WhiteboardCrypto Newsletter - Sept 21

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

Starknet approves Dynamic Staking

Starknet’s new dynamic staking model makes it so the STRK token supply changes based on how many people (and how much funds) are being staked. This will control inflation of the token so that minting is based on network usage rather than just a steady process. The minting rate will fluctuate between 1% to 4%. The less STRK is staked, the higher the rate; the more STRK is staked, the lower the rate. Remember, staking secures the network, so to incentivize staking means that the network will be more secure, and stakers will be rewarded if they stay through the ups and downs of network participation.

Learn more here.

USDT is property in England and Whales

The English High Court recently ruled that Tether's USDT stablecoin is considered "property" under UK law. This means that USDT will be treated similarly to other assets, giving it legal protections and making it easier to claim ownership in disputes. The decision reflects growing recognition of digital assets in traditional legal frameworks.

Learn more here.

US Fed rate cut boosts crypto markets

Earlier this week, the US Fed (the folks in charge of the economy, kinda) cut rates for the first time since the pandemic. The rate cut basically means that interest charged on loans (between banks, in mortgages, credit card debt, etc) lowers, and that also means that the interest paid out to savings lowers. So, if you have debt, you’re happy about this because your minimum payments will be lower, but if you have cash growing interest you’re not as happy about this. Either way, the crypto markets were quite happy about this, with BTC rising to $61k before dropping a bit as people sold their profits.

Learn more here.

Polkadot upgrades

In its 2.0 upgrades, the Polkadot network has implemented a flexible blockchain space model that will make it so when there is higher demand, there is more available space. This will improve speed and cost, and make it easier for smaller projects to get started on the network.

Learn more here.

Ethereum’s next upgrade…

…will be split in two. Pectra 1 will include 8 changes currently in testing, including the architecture needed for Verkle Trees and statelessness, better interoperability with the Beacon Chain, “smart account” features, and a bunch more backend stuff. Pectra 2 will include 12 others that are already in queue but haven’t began testing yet, as well as some others that have been proposed. Petra 2 will lead to greater data availability, and further staking pool improvements, amongst others. You can see more about Ethereum’s roadmap here.

Learn more here.

Thanks for reading and I hope you learned something!

- Theodore