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The latest degen “gold rush” to inscribe everything from profile pictures to memecoins has led to at least half a dozen blockchain networks cracking under pressure over the past week.
The last few days have seen Arbirtrum, Avalanche, Cronos, zkSync, and TON all suffering partial or full outages recently due to inscriptions, with modular data availability network Celestia the latest to succumb, according to industry researchers who posted a screenshot of its block explorer on Dec. 18.
Videos have also been posted of mass minting on the Celestia network.
Screenshot from Celestia block explorer. Source: X/@Dogetoshi
“The team is actively investigating, but we can confirm that a sustained…
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One of the largest producers of censorship-resistant blocks on Ethereum has made a complete u-turn, announcing it will start censoring OFAC-sanctioned blocks across all of its MEV relays in compliance with local laws.
The firm, bloXroute Labs — which has produced at least 400,000 Ethereum blocks from its two leading Maximal Extraction Value (MEV) relays — made the announcement of its policy change on Dec. 18 in a post on X (formerly Twitter), noting:
“Effective immediately, all bloXroute relays will reject block bids if they contain OFAC transactions.”
An “OFAC transaction,” as described by bloXroute Labs, is any that interacts with a wallet that has been sanctioned by the United…
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The United States Securities and Exchange Commission is pushing back its decision on several Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to May 2024.
In several Dec. 18 regulatory filings, the agency delayed its decision on the Hashdex Nasdaq Ethereum ETF and the Grayscale Ethereum Futures ETF.
The Hashdex Ether ETF aims to hold both spot Ether and futures contracts, while Grayscale’s Ethereum Futures ETF is seen as a “trojan horse” that would corner the SEC into allowing Grayscale to convert its Ethereum Trust to a spot Ethereum ETF.
In the filings, the agency said it was instituting proceedings that involve gathering further public input around whether or not the ETFs should be…
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Unstoppable Domains — a prominent provider of Web3 domains — recently expanded its offerings by incorporating traditional “.com” addresses.
This move marks the first instance of merging conventional Web2 domains with the evolving Web3 domain space. This integration aims to seamlessly connect the existing web infrastructure with the new, allowing users to engage with both types of domains on a single platform.
Integrating .com domains with blockchain technology goes beyond a technical achievement; it’s an effort to enhance user adoption and streamline the overall user experience.
The well-established familiarity of .com domains, deeply rooted in internet history, serves as a…
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The US Securities and Exchange Commission — expected to rule on planned spot bitcoin ETFs next month — is pushing its decisions on similar funds focused on ether.
The regulator said it needed more time to rule on an ether ETF proposed by Brazil-based fund group Hashdex in a filing Monday — adding it “encourages” public comments on the proposal.
If approved, the Hashdex Nasdaq Ethereum ETF would hold ether futures contracts, as well as ether directly. The SEC had last postponed its ruling on the product last month.
Nasdaq — the exchanges on which the new fund would trade — makes similar arguments in the Hashdex ether proposal as those made in spot bitcoin ETF…
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A United States court has entered an order against crypto exchange Binance and its former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, which will see Binance pay $2.7 billion and CZ pay $150 million to the Commodities Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC).
In a Dec. 18 statement, the CFTC announced that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois had approved the previously announced settlement and concluded the enforcement action first issued by the CFTC in November.
“In formalizing the settlement initially announced on November 21 the court finds Zhao and Binance violated the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations, imposes a $150 million civil monetary penalty personally…
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Starting Jan. 8, 2024, the Financial Services and Markets Act of 2023 will apply to companies participating in and applying to the Digital Security Sandbox, according to documents released Monday.
UK-based investment exchanges, recognized central counterparties and central securities depositories and investment firms are permitted to apply to participate in the sandbox, the regulations state.
The program is designed for applicants looking to operate trading venues and intermediaries providing services to digital asset companies.
Read more: Even the Bank of England is part of a shift to blockchain use cases
Digital assets and distributed ledger technology (DLT) could be used by…
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Coinbase is continuing its efforts to ensure adequate legislation on cryptocurrency used as securities. After the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) denied Coinbase’s petition for rulemaking on cryptocurrency on Dec. 15, the crypto exchange appealed the decision on the same day.
Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal promised immediate action as soon as the SEC’s denial became known. On Dec. 18, the U.S. Third District Court of Appeals ordered the SEC to file the record of its decision by Jan. 24, 2024.
In its appeal, Coinbase documented the lengthy process that was necessary to compel the SEC to respond to its petition. It called the SEC’s denial of its…
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The United Kingdom Financial Services and Markets Act’s provisions on a digital securities sandbox are scheduled to come into force in January 2024 after being presented to Parliament.
In a Dec. 18 publication, the U.K. government announced the Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS) regulations of the 2023 Financial Services and Markets Act, which were laid before Parliament, paving the way for crypto firms to test products and services in the country. According to the government, the regulations will take effect on Jan. 8, with the Bank of England and the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority operating the sandbox.
“The DSS will allow firms and the regulators to test the use of new technology…
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