Cryptospace Spotlight #37 (11 Sep 2022) - Ethereum countdown to the Merge, DBS enters metaverse, US says no to proof-of-work.
Ethereum is ready for the Merge after final shadow fork, DBS enters metaverse through partnership with The Sandbox and Animoca, US says no to proof-of-work over energy concerns!
Technology and Industry
Ethereum had successfully completed the final dress rehearsal for the historic and massive upgrade, the Merge, which is likely to occur between September 13 and 15. [more]
The network’s 13th and final shadow fork executed today with no apparent issues, say Ethereum core developers.
Internet domain service provider GoDaddy has been named in the lawsuit in relation to a recently auctioned ENS domain name. The eth.link domain name had belonged to registrant Virgil Griffith who was behind bars and unable to renew his ownership of the domain name after being caught trying to help North Korea evade sanctions. [more]
Apparently, GoDaddy had refused to allow a third party to renew the domain ownership for Griffith as it had previously done in the past. Instead of allowing the registration to expire and then auctioning off the domain name.
“The sale will disable a valuable cryptocurrency network and recklessly risk making it available to scores of malicious actors,” the filing argued.
Dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster added a fresh batch of crypto terms to its lexicon, like "Altcoin," "Metaverse," and "Unbanked." [more]
Switzerland’s SEBA Bank launched institutional Ethereum staking citing growing institutional demands. [more]
DBS has partnered The Sandbox — a decentralised gaming virtual world and a subsidiary of Animoca Brands — to create DBS BetterWorld in the metaverse. [more]
Piyush Gupta, CEO of DBS, observed that the finance industry has been largely catalysed by digital advancements. Metaverse technology in particular, while still evolving, could fundamentally change the way banks interact with customers and communities.
Singapore's Whampoa Group, a multi-family office with investments in global tech firms, aims to invest $100 million fund into digital assets. [more]
FTX Ventures, the venture capital arm of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX cryptocurrency exchange, is to buy a 30% stake in the alternative asset manager SkyBridge Capital, founded by Anthony Scaramucci. [more]
Policy and Regulatory
United States -
In a surprising move for the industry, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler supports allowing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to oversee bitcoin. [more]
The White House has released a report urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) to take measurable actions to control energy usage in proof-of-work crypto mining. [more]
United Kingdom - Richard Fuller, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, indicated that the new government wants the United Kingdom to be a global crypto hub and the country of choice for those looking to create, innovate and build in the crypto space. [more]
Australia - Australia’s ministerial department of Treasury reached out to the public to seek consultation regarding draft legislation that would exclude cryptocurrencies from being taxed as a foreign currency if passed. [more]
Security and Risk
7 Sep - A flash loan attack was detected on Avalanche blockchain by blockchain cybersecurity firm CertiK. Attacker extracted $370,000 in USDC from a smart contract, as well as several liquidity providers. [more][more-CertiK]
Decentralized exchange Trader Joe, staking platform Nereus Finance and automated market maker Curve Finance are thought to have been impacted
7 Sep - GERA token’s security has been compromised due to a private key leak. Attacker transferred ownership of the GERA token’s smart contract deployer and minted over 2 billion tokens before selling them at exchanges. The token price crashed from $0.008 to $0.00001 at one point [more]
There are doubts within the community that it was a scam.
9 Sep - Late Queen Elizabeth II triggered the flood of Meme Coins and NFTs rolling out onto decentralized exchanges. Most of the projects have insignificant liquidity, which may indicate a potential for short-lived pump and dumps — buyers should stay caution. [more]
More than 40 crypto coins rolled out on decentralized exchanges on the BNB Smart Chain (BSC) and Ethereum over the past 24 hours, sporting classy names such as “RIP Queen Elizabeth,” “Queen Elizabeth Inu,” “God Save The Queen,” “Queen Doge,” “Elizabeth II” and “London Bridge Is Down.”
“Rise Of The King” token, in reference to the Queen’s successor King Charles, has pumped around 2,000% since its creation on Friday, currently trending on Dex Screener, which maps popular digital assets on Ethereum-powered Uniswap.
The Elizabeth token, on the other hand, has seen $6.1 million in trade volume over the past 24 hours on BSC-based PancakeSwap.
PeckShield and CertiK said an Ethereum address associated with an exploit last year of DAO Maker has laundered 500,000 DAI stablecoins through Tornado Cash, using fake browser plugins to gain control of the funds they robbed. [more]