The Friday Focus: Issue 74
Our weekly news recap. Curated by us, for you.
We’re moving!
Introducing K33 Research.
As part of Arcane’s operational reorganization, we’re unifying our growing private wealth businesses under a new business unit called K33. As part of our rebranding, we’re moving to a new and improved platform and launching a new research subscription service. The Friday Focus will still be our free weekly newsletter.
Look out for updates next week as we finish our transition to our new research platform. We’re excited to enter this new phase together with you.
We understand that this might be confusing, so do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions - just reply to this email!
-K33 Research Team
Weekly happenings
Another slow news week, but we’re here to take you through the highlights. Coinbase is in focus this week, Paxos is trying to please the SEC, and well-known names such as Microsoft and Google are making headlines with crypto-related partnerships. Let’s dive into it!
Top stories
Coinbase beat Q4 expectations this week despite falling 57% year-over-year. The company also announced a new Ethereum Layer 2 network called Base and a new developer fund. After the announcement, the crypto degens pumped a totally unrelated cryptocurrency called BASE over 250%. Classic crypto.
After last week’s news around Paxos and Binance’s BUSD, Paxos has now ended its relationship with Binance and says it’s in constructive discussions with the SEC.
Hong Kong is lifting the ban on retail crypto trading, and further south, Australian regulators are reviewing Binance Australia’s derivatives services after Binance closed the positions of 500 clients without notice. Moving to the US, CoinEX is getting sued over lack of registration in New York, and the FTC is investigating Voyager’s “deceptive and unfair” crypto marketing. In Europe, it looks like banning self-hosted wallets was avoided in a new EU anti-money laundering bill.
The two tech giants, Google and Microsoft, continue exploring the crypto space, with Google becoming a Tezos validator and Microsoft partnering with Ankr to offer blockchain node infrastructure services. Even Spotify is in the news this week, testing token-enabled music playlists.
Layoffs are still ongoing in the industry, with the latest being Polygon Labs letting 20% of its staff go in a consolidation effort and Messari cutting 15% of its workforce as part of a restructuring.
In other news, the second-largest bank in Germany, DZ, is partnering with Metaco to enable crypto custody, FTX Japan is opening up for withdrawals again, and Yield Guild Games is raising $75 million for a venture fund to double down on web3 gaming.
That’s all folks - have a great weekend!
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