Bitfinity Weekly: Bitfinity & Beyond
Welcome to Issue #137 of Bitfinity Weekly for our #BITFINIANS community. If this newsletter was forwarded to you, sign up here.
What's in Today's Email?
- Bitcoin Bytes
- Global Crypto News
- In the IC
- This Week in our Blog
- Tweet of the Week
- Meme Time
- A Matter of Opinion
Bitcoin Bytes
Off The Rails: Bitcoin and ICP developer Bob Bodily, of Toniq (Entrepot and Bioniq marketplaces) was interviewed on the latest episode of Bitcoin Rails. Bodily spoke about interoperability solutions on Bitcoin, OP_CAT, and the future of programmability on the Bitcoin network. You can watch the entire episode here.
A Tale of Two Wrapped Bitcoins: World Liberty Financial, a crypto platform backed by the Trump family, swapped $10m worth of $cbBTC (Coinbase-wrapped Bitcoin) for rival token, $WBTC (Wrapped Bitcoin, which arguably the most used version of wrapped Bitcoin on DeFi applications). Coinbase has come under fire recently for delisting $WBTC shortly after launching its own $cbBTC; the company has stated that their reason for delisting had to do with Tron founder Justin Sun's alleged links to $WBTC, though Sun has no direct involvement with the token. Sun recently became an advisor for World Liberty Financial.
Problem Solvrs: Solv Protocol announced they will be launching their native token on HyperLiquid, making it the first Bitcoin yield-focused token listed on the DeFi derivatives trading platform. Solv is a Bitcoin staking protocol that generates yield by staking Bitcoin on Bitcoin L2s as well as DeFi protocols like Ethena. Solv currently has a TVL (Total Locked Value) of over $3B.
Bitfinity & Beyond: Bitfinity network has seen healthy activity since its mainnet launch just three weeks ago. Nearly 200,000 transactions have been completed and total wallet addresses now number over 12.4k. The Bitcoin L2 is also seeing a robust developer ecosystem begin to emerge. You can see stat details here.
Global Crypto News
Stabled Up: Ripple launched its USD stablecoin, Ripple USD, on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum blockchains this week. Each $RLUSD token is fully backed by US dollar deposits, government bonds, or cash equivalents, with monthly third-party attestation of Ripple's proof of reserves. The stablecoin is currently available on well known on/off ramps such as MoonPay, with plans to expand to other major platforms like Mercado Bitcoin in the coming weeks.
Getting Inked: Kraken exchange launched its L2 network Ink this Wednesday, months earlier than expected (it had previously announced that Ink would be launching sometime in 2025). Ink is an Ethereum Layer-2, built using the OP stack, making it part of the Optimism Superchain. Kraken's rival Coinbase exchange also built their Ethereum L2, Base, on the Optimism Superchain, making the two networks interoperable.
Huddling or HODLing?: Pudgy Penguins launched their token on Solana this Tuesday, making it one of the largest airdrops across the NFT ecosystem to date. Although the Pudgy Penguin NFT collections are on Ethereum, and their parent company Igloo is building their own Ethereum L2 mainnet, the coin was deployed on Solana first to facilitate liquidity. Numerous communities were eligible for the airdrop, as were many legacy wallets on both Ethereum and Solana networks. Claims are eligible until March 15th.
Space Jam : Catch the recording of our Twitter Space with OOOO Money on Bitcoin and Beyond: Driving the Evolution of Cross-Chain Solutions : https://x.com/bitfinitynet/status/1870246801720459752
Partnership Buzz : We’ve partnered with Goshen Network to strengthen blockchain solutions and drive innovation.
In the IC
Many More To Go: Omnity Network reached their REE Milestone 1 goal, successfully completing protoyping, validating, and integration all components of their "REE" design. The testing included an AMM, the RichSwap, and sending REE-generated transactions directly to Bitcoin mainnet. Milestone 2 will compromise of events such as advanced composibility and advanced tx validation.
Plug'd In: Plug wallet has seen a significant upgrade, adding advanced functionality. Plug now has native integration of OnRamper in the extension wallet, which allows for convenient on-ramping of fiat funds to crypto directly within Plug. Another new feature is the ability to mint $ckBTC and ckERC tokens with the press of a single button in the wallet.
Looking Back: DFINITY broadcasted a special "ICP Year in Review 2024" stream on X this Thursday, highlighting all of the achievements accomplished by the DFINITY Foundation and the ICP community this year. Missed the live event? You can watch the video here.
This Week in our Blog
Web3 research and investment firm Crypto Rand interviewed Bitfinity co-founder Max Chamberlain recently, delving into his insights and expertise regarding blockchain technology and what makes Bitfinity truly unique:
Bitfinity
We've seen tremendous activity from both builders and users since the Bitfinity Mainnet launched. But what's going on under the hood, and what's on the road ahead? In this week's deep dive, we take a look at how Bitfinity is set to supercharge DeFi for everyone in crypto:
Fred
Tweet of the Week
🎙️ Thoughts on the Omnity x @bitfinitynet partnership?
— Omnity Network (@OmnityNetwork) December 18, 2024
💬 "We’re both focused on serving the Bitcoin ecosystem. The key point is that we want Bitcoiners and the Bitcoin ecosystem to recognize that ICP is the best complementary blockchain to Bitcoin." - @louisliubj pic.twitter.com/LHgM24oMD0
Meme Time
A Matter of Opinion
Bitmex founder and crypto veteran Arthur Hayes recently wrote an end-of-year post on his Substack, speculating on what we can expect to see in the crypto markets in 2025. He dubs President elect Donald Trump's effects on the global money markets as the byproduct of "Trump Truth", and details the many geopolitical complications that make crypto speculation so difficult.
Hayes is, of course, bullish on Bitcoin as many pro-crypto investors tend to be, and he seems especially positive about Trump's handling of crypto in America. However, his post was illuminating regarding the various ways that other nations may fight to keep the status quo. Lest we forget about why Bitcoin was invented, this should serve as a reminder: Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin in response to the instability of the traditional financial world, and the lack of control that we as laypersons have on the economy.
His post touched briefly but poignantly on the increasing difficulties surrounding self-custody and tax complications, especially in certain European countries. Hayes even advocated that pro-crypto investors consider relocating before it's too late to do so. Perhaps he is being sensationalist for the sake of adding dramatic flair to his writing, or he is personally overreacting to events in the news. Or perhaps he's correct, and certain countries will restrict capital flight harshly by punishing crypto owners. Whatever your take is, it's clear that even the experts are bracing for dramatic changes ahead in government policies regarding crypto.
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