4/2/24: Vitalik Repeats Himself 🧠📉💡

Author

Valko
April 02, 2024

Top News

  1. Vitalik reposts his thoughts on L3s from 1.5 years ago

  2. Spot Bitcoin ETFs return to daily outflows amid price drop

  3. Coinbase CFO believes ETH is unlikely to be classified as a security

Specs’ Breakdown

1. Vitalik reposts his thoughts on L3s from 1.5 years ago

⌐◪-◪ → Vitalik just re-shared his September 2022 blog post on Ethereum L3s.

In short, Vitalik dismisses the idea that L3s magically boost transaction throughput, adding that while they have the potential to reduce certain costs, there are probably alternative cost-saving methods.

This echos Polygon Lab CEO, Marc Boiron, who recently voiced skepticism on L3 solutions, stating “You do not need L3s to scale”.

Basically, L2s focus on general scaling whereas L3s offer tailored functionality, such as privacy features + bespoke scaling.

2. Spot Bitcoin ETFs return to daily outflows amid price drop

Spot Bitcoin ETFs return to net daily outflows; Grayscale’s GBTC total outflows eclipse $15 billion

Ark Invest 21Shares’ ARKB spot Bitcoin ETF also witnessed its first-ever daily outflows, with $300,000 leaving the fund.

⌐◪-◪ → Spot Bitcoin ETFs have returned to daily net outflows, as Bitcoin’s price drops to $65k.

This is a quick reversal from last week, where the spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $860M in combined inflows.

This might appear bearish in isolation, but if you zoom out, the Bitcoin ETFs purchased 2.3x more Bitcoin in March than was produced by miners. Demand > Supply.

The real question is, will April see similar net inflows?

Zooming out even more, the Bitcoin ETFs now hold over 4% of Bitcoin’s total supply. This is bullish from a macro-demand standpoint, but potentially bearish from a web3/decentralization standpoint. Not your keys, not your coins.

3. Coinbase CFO believes ETH is unlikely to be classified as a security

⌐◪-◪ → Coinbase CEO Alesia Haas just did an interview with Fortune where she said, “Ethereum is not a security” and that regulars are unlikely to label it as such.

More specifically, she pointed out that both the SEC and CTFC had said the same thing in the past and that the classification issue stems from a general lack of regulatory clarity around crypto in the US.

While that may be the case, some US companies have reportedly received subpoenas in which the SEC identifies ETH as a security after its shift from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake.

I agree with Coinbase’s CFO; however, I do entertain the possibility that the sale of Ethereum (not the asset itself) could be considered an investment contract and therefore an offering of securities. Read more on this from Adam Cochran.

Everything Else

⛓️ Crypto & DeFi

  • BTC miners hit $2B in monthly revenue, highest ever

  • Ethena Labs’ opens claims for its governance token ENA

  • Solana Telegram trading bot to shut down after $523k drained

  • MakerDAO proposes allocating $600M to USDe and sUSDe

  • dYdX to set up legal entity in the Cayman Islands

  • Binance names board of directors for the first time

  • Bitcoin Cash hits highest price since 2021 before its own halving

🏦 Wallstreet & VC

🏛️ Legal & Regulatory

  • Tron Foundation wants the SEC’s lawsuit dismissed

  • SBF says “I never thought that what I was doing was illegal”

🌎 Rest of the World

  • Drebit wins conditional VASP license in Dubai

  • Singapore widens crypto regulations with new user protection reqs

  • Crypto.com to launch platform in South Korea

  • Coinbase & Circle challenge Basel committees stablecoin reqs

  • South Korean exchange Upbit’s daily trading volume crashes 75%

🖼️ NFTs & Metaverse

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