A featured crypto industry brief, with a focus on DeFi and MEV.

• Bitcoin, NFT, Ethereum, Web3, coinbase

• Binance Can’t Keep Its Story Straight on Misplaced $1.8B USDC from CoinDesk

• Bitcoin price searches for direction ahead of this week’s $710M BTC options expiry from Cointelegraph

• Voyager Digital's Reward Program Lost $58M in 2022: Court Filing from CoinDesk

• Fan Token Project Chiliz Sets Up $50M Incubator Backed by Jump Crypto from CoinDesk

• Chiliz announces $50M incubator and accelerator program for early-stage blockchain projects from Cointelegraph

• Provenance Blockchain Foundation announces $50M in grants for blockchain development from Cointelegraph

• China Blockchain Conflux Gains $10M Investment From DWF from CoinDesk

• Platypus Finance creates compensation portal for users following $9.1M exploit from Cointelegraph

• Redeem Raises $2.5M to Let Users Receive NFTs Via Phone Numbers from CoinDesk

• Bitcoin ‘millionaires’ increased 140% as BTC price crossed $20K — data from Cointelegraph

• Goldman Sachs still open to crypto hires amid massive 3,200 staff cut from Cointelegraph

• Klaytn Blockchain Will Focus on Increasing KLAY Token Demand in 2023 from CoinDesk

• Digital Asset Investment Products’ AUM in February Reaches Highest Level Since May 2022 from CoinDesk

• Crypto layoffs decelerate, with layoffs falling to 570 in February from Cointelegraph

• Bitcoin ATM decline: Over 400 machines went off the grid in under 60 days from Cointelegraph

• Binance.US restructuring plan favored by 97% of Voyager customers from Cointelegraph

• Whale sells 1,010 NFTs in 48 hours: Nifty Newsletter, Feb. 22–28 from Cointelegraph

• Silvergate stock plunges 31% after delayed filing raises doubts over future from Cointelegraph

• 0x's Token Surges 20% on Pact to Build Relay Network With Robinhood Wallet, Polygon from CoinDesk

• Open-Source Protocol Ren Token Surges 18% Amid Rising Interest in Multichain Projects from CoinDesk

• Crypto Fund Manager Numerai's Token Rises 9% on Report of Impressive Return from CoinDesk

• Bitcoin Jumps 4% as Upbeat China Manufacturing Data Improves Risk Appetite from CoinDesk

• Puerto Rico Extends 4% Tax Incentive to Crypto and Blockchain Activities from CoinDesk

• Ethereum price resistance at $1,750 could reflect traders’ anxiety over the Shanghai upgrade from Cointelegraph

• Bitcoin’s least volatile month ever? BTC price ends February up 0.03% from Cointelegraph

(N.A.)

• BUSD Risk Recap from Gauntlet - Medium

• Noble Ditches Cosmos ‘Interchain Security’ To Avoid Slashing Attacks from Blockworks

• Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom from Cointelegraph

• New SubQuery Feature: Project Alert Notifications! from Stories by SubQuery Network on Medium

• Bitcoin Jumps 4% as Upbeat China Manufacturing Data Improves Risk Appetite from CoinDesk

• Platypus Finance creates compensation portal for users following $9.1M exploit from Cointelegraph

• Crypto Options Exchange Deribit to Offer Bitcoin Volatility Futures from CoinDesk

• Mt. Gox Bankruptcy Repayments Unlikely to Destabilize Bitcoin: UBS from CoinDesk

• Crypto Market February Roundup: Bitcoin Layer 2 Protocol Stacks, Ethereum Staking Derivative Tokens Surge from CoinDesk

• The Next Bicasso: Binance NFT Releases AI-Powered NFT Generator from CoinDesk

• How to create an NFT treasure hunt from Cointelegraph

• First Mover Asia: NFTs Have a ‘Digital First Sale’ Problem from CoinDesk

• CoinDesk and Art Blocks Release Microcosms to Supercharge IRL Events With NFTs from CoinDesk

• Upcoming Upgrades That Will Shape the Ethereum Ecosystem from CoinDesk

• Ethereum ERC-4337 'smart accounts' launch at WalletCon: Account abstraction is here from Cointelegraph

• ‘Account abstraction’ supercharges Ethereum wallets: Dummies guide from Cointelegraph

• Ethereum Says ERC-4337 Deployed, Tested, Beginning Era of Smart Accounts from CoinDesk

