Blockworks

It is frankly really hard to be the Ethereum Foundation. It is not the job of a neutral ecosystem steward to be making complex risk management decisions. Maybe the optimal strategy for the Ethereum Foundation is to do the low-profile thing and announce less of its treasury management. Read more from the Lightspeed newsletter: https://lnkd.in/eYGG6vf2

Farcaster is not trying to replace Crypto Twitter — but its Ecosystem Lead Linda Xie is laser-focused on the crypto-native audience. The crypto social app has a built-in wallet, financial rewards up for building a mini app, and a leaderboard for top posters that mimics degen trading platforms. Xie noted that builders don’t have to pay Farcaster or get its permission to build and distribute a mini app there: “As a builder, it’s crucial to be gaining distribution off the bat,” Read more from The Drop newsletter: https://lnkd.in/eu7tuxt6

Institutional crypto staking firm Figment has acquired Rated Labs, a staking and validator analytics platform. The deal is the first acquisition for Figment, which runs a staking platform aimed at institutional customers. Figment was a “very big” Rated customer prior to the acquisition, Figment co-founder and chief product officer Andrew Cronk said. Read more: https://lnkd.in/efvqXp9a

Citi has raised its base-case projection for stablecoin issuance to $1.9 trillion by 2030. On Day 3 of DAS London, Sophia Bantanidis, a research analyst on Citi’s Future of Finance team, called the stablecoin boom “blockchain’s ChatGPT moment for institutional adoption.” Stablecoin issuers could become a top Treasury holder — potentially more than any single jurisdiction today, the report says. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eD4jth2m

DAS London is two-thirds done. Stablecoins and tokenization remained a big theme of Day 2. One takeaway: Blockchain tech is ready for massively more adoption so long as the industry commits to a certain guiding principle. Read more from the Forward Guidance newsletter: https://lnkd.in/eUMD2UEJ

Mastercard Crypto SVP Christian Rau shared his vision for stablecoin payments at DAS London. But will TradFi make the future of crypto better or create more problems than it solves? Read more from The Drop newsletter: https://lnkd.in/eUgJ5YPi

Risk assets across crypto and equities posted a strong recovery on Monday following Friday’s massive selloff. But Tuesday’s trading begins with some of this recovery being given back. Despite the carnage, names that have no major CEX listings show relative strength. Read more from the 0xResearch newsletter: https://lnkd.in/eBTAVQvp

Execs at Digital Asset Summit have touched on what you might expect: TradFi/DeFi intersection, stablecoins, DATs, etc. Let’s unpack some takeaways from DAS Day 1. Read more from the Forward Guidance newsletter: https://lnkd.in/eJgpTx8Y

DEXs might be decentralized, but crypto’s app layer is painfully not. Uniswap Labs’ front-end is still blocking Ukraine-based IP addresses, according to multiple user reports. The block appears to have been ongoing for over eight months. Read more from The Drop newsletter: https://lnkd.in/ekudA47p

Could “Gaming Capital Markets” spur interest in crypto gaming? Justin Waldron is behind the upcoming launch of the Open Game Protocol, a chain-agnostic app layer that aims to reward players of any game in any token. “The most important thing for developers is that they get more players, and that at the end of the day, they can make a living making games,” Waldron said in an interview. Read more from The Drop newsletter: https://lnkd.in/e-J2iKrZ