TLDR Crypto 2024-03-26

The London Stock Exchange is launching Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded notes at the end of May, available to professional investors only. It will start accepting applications for trades from April 8. The move follows approval from the UK's Financial Conduct Authority for Recognized Investment Exchanges to create listed market segments for ETNs. It is part of wider efforts to position the UK as a crypto-friendly hub.

The SEC is seeking $2 billion in penalties from Ripple Labs. This is part of an ongoing conflict where the SEC accused Ripple of selling an unregistered security by raising $1.3 billion from the sale of XRP. Ripple's CEO critiqued the SEC's unjust behavior, citing court decisions in favor of Ripple.

Metaplex has launched a new standard for NFTs on Solana named Core. Designed to reduce complexity and minting costs, Core enables data to be stored in a single on-chain account. It also introduces a plugin system that allows users to extend Core asset functionality. The launch coincides with the announcement that 50% of all protocol fees will be used to purchase MPLX to decentralize the Metaplex protocol further.

1intro, Solana’s first Liquidity Bootstrapping Platform, aims to alleviate current problems faced by Solana users, specifically addressing unfair launches, token liquidity issues, and the prevalence of scams. Designed for fair token distribution and price discovery, 1intro plans to evolve into a comprehensive DEX platform, offering trading functionalities and tools with a community-focused strategy. It has introduced features like "Refer and Earn" to boost user engagement.

Companies are leveraging memecoins, or tokens associated with internet memes, in their go-to-market strategies. These companies are taking advantage of memecoins' established communities by integrating popular memecoins into new products or projects. Examples include the BONKbot trading bot using the $BONK token and $SHIB incorporating its token into an Ethereum L2 called Shibarium. This approach can tap into the established userbase and liquidity of memecoin communities, providing a potential solution to getting initial momentum in a project.

This article discusses the evolution and growing complexity of generative pre-trained transformer models. It touches upon how AI development and use are influenced by the regulatory landscape, with examples stretching from cryptographic software to AI-specific executive orders. The piece highlights several steps in AI model creation, from data collection to inference. It also highlights the potential of utilizing crypto and decentralized technology to make AI more user-aligned, verifiable, and privacy-conscious. Despite the progress, AI democratization remains a challenge.

This author discusses what they view as the rise and negative evolution of crypto, expressing concern over the increasing prevalence of scams and harmful communities emerging in the space. They criticize the crypto community for defending these issues, saying the community shows a lack of morality.

Bittensor is building a decentralized blockchain-based AI ecosystem through subnet creators, miners, and validators, all rewarded through a native currency, $TAO. Validators, who check AI outputs, seem to receive the biggest rewards, leading to concerns of potential misaligned incentives. Bittensor's services could be sold to external customers to increase use.

This proposal from Arbitrum lays out a plan for a memecoin fund to boost the ecosystem by drawing liquidity, attention, and new users through the support and cultivation of memecoin projects separate from Arbitrum DAO.

Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum L2, has doubled its TVL in the past 25 days to over $2 billion driven partly by increased memecoin activity on the chain.

Telegram is planning to introduce revenue sharing for channel owners using ads, paying out these rewards with its TON coin.

This post provides an interesting perspective from someone who worked at Uniswap and articulates the different feelings and thoughts they have had about the space since entering it.