Uniswap raised $165M Series B at a $1.66B valuation, led by Polychain Capital. Uniswap develops products allowing users to deposit tokens in liquidity pools. More: - Uniswap was founded by Hayden Adams, a self-taught coder, in 2018.
- The company is not profitable and plans to use the fresh funding to expand its product offering, build NFT aggregators, and become financially stable over the coming years.
- Adams said, "Web3 has an opportunity to compete by empowering users." Therefore, Uniswap aims to build services that will make Web3 more accessible for non-technical people.
- The founder explained that in the $1.2T trading volume, there are no serious hacks on the platform.
- The company is under investigation by the SEC along with many other crypto firms, and "the company is committed to complying with the law and regulations governing our industry," says Adams.
Zoom out: - Overall, DeFi products have declined as rising yields in traditional finance offer more lucrative alternatives. Interest in decentralized finance has been declining since early May following the collapse of Terra.
- Bloomberg reports that The JPMorgan Global FX Volatility Index increased 70% this year, compared to the T3 Bitcoin Volatility Index, which is down 11%.
- Volatility has "found a home" in fiat currencies as trading activity is up 30% this year.
- MakerDAO, behind stablecoin DAI, has diversified its balance sheet by adding $500M in US treasuries and corporate bonds.
- The reason that MakerDAO made this move was to remove all exposure to assets that could be "blacklisted" by the government, and its DAI reserves are providing very little yield at the moment.
- Without yields and less money to be made, it's hard to convince newbies to enter this space.
Fortune 
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Chainalysis reports that crypto hacks have grossed $3B across 125 hacks this year. In October alone, there has been $718M worth of crypto funds stolen by hackers across DeFi protocols. More: - Cryptocurrency-related hacks hit a record high this year, and most are related to decentralized finance protocols.
- Chainalysis said, "October is now the biggest month" for hacking activity.
- Mango Markets lost $100M as a hacker manipulated the price of its token.
- Binance's BNB chain was hacked for $570M; all but $100M has been recovered.
- DeFi, which is considered to be the next big thing in finance, is a major target for hackers:
- Attackers can exploit the weakness of security, the bridges between blockchains, coding, and the structure of DeFi marketplaces.
- North Korea-affiliated groups have walked away with $1B in stolen crypto on Defi protocols.
- Crypto investors prefer centralized exchanges (CEXs) over DeFi tools because decentralized exchanges have a higher risk of hacks.
- Centralized crypto platform hacks have dropped by 58%; only $80M has been stolen on centralized exchanges in 2022, compared to $2.2B on DeFi platforms.
Zoom out: - Here is a list of some DeFi protocols that have fallen victim to elaborate hacks:
- Ronin lost $615.5M
- Poly Network lost $602.2M
- Wormhole lost $326M
- BeanStalk lost $181M
- Vulcan Forged lost $140M
- In related news this week, five people in France have also been charged with fraudulently acquiring $2.5M of BAYC NFTs and Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) NFTs.
- The scam involved a phishing website promising to animate NFTs.
Bloomberg
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is requesting Texas energy regulators to disclose information on how much energy is consumed by crypto mining, including data on carbon emissions. Warren is studying and analyzing the economic and climate risks of crypto-related activities. More: - In February 2021, the Texas power grid crashed during an extreme winter storm, resulting in hundreds of deaths. Lawmakers now demand answers from state regulators.
- Warren and six other Democrats requested data from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages the Texas electricity grid.
- The letter was addressed to Pablo Vegas, CEO of ERCOT, requesting detailed information on crypto mining operations, including:
- How much energy is consumed during crypto mining operations?
- How much carbon dioxide emissions are released into the atmosphere from mining operations?
- How much are Texas regulators paying mining companies to reduce energy consumption during peak demands?
- For instance, the demand response programs allow miners to shut down their operations during peak demands in exchange for energy credits.
- Riot blockchain received $9.5M in credits in July during the extreme heat wave.
- Democratic lawmakers see this as: "the Bitcoin miners make money from mining that produces major strains on the electric grid, and during peak demand when the profitability of continuing to mine decreases, they then collect subsidies in the form of demand response payments when they shut off their mining operations and do nothing."