• Magic Eden Launches 'Mint Madness' With Free Web3 Gaming Mints from CoinDesk

• ‘Historic Move’ for GameFi as Unity Adds 13 Web3 Developer Tools from Blockworks

• Gaming engine Unity adds MetaMask functionality among new Web3 tools from Cointelegraph

• More Than Gamers Sold a Breakthrough Web3 Game and Delivered Empty Promises from CoinDesk

• Coinbase CEO Armstrong: We Delisted BUSD Due to Liquidity Concerns from CoinDesk

• Coinbase CEO reiterates that ‘staking’ products aren’t securities from Cointelegraph

• 📌Bitcoin Optech Newsletter #240 from Bitcoin Optech

• Pump Up The Base from Messari Crypto News Feed

• Ethereum Path-Based Storage Model and Newly Inline State Prune from Ethereum Research - Latest topics

• A simple persistent pseudonym scheme from Ethereum Research - Latest topics

• Episode 266: ZK Hardware Sessions with Zprize Pt. 1 from ZK Podcast

• FTX’s Nishad Singh Charged With Fraud After Guilty Plea from Unchained Podcast

• Wrapped Bitcoin Supply Falls After Celsius Redeems $270M from Unchained Podcast

• OKX to Airdrop $3M USDT After CELT Market Manipulation from Unchained Podcast

• Ethereum’s Sepolia Testnet Upgrades to Shapella from Unchained Podcast

• BUSD Risk Recap from Gauntlet - Medium

• Matthew Commons Appointed CFO of Algorand from Algorand - Medium

• Web3 Compliance and Policy for the Digital Economy from Circle Blog

(N.A.)

• DeFi Protocol StaFi Nearly Halves Commission Fees for Staking from CoinDesk

• DeFi to Go Under Microscope at US CFTC Advisory Group’s Opening Session from CoinDesk

• Solana plans to improve its blockchain: Here’s how from Cointelegraph

• Soulbound tokens power new identity solution on Celo blockchain from Cointelegraph

• What We Need To Scale Blockchain Technology Into the Future from Blockworks

• Blockchain Protocol Algorand Hires Its First CFO from CoinDesk

• Goldman Sachs Still ‘Hugely Supportive’ of Exploring Blockchain Applications from Blockworks

• Marathon Digital to Correct Earnings Figures After SEC Letter from Blockworks

• US SEC Plans to Keep Growing Crypto Unit as Enforcement Ramps Up from CoinDesk

• SEC, CFTC press civil charges against former FTX exec Singh parallel to criminal case from Cointelegraph

• Koii Labs, Idexos launch middleware bridge aiming to replace CEXs from Cointelegraph

• Crypto Lender Voyager Says Majority of Customers Voted for Restructuring Plan With Binance.US from CoinDesk

• Top US Treasury Official Says Leaders ‘Actively Evaluating’ Digital Dollar Question from CoinDesk

• US lagging on CBDCs could spell ‘trouble’ — Crypto Council policy head from Cointelegraph

• Former Accounting Team of FTX US Auditor Armanino Sets Up Shop as The Network Firm from CoinDesk

• Bernstein Sees 'Cautious' Ether Price Until Shanghai Upgrade from CoinDesk

• What Effect Could Ethereum’s Shanghai Upgrade Have on Price? from Blockworks

• LedgerX Ditches Silvergate as Analysts Downgrade Stock Price from Blockworks

• Australia’s Central Bank Taps Mastercard and Others to Test CBDC Use Cases from CoinDesk

• Silvergate Stock Plunges as Bank Says It May Face DOJ, Congressional and Bank Regulator Inquiries from CoinDesk

• Crypto Bank Charter Firm Protego Trust Lays Off Most of Its Workforce: Source from CoinDesk

• Australian central bank to launch ‘live pilot’ of CBDC in coming months from Cointelegraph

• Kraken Pulling Back From Using Signature Bank: Bloomberg from CoinDesk

• Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom from Cointelegraph

• Solana Will Improve Network Upgrades to Improve Stability from CoinDesk

• Decentralized Betting Protocol Thales’ Staking Model Deploys to Arbitrum from CoinDesk

• Liquid Staking Derivatives Surpass Lending TVL from Blockworks

• Institutions in Asia Aren’t Interested in Liquid Staking: Hex Trust from CoinDesk