Stablecoins are publicly supporting ETH 2.0

Good morning. Today we've got an update on the widespread Solana exploit, projects publicly supporting Ethereum 2.0, and Coinbase arguing in front of the Supreme Court. All that and more today!

Market Update (as of 8:30am ET):

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Top 5:

1. Solana’s $6M exploit likely tied to Slope wallet, developers say. The finger of blame for yesterday's Solana exploit is being pointed at the makers of the Slope wallet. The prevailing thought from developers on Twitter is that Slope stored private keys as plain text on a centralized server which once compromised gave the attackers the ability to drain users' wallets. Developers at crypto wallet company Phantom, which also experienced exploitations during the attack, pointed to "complications related to importing accounts to and from Slope."

2. Frax Finance proposes rejection of any Ethereum proof of work fork. As we approach the Merge and Ethereum 2.0, some projects are publicly backing the proof-of-stake project and disavowing any forks that would see a proof-of-work Ethereum chain continue. Frax, the 5th largest stablecoin, has a proposal on their governance page that would only allow their stablecoins to be redeemed on the Ethereum proof-of-stake mainnet following the Merge. If the proposal is passed, this would made Frax the first decentralized stablecoin issuer to publicly support ETH2. Stablecoin issuer Tether also indicated over the weekend that they plan to support the new blockchain.

3. Riot Blockchain mined 28% less bitcoin in July as heat wave cut power supply. The July heat wave in Texas that saw power grid operator, ERCOT, ask bitcoin miners to power down machines to avoid blackouts resulted in Riot Blockchain mining 28% fewer bitcoin than last July. In return, Riot received $9.5 million in power credits and other benefits. The tradeoff between miners and ERCOT was mutually beneficial this go-around, but it remains to be seen if mining companies will be able to halt mining and remain profitable during prolonged price slumps.

4. Coinbase asks US Supreme Court to halt lawsuits connected to scams and Dogecoin. The exchange is pushing to move two lawsuits against the company to arbitration and argues that arbitration is required under its user agreements. The first case, Coinbase v. Bielski, saw Coinbase user Abraham Bielski lose $31,000 after being targeted by scammers. In the second case, Suski v. Coinbase, the exchange is accused of violating California consumer law by holding an allegedly misleading $1.2 million “sweepstakes” event involving memecoin Dogecoin without including adequate disclaimers and disclosures about the nature of the sweepstakes. Coinbase says the trial court proceedings should pause while they argue for an appeal.

5. Binance to sell NFT tickets for Lazio football club. The global crypto exchange is partnering with Italian soccer team Società Sportiva Lazio to offer NFT tickets to all home matches for the 2022-23 season. According to Binance, NFTs as tickets addressed several issues in the market today including forgery, overbooking, and distribution. Fans with NFT tickets will receive a 10% discount on items in the team store and receive access to "exclusive" club events.

Updates and other stories:
- Crypto booster Michelle Bond is running for Congress — with help from her FTX exec boyfriend...Read More
- Robinhood April cuts ‘did not go far enough’ says CEO amid new layoffs...Read More
- Starbucks teases web3 updates to its popular rewards program...Read More

Top Sharers of the Crypto Top 5:
1. Donna Y. - Nashville, TN
2. Jake Y. - Greenville, SC
3. Forrest H. - Evansville, IN

External Resources:
1. Cryptopedia from Gemini - if you see a word, acronym, or phrase in this newsletter that you don't understand, there's a good chance you can find an explanation here
2. Crypto Explainer+ - intro level courses on Bitcoin, Ethereum, decentralized finance, NFTs, and more
3. Crypto Jobs! - looking for a new job? Check out this page from Anthony Pompliano with hundreds, if not thousands of listings

Disclaimer: The information contained in this newsletter shall not be understood or construed as financial advice. I am not an attorney, accountant, or financial advisor, nor am I holding myself out to be, and the information provided is not a substitute for financial advice from a professional who is aware of the facts and circumstances of your individual situation.