- Over the past 10 years, 30 crypto mining companies have been operating in Texas due to cheap energy, low state taxes, and land availability.
- "Crypto mining is adding significant demand to an already unreliable grid," reads a statement in a Wednesday letter from lawmakers.
- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is a proponent of the crypto mining sector and recently said, "Count me in as a crypto law proposal supporter." He has invited more crypto-mining companies to the state.
The Verge
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China's CBDC, e-CNY, reached $13.9B worth of transaction volume, an increase of 14% this year. China has become a global leader in CBDC development; e-CNY is the most widely adopted central bank digital currency in the world and is still undergoing a pilot test. More: - People's Bank of China confirmed that the e-CNY had reached $13.9B in transaction volume as of Aug. 31.
- The transaction volumes increased by 21% from June to August.
- China is still in its pilot testing period for the CBDC, which reached $360M by the end of summer, and 5.6 million stores have supported the digital currency as a legal tender.
- Chinese institutions also support the digital yuan for many use cases, including tax refunds, medical insurance, and more.
- Although there has been an uptick of adoption in the digital currency by 14%, it is still a slowdown compared to the 154% growth last year.
- China's digital currency is being rolled out incrementally, with Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen already being covered.
Zoom out: - The Reserve Bank of India plans to launch its CBDC, which it calls the e-rupee, in various phases.
- India will launch its large-scale pilot project this year, which will be divided into two segments:
- The wholesale segment will have an account-based CBDC.
- The retail sector will have a token-based currency.
- Privacy and data protection are major concerns when designing the digital rupee.
- India's stance on crypto resembles a hot and cold relationship; for instance, in 2018, regulators banned crypto startups from using the country's payment system. This year lawmakers added a 1% transactional tax.
Coin Desk
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The Ripple v. SEC lawsuit has been ongoing since December 2020, but Ripple CEO Brad Garlinhouse believes that the court will reach a verdict before June next year. Ripple executive believes that it will win the case over the SEC, and if it loses, then the company will officially leave the U.S. More: - The SEC sued Ripple for selling unregistered securities when the executives raised $1.3B through the sale of XRP tokens from 2013 to 2020.
- Ripple argued that it has not violated any securities laws as XRP is not a security, and there was no indication that the security watchdog was probing the company.
- Garlinghouse argues that the SEC "should not be able to cherry-pick what innovation looks like, especially when their decision directly benefits China."
- He also explained that the XRP has no liquidity in the U.S.
- Ripple believes that the lawsuit attacks the crypto industry; the verdict will determine the industry's future.
- In related news, Ripple formed new partnerships in France and Sweden for online marketplaces and remittance payments between Sweden and Thailand.
- The XRP gained momentum in European markets; however, the token declined by 7% over the past 24 hours. XRP is currently trading at $0.48 at the time of writing.
Crypto Potato
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Binance, a crypto exchange, permanently burned $547M worth of BNB tokens. The company burns tokens quarterly as part of its Pioneer Burn Program; LUNC tokens were also burned this year. More: - Binance announced that it had destroyed 2,065,152 BNB tokens valued at $547M through its Pioneer Burn Program.
- The Pioneer Burn Program was launched in 2020, which helps eligible users who lost tokens due to mistakes while experimenting on the Binance Smart Chain.
- The program covers qualified user losses and counts the lost tokens in the quarterly token burn activities.
- Binance covers these losses and returns the lost tokens to users.
- The crypto exchange committed to burning 20% profits each quarter; in 2021, Binance burned $600M in BNB.
- The company burned nearly 3 billion Terra Classic (LUNC) tokens worth $1M on Oct. 10, reducing LUNC supply to 6.88 trillion.
- The Terra Class price rose 4% as a result.
Coin Telegraph
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 |  | Gia Mattu is based in Calgary, Alberta. She is an entrepreneur with experience in climate technology, drones, AI, machine learning, and blockchain technology. When she's not working, she loves to hike the Canadian Rockies, try new cuisine, and travel. | | | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 and 1972 Fords. | |
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