All Hail Garga, King Of Apes 🐵💼💶

Valko

All Hail Garga, King Of Apes 🐵💼💶 Valko

Specs’ Insights

Yuga Labs co-founder Garga returns as CEO

Some news to share…

⌐◪-◪ → In a shocking turn of events, Yuga Labs co-founder Garga (Greg Solano) just tweeted that he’ll be stepping back in as CEO.

I’m bullish on the announcement, but find the timing a bit odd given the recent Proof/Moonbirds acquisition and former CEO’s plans to talk at NFT Paris tomorrow. It feels very sudden and leaves me wondering what happened.

Anyway, I think Garga stepping in is bullish for two reasons:

It puts Yuga Labs back in the hands of its original creator who knows and cares about this space deeply.He created “BAYC LLC” subsidiary to create more agility and autonomy for Bored Apes.

It’s obvious that Garga wants to “unshackle” Bored Apes so that they can get back to doing “crazy shit” for the community, and I think that’s a good thing. My only hope is that we’ll see similar autonomy for CryptoPunks.

Let me know in Specs Chat!

Sam Bankman-Fried Replaces Lawyers Ahead of Sentencing

Bankman-Fried replaced his former lawyers, Mark Cohen and Christian Everdale, as he’s headed into sentencing negotiations.

⌐◪-◪ → SBF just appeared in court for the first time since his conviction last fall to confirm he’s okay with his new attorneys.

Mark Mukasey, his new legal counsel, also represents former Celsius CEO and alleged criminal Alex Mashinksy.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who oversaw SBF’s criminal trial in October, brought Sam in to confirm he’s okay with potential conflicts of interest arising from sharing lawyers with Mashinksy.

Both Sam and Alex said they have no problems sharing lawyers.

As for what’s next, Sam’s tentative sentencing is on March 28th, 2024 as he faces the possibility of serving up to 115 years in prison. So sit back, relax, grab some popcorn, and get ready for Chapter III, the final chapter of the SBF saga.

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ECB officials opine Bitcoin's fair value is 'still zero' despite spot ETF approvals in US

The statement follows a November 2022 ECB post arguing Bitcoin was on its “last gasp before the road to irrelevance.”

⌐◪-◪ → The European Central Bank (ECB) is doubling down on its criticism of Bitcoin, claiming that Bitcoin has failed as a global decentralized currency and that its “fair value is still zero” despite the recent spot ETF approvals.

This statement is a hilariously massive cope. Just look at this chart showing the Euro’s performance against Bitcoin since 2016, it’s down 99.35%.

They say Bitcoin has failed, but the truth is people use Bitcoin every day as a way to escape organizations like the ECB — who continue to debase national currencies, stealing time/energy from hard-working people.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin is literally up only.

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Everything Else

⛓️ Crypto & DeFi

Gauntlet terminates partnership with Aave as risk manager
StarkWare touts 'Circle STARKs' as a breakthrough for zk-proofs
Starknet breaks 1M transactions after launching STRK token
Lido adds 1inch for faster withdrawals of stETH and wstETH
Fuel Labs unveils 'Rollup OS' strategy ahead of Q3 2024
Wormhole to use AMD chips for scaling interoperability platform
Tether won’t confirm or deny whether its dropping USDT on Tron

🏦 Wallstreet & VC

Startale Labs raises $3.5M from Samsung to build public goods
Helius raises $9.5M Series A for Solana-focused developer platform
Citrea raises $2.7M seed round for zk-proof rollups on Bitcoin
Inco raises $4.5M to develop modular blockchain focused on privacy

🏛️ Legal & Regulatory

Coinbase urges SEC to approve Grayscale’s spot Ether ETF
Gary Gensler and the SEC are being sued in Texas for overreach
SEC’s top anti-crypto lawyer Ladan Stewart leaves to join private firm
Ex-Fidelity exec joins advisory board for Ethereum L2 Layer N
DCG objects to subsidiary Genesis’ proposed settlement with NY
Elizabeth Warren is 'not afraid' of running against pro-crypto lawyer
Terraform Labs’ Do Kwon will be extradited to the US to face charges

🌎 Rest of the World

Kakao’s web3 division joins Ubisoft & Sega on Oasys Chain
FalconX expands into Hong Kong as institutional demand rises
Paris Saint-Germain is 1st soccer team to validate a blockchain
South Korea’s top crypto custodian saw deposits 3x in H2 2023
South Korea Gyeonggi province collects $4.6M from 2.4k tax evaders
South Africa explores use cases and regulations for stablecoins
England Law Commission drafts legislation for crypto property rights

🖼️ NFTs & Metaverse

Arbitrum Foundation funds crypto film from Oscar-winning producer
Ronin adds 'Kaidro' RPG following 'Pixels' token launch
Nintendo 64 emulator inscribed on Bitcoin by Pizza Ninjas team
Pudgy Penguins have sold $10M worth of Walmart toys
Portal to launch Feb 29 as Binance announces “Launchpool” rewards
Team Liquid launching fan rewards platform on SUI network
Degods merges with Dust Labs, and parts ways with Kevin

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