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📈Tether Reports Record Surplus
The Defiant Daily
GM Defiers!
We have a drama-heavy newsletter for you today. Longstanding DAO tooling project Aragon has decided to repurpose its treasury into a grants program after tokenholders voted to take control. Meanwhile, the CEO of a prominent NFT lending protocol is accused of pilfering over $1.5M. Finally, Tether has released its Q1 attestation report, which includes over $2B in excess reserves.
✍️ In today’s newsletter:
- USDT issuer reports great first quarter
- Aragon clashes with tokenholders over control of $177M treasury
- ParaSpace CEO accused of embezzlement, leaving protocol with unrecoverable bad debt
🙏Sponsored:
📈 Markets in the last 24 hrs:
| Ticker | Value | 24h |
|---|---|---|
| BTC | $27,705 | ↗ 0.42% |
| ETH | $1,864.6 | ↗ 0.14% |
| MKR | $688 | ↙ -0.29% |
| SPY | $412.07 | ↗ 0.08% |
| UNI | $5.451 | ↗ 0.41% |
| LDO | $2.081 | ↗ 0.19% |
🎬 WATCH
Watch our video on BRC-20 tokens, the latest Bitcoin craze. And check out our podcast with Nader Dabit, director of developer relations at Aave/Lens.
Stablecoins
Tether Reports Record Surplus Reserves
TLDR Tether's USDT has solidified its position as the leading stablecoin, with a record reserve surplus and increased market capitalization. USDC has taken a hit this year, while overall fiat-pegged asset deposits on exchanges have reached a two-year low. USDT's Ethereum smart contract has burned nearly 29,000 ETH in the past 30 days.
SO WHAT USDT has been a clear winner in the stablecoin sector after USDC's brief depeg in March.
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DAOs
Aragon ‘Repurposes’ $177M Treasury Into Grants Program
TLDR The Aragon Association has rejected a governance proposal to transfer control of its $177 million treasury to tokenholders, citing protection against a governance attack. The decision comes after a group of investors group called the "Risk Free Value Raiders" allegedly conducted a coordinated 51% attack on the Aragon DAO. Aragon's treasury assets have appreciated significantly, while the value of its native ANT token lags behind. Some in the crypto community question Aragon's motives.
SO WHAT The unilateral move raises questions about the balance between community control and centralized governance in decentralized projects. The incident emphasizes the vulnerability of projects with significant treasuries and the potential for malicious actors to manipulate governance. It also raises questions about the project's commitment to operating as a true DAO.
NFT Lending
ParaSpace Team Alleges CEO Embezzled $1.7M
TLDR ParaSpace, a collateralized lending protocol in the NFT market, has been embroiled in scandal as users withdrew over $36 million worth of NFTs due to allegations of embezzlement against the project's CEO, Yubo Ruan, who is accused of not fully returning 2,909 ETH that belonged to the project's users. The team accuses Ruan of misappropriating nearly half of the assets and distributing funds to unknown addresses and centralized exchanges.
SO WHAT The incident underscores the importance of transparency, accountability, and robust governance mechanisms in decentralized protocols. It also highlights the risks associated with centralized control over key project resources. The fallout from this scandal is likely to have a lasting impact on ParaSpace's reputation and the broader NFT lending ecosystem.
🔎 OUR REPORTERS ARE WATCHING
🌍 ELSEWHERE
- IRS claiming $44B from FTX bankruptcy: Report (Cointelegraph)
- New York crypto bill exposes rifts among key regulators (Fortune)
- Long-Term Bitcoin Holders Boost Their Stash as BTC Prices Decouple From Nasdaq (Coindesk)