Unclaimed ARB Tokens Worth $56M Returned To DAO On Sept. 25, the Arbitrum Foundation moved $56.5M worth of unclaimed ARB left unclaimed from its airdrop in March. Eligible users had six months to claim the tokens.