Crypto Daily Digest - August 16th

DeFi

• Coinbase will briefly pause new ETH and ERC-20 token deposits and withdrawals during the Ethereum merger. Source
• DeFi lending protocol Compound will launch Compound III. Source
• Polygon announced the open-sourcing of its zero-knowledge proof systems Plonky2 and Starky. Source
• Jump Crypto will build a new validator client for Solana. Source
• Lido will expand to Optimism and Arbitrum as the first step of its Layer2 plan, with smart contracts deployed. Source
• Nansen has launched statistical tool Nansen Portfolio. Source
• NYC Deputy Mayor of Public Safety had bought between $15,000 and $150,000 worth of $BTC and $ETH. Source
• DeFi protocols Iron Bank, Yearn Finance and Homora join Optimism. Source
• Celsius report shows $2.8 billion in crypto liabilities. Source
• BitGo says it has received a new all-cash offer. Source
• Crypto lender Hodlnaut seeks creditor protection in Singapore. Source
• Data: Total market contracts liquidated about $71.55 million in 12 hours. Source
• Starkware launches recursive proofs to boost Layer 2 scaling. Source
• NFT valuation system Abacus enters into partnership with Redacted Cartel. Source
• Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual launches crypto exchange Mynt. Source
• Coinbase Wallet integrates with block browser Etherscan. Source
• Crypto custody firm BitGo to sue Galaxy Digital for abandoning $1.2B Merger agreement. Source
• Cosmos-based liquid staking protocol Stride will airdrop $ST to stakers of $ATOM, $OSMO and $JUNO. Source
• Digital assets financial services company EQONEX will close its crypto exchange. Source
• Coinbase will list $CELR. Source
• Acala community voted to pass the proposal to burn erroneously minted $aUSD. Source
• NEAR-based crypto derivatives DEX Spin partners with Axelar Network. Source
• Huobi will end crypto derivatives trading in New Zealand on August 23rd. Source
• Multichain integrates with Step Network. Source
• Kujira launched an accelerator program called Kujira Labs. Source
• 1inch Network integrates with Aurora. Source
• Layer1 blockchain Canto announced token distribution details at Genesis. Source
• Arbitrum has hired former Amazon executive Andrew Saunders as its first chief market officer. Source

NFT

• The IP rights agreement for the CryptoPunks collection is now live. Source
• Data: Bored Ape Yacht Club 24 hours trading volume is up 103.39%. Source
• Cardano developer Input Output partners with NFT infrastructure platform NMKR. Source
• Polygon Studios partners with NFT project PolkaPets to launch PolygonPets. Source

Fundings

• Digital business bank Arc closed a $20 million Series A funding round led by Left Lane. Source
• Game developer Regression Games closed a $4.2 million seed funding round with participation from a16z and others. Source