Binance passes Coinbase 📈, the ETH merge FAQ 💡, staked ETH on L2 ⚡

Binance is now the exchange that holds the most Bitcoin. Coinbase was in the lead up until recently. Binance has been increasing its public trust through public relations efforts. It recently launched zero-fee trading for 13 Bitcoin spot trading pairs and it plans to eliminate charges for more tokens. Binance this year secured full regulatory approval in Dubai, Bahrain, France, Italy, and Spain.

Uniswap and Coinbase now have nearly equal trading volumes as Ethereum network fees drop to their lowest levels since 2020. Decentralized exchanges are now facilitating billions in stablecoin swaps, but they only account for a fraction of total centralized exchange volume. Ethereum-based DEX market share was only 8% in June, but Uniswap accounted for up to 90% of the total daily volume. A link to an article with more market data analysis is available.

Snapshot, a popular DAO voting site, is launching shielded voting today. The feature aims to provide a middle ground between transparency and privacy. Shielded voting will hide voting results until voting is finished to prevent voter apathy, lowered participation, and information asymmetry. It uses an encryption technique called threshold cryptography, in which a lock can only be opened if a threshold number of members collaborate.

Lido stakers will soon be able to use their stETH assets on Layer 2. The supported Layer 2 networks will be announced soon. This change will mean lower gas fees and an expanded DeFi ecosystem for Lido stakers. Lido is launching L2sDAYS, a weekly series on the concepts, projects, people, and values making Ethereum scaling happen.

A 1,000-page legal document on Three Arrows Capital (3AC) came out recently that brings more clarity to the case. It discusses 3AC's creditors, the timeline of its collapse, the purchases made by its founders, 3AC's business structure, and more. This Twitter thread summarizes some of the topics in the document. A link to the full document is available.

This Twitter thread presents 14 frequently asked questions on the Ethereum Merge. The Merge has been tested on several test networks without any new contract vulnerabilities. It will not make Ethereum cheaper to use and MEV will still exist with staking. The Merge will happen in September, but the exact time is based on block difficulty, not a set date. Regular users' experience will not really change after the Merge. ETH issuance is expected to go down quite a lot in the coming months, but deflation is not programmed in.

The Otherside is a world-building platform built for and by the community with genuine ownership and interoperability. It allows the community to contribute and own assets in the metaverse of tomorrow. This article breaks down a recent light paper that was released by the Otherside team. Gameplay footage is available.

Celsius recently filed for bankruptcy to protect itself while strategizing a restructuring plan. The company had liabilities of $5.5 billion, of which $4.7 billion is owed to its customers. It has broken away from most positions where it borrowed and posted collateral to a third party. The company's plans include continuing its mining activities, selling assets, and providing customers with the option to recover cash at a discount or remain long in crypto. Many more details are available in the article.

Atomyze, a Russian-government-backed tokenization platform, has issued a digital asset backed by palladium in collaboration with a local bank, Rosbank.

Hackers infiltrated popular NFT registration platform Premint and stole 320 NFTs and more than $400,000 in ETH.

Hologram is a self-expression company that empowers online communities to create and engage with virtual beings, goods, and experiences at scale.

Coinbase is offering free Coinbase-managed web3 usernames to its users.

There is a $1,000,000 bid on amazon.eth.

The US Treasury Department’s undersecretary for domestic finance says that digital assets have the potential to really fundamentally reform payments.