Summary

• Coinbase reportedly offered a $3 billion line of credit to help Circle fix its financial problems after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
• The offer was almost completed, but then USDC restored its peg against the dollar.
• The US financial watchdogs also promised to save each depositor at SVB.

Coinbase Offered a $3 Billion Credit to Circle

Coinbase, one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges in the US, offered a line of credit worth $3 billion to Circle to help it fix its financial cracks after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). The stablecoin-issuer revealed a whopping $3.3 billion exposure to SVB, which negatively affected the price of USDC and caused it to plunge way below its $1 target.

Almost Completed Deal Reverted

According to reports, Coinbase and Circle were close to completing the deal but reverted once USDC restored its peg against the greenback. This happened after Circle issued a reassuring statement, vowing to cover any investor losses due to the SVB crisis. In addition, the leading financial watchdogs in the USA promised to save each depositor at SVB regardless of their exposure amount.

US Financial Watchdogs Promise Support

The US financial watchdogs promised that they would save each depositor at SVB even those with exposure higher than $250,000. Thus investors were reassured that their deposits would be safe and secure despite any potential difficulties with Silicon Valley Bank’s liquidation process.

Conclusion

Ultimately, despite Coinbase’s offer for a line of credit worth $3 billion, everything was resolved without having to go through with it thanks primarily due both Circles assurance and government support for those affected by this situation.

• Huobi has no exposure to Silvergate and Signature Bank, as it had previously withdrawn all its assets from these two banks.
• Numerous other crypto-related firms got burned from their existing exposure to the aforementioned banks, including Coinbase and Paxos.
• Justin Sun – a member of Huobi’s Global Advisory Board – confirmed that the banking crisis did not affect the company’s operations.

Huobi Cut Ties With Signature Bank and Silvergate

Huobi disclosed to Reuters that its customers’ funds remain unaffected by the recent banking crisis in the USA since it had previously transferred all its assets from Silvergate and Signature Bank to other monetary institutions. Justin Sun – a member of Huobi’s Global Advisory Board and also Co-Founder of the blockchain platform Tron – confirmed this news, adding that the ongoing turbulence did not harm the company’s operations.

Silvergate Capital Reveals Operational Issues

Silvergate Capital revealed operational issues at the beginning of March and announced a liquidation plan a few days later. It acted as one of the main banks for the crypto sector, lending funds to multiple entities.

Signature Bank Closes Down

With Silvergate’s failure, numerous industry players shifted towards Signature Bank. Nonetheless, it suffered a similar fate and was closed down by regulators earlier this week.

Crypto-Related Firms Affected

Numerous other platforms and crypto-related firms got burned from their existing exposure to Silvergate and Signature Bank, including Coinbase and Paxos.

Huobi Remains Unaffected

Fortunately for Huobi customers, their funds remained unaffected due to Huobi having transferred all its assets out some time ago before these banks faced closure.

• Grayscale’s lawsuit against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to go to oral arguments today.
• The case revolves around Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), the world’s largest bitcoin fund, which has been trading at a steep discount for two years.
• Prior to the argument, GBTC’s discount to net asset value has narrowed from 47.35% to 42.11%.

Grayscale’s Lawsuit Against SEC

Grayscale has filed a lawsuit challenging the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The central point of contention is Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), the world’s largest Bitcoin fund, which has been trading at a deep discount for two years. Today, oral arguments will be heard in this case.

The GBTC Discount

According to data from YCharts, prior to this hearing, GBTC’s discount relative to its net asset value had decreased from 47.35% to 42.11%. This could reflect investors’ confidence that Grayscale will win its legal battle against the SEC. In October 2021, Grayscale applied to convert GBTC into an exchange-traded fund (ETF), but was rejected by the regulatory agency. Subsequently, they chose to sue the SEC last summer. GBTC holds $14.8 billion worth of assets and is capable of introducing liquidity if it converts into an ETF as proposed by Grayscale .

SEC’s Position

The SEC has previously approved multiple crypto products backed by futures but consistently denied spot ones like those proposed by Grayscale in their ETF application for GBTC. Despite being turned down initially, Grayscale decided to take on a legal battle with the regulator in order for their plans for GBTC conversion into an ETF can come through as expected .

Narrowing Of Discount

The narrowing of GBTC’s discount could be because investors are optimistic that this lawsuit may end up in favor of Grayscale. If so, then it would result in huge gains for them due to reduced discounts associated with more liquid markets such as those created by an exchange-traded fund structure .

