#75 Coinbase Under Attack Again. PwC & Chainlink team up to target enterprise blockchain applications.

Mar 24, 2023

Disclaimer: Everything we write in "The Crypto Insider Report" is an x-ray of the industry as we see it, through the lens of publicly available information. We are not financial advisors.

Coinbase Under Attack Again

Another week, another SEC vs Crypto type of action. Wednesday, Coinbase said it received a Wells notice from the SEC, focused on staking services and asset listings. This kind of notice usually informs a business that an enforcement action is coming.

This is yet another episode in Coinbase’s saga with trying to navigate regulations within the US. According to CoinDesk, they have engaged in over 60 distinct discussions with the Commission over regulatory matters and the agency declined to offer any answers or advice. It’s worth pointing out that the regulatory situation in the US right now is vague to say the list. As Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase, mentioned in a twitter thread, even the CFTC and the SEC - the federal regulators for commodities and securities - don’t currently agree on whether Ethereum is a commodity or a security. So what is a company like Coinbase to do?

paulgrewal.eth @iampaulgrewal

Coinbase received a Wells notice from the SEC. After years of asking for reasonable crypto rules, we're disappointed that the SEC is considering courts over constructive dialogue. But if courts are required, so be it. We'll defend the rule of law. 1/15 coinbase.com/blog/we-asked-…

This is not an isolated incident. Several anti Crypto moves have recently happened in the US. Some call this Operation Choke Point. It’s not clear what the general expected direction is for Crypto regulation, but as the CoinDesk piece mentions, as US-based stablecoins are being targeted, more and more people resort to using USDT, the offshore stablecoin with constant questions about its backing. So while the narrative is that consumers should be protected, what actually is happening is that non-US products and businesses are gaining market share, making it even harder for US regulators to protect the mentioned consumers. Quite odd.

Mihnea

Finally, Arbitrum

This past week, Arbitrum has been the talk of the town. And rightfully so! They finally released $ARB, the ecosystem’s token, the one seemingly everyone has been farming, myself included. So the wait is finally over, we’ve finally got a governance token. Did you get it? If not and you’re wondering why, check out the criteria using their website.

Yesterday, more than 600.000 wallets were able to claim their share of the airdrop but speculation started way before the token hit the market. Since the Arbitrum Foundation’s announcement of the airdrop, OTC trades started speculating what the token’s value could settle at. Judging on Optimism’s performance and market cap, some degens started calculating the price at which we could see $ARB. And Dune wizards did what they do best - and created a complete dashboard for tracking the airdrop. Thanks for that. At the time of writing, more than 75% of the airdrop has been claimed, so we can expect considerably lower selling pressure and perhaps see consolidation and expansion.

When it hit the market, $ARB had a bottom of $1.1 where lots of investors stepped in and bought it all the way up to $1.6 (currently Binance’s highest selling price). But if we look onchain, where the magic happens first, we get a different picture:

A handful of people were able to sell their tokens at incredibly high prices - those were the ones who interacted with the pool first. So if you knew how to claim the airdrop without interacting with the Arbitrum Foundation website (props to the llama team for building their tools that allowed us to), you could’ve been one of those selling for $10, $4 or even $2. An obvious premium to the current market which allows you to buy back your tokens at a lower price if you’re bullish.

So where’s this heading? Well, Arbitrum is considered by many to be better than Optimism so it’s no surprise that it has 3x the market share. Will the US regulation scare off this L2 season we’ve got going on? I hope not, otherwise, I'll be left holding the bag.

Matei

PwC & Chainlink Labs team up to target enterprise blockchain applications

Prominent blockchain-based oracle service provider Chainlink has entered into a strategic partnership with the German subsidiary of Big 4 accounting firm, PwC. According to the press release shared by the protocol, the partnership will be tailored toward the development and advancement of enterprise blockchain integration.

Per the partnership details, Chainlink will work directly with companies associated with PwC Germany who is interested in embracing blockchain technology but without the expertise required. This expertise is classified into the development of smart contracts and enterprise node operation.

This is not PWC’s first contact with blockchain technology. PwC Germany has been involved with blockchain technology through developing in-house blockchain solutions such as Blockchain Explorer and Transaction Analyzer – BETA, Tokenization Framework, Smart Contract Formal Verification Framework, Digital Asset Valuation Model and Travel Rule Integration. They also provide an array of services such as technology assessment and strategy, ecosystem management, technology consulting, and more. The organization's recent report "Time for Trust" further highlights how blockchain technology has the potential to bring fundamental changes to the corporate world, to economic processes, and to society as a whole.

"We're pleased to enter into a strategic partnership with Chainlink Labs as integration & development partner to help accelerate the enterprise adoption of blockchain technology" said Dimitri Gross, Technology Interest Group Lead for Digital Assets and Crypto at PwC Germany. "PwC Germany and Chainlink Labs aim to help accelerate enterprise adoption of blockchain technology in key enterprise sectors such as capital markets, ushering in a new era of transactional security, transparency, and efficiency. We are excited to empower businesses with the knowledge, integrations, and solutions they need to seamlessly and securely interface with the growing blockchain economy."

News of such partnerships excites me a lot because it helps transfer authority to the blockchain industry and it offers a bridge toward widespread adoption. In this case, the two partners seem to complement each other perfectly which should help avoid bottlenecks that enterprises previously experienced when interacting with blockchain solutions.

Evelyne

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