Daily Crypto #88

Coinbase manager pleads guilty to insider trading, Lido V2 upgrade will allow flexibility in validator models, WazirX prepares to do battle with Binance, ChatGPT ENS domain name sells for over $10,000

Coinbase manager pleads guilty to insider trading as SEC eyes regulatory monopoly

Source: coinbase.com

Former Coinbase product manager Ishan Wahi has pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud connected to an insider trading scheme at the U.S. exchange.

In a Feb. 7, 2023 court hearing, Wahi admitted to sharing data about forthcoming Coinbase cryptocurrency listings with his younger sibling Nikhil and their friend Sameer Ramani. The rise in the value of the tokens after their Coinbase listing allowed the younger Wahi and their mutual friend to reap at least $1.5 million in profits illegally, U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors asserted.

Ex-Coinbase manager faces 3-4 year sentence as brother serves jail time

Ishan Wahi pleaded not guilty last year after a Twitter user unveiled an Ethereum wallet holding hundreds of thousands of crypto tokens bought 24 hours before they were listed on Coinbase. The wallet belonged to Ramani, who purchased the tokens using Wahi’s information.

Federal Judge Preska has set May 10, 2023, as the hearing date for sentencing. Ishan Wahi will likely be imprisoned for 36 to 47 months, while his brother is currently serving a ten-month sentence after pleading guilty to a similar wire fraud charge last year.

Lido V2 upgrade will allow greater flexibility in validator models

Source: lido.fi

Liquid staking protocol Lido introduces V2 of its protocol to expand Ethereum Node Operator configurations and test withdrawals of ETH.

The protocol will introduce a Staking Router smart contract to modularize node operator registries containing validators’ private keys to achieve this.

Staking Router smart contract modularizes

According to a blog post, separate registries will enable rapid prototyping of different Node operator topologies, whose diversity will improve Ethereum’s decentralization and resistance to 51% attacks.

The Staking Router smart contract will afford developers flexibility in assigning different fee structures for different topologies, with the potential to reduce gas costs by moving validator keys off-chain. Additionally, the smart contract will coordinate ETH withdrawals and deposits according to Lido’s stake distribution mechanism.

Indian exchange WazirX prepares to do battle with Binance

Source: wazirx.com

The Indian exchange WazirX has stepped its beef with Binance, calling recent statements false and misleading.

WazirX and Binance have been involved in the public debate over the ownership of the former since Aug. Nischal Shetty, the co-founder of the Indian exchange, claims that Binance acquired WazirX. Whereas Changpeng Zhao, the exchange’s co-founder, has refuted the claims.

Last week, Binance announced that it would terminate the wallet services to WazirX and cut all ties with the Indian exchange. The company made this decision after WazirX declined to retract its statements on the ownership of the exchange.

WazirX plans to tackle Binance head on

This announcement sparked panic among the crypto exchange users as the exchange stored 90% of its assets on Binance. The community questioned whether the funds were safe with WazirX.

Later, the Nischal Shetty-led exchange cleared the air by announcing that they were transferring assets to multisig wallets. The tweet clarified that users’ funds were safe with WazirX.

ChatGPT ENS domain name sells for over $10,000

Source: openai.com

A ChatGPT ENS domain name has sold for 6 WETH, or about $10,000, on OpenSea. AI-related assets in the crypto space seem to be benefiting from the interest in ChatGPT.

The ENS domain name for ChatGPT was sold for 6 WETH (just under $10,000). The asset is owned by ishmilly, who owns several other notable NFTs, including a few Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs and other ENS domain names.

The interest in AI has skyrocketed since ChatGPT’s current version became popular. Tokens like SingularityNET have also seen a huge increase in value as the AI mania spills over into the crypto market.

Interest in ENS domain names is low

While ChatGPT-related ENS domain names appear to be popular, the total interest in these domain names is low. Data from Dune shows that new registrations and addresses are at a low, dropping over the past few months.

Ethereum Name Service recently partnered with Coinbase to bring human-readable domain names to the platform. This may help with the flagging growth in ENS domain names.

New cryptocurrency listing on Binance

• Binance Options will list additional BTCUSDT monthly options (02.07.2023).

• Binance Futures will launch USDⓈ-M MINA and HIGH perpetual contracts with up to 20X leverage (02.03.2023).

• Binance adds AGIX on cross margin & isolated margin (02.02.2023).

• Binance Futures will launch USDⓈ-M RNDR perpetual contracts with up to 20X leverage (02.02.2023).

• Binance Options will launch BTCUSDT daily options (02.01.2023).

• Binance adds HOOK on cross margin & isolated margin (02.01.2023).