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Tokens & Protocols:

ETH:

• OP — announces major upgrade Bedrock is planned for March 16th; OP also announces Base building on OP & introduces the Superchain: maximizes composability of OP stack and integrates siloed L2s into a single, cohesive layer

• UNI — enables buying of NFTs with any ERC-20 token on their NFT platform

• BLUR — outlines details on season 2 airdrop, will see 300M tokens distributed

• YFI — introduces yETH & the ability to earn exposure to a basket of LSD tokens

• MKR — announces Spark Protocol, growth focused arm of MKR building lending protocol Spark Lend; MKR will also integrate LINK oracle to Keeper Network

• LDO — Lido introduces Lido V2 — the “Next Step In Decentralization”

• AAVE — releases protocol native GHO stablecoin to ETH’s Goerli testnet

• FRAX — votes to fully collateralize protocol’s native stablecoin

• STG — migrating to new address March 15th, eliminating Alameda’s 10% supply

• SNX — officially launches v3 on ETH mainnet

• SAND — signs “memorandum of understanding” in collab with Saudi Arabia

• SUSHI — acquires ATOM-based derivatives platform Vortex Protocol

• SUDO — token of the NFT AMM protocol is live; XMON trending to 0

Others:

• Lightning Network hits new all-time high in BTC capacity, reaches 5.6k BTC

• ATOM — completes Rho upgrade, Interchain Security coming later Q1

• INJ — Injective integrates Canto-based assets & launches composability for SOL based assets to their ecosystem

• MATIC — plans to launch zkEVM L2 on mainnet beta March 27th

• BNB — introduces Greenfield, a new storage-based network for user data control

• AVAX — introduces HyperSDK enabling custom virtual machine development; dexalot, CLOB DEX, also launches Avalanche subnet

• FIL — to launch smart contracts and become fully-fledged L1 in March

• JOE — partners with Layer Zero to convert JOE into omni-chain fungible token (OFT) enabling users to seamlessly move tokens across BNB, AVAX, & Arbitrum

• ATOM/AVAX — details on Landslide which enables Cosmos/IBC subnet on AVAX

• Marginfi — launches new borrow-lend protocol mrgnlend on Solana

• Flashbots — introduces MEV-Share which distributes a portion of the money made from MEV to users instead of just validators & block builders

• Celestia — introduces Rollkit, “a modular framework for rollups”

• EigenLayer — highly anticipated restaking protocol releases their whitepaper

• Eclipse — to release SOL-compatible rollup built for MATIC

February was a chop filled month where if you were trading majors you were better off listening to cobie’s advice as BTC and ETH consolidated in tight ranges. The month was off to a rocky start as the second week of February brought Operation Coke Point 2.0 into the mainstream. Regulatory action was relentless from February 9th-13th with the main consequence being Paxos ordered to stop issuing Binance’s BUSD.

Fortunately it wasn’t all bad news as BLUR’s long-awaited token airdrop took place, stimulating the crypto and NFT ecosystem for a few weeks. Outside of BLUR, BTC Ordinals continued to gain traction and infuriate BTC maxis while Coinbase and Optimism ended the month on an exciting note with the launch of Base. As we head into March, uncertainty looms large as Silvergate faces increasing scrutiny, ETH FUD from Shanghai unlocks approaches, and heavy macro news awaits. I’m anticipating a choppy month where those who tread water and preserve capital are rewarded in April and beyond.

Looking ahead, I’ll mostly be monitoring the following events throughout March:

• LSDs — (RPL, LDO, FXS, SD, YFI) continued momentum & narrative ahead of staked ETH unlocks around the first week of April; LDO v2 will be live by EoM

• YFI — monitoring details on composition of YFI’s new yETH LSD basket along with the broad LSD marketshare and changes in its distribution

• CHZ — validated genesis of block of new L1 Feb. 8th, announced $50M incubator program March 1st, & expected to launch fully functional PoS L1 sometime in March

• L2s — continued momentum of the entire sector behind Arbitrum’s burgeoning DeFi sector (pls god launch ARBI), MATIC’s zkEVM launch March 27th, OP’s Bedrock upgrade March 16th & Base/Superchain onboarding/dapp development

• FIL — will launch smart contract functionality and Filecoin Virtual Machine on March 14th effectively transitioning the protocol into an L1

• Volatility — expecting markets to remain choppy and largely void of liquidity/vol until macro heavy (CPI, FOMC, etc.) week of the 13th leading into the expected FUD around Shanghai withdrawals — tread water/survive March, up in April?

