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  • 5/20/24: A Letter From Vitalik ✉️🔻🇬🇧

5/20/24: A Letter From Vitalik ✉️🔻🇬🇧

Top News

  1. Vitalik addresses threats to Ethereum in new blog post

  2. Number of new BTC wallets drops to lowest level since 2018

  3. Pump.Fun exploiter arrested and released on bail in London

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Specs’ Breakdown

1. Vitalik addresses threats to Ethereum in new blog post

⌐◪-◪ → Our favorite wonder kid, Vitalik Buterin, just dropped a new blog post outlining the key risks to Ethereum’s decentralization.

Those three risks, which he says are widely shared are:

  • MEV: allowing some network participants to gain an advantage over others

  • Liquid Staking: can lead to concentration of power in a small number of participants

  • Hardware Reqs: running a full node is too expensive for ordinary users

While I agree with his points and don’t question his integrity here — the article interestingly comes after the ETH/BTC pair hit its lowest levels since April 2021, which makes it look like Vitalik is trying to pump/save his bags.

2. New BTC wallets drops to lowest level since 2018

⌐◪-◪ → The 7-day moving average of new Bitcoin addresses just hit its lowest levels since 2018 after establishing a new all-time high just six months ago.

Only 275,000 new addresses were added to the network in the past week versus 625,000 six months ago.

Other related metrics were down as well including miner revenue/hashrate, transaction fees, and general on-chain volumes.

Meanwhile, Solana is responsible for 55% of all new NFT users over the last week — more than all other chains combined.

3. Pump.Fun exploiter arrested and released on bail in London

⌐◪-◪ → A Twitter user claiming responsibility for the $1.9M Pump.Fun exploit was just arrested and released on bail in London.

The former Pump.Fun employee, known as Jarrett Dunn, was subsequently admitted to a hospital over mental health concerns.

Dunn has been very accusatory of his former employer, saying that Pump.Fun is “guilty of far more heinous shit.” — he almost has a sort of hero complex.

Putting his crime and mental health aside, Pump.Fun is probably breaking some laws — it could be argued they are running an unregistered securities exchange or gambling site without a license.

Regardless — this dude seems very unhinged.

Everything Else

⛓️ Crypto & DeFi

  • LayerZero pauses sybil 'bounty-hunter' process after influx of reports

  • Rusty Russell wants to revamp Bitcoin’s script language

  • ZkSync teases v24 upgrade, fueling airdrop rumors

  • Bitfinity EVM launches as Bitcoin L2 using ICP’s tech stack

  • Telegram CEO Pavel Durov endorses Notcoin following launch

  • Synthetix's sUSD stablecoin slips below dollar peg to $0.96

  • Cobie publishes an article on low float, high FDV coins

  • ETH Foundation researcher disclosers advisor role at EigenFoundation

  • Crypto-sleuth identifies 12 L2/L3s controlled by single multisig

  • Aevo to airdrop pre-launch tokens on platform

  • Gnosis DAO evaluates $30M token buyback proposal

🏦 Wallstreet & VC

🏛️ Legal & Regulatory

  • Feds charge 2 Chinese nationals in $73M 'Pig Butchering' scam

  • Genesis to return 77% of customer assets worth $3B

  • TJ Stone pleads guilty to wire fraud after FBI investigation

  • 60 crypto firms pitch support for crypto markets bill FIT21

  • Dolce & Gabbana sued for messing up delivery of its NFTs

🌎 Rest of the World

  • UK Judge rules Julian Assange can continue fighting US extradition

  • UK Judge rules Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto

  • Kraken 'actively reviewing' whether to end Tether support in the EU

  • Binance exec Tigran Gambaryan denied bail by Nigerian Court

  • Turkey brings crypto bill to parliament to solidify crypto licenses

  • Hong Kong expands cross-border digital Yuan trial

  • 🖼️ NFTs & Metaverse

  • Japanese manga series CaptainTsubasa launches on Oasys

  • $OLE wins Blast Jackpot 11 worth $1.4M

  • BAYC trader down $4.3M after failing to time the dip

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