TLDR Crypto 2022-09-13

Starbucks Odyssey, Starbucks' first foray into web3 technology, will launch later this year. The program will combine the Starbucks Rewards loyalty program with an NFT platform. Customers will be able to earn and purchase digital assets that unlock exclusive experiences and rewards. Starbucks Odyssey will use the Proof-of-Stake Polygon blockchain as it uses less energy than Proof-of-Work blockchains. The waitlist for the program is now open.

Abra Bank may be the crypto industry's first regulated bank. The bank will allow US customers to deposit and bank digital assets. It will also offer valuable access to fiat on- and off-ramps. Abra Bank aims to launch in 2023. Abra International, a bank for customers outside of the US, is expected to launch later this year.

Tether is now live on the Near Network. The integration of Tether on the Near blockchain is a major milestone for the ecosystem. Near is the eleventh blockchain with Tether support. The ecosystem now has over 700 projects with daily volumes averaging between 300,000 to 400,000 transactions. The Near Foundation recently announced the launch of a $100 million venture capital fund and venture lab targeting web3 development.

ETHW, the Proof-of-Work fork of the Ethereum blockchain, will launch its hard fork within 24 hours of the Merge. The exact time will be announced one hour before launch and all code and files will be made public when it goes live. Several exchanges have expressed interest in ETHW. One of the reasons for staying on PoW is for security, but the ETHW team is marketing the chain as a way for miners to continue to earn money.

A report from Nansen says that five entities hold 64% of staked Ether. A key component of the upcoming merge is that miners will be replaced by stakers that commit ETH to maintain the network. Just over 11% of the total circulating ETH is staked with 426,000 validators. Fears of a major sell-off post merge are unwarranted as ETH withdrawals will only be possible half a year to a year after the event and they will be limited.

This tutorial covers the layout of the EVM memory, its reserved spaces, the free memory pointer, how to use memory references, and conventional best practices when working with memory in Solidity. It uses code snippets from Ethereum Name Service contracts as examples. The tutorial is part of a series called 'All About Data Locations'.

CME Group has announced plans to roll out Ethereum options contracts. Ethereum options will give investors the ability to buy or sell ETH at a specific future date. CME Group's Ethereum futures have seen a 43% increase in average daily volume year over year. The upcoming merge event is one of the key reasons behind the demand.

Near protocol has initiated a key phase of its sharding upgrade aimed at increasing processing speed and lowering prices for stakers hoping to participate in the network. The protocol will implement sharding through a four step program called Nightshade. The first step introduces specialist chunk-only validators that are easier to set up than full nodes. It is expected to increase the number of validators on the network and increase decentralization on Near.

The value of Ravencoin pumped after FTX announced the listing of Ravencoin perpetual futures.

Nikhil Wahi has pleaded guilty to a wire fraud conspiracy charge in the first ever insider trading case involving cryptocurrency.

This Twitter thread contains a list of tokenless, high-potential projects that are building on Berachain.

Fidelity is contemplating whether to let individual brokerage customers trade bitcoin.

The Blockchain Association's political action committee will contribute to the campaigns of pro-crypto candidates to steer the US government's debate over digital assets.