Aztec's $100m Round, US Crypto Bill, & DeFi For Community Banks
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A flurry of funding rounds signals great confidence in the web3 space, despite the bearish market. However, some new regulations could threaten the industry’s ethos.
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MARKETS
Today, the global crypto market cap stands at $849.32 billion, a fall of 1.37% over the previous day. The total crypto market volume stood at $33.56 billion, again a decrease of 26.68%. This was reflected by the likes of Solana dipping by 2.23% and Polygon falling by 1.42% in the last 24 hours. Most importantly, Bitcoin & Ethereum were down by 1.83 and 1.73% respectively!
The FED’s bearish economic projections continue to impact the crypto market, as focus shifted from inflation to the economic outlook. US economic indicators added to the grim picture, with retail sales falling by 0.6% in November versus a 1.3% increase in October. Chinese economic data also disappointed, showing that retail sales were down 5.9% year-over-year and industrial production up just 2.2% in November.?
Therefore it was no surprise that the NASDAQ tumbled by 3.23% yesterday, and the S&P 500 was down by 2.49%. This morning, the NASDAQ mini was down 3.75 points, a performance correlating with that of the crypto market
Today, investors will focus on the preliminary December manufacturing and service sector PMI numbers due.
HEADLINES
Aztec secures $100 million in Series B funding
Layer-2 chain Aztec Network has announced that it closed a $100 million Series B funding round led by venture capital firm a16z crypto.
In partnership with a16z, the company plans to hire new engineers and build a "next-generation encrypted architecture" that allows users to verify that blockchain rules were followed without revealing any underlying information. Encrypted blockchains allow users to transact with privacy and anonymity.
According to stated Aztec CEO Zac Williamson, “What we’re building is a revolutionary piece of technology that transforms how we interact with each other online, in which the end user is the customer, rather than the product. End-to-end encrypted blockchains protect individuals, obviating the need for centralized financial systems.”?
Aztec is reportedly working on a testnet launch within 12 months, with a full mainnet deployment within 24 months.
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REGULATION
US Senators unveil new crypto bill
U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Roger Marshall have introduced a new bill to regulate the crypto sector. Known as the “Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2022,” the bill seeks to crack down on money laundering in the crypto industry.
According to a tweet by Senator Warren, “By closing some loopholes and applying some common-sense rules, we can crack down on the ways rogue nations, oligarchs, and drug lords use crypto to launder billions, evade sanctions, and finance terrorism. I’ve got a bipartisan bill for that.”
The legislation directs the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to designate “custodial and unhosted wallet providers, cryptocurrency miners, validators, or other nodes who may act to validate or secure third-party transactions, independent network participants, including MEV searchers, and other validators with control over network protocols as money service businesses.” Controversially, the legislation would ban every financial institution from making transactions involving privacy tools, such as Tornado Cash, or privacy coins, such as zcash and monero.
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