Happy Monday everyone!

This is Mehran Tabrizi and I’m back with the 30th episode of ‘Web 3.0 and Crypto Newsletter.’ This week, we’re looking at recent SEC attacks on Crypto, some milestone investments and partnerships, projects’ updates and much more.

By the way, since this is the first episode of the newsletter being published on Publish0x, if you're interested in reading previous episodes, just take a look at my profiles in other platforms.

Enjoy!

Merges and Acquisitions 📎

BitGo Acquires Prime Trust, Boosting Crypto Custody Services 👉🏻 Source

Partnerships 🤝

1️⃣ GameStop and Illuvium Partner to Bring Back GameStop NFT to the Limelight 👉🏻 Source

2️⃣ Zodia Custody Partners with Blockdaemon to Offer Staking Services to Institutional Investors 👉🏻 Source

3️⃣ Swift and Chainlink to Test Blockchain Integration with Dozens of Financial Institutions 👉🏻 Source

4️⃣ MetaMask Institutional Integrates with Fireblocks to Offer Secure Custody and Portfolio Management for Institutions 👉🏻 Source

5️⃣ Ankr Partners with Microsoft to Bring Enterprise-Grade Blockchain Infrastructure to Azure 👉🏻 Source

6️⃣ Circle Partners with Mastercard Payment Institution (MPI) to Offer Stablecoin Payments in Singapore 👉🏻 Source

Swift and Chainlink to Test Blockchain Integration with Dozens of Financial Institutions (Image credits: Coinspaidmedia)

Projects 🔍

1️⃣ Bitcoin Ordinals Protocol Upgrade Allows Cursed Inscriptions to Be Traded 👉🏻 Source

2️⃣ Binance’s Richard Teng Emerging as Potential Successor to CZ amid Regulatory Woes 👉🏻 Source

3️⃣ Optimism Completes Bedrock Upgrade, Reducing Deposit Times and Layer-1 Fees 👉🏻 Source

4️⃣ The Sandbox (SAND) Owner Animoca Brands to Shift Focus to Non-US Customers Following SEC Ruling 👉🏻 Source

Investments 💰

1️⃣ OpenAI’s Sam Altman Leads $19M Seed Round for Crypto Life Insurance Startup Meanwhile 👉🏻 Source

2️⃣ Sequoia Capital Splits into Three Partnerships, Separates China Business 👉🏻 Source

3️⃣ Aave-Developed Lens Protocol Secures $15M to Build Social Layer for Web3 👉🏻 Source

Regulatory and Policy 👮🏻 ⚖️

1️⃣ Russian Bank Launches New Crypto Payments System to Bypass Sanctions 👉🏻 Source

2️⃣ FTX Disputes Genesis’ Claim That It Owes No Money 👉🏻 Source

3️⃣ UK Lawmakers Propose Creation of ‘Crypto Tsar’ to Oversee Government’s Crypto Regulation Efforts 👉🏻 Source

4️⃣ SEC Sues Binance and Its CEO for Unregistered Securities Operations and Breaking Securities Rules; Accuses Binance of Implementing a Tai Chi Plan 👉🏻 Source

5️⃣ SEC Seeks Temporary Restraining Order to Freeze Binance.US Assets amid Unregistered Securities Operations Allegations 👉🏻 Source

6️⃣ Solana, Polygon, Cardano, and Some Other Crypto Tokens Named as Securities in SEC Lawsuit 👉🏻 Source

7️⃣ Genesis Bankruptcy Case: Mediation Period Extended by Judge amidst Creditor Dispute 👉🏻 Source

8️⃣ CFTC greenlights CBOE Digital for Launching Margin Trading for Crypto Futures Contracts 👉🏻 Source

9️⃣ Congressmen Urge Treasury and IRS to Crack Down on Crypto Tax Evasion 👉🏻 Source

🔟 SEC Widens Crypto Crackdown, Sues Coinbase and Identifies Additional Securities Including Chiliz, Flow, Near, and Nexo Tokens 👉🏻 Source