Conclusion

The outcome of this litigation between Grayscales and the SEC will have far reaching implications on both companies involved as well as on crypto markets worldwide . As it stands now , there is much anticipation surrounding this case which will be heard today .

• Yuga Labs recently launched a new NFT collection called Twelvefold.
• The pieces in the collection are generative and inscribed on Satoshis on the Bitcoin blockchain.
• This is being done to capitalize on the Ordinal inscription craze.

Yuga Labs Launches Ordinal Inscription NFT Collection Twelvefold

Yuga Labs, the team behind the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection, has announced their latest contribution to the world of nonfungible tokens – Twelvefold. This limited edition collection consists of 300 generative pieces inscribed on Satoshis on the Bitcoin blockchain. The nomenclature for this new collection is “TwelveFold,” which is based around a 12×12 grid, representing data mapping on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Ordinals Explained

Ordinals are nonfungible tokens (NFTs) that can be inscribed into one Satoshi, which is the smallest denomination of a Bitcoin. These digital artifacts remain permanently on the blockchain due to an upgrade made in November 2021 called Taproot, which allows programmability and smart contracts capabilities to be added to a network. Since then, these types of assets have become increasingly popular in the crypto world.

TwelveFold Auction Launch Date

The official launch date for TwelveFold’s auction will begin later this week with a 24-hour notice period providing more exact timing information. Once it begins, people will have the chance to bid and purchase any piece they like from this unique collection before it’s gone forever!

Benefits Of Ordinals

One of the benefits associated with ordinals is that they are low cost and easy to store compared to other forms of art or cryptocurrency investments like Bitcoin or Ethereum tokens. Additionally, they provide an interesting way for people who may not be familiar with cryptoassets to get involved in collecting them since each asset can be purchased with just one satoshi!

Conclusion

The TwelveFold series by Yuga Labs marks another great contribution to what is becoming an ever-growing market for nonfungible tokens (NFTs). The launch date for its auction will soon be released so anyone interested should keep their eyes peeled! With ordinals being such an affordable way for people to get involved with cryptoassets and collect art at same time, it’ll be fascinating see how much interest this particular series receives when it goes live later this week!

• Crypto hedge fund Galois Capital reportedly shut down due to the collapse of FTX.
• Half of its assets were stuck on the trading venue, and it will return its remaining funds to investors.
• Co-Founder Kevin Zhou stated that filing for bankruptcy protection would lead to delayed refunds.

Crypto Hedge Fund Closes Down

Crypto hedge fund Galois Capital is reportedly the latest entity to terminate operations due to FTX’s fallout. The San Francisco-based hedge fund managed approximately $200 million in assets and has decided to cease all trading services and close down after half of its capital was trapped in the bankrupt exchange.

Returning Funds To Investors

Galois Capital assured that clients will receive 90% of their money not stuck on the platform, with the remaining 10% being distributed after administrators and auditing firms finalize necessary discussions on the matter. Co-Founder Kevin Zhou stated that filing for bankruptcy protection would lead to delayed refunds and therefore believes it is better to close down rather than pursue this course of action.

Devastating Year For Cryptocurrency

Zhou concluded that 2022 had been a devastating year for the entire cryptocurrency industry, with numerous scams, frauds, Ponzi schemes, and other forms of malicious activities having plagued digital asset markets around the world. He added that although this unfortunate situation has caused a great deal of pain and losses among both investors and operators alike, he hopes that lessons have been learned from it so as not to repeat similar mistakes in future years.

Hard Lessons Learned

The co-founder expressed his regret over what had happened but noted that hopefully hard lessons can be learned from this experience going forward. He concluded by thanking all those who had supported Galois Capital during its short duration as an active crypto hedge fund, expressing his hope for a brighter future ahead for digital assets despite these recent setbacks.

Conclusion

Although Galois Capital ultimately ceased operations due to FTX’s collapse, there is still much hope for digital assets moving forward into 2023 and beyond – especially if similar mistakes are avoided by all involved parties within this young yet rapidly evolving ecosystem!

• Cardano developers have launched a Valentine upgrade for its Standards for Efficient Cryptography (SECP) primitives on the network’s mainnet.
• This upgrade allows developers to use a broader range of native multi-signature designs to build secure and cost-effective decentralized applications (DApps).
• The upgrade took place on February 14 at 21:44 UTC, with absolute slot height 84844800 and estimated block height 8403208.

