April 1, 2022       /       Unchained Daily       /       Laura Shin

Daily Bits ✍️✍️✍️

  • Netflix’s documentary about QuadrigaCX is out.

  • The Azuki NFT project airdropped a new set of NFTs yesterday.

  • Ola Finance suffered a $3.6 million hack.

  • WeChat has suspended accounts associated with NFTs.

  • 1inch launched a wallet app on Android.

  • 35 Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, among others, were stolenthis week in phishing attacks.

  • The BitGo/Galaxy Digital acquisition has been renegotiated.

Today in Crypto Adoption…

  • BNY Mellon, one of the oldest banks in the US, has agreedto be the primary custodian for USDC’s reserve assets.

  • Binance is sponsoring the Grammys this year.

  • Good Luck Games is facing backlash from players after its acquisition by FTX.

The $$$ Corner…

  • Blockchain.com raised a Series D at a valuation of $14 billion.

  • Blockchain security firm CertiK just raised $88 million.

  • Citibank believes the metaverse will be a $10 trillion asset class by 2030.

What Do You Meme?

What’s Poppin’?

The EU’s Crypto Policy Is Not Fun for Anons

 

Two committees inside European Parliament narrowly voted in favor of a controversial proposal dubbed the Transfer of Fund Regulation (TFR) that would greatly restrict anonymous crypto transactions, according to results shared by Unstoppable Finance’s Patrick Hansen on Twitter.

In a Twitter thread, Unstoppable Finance explained that the approved language could lead to a “crack down” on individual privacy and wallets. In essence, TFR extends anti-money laundering requirements from the traditional world to crypto.

For example, “Coinbase would be required to collect, store & verify the personal information of the owner of the receiver wallet who is not even their customer,” wrote Unstoppable Finance. This, of course, is nearly impossible due to the nature of blockchain technology, where many individuals are anonymous. Therefore, Unstoppable Finance believes that “companies like Coinbase would only allow transfers to unhosted wallets linked to their own customers and verified through a private key signing” in the future.”

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong confirmed Unstoppable Finance’s words via a Twitter thread. “Any time you receive 1,000 euros or more in crypto from a self-hosted wallet, Coinbase will be required to report you to the authorities. This applies even if there is no indication of suspicious activity,” wrote Armstrong. “It’s bad policy,” he added.

Furthermore, as expressed by hardware wallet company Ledger, “If adopted, the TFR would impose a vast financial surveillance regime on Europe, stifle innovation and undermine the self-hosted wallets that individuals use to securely protect their digital assets.” The wallet provider also noted that TFR would be an infringement on privacy rights. “It seems that the TFR does not plan to uphold these ‘fundamental’ rights for cryptocurrency transactions seemingly because 0.05% of them may involve money laundering.”

The final draft of the legislation will be published today. From here, TFR will go into trilogue negotiations, where members of Parliament, the Council, and the Commission can challenge and change the proposal as soon as mid-April, according to The Block.

Recommended Reads

  1. MetaMask’s Taylor Monahan on the beginner’s guide to crypto:

  1. Arjun Bhuptani (today’s podcast guest) on Optimistic Bridges:

  1. Crypto lawyer Aaron Daniel on the Constitution and BTC as legal tender:

On The Pod…

Bridge Hacks Have Caused ~$1 Billion in Losses. Here’s Why Bridge Security Is Tricky

Arjun Bhuptani, founder of Connext and bridging expert, breaks down the Ronin bridge exploit that led to a hacker stealing $600 million+ and discusses different bridge designs that could limit future attacks. Show highlights:

  • how a hacker was able to drain more than $600 million from Ronin bridge

  • the difference between DeFi hacks and the Ronin bridge exploit, which was a social-engineering based attack

  • why multisig bridges are susceptible to social engineering attacks

  • why Arjun believes the Ronin hacker is a sophisticated entity

  • whether Sky Mavis will be able to reimburse users

  • the different attack vectors for cross-chain bridges

  • what Arjun thinks about different bridge designs

Book Update

My book, The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze, which is all about Ethereum and the 2017 ICO mania, is now available!

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