How Is The Crypto Market Doing Lately?
- Posted on May 31, 2024 11:20 PM
- Cryipto News
- 593 Views
Are you wondering what's happening in the crypto market? You can find updates on Bitcoin's value, blockchain technology, DeFi systems, NFTs, Web3, and the latest trends and developments shaping crypto regulations in our news.
The crypto industry is reacting strongly to Matter Labs' attempt to trademark the "zero-knowledge" term. Experts predict that spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could be listed by the end of June or early July in the United States. On the other hand, the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini has begun distributing billions of dollars that were blocked in its halted lending program.
Matter Labs has filed trademark applications for the "zero-knowledge" term in nine countries worldwide to establish it as its own intellectual property. This move has sparked significant discontent within the industry. The firm, known for developing ZkSync technology, had previously attempted to list a token under the "ZK" symbol on crypto exchanges to bolster this technology.
Zero-knowledge technology enables one party (the prover) to prove a claim to another party (the verifier) without revealing any details. Eli Ben-Sasson, the CEO of StarkWare, criticized Matter Labs' attempt to trademark this technology, likening it to "a baker trying to patent bread."
A group of industry leaders has issued a public letter calling for Matter Labs to retract what they termed as "coercive behavior." The letter was signed by prominent figures such as Sandeep Nailwal and Brendan Farmer, co-founders of Polygon; Eli Ben-Sasson, CEO of StarkWare; Tiancheng Xie, co-founder of Polyhedra Network and creator of zkBridge; and Shafi Goldwasser, co-founder of ZK-proofs and Turing Award winner.
The letter stated, "We believe that zero-knowledge is a public good belonging to everyone. A company attempting to appropriate a public good for itself through legal means is acting against crypto ethics."
Furthermore, BlackRock submitted the necessary S-1 documents for launching Ethereum ETFs, indicating that a June launch is a "legal possibility." After BlackRock's iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) received approval for its 19b-4 application, an updated version of the S-1 document was submitted to the SEC one week later.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas used the phrase "Good sign. [The rest probably coming soon]" in an X post on May 29th. According to SEC comments, there will likely be another round of "fine-tuning," but it was noted that a launch by the end of June is a legal possibility. However, Balchunas maintained the possibility of approval around July 4th, adding that an earlier approval is "a difficult possibility."
Following an 18-month freeze on withdrawal transactions, Gemini announced that it would distribute $2.18 billion to users of its Earn lending program. According to the announcement made on May 29th, Gemini users who participated in the now-closed program will be compensated. Upon completion of the distributions, users will recover 232% of the value of their digital assets. Gemini's announcement included the following statement:
"For example, if you lent out one Bitcoin in the Earn program, you will receive one Bitcoin back. This means you will receive all value increases in your assets since you lent them out to the Earn program."
This announcement followed shortly after cryptocurrency lending company Genesis had its $3 billion payment for creditor claims approved. When Genesis filed for bankruptcy in January 2023, Gemini had billions of dollars in customer funds locked in Genesis.
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