In this week’s edition of The Context, Vitalik updates his Ethereum roadmap, SBF avoids a second trial, and Matrixport predicts that ETFs aren’t coming after all.
[Vitalik: On the roadmap again 🗺️]
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin rang in the New Year by publishing a diagram of Ethereum’s roadmap. 🔔
What Journalists Said 🧑💻:
Although “the core priorities of the Ethereum ecosystem remain the same from last year's outline, wrote Zack Abrams (The Block), there are a couple of notable technical inclusions, including Buterin’s endorsement of “single-slot finality” to solve many of proof of stake’s problems and “fighting economic centralization” with regards to “MEV and liquid stake pooling.”
The 2024 calendar is full, said Nancy Lubale (Cointelegraph). 📅 The upcoming Dencun upgrade, which introduces proto-danksharding, is designed to help Ethereum compete with Solana and other low-fee networks by lowering the cost of rollup transactions.
Why It Matters ⁉️:
Vitalik is the closest thing to a figurehead the decentralized Ethereum ecosystem has. 🗿 His words carry tremendous weight and have previously caused ripple effects throughout community dynamics, industry trends, and the broader adoption of blockchain technology. For example, the token of ENS (a YAP client) surged after a post from Vitalik endorsing the project.
Credit: @VitalikButerin
[SBF: Do not pass GO 🚫]
The U.S. government won’t be pursuing a second trial against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. That trial would have covered charges of campaign finance violations and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. 🧑⚖️
What Journalists Said 🧑💻:
The government said the decision was largely due to “the fact that much of the evidence that would have been presented in a second trial had already been submitted to the Court during Bankman-Fried’s first criminal trial,” wrote MacKenzie Sigalos (CNBC).
As a reminder, the former “King of Crypto” is already facing a maximum sentence of 110 years after being found guilty of fraud and money laundering in November, said George Wright (BBC). 👑
Why It Matters ⁉️:
It seems that we didn’t leave SBF in 2023. However, this should bring closure to the SBF scandal, which most of the crypto community, along with this editorial team, is more than ready to move past. Bankman-Fried’s sentencing is set for 28 March 2024, and hopefully, that’s the last time he graces our fine pages for a while.
[Matrixport: ETF 📉]
A report from crypto financial services platform Matrixport predicted that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would reject all the applications for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds before it. Shortly thereafter, the price of Bitcoin dropped 8% from a 20-month high near $46,000 to under $42,000.
What Journalists Said🧑💻:
Matrixport’s prediction is outside the “consensus,” wrote Katherine Ross (Blockworks). “Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas told Blockworks that, without any sourcing, this report does not line up with what Bloomberg Intelligence has been reporting.”
There are a bunch of firms with money riding on Matrixport being wrong, said James Hunt (The Block), “with BlackRock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Valkyrie and VanEck among the current total 14 asset managers hoping to finally win SEC approval.”
Alex Thorn, Head of Research at Galaxy Digital, took to X (formerly Twitter) to voice his concerns over the Matrixport report, describing the supporting arguments as “bewildering”, “nonsensical”, and “a real head scratcher”.
PR Analysis 🔎:
The going theory is that much of Bitcoin’s rally over recent months is attributable to a coming spot Bitcoin ETF approval. While a rejection or delay would suggest pricing in ETF approval was premature, it also indicates the continued fragility of the crypto markets––the opinions of one actor should not have such a drastic effect on the markets. We need to look at fostering more resilient and less reactive markets during the coming bull run.
[Tweet Of The Week]
Credit: @BenJustman
[DeFi Definitions]
A segment exploring one particular aspect of DeFi.
This week: ‘Cold Wallet’ by Damian Alvarez.
A cold wallet refers to a wallet which requires users to “double” sign their intention to initiate transactions.
Cold wallets are effectively hardware-based devices such as Ledger, Trezor and Safepal which act as a two-factor authentication mechanism where users have to confirm the state of transactions via the physical device rather than simply signing through one’s computer or smartphone. This is intentionally done so that potential attackers cannot exploit a user’s funds without the cold wallet on hand.
The “cold” in “cold wallet” comes from a similar phenomenon whereby “cold” engines are not in operation, similar to how this mode of wallet is not intended to be actively used for frequent transactions and is usually designated for long-term storage and security of assets.
The usual disclaimer: This newsletter collates the main themes and headlines of the week in DeFi/crypto/metaverse/Web3/NFT land and tries to provide unbiased context. It's aimed at anyone who wants to keep an eye on the space. It's put together by a team at YAP and doesn't contain any promotion of our clients (if one is mentioned, we'll flag that).
The team: Founder Samantha Yap and consulting editor Jeff Benson, Sam O'Donohoe, Ewan Brewster, Andrew Wickerson, Tiffany Mac Sherry, Liam Quinn, Becky Corbel and Delon Chan. Your feedback is, as always, welcome. Ping us at thecontext@yapglobal.com. Old newsletters can be found here.
This newsletter is prepared by YAP Global, an international P.R. Consultancy focusing on helping cryptocurrency, Decentralised Finance (DeFi) and brands through impactful storytelling. Find out more about us here.