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Vanguard Appoints BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF Manager as New CEO
Vanguard has appointed Salim Ramji, former BlackRock executive and key player in the launch of iShares Bitcoin Trust, as its new CEO. This appointment is surprising given Vanguard’s historically negative stance on cryptocurrencies, but Ramji’s pro-Bitcoin background could signal a potential strategy change for the asset manager.
Vanguard is one of the world’s largest asset management funds, alongside BlackRock, offering low-cost investment solutions through index funds and ETFs for individual and institutional investors.
It will be interesting to see if Ramji will attempt to give Vanguard investors access to cryptocurrencies, as he did for BlackRock investors. Vanguard currently refuses to list Bitcoin Spot ETFs on its exchange and has no plans to launch its own ETF at the moment.
ETH: Vitalik Buterin Proposes Overhaul of Gas Fee System on Ethereum
Vitalik Buterin’s EIP 7706 proposes creating a separate pricing mechanism for data transferred in transactions, separate from the costs of contract execution and data storage.
This new approach would introduce a transaction type that provides distinct values for computation gas, blob gas (data for rollups), and call data gas (storage) through a vector defining max_basefee and priority_fee.
The main goal of this new pricing is to reduce costs associated with data-rich but computationally light transactions.
Alexey Pertsev, Developer of Tornado Cash, Convicted of Money Laundering
Alexey Pertsev, developer of Tornado Cash, has been sentenced to 64 months in prison by a Dutch court for money laundering.
Arrested in August 2022, Pertsev was found guilty of allowing the use of Tornado Cash, a crypto mixer, for illicit transactions. This conviction could impact the development of open-source privacy protocols and influence future trials of other Tornado Cash developers.
The Dutch judge found Alexey Pertsev guilty of money laundering, concluding that he had ‘consciously accepted the significant risk’ that illicit funds would be deposited into the Tornado Cash system. The court determined that Pertsev must have known that the platform, by obfuscating transaction traces, would facilitate money laundering, and this indeed occurred on a large scale.
Appeal Process and Alexey Pertsev’s Options
Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev has filed an appeal.
It could be several months before the first hearing of the appeal takes place. The court has been unable to confirm whether the appeal has been accepted. Alexey Pertsev also has the option, if he wishes, to request to await the appellate trial at home.
Lido Founders Secretly Backing EigenLayer Competitor Symbiotic
The founders of Lido and Paradigm are secretly supporting Symbiotic, a new competitor to EigenLayer in the DeFi space.
Symbiotic offers an innovative approach to restaking by accepting all ERC-20 tokens and promises integrations with key industry players, with a planned launch by the end of the year.
This backing could reshape the restaking landscape, challenging EigenLayer’s current dominance and redefining Lido’s position in the decentralized finance ecosystem.
Tether Rejects Ripple CEO’s FUD About US Regulatory Attack
Tether rejects Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse’s accusations of a potential regulatory attack against USDT.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino accuses Garlinghouse of spreading fear and highlights Tether’s compliance, having frozen over $1.3 billion in assets in collaboration with authorities.
Despite Ripple’s ongoing lawsuit with the SEC and their plan to launch a competing stablecoin in 2024, Paolo Ardoino defends USDT as the most used and compliant stablecoin, cooperating with 124 agencies in over 40 countries.
Worldcoin Removes Collected Iris Codes and Introduces Data Security System
The Worldcoin Foundation has removed collected iris codes and launched an open-source system based on secure multiparty computation (SMPC) to enhance the protection of biometric data. This initiative, in response to privacy concerns, aims to establish a new security standard for sensitive information, strengthening the security of digital identities.
Brief News
- The US Senate votes to scrap SEC’s anti-crypto policy, SAB 121
- Ethereum: ETH could surprise the market upwards, according to Coinbase
- BTC: 600 companies reveal $3.5 billion invested in Bitcoin Spot ETFs
- Binance will be under total surveillance of the Forensic Risk Alliance for 3 years
- Deutsche Bank partners with Singapore’s asset tokenization project
- ‘CryptoDad’: Former CFTC chairman Giancarlo joins Paxos board of directors
- Wisconsin State reveals it purchased nearly $100 million of BlackRock’s Bitcoin Spot ETF
- USDC: Circle leaves Ireland for the US, exploring a public listing
- Futures exchange leader CME Group set to offer Bitcoin spot trading
