Bitcoin Price Falls Below $25K

• Bitcoin’s 24-hour price chart has retreated to below $25,000 after reaching a nine-month high of about $26,500.
• Altcoins have rallied with stacks (STX) leading the pack, up 36% over the past 24 hours.
• Binance.US has proposed buying assets of bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital for $1 billion but this is being disputed by the U.S. government.

Price Retreats After Inflation Data

Bitcoin’s 24-hour price chart has seen a retreat to below $25,000 after reaching a nine-month high at around $26,500 minutes after the release of the US Consumer Price Index showed that the rate of inflation is slowing down. Several altcoins are also rallying, with stacks (STX) taking the lead with a 36% increase in its value over the past 24 hours and IMX token for Immutable X surging 30%.

Binance US Deal Put On Hold

The proposed acquisition by Binance.US of assets from bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital for an estimated worth of $1 billion has been put on hold following an appeal from the U.S. Trustee, part of Department of Justice responsible for bankruptcy cases objecting to it on grounds that it would absolve Voyager and its staff from any criminal liabilities or proceedings involving their activities whilst running the business prior to filing bankruptcy papers.

Franklin Templeton Developing Crypto Investment Products During Bear Market

President and CEO Jenny Johnson of Franklin Templeton is developing crypto-linked investment products during this bear market while taking into consideration her client’s sentiment about cryptocurrencies in general and their expectations about potential returns from such investments in particular.

CoinDesk Markets Team Reporters Discuss Cryptocurrency Markets

CoinDesk Markets reporters Lyllah Ledesma and Omkar Godbole discuss bitcoin price movements over time as well as other developments related to cryptocurrency markets such as altcoin rallies and proposed acquisitions by Binance US among other topics related to cryptocurrency investing and trading opportunities available in today’s markets.

• A new tool called Conic Finance was recently launched, allowing users to deposit tokens into its omnipools and earn up to 21% annualized yields on three major stablecoins.
• Over $60 million has been deposited in the first week since launch, with the USDC pool alone attracting over $50 million liquidity.
• CNC tokens are rewarded for staking of LP tokens and can be used in Liquidity Allocation Votes (LAVs) to control how liquidity is allocated across Curve pools.

Introduction

Conic Finance is a new tool that enables users to capture yield rewards from the popular DeFi protocol Curve by depositing their tokens into omnipools and receive up to 21% annualized returns on major stablecoins such as USD Coin (USDC), DAI and FRAX.

Overwhelming Response

Since its launch on March 1st, Conic Finance has attracted over $60 million in deposits within just one week. Particularly, USDC has become the most favored token among depositors with over $50 million worth of liquidity added so far. Deposits for DAI and FRAX have been considerably lower at $5 million and $7 million respectively.

Rewards & Governance

As an incentive for staking LP tokens, holders can receive CNC tokens as rewards which can also be used in Liquidity Allocation Votes (LAVs). This allows them to directly control how liquidity is allocated across different Curve pools. Additionally, Convex (CNX), another Curve ecosystem token is also rewarded alongside CNC tokens.

Value Creation Potential

The demand for these yield-generating products could generate value for the native CNC token as it currently trades at around $8 per token.

Conclusion

Conic Finance offers users a great opportunity to earn high APY yields from leading DeFi protocols while using their tokens’ governance capabilities to influence how liquidity is allocated across different Curve pools.

• Klaytn recently passed a governance proposal to burn nearly 50% of its token supply, a move that contributes towards making KLAY more valuable eventually.
• Klaytn will gradually transfer its decision-making authority to the community, allowing token holders users to have a say on who sits on Klaytn’s Governance Council (GC).
• The Klaytn platform intends to establish KLAY as a deflationary asset and provide more tools for developers intending to launch products on the network.

Klaytn Blockchain Technology

Klaytn is a public blockchain platform developed by South Korean internet giant Kakao Corp., designed with scalability and usability in mind. Recently, the platform passed a governance proposal to burn nearly 50% of its token supply, contributing towards making KLAY more valuable eventually. Additionally, it will also launch a permissionless network pilot in the second half of 2023 on its Cypress mainnet.

Increasing Demand for KLAY Tokens

Klaytn aims to increase the demand and value for its native KLAY tokens by providing more tools for developers intending to launch products on the network. It is currently exploring ways such as identifying key crypto infrastructure services where KLAY can be used and utilizing decentralized oracles which feed information from the world into a blockchain system. Through these initiatives, Klaytn hopes users will transact using their native tokens, leading to more gas burns over time.

Community Governance Council

To ensure decentralization and transparency within the network, Klaytn plans to establish community governance council selection and dismissal processes. This allows token holders users to have an influence on who sits on Klaytn’s Governance Council (GC). The GC is responsible for overseeing governance of the Klaytn network and assists in creating policies that improve user experience while maintaining decentralization within the protocol’s framework.

