Louis Vuitton embraces Web3 👜, Philippines delays crypto 🇵🇭, Apple acquisition startup
Daily Crypto, Blockchain & Web3 Update 2023-06-07
CRYPTOCURRENCY
SEC, Gensler-themed memecoins surge amid Binance and Coinbase lawsuits (3 min read)
A number of memecoins drawing their likeness from the United States Securities Exchange Commission and its chair, Gary Gensler, have seen a sharp spike in price following the regulator’s lawsuits against crypto exchanges Coinbase and Binance.
One such token is Good Gensler (GENSLR), which rallied more than 260% in the hours following the regulator’s June 6 complaint against Coinbase for allegedly offering unregistered securities.
Binance.US says user funds ‘remain safe’ amid SEC attempt to freeze assets (2 min read)
Crypto exchange Binance.US has attempted to quell possible unrest from its users following a motion from the United States securities regulator seeking to freeze its assets “on an expedited basis.”
In a June 6 tweet, Binance.US reiterated that “user assets remain safe and secure" and added that the platform “continues to be fully operational with deposits and withdrawals functioning as normal.”
SEC files motion for restraining order against Binance (1 min read)
The SEC has accused Binance of mishandling funds and operating an unregistered securities exchange.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed an emergency motion in the District of Columbia U.S. District Court for a temporary restraining order against Binance, Binance.US, and CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) on June 6, requesting eight actions.
The Philippines delays publishing crypto framework (2 min read)
Despite a tumultuous year, the Philippines’ financial regulator decided not to rush a legal framework on the crypto industry, which was initially planned for late 2022.
Despite the wave of market failures in 2022, the Philippines’ financial regulator has decided not to rush a legal framework on the crypto industry, initially planned to be published in late 2022. However, work on the guidelines is ongoing, and the results could be made public this year.
NFTs
Louis Vuitton embraces Web3, launches its iconic trunk as a digital collectible (4 min read)
As the fashion industry continues to embrace the “phygital” evolution, French luxury house Louis Vuitton announced the launch of the VIA Treasure Trunk, the virtual representation of its iconic travel trunk.
The digital world can match how exclusive ownership feels in the real world with blockchain technology. By providing an immutable, transparent, and public infrastructure to prove ownership, blockchain made owning a piece of a unique digital asset such as a nonfungible token (NFT) as satisfying as possessing its physical version.
BLOCKCHAIN
Optimism successfully completes ‘Bedrock’ hard fork, reducing deposit times, layer-1 fees (2 min read)
The Optimism network concluded its “Bedrock” upgrade on June 7, reducing deposit times, lowering layer-1 fees and enacting additional security features, according to an announcement from network developer OP Labs. The upgrade is part of a series of reforms the developer says will help create a “Superchain” of scaleable Web3 networks based on Optimism’s OP Stack software.
BUSINESS
Apple confirms acquisition of AR startup Mira following Vision Pro launch: Report (2 min read)
Just a day after launching a new virtual reality (VR) product line, Apple Vision Pro, the tech giant confirmed the acquisition of Mira, an augmented reality startup that provides hands-free, smartphone-powered headsets.
On June 7, The Verge reported Apple’s latest acquisition was revealed through a private Instagram post shared by Mira CEO Ben Taft, which Apple later confirmed as accurate to the outlet. Expected to hit the market in early 2024, Apple Vision Pro stands as the most expensive mixed-reality gear, currently priced at $3,499.
Sequoia Capital announces three-way split to separate China business (3 min read)
Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital announced an impending split that will see the company break into three distinct partnerships, serving the United States, China, and Asian markets separately.
The move, announced on June 6, is intended to decentralize back-office functions for the company. Citing increased global financial complexity and growing brand confusion, per a post on Twitter, Sequoia said it intends to embrace its “local-first approach.”
Kraken fixes gateway issues after brief delay in withdrawals (1 min read)
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken said it investigated an issue with several crypto funding gateways, including major ones such as Bitcoin, Ether, and ERC-20, which caused operational delays.
On June 6, Kraken’s status page said, “Deposits and withdrawals are currently delayed. We will provide any updates as soon as possible.”
Small business lending protocol Defactor tokenizes $100M in bonds (2 min read)
On June 6, decentralized finance (DeFi) lending platform Defactor Labs said that it tokenized $100 million worth of Alpha Bonds using the ERC-3643 token standard. The bonds, tokenized on the Polygon network, will be lent to small and medium-sized enterprises using real-world assets, such as receivables, as collateral.
QUICK LINKS
Google Cloud launches free courses to help users build their own GPT-style AI (2 min read)
The new corpus includes nine courses and a set of labs that students can complete to earn a Google Cloud skills badge.
SEC lawsuits squeeze net worth of Coinbase and Binance CEOs (2 min read)
Brian Armstrong and CZ have seen respective net worth losses of 11.8% and 5.1% since the SEC sued Coinbase and Binance.
Coinbase's stock plunges 20% on SEC lawsuit (2 min read)
The cryptocurrency exchange faces scrutiny from state regulators simultaneously with the SEC litigation.
El Salvador’s Bitcoin miner Volcano Energy launches with $250M investment (3 min read)
Volcano Energy said the funds would go toward developing a 241-megawatt power generation park.
Jack Dorsey courts controversy by claiming ETH is a security (2 min read)
Since Binance and Coinbase were sued for offering unregistered securities, the longtime Bitcoin advocate has tweeted posts promoting a focus on BTC development.
SEC lawsuit against Binance stalls Gopax acquisition deal in South Korea (2 min read)
The country’s financial watchdog claimed it was very difficult to accept the acquisition requests amid accusations of securities law violations.
Meta’s Zuckerberg grilled by senators over ‘leak’ of LLaMA AI model (3 min read)
The senators weren’t happy with the “seemingly minimal” protections to fight against fraud and cybercrime in Meta’s AI model.
SEC crackdown on Binance and Coinbase surge DeFi trading volumes 444% (3 min read)
Total daily trading volumes on decentralized exchanges have surged by nearly $800 million over the past two days.