# February 2023 Crypto Events

**Published by:** [jelca thinks](https://paragraph.com/@jess/)
**Published on:** 2023-03-01
**Categories:** crypto
**URL:** https://paragraph.com/@jess/feb-23-crypto

## Content

OrdinalsWhatAllows users to inscribe data e.g. images onto the Bitcoin blockchainBasically NFTs except on the Bitcoin blockchain, not EthereumHas some limitations around size and functionalityWhy it mattersBitcoin has historically only been used for P2P money transfers, a ledger of transactions on the networkIt is up to time to see if this will be good or bad for the network, and if this functionality will lastBitcoin purists obviously don’t support this new feature.There is no marketplace for ordinals right now, or even a website, or even ordinal friendly crypto walletCheck Ordinal Count here: https://dune.com/maloikka/ordinalsStacksL2 built on Bitcoin that lest developers create and deploy smart contracts like EthereumHas a native token: STXCoinbase BaseWhatL2, can build dAppsBuilt using Optimism’s OP stack (open source code powering the L2)Coinbase is the initial sequencerNo plans to issue a token yetLaunched Base Ecosystem, a new fund to invest in early stage projectsWhy it mattersCoinbase is the largest crypto exchange in the USOpinionsGood: Coinbase has millions of users, the potential valule generated from even a smaller percentage of adoption is hugeBad: Flops like their NFT marketplaceValue locked in L2s: https://l2beat.com/scaling/tvlLargest NFT sell off:Jeffrey Huang / Machi Brig Brother sold 1,010 NFTs, worth $18.6mmLIDOLDO has gone up 200% this yearLSDs for all major cryptosIf you don’t use an LSD you have to stake on a CEX with big fees and risk or stake on chain and move to a hot wallet, choose validators, lock up your tokens, and it's just really hardprocess: swap ETH token for stETH to stake. That is itLido stakes for you and you get the change in value plus staking rewards. You can still use your stETHUnstake just via swapping on a major DEXLIDO is rising becauseSEC cracked down on centralizing staking e.g. KrakenGoodbye CEX options hello DEXThe merge made it impossible to unstake your ETHShanghai update coming in marchLIDO will roll out V2V2 is coming Feb 7 to directly unstake from the platform instead of swapping on a DEXMuch faster ~2 hoursLIDO now manages more than Coinbase, Kraken and Binance combineStacks (STX)Stacks Network is an L2 on Bitcoin’s L1Popularity reasonsIt powers Bitcoin’s NFTs – Bitcoin only used to power monetary transactionsSEC approvedFirst over token to get SEC approval in 2019Now legally traded on US exchangesGoogle & TezosGoogle Cloud to be the first major cloud computing platform to be a validatorTezos can now set up nodes (validates tx) using Google’s cloud platformGoogle gets good returns too as all stakers tend toHong KongSee proposal here: https://apps.sfc.hk/edistributionWeb/api/consultation/openFile?lang=EN&refNo=23CP1Crypto trading platforms need to apply for a special license from the SFC (only 2 exchanges are licensed to trade)Exchanges may soon offer trading services to retail investorsInvestors can only trade large cap tokens e.g. BTC / ETHWhy it mattersHong kong is the gateway to ChinaBlurOne of the two biggest NFT marketplaces next to OpenSeaPopularity Is due toNo marketplace feesOptional creator royalty feesOpenSea maintains its royalty fees except for a LIMITED TIMEPressure from Blur?Lose creators?Recently released $BLUR token, airdropped $400mm worth aka free mulla for everyoneDo Kwon and TerraformSEC charged Do Kwon and Terraform labs with fraudWhat went downSold unregistered securities and security based swaps and a bunch of other stuffLost $40bnWorked with a US trading firm Jump that bought TONS of the stablecoin when the peg hit 10 cents in May 2021Lied and said Chai (Korean payments app) used their blockchain to settle payments and replicated the transactions ont its blockchainKwon transferred 10,000 Bitcoin from Terraform into a cold wallet and slowly moved funds from it to a Swiss Bank beginning May 2020. Since then $100mm+ fiat has been withdrawnNo one knows where Kwon isTokenized BondsWhat is differentNo paperNo central clearingNo bank middlemanAka cheaper and fasterWho is usingSiemens (German) and HK governmentSiemens did it without Polygon even knowing, and already collected the moneyHK gov’t worked with Bank of China and HSBC to use GS’s tokenization platform to issue $101mm one year GREEN bondsNapsterBlast from the past! It technically got shut down in 2001 and has been passed around from Roxio to Best By to Algorand etc.Recently acquired Mint Songs, letting artists turn music into NFTs and integrate with NapsterFTX7 former FTX employees got subpoenaedNishad Sing, Former FTX engineering director, pled guilty to wire fraud and various conspiraciesFTX gave a LOC to Alameda as high as $65 billion, with cover being the staking program FTX offered for the Serum exchange on the Solana blockchainFTX investors and partners got lawsuits e.g. Silvergate Bank, Sequoia, Paradigm, Thoma BravoJPM is giving away millions of SMF’s money from Modula Capital, SBF’s small hedge fundA charity affiliated with an FTX executive made $150mm from an insider deal (Polaris Ventures)StakingSEC shut down Kraken’s staking service, saying it was offering unregistered securitiesBrian Armstrong said the SEC’s 4-rule security template does NOT apply to stakingStaking is not an investment of money b/c you don’t lose the principalStaking does not have common enterprise value – stakers are chosen randomlyThere is no profit expectation – stakers want to validate transactions, not necessarily b/c they think they can make moneyStaking rewards are not dependent on others – rewards are randomly automatedFact: Coinbase charges customers 30% of rewardsShopify blockchain toolsMerchants can build tokengated apps using NFTs to give discounts and benefits to customer3ACLaunched new crypto venture called OPNX (open exchange)FLEX = native tokenLet people trade crypto bankruptcy claims against FTX, Celsius, 3AC (lol)First marketplace for trading crypto claimsBanned in the USSEC2/9 SEC said it would close down Kraken’s staking service and fine them 30 millionGemini & GenesisDCG to converted IOU to Genesis into convertible preferred stockRefinance term loans pay out $500mm to creditorsDCG to sell equity in Genesis’s trading armPay up $100mm to Earn usersDigital Currency GroupSelling shares in trusts operated by Grayscale, at a huge discount Twitter200-300mm daily usersDeveloping in app payments function first for fiat then cryptoMeta$13.7bn put into metaverse last yearQuest 3 VR headset coming this yearVR apps starting to make money100mm+ WhatsApp users created animated avatarsCelsius debacleEligible users will soon be able to withdraw 94% of assets given certain parameters, net tx and gas fees

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