Deflationary Asset

The roadmap seeks to make KLAY an effective deflationary asset by relying heavily on gas burns instead of inflationary strategies like minting new tokens or using staking rewards as incentives for validators. This effectively reduces supply over time which increases demand due to scarcity dynamics present in Bitcoin’s halving events — reducing miner rewards every 4 years leads miners take other actions such as increasing fees or exiting mining altogether due lack of profitability caused by reduced block rewards.

2023 Roadmap Goals

Klanyt’s 2023 roadmap outlines several goals — establishing an effective deflationary asset through gas burns rather than inflationary methods; establishing community governance council selection processes; launching permissionless network pilot on Cypress mainnet; increasing transactional utility through use cases such as decentralized oracles; and identifying key crypto infrastructure services where KLAY can be used.

• Superchain Network has raised $4 million in a combined seed and pre-seed round to build a decentralized blockchain data protocol.
• The platform organizes on-chain data and allows decentralized application (dapp) developers and users to access the data in seconds.
• Superchain joins other data indexing protocols such as The Graph and Moralis, who both raised eight-figure rounds last year.

Superchain Network Raises $4M

Superchain Network has raised $4 million in a combined seed and pre-seed fundraising round to build a decentralized blockchain data protocol. Venture capital firm Blockchain Capital led the seed round, with participation from Maven 11, KR1, Tokonomy and Fansara in the pre-seed round.

The Open Index Protocol

Superchain Network, also known as the “Open Index Protocol,” is a decentralized indexer that organizes on-chain data so that dApp developers and users can access it quickly. Superchain believes in unconstrained ownership of data, eliminating the need for centralized entities to be involved in user relationships with their own data.

Competitors In The Space

Superchain joins other competing protocols such as The Graph and Moralis who have also raised significant amounts of money recently. These protocols are attempting to decentralize Web2 APIs, whereas Superchains is taking an alternative approach by making its own open source data ownable by users, unlocking use cases not possible with GraphQL.

Early Access To Market Makers

Superchain is offering early access for market makers, quant traders, data scientists ,and dApp developers looking to take advantage of its platform capabilities.

Conclusion

With its recent raise of $4 million from major investors including Blockchain Capital, Superchains is well positioned to become a leading player in the decentralised indexing space providing faster access to indexed blockchain data for dApp developers and users alike.

• TuongVy Le, a partner and head of regulatory and policy at investment firm Bain Capital, believes that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) needs to make its crypto compliance rules clearer.
• The SEC recently reached a $30 million settlement with Kraken and issued a Wells Notice to Paxos.
• Le believes that blindly applying existing securities laws could potentially kill something like staking.

SEC Needs To Make Crypto Compliance Rules Clearer

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is falling short when it comes to addressing how it deals with the digital asset industry, said TuongVy Le, partner and head of regulatory and policy at investment firm Bain Capital. According to Le, the federal agency is regulating “almost entirely through enforcement actions,” leaving many unanswered questions about what would be considered compliant behavior in the space.

Kraken Settlement And Wells Notice

Le’s comments come in light of the SEC’s recent settlement with Kraken under which the centralized exchange will shutter its staking service platform to U.S. customers as well as its issuance of a Wells Notice to Paxos over potential violations of securities laws related to crypto-asset activities.

Blindly Applying Existing Laws Could Kill Staking

When referring specifically to Kraken’s situation, Le noted that “blindly and mechanically applying the existing securities laws…could potentially kill something like staking.” She urged that more clarity from the SEC on this matter would help better inform those operating in this space about what is considered compliant behavior according to the agency’s standards.

Consequences Of Unclear Regulations

By failing to provide this clarity, Le believes that investors may shy away from participating in certain activities due their uncertainty about whether or not they are compliant with regulations set forth by the agency—something she noted could have serious consequences for innovation in this space going forward.

Conclusion

In conclusion, while enforcement actions by regulators can help bring greater clarity into an evolving industry such as crypto assets, there still remains much room for improvement when it comes to making clear expectations around compliance known so that innovators can move forward confidently within these parameters without fear of running afoul of regulators’ standards or expectations.

• Aave governance participants recently voted to distribute Lido staking rewards on Arbitrum and Optimism.
• Lido is a staking system that allows users to stake tokens in return for daily rewards.
• Ethereum’s Shanghai hard fork will soon allow users to earn interest by staking ether.

Aave Votes to Distribute Lido Staking Rewards

Aave, a leading DeFi lender, recently conducted a community vote which concluded with over 99% of all governance participants voting in favor of the proposal to distribute Lido staking rewards on its v2 platform, which is deployed on Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Optimism.

What is Lido?

Lido is an Ethereum-based decentralized finance (DeFi) application that allows users to stake their tokens in return for daily rewards and receive a derivative token that represents the actual staked token. It currently has the largest locked value of over $8.48 billion as of Tuesday. One key benefit of using Lido is that it requires no minimum amount of ether (worth over $52,000 at press time) before users get any rewards – unlike becoming a validator on Ethereum which does require this minimum amount before one can start earning returns.

Ethereum’s Upcoming Hard Fork

Following the Merge event last year, Ethereum’s next major upgrade – known as the Shanghai hard fork – is expected take place in March and will allow users to earn interest by staking ether. The new protocol upgrade also promises faster transactions and more efficient network usage than previous versions of Ethereum.

