January 12, 2022       /       Unchained Daily       /       Laura Shin

Daily Bits ✍️✍️✍️

  • Paradigm (a crypto firm) and Sequoia are investing $1.15 billion into Citadel Securities.

  • Version 1 of the Ethereum Push Notifications Service (EPNS) went live yesterday.

  • The Fed’s report on digital currencies will be released in the coming weeks.

  • Elrond foundation acquired Utrust, a crypto payments firm.

  • Bottlepay, a NYDIG owned firm, is now registered by the FCA.

  • Ronin, the layer 2 solution powering Axie Infinity, is proving to be quite robust, according to data from Nansen.

  • Kim Kardashian and other celebrities are being sued for their promotion of Ethereum Max.

  • A BTC miner with a 1 in 1.36 million chance to mine a block won the 6.25 BTC block reward yesterday.

  • TaxBit launched a platform that helps connect DeFi users’ accounts across projects.

  • LooksRare, an NFT marketplace currently in the process of vampire attacking OpenSea, saw $110 million in trading volume on its first day live.

What Do You Meme?

What’s Poppin’?

Lightning Network Just Onboarded 40 Million People + Argentina

Based on several posts and threads on Twitter, it appears that Cash App has enabled Lightning Network payments. (Lightning Network is a layer 2 solution for Bitcoin that allows users to send payments without creating an on-chain transaction, which significantly reduces the cost and speed of transactions.)

While neither Cash App nor its parent company Block has officially confirmed the news, multiple Twitter users who have posted a similar-looking screenshot received a like from Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Block.

Cash App adopting Lightning Network is relatively huge news for Bitcoin adoption. According to data from The Block, Cash App is currently the 15th ranked app on the US Apple App store. Notably, in June 2021, the last time Square reported monthly active users for Cash App, the company said that over 40 million users transacted on its platform each month.

In addition to CashApp onboarding millions of users to Bitcoin’s largest layer 2 solution, Strike, the Jack Mallers-led Lightning Network payments firm, announced that the company is expanding reach to Argentina – a nation that could see upwards of 50% inflation this year, according to Strike’s statement. Wrote Mallers, “With Strike, the Argentinian people can now hold a stable cash balance that can be spent both instantly and with no fees. Cheap, instant, cash final, global payments of any size, for anyone, to anywhere. Even over Twitter. No inflation. No restrictions. Financial freedom.”

Cash App’s and Strike’s Lightning Network adoption moves come as BTC locked into the Lightning Network is at an all-time high of 3,338 – a number worth roughly $143 million in USD. Just one year ago, the total value locked into Lightning Network was just 1,000, marking a 3x increase in just twelve months.

Recommended Reads

  1. Wired on looking past crypto’s dark side:

  1. Arca’s Jeff Dorman on why this may not be a bear market:

  1. Blockchain Capital’s Yuan Han Li on data blockchain data availability:

On The Pod…

Can Crypto Be a Force in the Midterms? Yes, Say Kristin Smith and Jake Chervinsky

(Bonus content: read an article w/ the highlights of this show here)

Kristin Smith, executive director at Blockchain Association, and Jake Chervinsky, head of Policy at Blockchain Association, discuss the current state of crypto regulation. Show topics:

  • why 2021 was a watershed year for crypto regulation and lobbying

  • why Jake decided to move from Compound Labs to Blockchain Association

  • what Kristin and Jake think about the current state of regulation in the crypto industry

  • how crypto education will play a significant role in Blockchain Association efforts going forward

  • how crypto will affect midterm elections

  • why Kristin thinks crypto will not be a partisan issue long term

  • what sort of budget Blockchain Association functions on

  • what Kristin and Jake think about the President’s Working Group report on stablecoins

  • why Jake does not think the US should issue a CBDC

  • what Blockchain Association’s take is on SEC commissioner Hester Peirce’s “safe harbor” proposal

  • why Kristin and Jake believes the idea of a “crypto czar” is not feasible

  • how regulators are treating DeFi going into 2022

  • how crypto tax guidelines could be improved for centralized exchanges

  • how Blockchain Association thinks tax code 6050I should be applied

  • what issues could arise from DAOs in 2022+

  • what listeners can do to address the different regulatory topics discussed in this podcast

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