Adapted from The Block’s Newsletter, The Daily

Happy Tuesday! It’s eerily quiet in the crypto market as participants await a fresh catalyst, giving you the perfect opportunity to catch up on the industry’s latest.

In today’s newsletter:
– Unichain goes live on mainnet
– Fed Chair Jerome Powell calls for a ‘fresh look’ at crypto debanking
– Binance and the SEC file a joint motion to halt their legal dispute
– Trump-supported DeFi project World Liberty Financial partners with Ondo Finance to expand tokenized RWA adoption

Let’s get started.

Uniswap Labs Releases Unichain on Mainnet

Uniswap Labs has launched its Layer 2 Unichain on mainnet, marking its second major product release in two weeks following Uniswap V4.

• Unichain aims to improve network security, minimize maximal extractable value (MEV), and accelerate Ethereum’s rollup-centric roadmap.
• Uniswap founder Hayden Adams stated, “For us, just having the most used on-chain protocol and one of the most popular front-end interfaces, I think that over the years we’ve learned a lot.”
• Innovations include a new block-building system called Rollup-Boost for faster block times and a fair priority gas auction system to reduce MEV activities.
• Users can stake UNI tokens and run nodes for enhanced security, with 65% of Unichain’s net chain revenue going to validators and stakers.

Fed Chair Powell ‘Struck’ by Crypto Debanking

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell noted the increasing prevalence of debanking in the crypto industry, requiring a fresh look at the issue.

• “We don’t intentionally do these things, but sometimes regulation leads things to happen, and we need to be working on that,” Powell stated.
• Powell indicated that banks can serve crypto customers if they can manage the associated risks.
• Debanking has been scrutinized recently with investigations in Washington.

Binance and SEC Halt Legal Dispute for 60 Days

Binance and the SEC filed a joint motion to pause their legal case for 60 days to consider the new crypto task force’s impact on regulation.

• The SEC had originally filed a complaint against Binance in June 2023.
• Under new leadership, the SEC plans to clarify which crypto assets are securities and scale back enforcement efforts.
• Trump’s nominee for SEC Chair, crypto-friendly former regulator Paul Atkins, awaits Senate confirmation.

OpenSea Refutes ‘False’ KYC Rumors for Token Airdrop

NFT marketplace OpenSea denied rumors that KYC would be required for a potential token airdrop.

• Rumors were sparked by terms of service on a test website linked to the OpenSea Foundation.
• CEO Devin Finzer addressed that the information was misinterpreted and not reflective of actual policies.
• OpenSea has not confirmed any plans for a token airdrop despite speculation.

CAR Memecoin Collapses 97% from Peak

The Central African Republic’s memecoin, CAR, has collapsed around 97% from its peak just two days after launching.

• The cryptocurrency dropped from a market cap of $894 million to around $29 million.
• Dealings with the memecoin have been met with skepticism despite ongoing promotion by the country’s President.

In the Next 24 Hours

• U.S. CPI inflation data release at 8:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday (Est. MoM 0.3%; Core 0.3%).
• Jerome Powell testifies on economic outlook at 10 a.m.
• Ethena unlocks 7.93 million ENA tokens worth $3.6 million; Aethir releases 630 million ATH tokens.
• World Web3 Expo begins in Dubai.

Never miss a beat with The Block’s daily digest of the most influential events across the digital asset ecosystem.