What time is it? Don't ask Solana.
Good morning. Fidelity wants to give you a crypto job, Polkadot roles out liquid staking, and Terra investigations ramp up in South Korea. All that and more today in the CT5!
Market Update (as of 9:50am ET):
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Top 5:
1. Fidelity Digital Assets plans to double headcount this year. According to reports from the Wall Street Journal, the subsidiary of financial services giant Fidelity, will reportedly add 110 employees in tech, recruiting, engineering, and developer roles in order to meet the growing demand for crypto trading from institutional investors. The additional headcount will be used to expand trading capabilities to include ether, in addition to bitcoin support which is already offered by the firm. Fidelity will also focus on providing faster transactions, 24-hour trading support, and tax and compliance tools.
2. Polkadot’s Moonbeam adds liquid staking giant Lido. Polkadot is bringing liquid staking to its network of blockchains via Moonbeam. Moonbeam will provide users who have staked the native token, DOT, on the network an avenue to increase their revenue streams by earning additional yield in DeFi applications. Moonbeam, which went live on the Polkadot network in January after raising $1.3 billion to secure a parachain slot, is focused on building infrastructure and tools to harmonize activity across multiple blockchains.
Ex: Users can stake the native token DOT in the form of xcDOT (cross-chain DOT) in order to secure the network. Once xcDOT is staked, users then receive a staked DOT (stDOT) token which can be deployed in other DeFi applications to earn yield. Thus, users can earn staking rewards and yield on the same asset.
3. Fireblocks hires former Bank of England fintech chief to lead CBDC efforts. The crypto custody firm hired Varun Paul to serve as its first director of central bank digital currency (CBDC) and market infrastructure. Paul's primary objectives will be to build out infrastructure for the integration of CBDCs and to engage with market infrastructure bodies to explore the benefits of supporting DeFi and other digital assets.
4. All Terraform Labs staff subpoenaed as investigations ramp up. Officials from Seoul’s Southern District Prosecutor’s Office are now requesting all company related material from all employees at Terraform Labs. While the investigations ramp up, prosecutors have reportedly secured a statement indicating some Terraform Labs staff were opposed to launching UST and LUNA after internal modeling failed, which will only add pressure to the company as they attempt to revive the blockchain.
5. Solana's blockchain clock loses track of time, now running 30 minutes behind. The clock on Solana's blockchain is behind schedule by 30 minutes according to a post on the network's status page. The issue is caused by longer than ideal slot times on the network and results in transaction on the blockchain showing different time stamps than real-world time. Solana’s ideal slot time is 400 milliseconds, but this value has almost doubled to about 746ms. While the issue is not impacting operations of the blockchain, it may impact staking rewards.
Updates and other stories:
- Terra's new Luna token surges 40% after listing on Binance...Read More
- Metaverse takes center stage at Davos as adoption questions loom...Read More
- India to finalize crypto consultation paper with IMF, World Bank...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.