News Recap: Bitcoin at $1T Market Cap Again | Unchained

Transcript

thanks for tuning in to the Weekly News recap I'm Megan Christensen from Unchained Stax hits all-time high in total value locked bolstered by defi growth it's been an extremely positive week for bitcoin's Price action and the general crypto markets with the price of Bitcoin and ethereum surpassing 52,000 and 2800 respectively on Thursday notably Bitcoin regained the level of 1 trillion doll market capitalization also this week Stacks a layer 2 protocol enabling smart contract on bitcoin has achieved a new Milestone with an all-time high total value locked tvl of 85 million signifying a more than 400% increase in the past 4 months data from defi Lama reveals that the surge is

primarily driven by Alex an open- Source decentralized exchange protocol and stacks contributing over 80% to the tvl Alex's growth is notable with its tvl jumping nearly 58% since October 1st to $68 million the native tokens for Stax and Alex have also witnessed significant appreciation with STX increasing over 300% and Alex by about 520 in the same period the forthcoming Nakamoto hard Fork upgrade for saxs coinciding with the Bitcoin having event expected in April aims to improve transaction throughput and enhance finality guarantees further solidifying Stack's position in the Bitcoin landscape this week the blockchain association

representing the cryptocurrency industry voiced its opposition to Senator Elizabeth Warren's digital asset anti-money laundering act their open letter endorsed by 80 former military and National Security Professionals warns that the acts could inadvertently weaken US National Security and drive the crypto industry overseas this public stance reflects a broader trend of strategic communication and policy debates although Capitol Hill insiders suggest such efforts might have limited impact on actual policy changes in a contrasting scenario blockchain technology was Spotlight for its potential to protect data priv privacy at the state of the net 2024 conference Congressman Dan berer co-chair of the Congressional AI caucus proposed leveraging blockchain for data

privacy admiss public concerns about data collection and misuse buyer suggestion supported by representative Bill Foster's advocacy for National digital signature linked to blockchain signifies a growing interest in blockchain's non-financial applications New York attorney general Leticia James expanded a lawsuit against digital currency group dcg it's subsidiary Genesis and crypto exchange Gemini the lawsuit originally citing 1.1 billion in alleged fraud now asserts a staggering 3 billion figure this escalation follows additional investor claims of being misled and defrauded particularly by Genesis one Genesis creditor identified as BJ expressed relief at the lawsuits expansion acknowledging the New York

attorney general support for crypto creditors they told Unchained quote we're very happy about today's complaint because it finally recognizes officially that we were victims of fraud by Genesis and dcg directly end quote Attorney General James emphasized the need for stringent cryptocurrency regulations in light of these alleged fraudulent activities while dcg denounced the charges as baseless and vowed to contest them vigorously in contrast to these legal wos dcg showcased robust Financial Health in its recent shareholder letter the company recorded 200 million in Q4 revenue and its valuation soared to $4.4 billion in 2023 a significant jump from the previous year

bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has agreed to sell its custody unit digital custody Incorporated DCI to coin list for a mere $500,000 the sale pric starkly contrast with the 10 million FTX paid for DCI just months before its collapse in 2022 highlighting the dramatic downfall of Sam bankman Freed's Empire DCI was initially intended to provide custodial services for FTX us and Ledger X however following ftxs bankruptcy filing on November 11th 2022 these plans never materialized leaving DCI with limited operations the sale form is part of FTX is broader strategy to repay creditors as the company offloads its subsidiaries during the bankruptcy process the filing

noted the sales urgency citing the need to avoid additional operating expenses the sentencing of changen Pang CZ Zao the founder and former CEO of binance has been postponed to April 30th originally scheduled for February 23rd this delay was announced in a Seattle federal court with no immediate explanation from us prosecutors for the postponement Z out on $175 million baill Bond had his travel requests to the United Arab Emirates denied due to concerns over potential Flight Risk he faces charges of moneya laundering and violations of the bank secrecy act BSA following his guilty plea in November nober Zhao stepped down from his role at binance the exchange itself settled with

the US Department of Justice for 4.3 billion resolving criminal investigations Zhao has already paid 50 million in individual fines and is facing a sentence of up to 18 months although prosecutors have indicated that they could seek to extend the sentence up to 10 years Franklin Templeton has joined the competitive landscape of the firm seeking to launch a spot ether ETF as indicated in the recent SEC filing this move followed their successful spot Bitcoin ETF launch and demonstrates an interest in potentially staking ether for the fund differentiating their approach from other contenders like Ark 21 shares and black rock ey shares a decision from the SEC regarding spot ether ETFs is expected to happen in May in a startling breach of security the

South korean-based crypto gaming platform Play app fell victim to a major exploit resulting in a loss of $290 Million worth of tokens this incident unfolds in two separate attacks Within in a span of 4 days Security Experts at PC Shield identified the compromise of a private key as the likely cause the initial attack occurred on February 9th with an unauthorized wallet creating 200 million play tokens valued at $36 million subsequently despite play app's offer of a $1 million quote white hat reward end quote for the return of the stolen assets the attacker minted an additional 1.59 billion play tokens on February 12th in inflating the supply Beyond its pre-attack level of 577

million Play app swiftly responded pausing the play smart contract and urging users to haul transactions plab also announced plans for a contract migration time for fun bits and a humorous twist that caught the crypto Community off guard President Joe Biden's social media team posted an image of him with laser eyes a well-known symbol of support in the Bitcoin world this unexpected foray into meme culture left Bitcoin enthusiasts both thrilled and puzzled the lasery Biden which first appeared in a Tik Tok video joking about rigging the NFL season resurfaced following the Kansas City chief Super Bowl victory while some bitcoiners interpret it as an unlikely nod to cryptocurrencies the image actually stemmed from the quote dark

Brandon end quote meme a tongue-and-cheek portrayal of the president as a superhero and that's all thanks so much for joining us today if you enjoy this recap go to unshame crypto.com that is chain cryp to.sub stack.com and sign up for our free newsletter so you can stay up toate with the latest in crypto Unchained is produced by Laura Shen with help from Nelson Wang Matt pilard wanovich Megan gavis Shashank and Margaret Korea this recap was written by wanovich and edited by Genie Kim thanks so much for listening see you next [Music] week Unchained is now a part of the coin

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