Story One

SEC is forcing Kraken to shut down its staking service

The SEC's new year resolution must have been going down hard on crypto. The latest company being called out is the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken. This time it's all about their staking service.

Staking, the process of securing a blockchain network by locking up its native token to validate transactions, is a technically complex process. That's why many retail investors pick centralized exchanges to stake, where all they have to do is click a few buttons.

Apparently, the enforcement agency went after Kraken because it oversimplified what staking meant. It seems the contentious point was that Kraken would "pool certain crypto assets transferred by investors and stakes them on behalf of those investors" without a thorough enough explanation of where exactly rewards come from.

As a result, Kraken is shutting down its staking program in the US, and clients will see their funds unstaked. Kraken CEO Jesse Powell was visibly frustrated with the entire thing.

Some fear this might just be the start of a broader move by the US to ban staking, with Coinbase's CEO stating that it'd be a terrible path for the US stifling tech and that they'd be willing to fight it in court.

On the bright side, the move pushed up the price of LSDs (Liquid Staking Derivatives) and might contribute to greater decentralization.

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Story Two
3AC founders back at it

In one of those only in crypto stories, the founders of the infamous crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) are back at it. Hailed as amazing investors while Terra was doing well, their billions quickly evaporated as Luna collapsed, leaving the hedge fund bankrupt.

Instead of dealing with that though, they're building a new exchange. And since the community didn't think naming it GTX (because G comes after F(tx)) was a particularly smart idea, they've pivoted to calling their new baby Open Exchange, short OPNX.

Open Exchange will be a place where traders can - and you couldn't make this up - trade bankruptcy claims of defunct crypto platforms. Funny thing to build for a team known to ignore their own creditors.

Even crazier is that the main platform token will be FLEX, the token of Coinflex, another exchange with a questionable track record currently undergoing "restructuring".

But before you lose all trust in humanity, crypto enthusiasts reacted very negatively to the launch of this venture.

Just stop.

— Dan Held (@danheld) February 9, 2023

Couldn't agree more.

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Story Three
Super Bowl NFT Ad causing confusion

This year, the Super Bowl featured an ad for the NFT gaming project DigiDaigaku causing confusion and light annoyance.

Super Bowl commercials are viewed by millions and, therefore, an opportunity to reach the mainstream. It didn't quite go as expected, though. The short clip shown featured a static QR code set in a gaming environment. Once scanned, viewers would be able to claim one of 10k free Dragon Eggs.

What went wrong? Most people wouldn't be taken to the claiming page but to the Twitter profile of the project's CEO, Gabriel. Quite an expensive way to gain followers, considering the startup paid $6.5 million to air.

I dropped everything to watch the Super Bowl for a 30 second ad that was supposed to bring generational wealth from a free mint and all I got was the opportunity to follow a Mfer on Twitter 😭

— ThreadGuy 👑 (@notthreadguy) February 13, 2023

It seems TV viewers might have been front-run by savvy NFT snipers as Gabriel decided to leak the link to claim on Twitter prior to the ad airing.

Despite the fiasco, some managed to claim and sell for a quick buck, with the Dragon Egg NFTs trading over $750 shortly after the ad. Still, probably not the best look for crypto.

Naomi from CoinJar

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