• Stablecoins — distribution & market share after BUSD regulatory action; TUSD supply up 23% MoM, BUSD’s supply down -38% to sub 10B, USDT dominance continues climbing to 53%, highest since October ‘21; still waiting on launches of native stables from AAVE & CRV; FXS to fully collateralize native stablecoin

Funding & News:

the below funding and news developments are not a comprehensively list of every announcement, but a selection of the most notable announcements in February

• Hub71, Abu Dhabi’s tech ecosystem, starts $2B initiative to back blockchain tech

• Dan Tapiero is launching a crypto private equity fund with a target raise of $1B

• Sei Network raising series A that would value the upcoming token @ $400M

• BCB Group, crypto financial services company, raising series B @ $200M val

• English Premier League announces four-year licensing partnership with NFT sports gaming company SoRare, deal valued around $150M

• Worldcoin, eye-ball scanning protocol, raising ~$120M @ $3B valuation

• OneKey, open source crypto wallet, closes series A+ with $85M valuation

• Blocto, multichain wallet startup, raises undisclosed series A @ $80M valuation

• Yield Guild Games (YGG) raising $75M for its first fund focused on gaming & infra

• Chain Reaction, semiconducter’s for blockchain/privacy hardware, raises $70M

• Taurus, market infrastructure for digital assets provider, raises $65M series B

• EigenLayer, ETH restaking protocol, raising $50M series A; $500M token valuation

• Carbonplace, bank-backed carbon credit transaction network, raises $45M

• TeraWulf, BTC miner, raises $32M from public equity offering

• Coincover, recovery & protection services, raises $30M series B

• Coinbase launches Base, an ETH L2 built on Optimism (OP)

February’s Noteworthy News

• Genesis and parent DCG reach initial agreement with main creditors

• Tether (USDT) provides latest attestation, reports $700M in net profit for Q4

• Kraken settles with SEC and pays $30M over charges regarding staking program

• Bitcoin Suisse joins Liquid Collective, to offer ETH liquid staking solutions to private & institutional clients

• Hamilton Lane opens tokenized fund on Polygon’s MATIC

• Intain, structured finance platform, launches IntainMarkets, an AVAX subnet for issuing and trading asset-backed securities on-chain

• Visa testing how to “accept settlement payments from issuers in USDC starting on Ethereum and paying out in USDC on ETH”

• Coinbase to integrate direct withdraws to ETH L2 Arbitrum for WBTC, ETH, & DAI

• Square Enix to launch blockchain game Symbiogenesis on MATIC “in the spring”

• Tencent Cloud partnering with MultiversX (EGLD) to “expand its Web3 products”

• Siemens issues tokenized $65M one year bond on Polygon’s MATIC

• Sony partners with Astar Network (ASTR) to launch a Web3 incubation program for projects focusing on NFTs & DAOs

• Wirex, crypto payments firm, signs long-term partnership with Visa

• PayPal pausing stablecoin development as a result of recent regulatory scrutiny

• Immersve partners with Mastercard to enable users in Australia & New Zealand to spend crypto wherever Mastercard is accepted online

• Google Cloud partners with Tezos (XTZ) to become chain validator

• Obol Technologies to launch distributed validators on ETH in second half of year

• eToro secures New York BitLicense to provide crypto services along with money transmitter license from NYDFS; first BitLicense issued since PayPal (June 2022)

• Arbitrum surpasses ETH in daily transactions, becomes first L2 to accomplish feat

• Microsoft partners with decentralized infra provider ANKR to offer blockchain node service for enterprise clients

• Spotify piloting NFT-gated playlists/access to specific songs on their platform

NFT Review:

This is by no means a comprehensive list of the ongoings in NFT land. These projects are covered in more depth throughout past Page One posts, so find more info on all of these there.

Familiar Faces:

• Checks burn as Jack Butcher turns his attention to Opepen Editions

• Cool Cats shift brand position and introduce new collections, among other things

• DenDekaDen announces partnership with Toei Animation

• DigiDaigaku released Villains before minting Dragons via Super Bowl commercial

• Doodles 2 beta starts and Wearables are live on Flow

• Kanpai Pandas sign UFC champion Jon Jones, tease PPDex

• LinksDAO votes to buy a Scottish golf course

• Parallel airdrops $PRIME and begins their closed alpha

• PROOF announces passes will sunset after 3 years, cancel conference

• Pudgy Penguins partner with Retail Monster for toy distribution

• Reddit releases Super Bowl NFTs as wallets created eclipses 6M

• RTFKT reveals EXODUS pod-burning event

• Sewer Pass scores were validated ahead of The Summoning

• Worldwide Webb receives $10M investment from Pantera Capital

• 0N1 Force acquired by former Binance and YGG execs

New Entrants:

• a KID called BEAST peaks above 2.5Ξ in its first month after mint

• Bitcoin maxis join the NFT community as Ordinals sweep the collection conscious

• Canto NFTs saw significant volume and were the talk of the town for a few weeks

• Coinbase commemorate Base launch with free NFT

• FAKE MEMES highlight the stories of memes of old with homages to Rare Pepe

• Life in West America leads the wider AI art rally into the uncanny valley

• Metropolis by mpkoz will finish minting via world tour

• Rug Radio’s Faces of Web 3 mint and reveal with art from Corey Van Lew

Upcoming Projects

• Momoguro brings animation and gaming expertise to NFTs (today)

• Notable Pepes are available every Sunday for Pepe Checks holders

• TwelveFold sees Yuga Labs create a 300-piece Ordinals collection

• Yuga prepares The Summoning as Dookey Dash closes

Other News

• Blur's airdrop changed the NFT market, at least for the foreseeable future

• Cozomo de Medici donates 22 NFTs, including zombie Punk, to LACMA

• Hildobby dives into royalties data as the marketplace wars rage on

• Judge denies motion to dismiss case allegedly NBA Top Shots are securities

• OpenSea goes 0% fee, optional royalties as Blur gains market share