LDO Stake Rewards Distribution

As part of its efforts to attract more users, Lido has announced that it will be rewarding stakers who put up their Ether on Arbitrum or Optimism with 150,000 cumulative LDO tokens – which are used for governance purposes within the DeFi app – distributed across Aave upon completion of the community vote mentioned earlier.

Conclusion

With Aave’s decision to distribute LDO stake rewards across its platform and Ethereum’s upcoming hard fork offering increased efficiency along with higher returns for those who choose to stake their ether, DeFi looks set for further growth in 2021 as more people flock towards these innovative financial products and services.

• Bitcoin (BTC) recently trading at about $22,700, down more than 4% over the past 24 hours.
• Equities closed lower as traders awaited the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates Wednesday and studied a flurry of fourth-quarter earnings reports from big techs including Apple and Meta.
• LayerZero co-founder denying accusations from a competitor that it covered up the existence of a critical “backdoor” vulnerability in its code.

Crypto Markets Today

Bitcoin (BTC) recently trading at about $22,700, down more than 4% over the past 24 hours and well off its high Sunday near $24,000. The Sandbox’s SAND token surged ahead of its token unlock. Equities closed lower as traders awaited the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates Wednesday and studied a flurry of fourth-quarter earnings reports from big techs including Apple and Meta.

Bitcoin Price

The largest cryptocurrency by market value was recently trading at about $22,700, down more than 4% over the past 24 hours and well off its high Sunday near $24,000. Bitcoin-related funds dominated last week’s digital-asset investment products inflows, accounting for almost all of the $117 million coming in. Prices as of about 4 p.m. ET were CoinDesk Market Index (CMI) 1,065.79 −55.7 ▼ 5.0%, Ethereum (ETH) $1,555 −89.5 ▼ 5.4%, S&P 500 daily close 4,017

• Allegations that LayerZero kept a secret “backdoor” have surfaced, but the firm denies these claims.
• The allegations come just before Uniswap votes on whether to partner with LayerZero.
• Co-founder Bryan Pellegrino says the platform does have backdoor-like capabilities, but he denies LayerZero has ever tried to hide them.

Allegations of ‘Backdoor’ at LayerZero

The head of Nomad, a competitor of LayerZero, recently alleged that the company had kept a secret “backdoor” in its code which allowed them to bypass security controls and pass data between blockchains without permission.

LayerZero Denies Accusations

LayerZero co-founder Bryan Pellegrino says the project does have backdoor-like capabilities but denied the platform has ever tried to hide them. He also suggested that competing bridge providers such as Nomad and Wormhole have similar functions and accused Prestwich of making these accusations due to an upcoming Uniswap vote on whether or not to partner with LayerZero.

Security Capabilities of Platform

Pellegrino explained that developers are able to set parameters barring Layerzero from special access privileges, which would prevent any potential backdoor activity from taking place. He also clarified that there is nothing anyone can do unless their configuration is set in a certain way.

Uniswap Vote on Partnering With LayerZero

The accusations from Prestwich come just before Uniswap votes on whether or not they should partner with Layer Zero for their bridging services. This has lead many people to speculate about Prestwich’s motives for releasing this information now.

Conclusion

Although allegations about a possible backdoor at Layerzeroo have been made, the company has denied any wrong doing and clarified the security capabilities of their platform. Ultimately, it will be up to Uniswap’s vote as to who they choose as their bridge provider moving forward

• Floki Inu developers have proposed a governance vote to burn $55M of its tokens.
• This move is part of a broader effort to position Floki Inu as a serious DeFi project.
• Burning tokens is a way of reducing supply, and consequently, increasing the value of each token.

Floki Inu, the Shiba Inu dog breed-themed project, is making a serious push towards becoming a major DeFi contender, proposing a governance vote to burn nearly $55 million of its namesake FLOKI tokens and reduce a transaction tax.

The move to burn tokens is seen as a way of reducing supply, which subsequently adds value to each token as long as the level of demand remains the same. The Floki development team has made it clear that they are more than just a meme coin and are committed to utility and fundamentals. This was demonstrated by the mainnet release of the FlokiFi Locker protocol and the first major testnet release of their metaverse game Valhalla in a bear market.

The proposal also cited security risks associated with bridges as another reason to burn the tokens. Last year saw over $2 billion lost or stolen from cross-chain bridges, as CoinDesk reported. As such, the Floki team believes that burning the tokens will considerably reduce the risk associated with such bridges.

The development team also believes that burning the tokens will lead to increased liquidity for the project, leading to improved market efficiency and further user engagement. In addition, the development team is confident that the burn will result in increased user adoption of the Floki Inu platform, as well as of its token. This, in turn, will also lead to improved liquidity for the platform.

The Floki team is optimistic that this move towards burning tokens will help position the project as a serious DeFi contender, and they are hopeful that their proposal will receive the necessary votes to pass. If passed, the project could see a significant boost in its value, as the total amount of tokens in circulation will be reduced, and demand for them will increase.