Cardano Launches Valentine Upgrade

Input Output Global (IOG), the organization behind the Cardano blockchain, has launched a valentine upgrade for its Standards for Efficient Cryptography (SECP) primitives on the network’s mainnet. With this update, developers can now create cross-chain decentralized applications that are secure, cost-effective, and give access to a broader range of services.

Valentine Upgrade Live on Mainnet

The upgrade went live on February 14 at 21:44 UTC, at the beginning of epoch 394 around absolute slot height 84844800 and estimated block height 8403208. This variance in cryptographic algorithms and signature schemes across blockchains led to this upgrade.

ECDSA & Schnorr Signatures

The two most popular signature schemes Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) and Schnorr are used in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Polkadot blockchains respectively. On the other hand, Cardano utilizes Edwards-curve Digital Signature Algorithm (EdDSA) with elliptic curve Curve25519 as its base curve (aka Ed25519).

Plutus Primitives Now Available

The Valentine Upgrade also brings Plutus primitives which will enable developers to write secure smart contracts that run on top of Cardano’s blockchain platform. With this new feature, users can now create multi-asset transactions that support various protocols such as Decred or Polkadot’s Substrate framework.

Conclusion

Cardano’s Valentine Upgrade is now live and it provides developers with an array of features which are essential for constructing secure DApps across multiple chains. This will also allow users to access a wide range of services that were previously not available using standard multisignature designs.

• Taproot, a Bitcoin softfork upgrade, has enabled Ordinals – a new and controversial Bitcoin-based protocol.
• Ordinals allow users to identify individual satoshis on the network, including unique inscribed data like videos and images.
• The popularity of Ordinals is growing by the day as 2.8% of spent outputs on Bitcoin utilized Taproot script this week, according to blockchain data provider Glassnode.

What is Ordinals?

Ordinals are a new and controversial Bitcoin-based protocol designed by Bitcoin Core contributor Casey Rodarmor. It allows users to identify individual satoshis on the network, and store unique inscribed data like videos and images within a transaction signature once the transfer is completed. This technology was enabled by Taproot – a Bitcoin softfork upgrade that activated in 2021 bringing greater privacy and smart contracts to the network.

Rising Interest in Ordinals

The popularity of Ordinals is growing by the day as 2.8% of spent outputs on Bitcoin utilized Taproot script this week, according to blockchain data provider Glassnode. This represents an increase from 1% just a month ago, indicating an increasing interest in Ordinals usage among users. Despite some developers’ opposition to the protocol, its use has been steadily rising over time suggesting more people are beginning to embrace it.

Benefits of Using Ordinal Protocol

The use of ordinal protocol offers several benefits for its users such as increased privacy due to transactions being stored within signatures once they are completed; plus enhanced security through improved smart contracts capability provided by Taproot activation; and higher flexibility with storing NFT-like content within satoshis enabling them to be used for various purposes such as gaming or trading assets etc…

Debate Within The Community

Despite these potential benefits being associated with using ordinal protocol there’s still debate among bitcoin community members about whether it should be celebrated or cursed which suggests that not everyone is on board with embracing it yet.

Conclusion

It appears from recent usage statistics that more people are starting to accept ordinal protocol despite some resistance from developers initially The rising interest in ordinal usage indicates that it could become increasingly popular moving forward which would likely lead to further improvements regarding privacy & security measures associated with bitcoin transactions

• Web3-oriented Venom Ventures Fund (VVF) invested $5 million in Everscale to aid its expansion efforts.
• The fund saw the light of day earlier last month after collaborating with the Abu Dhabi-based Iceberg Capital Limited and Venom Foundation.
• VVF’s financing aims to support the Web3 industry by solving its scalability issues and help Everscale complete its goal of hiring more developers and increasing the number of projects.

Web3-focused venture capital fund, Venom Ventures Fund (VVF), recently invested $5 million in blockchain firm Everscale to aid in its development and expansion efforts. The fund, which collaborated with Abu Dhabi-based Iceberg Capital Limited and Venom Foundation, is focused on supporting the growing Web3 industry and helping it solve its scalability issues.

VVF’s chairman, Peter Knez, spoke on the investment, saying “For us, this is a strategic investment aimed at the technological development of projects.” This injection of funds is expected to help Everscale achieve its goal of hiring more developers and increasing the number of projects it is managing.

