WhiteboardCrypto Newsletter - Jul 27

Welcome back to this week's edition of our WhiteboardCrypto Newsletter!

ETH ETFs go live

In the US, 9 different spot ETH exchange-traded funds had a total of over $106m of inflows on the first day of trading this week. Coinbase is a large part of this as they are a custodian for 8 out of the 9 ETH ETFs.

Learn more here.

Base chain starts decentralizing

Speaking of Coinbase, the Base blockchain—which was pioneered by Coinbase but is managed separately from the exchange—is working towards decentralization by introducing fault proofs to their testnet, which allows anyone to permissionlessly challenge the state of the network. This means that if someone thinks a transaction is fake or there’s some other problem with it, they can contest it. Previously, only the chain operators could do that, which made it pretty centralized.

Learn more here.

Proton launches Bitcoin wallet

The privacy-focused company Proton, famous for being one of the earliest private email providers (and has since expanded into docs, calendars, a VPN and more) has made its new Bitcoin self-custody wallet available to paying members. For now, it’s only for Bitcoin, but it may expand to other cryptocurrencies in the future. This wallet will work with email addresses, not just traditional wallet addresses.

Learn more here.

Blockchain cars?

Toyota is exploring Ethereum's ERC-4337 account abstraction standard to develop on-chain automotive operations. They introduced the concept of Mobility-Oriented Accounts (MOAs), which are blockchain accounts for vehicles that would allow cars to perform operations like unlocking and starting via blockchain-based phone apps. They claim MOAs could enhance security, support car-sharing services, and integrate with autonomous driving. But we’re still left wondering why this needs to be on the blockchain?

Learn more here.

Thanks for reading and I hope you learned something!

- Theodore