1️⃣1️⃣ Coinbase Faces Lawsuits from State Regulators amid SEC allegations 👉🏻 Source

1️⃣2️⃣ US Crypto Regulations Could Take Years, While Regulation by Enforcement is Unsustainable, Says CFTC Chair to Congress and Industry Experts 👉🏻 Source

1️⃣3️⃣ SEC Chair Gensler Draws Parallels Between Binance and FTX, although Only One Exchange Is Sued 👉🏻 Source

1️⃣4️⃣ U.S. Court Orders SEC to Respond to Coinbase’s Rulemaking Petition within a Week 👉🏻 Source

1️⃣5️⃣ U.S. House Financial Services Committee to Hold Hearing on Future of Crypto 👉🏻 Source

1️⃣6️⃣ El Salvador’s Volcano Energy Launches with $250M Investment 👉🏻 Source

1️⃣7️⃣ Yellen Urges Congress to pass further Crypto Regulation 👉🏻 Source

1️⃣8️⃣ SEC Accuses Binance and the CEO of Redirecting Billions in Customer Assets to Zhao’s Funds 👉🏻 Source

1️⃣9️⃣ Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Completes Proof-of-Concept for Tokenizing Fiat and Bonds 👉🏻 Source

2️⃣0️⃣ Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao Summoned by US District Court over SEC Action 👉🏻 Source

2️⃣1️⃣ Binance.US Removes 10 Trading Pairs after Lawsuit 👉🏻 Source

2️⃣2️⃣ Binance US Suspends USD Deposits and Warns of Withdrawal Pause Due to Bank Partner Issues 👉🏻 Source

2️⃣3️⃣ Coinbase will Continue Staking Services, No Plan for Delisting Any Token 👉🏻 Source

2️⃣4️⃣ Commonwealth Bank Takes Aim at Crypto Scams with New Payment Restrictions 👉🏻 Source

2️⃣5️⃣ Bittrex Customer Repayment Plan in Limbo after US Government Objections 👉🏻 Source

2️⃣6️⃣ EU Watchdog Targets Crypto Ads on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter 👉🏻 Source

2️⃣7️⃣ Curve Finance CEO Michael Egorov Sued for Fraud by Three VC Firms 👉🏻 Source

2️⃣8️⃣ US DOJ Indicts 2 Russian Nationals for 2014 Mt. Gox Hack 👉🏻 Source

2️⃣9️⃣ CFTC Wins OOKI DAO Case, Forcing Shutdown after Precedent-Setting Court Battle 👉🏻 Source  

SEC’s Gary Gensler, the nightmare of the crypto community (AI-generated image)

Fun & crazy 😁😳

SEC-themed Memecoins Surge as Gensler Takes Aim at Binance and Coinbase 👉🏻 Source

Miscellaneous 🎲

1️⃣ JPMorgan Has Partnered With Six Indian Banks to Settle Dollar Trades on The Onyx Blockchain System, Enabling 24/7 Instant Transfers 👉🏻 Source

2️⃣ China’s CCTV Reports on SEC Lawsuit against Binance 👉🏻 Source

3️⃣ Fashion giant Louis Vuitton Plans to Launch 42,000 NFTs Backed by Physical Assets 👉🏻 Source

4️⃣ Robinhood Ends Support for Solana, Polygon, Cardano amid SEC Crackdown on Crypto Exchanges 👉🏻 Source

5️⃣ ARK Invest Bets Big on Coinbase despite SEC Lawsuit 👉🏻 Source

6️⃣ EU will Use Blockchain to Verify Educational and Professional Credentials 👉🏻 Source

7️⃣ Vitalik Buterin Proposes Three ‘Mandatory’ Ethereum Transitions to Improve Network Security and Efficiency 👉🏻 Source

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Thanks for reading Web 3.0 and Crypto Newsletter. Wish you a great week ahead 🚀

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