10/17/23: Uniswap Collecting A New Toll 🦄🚫👾

Author

Valko
October 17, 2023

Top News

  • 🦄 Uniswap adds 0.15% front-end fee for certain token swaps

  • 🚫 Binance halts USD withdrawals, people worried of insolvency

  • 👾 Roblox integrates XRP payments, metaverse here we come!

Uniswap to charge 0.15% to swap certain tokens on web interface and wallet

Uniswap will implement a 0.15% new swap fee for ETH, USDC, WETH, USDT, DAI, WBTC, agEUR, GUSD, LUSD, EUROC and XSGD.

⌐◪-◪ → Uniswap is seeing backlash over their new front-end fee, but I think it’s a good thing and here’s why. To deliver recurring value, you need recurring revenue. Uniswap has been a great steward for crypto, and adding a small fee is the simplest solution to their long-term sustainability problem.

Binance.US Halts Direct Dollar Withdrawals

U.S. dollar deposits in user wallets are no longer eligible for FDIC insurance protection, according to the updated terms of use.

⌐◪-◪ → This is definitely not a great sign. Some speculate that Binance doesn’t have enough USD on-hand, which is realistically the best explanation here. If true, we could be looking at another “black swan” event for crypto. Binance also announced that they’re hitting pause on new UK customers today. Something’s fishy.

Roblox incorporates XRP for in-game purchases; NFTs coming next?

Roblox, one of the most popular games of our time with over 200 million monthly active users, has expanded its payment options by integrating Ripple's XRP.

⌐◪-◪ → Headlines stating that Roblox is accepting XRP may be a bit misleading. According to Adam Cochran, Roblox integrated BitPay, and BitPay supports XRP. Despite BitPays strict KYC requirements, this is still a big deal as Roblox has over 200M monthly active users - users who define the next generation of finance. The real question is, will Roblox roll out NFT’s next?

Peripheral Vision

⛓️ Crypto & DeFi

  • Cryptotelegraph reports fake news that SEC approved BTC ETF

  • Edward Snowden says BTC is “enormously powerful and useful as is”

  • Microsoft veteran joins Matter Labs to work on zkSync applications

  • Lido Finance holders vote to leave Solana blockchain, low projections

  • Manta Pacific to migrate from Optimism to Polygon as zkEVM Layer 2

  • Mash introduces publisher monetization powered by BTC Lightning

  • BTC Lightning Network transactions increased by 1,212% last 2 years

  • BTC market cap dominance hits new high for 2023

  • Vitalik transfers $15M USDC to Gemini exchange, what’s he buying?

🏦 Wallstreet & VC

  • BlackRock CEO, $10T AuM, describes BTC as a “flight to quality”

  • Fidelity Digital Assets becomes 1st enterprise client of EY’s blockchain

  • Squads, a Solana-based multi-sig protocol, raises $5.7M

  • Judge orders Genesis to respond in five days to Terraform subpoena

🏛️ Legal & Regulatory

  • Catherine Wood says Gensler is blocking the BTC ETFs, not the SEC

  • FTX’s former Engineering Director admits to illegal political donations

  • FTX creditors could see up to 90% of funds returned in June 2024

  • SBF tried to fool CFTC by moving his personal funds to Alameda

  • FTX’s Ex-Head of Engineering admitted guilt to several crimes

🌎 Rest of the World

  • El Salvador allocates $13M to new agency to manage country’s BTC

  • Israel freezes over 100 accounts on Binance to block Hamas funding

  • Zodia Custody expands digital asset services to Australia

  • EU’s crypto market rules won’t protect investors until end of 2024

  • UK citizens will no longer be able to sign up to Binance by end of day

🖼️ NFTs & Metaverse

Spectacular Shoutout

A man who needs no intro, the notorious PuffYachty, is a fan of Specs!

Honored to have such an influential digital artist/NFT collector as a reader. Thanks for the shoutout Puff 🍄!

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