November 5, 2021       /       Unchained Daily       /       Laura Shin

Daily Bits ✍️✍️✍️

  • SEC chair Gary Gensler hinted that enforcement actions may be coming for crypto companies who are decentralized in name only.

  • Eric Adams, the New York City mayor-elect, says he plans to take his first three paychecks in Bitcoin.

  • 784 Ethereum addresses will be blocked from the $ENS airdrop due to blatant airdrop farming.

  • Revolut is looking to hire a tech lead to build a cryptocurrency exchange.

  • Former Binance US CEO and former acting head of the OCC, Brian Brooks, has been hired as the new CEO of Bitfury, a Bitcoin mining company.

  • The label behind the K-pop sensation BTS is partnering with a crypto exchange to produce NFTs.

  • Canaan, a Bitcoin mining hardware provider, is suingHighSharp over alleged patent infringement regarding ASICs.

  • Crypto wallet users of both MetaMask and Phantom are targets in a $500,000 phishing scam.

  • Square reported $42 million in gross profit from bitcoin revenue during Q3 2021.

  • El Salvador will construct 20 “bitcoin schools” through its bitcoin fund.

  • Mythical Games raised a $150 million Series C valuing the company at $1.25 billion.

What Do You Meme?

What’s Poppin’?

Axie Infinity’s SLP Gains Traction Due to DEX Launch

Axie Infinity is building its own metaverse, it appears. Yesterday, Axie announced the launch of Katana, a decentralized exchange built on Ronin, the layer 2 Ethreum side-chain that Axie Infinity uses.

“With Ronin’s release, the Axie nation has entered a new age. Economic activity is booming, and we’ve welcomed new citizens at a rate that’s shocked the world,” wrote the team in a blog post.

Katana should allow Axie Infinity users to quickly, cheaply, and efficiently trade in-game assets without needing a third party — or the high gas fees associated with mainnet Ethereum. At launch, users will be able to trade Smooth Love Potion (SLP), Axie Infinity Shards (AXS), Wrapped Ethereum (WETH), and USD Coin (USDC).

In addition, Ronin is introducing an ecosystem token, dubbed RON, that will eventually be used to pay for gas fees and secure the network for Axie Infinity and other games/products on the chain.

With the L2 DEX and new ecosystem token announcement, both AXS and SLP, which are tokens used in Axie Infinity, have seen substantial bumps in price. According to Coin Gecko, SLP is up 50% over the past 24 hours, while AXS is up 5.4% over the same period, according to data from Coin Gecko.

Recommended Reads

  • Columbia Blockchain on blockchain gaming:

  • Rolling Stone on Bored Ape Yacht Club:

  • Acting head of the OCC Michael Hsu on regulating fintech and crypto companies:

On The Pod…

Legal Issues With NFTs: Would a Fractionalized Mona Lisa Be a Security?

At Non-Fungible Castle 2021, an NFT exhibition in Prague, four NFT experts discuss the legal implications of NFTs. Guests include Jonathan Victor, product/business development at Protocol Labs; Louis Baudoin, advisor at Monax; Diana Stern, product counsel at Stripe; and Shant Marootian COO at Fractional.art. Show highlights:

  • what users are receiving with the purchase of an NFT

  • how the terms of service for different NFT marketplaces change NFT rights

  • how on-chain storage and off-chain storage affects NFT ownership

  • what rights do creators need to mint an NFT

  • what recourse creators have if someone mints their art as an NFT and profits from it

  • whether NFT marketplaces should respect NFT royalty standards on resales

  • how NFT marketplaces could make it easier for creators to clarify licensing and royalty standards

  • whether NFTs should be regulated under existing laws and what gaps in regulation need to be filled

  • when an NFT should be considered a security

  • how different jurisdictions may work together to regulate NFTs

  • why money laundering is a problem for NFTs

  • how a DAO could go about owning an NFT or IP

  • what would happen to NFTs and DAOs if Ethereum were to suffer a hard fork again

  • why DAOs should stay compliant with traditional regulations

  • how to improve licensing and industry standards for NFTs

  • whether NFTs should be considered as financial objects

  • what would happen if a museum fractionalized the Mona Lisa

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