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Tascha P. is the Founder and CEO of INFINIT, a DeFi Abstraction Layer that eliminates the immense friction involved in building and growing DeFi ecosystems. ? Tascha is also the Founder of Alpha Finance Labs and a Member of the BOD of the University of California, Berkeley (Thailand) Tascha has a diverse background in investment banking, venture capital, and product management. She gained early experience at Deloitte, EY, and Phatra Securities before transitioning to roles in private equity and venture capital. ? She served as an Investment Banking Analyst at Jefferies in San Francisco, London, and Bangkok, later moving into tech as a Product Manager at Tencent. ? Tascha studied Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree. ? Tascha briefly attended Harvard Business School's MBA program in 2019 but did not complete it. The big idea:?Tascha through INFINIT aims to streamline building and scaling DeFi ecosystems across blockchains, enabling rapid creation of applications like DEXs and money markets in minutes. Join over 17,000 crypto builders and investors for updates from the top newsletter tailored for crypto professionals ?? Launchy.app

MicroStrategy just announced its Q3 2024 financial results highlighting an ambitious three-year, $42B capital strategy to expand its Bitcoin reserves. MicroStrategy’s Q3 total revenues reached $116.1M, though software revenues decreased year-over-year. ? For Q3, MicroStrategy achieved a 5.1% BTC Yield and increased its Bitcoin holdings by 11%, raising the year-to-date yield to 17.8%. ? To further drive BTC Yield, the company has set a target range of 6-10% annually for 2025-2027. ? Operating expenses rose dramatically due to impairment losses on digital assets, contributing to an operational loss of $432.6M. Announcing the “21/21 Plan,” the company aims to raise $21B through equity offerings and $21B through fixed-income securities. ? The strategy is centred around accumulating Bitcoin and is expected to boost shareholder value by leveraging digital assets as treasury reserves. ? CFO Andrew Kang noted that they issued $2.1B in equity and debt, using part of this to repurchase senior secured notes. ? The move reduced annual interest expenses by $24M. Read the full article at: https://lnkd.in/gEYQf2Ji

Privacy blockchain project Nillion has raised $25M in a funding round led by Hack VC, with participation from angel investors and contributors from notable projects like Arbitrum, Worldcoin, and Sei. ? Nillion's "blind computing," enables the processing of data without revealing its contents, facilitating secure application collaboration. ? The project aims to bridge the gap between blockchain and AI, ensuring security while decentralizing data ownership. ? Nillion is partnering with various blockchain networks, including NEAR, Aptos, and Ritual. Read the full article at: https://lnkd.in/gEYQf2Ji

Fabrizio Giabardo and Matt O'Connor are the Co-Founders of Legion, an onchain fundraising platform focused on transforming early-stage crypto investments through a merit-based system. ? Fabrizio is also a Project Lead at Delphi Digital. In his early career, Fabrizio developed a foundation in service design, customer experience, and digital strategy. ? Fabrizio also co-founded Surf Sheep, a chatbot startup providing surf forecasts. ? Previously, Fabrizio held the Director position at Future Chain Labs from June 2022 to July 2024. ? There is no available information on Matt’s background. Fabrizio and Matt are democratizing early-stage crypto investment through Legion by enabling transparent capital raising and allowing investors to participate based on contributions rather than wealth. Join over 17,000 crypto builders and investors for updates from the top newsletter tailored for crypto professionals ?? https://lnkd.in/gEYQf2Ji

Kraken Digital Asset Exchange has announced its plans to build a layer-2 network called Ink using Optimism's OP Stack framework, following a substantial grant from the Optimism Foundation of 25M OP tokens (~$42.5M). ? This deal, finalized earlier this year, enables Kraken to participate in the rapidly expanding "Superchain" ecosystem. ? “Superchain” includes other major players like Coinbase, Sony, and Uniswap. ? The grant will be distributed over time-based on transaction milestones, highlighting Optimism's commitment to supporting developers within its ecosystem. Join over 17,000 crypto builders and investors for updates from the top newsletter tailored for crypto professionals ?? Launchy.app

MicroStrategy's stock ($MSTR) has surged nearly 250% year-to-date, significantly outpacing Bitcoin's 60% return. ? MicroStrategy's strategy of leveraging its substantial Bitcoin holdings has allowed its stock to serve as a leveraged bet on Bitcoin's price movements. ? This performance follows a remarkable 353% gain in 2023, as investors seek exposure to Bitcoin through publicly traded equity. ? MicroStrategy currently holds 252,220 BTC, valued at over $17B, making it the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin. h/t: The Block Join over 17,000 crypto builders and investors for updates from the top newsletter tailored for crypto professionals ?? Launchy.app

