Introduction
In this recap of the crypto world, we will explore the events and news that had the most significant impact in the past week of February 13. Our focus will be on the following developments:
- Paxos to stop minting BUSD; Wells notice Issued by SEC.
- Blur Marketplace Releases Long-Awaited Airdrop
- Abu Dhabi promises $2 Billion to Support Web3 Development
- Polygon is set to launch the beta version of zkEVM.
The SEC targets Paxos’ BUSD Stablecoin.
The Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) is planning to sue the Paxos Trust Company for selling BUSD as an unregistered security. They have been ordered to stop issuing their Binance-branded stablecoin. BUSD and the SEC provided them with a wells notice to inform them that infractions had been discovered and that enforcement proceedings had been initiated against them.
As a result of the notice, Paxos will end its relationship with Binance regarding the stablecoin and will stop minting more coins as of February 21 to comply. Paxos assured holders that the remaining tokens would remain fully backed until February 2024. Customers can exchange their funds for US dollars or their other stablecoin, USDP. They have also made it apparent that they disagree with the SEC’s accusations and will engage in aggressive litigation if necessary.
Binance will need to consider an alternative token as they transition since BUSD was the central trading pair for most of the tokens listed on the exchange. They will begin exploring non-U.S. dollar-based coins in the interim.
Blur Enjoys Attention from ICO and 3rd Airdrop.
Blur is an interoperable NFT aggregator that separates itself from its competition by offering its own NFT platform and marketplace. Blur’s ability to work with metadata faster has enabled users of the ecosystem to view, buy, and sell NFTs from varying blockchain protocols faster than anywhere else in Web3. This has garnered the attention of marketplace behemoth, Opensea who has demanded royalty fees as a result. Regardless, experienced NFT holders have enjoyed using Blur due to the transaction speeds, streamlined trading, and lower transaction fees.
Despite Blur rewarding early adopters since October of 2022, they officially launched the initial coin offering (ICO) on February 14, 2023. In typical ICO fashion, the coin opened at a value of USD 5.00 and quickly dropped to $1.00 within 24 hours. With that said, compared to competitors LooksRare or GEM, Blur is ranked significantly higher on crypto data aggregator websites like coinmarketcap and coingecko. Blur has performed surprisingly well this week and will likely continue to do so.
Abu Dhabi announces plans to support Web3 startups.
Abu Dhabi’s technology ecosystem, Hub71, announced the launch of “Hub71+ Digital Assets” to help Web3 startups by providing access to investors, VCs, and fund managers looking to invest in Web3. Not only are they allowing startups to take advantage of Abu Dhabi’s progressive regulatory environment that offers world-class blockchain and virtual asset infrastructure, but they are also prepared to back new projects with $2 billion to help accelerate Web3-based innovation and blockchain technology.
According to Hub71.com, they will connect you with key players in Web3 at both the regional and global levels. They offer a favorable regulatory environment for operations via ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market). Dhaher bin Dhaher Al Mheiri, ADGM CEO, supported the Web3 space by stating that Web3 technology can change the world.
Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Hub71, Ahmad Ali Alwan, agreed by stating, “decentralization is the future of the blockchain-based internet, and Web3 startups will have an important role in driving this transition.”. He also said that it would not leave behind foreign startups looking to relocate to Abu Dhabi with a $1 billion project valuation; they will also be included in the Hub71+ Digital Assets initiative.
Polygon Labs Announces Beta Version of Ethereum Virtual Machine
The Polygon Team announced they would launch the beta version of their zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) on March 27, 2023. This timely launch gives them a potential first-mover advantage and has provided Polygon with a relatively bullish narrative.
Zk-based roll-up technology is a scaling solution for blockchains that bundles multiple transactions into one transaction, reducing gas fees and congestion on the network. It achieves privacy by using zero-knowledge proofs to validate the correctness of the transactions without revealing their contents. This allows users to maintain the confidentiality of their data while still benefiting from the security and transparency of the blockchain. This working zk-based roll-up solution will likely attract new projects to Polygon’s ecosystem.
According to details shared by Polygon in their blog release, approximately 84,000 zkEVM wallets have generated more than 75,000 zero-knowledge proofs, and more than 5,000 intelligent contracts have been deployed. The Polygon Labs team also noted that zkEVM has undergone two public audits and passed 100% of Ethereum test vectors that apply to a zkEVM.
The community will get more details concerning the highly anticipated beta launch as the date approaches, and users and developers will also have complete transparency regarding security measures. Overall, things are looking great for Polygon.
