Uniswap & SEC | Worldcoin & 10m wallets | Circle & BlackRock | Adidas & Stepn | UK & crypto regulation
09.04.-15.04.2024
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1 | SEC moves to sue Uniswap
The Securities and Exchange Commission warned Uniswap on Wednesday that it intends to bring an enforcement action against the company, which is the leading platform for DeFi—a segment of the crypto market where traders rely on computer protocols that act as automated market makers for exchanging various tokens. The warning came in the form of a so-called Wells Notice, which the SEC sends to a company prior to launching a formal lawsuit and which provides it a final opportunity to rebut any allegations. In this case, that process is likely to prove little more than a formality as the agency has reportedly been investigating Uniswap for some time, and is in the midst of a sweeping crackdown on the crypto industry. When reached for comment, an agency spokesperson said: “The SEC does not comment on the existence or nonexistence of a possible investigation.”
2 | Worldcoin-compatible wallet surpasses 10 million users
Tools for Humanity’s Worldcoin -compatible wallet has acquired more than 10 million users. The World App wallet boasts users in more than 160 countries, including 2 million daily active users, its maker Tools for Humanity (TFH) said Thursday in a statement. The uptick in users dovetails with the rollout of new data management tools for users of Worldcoin, the iris-enabled biometric cryptocurrency project founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. "We’re of course thrilled about the milestone, but even more so about the real world impact it represents,” TFH Product Head Tiago Sada said Thursday in a statement.
https://www.theblock.co/post/287876/worldcoin-compatible-wallet-surpasses-10-million-users
3 | Circle launches smart contract support for BlackRock
Stablecoin issuer Circle has implemented smart contract support for investors of the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL). The move provides an off-ramp for BUIDL holders, allowing them to transfer their shares to Circle, according to a release issued Thursday. "USDC enables investors to move out of tokenized assets at speed, lowering costs and removing friction," said Circle Co-Founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire in a statement. "We're thrilled to provide this functionality to BUIDL investors and deliver the core benefits of blockchain transactions via USDC availability to investors."
4 | Adidas partners with crypto fitness app Stepn
Shoe and sports apparel giant Adidas is teaming up with the Solana-based fitness app Stepn, the latter announced on Monday. The partnership will kick off with a batch of 1,000 NFTs called the Stepn x Adidas Genesis Sneakers collection. It's based on some of Adidas's "most iconic running silhouettes," according to a statement. "This genesis collection is the first of a series of co-branded activities between Stepn and Adidas over a one-year partnership that will see further NFT drops and physical, wearable items on the roadmap," Stepn said in its statement. The NFT collection is slated to drop later this week on April 17, via Stepn’s sister non-fungible token marketplace Mooar.
5 | UK to Issue New Crypto, Stablecoin Legislation
The U.K. government is set to put forward legislation for stablecoins as well as for crypto staking, exchange and custody by June or July, Economic Secretary Bim Afolami said at the Innovate Finance Global Summit on Monday. "We are now working at pace to deliver the legislation to put our final proposals for our regime in place," Afolami said. "Once it goes live, a whole host of crypto asset activities, including operating an exchange, taking custody of customers’ assets and other things, will come within the regulatory perimeter for the first time."
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