WhiteboardCrypto Newsletter - Mar 16

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

Fun facts: Everyone now agrees that Bitcoin hit all time highs (ATH) this week! It didn’t maintain them, but it is still trending upwards. And Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade went through successfully, lowering fees on layer 2s amidst other improvements.

Satoshi’s identity remains unknown

The creator of Bitcoin is known pseudonymously as Satoshi Nakamoto. A few people have tried to claim they are Satoshi over the years, and the public has speculated about a few individuals, but now it has been decided by a U.K. court that one of the people who claimed to be Satoshi is indeed NOT Satoshi. That person is Craig Wright, and the reason this went to court is because he claimed he had “database rights” to the Bitcoin blockchain, including intellectual property rights. These claims have now been denied.

Learn more here.

MakerDAO (temporarily?) ups DAI fees

Folks have been selling their stablecoins to buy other crypto assets like BTC, ETH, and memecoins. The DAI stablecoin, produced by MakerDAO, is one of the stables folks are selling. The problem with mass selling stablecoins is that the assets MakerDAO holds to make sure DAI continues to be worth the same, called “reserves”, fluctuate. If the reserves fluctuate too much, the stablecoin could lose its peg. In a proactive move to avoid such a situation, MakerDAO temporarily increased fees for minting DAI and also increased the yield paid to people holding the asset.

Learn more here.

Injective creates cross-chain compatibility

Injective Protocol is a layer 1 blockchain built for web3 financial apps, i.e. trading. They released “inEVM”, a rollup that allows cross-chain activity between Ethereum, Cosmos and Solana. It uses Celestia, Pyth network, Hyperlane, and LayerZero Labs to help make this happen. Cross-chain compatibility is a huge development for crypto because it will allow more user-friendly activity, especially for people who feel web3 is confusing or hard to get into. Hopefully, one day people won’t have to know which blockchain they are using or why, or navigate different applications for each chain; they could do it all in one place, and inEVM is one of the stepping stones for that.

Learn more here.

Wyoming’s DAO bill redefines DAO structures

Wyoming has been friendly towards DAOs, unlike some other states that struggle with ownership rules and liability regarding DAO management. On March 7, Wyoming passed a new bill that expands the legal framework for DAOs in the state, including the ability to enter into legal contracts with other entities, pay taxes, and increased protection for DAO participants. Not all DAOs want to be recognized in this way, as it adds a layer of centralization (who signs the legal contracts, for instance), but it at least shows that governments are becoming more open to new entity structures that aren’t traditional business models.

Learn more here.

Thanks for reading and I hope you learned something!

- Theodore