November 17, 2021       /       Unchained Daily       /       Laura Shin

Daily Bits ✍️✍️✍️

  • Bitcoin fell below $60,000 on Tuesday.

  • StarkWare, an Ethereum layer 2 developer, raised $50 million at a valuation of $2 billion.

  • Valkyrie is set to launch a $100 million on-chain DeFi fund.

  • Timbaland, a Grammy-winning artist, launched a production company based on Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs.

  • Twitter’s CFO said that investing in cryptocurrency “doesn’t make sense right now” for the social media company.

  • Director Quinten Tarantino is being sued over an upcoming Pulp Fiction NFT drop.

  • VanEck’s bitcoin futures ETF ended its first trading daywith $9.6 million in AUM.

  • The DOJ will sell $56 million worth of crypto from the BitConnect fraud.

  • pSTAKE, a liquid staking protocol on Cosmos, raised $10 million in funding.

  • The Chinese Communist Party expelled an official for allowing crypto mining to occur.

  • Binance published a bill of rights for crypto users outlining ten rights that protect all crypto users.

  • The rehabilitation plan for Mt. Gox appears to be finalized.

  • Peru’s central bank is planning to issue a CBDC.

  • Facebook’s Libra/Diem was forked by 0L. (Disclosure: I write a Facebook Bulletin newsletter.)

  • ConstitutionDAO has raised over $5 million to purchase the US Constitution.

What Do You Meme?

What’s Poppin’?

Three Senators, Two Ways to Fix the Infrastructure Bill

Three senators are taking action against crypto provisions found with the recently signed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Yesterday, Texas Senator Ted Cruz introduced a bill to repeal the provisions of the infrastructure bill imposing new reporting requirements for digital asset transfers. Cruz’s bill would see the provision expanding the definition of a crypto “broker” struck from the record, “as if such section had never been enacted.”

In a press release, Cruz professed belief that the crypto industry is “now in danger of being stifled and driven overseas by an overreaching provision in this newly-signed, reckless spending package.” Cruz added that the bill’s current language is “harmful” and could lead to “regulatory uncertainty.”

On Monday, Senators Ron Wyden and Cynthia Lummis announced a similar bill clarifying the definition of a digital asset broker found within the infrastructure package. Under the current language, the definition of a broker could encompass entities involved in digital asset mining or staking, providing digital asset hardware or software wallets, or developing digital asset protocol. If classified as a broker, such entities would be subject to certain Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reporting requirements.

The senators’ bill would limit the “broker” definition to exclude miners and stakers, as well as wallet providers and developers.

Recommended Reads

  • Daniel Pyrathon, tech lead at 0x Project, on Solana development:

  • Vitalik on retroactive funding:

  • Multicoin’s Kyle Samani on virtual real estate:

On The Pod…

PayPal Would Need These Two Things In Order to Issue a Stablecoin

Jose Fernandez da Ponte, PayPal’s senior vice president and general manager of blockchain, crypto, and digital currencies, discusses PayPal’s crypto game plan, how CBDCs might be implemented, crypto regulations, and more. Show highlights:

  • Jose’s path to becoming the GM of blockchain, crypto, and digital currencies at PayPal
  • what factors led to PayPal’s decision to launch its crypto offering
  • what sort of customer makes up PayPal’s crypto demographic
  • how users are engaging with the various PayPal crypto services, like crypto-rewards cards
  • whether the introduction of crypto had anything to do with Venmo’s 36% jump in volume during Q3 2021
  • how PayPal interacts with Paxos on the backend to settle crypto transactions
  • why Jose thinks PayPal has decided to not add cryptocurrency to its balance sheet
  • how crypto transactions work within PayPal’s internal ledger and how that might change once PayPal launches support for withdrawals off-platform
  • the three types of directions that Jose believes stablecoins and CBDCs could be built
  • what solutions would need to be built before PayPal would consider issuing its own stablecoin
  • what scaling technologies, be it L1 or L2, PayPal is interested in
  • whether stablecoins and CBDCs can/will co-exist
  • Jose’s thoughts on how long it will be before CBDCs are being issued
  • why Jose thinks that new regulation might be necessary for cryptocurrencies
  • whether PayPal will be participating in decentralized activities, such as on-chain governance
  • why Jose thinks that PayPal’s crypto offering could help improve financial inclusion — especially for smaller companies
  • why Jose and PayPal are excited about NFTs
  • how PayPal will decide to support new cryptocurrencies on its platform
  • what Jose thinks PayPal’s crypto offering could look like in the future

Book Update

My book, The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze, is now available for pre-order now.

The book, which is all about Ethereum and the 2017 ICO mania, comes out Feb. 22. Pre-order it today!

You can purchase it here: http://bit.ly/cryptopians