October 25, 2022

The biggest crypto news and ideas of the day

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Hello and welcome to The Node. This is Daniel Kuhn and Xinyi Luo, here to take you through the latest in crypto news and why it matters. In today's newsletter:

In this newsletter: Apple refused to exempt NFTs from App store's 30% fee, struggling bitcoin miners are flocking to Maple Finance's $300 million lending pool and MakerDAO members supported founder's plan to break up into MetaDAOs.
The Takeaway: D.K. writes about Sam Bankman-Fried's regulatory proposal and backlash.

– D.K.

Today's must-reads

Top Shelf

Apple Refuses to Exempt NFTs From App Store's 30% Fee: Apple codified its rules for iOS apps that handle non-fungible tokens (NFT) on Monday with its first formal green light on offering in-app NFT minting, buying and selling. However, the iPhone-maker's de facto ban on NFT trading in apps is likely to remain due to 30% transaction fees within Apple's payments ecosystem.

Apple also banned some NFT-specific features, like token-gated access to apps and third-party NFT minting sites.

Struggling Bitcoin Miners Are Flocking to Maple Finance's $300M Lending Pool: Since decentralized finance (DeFi) player Maple and credit agent Icebreaker launched their crypto miner financing pool a month ago, upwards of 10 cash-strapped mining companies have borrowed ~$12 million in credit to keep operations going.

Another 25 companies are on the waiting list, and Maple expects the pool to reach its $300 million cap by around the middle of next year.

MakerDAO Members Support Founder's 'Endgame' Plan to Break Up Into MetaDAOs: Community members of MakerDAO, the largest DeFi protocol, voted to move forward with founder Rune Christensen's plan to break up the protocol into smaller, allegedly more decentralized units called MetaDAOs.

The community members also voted to approve a proposal to place as much as $1.6 billion in USD coin (USDC) with Coinbase Prime, where it will yield 1.5%.

– D.K. and Xinyi Luo

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Putting the news into perspective

The Takeaway

(Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)

Is SBF Right About Regulation?

Sam Bankman-Fried published a manifesto on how crypto can self-regulate while it waits for clearer rules from above. Although there were sane proposals (like disclosures around crypto ads and stablecoin attestations), the FTX founder was criticized for advocating rules that would benefit centralized exchanges and harm DeFi. But SBF, a so-called effective altruist, was just being pragmatic. Read the full column here.

This week, CoinDesk delves deep into all sides of crypto trading, from practical strategies to how traders stay sane amid market turmoil. We explore what moves markets and what motivates traders. Stay tuned for a mix of features, TV interviews, op-eds, and research.

Why Bitcoin Has Been Highly Correlated With Fiat

And whether that means it has failed as an inflation hedge for traders.

'A Metric for Fun': The FTX Leaderboard

Benchmarking, credibility, bragging rights. It's all at stake on the industry's most-watched profit-reckoner.

Overheard on CoinDesk TV...

Sound Bites

"The constant support of the Bitcoin community has gone a long way to help my morale this last year."

— Bitcoiner Hodlnaut, discussing his court victory against Craig Wright, on CoinDesk TV's "All About Bitcoin"

The news in a sentence

Headlines

Chinese Intelligence Officers Used Bitcoin in Scheme to Undermine Investigation, US Officials Allege | Start Regulating the Metaverse Now, Researchers Tell French Leaders | EU Stablecoin Caps Could Lighten or Get Tougher, French Official Warns | Robinhood's Crypto Customers Can Now Trade Aave and Tezos | Court Refuses to Dismiss 'Insider-Trading' Case Against Former OpenSea Exec | Polygon-Based DeFi Platform QuickSwap Closes Lending Service Following Exploit | Cathie Wood's ARK Fintech Innovation ETF Buys More Coinbase |

What others are writing

Off-Chain Signals

BitMex CEO Alexander Höptner steps down with immediate effect (The Block)
Trade Volume in Reddit's NFTs Surges $2.5M in 24 Hours (The Defiant)
Explained: Why Interpol is policing the metaverse (Protos)
Crypto Spreading Across Wealthy in Singapore, Hong Kong: KPMG (Blockworks)
Bloomberg columnist Matt Levine pens magazine-length "Crypto Story"(paywalled)

Consensus is the world's largest, longest-running and most influential gathering of the crypto, blockchain and Web3 communities. Join us April 26-28 in Austin, Texas, to learn, grow and build alongside innovators, brands, creators, investors and more. Use code FM15 for 15% off your pass. Register now.

The Chaser...