Grayscale joins Bitwise in filing to launch a standalone Aave product in the US, betting that Wall Street has retained its appetite for altcoins. Crypto asset manager Grayscale filed for regulatory approval to convert its trust tracking the token of the decentralized lending protocol Aave into an exchange-traded fund. The company filed a Form S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, saying it intends to convert the trust and rename it the Grayscale Aave Trust ETF. Grayscale added that it plans to list the fund on NYSE Arca, one of the most popular exchanges for trading ETFs, under the ticker “GAVE.” It will charge a 2.5% fee, and Coinbase will serve as both its custodian and prime broker. Read more
The $940 billion asset manager will collaborate on DeFi lending infrastructure and could acquire up to 90 million MORPHO tokens. Traditional finance giant Apollo Global Management Inc. has signed a partnership agreement with decentralized lending platform Morpho to take a significant stake in the project and help support its blockchain lending infrastructure. The move was announced on Friday by the Morpho Association, the nonprofit organization behind the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform. The partnership, or “cooperation agreement,” will see Apollo or its affiliates buy up to 90 million Morpho (MORPHO) governance tokens over the next four years, representing 9% of the total 1 billion-token supply of MORPHO. Read more
Blockstream's Adam Back said BIP-110 could be used to freeze user funds, but the proposal’s creator argues there are safeguards in place to prevent it. Blockstream CEO Adam Back has opposed a proposal aimed at reducing Ordinals-like “spam” on Bitcoin, warning that the fix could do more harm than good to the network’s credibility. Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP-110) was proposed by pseudonymous Bitcoin developer Dathon Ohm in December. Nearly 7.5% of Bitcoin nodes — all of which are Bitcoin Knots clients — have signaled readiness for BIP-110, according to data. The proposal seeks to temporarily shrink how much data can be stored in Bitcoin transactions to reduce the amount of images, videos, audios and other “data abuse” flooding the network. Read more
Transparency, which is a hallmark feature of most cryptocurrencies, is likely one of the biggest hurdles to mass adoption, the Binance founder said. The lack of privacy for onchain transactions is one of the biggest hurdles to the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies for payments and a medium of exchange, according to Changpeng Zhao, co-founder of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange. The executive commonly known as “CZ” said the lack of privacy prevents businesses and institutions from paying expenses in crypto. He gave this example: In a previous conversation with investor and host of the All-In Podcast Chamath Palihapitiya, CZ also cited physical security concerns as a reason why onchain transparency is a risk to users. The comments follow a revival of privacy and the cypherpunk ethos in crypto. Read more
The purchase will mark week 12 of consecutive buys by Strategy, which continues accumulating BTC despite a sharp decline in the company's stock price. Michael Saylor, the co-founder of Bitcoin (BTC) treasury company Strategy, signaled that the company is acquiring more BTC amid the ongoing market dip, marking week 12 of a consecutive buying streak. Saylor posted the Strategy BTC accumulation chart via the X social media platform on Sunday. The chart has become synonymous with BTC purchases made by the company, which is touting its upcoming 99th BTC transaction. Strategy’s most recent BTC purchase occurred on Feb.9, when the company bought 1,142 BTC for more than $90 million, bringing its total holdings to 714,644 BTC, valued at about $49.3 billion using market prices at the time of publication. Read more