Crypto Daily Digest - August 30th

Ethereum mainnet Merge countdown: 16 days until the expected date (September 15th).

DeFi

• Aave's new proposal suggests pausing $ETH borrowing before the Ethereum Merge. Source
• Optimism ecosystem perpetual swap exchange Pika Protocol announced the $OP distribution plan. Source
• OptiFi: 661,000 $USDC was locked by mistake, and the compensation will be made on September 2nd. Source
• PeckShieldAlert: ethfork2[.] com is a phishing site. Source
• Apollo DAO will launch a liquid staking solution for Cosmos. Source
• Law firm Roche Freeman received over 4 million $AVAX from Ava Labs, Crypto Leaks claims. Source
• Loop Finance launches its DEX aggregator. Source
• Nomad has partnered with Chainalysis team to track hackers. Source

Infrastructure

• Cross-chain interoperability network Axelar will release $AXL in a few weeks. Source
• Ethereum Layer2 scaling solution Myria goes live and launches Myria Wallet and NFT marketplace. Source
• Boba Network announces engineering roadmap 2022-2023. Source
• Crypto custody firm Fireblocks launches support for Solana via Web3 Engine. Source

Metaverse & NFTs

• Magic Eden launches Bear Market in collaboration with Okay Bears. Source
• PeckShieldAlert: blockchain game HeroCat's token $HCK has dropped 94%. Source
• Meta allows posting NFTs on Facebook and Instagram. Source
• Trust Wallet integrates with Solana NFTs. Source

CeFi

• Nexo commits additional $50 million to $NEXO buyback initiative. Source
• Founder of Turkish crypto exchange Thodex arrested in Albania. Source 
• Elon Musk sent a second letter calling off the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter. Source
• Binance Australia ramping up measures to protect vulnerable users. Source
• FTX will support the Arbitrum network upgrade. Source
• Data: 7,507 $BTC has been taken off exchanges in last 7 days. Source
• Coinbase will list $OOKI. Source
• Robinhood will pause withdrawals for tokens including $ETH during Ethereum Merge. Source

Policy & Regulation

• Russian Prime Minister: It is necessary to adopt digital assets as a "safe alternative" to cross-border payments. Source 
• Hodlnaut placed under Interim Judicial Management by Singapore court. Source

Fundings

• DeFi oracle platform RedStone closed a $7 million seed round with participation from Coinbase Ventures and others. Source
• Seven Seven Six, a venture capital firm led by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, is raising a $177.6 million crypto investment fund Kryptós. Source
• Temasek will lead $100 million funding for crypto landlord Animoca. Source
• Web3 Game Developer Xterio raises $40M co-led by FTX Ventures and others. Source
• Solana-based automation network Clockwork raises $4M in seed round co-led by Multicoin Capital and Asymmetric. Source