👨‍💻 Crypto hackers battle it out

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As the banking industry faces a crisis, digital assets have been gaining popularity among investors. However, the White House has recently released a report expressing concerns about the risks digital assets pose to consumers and the US financial system, citing that they do not live up to their initial promises.

Despite this, Cathie Wood, CEO of ARK Invest, believes that the recent banking crisis has highlighted Bitcoin's value proposition, and more institutions will be attracted to the market in the long run. And in an interesting turn yesterday, the Ronin hacker sent an encrypted message to the Euler hacker that on-chain analysts suspect may be a phishing attempt to steal funds.

Markets

ARK Invest Sells $13.5M Coinbase Shares After Steady Buying Streak (2 minute read)ARK Invest, led by growth investor Cathie Wood, sold 160,887 shares of crypto exchange Coinbase on Tuesday for $13.5 million. ARK had previously made a series of purchases of Coinbase stock during the crypto winter, but the shares underperformed bitcoin and ether throughout 2022, dropping 86% during the year. ARK's most recent purchase of Coinbase stock was in early March, when the company acquired over 350,000 shares, including 301,437 for its ARK Innovation ETF and 52,525 for its Next Generation Internet ETF, valued at $22 million.

White House blasts digital assets in new report, sees little value in crypto (4 minute read)The White House has released a report stating that digital assets do not live up to their initial promises and pose risks to consumers and the US financial system. The report comes a year after President Biden ordered federal agencies to investigate and issue reports on the matter. The report challenges the purported benefits of digital assets, arguing that they have not offered any fundamental value as investments, improved financial inclusion or made payments more efficient. Rather, their innovation has mostly been about creating artificial scarcity to support their prices.

Bitcoin’s banking crisis surge will ‘attract more institutions’: ARK’s Cathie Wood (2 minute read)According to Cathie Wood, CEO of ARK Invest, the recent banking crisis has highlighted Bitcoin's value proposition and will attract more institutions to the market over time. Wood stated in a Bloomberg interview on March 21 that Bitcoin's price behavior during the crisis was "quite instructive," as it moved differently from equity markets. She believes this will draw more institutional investors to Bitcoin in the future.

Tech

Is The Ronin Hacker Trying to Phish The Euler Hacker? (3 minute read)On Tuesday, the Ronin hacker sent an encrypted message to the Euler hacker that on-chain analysts suspect may be a phishing attempt to steal funds. The Ronin hacker sent 2 ETH to the Euler hacker, with an encoded message in the Ethereum transaction that asked the Euler hacker to decrypt it using a GitHub repository and the private key that controls the stolen Euler funds. However, blockchain security analysts found a security vulnerability in the GitHub repository, indicating that the Ronin hacker was likely attempting to phish the Euler hacker. 

Bitcoin Ordinals expands into Magic Eden: All you need to know (2 minute read)Magic Eden, a well-known NFT marketplace, has launched its own platform for Bitcoin Ordinals, taking advantage of the growing interest in "Bitcoin NFTs." This new marketplace allows traders to trade Bitcoin Ordinal collections, offering a similar experience to the existing marketplaces for Polygon, Ethereum, and Solana-based NFTs. Traders can purchase inscriptions, which are unique tokens minted on satoshis within the Bitcoin network, and Magic Eden is integrating with Bitcoin wallets Hiro and Xverse to facilitate buying and selling. The company is also collaborating with popular Ordinal collections like Taproot Wizards, Inscribed Pepes, and Bitcoin Bandits to help users make the transition to Bitcoin-based NFTs.

Misc

Coinbase Argues an Arbitration Case in U.S. Supreme Court as Crypto Makes Its Debut (3 minute read)Coinbase made history on Tuesday as it became the first crypto company to argue before the US Supreme Court. The case involves Coinbase's disputes over forcing customers into arbitration, and the company argued that court proceedings should be frozen while the arguments play out. Coinbase's argument is that when a court rules that a customer should be able to settle a dispute in a courtroom rather than through arbitration, any appeal by the company should halt the case from progressing through the courts until the appeal is decided. While the case may have little direct effect on the digital asset business, it could be significant for Coinbase and other crypto companies in future disputes with clients.

OneCoin head of compliance facing 40-year sentence after US extradition (2 minute read)Irina Dilkinska, a former executive of the fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme OneCoin, has been charged by US federal prosecutors for her role in the operation. Dilkinska, who was extradited from Bulgaria, faces up to 40 years in prison after being charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Prosecutors allege that Dilkinska assisted in laundering over $400 million of OneCoin's proceeds and destroyed incriminating evidence and sent incriminating messages upon hearing of a co-conspirator's arrest. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

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