Vitalik's Unexpected Dive into Tornado Cash

Author

Valko
September 07, 2023

Today’s Top Stories ⌐◪-◪

  • 🌪️ Vitalik Buterin co-authors paper on a compliant Tornado Cash

  • 📤 ARK Invest and 21Shares file for the very first spot Ether ETF

  • ⚡️ Texas pays Riot Platforms $31.7M to shut off BTC mining in August

Vitalik Buterin co-authors paper on Tornado Cash alternative

Vitalik co-authored a research paper on “Privacy Pools” with core dev Ameen Soleimani, researcher Jacob Illum from analytics firm Chainalysis, and academics Matthias Nadler and Fabian Schar.

⌐◪-◪ → Another great use case made possible by zero-knowledge proofs. The proposed privacy pools are neat because they obfuscate sender/receiver while validating funds originate from a lawful source. A balance between privacy and regulation.

Cathie Wood's ARK Invest Files for First Spot Ether ETF

The filing follows a slew of applications for a much-coveted spot Bitcoin ETF, including a joint attempt from Ark and 21Shares. The SEC last week delayed decision on all of those applications.

⌐◪-◪ → Spot ETF filings for Ethereum, the 2nd largest crypto (by market cap) are no surprise. They surely put pressure on the pending spot Bitcoin ETF filings. Fun fact: In 2018, Gary Gensler said Bitcoin and Ether are not securities.

Texas Paid Riot Platforms $31.7M to Slash Bitcoin Mining in August Heatwave - Decrypt

The mining company reduced its energy demand by 95% during the August heatwave, receiving credits for the energy it would have consumed.

⌐◪-◪ → Texas continues to show they’re a miner-friendly state. This regulatory attitude + low energy costs will undoubtably make Texas a global leader in crypto mining. In fact, the world could learn a thing or two from Texas’ self-sufficient and deregulated ERCOT network.

Peripheral Vision ⌐◪-◪

⛓️ Crypto & DeFi

  • Louis Vuitton backed Aura Blockchain Consortium names new CEO

  • Apple CEO Tim Cook owns Bitcoin and Ethereum

  • Google says it will allow NFT game studios to advertise on its platform

  • Visa Head of Crypto says they will rely on multiple blockchains

  • Ethereum Whale loses $24M in crypto phishing attack

  • Tokenized Asset Coalition formed by Coinbase, Circle, Aave, & more

  • Solana hosting a hackathon with up to $1M in prizes and grant funding

  • Whitehat hacker claims bug fix led to the $200M Eurler Finance attack

  • Kraken gradually rolling out Paypal deposits in UK and Europe

🏦 Wall Street

🏛️ Legal & Regulatory

  • Genesis Global Capital sues DCG over $600M in BTC loans

  • New York court freezes Celsius co-founder Alex Mashinsky’s assets

  • OpenSea ex-Head of Product to surrender for 3 months in prison

🌎 Rest of the World

  • Argentina’s pro-BTC candidate getting interviewed by Tucker Carlson

  • Thailand PM to airdrop $280 to citizens using undisclosed blockchain

  • Two Binance execs overseeing Russia and Eastern Europe jump ship

  • Taiwan plans to ban offshore crypto exchanges if not compliant

  • Hong Kong expands trial of digital yuan (CBDC) to more banks

  • Korean Asset Manager Mirae teams up with Polygon

🖼️ NFT

  • Beeple discusses the future of art at The Gateway conference in Korea

  • Nouns DAO in final stage of testing Prop House protocol

  • Aspen NFT launches tools to help creators reclaim unpaid royalties

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