Cumulative open interest in Polymarket's 2024 US presidential election market has surged past $200M, quadrupling since the start of October as voters prepare for the upcoming election. ? Donald Trump is enjoying a favourable position, with his odds rising above 66% ? Kamala Harris is experiencing her lowest odds since taking over the ticket from President Biden in August. ? The betting market has gained traction this election season, with $91.5M in open interest on Trump’s victory compared to $48.5M for Harris ? Overall, trading volume on Polymarket has reached over $2.1B this month, with approximately 200,000 active traders participating. ? As a result, betting markets are increasingly influencing election predictions, providing alternative insights to traditional polls. h/t: The Block Join over 17,000 crypto builders and investors for updates from the top newsletter tailored for crypto professionals ?? Launchy.app

Ethereum’s ecosystem faces a mix of challenges and ambitious goals, affecting its user experience, staking rewards, and even workforce adjustments within major contributing companies. Vitalik Buterin recently responded to criticisms of Ethereum's Layer 2 network, acknowledging the user experience as fragmented but emphasizing a focus on future improvements rather than defending current limitations. ? He highlighted an interoperability roadmap to unify the Layer 2 ecosystem, promoting cross-chain ease of use and setting ambitious scalability goals of 100,000 transactions per second. Meanwhile, Ethereum’s staking rewards have declined to around 3%, lagging behind other major proof-of-stake networks like Cosmos and Solana. ? While this lower rate may help curb inflationary pressure, it indicates a gradual slowdown in staking inflows, as seen with Lido’s stETH holdings, which have plateaued around 9.6M ETH. Amid these technical and economic pressures, Consensys, a key player in Ethereum’s development and creator of MetaMask, has announced a 20% workforce reduction. ? CEO Joseph Lubin attributed this decision to macroeconomic and regulatory challenges, including ongoing legal battles with the SEC. Vitalik Buterin’s vision for cross-Layer 2 standards, aiming for 100,000 transactions per second, will demand strong developer collaboration to ensure consistency across different Layer 2s. Improving Layer 2 usability and staking competitiveness is essential for Ethereum’s continued growth and adoption, especially as it faces competition from other high-yield proof-of-stake networks. Join over 17,000 crypto builders and investors for updates from the top newsletter tailored for crypto professionals ?? Launchy.app

According to the Wall Street Journal’s report, US authorities are investigating Tether for potential anti-money laundering laws and sanctions violations. ? The Manhattan US Attorney’s Office is examining whether Tether has been used by third parties for illicit activities, including terrorism and hacking. ? The US Treasury Department is considering sanctions against Tether due to its alleged use by US-sanctioned entities, such as groups in Russia and Hamas. ? Tether's CEO and a spokesperson have publicly denied these claims, asserting that there is no investigation and describing the WSJ’s report as speculative. Meanwhile, Lazard, a 175-year-old asset management firm, announced plans to create tokenized investment funds in collaboration with Bitfinex Securities and SkyBridge Invest. Bitfinex is owned by iFinex, the same company that also owned Tether. ? This collaboration will enable Lazard to offer tokenized funds, providing retail investors with exposure to various Lazard-managed funds ? These funds are to be issued under Kazakhstan’s financial services regulations. ? The funds will leverage USDT for purchases and aim to expand access to Lazard's managed funds. If Tether faces sanctions, this could complicate Lazard’s plans and raise broader regulatory questions around stablecoin-backed financial products. Read the full article at: Launchy.app Join over 17,000 crypto builders and investors for updates from the top newsletter tailored for crypto professionals.

Lido Finance has approved the launch of its "community staking module" (CSM), an initiative aimed at making Ethereum staking more accessible by lowering the entry requirements. ? This new module allows solo stakers to operate nodes with just 1.5 ETH, significantly less than the usual 32 ETH requirement. ? Currently the new module is in an early adoption phase. ? The module includes Ethereum and Gnosis solo stakers and will eventually become Lido’s first permissionless staking protocol. ? The CSM is part of Lido’s strategy to promote decentralization in response to criticisms about its market dominance. ? Over 370 node operators participated in testing, and the proposal saw overwhelming support in the DAO vote. Read the full article at: Launchy.app Join over 17,000 crypto builders and investors for updates from the top newsletter tailored for crypto professionals.