TLDR Crypto 2022-08-26

Bitcoin Depot plans to go public by merging with Special Purpose Acquisition Company GSR II Meteora at an estimated value of $885 million. The Atlanta-based crypto ATM operator has a network of over 7,000 locations across the US and Canada. SPAC mergers accounted for more than half of all initial public offerings between 2020 and 2021. The SEC plans to propose specialized disclosure requirements for SPAC mergers.

Reddit has started to airdrop its Polygon-based Collectible Avatars to users. Some users have been asked to select avatars from four collections based on their participation on the website. Reddit has not referred to its avatars as NFTs in its communication to users, but they are listed on NFT marketplace OpenSea. Reddit released a separate collection of avatars for sale earlier this year, with prices ranging from $9.99 to $99.99.

Max Novendstern has left Worldcoin to launch a new venture called Mana. Mana aims to build an AI that can analyze any company and then fund it with one click. Its planned AI venture capitalist will run autonomously on-chain. Novendstern is engaging with several firms to raise funds.

The Filecoin Virtual Machine brings programmable applications to Filecoin. It will be EVM-compatible, allowing devs to use familiar tooling on the platform. This Twitter thread introduces the FVM and discusses how it improves the Filecoin ecosystem. The FVM makes Filecoin like Ethereum, but with storage capabilities.

This Twitter thread links to an article that explains in detail how Tornado Cash works. The addresses that were sanctioned are donation addresses, ancillary services that never controlled user tokens, or defunct addresses. Understanding how the service works have helped build stronger legal arguments that the OFAC overstepped its authority when sanctioning Tornado Cash. A summary of those arguments is available in the thread.

Rocket Pool allows users to stake ETH in exchange for rETH. This article discusses Ethereum staking, Rocket Pool, staking ETH on Rocket Pool, and validator nodes. It guides readers through the process of staking small amounts of ETH and shares an overview of why users might consider setting up a validator node with Rocket Pool.

Coinbase has launched a crypto policy education initiative that aims to provide information about candidates, the regulatory landscape for crypto, and the greater political process. It includes a voter registration tool that Coinbase says doesn't store any data. US lawmakers are currently considering several key pieces of legislation that could shape the future of crypto. According to a recent poll, the most important issues for voters are the economy, gun policy, health care, crime, and abortion.

The community behind Rocket Pool has voted to approve a new incentive committee's budget, charter, and membership. The nine-member team will be tasked with boosting rETH liquidity. Greater liquidity will enable rETH holders to do more with their tokens. Rocket Pool's rETH is currently a distant second to Lido's stETH.

Coinbase is adding nano ether futures contracts to its derivatives platform on Monday.

Spectral has built a decentralized credit score system that provides a trustless, permissionless way to address credit risk analysis.

Compound III is a streamlined version of the protocol with an emphasis on security, capital efficiency, and user experience.

Gnosis will be the first chain besides Ethereum to be supported on The Graph Network.

This article guides users through Astra DAO's staking model and how to stake ASTRA, iToken, and LP tokens.

Bids for Voyager assets are due September 6 and an auction may be held on September 29.