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⌐◪-◪ → The war on privacy continues. The U.S. Government just denied motions to dismiss the case against Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm.

The upcoming criminal trial will take place in December, where Storm faces up to 45 years in prison for money laundering, sanctions violations, and more.

Many believe this case is a direct breach of the First Amendment (freedom of speech) but the courts argue that:

1. Storm is not being prosecuted for simply writing code

2. The functional capability of code is not protected under the 1A

This trial could go down as one of the biggest in U.S. history with implications far beyond crypto. It could set a dangerous precedent that holds software developers liable for any illegal use of their code, even if 100% out of their control. Not good.

Meanwhile, Storm’s co-founder Roman Semenov remains at large.

A new challenger approaches! According to Bloomberg, Robinhood and Revolut are considering their own stablecoins.

When asked about the rumor, a Robinhood spokesperson said there are “no imminent plans” — which I interpret as, “yes, but not soon”.

This could very well be the beginning of The Great Stablecoin Race where leading FinTech players like PayPal, Visa, and possibly Robinhood duke it out with emerging crypto companies like Tether, Circle, and Ethena.

If you’re wondering why the sudden obsession with stablecoins well, remember, Tether booked $6.2B profits in 2023 — nearly $1B more than BlackRock. Insane.

While the top 2 stablecoins Tether and Circle have more or less solidified their positions, the #3 spot is totally up for grabs. Will be interesting to check in on this in 1 year.

⌐◪-◪ → Avalanche wants you (developers). They just launched Retro9000 a $40M retroactive grant program for developers launching layer 1 networks or technical tooling on Avalanche9000 testnet.

Avalanche9000 aims to make launching your own L1 more affordable, customizable, and easier to maintain. The company says it’s the largest upgrade they’ve undergone since launching mainnet.

This plan comes as competing ecosystems like Optimism, Polygon, and ZKsync push for layer 2 interoperability.

For context, Avalanche’s primary chain is the 12th largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of $12.2B — just above the SHIB and below TRON.

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