The Web3 industry has been on the rise in recent years, with many companies and projects beginning to take advantage of the technology’s capabilities. This has led to a surge in the number of projects being developed, with many focusing on scalability and performance. VVF’s investment in Everscale is expected to help the company achieve its goals of increasing the number of projects it is managing and hiring more developers to help carry out its mission.

In addition to the investment, VVF is also providing Everscale with a range of services, such as support in marketing, legal advice and technical support. This kind of assistance is expected to help the company expand its operations and reach more potential users.

Overall, the investment from VVF is an important step forward in the development of the Web3 industry. By providing the necessary funding and assistance, the venture capital firm is helping to ensure the success of projects within the industry and aiding in the growth of the technology.

• Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, has proposed a stealth address system to improve the privacy of Ethereum’s peer-to-peer transactions.
• Stealth addresses use elliptic curve cryptography to obfuscate the addresses of the sender and receiver.
• Stealth addresses can be registered on Ethereum Name Services (ENS) and can help protect the user’s financial privacy.

The cryptocurrency industry has long held privacy as a key to financial freedom, and recently the discussions surrounding privacy in the Ethereum ecosystem have revolved around the preservation of transfers of ETH and ERC20 tokens. To address this issue, Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, has proposed a stealth address system to improve the privacy of Ethereum’s peer-to-peer transactions.

Stealth addresses use elliptic curve cryptography to obfuscate the addresses of the sender and receiver. The sender can generate a single-use stealth address for the recipient, and the transaction will become visible only when the recipient’s wallet is unlocked using the private key associated with the stealth address. This ensures that the transactions remain invisible to outside observers.

The stealth address system is also compatible with Ethereum Name Services (ENS). This means that users can choose to register their stealth address with an ENS domain and make it easier to remember and share among peers. The integration of stealth addresses with ENS domains helps users preserve their financial privacy by allowing them to use an alias instead of a long, complicated address.

Stealth addresses offer a number of advantages to Ethereum users. Not only do they help protect user’s financial privacy, they also provide an additional layer of security against malicious actors. By generating a single-use stealth address for each transaction, users can be sure that their funds remain secure. Furthermore, stealth addresses make it easier for users to manage their funds, as they can keep track of their transactions via the ENS domain.

The proposed stealth address system is a welcome development in the Ethereum ecosystem. It provides users with an additional layer of privacy and security, and makes it easier for them to manage their funds. If implemented, the stealth address system could be a great step forward for Ethereum, and could help promote the use of Ethereum as a secure and private peer-to-peer payment system.

• Circle – the issuer of the second largest stablecoin by market cap, USDC – is preparing to launch a permissionless protocol for letting users transfer their stablecoins between blockchains.
• The Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) will help foster more scalable, efficient, secure and user friendly apps built on USDC.
• The protocol can be embedded into dapps, and provide the most “capital efficient” path for cross-chain USDC transfers.

Circle, the issuer of the second largest stablecoin by market cap, USDC, is preparing to launch a permissionless protocol that will allow users to transfer their stablecoins between blockchains. This Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) is designed to not only foster more scalable, efficient, secure and user-friendly apps built on USDC, but also provide the most “capital efficient” path for cross-chain USDC transfers.

The protocol will allow users to burn USDC on one chain, while Circle sends them newly minted USDC on another. This will benefit those who are looking to move their funds from one cryptocurrency blockchain to another, without having to worry about the exchange rate or fee associated with the transfer.

The protocol will also be embedded into dapps, which will make it easier for developers to use USDC as a payment option for their services. This will provide users with more options when it comes to making payments, as well as more control over their funds. In addition, this will also provide developers with an easier way to develop and maintain their applications, as they will no longer need to manually manage cross-chain transfers.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire spoke about the upcoming protocol, saying, “The Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol will help foster more scalable, efficient, secure and user friendly apps built on USDC. We believe that this protocol will be a critical component of the USDC ecosystem, enabling developers to build more powerful, secure and efficient applications and services.”

The protocol is set to launch soon, and will no doubt make a great impact on the cryptocurrency community. With this protocol, Circle will be able to provide a much more efficient way for users to transfer their funds across blockchains, as well as giving developers an easier way to integrate USDC into their applications. It will be interesting to see how this protocol will be used in the future, and what it may mean for the cryptocurrency industry as a whole.